A Yummy New Meal I Accidentally Discovered

I found a coupon for that new Philadelphia Cooking Creme, and since I would get it pretty cheap after the store doubled it, I decided to give it a try. On the back of the package is a recipe for a pasta dish you can make. I headed back to the store a few days later, with plans to try the recipe for dinner. I got a bit side tracked when I drove past a Longhorn steakhouse. They must have been cooking bacon, because the smell from the street was heavenly. Needless to say, after that I had bacon on the brain.
This is the recipe that I put together while I wandered around the store. It was so yummy, my husband asked for thirds!:


1 pkg bacon, cooked
1 container Philadelphia Cooking Creme
1 cup grape tomatoes
3 cups Farfalle pasta, cooked
1/4 cup Romano cheese
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 cup broccoli

Heat cooking creme in skillet. Stir in bacon, broccoli, and pasta.

Quarter tomatoes, and chop fresh basil. Stir in cheese, basil and tomatoes. Serve immediately.

Linking up with A Wise woman Builds her Home today! Go check it out. It's a wonderful blog!

Extreme couponing?

There is a new show on TLC, called Extreme Couponing, where these crazy women go into a store with a million coupons, and come out with $2500 worth of groceries that they paid $6 for. Now, however impressive that may be, it's a bit unrealistic, don't you think? Most people don't have the time, or ability to put together such elaborate treasure hunts, but anyone can certainly do it to a point. I love coupons. I use them all the time, and have managed to save quite a bit of money for my family.
A friend of mine asked me about coupons the other day. She wants to save more at the grocery store, and is interested in using coupons. Naturally, she has lots of questions on how to get started, and it has me thinking about how I use coupons to help my family.
I thought I would share the little bit I have learned about using coupons for big savings at the store.
The trick is to know your store, and the prices for items you buy on a regular basis. For example, your favorite store sells body wash for $1.99. If you find a coupon to save $.75 on one, hang on to it until the body wash goes on sale. Lets say, for example, the sale is $1.49. Now, I go to the store with my coupon, which my store will double. (Not all stores will do this, so be sure you know your store's coupon policy before going.) After doubling, I am saving $1.50 on a product that costs $1.49. ~Free soap! Now, if like me, you bought 6 papers on Sunday, and have 6 coupons, you can get 6 of those bottles of soap for free. Easy peasy, right?

I went shopping this weekend with several coupons I had saved over the last few weeks.
I had:

15 coupons to save $1.50 on an oral -b toothbrush
1 target coupon to save $1 on body wash
1 $1 off manufacturer coupon for the same body wash,
1 $1off coupon for a Hawaiian tropic product,
3 buy one get one free Axe deodorant coupons
and, the knowledge that target was giving away a $5 gift card with the purchase of 2 Hawaiian tropic or banana boat products.

So, I headed out to Target. They had Axe deodorant on sale for $3.44, regular price ~ $3.99.
I bought 6 and used the B1G1 coupons, so 3 were free, and the rest were on sale. I saved $13.50 on the deodorant, alone.
I bought 1 bottle of caress body wash $2.99, and paired it with 2, $1off coupons coupons, so I paid $.99.
I bought 1 banana boat lip balm for $1.99, and one Hawaiian Tropic sun screen for $7.99 and used a coupon for $1 off Hawaiian Tropic. This earned me a gift card, so the out of pocket expense was $3.99, I saved $6.
Then I bought a total of 15 toothbrushes from Walmart and Target (because of a per transaction limit stated in the coupon). Regular price was $1.50 at Walmart, and $1.59 @ target. The coupons made them free @ Walmart, and $.09 at target. I saved about $22.00 on toothbrushes.
Then, just because I needed them, I bought a box of paper clips for $1.29, and a shower puff for $1.00.

My total, before coupons, was $65.16. After coupons, I paid $27.84, then got the $5 gift card, bringing my total down to $22.84! That is a 65% savings. Not as "extreme" as the ladies on TV, but still a pretty good haul for the day!
With a little work, and a little research, you can save a bunch at the grocery store, and have extra money to help with so many other things. ...New van, here I come!

Where is Your Heart Today?

In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride,
But the lips of the wise will preserve them. ~Proverbs14:3 NKJV


I am constantly struggling to hold my tongue. I have to really concentrate on not flying off the handle and making every decision, just because I CAN. I was not raised in the same way I am trying to raise my daughters. I was raised to be very outspoken, very independent,and quite frankly, very disrespectful to my husband.
Unfortunately, it seems like that is the society we live in, today. Men are told from the time that they are young that they are inferior to women. They are portrayed by the media to be ogar-like oafs with no common sense, and over-revved sex drives. This, of course, is not even close to the masterpieces the Lord created when He made men. He made them to be strong, gentle, intelligent caregivers and leaders of the home, not the idiots they are now taught they are. It's such a shame.

I would never want my husband to feel like this! But unfortunately, I don't always let him lead our home. Sometimes, I fall into that same rut that so many women end up in. I rush ahead to get what I want, and step right on his toes in the process. Thank God his toes are strong. :)

Case in point?

Our washing machine broke the other day, and being the frugal minded, patient man he is, my husband has been diligently working to find the best deal for us. I, however, have been completely overwhelmed by the anxiety of not having a washing machine (for all of 6 days), and have visions of front loaders dancing in my head. (Isn't it pretty? -->) I'm ready to run out and buy a new one... today. Of course, this is not the right thing to do. He is trying to make sure that he makes a sound purchase for our family, and it would be both cruel and selfish of me to do this without his input. So, in an effort to be more like a wise woman*, I am trying to hold my tongue, and support him in his endeavour to get a good deal for us. (The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands. ~Proverbs14:1 NKJV)
As the days go by, I am becoming more and more impatient, and I am feeling very convicted to use this as an opportunity to honor my husband and his place in our family. All this keeping my mouth shut has me wondering ~ where is your heart in regard to biblical submission? ~Yep, I said it... submission. Does your husband lead your home, in the way God intended? Or, are there times when your tongue is hinged in the middle, like mine tends to be?

I'm really trying to keep this situation in biblical perspective, so today I will not call my husband after work to ask him if he wants us to meet him at an appliance store. I'll pretty up, cook something wonderful for him, and meet him at the door with a smile... a smile that is there out of love, and only partly there to hide the big ol' zipper across my mouth.

The Story Of Valentines Day

Do you know how Valentines day came about? It's a beautiful story, really. One of love, honor, courage, and unshakable faith...

The story goes~ During the third or fourth century AD, Claudius II was the Emperor of Rome. He had grown very powerful and his empire very large. He needed to build up the army to defend the land he had acquired. In doing so, he decided that single men made better soldiers, since they didn't have any family ties. So, he declared that no young men could marry.
Valentine was a priest during this time, and continued marrying young couples despite the law of Emperor Claudius. When Claudius heard of this, he had Valentine imprisoned. In an effort to allow Valentine to redeem himself, Claudius gave him the option to denounce the Lord, and take the faith of the Roman gods. In an incredible act of devotion, Valentine refused, held strong in his faith, and was sentenced to death.



While awaiting execution, Valentine fell in love with the daughter of the jailer. He wrote letters professing his love for her while in prison, and grew very fond of her over time.
Sadly, on February 14, Valentine was martyred for his crimes.
On the day of his execution, he wrote one final letter to his love, telling her of his devotion. At the end of the letter, he affectionately signed it ~Love, your Valentine.

So, in honor of a man who gave his life for his faith, we celebrate his great love by sharing our love with each other. Nice, huh? I love that story.

Hope For theFuture

Do you have a hope chest? For your daughters, I mean. Or what about your sons ( to present to their wives)? I have been saving things for my children since they were born. I want to make sure they have a few things that will help them get off to a good start after they marry. I spend time each day trying to help my daughters learn how to make a home for their future families, so I would love to be able to give them something on their wedding day that will help them do just that.
So far, I have collected an ornament for each of my children every year. If I keep going until they marry, I will be able to present them each with a nice collection of 20 or so ornaments to decorate their first tree.


I have a set of two fancy bone china cups and saucers for each
of them. I also have nice table linens. I want to make sure to include only things that won't go out of style, so I haven't bought any trendy decorations or accessories, only very traditional items that will last forever.

So what else to include? I am always on the lookout for little treasures I can put in. At the very least, I want to add some decorative frames with our best family photos, an afghan made by my grandmother, and a few pieces of nice china, maybe a tea pot.
I want them to have a good understanding of who they are and where they came from, so I want to make sure I include things that were important to family members that went before them. My grandmother took the time to make an afghan for each of her children and grandchildren. I want to make sure my children understand how precious they are. Then, of course, there are candle sticks, and mementos, and whatever else I deem appropriate. ...the list goes on.

Do you have a hope chest for your children? What's in it?

Books

Books have covers, or so we have been taught all our lives. We all pick books based on the picture on the cover, or lack there of, even though we've been taught not to.
"Don't judge a book by it's cover", right? It's something that even the smallest child knows...or has been told. But do we really take that to heart? It's not always so easy, especially with people we have just met.
Everyone has a cover, whether it be conservative~ modest and gentle, or wild~ crazy and boisterous.
When we meet a new person, our first impression of them is what we tend to base our opinion on. But, is that who they truly are? Do we judge too quickly, without taking the time to learn about them? ~who they are, how they live? I think many times we do. I think we are master cover judgers, and probably miss out on knowing some pretty incredible people.

As some of you know, I went this weekend to Niagara Falls to bury my Aunt Cossie. While I was there, I met a whole other side of my extended family that I had never before had the pleasure of knowing. Unfortunately, because of my own cover judging, I almost missed out on one family member in particular~ a real pistol.

I didn't realize that when I made my first decisions about this person, I didn't really give them a chance. I decided right from one of our first encounters that I didn't like them, and wanted nothing to do with them. However, because of a accidental wonderful mix up while we were walking at the Falls, I got another chance to make a much more educated decision about this person. I'm so glad I did. What I found beneath this cover, which is so different from mine, was an incredible, fun, outgoing person who I am really wishing I had spent more time with. I missed out on an opportunity to hear an incredible story, which I'm sure I would have loved, had I simply opened the cover before I set it back down.
I took a good lesson from all this, though. I know now that despite it's cover, every book tells a story well worth reading.

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/