clear out your coupon binder-May

(this is not my coupon binder...it's way more organized then mine!)

So, it's time to make some room in your coupon binders for September. In order to make this happen, I'm clearing out May. Before you throw the whole insert away, there are a few exceptions to the "expired" rule. See below for unexpired Q's you may wish to keep.

Also, please keep in mind that inserts may vary and I can't tell you about a Q that I've already used...so use at your own risk!

SS 5/2 there are three different Eggland's Best Q's expiring 9/30

RP 5/2

there are two Whitman's candy Q's expiring 11/2
one Aunt Jemima Mix/Syrup expiring 9/30
two Russell Stover candy expiring 11/2

PG 5/2 Toss Whole Insert

SS 5/9 there is one Raid earth Options Q that expires 9/30 (this is for $2!)

SS 5/16 Toss Whole Insert

RP 5/16 There is one Captain Crunch Q that expires 10/31

SS 5/23

there is a Brookwood Farms BBQ Q that expires 9/5
a Goof Off remover Q good through 10/31
a Dromdedary Pimiento Q good through 9/30
an anti-chafing Gel Q expiring 9/13
a rust-Aid cleaner Q good through 12/31
California Cheese Q good through 9/30

RP 5/23 Toss Whole Insert


While you're at it:

PG 6/6 Toss whole Insert

clear out your coupon binder

I'm tossing all things March and April this month. As expected, most of them are long ago expired but I did find a few that would be good a few more months.

Before you toss:

Check SS 4/25 There is a $12 rebate for sentinel (heart worm meds) that expires 11/6

Check RP 7/11 There are 2 Breathe Right product Q's that expire 10/31

I'll be working on May this afternoon, so keep checking back if you want to make some room for your September Q's.

Menu Planning Monday (one day late)

Here's the menu plan as far as I can tell this week!

Monday: leftover grilled chicken and sausage, fresh butternut squash, garden salad

Tuesday: Chili and cornbread muffins

Wednesday: I'll pack a buffalo chicken wrap, an apple, and a granola bar, my
husband will scavenge (probably leftover chili)

Thursday: chicken and rice

Friday: half price apps and cocktails: Our Chiefs does happy hour drink specials and half price apps everyday till seven...I can't resist the Calabash shrimp nachos!

Saturday: hubby gone, so it'll be pizza or Chinese take out for me (or be lazy and have WE)

Sunday: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted veggies, cucumber/tomato
salad

Friday Food Waste

I'm ever so inspired by The Frugal Girl to participate in her Friday food waste movement. What a neat idea to be held accountable for the food we throw away. So this week, I took a picture of the food that I tossed.



This week I tossed one lone tomatillo. I originally bought about 20 of them, and when I made my salsa verdi, 2 were not ripe yet. Then we used one of them to make guacamole...and this poor guy was all that was left.

I also tossed a half of jar of spaghetti sauce. It's been in there for who knows how long, and I just need to be honest with myself that I'll never use it. It's accumulated some crust on the top....

And last, I made a HUGE bowl of baba ganoush last weekend. It was delicious, but just way too much. Next time I'll half the recipe and it will be perfect.

Have a great weekend!!

Dream Analysis

A funny thing happened last night! It was one of those moments where I woke up, and what I dreamed perfectly illustrated a point that I tried to make to my husband. It was like "aha" I was right and this proves it. Unfortunately, he didn't see it that way!



We do the international thermostat dance of love. I'm usually chilly (or at least comfortable) and he is ALWAYS burning up. Having the fan blowing on me, especially when sleeping, really irritates my lungs so we can never seem to get our acts together temperature wise. I've tried valiantly to turn the air off at night so we can save both energy and money. This has worked out pretty well, although on occasion my husband has had to go sleep in the spare room with the fan on full blast. I am suspicious of this act, because I'm always covered up with at least one quilt and sometimes two, so I think he is over-reacting!

Anyways, back to my story. He is always getting on me about sleeping with a blanket in the summer. He doesn't understand that I can't sleep comfortable without being covered up. Just the other day, I was trying to explain to him how it was sort of a mental thing. I remember being a kid and being scared of the "monster under my bed". I always felt like if I was covered up, I was safe. If I had a foot sticking out or something, I was sure it would "get me".

He thought I was crazy and made fun of me. (It sounds worse than it was, we have a special sort of couple humor...I make fun of his stuff too!)



So last night before we went to bed...he earnestly explained to me how he had been suffering terrible all summer and just couldn't sleep with the air off anymore. I took pity on him, and agreed to leave it on and not give him a hard time about it.

So we went to bed with the air on! I had a few glasses of wine and actually fell asleep over the covers (total shocker cause with no alcohol I could never sleep that way).

Well, my dream was very interesting. First I was in a warehouse made of all windows. I was going about my business there...totally naked. I was aware the whole time that I was on display and couldn't do anything about it. Then, in my dream, I left the warehouse to walk back "home". I suddenly had clothes, but I was being followed by some men who seemed to be up to no good. I was running away and could hear them coming closer and closer to me.

Then I woke up.

I fell asleep with no covers and dreamed that I was "on display" and "unsafe". To me, that is total validation that I subconsciously NEED to be covered up to sleep.

Ah but my sweet husband rolled his eyes, sighed, and continued to read the paper! Jerk, I listen to his stupid dreams....;)

Doing the Dishes

I live in a house with only one other person, and he works at least 45 hours a week outside of the home. He is also a wonderfully neat, helpful, man who helps out around the house on occasion, especially when I ask him too! This means that when I'm cleaning up, I'm really cleaning at least 60% of my own mess. (My math)

So I get a little cranky when I have to do at least two loads of dishes a day. I mean, really, I have a dishwasher, I have a husband, why do I have to do the damn dishes so often?

My problem is that I LOVE to cook. I'll make an omelet for breakfast (cutting board, knife, bowl and whisk for eggs, pan, spatula, plate and fork), a salad for lunch (knife, cutting board, plate, fork), and a full dinner. That is at least 2 loads of dishes.

Now I don't make those things everyday, but at least 4 times a week I'm cooking 3 meals a day. And on other days, I'm baking, canning, cooking for the week to freeze, that sort of thing.

I have no solution but just wanted to complain about it for a minute! I guess I could go from running the dish washer once a week to once a day, but I hate this idea for 2 reasons. One, it wastes water and two, I hate unloading the dishwasher more than I hate washing dishes!!!

Sliders and stuffed figs

I impressed the heck out of myself yesterday! I spent Thursday canning 16 lbs of tomatoes...I made a delicious tomato jam. After everything had been canned, I had about 1/2 C left and I was DYING to use it on something.

So I bought some hard dinner rolls, pulled some hamburger out of the freezer, and made sliders for dinner. My husband was excited because it a) was something different and b) made him feel like he was at the bar even though we weren't!

So I combined about 3/4 lb of hamburger with about 2 T dill relish, shaped into patties, and grilled on the George Foreman. I toasted the split buns on the stove with some butter. To put them together, I topped the patties with a huge dollop of tomato jam.

On the side, I made some fresh figs, stuffed with feta cheese and wrapped in bacon. OMG! So good. Basically, you can wrap anything in bacon and it will be awesome, but take my word for it...you have to try it.

I recently discovered fresh figs, and bought these on a whim. I just halved 6 medium sized figs, and stuffed them with about 1/2-1 t feta cheese. Then I wrapped them in a half of a piece of bacon and secured with a toothpick.

I baked them in a 375 degree oven for about 1/2 hour and they were perfect.

I was concerned that the cheese would run a bit, but they were beautiful. Only one fig half sort of shimmies out of the bacon, and that was because of poor toothpick placement on my part!



So if you have an abundance of fresh figs and tomato jam like I did yesterday...now you know what to make!

simple living blogs

Well, it's no secret that I am a frugal liver. I coupon, stockpile, bake from scratch, freeze leftovers, can produce... But I also enjoy shopping, traveling, watching TV, playing games. Some things I do (like having cocktails at the bar, going to the movies, concerts) cost a lot of money and I don't think twice (well 3x) about doing them because I enjoy them.

But lately, I've been doing a lot of blog reading, and the main interest for me is simple living. I've been implementing certain things in my everyday life that fit right in with that idea...but I'm becoming inspired to do more.

I'm going to start by organizing my two freezers and pantry and making a list of what I've got. That way, shopping, meal planning, and cooking will be easier. I'll also organize my bathroom drawers and cupboards.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Bi-Lo Trip

So I'm very excited about my trip to Bi-Lo tomorrow! Here's a break down of what I've got planned...

(1) Smithfield Boneless Ham Steak: .99
(1) Bestlife Buttery Spread: free
(4) Mission Flour Tortillas: 4
(2) Lance Sandwich Crackers 8 pack: .70
(2) Peter Pan Peanut Butter: .30
(2) Men's Speedstick: 2
(2) Colgate Toothpaste: .80

So I"ll pay around $9 for all of this stuff!!!

Can't wait!!