White Chocolate Oreo's

Every Christmas I do some baking, mostly pumpkin rolls to give to family and friends, along with our summer sausage. This year I had a couple of coupons for the Chocolate covered oreo's, with them on sale at Walmart and the coupon I paid $1.67 a box. I ended up getting 3 boxes, figured over the holiday's I would break them out and give us a treat......well they didn't make it till Christmas. One night me and Scott was looking for something to snack on (I know we are bad!!, diet's start in January again) I remembered I had the Oreo's so I went and got the little box and tried them out. They we're so delicious !!!!, we could've opened the 2nd box but we waited till the next night...lol....

So that gave me an idea to make our own white chocolate covered oreo's, we'd surely get more for less and then I would have them for Christmas when everyone comes over to visit.

So the next trip to the store I purchased:

1 pkg of Almond Bark ($1.72 at walmart)

2 bags of regular Oreo's ( I thought the stuffed oreo's with chocolate would be to sweet when you bit into it) ($1.99 each bag on sale at walmart)

That is it.... 2 ingredients!! Simple HUH!!

I opened the almond bark pkg up and chopped it up into bite size pieces

Then I just put my corelle bowl over a sauce pan with boiling water,
then added the bark and stirred until smooth.

Then I dipped the oreo's into the chocolate with my fingers,

I tried other things but they didn't work.

I placed the dipped oreo's on a sheet of waxed paper (parchment paper would do also)

and took the spatchela and added chocolate to where my finger was to cover the

whole oreo.

I had left over oreo's so I just placed them around the dish

to make it look alittle more decorative.

The final showpiece

My little Corner

My decor corner

In my kitchen is a corner between the stove and sink that I like to decorate,

it makes the kitchen seem alittle more "Happy".

When I am cooking or doing the dishes it seems to be there making my time

in the kitchen alittle enjoyable.

I found the white pumpkin at Walmart for $15.00, which seems to just

fit in my house. The Welcome sign I got at the Family Dollar Store for $2.00, which I

put it on a picture stand which I had. The flowers I got at the dollar store for a total of $3.00, the glitter small pumpkins I got at Walmart for $1.00 a piece. For a total of $22.00.

I like the beach cottage feel with alittle more twist of

Utah mixed in once in awhile. So I like the white pumpkin, that goes

with the rest of my decor in the house.

This was my decor for Thanksgiving.

My Christmas corner is my freebee with a dollar store "bling",

I'll post it as soon as I get a picture taken, just haven't had the time

with Christmas coming up, the computer being down and the

normal daily activities taking place.

Appreciate the small things

Sorry I haven't been blogging for awhile. Our computer has been having some issues lately and decided to have a melt down 2 days before Thanksgiving. It all started a couple months ago ...... it is 7 yrs old and needed our browser updated so I decided to take it in to get it updated and get it cleaned out from any virus etc that it might have. Never had one instance where it would freeze up or any software issues....UNTIL I got it back from getting it updated. It got where it would totally dump from the site I would be in, or pieces of the page would be missing, or it would freeze up. So I took it to another store on Redwood road, Jay and David worked their magic and it now it runs like its a new computer. It runs so much faster and no issues EXCEPT...
they reloaded all the info as a backup, so when we try to reload things back on it won't because the 2 programs are conflicting with each other. ....SO....Monday it is going back in to get the harddrive reformated and then it should run for alittle longer ....because its so old our hard drives are going out, so its running out of time...hopefully not for awhile until we get back on our feet from house taxes and christmas. I am hoping it will last until we get our taxes back in March, then we can get a new one with more space, burners etc.
We have all our pictures and documents saved on another drive that Scott is going to take out this weekend before we take it back in on Monday.

So these last few months I have gotten alittle appreciative of the small things in our daily lives that make our lives alittle easier and enjoyable.
To be doing something and think I'll look that up on the internet, getting on facebook and socializing with my friends and family, looking at our emails, looking at deals for groceries and printing coupons (this is a big one since I started being a couponer).
So the next time you get on your computer just appreciate that you have one of the modern day invention that makes your life alittle easier and enjoyable.

Lonely Pigeon and Green Chili Verde

My camera was getting full so I downloaded some pictures and saved them in a draft on my blog figuring I would write about them at a later date. When I updated my blog and then posted them, they downloaded to a later date after my wedding blog story....sorry about the mixed up I just can't seem to figure a wall to post them to a newer story. Just scroll down and you'll see them after the wedding present story.

Wedding present

So I had a wedding present that I have been meaning to make but just finely got the stuff to make it. I wanted them to have some holiday decor in their new home that just smelt so good that when they get home from work they are welcome with a smell of homemade cooking.

So I went to Ross and bought a glass vase for $4.99, fall ribbon from the dollar store, and fall potpourri from Walmart on clearance for $4.99 (only used half of the bag so I can make myself one later), and a candle from the christmas section at walmart also for $2.50.

It was easy to put together, I just tied the ribbon around the base of the vase, then put the candle inside and then just added the potpourri around it.

For $11.00 ( only used 1/2 potpourri $2.50) I made a wonderful fall vase that smells like Thanksgiving dinner.

I hope they enjoy it for the holidays.

Homemade Green Chili Verde Salsa

So Kimberly found a recipe off of a friends blog and she made it with a few changes and when we visited her at her house a few weeks ago, she had me and Scott try her green salsa and oh my!!!!! it was so good~~~so we decided to buy the stuff and can a few jars to have on hand. So last weekend she came up and we spent the afternoon putting it together while enjoying talking about the latest stuff going on in our lives which we don't do enough of.

So we peeled, chopped and chopped and chopped....a food processor is on the santa list after canning this summer. I never used mine so a few yrs ago I got rid of it...I wish I had a dollar for everytime I wished I still had it, I'd have enough money to buy one that blends, dices, slices, chops and cooks breakfast.

Green Chili Verde Salsa cooking

Then after the vegetables cook until soft, you blend it to your
desired consistency. Then pour into clean hot canning jars.
We waterbathed them in a stock pot on the stove since my canning
pot was to big for the stove (camp chef stove was put away for the winter),
which worked wonderfully if I say so myself.


The end results (smile) ah we're going to surely
enjoy this through the winter months.

My lonely pigeon

My story begins about 2 weeks ago

(sorry I just haven't had time to sit down and tell my story till now).

I usually get on the computer before going to bed ,some people read,

I catch up on my friends blogs or check out facebook.

It was a very windy day/night. I was downstairs by the patio door,

when I heard a thud on the glass...which scared the holy crap out of me!!

I quickly looked just in time to see a white bird flapping around under the deck.

I think the wind just got it disoriented and it flew to a light source that it seen.

I quickly turned on the patio light to see that it had flown over by the 4-wheelers and wall. I went up stairs to get my shoes on and quickly went outside (leaving the dog inside) to see if I could see the bird. I looked under the 4-wheelers and didn't see anything and thought maybe it just walked under the atv's and then flew away. I was about to go in when I got one of those voices in my head to crawl over the atv's and looked by the wall to see if I could see it. When I got over there I seen a white bird between a piece of board and the wall cornered into a small space. It would have never been able to get out of there and fly if I hadn't came along. I gently grabbed it around its body and started to lift it out when it started getting upset and got out of my hand, it flew towards the patio door again and kept flying into the bottom of the deck floor. It finally landed in a corner by the patio door which by now had a dog and a cat looking out wanting the bird for themselves. I picked it up and took it over to the outside wall and put it up on a 2x4 shelf that a robin had made a nest earlier in the spring. (which I posted the story about my bird family earlier)

I checked on her before I went to bed and when I got up the next morning and she was still there waiting for the right moment to fly away which by then the wind had subsided.

I believe everything happens for a reason...

sometimes we just don't get why but it does.

I recognized the bird that night from a pair of pigeons that have made our backyard and the neighbors backyard their homing area.

They are kinda off white and you never see one without the other one. So when I seen the one that night I looked for the other one to be around the same area....but no 2nd pigeon.

So the next morning after the wind stopped I went out to check in the daylight to see if I could find the other pigeon, I walked out by my rescued pigeon and all of a sudden she flew away right out into the open. I looked in the area on and off for the rest of the day to see if I could see them but to no aveil no pigeons.

Two days after the terrible night I seen one pigeon on the power lines without her partner. My heart sunk to see that she was alone. I explained to Scott when he got home from work what had happened a few nights earlier and showed him my lonely pigeon waiting there for her partner.

About a week had transpired when Scott called my out of the kitchen to show me a couple of birds flying around a few houses away. He said it was my couple of pigeons together. It was to far away to see for sure but I hope it was them.

My lonely pigeon waiting for her partner

I haven't seen them since Scott showed me the birds in the trees a few houses away but hopefully their flying together somewhere in the tree's where

someone else can enjoy their company as I did this summer.

Rotissoire bargain

My latest find at our local DI, was this brand new rotissoire pan. It has silverstone inside which will make the clean ups nice when I cook with it. I will probably still use alumium foil just to make it that much easier getting all the drippings cleaned up. It had an original price tag of 29.99 at ZCMI on sale. It was still in its original box unopened. I bought it for $5.00.

Every day with Landon

As I posted earlier that Landon does something that just amazes me that he learned or done something. In the last couple of months I have captured some of those moments. He brightens my day when he is here with me. I love him so much and is such a blessing to our family. He is now 18 1/2 months old and it seems at times he is 2 yrs. He is such a fast learner and says and does things that you didn't even know he knew.

So one day last month I was doing the dishes and he came up beside me carrying the weigh scale that I keep behind the door to weigh myself (since I have been trying to lose weight....gotta get back in the groove of it soon)......anyways I move and he puts the scale down right where I usually weigh myself and steps on.... he weighed 21.6 pds by the way

So a few weeks later I was doing dishes again (humm is there a pattern here?) and I thought to myself...humm I haven't heard Landon for a bit so I decided I better go and see what he was up to, which you never know with him ...you have to keep close tabs on him or he'll leave a path of distruction through out the house. He isn't one to sit and play with toys, he likes to pull out drawers, pull things out and put them in another drawer. He loves opening and closing things like he is seeing how they work....well anyways back to the story...I went in every room and couldnt find him when I was coming down the hall and looked in the bathroom and the door was open and a foot hanging out....he had crawled inside of the bathroom vanity and was opening and closing the door....later he took the towels and washclothes out and used it as a play hut for a couple of hours. So I called his mommy and told her what his latest discovery was, she said"how did he get in there?" I told her that he crawls in and then sits down.
(don't mind my old vanity, hopefully it'll be replaced in the spring)


So last week I was about to do some decorating above my cabinets and left the stool out and went to the bathroom....when I came back out this is what I found. He had climbed up and was smiling ear to ear, even with aunt Shauna in the front room. I told Shauna to come in and see what Landon had done, her jaw dropped to the floor since she is extra protective of what he does anyway...safety wise. She'll have her children wrapped in bubble wrap and wearing a safety helmet..(.just kidding Shauna)
So I hurried and got my camera off the counter and took a shot, got a good one huh!
(Sorry I couldnt figure out how to turn the picture)



So Kimberly dropped Landon off one morning and she had been gone around 20 minutes when Landon started laughing so hard, him and Kylie was playing on the kitchen floor, I started laughing at them when I realized that I should get my camera and record it so I hurried and went downstairs and got my camera off the computer dock and the time I went back up stairs they were pretty well finished playing.
Landon had his pajamas on and Kylie started pulling on one of the feet and dragging Landon around the kitchen floor (hum new way of cleaning the kitchen floor) in circles, Landon was laughing so hard like I was tickling him. I wished I had caught more of it on camera.

Landon and Kylie are bestest buds!!

They usually have their play sessions in the mornings, this was yesterday morning when Landon decided to get up on the bed and roll on top of Kylie.

Painting the deck stairs

It seems like it has taken me a long time to paint our deck this summer. I always have interruptions or have errands to do before I can drag all the paint supplies out and start painting.

Today I did get our steps painted.

In June I got an idea that I would redo our deck. So me and my hubby pulled all the carpet off the floor and steps. We put down OSB on top of the 2x6's because we want to enclose the space under the deck in the future and we want to make it waterproof the best we can. I primed the OSB and we're going to lay down ice shield on the whole thing. (Ice shield is a rubber membrane that it unbelievable sticky on the bottom side and waterproof on top. They use it when roofing houses along the edges where ice tends to build up and it waterproof it better than roof felt) I did get all the rails painted on the railing and then I started on the stairs.

I use Porch N Floor paint, or oil based paint. I bought it at Lowe's because they had an additive to add to the paint for the stairs.

In previous years I primed all the wood and then used latex paint. Every year it would peel in areas and then I would have to repaint. So 10 yrs ago when we redone our deck, I used oil base paint. I hate to work with it but it has lasted 10 yrs before I had to paint again this year.

The stairs I added an additive to 1/4 gallon of paint. It said to add it to a gallon of paint. First of all I only had 7 stairs to paint and didn't want to waste the extra paint, plus I wanted it extra coarse to make it extra non-slippery. It is like a sand consistancy for traction so they won't become slippery. So far I think it will work, I will let you know at the end of the winter.

Finished look

Stairs half painted, starting to look so nice

Before

Painting supplies

Good pair of gloves (less clean up with paint thinner) your hands will thank you

Small paint tray, paint brush and foam roller

Finished look

Can I say how much I love the clean white look

As you can see I got the edge of the deck painted on the left but didn't get to the right side. I guess I'll continue on next spring, hopefully it won't take me as long next time.

This weeks deals

This week I done alot of couponing and cashed in a couple free coupons to get all this for $9.14

The Cottenelle was free (coupon for referring a friend offer)

The Advil was free (just signed up for free offer)

4 Crest was free (1.00 coupons in circulars)

4 Crest was .50 cents each (.50 cents coupons)

Cat Treats were .52 cents (1.00 coupons)

White Cloud was 1.00 (1.00 coupon)
Betty Crocker Brownies .18 cents each (on sale at Maceys for .68 cents and used 2/1.00 coupons)

Yakisoba was .8 cents each (.58 cents at Walmart then used .50 cent coupons out of circular)

$38.14 was the total value, subtract $9.14 total cost = Savings of $29.00

The Brownies I am going to use for neighbor/friend gifts for Christmas, so that will be great....and maybe a few might be eaten for night treats which Jillian Michaels would be cusing at me for:(

Girls Day at Gardner Village

It was a special day that all us girls (and Landon) in the family got together and decided to go and have a great day at Gardner Village.
There was Kimberly, Shauna, me and Landon; my two sisters Vicki and Susan and my niece Whitney.

It was really crowded as every one else in the valley decided to visit also, but we seem to go with the flow and had a great time.

SISTER'S ARE THE BEST

Me, Susan and Vicki

MOM AND SON

Landon

"THE STUD"

AND

"THE GIRLS"

MOM AND DAUGHTER

Is it me or do they look like each other?






Landon having a great time
You would have never guessed that he was cutting his molers and wasn't feeling good.



WITCHES DISGUISED AS SISTER'S
OR
SISTER'S DISGUISED AS WITCHES




It seemed so nice to get together and have a day
to just let our witches hats off and celebrate the
fall season and see all the halloween decorations
and visit the boutiques and take some pictures.
The weather was really warm and nice, it didn't
even seem like the middle of October. I had lots
of fun and we just might have to make it an annual
event for all of us to get together and get in the
Halloween spirit!

Savings this week

For the week of Oct 6-12th



Smith's



Kraft Easy Mac/Velveeta shells 49 cents/10 purchase
Quaker Rice Cakes 49/10 (coupon ?)
Philadelphia Cream Cheese 99 cents/10 (use the Kraft $5.00 coupon for 5 and they end up FREE)

Pregresso Soup 10/10.00
DiGiorno/California Pizze 3.99/10 (use 1.00 coupon in circular ends up 2.99)

Kraft Salad Dressing 1.49/10 (use 50 cent coupon = 1.00 each)
Kraft Barbecue Sauce 49/10
Dial Soap/Body Wash 2.99 (use 35 cent coupon = 2.64) Green Giant Steamers 1.49 (use 40 cent coupon = 1.09)
Texas Toast 1.99 (coupon ?)
Nestle Ready to Bake cookies (use 1.00 coupon = 1.00)
Jello Pudding/Gelatin 1.79 (use 60 cent coupon - 1.19)
Butterfinger candy 1.99 (use 50 cent coupon 1.50)
Boneless Skinless chicken breasts/thighs 1.99 lb
Pork Country Style Ribs 1.79
Pork Shoulder Roast 1.49
Pork Sirloin Chops 1.79
Rice Krispie Treats 1.48 (coupon ?)
Pop Tarts 1.48 (coupon?)
Kraft Miracle Whip/Mayo 2.49 (coupon ?)
Oreo Cookies 1.99 B1G1 (99)
Fuze 49 cents
Chips Ahoy 1.49 (coupon?)
Ritz crackers 1.99 x 2 = 3.98 - 1.00/2 =2.98 for 2
Kandoo wipes 1.79 (1.00 coupon) 79 cents




Albertson's


M&M Candy Bars Limit 3 1.99 (use coupon)

Rancho Markets

10 lb bag potatoes 89 cents
60 count large eggs 3.99

Reams

Yellow onions 25 lb bag 3.99
Dole Garden Salad .99
Skinless Chicken Breast 1.89 lb
Top Ramen 6/1.00


Fresh Market

Baby Carrots 1lb .79
Ground Turkey Chub lb $1
Large eggs 89 cents

(coupon ?) = I know there is a coupon but I can't remember the amount,
if I come across them I'll post it (just don't remember while posting this right now)


These are some other coupons I have used:
Nalley's slicers - coupon 1.50 ( at walmart for 1.78) = 28 cents
Reach dental floss - coupons.com -1.00 coupon (at walmart 97 cents) = 3 cents profit

Truck race in Las Vegas

We had been looking forward for sometime to make a trip to Las Vegas to attend the Nascar Camping World Truck race on Sept 25th. We even cleaned the car inside and out, we even put a coat of wax on it for the winter. Nothing like taking a road trip in a nice clean car listening to your favorite music and singing along the way.

To make the trip even better we stopped in Orem and picked up Shauna to keep us out of trouble and keep us old folks straight and on the right path.

The day turned out to be a hot one...registering 103 during the day and when the race started at 6:30 it still was 97 degree's. Just right to sit back and enjoy the race in the nice chairs instead of the benches we usually sit on. The start of the race was great with the Star Spangle Banner sung with the fly over of F18's and the fireworks during the song.

We had some really neat fans sitting around us, we all visited and celebrated the event during the night.

The trucks on the track pre-race.

The Media Center with the mountains

serving as a beautiful background

One of the pace cars used at the track

Picture of the track at night with all the lights

on with the full moon in the background

All the fans watching the race

"Bad Moon A Rising"

The full moon rising behind the mountains in the

background during the race. It's red from the

Twitchell fire in Cedar City.

The red full moon (almost) in its finest hour

The parking lot where we park our fifth wheel in

March when we attend the Nascar Sprint Cup Race

Picture of the RV park in last March. It looks

like a RV city when everyone is there bumper to

bumper.

We had one of the best weekends we have had all summer long. We are already making plans to attend next years race with our friends and family coming along with us.

Right place at the right time

So last Friday I went to Walmart to get a few things and cash in a few coupons to get a few great deals being offered. Getting ready to check out I noticed a few women's baskets with alot of merchandise in them but didnt think much about it, figuring they were purchasing for a business or party. Then I was told they were having a clearance markdowns in the garden area. I took my groceries out to the car and came back in to see if there was anything I wanted.

Have you seen the stories about the women going crazy for the clearanced bridal dresses??????

Well that is what the garden area was like.... They were marking items down extremely low....how low??? how about $1.00 for a pack of 3 Colgate toothpaste.. packages of socks for 25 cents...YES 25 CENTS.

The associates working there said they got the go ahead to clear out their deleted/clearanced merchandise in the store.

I truly felt sorry for the associates trying to scan the items and then tell the mob what the price on that particlar item was without her hands or fingers getting ripped off from women grabbing the item out of her hand. Then the women decided to start grabbing the items and then let her scan it from their hands while holding a death grip on it.

So I did purchase a few items

The yasisoni noodles were 8 cents each after the 50 cent coupons.

The dial soap was 3.00, 2.65 after 35 cent coupon.

Gain dish soap, free after 98 cent coupon.

Success rice was 1.85, 85 cents after 1.00 c.

Total cereal was marked down $1.25, 75 cents after 50 cent coupon

The Pantene, lotion was $1.00 after clearance markdown

The crest 3 pk toothpaste was markdown to $1.00 each, with 75 cent coupon on each...they were 25 cents each.

The 3 pk Colgate toothpaste was markdown to $1.00 each and I had a $1.00 coupon for 1 so it was free, the other package was $1.00 or 33 cents each box. I didn't have another coupon for it but took it because it was still an outstanding deal.

The Clinical pro toothpaste was marked down to $1.00 each and I had a $1.00 coupon for each one, so they were free.

I estimated the total cost of items on the tables were approximately $60.00 and I spent $9.80

These were the items I went and got into the war zone for:
SOCKS...$128.00 worth for 25 cents each package. I spent
$5.00
I ended up buying 20 packages of socks (Scott loved the idea of no more holy worn out socks:)) I gave 4 packages to Jon, saving a couples for my dad for his birthday (along with the $1.00 2pk T-shirts they also marked down). I'm putting most of them away till a later date and time when the holy socks start appearing again....laugh
They also had 16 bars packages of Zest (which we mostly use all the time) marked down for $3.00 with 35 cent coupon used on each pkg making them 2.65 or 18 cents each bar. (so between Dial and Zest we shall be clean for a few years anyway:)
They also had boxes of 4 pack of electrical outlets/switches for 25 cents each. I looked today and the outlets selling individually is $1.97 , so I saved $29.72

I purchased other items 8 pringles, bagel chips, 15 washclothes for 25 cents also, paper shredder for $5.00 (reg. 25.00) 3 Aussie Shampoo's 1.00 each.

Your probably wondering how I had coupons for the items I purchased using coupons. We'll I kinda hid the items in the store, went home and hurried back down before the items were discovered.

All I can say is it was a whirlwind of madness but I feel like I won a jackpot in Las Vegas with the deals I found. I roughly figured I saved $297.00
I guess I do earn a paycheck....its just I never see the paystub:)

Grandma would be proud

So lately I have been in the mood to do some home made cooking. It all started when I stopped at a local farmers market one day and picked up a couple of BIG zucchini's for 50 cents each. I use to make some zucchini bread years ago. I got the recipe from a sister of one of my best friends. It is SOOOOO delicous, especially if you cut it after its been sitting awhile but its still warm...can I say YUMM!! Its even good with butter on it also.

Zucchini Bread

Fresh out of the oven

Still warm and the smell is heavenly


I have made 2 loaves so far, but 2 more is in the plans this week. I already stopped at the farmers market again and picked up 4 more. I am going to freeze the zucchini. I shredded the zucchini and let the water drain out of the strainer, then I measured out 2 cups and put them into a freezer quart size baggies. I am freezing them and around Thanksgiving or Christmas I'll pull out the baggie and let it thaw and cook some more yummy bread up. Maybe I can see a loaf being cooked when there is 3 feet of snow outside in a blizzard. (I am not even looking forward to the summer coming to an end but then I never am.)


Salsa

So my next project was to make some salsa. My mother-in-law made the best homemade salsa. Except I am going to make it alot less work, she would cook it in the oven (for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs ) .......and I particularly don't care for the vinegar smell in the house, so I am cooking it out on our Camp Chef Stove (one of the better investments we have ever made, every meal except 2 were cooked outside on it when we were up at our place in Idaho this summer).
So I started with a 1/2 a bushell of tomatoes. The picture already had some tomatoes taken out and put to boiling water to take the skins off.



Tomatoes waiting for their bath.....laugh

Red/Green peppers and onion cut up all ready to go into the mixture with the tomatoes.

The salsa cooking for 2 1/2 hrs

The smell was so inviting to both me and Kimberly

Batch 1

Batch 2

Me and Kimberly had alot of fun while making the salsa the first time that we decided to make another batch a couple days later. We want to make some pickles and some peach jam, we'll just have to see how the weather holds out while we do our other commitments (Nascar truck race the 25th of Sept for me, Scott and Shauna) and then (Kimberly is going out the 29th of Sept with Jon and Landon hunting for a week) so we'll just have to see what the calendar brings.

I think my mother-in-law Betty, would be proud of me and Kimberly making her salsa.

ALSO

I would like to thank my grandma who taught me how to can vegetables

.....it took me awhile to remember most of it but we figured out the rest along the way.