Another Monday list

Good morning everyone.  Sorry for no posts last week but I helped my daughter 3 days and took a little relaxing time on days our home was empty.  I also spent a good deal of time organizing and listing the freezer contents, making a shopping list and doing a huge shopping trip to our favorite commissary.  

This week, we have company all week so my standard to do list is much shorter. I will just keep up with house cleaning as it needs done and I have time to do it. 

To answer a few comments from last week

Lilac Dreams Tracey - I stopped doing Swagbucks a couple months back, I may start back in the future but not now.  

Vickie - I kind of have a love-hate relationship with THM desserts.  My favorite is the no bake chocolate version cookies that I think originated with Sheri Graham.  I made a double batch of them, using half oats and half coconut.  I keep them in the fridge and they always taste good to me.  

I did get some the new THM baking blend and I made a half recipe of a shortbread cookie but I didn't like them one bit.  In fact, I threw them away.  

I want to try the cowboy cookies in Mrs. Criddles site and hope to do them tomorrow. http://mrscriddleskitchen.com/cowboy-cookies/

 I'll let you know!

Have a good week everyone!  

Monday list

Good morning everyone.  

This week's list seems shorter and I am probably forgetting something but I'll do what I can and then add things if needed.  

Instead of rubber stamps, I used some fabric tape from Dollar Tree and stickers to decorate this week's very simple list.   The fabric tape is cute and cheerful, but it seems to have a mind of its own which is evident in my wonky stripes.  I like it but will be looking for small short projects to use it.  

My Dollar Tree had 6 different designs and it was on pegs with the stickers and labels.  

I'm off to get stuff done! 

Feeding the grands

4 of the grands are here for the day.  I made oatmeal pancakes and oven baked bacon for breakfast.  

There were leftovers and they went in the freezer for future breakfasts.

Last night, I boiled eggs and sliced cheese and made the fruit tray. This was today's lunch with milk and crackers.  After we ate, all the eggs and fruit were gone. 

 It was much easier planning this ahead and doing the prep last night.  

Now it's nap time and almost miraculously, all 4 are asleep! 

What are we having for supper? At the moment I have no clue.........

Supper is cooking

It's almost noon and I just started supper.  

I put a whole chicken in our bigger crockpot- spray it first with something nonstick, season the bird however you like and I like to cook birds breastside down. 

In the other crockpot I put foil wrapped sweet and white potatoes.  They don't have to be wrapped but sweet potatoes tend to drip and caramelize when they cook and I am hoping to avoid that mess.  

Both the chicken and potatoes should be done after about 5 hours on high.  

I made a big salad last night and we will have it too.  

I cooked a chicken just like this last week and planned to make chicken salad with the leftovers.  Four of the young grands were here for that meal and they liked that chicken so much, there was none left!  

A whole chicken makes an easy, low cost and healthy crowd pleasing meal around here. 

Do you have any other meals that work for a group? 

Neighborhood yard sale finds and CVS

Our little neighborhood had their annual yard sale this past Saturday morning. My son came over and we walked to every sale.  We both were happy with our finds.  

My son got this expensive looking silk plant for $2, the stone finial for $1 and I think the books were 50 cents each.  

The rest are things I bought 

Pretty frame $1

Giant heavy silver plate serving tray $2 - really! 

It still had this price tag on it. It's very grand looking, like it belongs on Downton Abbey maybe.

3 packs or weather stripping tape $1 for all 

Little boy clothes - all 25 cents each

A new Martha Stewart tablecloth $1 

Beanie Baby puppy and measuring spoons 25 cents each 

The biggest purchase was this 3 foot tall storage cabinet full of 12 by 12 inch scrapbook paper and cardstock for $15.  It's very heavy so we drove the block and a half back to pick it up in my vehicle.  

I haven't looked at every sheet but I like all the ones I have looked at.  

CVS this week 

I think before sales and coupons, the total was $60ish,  but after all the deals, I spent just under $10 cash and got $13 in CVS money to spend next week.  I've already checked out next week's ad at 

Iheartcvs.com and plan to stock up on Charmin.   

The Meta bars are free for everyone with a CVS card this week.  Just scan your CVS card and the free coupon will print out once per card.  If your store is out of them, get a rain check.  They are stocked back in the pharmacy with things like Slimfast and fiber supplements.  

Plus, if you do the Meta refund on Ibotta, there is a $2 refund on them.  I just started doing Ibotta about a month ago.  It is an easy way to refunds on retail purchases,  you just sign up and then on eligible products, you just scan the upc and receipt with the camera on a smart phone or iPad type device.  

Happy bargain shopping everyone!