4th Annual Aquarium Trip

It does not seem possible that this is our 4th trip with the kids to Monterey Bay Aquarium. They love it every time we go. Little man's favorite exhibit was the sea turtles and little missie liked anything her brother liked. We went in the afternoon on Sunday and in the morning on Monday which was a lot slower and more enjoyable.

We also hit Dennis the Menace park twice and went to Casa De Fruta and Gilroy outlets. We wanted to take the kids to Gilroy Gardens too, but little man was not feeling 100% so we thought it was best if we came home early.

The kids are riding the little cars at the Gilroy outlets to keep them content. I purchased a red dutch oven for my birthday. I am very excited about finally getting one!

The sea turtles were pretty neat. The kids spent a lot of time looking at them.

Little missie liked her picture taken (finally). Little man of course kept turning from the camera. I just can't get them both.

Little man just loves seeing all the fish. His 2nd favorite is the hammer head sharks.

I think this is a cute picture of little missie and her dad.

We had a good time and it went to fast like always. Hopefully next year we can go to Gilroy Gardens.

Free or Money Making Deal

At Walgreens Dove shampoo and conditioner is buy one get $4.00 back in register rewards. In the paper there has been Dove coupons and there was a $2.00 off Dove shampoo or conditioner print lately (no longer active).

You buy 1 Dove shampoo, use 1 coupon (we used $2.00 off coupon) pay $2.00 and get $4.00 in register rewards. Do this 2 times and you pay $4.00 out of pocket but get back $8.00 in register rewards.

Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean normally sells for $9.99. It is on sale for $7.99 plus you get a $2.00 register reward back. Go HERE to print a $5.00 off coupon. You will get this for .99 cents. This can go towards the SC Johnson rebate (buy 3 items get $5.00 back).

Out of pocket hubby spent $5.00, but we have $10.00 in register rewards for our next shopping trip and I will be adding the Scrubbing Bubbles to my rebate form!

Who says you can't save money on food.....

I had some coupons that were going to expire today, so off to Foods Co. and CVS I went. They are in the same parking lot so it is very convenient to hit both stores. All that you see in the picture I got for $12.73!


Here is the breakdown:

Foods Co.

8 boxes of Smart Taste pasta .98 cents and I had (8) .75 cents off coupons. I spent $1.84 on 8 boxes of my favorite pasta!

1 package of bacon, on sale for $2.50 and I had a $1.00 off coupon.

1 package of sausage, cost $1.25 and I had a .75 cent off coupon.

1 pack Taquitos and I had a $1.00 off coupon.

1 200 calorie pack pizza and had a $1.50 of coupon.

Lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro and cheese I bought without a coupon, but at Foods Co. it was a lot cheaper.

CVS

2 loaves bread on sale for 2/$5.00. I had a $5.00 EB from a previous purchase. I paid .58 cents total.

1 Windex multi-surface. It was on sale for $2.50, I had a coupon and a $2.00 EB so I only paid .22 cents. SC Johnson has a rebate too, if you buy 3 of their products you get $5.00 back. Just type in SC Johnson rebate. I already printed it and do not have the address with me at the moment.

Luckily hubby likes a good sale too and shopping, so he does help me by going to a couple stores. Today he will be going to Walgreens for me. Dove shampoo has a $4.00 register rewards which makes it free plus I have 2 $2.00 off coupons for Dove.

Planters Trail Mix .50 cents a bag!

Walgreens has Planters Trail Mix on sale right now for $1.99. In Walgreens March coupon book they have a coupon for $1.00 off two bags. If you go on Facebook and become a fan of Mr. Peanut you can print a $1.00 off coupon. If you and your hubby each have a FB account, you can print off 1 coupon from each account. I bought 4 bags of Trail Mix for $2.00. That added up to a $9.00 savings!

Last week I got 2 bags for free, so really I have bought 6 bags for $2.00! We are a big nut house...LOL!

They have all sorts of varieties:
Sweet and Salty
Fruit and Nuts
Nuts and Chocolate
Nuts and Seeds and more

I've been in the mood for....

Avocados!

Today for lunch I made an avocado omelet with cheeses, light sour cream and salsa. It was soooo good.

It is so easy to make:

2 eggs
2 tbsp half and half
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded cheese
1/2 avocado

Use a small non-stick pan and spray it with Pam. Beat your eggs with half and half and salt and pepper. Preheat your pan over medium to medium low heat, then add your eggs. You want to take a spatula and scrape the sides down and turn the pan so the top runny portion of the egg goes to the sides of the pan. Once the eggs have set up, gently flip the eggs over using a spatula. Add your cheese and avocado and fold over. Cook for about 1 more minute until the cheese starts to melt. Plate and top with desired toppings.

Today's Lunch and Dinner

Earlier today I made the family dinner since I have school tonight. I made homemade mac and cheese with bacon and mushrooms. I also added some onion and ancho chili powder and let me tell you...mmmmm...mmmmm...good. I have posted this recipe before without the bacon and mushrooms, but if you do not see it I can re post it, just leave me a comment.

For lunch I made this sandwich with some of the leftover mushrooms. I placed them on toasted 12 grain bread and topped it with cheese and melted the cheese in the oven. I then used half an avocado and placed on the sandwich and that was the best tasting sandwich I have ever made. I can't wait to make it again. So simple, nothing else but sauteed mushrooms, melted cheese and avocado.

Here is the mac and cheese for tonight's dinner.

This was the taste I took.

Cajun Shrimp and Rice

Here is a quick recipe you can throw together. Short on time, cook the rice the night before or in the morning.

1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and pepper to taste
4 plum tomatoes
2 bunches scallions chopped
3 cups cooked white rice
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat butter olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat about 1 minute. Add the cajun seasoning and shrimp and cook, stirring until the shrimp begin to curl, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the tomatoes and scallions to the skillet and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the rice and 1/4 cup water and continue to cook until the rice is warmed through and the shrimp are opaque, about 3 more minutes. Stir in parsley and serve with lemon.

Meal Plan Monday

Last night we went to Chick-fil-a and had dinner for $4.29! All we paid for was a large fry and a large drink. We had 2 free coupons for chick fil-a sandwiches from the kids day paper and I had recently bought a meal on a Friday. Not too bad:) I am looking forward to going out of town during Easter break and have not thought too hard about dinners this week, so this is what I have so far.

Sunday- Spaghetti and turkey meatballs w/homemade bread

Monday- Homemade bacon and mushroom mac and cheese

Tuesday- Cajun shrimp and rice

Wednesday- Buttermilk blueberry pancakes

Thursday- BBQ pork chops, baked potatoes and salad

Friday- Out to dinner

Saturday- Dinner with the in-laws

Chili's $50.00 Gift Card Contest

Faithful Provisions.com is offering a $50 Chili’s Gift Card!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS
Chili’s is providing one $50 gift card for one randomly selected winner. I will announce the winners on Friday, March 26, 2010.

Faithful Provisions Giveaway Disclosure: Chili’s sponsored this giveaway by providing me with one $50 gift card and one to give away to randomly selected winner. For more information about Faithful Provisions, please read my Disclosure Policy.

==========================

Here’s how to enter:

1. Leave a comment and tell us your favorite Chili’s Menu Item.

2. One entry per person per day.

3. Additional Methods of Entry - Share about this giveaway the following ways and receive one entry for each.

**Leave a separate comment for each to let me know where you have shared it!

•Subscribe to my Email Newsletter – even if you already receive it, add an entry as a comment below!
•Add Faithful Provisions to your blog roll or add my badge to your sidebar – Come back and leave a link to your site in a comment below.
•Follow Faithful Provisions on Twitter – just copy and paste this message into your tweet
@FaithfulProv is offering a $50 Chili’s Gift Card! Stop by to enter http://bit.ly/akbRrO
•Follow me on Facebook – just paste this message on your personal Facebook wall so your friends will see it.
Faithful Provisions.com is offering a $50 Chili’s Gift Card! Stop by to enter http://bit.ly/akbRrO
•Post this giveaway on your blog.
====================
Giveaway ends Thursday, March 25th at midight CST. The winner will be drawn using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email and I will post the winners at Faithful Provisions.

More Huggies Coupons

This is from Clippin with Carrie. I have been able to print out 9 coupons so far!

Hurry! Huggies has another $3/1 Huggies Little Movers Coupon on their Facebook Page HERE! This will make it so you can get more cheap Huggies at Walgreens this coming week!!!! (Thanks, Shannon).
There is also a $3/1 Any Huggies Diaper Coupon on Coupons.com! If you can't find the coupon, try my zip code 63366!

McDonald's....what do moms eat?

Taking the kids to McDonald's and don't know what to eat? Order the Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken. It has 320 calories with 80 calories from fat. I can eat the salad without dressing with since it comes with a lime and the chicken has flavor as well. This is one salad that will not kill your diet unless you order it with crispy chicken.

Meal Planning Template

Need a meal planning template? Go HERE compliments of Faithful Provisions to download yours for free!



It is pretty cool. It has everything you need and you just fill it out and print.

Huggies Coupon Save $3.00

Click HERE and go to household and it will pop up on the 1st page. You can print this coupon 2 times.

Starting Sunday Walgreens will have a buy 3 Huggies get $5.00 back in Register Rewards. Use (3) $3.00 off coupons. Have a friend print you extra coupons!

St. Patrick's Day

We started St. Patrick's Day by placing gold chocolate coins around little mans bed and out his door. Awaiting him downstairs was green milk and toast with green butter on it. There was green dye in the toilets so when he went to use the bathroom he came running out wondering what other surprises he might find during the day.

For lunch raspberries and green whipped cream appeared, what a sneaky little leprechaun.

A student of my husbands bought this for us and oh was it good! Chocolate cake with chocolate fudge on top oozing with raspberry sauce.

I made green mashed potatoes and artichokes since little man kept asking what other things will the leprechaun turn green. Artichokes because they are green and little mans favorite thing to eat. Little missie just went along for the ride and got excited about everything her brother got excited about. We had BBQ Chicken since no one except for me is a fan of corned beef.

The kids enjoying their St. Patrick's Day dinner.


They had a very fun day and now I will be more prepared for next year. Maybe foot prints next year?

Target run...did I make it?

I made my Target run today. I did not make my $4.86 mark, I spent $5.47! Here is the breakdown:

Clorox Toilet Wand Kit $9.99, I had a $5.00 off coupon and a $5.00 mail in rebate (Free).
2 Swiffer dusters total $2.74. They were $3.74 each. I had a buy one get one free coupon and $1.00 off coupon.
Reach Floss .97 cents, I had a $1.00 off coupon (Free).
Sara Lee bread on sale for $1.99, I had a .55 cent coupon total of $1.44.

I blame tax for my overage coming in at $1.63. Yes, I did pay the $5.00 for the Clorox product but when there is a rebate I minus that out since I will be sending it in today.

Meal Plan Monday

Monday- Hubby taking kids to his parents (I have school)

Tuesday- Cheeseburgers and oven fries

Wednesday- BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, salad and bread

Thursday- Corned beef and cabbage

Friday- Dinner at Chick-fil-A
Every Friday if you bring in your receipt from the previous Friday you get the same meal for free. I had lunch there last Friday and we have 2 coupons for free Chick-fil-A sandwich, so dinner will only cost us a fry and drink for hubby.

This weeks challenge **UPDATE**

I went to CVS and Rite Aid since they are not too far from one another. I got all of this for $5.14! How you ask?

Herbal Essence is on sale for .99 cents at CVS. I had a $1.00 off coupon and buy a shampoo get a styling product for free. Both items for free!
Aussie is on sale for .99 cents too. I had a $2.00 off coupon, which made it free and I made $1.00 off this coupon.
I bought rasins, craisins and the fly swatter for $3.14.
Went to Rite Aid and got 2 Kotex products for free. They are .99 cents each and I had 2 $1.00 off coupons.
The cotton swabs were $2.99 and I had a $1.00 off coupon.

With a little planning you can get a lot for a little. Now I have a stock pile of products and do not need anything, so I now only buy what is on a great deal. A great deal to me is anything as close to free or 75% off the original price.

I have $4.86 to spend at Target later this week!


My challenge this week is to not spend more than $10.00. My goal is to only buy items that are almost free. I will post later in what I got for $10.00. Lots of good coupons out in the paper today.

Moments with God

Since I have been going to school, taking care of the house and family I do not have as much time as I would like to attend bible study or do daily devotions. I do however listen to KLOVE in the car all the time (unless the kids request Christmas music) and I try to keep my eyes and ears on God.

This morning I had to drive out to Clovis North which is by the foot hills. The skies were beautiful at 6:45am. The sun was coming through the white clouds and you could see the mountains peeking through. While I was driving looking at God's beauty I prayed and this is what I prayed, "God, I don't feel good and I need a little prayer right now from someone." Not 10 seconds later my phone rang and my Dad called to tell me he was praying for me. Again, I had to smile and thank God for answering my prayer, even how small it was.

Have a great weekend!

Free Kids Crest Toothpaste

You can get free or close to free Kids Crest Toothpaste at Target. It is on sale for $1.49 right now and go HERE to print a $1.00 off Target coupon. In Sundays paper there was a .50 cent off any Kids Crest toothpaste. Combine these 2 coupons for a free tube of toothpaste, I got two for free!! Even if you did not have the .50 cent off coupon you can score this toothpaste for .49 cents. Can't beat that!

Carrot apple muffins

I may have posted this recipe before, but I changed it around a little and added apples to the recipe. I liked these muffins more, they were a little sweeter and more moist. I also did not have enough brown sugar so I used the natural brown sugar that I had. It is coarse so it gave the muffin a little extra texture.

Recipe:

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I buy in the bulk section at Whole Foods)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 shredded apple (I used green)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I leave these out since my kids do not like nuts in their muffins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin cups.

Sift together the first 6 ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar and eggs until well combine. Whisk in the applesauce, vanilla, carrots and apple. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in nuts if desired.

Divide in the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean about 20 minutes.

Meal Plan Monday

Sunday- Mini meatloaves, baked potatoes and veggies

Monday- Beef Stroganoff

Tuesday- Carnitas with all the fixings

Wednesday- Turkey burgers with sweet potato fries and or corn on the cobb if I can find some.

Thursday- Leftovers or quesadillas from left over meat.

Friday- Out to dinner

Kid's Night

Tonight I thought I would have a kids night since hubby and I are both full from lunch and both the kids have colds, so this would help make them feel better.

I made carrot/apple muffins (will post recipe soon) and ants on a log.

I made fruit trees with sticks and lemons.

Here they are eating and yes, Allie is not wearing pants again. They also had chicken nuggets.

A little after dinner reading of Dr. Seuss.

I think they enjoyed it.

Habit Burgers in Fig Garden

For lunch today we went to Habit Burgers in Fig Garden. They were very friendly and quick with a good looking menu. They have burgers, grilled sandwiches and salads. We wanted to try their burgers so we all ordered cheeseburgers. The kids meal comes with a burger, side of fries, applesauce or onion rings and with a choice of juice, soda or milk. The kids meals came to 3.95 plus .50 cents extra for cheese. I got a number one which came with a cheeseburger, soda and onion rings $5.95 with .65 cents extra for cheese and to sub onion rings. Chris got the same but added cheese and bacon and he got fries and a soda. Our total came to $26.32 which I think is a little expensive for burgers and fries and we had too much food. You can order the burgers separately which we will do next time.

Overall, it was clean, quick, friendly service and good. We do like In-n-Out better becasue we can eat as a family for $13.00 and it is always good. We want to go back and try the grilled sandwiches and salads, but if we just want a burger, In-n-Out is the place for us.

My favorite alfredo sauce

Alfredo Sauce:
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup white wine
3 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add some olive oil to a saute pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and saute then add white wine and reduce for a minute or two. Add the heavy cream, increase heat to a simmer and reduce the cream sauce by half. When the cream sauce is at its desired consistency, stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan, salt and pepper. Add whatever pasta you would like. I like adding a little chili powder for a kick.

Serve with chicken or shrimp and you could add sundried tomatoes or broccoli.

My $10 shopping spree!

Yes, I got all of this for $10.00!

3 5 lb bags of flour $.87 cents a bag, sale and coupon at Vons
1 Smuckers P&J sandwiches $1.50 sale and coupon at Vons
2 full size bottles of V8 Fusin .50 cents each! I took the Big Lots add into Target and they price matched them at $1.50 each and I used 2 $1.00 off coupons.
2 Birthday cards
1 Smuckers jelly on sale and used coupon
1 bag marshmallows .97 cents at Target

Tilapia with mushroom sauce

35 minutes total prep and cook time

I made this last night and I loved it! Hubby said it tasted like a fish version of chicken marsala. I added egg noodles with it, but you could serve with rice or by itself.

Recipe:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
5 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
10 ounces white mushrooms trimmed and sliced
4 fillets of tilapia (I used 3 since that is all we needed)
2 tbsp of EVOO (olive oil)
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup heavy cream
Chopped parsley or chives for garnish

Directions:
1. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and thyme and cook for about 7 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and tender, about 8 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in another large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish, skin side down and cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes then transfer to a plate. Add the wine to the skillet and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Boil over high heat until syrupy, 2-3 minutes. Add the cream and simmer to thicken slightly, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour cream sauce over the mushrooms in the skillet, then add the fish skin side up. Simmer until the fish is just about firm and translucent about 5-7 minutes. Garnish and serve.

I roasted some asparagus and cauliflower in the oven at 400 degrees with Olive Oil and salt and pepper for 15 minutes.