Idea's on Saving Money

Many of you have asked how we save money on things. Here are a few tips we use to save money.

* We often call companies and see if they are willing to give us discounts. A few that we save money with are:
Qwest: They already do bundling so we save quite a bit with them. We also call back every 3-6 months to see if there are any new promotions they are willing to give us.

Direct TV: While we bundle this with Qwest we can still call them and ask for separate discounts. This past week I called and we got a $10 off a month for a year. PLUS, we got free movie channels for six months.

Verizon: My husband qualifies for their employee discount so we receive an 18% discount per month on the primary line. Usually equaling 10-15 dollars a month.

** Coupons: I'm not as much of a couponer as when I first started out, but this still comes in very handy. The one thing I will not budge on is cereal. I will not buy cereal if it is more then a $1 a box. We go through a lot of cereal so when there are deals I stock up to last until the next sale.

***Now some of you might be asking what about saving for the kiddo's. We save ALL of our change. I'm a waitress as well at night so sometimes this might be more then the average families. We do however give the kids all the change for their piggy bank. About once a month we go to the bank and let them cash it in to put in their savings account. This usually equals anywhere between $50-$100 a month.

Those are just a few of the tips we do. There is another great article HERE from momsplans she quest posted about 3 ways to reduce expenses. Check it out if you are interested! :)

Free P & G coupons booklet!

I'm not sure that a lot of people really read my blog, but be sure to sign up over here for a coupon booklet with over $35 in coupons in it. It is completely free!

Hamburgers with a twist

I know I said I would not be blogging until I lost those few pesky pounds. However, I made a recipe that I can't wait to share with you!

I have been trying to find ways to add more veggies in with our meals. I've gone as far as steaming and pureeing carrots to put in our meatballs! I made the cheddar cheese broccoli soup a while back and it called for grated zucchini. I thought how fabulous would that be in a hamburger! Oh yes I did. Here is my new go to recipe for hamburgers.

2 pounds of hamburger
handful of grated carrots (I bought them like that)
1 zucchini, grated
salt/pepper
garlic (i use powder, but would have used fresh if I had it on hand)
1 tsp group cumin (I didn't measure I just did a small handful)
1/4 onion, grated

Put all into a bowl and dig in. Yes, get your hands dirty and get it all mixed together. This made 11 good size hamburgers for us. We made 5 for lunch today and froze 6. This would be another PERFECT freezer meal to make. Way easy!

One thing I want to say if you aren't a fan of carrots be very careful. There were obviously some spots that had more carrot taste then others. Also you can see the carrots, so if your kids don't like them I suggest pureeing them so its not as noticeable! We couldn't even really tell there was zucchini or onion in it. I'd say major success! Hope you all try it! :)

See you soon...

For those of you who know me, know I have been working towards training for a 5k. I REALLY want to be able to do one and run the whole time. I have also been working towards losing this last bit of pregnancy fat. I often find myself distracted from working out. Mostly due to the fact that I like my facebook and other blogs I read. I can always find an online way to procrastinate and most times skip my workouts.

That being said. I am not going to be online until I get to the next set of 10's. I have been stuck at this same weight for almost a year, so until I can get this kick started and lose those pesky 6 pounds I am not going to be blogging, face-booking, or emailing! Yikes!

That is going to be difficult for me! I love me some Internet. However, I feel it is necessary to cut out the things that I love doing for motivation! I will be completely honest and hope that I am back by April 30th! That's a little over two weeks. We shall see! Until then, I hope you all will check out the blogs that I have been following over on the left!

Recipe Crazy?!

I have gone recipe crazy. I realize I have been posting more about cooking then couponing lately, but I'm more interested in cooking right now! :) I still am couponing just not as freakishly as I have been.

This week I have tried several recipes. Here is one I did today that doesn't really have a name, but here it is.

Pizza on Bread

1 loaf of french bread
tomato sauce (I used ragu)
garlic powder/oregano
Mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice

Cut french bread into slices and lay out on a baking sheet.
Add tomato sauce, seasonings, mozz. cheese and pizza topping.
Bake in the oven on 375 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

These were great, but I didn't take a picture b/c I burned them :( I forgot about them in the oven! They were still good though! Kids loved them and I'm sure I will be making them again soon! Perfect for that leftover fresh bread!

Cheddar Cheese Soup with Broccoli? I think so!

If you all haven't been to good cheap eats you need to check it out. She is a mom of 5 babes and is always finding way to eat frugally. I use A LOT of her recipes including the pizza dough!

So a couple days ago I found this recipe for Broccoli and Cheese soup. Now I'm not a huge broccoli fan, but I have been LOVING the cheesy broccoli lately so I thought I would give it a try. Today for lunch we had this with some Parmesan bread-sticks from Safeway. Yes, next time I will make my own bread-sticks! :)

Photo from Cheapeats.com

Chicken Stir Fry

This recipe is a little take of Beef Cilantro and Chicken Stir fry. First you take chicken and cube it and cook it.

Remove chicken from pan and spray with non stick spray. Then add 1 onion and 1 bell pepper. Saute until brown and caramelized.

When onions and peppers are cooked add back in the chicken. Mix together. Add soy sauce and lime juice. Simmer for 5 minutes.


What would stir fry be without rice?! I used brown rice, trying to be a little healthier! :)
This recipe turned out amazing. My kids loved it (minus the onions and green things ;) Even Jeff liked it. I didn't use an exact recipe I just eyeball everything. I did use about a pound in a half of chicken. This fed our family of four and we had left overs for lunch the next day. The kids of course had PB and J because that is their favorite meal. So this could feed 6 people. ENJOY! :)

Snickerdoodle Muffins???

(Photo from Miss. Jen)

I have heard of snicker-doodle cookies, but MUFFINS?! Jen over at Miss. Jen's Kitchen Adventures has an amazing recipe up for snicker-doodle muffins! I can't wait to try these out!