Angela – Page 42 – Grocery Shrink

How to Get the Last Bit of Anything

By Angela on January 8, 2014

I cleaned my room this weekend. It was bad. So bad, I was afraid someone might turn me in to Clean House. It was so bad that I couldn’t walk to the bathroom in the night without possibly dying. If DH heard me stir, he’d flip on the light to save my life. He’s like a brave knight ready to save me from any peril. It was so bad that when I told my kids to clean their rooms, they gave me a look like, “Seriously? Have you looked at your own room?” Though none of them were brave enough to say it out loud.

My 6 year old went around with a clip board and a piece of paper marking down grades for everyone’s room. I couldn’t read his interpretation of cursive, but he assured me my marks weren’t good.

My room had become the dumping ground for construction stuff and extra furniture from the dining room and family room, but even then it didn’t have to be this ridiculous. As I shoveled my way to sparkling surfaces, I found 3 bottles of pump cocoa butter. I love this stuff for smoothing out stretch marks (combined with body brushing, and Holly’s workouts) But 3 bottles, why? 2 of them were mostly empty, but I knew there was good stuff in there. Too much to just throw away. But I never took the time to figure out how to get it out, until today.

A simple straight razor took the top right off. Then I used a small cooking spatula to scrape the bottles clean. I put the lotion into a small lidded container that I can keep in my closet to use up over the next 2 weeks. It was so fast and easy I’ll definitely do it again. Only this time I won’t wait so long. Can you see other applications for this? Shampoo, conditioner, lipgloss….what else? Do you save the last bits of product? Or do you just toss it?

Stenciling a tiny bathroom wall

By Angela on January 7, 2014

Paint the vanity, don’t paint the vanity? Indecision kept me from taking action for far too long. This bathroom has sat here for months with bare walls and a peeled ceiling and floor. Gross. I looked closely at the wood finish on the vanity. It was 43 years old, scratched and pitted, dry. I didn’t love the color. I tried updating the hardware–meh. It is mine. We aren’t planning to sell this house. I can do whatever I want. And paint is strippable if I hate it.

Bathroom before

So I painted it. The color is Behr, Misty Mountains. It is outdoor paint that I bought to paint my shutters to match our new front doors. I only needed a tiny bit to do the vanity, so I borrowed a from the shutter project while we waited for the weather to be warm enough to paint outdoors. The first coat looked a little army green and I was tempted to snow shovel my way to the hardware store for a sample of something different. But two coats turned into the yummy shade of gray I was hoping for. The sink top is a little washed out here, but it has olive green grain in it. It’s pretty awful, but the painted vanity makes it look brand new. My mom thought we had replaced the top when she popped over for a visit. I love paint. (Since this photo was taken DH has put in a new oil rubbed bronze faucet and caulked all the seams perfectly. I’ll show new pictures later this week.)

I didn’t sand the wood, but I did use liquid deglosser, then a coat of Zinser primer and 2 coats of paint. The new hardware is from our new kitchen cabinets. I bought contractor packs from Amazon so we would have enough to update the vanities in the house. Bonus: they were a lot less expensive than similar ones from the big chain hardware stores. I also bought some oil rubbed bronze spray paint to update the hinges. I never would of thought of that until I read how Young House Love did theirs. I plan to use the same paint to update the original big brass vanity mirror. I already love the size and shape.

Next I painted 3 walls in Behr Silver Drop (a beige/gray color) and painted the ceiling and back wall bright white. In a room this tiny painting was super fast.

I wanted to stencil the back wall to look like wallpaper, and then have it reflect in the mirror over the sink on the opposite wall to look like I had done more than one wall. I used DH’s laser level above (that’s the state of our family room right now–jealous?) to make sure the stencil was centered and level. They are too expensive to buy just for a project like this but since we had it on hand already. It made the job really easy.

The stencil is from Sarah M Dorsey Designs on etsy. It was a big splurge for me, but I justified it by pricing wallpaper and promising that I would use it more than once . I bought it over the summer and thought I would be using it way before now. (#procrastination) I used the same Silver Drop wall paint that was on the other walls and a cosmetic sponge to do the job. A foam roller might have been faster, but we were snowed in and I was working with what I had on hand.

The secret to getting clean lines without bleeding is to not use too much paint. I’d dip the sponge in the paint, then tap it off on dry places on the tray to get off the excess.

Perfect! I love it!

After the first pattern dried, I could overlap and keep going. This went much faster as I went along, because one side would dry as I worked on the other side. I could bounce from side to side and not have down time for drying. I got 12 patterns done in about an hour. I think another 3-4 hours and I’ll have it! I can’t wait to see the whole room come together. And have a bathroom with a door that shuts. It’s the little things that I’ve come to appreciate.

I want to choose an accent color to break up all this neutral. What would you do? Literally anything could go. I would bring in the accent color with towels and art. I’m a fool when it comes to picking out art. Do you have some favorite pieces?

10 Ways to Save Money Today

By Angela on January 6, 2014

1. Serve homemade soup for dinner: Soup is warm and comforting, and one of the least expensive meals to make. (Cheeseburger soup below, click the photo to get the recipe.)

2. Unsubscribe from advertising emails: If you don’t know about the sale, you won’t be tempted to spend. Plus you’ll save time deleting them.

3. Use the correct amount of laundry detergent—read the label. It’s so tempting to fill to the top of the cup, but most loads only need the bottom line.

4. Don’t go. If you can possibly wait on the item on your shopping list, stay home and make do with what you have on hand. The fewer trips you make to the store, the less money you will spend.

5. Add a meatless meal. Use eggs for your protein source, but get creative. Try: egg burritos; fried egg sandwiches; quiche; omelets; fried rice, egg drop soup, or breakfast casserole.

6. Plan your route. If you have several places to go, plan the order of the destinations to conserve the most gas. And save up your errands so you run fewer trips by doing them all at once.

7. Go cash. Put your budgeted amounts in an envelope (or coupon organizer) for each category. Spending cash is more tangible than swiping a card so you feel it more. McDonalds studied it and found that people spend 47% more when using credit cards over cash.

8. Be thankful. When you are tempted to buy something that you really could live without, skip it and name 5 things you already have that are thankful for instead.

9. Wait 24 hours. When it’s a big purchase, high pressure sales are often part of the equation. Set a dollar limit that you won’t go over without praying about it 24 hours first. Then you’re not likely to be a victim of a time share or a $2,000 buyer’s coop membership.

10. Plan ahead. Give yourself time to find your needed items at a deal or in a thrift shop. When it’s an emergency it’s more likely you’ll end up paying full price.

Linking up:

Eating $400 in December

By Angela on January 2, 2014

Sticking to a $400 budget in December was the hardest thing so far. With food to bring to Christmas gatherings, New Year’s, plus eating more fast food to cope with the busyness of the holidays I was way over budget. Last month I was under budget by $100 so I spent that plus my $20 blow money to make up the difference.

Week 1 Food Spending: $98.99

Week 2 Food Spending: $176.77

Weeks 3&4 Food Spending: $244.34

Total December: $520.10 (This is a direct result of eating out! We are still under the $550 official Grocery Shrink recommendations, but I could do better.

This month, we ate quite a bit from our pantry. I opened the last 8 lb bag of shredded chicken purchased from Dirty Don’s several months ago for $5. We used it to make cream cheese enchilada nachos (I made the enchilada filling in my electric skillet, then stirred in the sauce ingredients and served the whole thing over tortilla chips with shredded lettuce, cheese and salsa. Yep, it was awesome.) We also used it over homemade Caesar salad for our New Year’s Eve supper. And there’s some left…..

Another quick meal was chili mac. I used frozen ground beef mixed with ground turkey (because turkey is cheaper and lower in fat, so stretches the meat and the budget while still giving the beef flavor.) I used the electric skillet to brown the meat with onion and garlic, then stirred in chili powder, canned beans, rotel tomatoes, and the dry noodles from two Aldi brand boxes of mac and cheese. I added 2 cups of water and brought it to a boil, reduced heat to a simmer and then After 20 minutes we stirred in a little milk and the 2 powdered cheese packets and topped with a fresh shredded cheese. This was not up to my “healthy” standards of food, but it was doable in our kitchen situation, and the kids loved it.

Christmas Eve we were assigned the bread and chips for the Coffman family gathering. Darren ran to the bread outlet and got whole wheat buns and sandwich thins, plus Bonnie’s favorite super thin tortilla chips. (Which she served with her awesome homemade salsa.) He also made a quick Wal-mart run for fresh rolls from their bakery. Normally I would have baked all the bread from scratch — but an oven is handy for stuff like that.

New Years Eve we canceled our traditional party with Darren’s Best Man and his wife. I was still coughing up a storm and didn’t want to pass this nasty virus on. My alternate plan was to go to bed early and let the family fend for themselves for food. At the last minute I changed my mind and stopped at a conventional grocery store on the way home from running errands to see what deals were available. (I was surprised how many other people were grabbing stuff at the last minute. That place was packed!) I grabbed some sale priced chips, ingredients for homemade chicken caesar salad; pizza rolls (our family’s favorite junk food), kettle corn, and our favorite sodas. It turned out to be a really fun party with just the 8 of us.

We ate out a lot more than usual the first two weeks of the month, but that spending was tempered by our parents helping us with meal prep while I was so sick. Darren’s mom sent over homemade chicken soup (with homemade noodles); chicken soup with barley the next week, and my mom made chicken soup too. (They were all 3 very different and very delicious.) Also, my mom bought deli pizzas one night and baked them at her house, then brought them over for our family to enjoy. I know not everyone is blessed with such helpful parents and inlaws. I’m super thankful.

Here’s my week 2 spending list (Thought I had blogged it….but can’t find it.)

Date	Store	Item	Quantity	Total Price
12/10/2013	Costco	Whole Milk	3	9.27
		Organic baby carrots	5 lb	5.79
		Fage 0 Greek Yogurt	32 oz	4.99
		Almonds, whole	3 lb	12.99
		Deli Ham, Kirkland		8.99
		Tortilla Chips		3.99
		Romaine Hearts		3.97
		Fuji Apples		6.99
		Turkey Burgers		10.99
		String Cheese		9.79
		Tax		4.36
12/11/2013	Pizza Street	buffet for 8		36.54
12/12/2013	McDonalds	15 McDoubles, 3 large fries		25.66
12/13/2013	Aldi	Eggs	5 doz	6.45
		Ritz style Crackers		1.79
		Peanut Butter	40 oz	3.99
		Shrimp Ring	2	13.98
				1.24
12/14/2013	Gass Station	Pringles	2	5.00

				176.77

Here’s week’s 3 and 4:

Date	Store	Item	Amount	Total Price
12/16/2013	Walmart	Almond Milk	2	5.76
		Pumpernickle Rolls	1	2.98
		Large Wheat Rolls	1	1.68
		Great Value 100% Whole Wheat Bread	2	3.16
				0.86
		truvia	240 count	14.98
				0.84
12/16/2013	Dollar Tree	100% whole wheatSaraLee Bread	2	2.00
12/16/2013	McDonalds	1 McDouble; 1 McChicken; 1 small fry; 1 side salad; 2 waters		4.75
12/18/2013	Aldi	Penne Rigate	1 lb	0.88
		Bow Tie Pasta	1 lb	0.88
		Lasagna Noodles	1 lb	0.88
		Fresh ground turkey	18 oz	2.99
		Groudn Sirloin (93% lean)		8.15
		Instant Vanilla Pudding	8	4.40
		American Cheese Log		2.99
		Green Frosting	2	2.58
		White frosting		1.29
		Ramen Noodles		2.09
		Whole Chickens, frozen	2	10.84
		Aldi brand Cheerios	2	3.38
		Rice Chex	2	3.98
		Get Balance Cereal	1	2.69
		Bran Flakes	1	1.99
		Frozen spinach ravioli	2	7.98
		Flour, all purpose	5lb	1.39
		Lemons	1	0.35
		Sugar	4 lb	1.49
		Pasta, egg noodles	2 @ 1lb eac	2.58
		Tomato Juice	1	1.39
		Pomegranates	1	0.79
		Grapefruit	1	0.29
		Peanut Butter	40 oz	3.99
		Pasta, elbow macaroni	2 lb	1.49
		Oranges	3 lb	1.68
		Clementine Cuties	2 lb	2.99
		Bananas	2.65 lb @$.44/lb	1.17
		Provolone cheese slices		1.99
		Cucumbers	1	0.59
		Muenster Cheese slices		1.99
		American Cheese slices		1.99
		Graham Crackers	2	2.78
		Pancake Mix		1.49
		Cheese Crackers	2	3.78
		Broccoli crowns	1 lb	1.69
		Red wine vinegar	2	1.59
		Vanilla wafers	1	1.49
		Flour Tortillas 8″	4	3.96
		Gala Apples	3 lb	2.99
		Instant cofee	1	2.99
		Whole milk	3 gal	9.54
		Tax		5.66
12/23/2013	Bread Store	Bread		22.00

28-Dec	Costco	American cheese	5 lbs	10.69
		Fage Greek Yogurt		4.99
		Shredded Cheddar Jack	5 lbs	12.99
12/31/2013	HyVee	Whole Milk	1 gal	4.28
		French Onion Dip	8 oz	0.88
		Pizza Rolls	90 ct	6.98
		Diet Coke with Lime	2 liter	1.88
		Fresca	2 liter	1.88
		Ginger Ale	2 liter	0.99
		Kettle Corn, microwave	6 ct	2.48
		Black Olives	15 oz	1.00
		Caesar Croutons		1.00
		Bacon Pieces	2.5 oz	1.98
		Cool Ranch Doritos		2.00
		Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips		2.00
		Ruffles Sweet and Smokey BBQ Chips		2.00
		Hyvee brand neufchatel cheese	2 ct	1.76
		Hyvee Brand Salad Mix	1 lb	1.88
		Taxes		1.56

				244.34

Ringing it in

By Angela on December 31, 2013

I love fresh starts. I know I don’t have to wait for a New Year to get one. My Savior makes it possible for me every day.

But there’s something special about a New Year just the same. I love giving lots of thought about my goals and plans for it. It’s so much easier to write down a goal than it is to make it happen. In the past, my lofty goals were replaced by old habits faster than I like to admit. But that’s no reason not to try again.

Just trying year in and year out has moved me forward in business, in my spiritual walk, in fitness, in organization, in my finances, in my self-image. Even though I’ve never always met all my goals. When I look at where I am now, compared to 5 years ago. It’s a big change–a good change. But it happened so gradually I hardly noticed it happening.

How are you planning for this year? Layla from the Lettered Cottage is choosing just one word, to define her year. Kari from Sacred Mundane has one resolution, “I will Look up.” I’ve tossed around the idea of setting 12 goals, a new one for each month. Mainly, because I’m such a mess I have at least that many areas for improvement. Doing them all at once, is too overwhelming, but one a month, feels more doable. Whatever I do, I need to keep it super simple since my calendar is already booked until March!

One thing I’m sure of, getting up at 5am worked well for me (before I got the flu–cough, cough.) And that’s a habit that I want to start again as soon as possible.

I joined Mary Kay cosmetics 6 years ago because the woman, Mary Kay Ash inspired me so much. I read her book The Mary Kay Way not long after joining (and seriously even if you never touch a cosmetic, you should read this book.) She was a single mother, starting her own company, and staying true to her faith. And she did it in the wee hours of the morning. Her secret to getting up, was “something to look forward to.” For me is as simple as a giant stevia sweetened mocha latte. (2 cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 2 packets trivia, 1 tsp instant coffee, & 1 Tbs Dutch Cocoa Powder in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.) I lay in bed when the alarm goes off and then thing of that big warm cup of yum and find the strength to get up.

If you have a minute share your goals, your dreams. Inspire the rest of us, and have a Happy New Year!

Take Note

By Angela on December 29, 2013

It’s time to do yourself a little favor. Take a quiet moment while the memories are still fresh and write some Christmas notes for yourself for next year. This isn’t the time to make huge plans (Which is so tempting when the execution of those plans is still 12 months away.)

Just write some notes about things that went over really well this year or maybe didn’t go so well. Here’s a list of 13 things to think about:

What was the most stolen white elephant gift?
Were there any things you were going to try but didn’t have time for?
Did you run out of tape? How many rolls should you have on hand?
Did you have enough wrapping paper? How much is enough?
Were the kids overwhelmed with too many gifts? How many would have been right?
How did you feel about what you purchased for the stockings?
Did a relative make a really yummy dish that you should remember to ask her to bring agin?
Did you run across a neat story to read, or a song to learn?
Did you try something new this year that needs to become a tradition?
What date did you wish you were all done shopping and wrapping?
When you should start any hand made items to avoid last minute stress?
Were you tempted to buy a bunch of extra gifts since you had so many great ideas? File those ideas for next year.
Did you notice some great sales?! For example, I found legos on Amazon on cyber Monday for 50-60% off retail. And Target had jammies 40% off the week before Christmas. Chances are the same types of sales will happen again next year and I want to remember to look for it.

Whatever you write just be sure to put enough details down that it will still be helpful to you 12 months from now.

The newest Christmas fad is to keep it simple. Simple. Simple. Simple. (Said while poking my forehead with my finger.)

A basic tree, some yummy food. Done. No need to go crazy and dec the whole house, unless someone is paying you a huge sum of money to do it. Drink some nog, do a puzzle. Breathe. Smile. Relax.

This year the flu wiped me out the week before Christmas. I had planned to finish my sewing and shopping that week since school would be out and my choir program would be finished. But instead I enjoyed some forced R&R and fretted about it. You see, we only bought our kids a pair of jammies and 2 other gifts. Only some kids had no jammies. And some kids had only 1 gift. But the funny things is, on Christmas morning no one noticed (My Mom did help me make sure everyone had new jammies–I think they may have noticed that.) But the kids that opened one gift instead of two–didn’t say a word. They were too busy playing with their one fun gift. I worried for nothing. And the jammies were a HUGE hit.

Here’s a little screenshot of how I like to keep notes. If you click on it, I think you can see it bigger and maybe read some of the text.

How you take your notes is up to you, as long as it’s a place that you are sure to look next year. I’ve been making a Christmas plan on my computer since 2003. It started in excel and has morphed into a powerpoint file (since that’s the way I think best.) Now that I’ve worked out a system I like, I just “save as” the old file with the new year on it, then quickly go and delete out the old info and plop in the new. This year as I was getting ready for Christmas late August or so, I found my notes from last year to help me with this year. I completely forgot I had done it. When I saw it, I jumped up and screamed “I’m a genius!” What a blessing to have a springboard to make the holiday easier. It’s like writing a love letter to future you :).

How about you? Do you write notes to yourself for next year? What questions would you add to the list?

Christmas Eve 2013

By Angela on December 28, 2013

Round Robin Ping Pong

There was some concern on my part whether I would/should be able to go Christmas Eve. We were planning to travel up to the farm (about an hour away) to spend the day in the new church basement with Darren’s sisters and parents and their children (16 in all–including ours–how fun is that?!) It’s my favorite day of the year.

I got up and started helping the children get ready, and made a growing pile by the door of things to load into the car. All the while I found myself snapping at the children for acting like children. My bad attitude was catching. Pretty soon everyone was grumping at each other. I was worried about wanting to go, but thinking I shouldn’t go. And I had a headache. A big one.

So I sat myself down and said, “Self. This is the year of the happy Mama. Whether you go or don’t go, your ONE JOB is to be happy.” I took a couple of tablets for my headache. I took one large pill to make sure I wouldn’t cough or sneeze for 12 hours, hopefully keeping this virus from spreading around. Then I made a plan to go. I made a pact not to touch food or serving dishes. I would help clean up, but let my daughters help lay out the food. I wouldn’t sit near great-grandma who just celebrated her 90th birthday. I wouldn’t hold the babies. I would wash my hands. A lot.

When we arrived, my plan worked very well. Mostly I sat back and watched the group while still feeling part of things. Resting and noticing things. Things like DH’s Mama, who never snapped at a person, looked stressed or gave one hint at being weary the whole day. EVEN though she made a ham, a turkey and a brisket for our crowd. And gifts of jam and homemade pear bread. Plus plenty of other things.

She happily licked the beaters from the whipped cream getting white fluff all over her face and just grinned. She held each of her grandchildren on her lap to open their gifts from age 10 months to age 14 and posed for the pictures. She played the piano for everyone to sing. She cheerfully said goodbye to her youngest daughter, who left the party far too early for her inlaw’s gathering, and never said a cross word about it.

And even though she doesn’t read blogs or look at Pinterest, she got the memo: Christmas 2013, The Year of the Happy Mama. And she pulled if off flawlessly.

The card table tents haunted my fevered dreams the week before Christmas. The brown and pink was finished with a door and windows and little curtains. The purple one wasn’t close. But my mother came over when I was too sick to get up, and cut a hole in it for the door. I wrapped it up with a promise to finish it later. By the end of the afternoon, the kids had pulled the pink door all the way to the top of the table and held it down with a heavy toy. They actually preferred the more simple tent without a door!

The entire day was amazing: singing trios with DH’s sisters; two white elephant gift exchanges, watching the kids play games and laser tag; glorious food, round-robin ping pong. But my mother-in-law’s happiness is my favorite memory from the day.

While I Was Sleeping

By Angela on December 27, 2013

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t eat. After 3 days my fever spiked to 104.7. I thought we were headed to the emergency room, but I couldn’t walk to the car and I’m too cheap for an ambulance. So I let DH try to bring my fever down himself. He’s a good guy.

I lost that part of my life. I wasn’t sure what went on in the house. But then today I uploaded the pictures off my camera and found a bunch I didn’t take. Looks like they had fun while I was sleeping.

December’s $400 challenge week 1

By Angela on December 10, 2013

Update: I just realized that new readers would have no idea what this post is about :). We are challenging ourselves to feed our family of 8 on $400 a month until we recover from a financial loss. This is week 1 of our second month and includes a detailed list of what I bought.

This post could be titled, “How I completely fell apart and embarrassed myself in the blogging world.” Or “It doesn’t get any more real than this….”

After reading this post you are going to feel GREAT about yourself, lol.

First of all the good news is, I stayed within my budget. The bad news is the spending included several fast food trips and some Quick Trip cappuccino’s which is totally out of character for me. One of those days, Darren came home from work to find me in a blank stare typing furiously at the computer. When he asked me what was for dinner, I gave him a 30 minute play by play of my day starting at 4:30 am that morning. He left and came back with Arby’s. Good man.

The boring stuff is coming–an itemized list and prices of the first week’s spending, but first….a story.

A few weeks ago I offered a little bundle sale for 2 of my best menu plans. After all my expenses, I made $750.75 profit. I offered the sale to try to put some of our savings back since we spent it all for our foundation repair. Turns out one of my children needed educational testing done and the timing was getting critical. The cost for the service was exactly $750. God knew our need before we did and provided the means to take care of this child. Our expenses along this line are just beginning and I’m seeing a pattern here. God is moving on our behalf before we even know how desperate we are. So I’m trying not to feel nervous, just trusting Him along the way.

And last Sunday night after the Children’s Christmas Musical (which was AMAZING) a young man approached us in the cookie line. He said “An anonymous member here has hired me to finish your kitchen. I can start tomorrow, when’s a good time to come by?” Just. Like. That. He came by yesterday and worked several hours. DH didn’t know how to proceed with our wonky un-level floors and this young man had the knowledge needed to start us moving again. I don’t know what to say. I’m so grateful for the help. And feeling humbled, looking forward to the time we can pass on the blessing.

Here’s what I bought last week:

Date	Store	Item	Amount	Total Price
12/3/2013	Dirty Don’s	Kraft Shredded Marble Cheese	2-8 oz bags	3.00
		Kraft Finely shredded Mexican Cheese	2-8 oz bags	3.00
		Velveeta indivudually sliced cheeses	2-24 slice pkgs	4.00
		Refried beans 32 oz can	1	1.00
		Black beans 32 oz can	2	2.00
		Deli meat: Cajun roasted chicken	1 lb	0.50
		Organic Raspberry Applesauce 32 oz	2	1.50
		Best Choice Canned Kernel Corn	3	1.00
		Sun Dried Tomatoes, julienned	1	1.00
		Bolognese Sauce	1	0.75
		Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup	4	2.00
		Alfredo sauce–3 pack	1	3.00
		Trader Joes Uncured Pre-Cooked Bacon	1	2.00
		Whole wheat tortillas	20 ct	1.00
		Heinz chipotle style bbq beans	4	2.00
		tax		1.38
12/4/2013	Aldi	Cream of chicken/mushroom soup (light)	8	3.92
		Baked beans, large can	1	1.39
		Crackers, club style	1	1.45
		Crackers, cheese	1	1.89
		Crackers, Ritz style	1	1.79
		Crackers, wheat thin style	1	1.25
		Grapes, red	2 lb	2.98
		Bananas	2.58 lb	1.14
		Spinach, fresh	10 oz	1.69
		Bread, 100% whole wheat loaf	3	3.87
		Bread, Hot Dog Buns (white)	1	0.89
		Sweet Potato Chips	2	3.98
		Light Ranch Dressing	1	1.39
		Milk Chocolate Chips	2	2.58
		Turkey Hot Dogs	2	2.58
		Christmas decorating sprinkles	1	2.99
		Avocados	4	1.16
		Tax		1.84
12/5/2013	Subway	12 inch black forest ham sub	1	5.39
12/6/2013	Arby’s	15 Jr. Roast Beef Sandwiches2 large curly fries		18.00
12/7/2013	Quick Trip	1 cappicinno and abreakfast burrito		3.19
12/7/2013	QuickTrip	Hot Chocolate x 4		4.50



			TOTAL	98.99

Some of the stuff like the Rtiz crackers, chocolate chips and candy sprinkles were for cookies that we “made” to take to social events. Many of the items were things I bought to store for the future, like the sun-dried tomatoes, and canned foods. I didn’t have an immediate plan for them but the prices were stellar and I filled up my pantry. The lunch meat, tortillas and hot dogs were to help with packing lunches. This week, I’m trying to plan ahead better. If I forget to put dinner in the crock-pot there’s an issue since I don’t have an oven to heat something up quickly. I have a ham bone in the crock right now, and will add sweet potatoes, white beans, and corn for a nice soup.

The Easiest Eggnog in the World

By Angela on December 4, 2013

And tasty too.

You can also make it dairy free, or sugar free or both.

It costs about half of commercial eggnog.

We’ve voted. And persuaded the neighbor kids to weigh in. It tastes better than the stuff at the store.

The Easiest Eggnog in the World

Ingredients

8 cups milk (whole milk tastes more real, but you can use skim or unsweetened almond milk)
1 pkg 3.5 oz of instant vanilla pudding mix (regular or sugar free)
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1 tsp rum extract (opt. I have never used this, but I make my vanilla in rum....so it's really good.)
1 tsp nutmeg (We tried 1/2 tsp at first but it didn't have enough nutmeg flavor for us.
1/3 cup sugar (Original recipe calls for 1/2 cup and this was too sweet for us. You might be able to leave it out all together. I used stevia in the raw for my almond milk version and loved it.)

Instructions

Pour 4 cups of milk into the blender and start it whirring on low.
While it's going, pour in the rest of the ingredients and blend well. Then slowly add the other 4 cups of milk.
Serve right away and refrigerate the leftovers.
I made a whole half gallon of almond milk eggnog and then poured it right back into the carton using a funnel. I thought it would last awhile.....but with only about 40 calories a cup, I haven't restrained myself much....

http://www.groceryshrink.com/the-easiest-eggnog-in-the-world/