Operation $40K

Every year around Christmas, as far back as I can remember, my Dad makes this dish. It IS yummy and SOOOOO easy! It's great with a fresh fruit salad and juice or coffee. Enjoy! Breakfast Casserole (make night before) 1 1/2# bulk sausage* 9 Eggs 2 1/2 C milk* 1 1/2 t dry mustard* 1 t salt 3 slices bread cut into small cubes* 1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese* Cook sausage until brown & crumbly. Drain well. Beat eggs with milk in large bowl, add remaining ingredients and the sausage and mix well. Pour into a greased 9x13x2 casserole dish. Refrigerate covered overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for one hour cut into casserole to make sure it's done (not soupy) serves 8-10 or Andy and a little for you and Sarah :)

I still am not sure how I did it, I think I signed up through the Kraft First Taste website, but I was a winner! The box arrived this weekend and I wanted to share the box contents with y'all Here is what the box looks like - you can see a little hand on the right, she was VERY excited to see what was in the box! She grabbed the soft baseballs right away -- The Oscar Meyer Potholders and the tongs, which are SOOOO cool - they have silicone tips so you can't drop the hot dogs! A pack of logo Frisbees... Just look at the big bunch of $.75 off Ketchup coupons and 18 coupons for FREE packs of hot dogs! These all feed into the Pool Party BBQ we are doing for Sarah's birthday later this month with the family...add some potato salad, fruit salad and all the soda and brats I still have, a neighbor is making the cake and we are good to go! :) We will share the coupons and logo items with the people that come, per the "party pack" spirit, but want to point out that it DOES ...

Remember me talking about Walgreen's and their Register Rewards program? Menard's has something like that - but you get merchandise credit checks mailed to you. There are a TON of offers like $2 for buying Hershey's Pot Of Gold , limit 4. NOW, if you watch the sales, match up coupons AND do this -- you can have a perpetual cash system rolling along for you at the Hardware store too! Every week in their sale flier, there are items available for great prices after sending in a rebate. Many are free after rebate (FAR), but they have a clause that you must spend $10 in non-rebate items to qualify for the free rebates. This clause does not affect items that are not FAR. Your rebate is only available in the form of a Menards "rebate check", meaning you use it just as you would a gift card. So, you go choose your items, and the first time you shop, you will pay full price Out of Pocket (OOP). Your receipt will have rebate receipts attached, and each will have a rebate nu...

Books are a GREAT investment in a child's future! They learn the love of language, the TV is shut off and you have quality snuggle time as you and the little person on your lap enjoy the latest story. How cool is it when you can get 40-50-60 new stories for FREE? A great reason to NOT be on digest for a Freecycle loop is the fact that it helps you have that slight edge on the competition when you quickly respond to a post. It can almost be like a radio call in game - where you can win a big prize but you have to be caller #3, LOL! In this case, you have to be emailer #1 and polite enough to warrant their consideration. I ALWAYS end my note with "thank you for considering us..." Today's score was the lot of children's books that you see pictured. We scored some Thomas the Train (her all time favorite!), Dora and Diego, Dr Seuss, Curious George, Shrek, and a whole series of Babybug - that we had never heard of. In addition to the pictured ones were about two dozen t...

Who cares about the over and under debate - us thrifty chicks care simply just care about the cost! This is really a woman's domain as men so rarely use it (LOL!) It's a game that a lot of the manufacturers play: 1 ply, 2 ply, double roll, triple roll, quadruple roll, it's enough to make a person go insane trying to figure out what the best deal is! Now they even have recycled toilet paper. Although it might get you thinking -->Ewww...HOW did they collect and recycle it? That is not the reality of the product, it is simply made from recycled paper. This is where you can even "Go Green" when you are simply going... :) Let's take care of the ply issue first - 2 ply is non-negotiable. I find that you actually use LESS sheets if you have 2 ply. That is better than the almost 4x the sheets that a single ply makes us use. We simply don't want "stuff" getting on our fingers! We used to buy double rolls - then came out TRIPLE rolls and now Giant rolls...

Here is the plan for the week...after looking at what I have in the freezer, and what I did NOT make during the streak of a migraine I had last week: Breakfast is usually the same: Breakfast Cookies, cold cereal* or oatmeal* with a piece of fresh fruit (apple, strawberries, grapes or banana). Lunch is either leftovers, peanut butter* & jelly sandwiches, quesidillas, or cold plate with sausage or diced chicken - cheese* - crackers* & fresh fruit or yogurt. Dinner: Monday - left overs/fridge clean out! Tuesday - hamburgers on the grill with potato salad* Wednesday - School picnic (we are bringing cheese)* ! Thursday - breakfast casserole* (for dinner) Friday - beenie weenies* (a few hot dogs to use up from the picnics)! Saturday - Meatless Meal: fettucini with veggies Sunday - chicken enchiladas* * Denotes items that were free or almost free from my coupon clipping. My challenge to you this week: Keep your family from eating anything that came out a window!

It's that time of year - when we show a little appreciation for the gang that helped mold the minds of our little ones for many months. Sarah had two teachers for preschool - they were both WONDERFUL! Instead of the normal apple route, we did strawberries and will package them up with a note that says "to a berry great teacher". These were pretty easy to make, only cost me some paper out of my stash and a bag of clearance Hershey Kisses. I got the idea from a friend's blog (Thanks Ms Heidi) but found a cut file online - we cut them, scored and embossed them, then stuffed with kisses! Enjoy the video of Sarah working the Cuttlebug and embossing them all - she is a true crafter at heart :) A few glue dots or adhesive onthe tab... Stick it together... Put a few Kisses inside... Fold the flaps down a little... Thread the hemp or ribbon through the holes... tie it closed... Thread the cord through the hole in the center of the strawberry top... tie it closed... And now, yo...

I am a huge "cherry picker"! That means I usually go after the big sales specials and loss leaders, and try to match coupons to them to maximize my savings. I learned that next Wednesday, Copp's will not double five coupons, they will double TEN! So, here are the items I am watching...it is SOOOO easy to hit that $25 when you know that you can use ten $1 coupons and double them! :) I scoped out the "pocket your dollars" site and then my circular came! These are just a few of the deals available, the ones that I am aiming for! Meat Deals Frozen Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (3 pounds) $1.88/lb (Limit 2, in combination with ground beef)Sale price, no coupon required Final price: $1.88 after sale** 75% Lean Ground Beef (3+ pounds) $1.88/lb (Limit 2, in combination with chicken) Sale price, no coupon required Final price: $1.88 after sale** **Fattier ground beef is good for burgers. I take the raw meat, form it into patties when I bring it home, set them on a gr...

I have had people ask me "WHY do you buy 10 cans of spaghetti sauce or 10 boxes of pasta at a time"? It's a simple answer: Stockpiling. Stockpiling is a time-proven method to combine the discounting power of coupons, sales, and rebates over the long term to free up some much needed cash. Finding that killer deal and then buying not one or two, but as many as you can at the super deal price. This requires you to have as many coupons as possible for every item at any given time (why it's nice to know the newspaper coupon inserts in advance so you can get extra papers!). Then corner the market, and store them away. Some people call this "cherry picking" - you really only shop the loss leaders and sales specials at the store - ignoring the other items until they go on sale. Create your own mini warehouse in your home and you are no longer depending on the store to give you a great price. You can wait it out, until another super deal comes along. HOW much is TOO ...

Here it is, June and I am going to do the $100 challenge again! I made it thru last month and also hosted tow parties -- this month should be a breeze, especially with a full freezer and almost full pantry! You will see that I was stocking up on BBQ sauce and cheese this week -- I will share some recipe ideas at the end of my shopping summary for you -- some things I plan to do! I did pretty darned well this week and used up $19 in Register Rewards that my mom gave me. I DID try to talk her into using them herself and she wouldn't so I will share some of this weeks bounty with her :) NOW, at MY Roundy's store, we get to use the original shelf price to figure out our $25 before the coupons get doubled, I know some stores work off the SALE prices. I will have the sale prices listed and the original prices in ( ). Transaction #1 Hamburger Buns $.78 (1.19) Heinz ketchup $2.49 8 Pink lemonade Koolaid Packets @$.25 4 KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce @$2.50 (2.99) 2 Oscar Meyer Wieners @ 1.50...