Easy Breezy Glass Cleaner

Today's adventure was to make homemade glass cleaner. I have been out of glass cleaner for the last month and I haven't had any free or cheap deals on it. (I know I could go to the dollar store and buy knock off Windex for $1...but that's no fun). So I decided to be frugal and make my own!

I used an old cleaning bottle for my glass cleaner.
Here's the list:
2 cups of water
1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar
5 drops of Dawn Dish soap

I funneled the ingredients directly into the bottle and shook it up. Literally, the project took 5 minutes...a few minutes to find the ingredients and then funnel into the container.

Literally, I have 6 cents invested in this with a coupon deal on vinegar (and I have vinegar leftover). I haven't paid for dish soap(Dawn) in at least 4 years...there are always coupon deals for this several times a year.



So it was time to try out the glass cleaner and I had the perfect 2 year old helper. We used newspaper instead of paper towels ..my mom always uses newspaper over paper towels because it leaves less streaks! As a family we are trying to cut down of the use of paper towels, so this is another way to reuse a Sunday newspaper for cleaning. So we started cleaning the sliding glass door, shamefully who knows how long it had been since I cleaned it! It worked perfect and I know every ingredient in the glass cleaner, plus I had a great little helper!

I found this project on Pinterest and doubled the ingredient list:
http://thefrugalgirls.com/?s=homemade+glass+cleaner

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Easy to make Fabric Softener

So I have been curious for awhile to try making my own fabric softener. We tackled laundry detergent, so I thought I would try a simple recipe I found on Pinterest.

Get this only 3 ingredients. I actually only have 31 cents invested in a gallons worth of fabric softener thanks to some coupon deals. I bought white vinegar at Target a month ago for 6 cents each and I paid .25 cents for Suave hair products recently at Walgreens.

You will need:

6 cups of water

3 cups of white vinegar

2 cups of hair conditioner

Mix the ingredients in a bowl with a wisk. I used a funnel to place the fabric softener into a gallon size container. I had an old refillable liquid soap container that I am using for mine. I just used the same amount  that I normally would when using Downy. I just added a cute label so no one gets confused on what is in it(I need to fix the spelling on the container...opps!). I have done 3 loads of laundry so far and I think it is working great. I could smell the scent of green apples when I changed the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I love this cheap idea for fabric softener!

I found this on One Good Thing by Jillee on Pinterest

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Blueberry Zucchini Bread

This is our favorite zucchini bread to make and eat at our house. With the abundance of zucchini from the garden we have adapted a recipe that we all love at the Chapman's house. This recipe is also perfect to freeze. The recipe makes 2 loaves or 5 mini loaves. I made one loaf to freeze and 1 to take to the beach to have for breakfast or a late night snack while watching the Olympics.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 Large Eggs

1 cup of Applesauce

3 tsp of Vanilla

2 cups of Sugar

2-2 1/2 cups of shredded Zucchini

3 cups of All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp of Baking Soda

1 Tbs Cinnamon

1/2 tsp of Nutmeg (optional)

1-2 cups of Blueberries

1 Banana (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 loaf pans or 5 mini pans. In a bowl, mix eggs, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar. Slowly add the shredded zucchini. Mix in flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in blueberries. Optional: Add a smashed banana to the recipe. Pour the mixture into the 2 loaf pans or 5 mini pans. Bake 50 mins. - 1 hour (Mini pans may only take 45 mins.). Use a toothpick to make sure the center is done. I always let my pans cool on a wire rack for about 30 mins. and then I take them out of the pan to cool. If I am going to freeze the loaf then I will wrap in foil and then put in a labeled freezer safe bag for the freezer or I have bought $1 foil pans from the dollar store to cook and freeze the bread (see picture above). The metal pans are perfect to give to friends!

The recipe was adapted from a recipe we found on Pinterest:

 http://realmomkitchen.com/91/blueberry-zucchini-bread/

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Sunday Deals

We ran a few deals after church today! Here are some of my favorite deals of the day! I'm loving the Kellogg's/ Coke deals at Harris Teeter ( buy 4 of select items and get $4 off your order).

My son and classroom loves fruit snacks so I will be buying more for this price. 4 Boxes of Kellogg's fruit snacks for a total of $1.47! I used 2 coupons out of today's paper (8/5/12)

Fruit snacks were on sale $2 a box. Total=$8

-$4 instant Kellogg's deal

-(2) $0.75 coupon that double to $3 off.

Total=$1 plus tax

 

My favorite deal of the day is on cereal...I love love cereal! Personally, I think it can be the perfect meal anytime of day. I refuse to pay more than $1 per box of cereal. Today I bought 7 boxes of cereal for a total of $1.07.

3 boxes of Cinnamon Raisin Bran, 1 box of Crunchy Nut, 3 Boxes of Cheerios.

Kellogg's deal -$4,

3 coupons for Raisin Bran that doubled,

1 Harris Teeter coupon Zvr for Raisin Bran,

3 coupons for Cheerios that doubled,

1 Register Reward for .99 that doubled from Walgreens

= $1.07 Sweet Deal for cereal!

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Happy Anniversary!

Today we celebrate our 5th Anniversary of marriage! We spent our anniversary traveling to WV for some family time and attending a Reds game later this week. We look forward for many more to come because we have a lifetime commitment to each other. Joey and I are thankful for both of our parents examples on marriage.

According to history the 5th Anniversary gift is Wood! So check out our wooden frame that will be on display in our house very soon. Yes, another Pinterest project completed!

Check out the cool card that looks wooden...thanks to my favorite card maker!

Happy Anniversary!!!

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Spaghetti Dinner for $3.50

Tonight's cheap dinner....drumroll please....Spaghetti!

At our house we try to eat cheap dinners for the 3 of us while leaving the possibility for leftovers. We aim for dinners $5 or less as much as possible.

Tonight we are eating spaghetti, salad, and garlic knots!

Here are the totals:

-$.99 bag of salad (for the boys!)

-$2.50 Classico spaghetti sauce (no coupons but on sale)

-FREE Smithfield ground turkey from a recent Harris Teeter Super Doubles

-FREE Muellers Pasta from a coupon deal last fall (pasta has a long shelf life)

-FREE Garlic Knots from a recent Super Double Coupon deal

Total $3.50

No need for anything else because we are having ice cream for desert for .75 each at a local creamery!

Needless to say bath time came early for our son tonight...but worth it after a yummy healthy dinner and leftovers for tomorrows lunch(baked spaghetti).

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Bathroom Shelving

Another Pinterest project completed today thanks to Sarah's brother Jimmy and Joey. Our counters in the master bath have been full of clutter for the last 4 years and we needed some organization. So thanks to Pinterest we bought Spice Racks from IKEA. They are around $4 a rack and located in the Kitchen storage section of IKEA. Any excuse to go to IKEA is worth it! I love it along with the 3 ceiling fans that were installed upstairs today too! Thank you Jimmy and Joey!

BEFORE                                                                    AFTER

Pinterest idea: http://suiterevival.blogspot.com/2011/10/bathroom-tour.html

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Coupon Saturday Deals

We ran a few errands today to get some good deals.

At Harris Teeter we got 2 packages of Ballpark Hotdogs (Saturday special and I used a coupon) for a total of 49 cents combined and 2 boxes of brownies( used a coupon) for a total of 44 cents. I was excited to use some Pepperidge Farm Cookie coupons but the selection was slim. I was able to get 3 bags of cookies for a total of 79 cents! A grand total of $1.42 for hotdogs, brownies, and cookies.

I did a quick run into Bilo for meat with my mom since they were having a sale. I bought 3 marinated Smithfield Pork Tenderloins and 2 packages of pork chops for $8.20. Just trying to stock up the freezer and use up some $2 off coupons for Smithfield Pork.

Not bad for a Saturday!

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Family Dollar Deal = Donation

We found a great deal at Family Dollar Store today. We bought 3 Men's Speed Stick deodorants for 21 cents! The Speed Sticks were marked at $1 each and I had a coupon for a $1 making the deodorant FREE just pay tax! Great Deal to take to the Men's Shelter later this month when we drop off other supplies.

 

I used the coupon out of 7/8/12 Smart Source from the newspaper(we bought 3 copies of the paper).

I found the deal on MoneySavingMom.com

(I LOVE that site!)

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Pickling Peppers

Fresh peppers from the garden can mean only one thing...it's time to try pickling peppers. After researching recipes online, seeking advice on Facebook, and asking family members for advice it is time to start pickling!

 Cut up your jalapenos (with gloves on!) or you will have burning hands for days...I decided to add onions and carrots to the mason jars for added flavor, color, and texture.

I filled half of the jar with water and the other half with apple cider vinegar (check website at the bottom for a very cool, easy way to do this without measuring.  I poured the liquid mixture into a hot pan, while heating I also added garlic and pickling spice to the liquid.

After heating the mixture to a boil (and  opening up mine and Sarah's sinuses).  I poured the mixture    back into the mason jars and put the lids on tight to start the sealing process.  I put the mason jars in a pot of boiling hot water for about 30 minutes until the lids were sealed tightly and not popped up.  I set them on a hot pad and left them alone to settle for a couple days.

                                                      

The finished product should be left to sit for 4-6 days and settle.  This batch was a little too sweet with too much pickling spice, but the jalapenos still packed some heat.  Overall, they were very good!  Next time I will use more vinegar, more salt/garlic, and less pickling spice.  I'm looking very forward to doing this again, it was a lot of fun!

Ideas and recipe courtesy of: The Purple Foodie - http://purplefoodie.com/pickled-jalapenos/

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Very Hungry Caterpillar

So today at school and at home we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. My students love this book and so does my toddler at home. My son, Trey loves the repeated story lines by finishing sentences..."but he was still hungry."

We needed a quick activity that worked on fine motor skills, so I grabbed some tissue paper, glue, paper, and a marker. We first crumbled the tissue paper and then glued the tissue paper on the paper to make it look like a caterpillar. Super easy! Then we added legs and antennas with a marker.



   One of my students caterpillars                                  My son's caterpillar Pin It Now!

Alternative to Oatmeal Bars

I have been experimenting with oatmeal recipes because our family is addicted to store bought oatmeal bars or as our toddler says "cookie bars!" we love them and stock up on them with coupons throughout the year...but we are out.

I started searching oatmeal and zucchini and I found an awesome recipe for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Zucchini Muffins. They are delicious, easy, and semi healthy! The muffins can be frozen and heated up in the mornings for a healthy breakfast on the way to work.

Little man helped me make these and has ate 2 of them already! He loves chocolate like his Meemo!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

1/3 Sugar

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup of Oats (Old fashioned)

1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder

1/2 tsp of Nutmeg

1/2 tsp of All Spice (or use cinnamon)

1 Tablespoon of Splenda Brown Sugar (optional)

1- 1.5 cups of shredded Zucchini

2 Tablespoon of oil (or sub. apple sauce)

1 egg

3/4 fat free milk

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1. Oven to 400 degrees. Fill muffin pan with liners.
2. Large bowl stir dry ingredients
3. Small bowl combine zucchini, egg, oil, egg, milk
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients
5. Stir in chocolate chips
6. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 20 mins.
7. Cool and eat or freeze muffins for later...ENJOY!!!

Recipe Adapted from: http://www.fitness.com/recipes/61/zucchini_chocolate_chip_muffins.php

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Awesome Squash Casserole

Today we tried out an awesome recipe for Boston Market Squash Casserole for dinner and to freeze for a later. We are trying out recipes to use up the zucchini and squash and that can be easily frozen. This recipe is a definite winner and very easy to make. We loved the squash, zucchini, cheese, and corn muffins combination. It does take a little time to bake, but so worth it!

Joey said we should eat this at Thanksgiving...I could not agree more! Check out the recipe we used at: http://www.food.com/recipe/boston-market-squash-casserole-77201?scaleto=8&mode=null&st=true

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Free Walmart Deals

Free Deals with coupons

Today we did a quick run into Walmart to get some necessities and freebies! I had coupons from P&G Coupon Insert for July for $1 off cascade making the 97 cent miniature packs of dishwasher cascade FREE! I bought 20 of them. (I bought 20 coupons off of eBay for $1.10).

My next deal was to by Bayer Aspirin that was $2.22 and I had a coupon for $3. Making the Aispirin free plus overage of .88 cents to go towards my other groceries. I bought 14 of the aspirins. I would have bought more but I didn't want to clear the shelf.

Our total was $96 and went down to $19. Not too bad since we bought 2 packs of pull ups, wipes, milk, 2 OJ, 2 Blueberries, strawberries, Oranges, Onion, eggs, deodorant, a bag of popcorn, 20 cascades, and 14 Bayer Aspirins.

(I did price match the milk, eggs, fruit, and pull-ups plus used coupons on diapers, wipes, and deodorant.) We love good deals!

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1st Trip To The Movies

Standing in Front of the Theater

Today was Trey's 1st trip to the Movie Theater at 2 years old (He will be 3 years in 3 short months...oh my!). Mommy and Daddy both had the morning free and decided that a free children's movie would be the perfect venue for his 1st movie experience. He did awesome! He ate popcorn and watched the entire movie of "How To Train Your Dragon." I think we found a new family activity for The Chapman's!

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4th of July Parade

We decided to go to Harrisburg, NC and take in their 4th of July parade! We had a great time with some of our friends from church. The parade started at 9am and it was definately HOT when the parade ended around 10:30.

We enjoyed many of the festive floats! Trey enjoyed waving his flag and clapping for floats and getting a few pieces of candy. His favorite part was seeing the 3 fire trucks. He loves them so much! What a fun morning!




Fire Truck

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Workout Shirt From Pinterest

So I completed another Pinterest project today!

 I wonder how many people actually complete the projects they pin! So, I used an old T-Shirt and started cutting following directions on Pinterest.

It only took me about 15 minutes or less to cut the shirt the way I wanted. This is so easy to do and I love the razor back shirt design. I did add two slits on the bottom sides of the shirt.

Directions courtesy of: http://dollarssenseandmore.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/diy-tank-top-fashion-on-a-budget/

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Monster Burger for the 4th

So, when we were trying to decide on burgers or dawgs for our 4th of July cookout we decided on not multiple burger(s), but one giant, monster burger!

The simplicity of this burger could be found in any "Grilling for Dummies" book.  All that you need is 4 burger patties (we used 85/15 Angus beef) some cheese of your liking and bacon (we used 8 slices).  You can season your beef however you like (garlic salt, hamburger seasoning, etc).  For our Monster Burger we used Colby and Muenster cheese.  You can use any kind of bun you like, we used a Hawaiian Sweet Roll that normally is pulled apart into four dinner rolls, but I thought (and is where my idea came from) "why not put the burgers on the whole roll and then cut it from there."

We layered the burger patties with bacon and then the cheese and did this four times.  The toppings of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and whatever condiments you choose to put on is all in what you prefer.

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Target Freebie

I love Target Mobile Coupons!

 I always search the clearance racks to find some good clothing deals. Today, I found a Tank Top on clearance priced at $3 and I had a mobile coupon for $3 making for a free tank top! (Don't forget to bring a reusable bag to get 5 cents off to help cover some of the tax at Target)

Gotta love free deals!

Wanna sign up for the free Target Mobile Coupons sent to your phone, then TEXT:  OFFERS to 827438

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