Operation $40K

There are plenty of fun, free things to do out there if you have kids! Libraries, book stores, toy shops are a great source of fun things that create memories for your peanut and only costs you your time. Thanks to my Friend Melanie, we ended up at Toy R Us today for their Thomas event. Those that know ms Sarah, know she is a Thomas the Train freak - she has Thomas Jammies, a shirt or two and even picked it when she had a choice of "big girl" sheets for her bed. Today, they had story time, coloring sheets, passed out "crowns" and had trivia that awarded you in more Thomas swag...all in the middle of their Thomas section at the store, from 11-1. In the past we have met Clifford, the Big Red Dog at Barnes & Noble's story time...the Lucky Charms Leprechaun at the grocery store (along with the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee) and Scoopy, the Culver's Mascot at the grand opening of the new emergency hospital. WHERE does one find things? Check out your local Mom's

The big sale this week was on ground beef - I took a quick peak at my chest freezer and decided that I still had plenty, that's why you didn't see it in my list of things I bought this week! If I HAD gotten it, this is a rough plan on how to use it. Take your ground beef and cook in the Microwave with the Stack Cooker, 2 pounds at time, four minutes per pound. Season to taste, adding onions or green peppers as you prefer. Drained and spread on cooking sheet and flash freeze for 30 minutes. Scrape off cookie sheet into Freezesmart container. This is called Hamburger Gravel. 1½ Cup = 1 pound raw meat. Ground Beef Recipe Ideas -Add to spaghetti sauce and heat in microwave. While cooking noodles, prepare salad and garlic bread.-ask about ‘Savory Salads’ Class... -Add tomato sauce, lasagna noodles and cheese (Lasagna Party?) -Add to one can cream of chicken or mushroom soup and add one cup sour cream. Pour over cooked rice or noodles. -Add to taco seasoning, cook for tacos, burritos

First of all, a few things: 1) I was talking with a fellow megga couponer and she didn't know about the All You magazine. You can get it at Walmart or have it delivered, and each issue has $80-115 of coupons in it! You can sign up on their website for a subscription and, while you are there, check around! They have a nice site and some online only printables. www.allyou.com I usually get two magazines a month so I can double my fun :) 2) The local dollar store ! Did you know that a lot of them carry Sunday newspapers? Our local Sunday paper goes for $2 - SO, those weeks you want additional issues (megga coupon insert weeks), I can get a few papers for half price! They get them in around 9AM and they are usually gone by 11...it's worth a call to see if YOUR store has them :) NOW, lets talk about today's grocery run! Four transactions today to capitalize on the double coupon day! Transaction #1 -General Mills cereal was on sale for $2 a box, so I got 6 boxes -Rotel Tomatos on

In collaboration with Tide, GE and Coca-Cola, Target stores will give away 1.5 million reusable bags with purchase on April 18, the first day of Earth Week. Their exclusive reusable bag is made from recycled plastic bottles. NOTE: Quantities limited; no rain checks. Limit one per guest. It's right on their website, if you want to read more about it :)

By FREE coupons, I mean coupons that let you get the item for FREE, not just a buck off, etc. Do you Facebook? Twitter? A lot of companies are reaching out to people on these media networking sites and offering FREE coupons or promos, exclusively there. Some are instant coupons that you can print off, some are mailed to you. Just look at this: -->Become a fan of Kraft on Facebook and then you’ll be able to sign up for coupon for a free box or cup of Kraft Cheesy Explosion Macaroni and Cheese. The coupon will be mailed to you within 6-8 weeks. Is there a company you love but very rarely see a coupon for that item? do a quick search for them and watch their posts for upcoming offers. Some companies also have special sampling programs like Kraft that has the "First Taste" program. Go to http://www.kraftfirsttaste.com and sign up! It is the best place to get the inside scoop on the latest Kraft products, be one of the first to try them, and tell them what you think...they send

It is OK to have sweets-- if they are homemade :) When we make things at home, the first ingredient is NOT high fructose corn syrup, it's good old fashioned sugar! We can use whole wheat flour instead of white, etc. I made two different snacks yesterday, with Ms Sarah's help (of course!) By getting the kiddos involved, it does two things for you. 1) creates memories for them that will last a lifetime and 2) save you a few physical steps! You have lots of opportunity to make comments like: yes this will be sweet - but not as sweet as YOU are! (And then steal a kiss!) :) First we made "cracker candy". It's her job to line the jellyroll pan with the club crackers (you can use saltines or even cheese-its). While she does this, I put a cup of sugar and 2 sticks of butter in the saucepan and stir until bubbly. My hot mixture gets poured over the crackers and then the pan is moved into a preheated, 400* oven for just five minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle about a c