Computer Update

Niki asked me to tell all of you that her computer is in the shop, but she wanted me to pass on this deal alert: Staples is currently offering half off tech support. So if any of you have a computer virus, you can take it there and get it fixed for half price.

Blog out of commision

Niki asked me to let you know she is unable to get on her computer because of a virus. She is sorry for not posting deal alerts tonight. Signed Niki's mom

Deal Alerts- Walgreens

Man- do I miss the Walgreen's Rebate Program. I can't remember the last time I was excited about a Walgreens deal alert. Oh Well!

Crystal Light on sale for $1.99
Use $1 off 1 from coupon.com sidebar
Final Price: $0.99

Chinet Plates on sale 2 for $3
Use 2 $1 off 1 from 5/3 SS
Final Price: $0.50 each

One a Day Vitamins 100ct for $9.79, get $4 off at checkout
Use $2 off 1 from 4/19 RP
Final Price: $3.79 after coupon and checkout discount

Cutter Advanced Insect Repellent at 2 for $4
Use $2 off 1 SS 5/31/09 (I do not have my 5/31 coupons yet so can't confirm this deal!)
Final Price: FREE

Register Rewards

Revlon Ionic Styler Dryer (1875-Watt in pink), $12.99, get $10 RR
Fina Price: $2.99 after RRs!

Buy 1 Bayer Breeze 2 or Contour Blood Glucose Meter at $10.00, Get $10 RR
Use $30 off 1 from 3/1 or 3/22 RP (coupon will adjust down)
Final Price: FREE plus $10 in overage from RR



Bic Soleil Disposable Razor at $4.99, get a $1 RR
Use $3 off 1 from 5/17 SS
Final Price: $0.99 after coupon and RR



Big Thanks to thethriftymama.com for help with the match-ups this week!

Thrifty Thursday- hold

Well yesterday my computer got a virus- a PORN virus!!!! Agh!!!!!! Anyways I don't really understand how computer viruses work but I know Donna (nor I) would not approve of PORN so I was hesitant to get on last night and work on your thrifty Thursday posts so they are not going to post at their normal time today. Currently I am at work, but I am hoping to get by the store and purchase a virus cleaner sometime today- so maybe I can get your deal alerts out later this evening. I think your Walgreens deals are already scheduled to post. Have a GREAT day!



PS We got the computer virus from Facebook- so be VERY VERY VERY hesitant about what you open. DH had opened a message from our friend and then once he opened it, it sent the message to all of his "friends" on facebook so yesterday when I saw that DH had written on my wall, I decided to check it out- BAM virus! Beware!

Show Us Where You Live

So it's not Friday here at DRS BUT I am going to link to Kellys Korner on Friday so I went ahead and used her cute button. Maybe one day I'll have a cute button.... anyways.

So our first stop on our tour is our office! This happens to be my FAVORITE room in my current house. It sits in our dining room which connects to the kitchen so it is gets lots of action. I love it when my fam is chilling in the little sitting area while I'm finishing up dinner or cleaning up the kitchen.

The above picture features curtains that my very talented Mom made (thanks Mom!) and a desk from Unpainted Furniture Store (love that place) and I made the Bulletin Board above the desk out of fabric and a picture frame I got at a garage sale. I got my lime green file folders at the Container Store and they are hanging on the wall from a plate rack.

In this picture you get to see the cedar chest my Dad made when he was a little boy and the window seat DH made for me. The window seat and cedar chest both hide away office files and supplies. The chair is a burnt orange and coordinates with the back wall of my kitchen (you'll just have to trust me on that one- the kitchen is in no shape for a picture tonight!). I found the lime green furniture piece at a garage sale and DH put the trim on it and I painted and distressed it. I also found the lamp at a garage sale.

And there you have it- my office! Can't wait to take a tour of your office!!!!! For those of you with a blog feel free to post your pictures on your blog and then link to Mr. Linky.

Wildcard Wednesday

In the words of Ms. Piggy "Yippie Skippie"! Today is our first "Show Us Where You Live" day on Wildcard Wednesday. Oh, I sooo hope someone out there on the world wide web will play with me and post a picture or two of their office! My office and a Mr. Linky are coming soon! Have a great hump day!

Deal Alert

Sonic is offering FREE Root Beer Floats tomorrow Night (June 3rd) from 8pm to midnight! I called the closest Sonic to my house to confirm that they were participating in this deal and it was a BIG yepper from them! I am not really a Fan of Root Beer but I'm betting my 1996 Permanently Buckled Honda Civic will be parked out front of a Sonic around 8ish pm tomorrow evening.

My Car- the saga continues

For those of you have been following the Chronicles of "My Car" you are going to get a real kick out of this one.....

So this morning I had to take both boys for well child Dr. Visits in the neighboring town. Neighboring town? you ask. Yes, I was already significantly late getting both boys in for their well child appointments and the soonest they could be seen was today (scheduled 1 month ago) if we agreed to go to their other clinic location. Anyways...... So the three of us were loaded up in the death trap, I mean "my car," driving in the June heat (note the date: my car's air conditioner chooses to hibernate from the months of June- August so it will be fully rested for the winter months. Anyways....) So we pull into the clinic's parking lot and I turn off the car and then naturally go to unbuckle my seat belt...... It won't unbuckle!!!!! Yep! I'm stuck!!!! In that moment I don't know if I should laugh or cry.......... I choose to laugh, after all it is "my car." Through my laughter and sweat I manage to tell Colby my situation and to shoot a text to some of my cars biggest fans. Colby volunteer's to yell for help and I frantically look for scissors to cut my way to freedom. No such luck. I finally inch by inch loosen the belt and wiggle myself free of the safety strap. Freedom never felt sooooo good.

On my way home I squeezed back in through the lap and chest strap BUT I won't lie, the rest of the day I just sat on top of the buckled strap. Gotta love my car!

Zone 2- Bedrooms and Closets

Zone 2- Bedrooms and Closets

Day 1-Tuesday

• Dust Master Bedroom Furniture
• Dust Master BR Fan
• Clean Master BR Windows and Blinds

Day 2-Wednesday

• Dust Kids Bedroom Furniture
• Dust Kids BR Fans
• Clean Kids BR Windows and Blinds

Day 3-Thursday

• Organize all Master BR drawers
• Organize Master BR closet

Day 4-Friday

• Organize all kids BR drawers
• Organize Kids BR closets

Day 5- Saturday

• Mop/Vacuum All Bedroom Floors including under bed
• Clean Bedroom Baseboards
• Flip Mattress (Odd months only)
• Organize Hall Closets

Tidy Tuesday

The house is still coasting on the pre-Baby Shower deep cleaning from this weekend so it is still sanitary and livable at this moment. I am still on my zone freeze so I can' say for sure what the house will look like by the end of the week. I am excited tomorrow is the Wildcard Wednesday "Show Us Where You Live" event and so sometime today I will make sure my office is in tip top shape for it's photo session. Till then your zone schedule will post soon.

Deal Alert- Red Box Code

The Free Monday rental redbox code is: FM63H7 Remember this code is good until midnight tonight. And you must return your rental by 9pm on Tuesday or you will be charged $1 each additional night.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I have tried many different Chicken Tortilla Soup recipes and this one is my favorite. The recipe makes quite a bit so it is a good dish to share with another family or to have as leftovers!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Go here for recipe.

Recipe Modifications: The recipe calls for cooked shredded chicken. I like to prepare the chicken for this dish by putting the chicken in a crockpot with a can of rotel. From frozen- it took the chicken about 3 hours to cook in my crockpot on high. I then transferred the chicken with rotel into the soup. I also like to add a can of chili beans and a can of black beans to the recipe- to beef up the fiber! We use baked Doritos instead of the corn tortillas.

Nutrition Information for original recipe:
Serving Size: 1/8th of recipe
Meal Plan: 267 Calories; 2 meat, 1.5 starch, 1 veg, 1/2 fat

Squash Casserole

I discovered this recipe last summer when we had squash coming out our ears from my DH's vegetable garden! This was one of our favorite ways to cook up the squash. Must say it was a lot thriftier of a dish when it came from the garden! Squash is expensive in the dead of winter- sorry!

Squash Casserole

Go here for the recipe.

Recipe Modifications: I used reduced fat Ritz crackers, 2% cheese, egg substitute, I used buttermilk (only because I had it leftover from the chicken recipe) and left out the butter! I will use some spray butter to top the dish once cooked.

Nutrition Information with modifications:
Serving Size: 1/8th of recipe
Meal Plan: 130 Calories; 1 veg, 1 meat, 1 starch

Oven Fried Chicken

This is one of the most requested meals I get from the other family I cook for. I hope you enjoy it too. Great way to get that fried chicken taste without the fat!

Oven Fried Chicken

Go here for the recipe

Recipe Modifications: I used low fat buttermilk instead of the milk, egg substitute, and boneless skinless chicken breasts. I also omitted the butter altogether.

Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 4 oz chicken
Meal Plan (using my modifications): ~250 Calories; 4 lean meats, 1 starch

I will serve this with squash casserole (recipe to follow) and my green beans.

Fish Tacos with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

To keep it simple- this time instead of making the homemade salsa found in the original recipe, I am just going to use store bought salsa.

Visit allrecipes.com for the original recipe.

Fish Tacos with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
Meal Plan: Calories: 370, 4 meats, 2.5 starch

I am going to serve this with a pepper foil packet.

Baked Sweet Potatoes and Vegetable Salad

Nothing special about this weeks vegy meal. For the salad I just walked through Kroger and picked out a few of my favorite salad vegys to add to our garden lettuce.

For the sweet potatoes I am going to wash them, then pierce them with a fork. Next I will spray them with Pam and then sprinkle a few spices on the skin of the potato. Last I will wrap in foil and add the foil wrapped potatoes to my crockpot to cook on low all day. Should me nice and soft by meal time.

Nutrition Information will vary depending on salad ingredients and size of sweet potato

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff. What a great idea for the crockpot! I went to allrecipes.com and selected this recipe because it had the highest rating. The recipe analysis scared me a little bit but I lightened it up a bit using the light cream cheese and lean stew meat. I also think you could easily cut back on the serving size. Hope it's good!

Beef Stroganoff

Nutrition Information: (based on allrecipes.com original recipe analysis)
Serving Size: 1/4th of recipe
Meal Plan: 505 Calories, 4.5 meats, 1/2 starch, 6 fats!!!! ouch

I am going to serve this with whole wheat pasta and green beans.

Mealtime Monday

Well it took me 1 hour and about 15 minutes to cook 7 meals and 3 sides and totally destroy my nice neat kitchen. This week I only prepared 2 meals for the other family because they are going out of town for half the week and I chose not to prep the salad and baked potato meal until tonight. Let me just confess I was not in the cooking mood last night, and if it weren't for you I might have skipped the marathon meal prep all together BUT now that it is done I am sooooo happy that I won' have to worry about "what's for dinner" for the rest of the week- so thanks!

Following is the prep/storage/eat schedule for the week:

Monday: Baked Sweet Potatoes and Vegetable Salad- This morning I will prep the baked potatoes and toss them in the crockpot to cook on low all day. Tonight I will snip the lettuce from the garden and toss with the other vegetables.

Tuesday Night: Oven Fried Chicken and Squash Casserole- I fully prepped the chicken and squash casserole up until final baking and stored both in the refrigerator. Tuesday night I will remove from fridge and bake.

Wednesday Night: Beef Stroganoff- I prepared the recipe in a ziplock storage bag (minus the cream cheese) and then stored ziplock in fridge. Wednesday morning I will dump contents of ziplock in crockpot and cook on low all day. Once home from work I will stir in the cream cheese and finish the recipe.

Thursday Night: Fish Tacos- I seasoned frozen fish and wrapped each fish in a foil packet. I then stored fish in the freezer. Thursday morning I will transfer fish to refrigerator and then Thursday night I will grill the fish packets.

Friday and Saturday Nights: Out or Leftovers

Sunday Night: Chicken Tortilla Soup- I prepared this recipe in a large freezer ziplock bag. I stored ziplock in freezer. Saturday I will transfer soup from freezer to refrigerator. I will dump in crockpot Sunday morning and enjoy soup after church.

Sonday Sunday

I absolutely hate it when I tell you that I am going to do something and then I don't follow through..... but it looks like I'm going to do it again. I know just yesterday, not even 24 hours ago, I told you I was going to continue our Captivating Review but after an incredibly busy day of showers, house looking, cooking, etc., etc. etc. (excuses, excuses, excuses) I have decided to put off the chapter 2 review until next week. Let me just tell you that chapter 2 was awesome so I just pray the Lord will help me to narrow down a few key points for next week' review that not only were helpful/meaningful to me but that will speak to your heart too.

In the meantime I would like to share a scripture from my Sunday School Class today.

As for me, I look to the Lord for his help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Micah 7:7

I love that!