Sunday, July 6, 2008

Free Crazy Bread

Free Crazy Bread when you buy a Hot-N-Ready pizza at Little Caesars
This is my favorite drive-thru when the kids and I are forced to eat lunch away from home. Where else can I feed everyone something they love for $5? And now, with the addition of free crazy bread, I won't have to make an extra trip through Taco Bell for Mommy's lunch. :)

Friday, April 11, 2008

Ugh!

Ask me how many loads of laundry I've done today.

Okay, I'll tell you...
  1. one load of darks
  2. one load of blue/green
  3. one load of jeans
  4. one load of red/yellow
  5. one load of towels
  6. one load of whites

And just as that sixth load went in the dryer, Matthew walked in carrying his poopy underwear. Apparently, he didn't just poop his pants during his nap, but he managed to smear it all over his sheets. So you can add..


7. one load of sheets

I just had them all strip their beds. It's been a while since we've washed sheets anyway.

And I also got to scrub the mattress. What.A.Fun.Day.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Devilish Easter Eggs

My boys just love coloring Easter eggs... but they're not so much into eating them. I can't blame them. Cold boiled eggs aren't my favorite treat either... especially when competing against Reeses eggs and chocolate bunnies. But with the price of eggs these days, I certainly can't toss them. What's a girl to do with a dozen boiled eggs that usually turn out a pukey shade of brown? Peel off that ugly shell and make them yummy!



For the past eleven years (the age of my oldest egg colorer), I've been in charge of bringing the devilled eggs for Easter dinner. It's only been within the past few months that I stumbled on the easiest, fastest, and BEST TASTING recipe ever. Here's the secret: Marzetti Slaw Dressing. You can even use the lite version. Just smash up the egg yolks, stir in some dressing and nothing else. I usually mix it up with my hand mixer until it's smooth and creamy. Pipe the mixture into the sliced egg whites and you're done. It makes the most amazing eggs. People will comment and beg you for the recipe.
Fast, cheap, easy, and delicious; it works for me!
For more Works for Me Wednesday, visit Shannon at rocksinmydryer.net.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Make Your Own Sugar


Start by sowing sugar cane in your backyard... no, no, no, let's jump ahead a few steps!

It's the colored sugar I needed this morning. I was making sugar cookies for church and the only sprinkles I had were orange and black, mixed orange and black, not exactly what I had in mind for my butterfly and umbrella cookies! I could have drug four kids out to the store but that's less appealing than halloween butterflies! So I decided to try a little kitchen chemistry.

Here's what you do: Simply spoon some table sugar into a baggie or bowl. Add a single drop of food coloring. Really, just a teeny tiny bit! Shake or stir (baggie or bowl) until the color coats the sugar. It's that easy. If it's too dark, just add some more sugar. If you've been saving your old spice bottles, like I told you, then you've got a perfect shaker for your new colored sugar. Just be sure the bottle is clean and DRY before you add the sugar. If your sprinklers are as generous and messy as mine are, you'll want to make a big batch! LOL

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Toddler Time Taker


It seemed like such a simple idea when I read it on someone's blog (sorry, I can't remember where or I'd give you credit!). Simply place a big mixing bowl in the sink, add some water, and give the bored and pesky toddler some spices to mix in his soup. So, when my bored and pesky toddler wouldn't let me fix dinner tonight, I set up a cooking station for him, too. It worked! He was entertained for over a half hour!

Actually, it worked too well. My spice cabinet is not all that well stocked and it didn't take him long to go through the old or unused spices. I can't spare my chili powder or cinnamon! LOL At the rate he'll go through the spices, even buying the cheapie 50c spices will cost more than I'm willing to spend. So here's where my ingenuity comes into play. Salt is cheap and comes in mass quantities. I refilled the empty spice bottles with salt. I had noticed Matthew's fondness for the red paprika so I added a couple drops of food coloring to the salt. Shake it up and the color disperses to the whole bottle. Now we have a rainbow of salt for him to use next time he "cooks." I'm hoping it will smell better than the celery seed, too!

It works for me!

CVS Deal

I've got the fever! I've been surfing all the blogs boasting of great deals at CVS and I couldn't resist. I've been shopping the Extra Care Bucks for a few weeks now but this week was the first one that resulted in them owing me money. I had to add a pack of gumballs to my order to bring it out of the negatives (the boys loved that). Here's what I got...




  • Colgate toothpaste $1.88 - 75c coupon ($1 ECB)

  • Fusion Phenom razor $9.99 - $4.oo coupon ($6 ECB)

  • 2 Kleenex tissues $2.19 - B1G1 free

I used my $10 ECB from last week's purchases and got a -.45 total! I added a pack of gum balls to bring it to 23c out of pocket AND I have $7 in ECB to use next week.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Plant Rescue

I've got a black thumb. I'm notoriously bad at keeping plants alive. I've killed more than I'd like to admit before I finally gave up on plants. But a couple years ago, my mother-in-law, who also has a black thumb, gave me a couple potted plants. I guess she figured I could kill them just as quickly as she could and she wouldn't have the rotting remains in her house! So why am I offering advice on saving your plants for my very first WFMW?

Because the joke is on MIL this time. While one of the plants did die, the other one is living happily and healthily (is that word?) on top of my refrigerator. It's all about location, baby! That plant is still alive and prospering b/c it sits atop my freezer. Whenever I reach into the freezer to get ice, I just throw an extra cube or two in the plant! There's no need to add plant watering to my "to do" list. It requires absolutely no thought or effort... right up my alley!

What is that you're saying? You don't have a plant with which to practice your new found knowledge? Never fear... Lowe's will give you $10 off the purchase of any house plant if you take in this printable coupon. If you pick something that's less than $10, it's free!

Feeding ice cubes to the plant works for me... and my plant! For more Works for Me Wednesday, visit Rocks In My Dryer.