Mini Lasagna!

I do my best to make a weekly menu each weekend for the following week.  I also do my best to have a variety of meals.  I try to include chicken, deer, pork and fish each week...which only covers 4 meals.  I am also working to try to make my meals healthier! 

While scrolling through my Cooking Board on Pinterest I ran across a recipe for 'mini' lasagna!  I thought...well, why not!  You can find the original recipe here. 

I (of course) modified this recipe! :)

You will need:

• Marinara Sauce (I used the Wal-Mart brand 'pasta' sauce)
• Ricotta Cheese (will be near the cottage cheese...learned that after walking through the whole grocery side of the store a couple times)
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Won Ton wraps (near the healthy stuff in the fresh produce section)
• Deer mean (or meat of choice) - Optional

Spray your pan well.  Place one won ton wrapper in each muffin space.  Add a spoon full of marinara sauce, a spoon full of deer meat and a spoon of ricotta cheese.  I then placed another won ton wrapper on top of the ricotta cheese and sprinkled the very top with mozzarella (the original recipe added a full 2nd layer of everything). 

Bake at 375 for about 18 minutes and Enjoy!!! I served mine with a small Caesar salad and sweet tea!!

Breakfast on the Run...

I am absolutely not a morning person and therefore am not a big fan of breakfast (unless it is for dinner!).  However, my husband works nights and gets off work at breakfast time!  He doesn't usually want a big meal when he gets home from work (and I am usually on my way out the door, or already on my way to work by this time) so, in the interest of saving money and being healthy, I made my own freezer breakfast meals for him!  Honestly, my Mom and Dad have made these for quite sometime, but they don't usually make them in bulk and freeze them. 

You will need:

• English Muffins
• Eggs
• Sliced Cheese
• Canadian Bacon
• Storage Bags
• (I bought enough of everything to make a dozen at a time)

Get a small bowl (the bottom of the bowl should be about the size of the muffin) and break one egg into the bowl.  Season as you prefer and microwave for 1 minute.  You can also cook the egg on the stove if you would rather.

While the egg is cooking open a muffin, add one slice of cheese and one slice of canadian bacon.

Remove the egg from the microwave and use a fork/spoon to release the egg from the bowl.

Add egg to sandwich and there you go!!  Better than McDonald's could ever dream of! Healthier too!!  Then, if  you choose to freeze them, simply place one in a bag and place it in the freezer. When you reheat it it usually takes about a minute or a minute and half!  Enjoy!!

Attn: Couponers!!

So, I was going through Wal-Mart this afternoon on a quick trip to get some things for school and ran across a clearance section in Office Supplies. I love Office Supplies!!  I noticed the Pop Up tape things were on clearance...I didn't get any, just noticed.

Then, after working in my classroom today, I went back to Wal-Mart (with my coupon book) to get groceries).  I had failed to research the sales, so I pulled my little Wal-Mart cart into a corner to browse through my coupons real quick and pulled a few I wanted to check on...as I was doing that I came across $1 off Pop Up Tape...hmmm.... So, after grabbing some free razors, cheap feminine products, and energy bars I headed back to office supplies...

 Sure enough, I saw:

Pop-Up Tape refill:  $0.75!!

Do the math? 

That's right!!

(Don't know how to turn this the right way...)

I made $0.25 for each one!!!  Woohoo!! I was so excited! I love to use this when wrapping gifts, but rarely buy it because regular tape is cheaper, and I prefer to take the cheapest (but still nice) way possible.

I did notice that a couple aisles over the same thing was listed at $1.97, but I double checked with the Wal-Mart person working that section, and they were truly $0.75.  So, find your coupon and go check your Wal-Mart!!

Pinterest Project of the Day - Day 17

Today, I had a fun and busy day!!  I spent part of the day at Opry Mills with my family! That was the first time I have been since the flood - the mall looked very nice!  Before I left I finished crocheting all the flowers for an order of hair bows.  This evening, I put the hair bows together and also completed today's project!!  I decided to try and make one of those 'stay-put' bookmarks.  It was SO simple and very quick.  If you do not have any of the supplies on hand you can make this for less than $7 (and you will have enough materials to make more than one).  I didn't even get out the sewing machine for this! I simply hand sewed one end of the ribbon around a small hair tie, then folded over the edge of the other end and sewed it and added the button.  It was perfect!!  Usually the button side would go on the outside of the book, but for the sake of the picture you will see my bookmark on the inside!

Of course, if you don't want to make one, I'll be glad to do it for you!  Simply message me for details!

FREE - THIS SATURDAY!!!

So, today was a run around town and do errands kind of day.  Including standing in line 45 minutes waiting to order at Chick-fil-A (I think it is wonderful when someone stands up for what they believe in...wish more people would stand up for their beliefs)!  Therefore, I did not do any project in its entirety...However, I did do small parts of various projects! :)  Keep checking back to see some pretty neat things I've been working on!!   I did find an amazing coupon that I wanted to share.  This Saturday (August 4th) you can get a free quart of pain at your local Ace Hardware.  Simply print the coupon, fill it out, and take to your store! 

I will definitely be using this!  I have two projects in mind, so if I can get my sweet, thoughtful, loving, wonderful (just in case he reads this) husband to stay awake long enough after he gets off work, I will print a coupon for him too!  I am trying to do a few projects to give our house a little 'cheap' face lift and FREE paint will most certainly help with that!! We have a front door, hand rail, and 6 shutters that NEED paint!  Check back for pictures of how I use my free paint and please let me know how you use yours!

Pinterest Project of the Day - Day 14

Yesterday I spent the day in a minivan with my sister-n-law and her three children...so...didn't really do much of a project! :)  However, any day spent with family is wonderful!!  So, I thought I would show ya'll an old project that I did and had on back-up for such situations!  I have already talked about my closet and the pegboard to hang my purses (thanks Dad and Stephen).  I had been trouble storing my 'cute' winter boots and saw the neatest idea on Pinterest.   You take those foam pool noodles and cut them to size and stick them down in your boots.  So, I went to get some pool noodles...and could not find them!!!  But finally, after girls night with my best friend we were seeking shelter from a storm in Kroger and there were my pool noodles...ON SALE!!  Woohoo!!  I bought three, but only used two, and here is the finished product!  I am so pleased with this project, and it was SO easy!!

Put the pool noodle  in your boot

Mark the desired height with a marker

Cut with regular scissors

Pinterest Project of the Day - Day 6

Since I got married almost two years ago, I now live about an hour away from my parents.  So, in an effort to see them on a more regular basis during the summer (since the school year is crazy for us all) my Mom and I have been scrapbooking each Tuesday through the summer.  We would be at her house for a few weeks, and then at my house for a few weeks.  It has been wonderful!  I have completed the 2010 scrapbook (I had skipped 2008 and 2009 to get to the wedding year) except for the wedding (I can't find an album I like...), and I am halfway through 2008.  I hope to be finished with 2008 and 2009 by Christmas, so I will only be about two years behind in January 2013!  I love to look at other people's ideas for scrapbooking and I love to find ways to use one or two items to do the work of a lot more.  Today's project was to make flowers out of punches I already had in my scrapbook tote. My project was to use my large oval punch and some scrap paper to make a flower, I punched 5 ovals and used one of those little flowers and mini brads for the center!  I was very excited about how it turned out!!

Pinterest Project of the Day - Day 2

I am all about doing things that can save money!  I also love to do things 'home-made'.  I don't go as far as some do, but I do try to do as much as I can to make my own products and do it the cheap way! I also have always been a huge fan of dishwashers!!  As I would help my Mom with dishes at home I always told her that when I got my own house I only wanted 'dishwasher safe' items.  While, not every item in my kitchen now is dishwasher safe, the majority of my items are! Because I love to cook, and try to make everything I can from scratch, I generally mess up quite a few dishes when I go to cook dinner. Therefore, I run my dishwasher every couple days at least (and I'm sure that will increase as we have children!).  Dishwasher tabs are quite expensive and that expense was just not fitting into my weekly Wal-Mart grocery and household needs budget.  So, a friend of mine had tried making dishwasher detergent from a recipe found on Pinterest and they truly liked it!  Well, I got on Pinterest and found quite a few recipes for dishwasher detergent.  Some made huge batches, some made small batches, some required lemon Kool-Aid (which would stain your dishwasher after a few uses).  After ready many many recipes, I finally found one I wanted to try!  So, I mixed up a batch and of course, just happened to have a dishwasher full of dirty dishes to try it on!  I have to say, I like it!!    Below is a picture of my detergent and the recipe I used to make it!  I also used vinegar as the rinsing agent (in that little spot in the dishwasher door!).  Good Luck and enjoy!!

2 cups of Borax

2 cups of Baking Soda
 4 tablespoons of citric acid--can be found near canning items
White Vinegar

Mix everything together by either dumping into a big bowl and stirring it really well or dumping it into a container with a lid and shaking it up. You can keep it in your lidded container or re-use your old detergent box, or a jar.

I use about 1 1/2 tablespoons per load. (3/4 tablespoon in the open cup and 3/4 in the closed locking cup)  I have heard that if you have hard water, you can adjust the amount of Borax, or add salt to the detergent mixture

Recipe from: http://frugallygreen.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-make-your-own-dishwasher.html

Update on the Dryer Sheets...

WOW!  So, I have learned that my plan for making my own dryer sheets did not work out quite as well as I had hoped.....they got moldy.  Very sad day!  So, Plan B!

Make home made fabric softener, as mentioned in previous post.  Put in a spray bottle (you can buy these for $1  or less at Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store).  Keep dry rags in a container.  When you are ready to put a load of laundry in the dryer, gently shake the spray bottle of fabric softener and spritz the rag before tossing in the dryer!

Hope this helps!

Home-Made Fabric Softener and Dryer Sheets

FABRIC SOFTENER

1 Gallon container
1 cup Baking Soda
6-8 cups Vinegar
Water
Essential Oil - Optional


I use an old 1 gallon Fabric Softener container (rinsed well)

Combine 1 Cup Baking Soda with Vinegar - carefully!  I did this in a mixing bowl.  I only added enough vinegar to make the baking soda mixture easy to pour into the 1 gallon container.  Then I gradually added the remaining vinegar.  I added about 10 drops of Clean Cotton Essential Oil.  Then I filled the container the rest of the way with water.

I also took my husband's drill and drilled a few small holes in the lid of the container to prevent an explosion!  Before each use you need to slightly shake/stir the mixture - which will re-mix the baking soda and vinegar and cause it overflow if not handled carefully.

DRYER SHEETS:

1 empty baby wipe box
while washcloths
Fabric Softener

I cut up some plain white washcloths from Wal-Mart into pieces that will easily fit into the baby wipe box.  Then I pour fabric softener over the rags until they were wet through. I use one rag with each load of laundry put through the dryer.