Last night's game meal

Last night we watched the Texas Rangers play in the first game of the 2010 World Series. We decided to have a game day meal of pizza...but neither one of us felt like putting one together from scratch, so we bought Totino's frozen pizza. I'm also planning on making a big batch of breakfast tacos to freeze, thus the potatoes and bacon.

Total OOP = $11.85
Total saved = $0.73

My bosses wife is trying to lose weight so she cleared out her pantry. Here's what we received from that cleaning. After a little research, I am going to low-ball this and say this is a savings of $5.50.

No shopping needed

We are in between two trips so groceries are a little weird right now. We just got back from a weekend trip and had leftover food from that which was purchased out of the vacation budget. So we'll be okay for a couple of days since we still have a bunch of stuff left in the house as well. It is going to be a hodgepodge of meals this week, but it will work for us.

I'm getting nervous because my total amount left for the grocery challenge seems so low. We'll see how things go.

We're back!

We decided to get away for the weekend and went down to Rockport. I am not a huge fan of the coast, but James loves it so we packed up Mary and Marshmallow (the others stayed with a beast/house sitter) and took off. I loved taking pictures of the birds!

This seagull was hovering above a pier at Stinky Beach in Goose Island State park. The wind was so strong, it was literally not moving anywhere.

I made James stop on the road so I could take a picture of this caracara eating a fish. There were two of them, but one got a little scared by us stopping.

I think this might be either the coolest or scariest name for a boat.

This is a huge, old live oak tree by Goose Island State Park. It is over 1000 years old and has a circumference of a little over 35 feet. I loved the lines of the beautiful branches.

Two food stops today

Two quick stops for some food today. We got the chili for free at HEB by purchasing cheese, which we needed anyway.

Total OOP = $14.13
Total saved = $3

We also made a quick stop at CVS so I could get some free gum and my favorite cereal.


Total OOP = $1
Total saved = $18.23 (sales and used MQs and ECBs, plus earned $5 ECB on cereal deal)

Date Night

We had an awesome date night! Awhile ago I saw a link to a Christmas song performed by a men's acapella group called Straight No Chaser. I hope you check them out.



We went out to dinner at Firebowl Cafe and had ice cream at Amy's Ice cream. Total OOP = $27.69.

Plus we bought some apples and chips at CostCo. Total OOP = 16.98 (James has really been wanting the Honey Crisp apples and this is the least expensive place to buy that many.)

Fudge Brownies

I was in the mood for some brownies today but wanted to try a new recipe. I used the recipe from the book, "Feed Your Family for $12.00 a Day" by Rhonda Barfield.


I didn't have all the ingredients she used, so I had to make some changes. I also halved the recipe. Because I haven't tweaked the recipe enough to make it my own, I don't feel comfortable posting it. The changes I made involved substituting pumpkin puree for prune butter and using a real egg instead of egg substitute. I also added some M&Ms I had on hand and topped the brownies with powdered sugar.

These do not have the typical brownie texture, they are a lot smoother. I am on the fence on whether I like them or not. I think for a "healthier" version of a brownie they aren't too bad, but I would never choose them over a "real" brownie. James likes them okay, but says he can taste the pumpkin puree a little (I can't or I wouldn't even be eating them.)

Spending freeze

We have decided to go on a week long spending freeze. We just want to see if we can do it. Tuesday will be an exception because we had already made some plans that can't be rescheduled. We are only allowing ourselves to pay bills and I can use my CVS gift card if there are good deals this week...but no cash, check or credit card otherwise!

On a side note, we are doing really well on our month long challenge of being a one car family. It definitely takes some planning, and I've been riding my bike to work alot, but it's been interesting!

Shopping trips from yesterday

Needed to pick up a few items at the store today. Mostly basics, but a couple of treats. The Diet Coke was free courtesy of coke rewards!

Total OOP = $24.94
Total saved w/ sales and Q = $7.49

Also made a quick stop at CVS. I have not been super thrilled with their ECB deals lately. Keep in mind, I only buy what I use...I don't just buy things to get ECB. I have been wanting to get the Colgate Wisps for an upcoming backpacking trip, and they finally had some ECB's associated with them this week.

In two transactions:

Total OOP = $2.21
Total saved (ECB, MQ, and sales) = $13

Mini-baking day

I have been craving cinnamon rolls lately. I really like to have some quick breakfast foods on hand for James in the morning so, I decided that I would use some of my time today for a mini-baking for the freezer day. I set my game plan and started working. Took me five hours but this is what I made:

7 wheat pizza shells (not pictured because they were being baked at the time)
4 plain bagels
4 cinnamon-raisin bagels
17 cinnamon rolls (8 regular and 9 with raisins)
3 dozen chocolate chip cookies
1 dozen banana-pecan muffins (vegan)
5 Bacon, potato, and egg breakfast tacos

The muffins ended up being vegan because I ran out of eggs. I had some Ener-G egg substitute on hand so I just used those.

I think James will be happy when he comes home!

Menu Plan 10/4-10/10

We should do better on our menu plan this week because we don't really have any plans this week.

Monday - Tuna steaks, baked potatoes, and wheat rolls

Tuesday - Boca chicken burgers and baked chips

Wednesday - Spahetti and Peasant bread

Thursday - Sesame chicken and rice

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Crockpot BBQ chicken and mac and cheese

Sunday - chili or some other kind of soup

Into Town

We went into the big city this morning to visit a new church. We came away from that with the knowledge that we would not be going back to that particular church. Then we went to Target to get Powerade. I had a Target Q for buy 4 get the 5th free plus I had two free powerade Coke Reward coupons. I was worried they would beep so I called the corporate number to ask if I could use all the Q at once, and they said yes. Of course, they beeped and the manager gave me problems. Basically calling me a liar, but back pedaled and started kissing my rear when I asked her if she was calling me or corporate Target a liar. She did take all three coupons, but advised me that it really shouldn't have been done and that corporate always says "yes" because they don't have to deal with customers in store. Moral of the story, no one else try this...it's too much hassle.


Total OOP w/ tax = $1.71
Total saved = $2.57

We also decided to stop for a totally unhealthy fry fest and shared a plate at Long John Silver's. OOP = $9.94

Halloween Decoration

I finally finished my newest Halloween decoration. It is now hanging up on my front door. I totally messed up the cat's head when I was cutting out the pattern, but was so frustrated that I just adjusted the stitches. I also had to change some colors since I didn't want to buy a whole skein of yarn just for some little pieces. Overall I'm pretty pleased!