Reading nook

A couple more pictures, this time with the new pillows I bought today to match.
Don't you just want to curl up with a good book here?!

Window seat cushion

It's here! Here is the finished product. Now I just need curtains and some different pillows.

A closer view of the cushion:

Shrimp Scampi Pizza

As promised, here is the recipe I tried from Rachael Ray's magazine, Every Day With Rachael Ray. It is called "Shrimp Scampi Pizza" and was delicious! For those of you that don't like shrimp, you could easily substitute chicken for the shrimp. I wish I had taken a picture of the finished product, but it was a bit rushed tonight since I have class.

Shrimp Scampi Pizza

Ingredients (this version makes 4 GENEROUS servings; I halved it for the two of us):

3 Tb extra-virgin olive oil
12 cloves garlic, 8 smashed and peeled and 4 finely chopped
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, trimmed
1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for sprinkling
2 pounds shrimp - peeled, deveined, and chopped
salt and pepper
1 baguette, split lengthwise and quartered crosswise (think French bread pizza style)

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Cook the smashed garlic until golden, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a food processor; reserve the olive oil.
2. Add the parsley to the garlic in the food processor and pulse to finely chop; set aside 1/4 cup. Add the ricotta and parmesan to the food processor; pulse to combine.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. In the same skillet, heat the reserved olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until opaque, about 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved 1/4 cup parsley-garlic mixture.
4. Spread the cheese mixture on the cut side of each piece of bread and arrange on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Spoon the shrimp mixture on top and sprinkle with more parmesan. Bake until the cheese is melted, 7-10 minutes.

Delicious!

CVS, Kroger, Publix, OH MY!!!

I did so well today running errands!! I'm exhausted from all the running around, but in the end, it was worth it. Here is what I did:

First, at CVS:

The coupon machine spit out a $10/$50 CRT for me to use, so I had to get up to $50 in my purchases. This was a GREAT day to get it, because I had to get Nick a trimmer, which did not have ECBs printing and is pricey. Basically, with my $2 coupon and the CRT, it was free.

• 4 Throat Coolers (FINALLY they had them in stock - this totally made my day even though they go straight to Emily's house since they are children's medicine - HUGE moneymaker at CVS) - $4.99 each, had 2 B1G1 Free coupons
• Benefiber powder packs - $7.49, had $3 CRT and $2 mf coupon
• Schick Quattro Trimmer - $11.49, had $2 coupon
• Schick Intuition razor - $8.99, had $3 peelie
• Head and Shoulders shampoo - $4.99, had $1 coupon
• Used $10/$50 CRT
• Used $19 ECBs
• Paid $3.70 on a CVS gift card

I got back $25.96 back in ECBs, so even with my extra purchases I still made $6!! I definitely left CVS with a smile on my face!

At Kroger, I got:











Several things that weren't on sale:

• Milk - $3.18
  
• Chicken wings - $7.56
  
• Bread crumbs - $1.29
  
• French bread - $1.88
• Butter - $2.54
• Parmesan cheese - $2.74
• Lettuce - $1.68
• Ricotta cheese - $2.49
• Garlic - $1.49
• 2 bags Tortilla chips - $1.00 each
• Hamburger buns - $0.88
  

Several things that weren't on sale but I had a coupon:

• Sour cream - $0.39 after coupon
• 2 syrups - $2.99 each after coupon
• Worcestershire sauce - FREE after coupon
• 8 Powerades - $0.20 each
  

Things that were on sale but I had no coupon:

• 5 Kraft Americans singles - $1.49 each
• 5 Heinz ketchups - $1.49 each
• 5 lbs chicken - $1.99/lb
• Egg whites - $1.79
• Kraft block cheese - $1.49
  

And finally, items that were on sale AND I had a coupon:

• 5 Green Giant veggie steamers - FREE
• 4 Kraft shredded cheese packages - $0.74 each

All in all, I spent $70 and saved $70, so 50%. Which might not be the greatest percentage, but to have gotten that much for that amount is pretty good for me!!


When I got home, I had some coupons in the mail,
so I headed to Publix where I got:

• 10 bags of Goodlife Cat food

They were on sale for $3.49 a bag and I had $3/1 coupons for them, so I paid a total of $6.99 and saved $40. I debated about how silly I would look buying 10 bags of cat food at once and nothing else, but in the end I decided I didn't care. Now I don't have to make another trip this week. This will last my cats a year, which is about when it expires, so $7 for a year's supply of cat food is pretty good!!

Busy Monday

This morning, I had my biannual dental exam. My dentist is an hour away, but I wouldn't think of going to anyone else. He has been seeing me since I was 16 years old and I've had the same hygienist since then as well. They love me and my teeth - I'm pushing 30 and have never had a cavity - so it is always a (relatively) pleasant experience. Hence my willingness to drive that far.

Conveniently, it is close to Nick's work, so I called him after my appointment and had an impromptu lunch outing with him, which was fun. I don't get to do that very often since he works so far away, so when the opportunity presents itself, I grab at it!

I made a quick trip to CVS, but only got three bottles of shampoo since I was in a hurry to get to my appointment. They were free, naturally, and I rolled my ECBs. I plan to make another trip later in the week to get a few more items but I was too tired to run to another one on the way home.

At Publix, I spent $8 and saved $15. I got a roll of paper towels, three bags of Halls cough drops, a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, 2 bread bowls for dinner, and 2 boxes of Cheerios. I had planned to stop at Kroger as well, but I decided I had things that needed to get done around the house. Kroger can wait until tomorrow.

Laundry awaits!

Bloggy blahs and menu plan

I haven't been in a very bloggy mood lately. No interesting subjects have come up recently. Things have been very quiet around here, and I haven't even been going out to save money lately. Hopefully later today that will change. I'm leaving in a little while for the dentist (fun times) and I plan to stop by CVS, Kroger, and Publix on my way home, so stay tuned for my oh-so-interesting shopping trip report! In the meantime, here is what we are eating this week:

• Monday - Hashbrown soup in bread bowls
• Tuesday - Hamburger Helper, salad
• Wednesday - General Tso's chicken, brown rice, broccoli
• Thursday - An interesting recipe that I come across in my Rachael Ray magazine (if and when I find it and it is any good I'll post the recipe)
• Friday - Breakfast
• Saturday - TBD
• Sunday - bring sausage and mushroom penne gratin to church

Product review

Just for fun, I thought I'd share my feelings about my water bottle. I used to drink from Nalgene bottles every day and had no problem with them. I didn't need to have my water cold - even room temperature water was drinkable, as long as it was purified.

But then everyone started saying that the plastic that Nalgene was made out of was capable of "leaching" chemicals into one's drink. I didn't know what "leaching" was, but it did not sound good. I'm a bit suspicious when people come out with scares such as this, though, so I did tuck my Nalgene bottles away in a cupboard and they are ready to come out again when a new study comes out that refutes the "leaching" rumor.

In the meantime, I went on A QUEST for a new water bottle. My criteria was simple: it had to not have the "leaching" plastic, and it had to have a spout for drinking (I tend to spill water down my front if the hole is too big - my mom used to say I had a hole in my chin). I went to Amazon and found this, read the reviews, and decided to purchase it (even though it was a little pricier than I would prefer to spend on a water bottle, it was definitely LESS expensive than using the throwaway kind).

Upon receiving it, I discovered a huge benefit - it keeps water cold. And by cold, I mean COLD. I can put ice and water in the bottle at 8am one day, and it will still have ICE the following day at lunchtime. THAT cold. Now I'm spoiled and only cold water will do for me.

Another plus to this bottle is that much like the Nalgene, it is nearly indestructible. I can't count how many times I have dropped it and it barely has a scratch on it.

Recently, a friend showed interest and shared that she too was on A QUEST to find the perfect bottle, but she wanted it to keep beverages hot. Having never tested out mine that way, I decided to give it a whirl yesterday. I brought some water almost to a boil in a teapot and poured it in. I set my oven timer to 3 hours. After three hours, I was a bit afraid to drink it, and I'm glad I didn't. I poured some in a small bowl and touched it -- and the water SCALDED my finger! That's right - my wonder bottle that keeps my water so cold for so long also keeps it piping hot!

So the bottom line: I give it two thumbs up!!

Wii Fit

I played with the Wii Fit for an hour today. It didn't insult me like it did some other people I know, and it was a fairly good workout. I probably didn't burn the amount of calories I would have at the gym, but since it is cold outside and Wednesdays are my usual day off from the gym, I burned way more than I normally would on a day like today! So I give it two thumbs up!

Sausage and Mushroom Penne Gratin

Serves: 4 - 6
Active Time: 10 minutes Start to Finish: 30 minutes

1 lb. dried penne
1 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (can be omitted)
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, forced through a garlic press
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano - Reggiano
8 oz. shredded mozzarella, divided

*Cook penne in a pasta pot of boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta and transfer to a flameproof 3 qt. baking dish.
*Preheat broiler.
*Meanwhile, cook sausage in 1 Tbsp oil ina 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large pieces, until no longer pink. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl, leaving fat in skillet.
*Add remaining Tbsp oil to skillet along with mushrooms and garlic, then cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden, about 3 minutes.
*Return sausage to skillet along with cream, reserved 1/2 cup cooking water, a rounded 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper and boil over high heat, stirring once or twice, until thickened, about 4 minutes. Pour over pasta, then stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano, 1/2 cup mozzarella, and salt to taste. Spread evenly in baking dish and top with remaining mozzarella.
*Broil 3 to 4 inches from heat until golden brown in spots, about 5 mintues.

Wheeling, dealing, and Wii!!

Despite having mountains of laundry, I also needed groceries, so I checked out the ads and snagged a few deals at Publix and Kroger.

• At Kroger, I got:
• 10 Powerades - $0.20 each after sale and coupons
• 2 bags of Kroger cheese - $1.99 each
• 2 bottles of Heinz ketchup (FINALLY on sale) - $1.99 each

I spent$9.59 and saved $17.86, a 65% savings.

Then on to Publix:

• 1 box Azteca tortillas - $1.50 on sale
• 6 boxes Dreamfield pasta - $0.67 each after sale and coupons
• 10 Fuze juices - $0.50 each after sale and coupons
• 1 tomato - $1.09 on sale
• Electrasol - $1.40 after sale and coupon
• 1 gallon skim milk - $3.19 on sale
• 1/2 gallon whole milk - $2.39
• 3 boxes Jolly Time popcorn - FREE after sale and coupons
• 3 bottles Lysol cleaner - $0.35 each after sale and coupons
• 2 cartons sour cream - $0.89 each after sale and coupon

I spent $22.87 and saved $37.08, a savings of 62%.

So then I negated my savings, and went and bought this:


I'm excited to try it out tomorrow after Nick hooks the Wii back up (we took it on our trip).

Ok, back to laundry!

We're back!

After a 13 hour drive yesterday, we got in at 11pm and went straight to sleep. Today I'm recovering by doing all the laundry, running the errands, and getting ready for the rest of the week. Poor Nick is back to work.

We had a great time with our friends while in Texas. We went to Dave and Buster's and played video games for hours (including a boxing game from which I'm STILL sore!). We ate out, Meagan and I did some shopping, Nick and Dave played golf and all four of us played lots and lots and lots of games. We also had some yummy food like Sausage and Mushroom Penne Pasta. I'll post the recipe soon. It was REALLY good!!

Here are a few pics from our trip. I meant to take lots more, but of course forgot my camera everywhere we went.

William: "What exactly are you trying to tell me here?"


Nick explaining the game of football to Hudson:


Dave and Nick:
Meagan and Molly:
Playing games:
Molly making an Alabama fan out of Hudson:

In Texas!!

Nick and I made a secret trip to Texas yesterday, driving to Vicksburg, MS on Thursday night and then the rest of the way on Friday. Our secret? Surprising Nick's best friend, Dave, for his 30th birthday. His wife, Meagan arranged the surprise and he was totally caught off guard! It was great! Dave and Nick are like little kids when they get together, no matter how long in between visits we go. They always have fun together (and compete in anything and everything they can too!).

We are spending the weekend with their family, playing games, golfing (not me), and going out to eat. Last night we had a game marathon, playing Speed Scrabble, 2 games of Risk, Monopoly, and then a couple of Wii games. I'm proud to announce that I won one of the Wii games, BOTH the Risk games, and Speed Scrabble (almost doubling everyone else's points in that game, thanks to my months of Scrabulous playing on Facebook!).

It is warmer here so I'm having to sacrifice some pretty chilly temperatures over in Atlanta, but that's ok. It is worth it to be here with our friends.

I'll post pictures when I return.

Alone in my principles

Everywhere I go people are complaining that they are cold. At school today, my students were bundled in parkas. At the grocery store today (where I saved 61%, by the way) the lady in front of me was saying how lucky we've been this winter since it's been warmer than usual. The cashier wholeheartedly agreed and wished aloud that it would warm up quickly.

PEOPLE!

It is warm, nay, HOT for 90% of the year here. We get about a total of 7 days that are truly COLD, and only a few more on the chilly side. The rest of winter is moderate at BEST and sometimes downright warm. I had to run my a/c in December, for crying out loud!!

People around here need thicker blood.

I'll enjoy this cold snap while I can. I'm sure it will be pushing 80 by the end of January.

Meanwhile, I'll save my whining for August! ;)

/stepping down from podium

Last day of Christmas break!

Today has been much like yesterday so far. I got up (a little earlier today), worked out, then headed to run errands. This time, though I got to go with my friend Beth, which made them much more enjoyable.

We went to CVS where I got a couple of Smart Rinse mouthwashes (because I need more - my stash is dwindling and one needs at least 10 mouthwashes for backup). Hey, I paid a dime and rolled some ECBs, so it was a win/win.

I also hit Publix for a few more Fuze (ok, ten).

We went to Target to try and get some more Electrasol, but not only were they out, they are no longer on sale at my Target. Bummer. So we treated ourselves to lunch at Subway instead.

I headed home and walked in my kitchen only to discover another floodlight is out. Because I can't stand my kitchen to be dark, I ran to Walmart to get a couple. I opted for the Energysaver one, hoping it will last longer than the ones I have in there now. But it is really really bright, and floodlights don't have shades. We'll have to see if I get used to it.

I'm enjoying my last few hours of freedom (another class tonight, then school tomorrow).

What I've done so far today

This is my last day of freedom. Grad school classes start back up tonight, so I have to make the most of this day, knowing that homework starts tomorrow! This morning I slept in and then went to the gym for an hour (since I've been pretty lax about working out, I'm proud of my efforts this morning, even though I know I'll be sore tomorrow). Then I came home and got clean, and went to run some errands. I saved money at Publix today, getting everything here for $10.83, a savings of 64%:

• 2 boxes of Perdue Short Cuts chicken - on sale for $3 (down from $4.99) and I had 2 $1/1 coupons
• 13 bottles of Fuze juice (my new favorite beverage) - $1 each, used $0.25 coupons that doubled to $0.50.
• Nestle hot chocolate packets - $0.01 item

After Publix, the dry cleaner, and making my copies for the week at the UPS store, I headed home to find this:


That's right, it is 59 degrees in my house. Normally I don't run the heat during the day. As long as the weather is moderate, it warms up fairly well during the day. I run it in the late afternoon/evening and then when we get up in the morning, but the rest of the day it is set on 58. But today, it is pretty chilly outside (and last night was COLD) so it hasn't gotten above 59. Soooo, I turned up the heat, turned on the fireplace, and then made this for lunch:
Mmmmmm...Warm vegetable soup. Good for me, but more importantly, WARM!!

Now as for the rest of my day, I plan to do laundry, get some things ready for school, and do a couple of cleaning tasks around the house. Maybe I'll get a jump start on my homework for this semester....nah!

Movie Review!

It's been awhile since I've reviewed a movie, and we watched 2 last night. The first was actually the first 2 hours of the new season of 24. We TiVo'd it but accidentally deleted it before we watched it, so I rented it from Blockbuster. It was AWESOME!!! I'm so looking forward to the new season of 24, which starts tomorrow!!! Here is Jack Bauer in action:


Then we watched Eagle Eye, a thriller/action movie. I really enjoyed it and thought it was exciting and fun. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Nick wasn't the biggest fan, but didn't dislike anything about it. He just thought it was so-so. But I have better taste in movies, so that takes care of that.

$69.87

Everything you see here costs a total of $69.87.

Did I pay that?

Pah!

No, I paid $13.26, which is equal to the regular price of the papers and the South Beach bars.

I had tons of fun today.

I love Target!

Today I went to Target for some fun. No real purpose, just wanted to look around and see what I could see. I scored some great deals while I was there, so in the end it was worth the trip. Plus, I just love walking around in that place!

Here is what I got:

1. Electrasol - They had it on sale at $3.25/box and I had a $2.50/1 coupon. I've got several more coupons for this coming in the mail, but I wanted to get out of the house while the sun is shining. I'll hopefully go again before the sale ends Saturday to get the others.
2. Scrubbing Bubbles toilet wand refill - $3.89, not on sale and no coupon, but I needed it.
3. Three pairs of Christmas earrings - $0.69!!! Their meager Christmas leftovers were 90% off so I picked over everything and decided I needed some Christmas earrings for next year!
4. A lint roller for $1 in the $1 bins.
5. A magnetized notepad for the fridge for $1, also in the $1 bins (I'm a sucker for magnetized fridge pads!)
6. A beard trimmer in the 90% Christmas stuff! It was $0.50!! I don't know if you've seen my husband lately, but he is sporting a beard these days, so I thought this would help him out. $0.50 was a great price to me!!
7. A bra for 75% off at $4.24. Not pictured because no one needs or wants to see my underwear!!

All told, I spent $13.83 and saved $20.64 according to my receipt, but $31.78 or 70% according to my calculations (they didn't take into account the savings on the bra).

Rainy yucky day = organizing frenzy!

Today it has looked like this for most of the day so far:


Windy, chilly, rainy, and basically icky.

So I've decided to take the day off from running errands or doing anything outside. Instead, I'm busy with this:

Every January (or so), I file the bills from the previous year into a binder, then reorganize my filing cabinet so it can receive a new year's set of bills (gotta love those bills). This year I'm doing a deep cleanse of the file cabinet and shredding things we certainly don't need (gate code for our swimming pool from two summers ago, anyone?). It has been awhile since I've done a really thorough job so I'm tackling that task today (ooooh - alliteration!) along with my trusty labelmaker! Fun times!

Walgreens, Kroger, and CVS (and a funny story)

This morning I took my time getting around to my errands. I slept in, had breakfast, then went to the gym. By the time I showered and dressed (in a short sleeved shirt on January 5th - argh!) it was nearly noon. But I ended up going to the places I'd intended and getting most of the deals I'd planned on.

First, I stopped at Walgreens and CVS:
I got everything you see here for under $3 and will get back $1.50 in mail-in rebates. The Garnier was free at both Walgreens and CVS. At Walgreens there wasn't a limit to how many you can get.

However, the Walgreens coupon read "limit one item per coupon" so I asked the girl at the counter if that meant I needed to bring up more of the Walgreens books that had the coupon (they were stacked at the front). She said no, and proceeded to inform me that one lady had come in and purchased more than FIFTY bottles of shampoo and conditioner and just used the one coupon (it takes off the amount for each bottle separately). Emily - did you visit my Walgreens? Nah!

I purchased a modest 5.

The cashier wasn't too upset with my using coupons on everything but seemed to have a lot to say about "crazy coupon people". She told me that her mom called her to tell her that she had spent a penny at CVS and gotten a whole cartful of stuff. I didn't have the heart to tell her I was on my way to CVS to do the same thing.

Not everyone is a coupon fan - that's ok - more for me!!


After my trips to Walgreens and CVS, I headed to Kroger. I was there to have fun more than anything, and got everything you see in the picture above for 1/2 price after sale and coupons. I had a bunch of good coupons and we like several of the products in the picture, so I decided it was time to restock in a few areas (except the Cottonelle toilet paper - I know!). But you know me and free toilet paper - I just can't resist.

In other news, I ordered the window seat cushion in the striped material on the right in the picture I posted a couple of days ago. It should be ready in a couple of weeks and I'll post the end result!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm actually writing it on Monday! Yay!

Here is what we are eating this week:

Monday - Orange teriyaki chicken, brown rice, broccoli
Tuesday - Scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, fruit salad
Wednesday - Stuffed chicken breasts, pasta, green beans
Thursday - Pork fried rice, broccoli
Friday - Calzones, salad
Saturday - Taco salads
Sunday - Grilled chicken or steak, hash brown casserole, salad

Date night!

Tonight Nick and I decided to go on a date. We got dressed up (ish), and went to a couple of stores to window shop, including Barnes and Noble, which is where we used to go all the time before we were married. Neither of us found anything we had to have, but it was fun to browse.


Then we ate a delicious Mexican dinner at La Parilla, one of my favorite restaurants. We are now both stuffed!
Now I think we'll watch a movie, since last night's typical movie night was preempted by the Alabama football game (that they lost - doubly sad).

New window seat cushion

The swatches for the window seat cushion came today. And while it is hard to tell exactly from the computer screen, here are our four choices:
The wall color, in case anyone forgot:
Thoughts? I'll update when we decide!

Refreshing change

I've needed to update some of my decor for awhile. So here is one small change I made today:

Before:


After:
Can anyone tell the difference? Nick couldn't!

Fat, lazy, cuddly, and very warm

Top 8 of 2008

All week long, I've been seeing top 8 or top 10 highlights of 2008 (okay, so most of those were sports related -- I absorb a lot of ESPN when Nick has it on). But I thought I'd do my own highlights version. Here is my year in review and some favorites:

Our March trip to Lake Tahoe and my first attempt at skiing:
Beautiful views at Yosemite National Park:
The most amazing tall trees at Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias:
Our road trip to San Antonio in August:
Visiting good friends in Dallas:
Saving money throughout the year with coupons (how could I leave out this highlight?):
Finishing our office bookshelves and painting:
And most importantly, spending time with friends and family (many more not pictured!):
Happy New Year everyone!!!