Goodbye to a New Friend

This week I will have to say my first good bye since moving here..Jessi a friend of mine who is an incredible mother, blogger, writer, wife, and Christ follower is leaving. She is going to visit her family before God takes her to her final destination as Church Planters in the Northeast..
Here is a link to her Blog..

www.naptimediaries.com

Check it out. Support her and her husband if you can..

Coupons are not for me, (whatever)

Coupons are not for me. This is what I used to think. I actually used to be one of those people who kind of thought that coupons were not worth it...Now I am a believer in using coupons as much as possible. In the last week, I have saved over $90.00 bucks with coupons.

I have one rule that I do go by though, I seldom use a coupon for something that I either do not need or that I do not already usually buy. I do not believe in using them for items that I do not usually buy. I do occasionally use coupons to try new things, but this is not the norm, and if I do use the coupon in this way, it is usually just to try a different brand of a particular item.

These are some of my favorite sites. Check them out, print the coupons, and save money...

http://www.gogrocery.com/

http://www.couponmom.com/

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

For online coupons:

http://www.couponcabin.com/

http://www.mycoupons.com/

Also each store or manufacturer usually has websites or discount programs that you can print or access. Some stores like QFC, Fred Meyer, and Safeway allow you to download coupons directly to their in store discount card that you may already have in your purse.

I always check out the store websites. Many times you can make grocery lists straight from their weekly sale papers.

My personal strategy:

I usually do a big shopping trip once every two weeks, then I replenish my fresh veggies and fruit weekly. Sometimes I will go back and do a weekly shopping trip..it is really whatever works out best with that months pay schedule. It is always a work in progress. I try to be flexible and stick with what is working. I plan out the lunches and dinners for two weeks. I try to include unforeseen things that might come up in this process. So some days have more than one choice for that particular day. I sign up for every discount card and plan that I can especially if it is a store that I go to frequently.

There are a million websites out there for coupons and meal planning. I will continue to share with you the ones that I think are the best. Saving money is fun. Happy shopping.

I met a Hungry Girl.

I got to meet one of my heros this past week. Her name is Lisa Lillien..she is better known as the Hungry Girl. She has a great blog and website at http://www.hungrygirl.com/ that I have followed for years. She has several cookbooks that teach you all about great food swaps, and learning to eat in a more healthy way while not depriving yourself of treats you like to eat. I went to a party and book signing in her honor last week. In fact, I won the big door prize of the night. The prize was a years supply of POP chips. (To learn more about these popped, not fried, potatoes you can go to http://www.popchips.com/) I will let you know when the POP chips start arriving.. : )

Check out Lisa's website and her cookbooks..she is a great inspiration.

There is nothing better than.....

On a day like today that is sort of cool, cloudy, and rainy. I simply cannot think of anything better than vegetable soup. I love soups. They are simple and easy. Plus, you can pretty much take whatever you have in the fridge and make a soup out of it.

Today, I made a soup that had red pepper, onions, carrots, celery, three small potatoes, chicken breast meat (left over from lunch), zucchini, canned tomatoes, chicken stock, and parmesean cheese...saute the veggies, add the tomatoes and the stock, add in the chicken, salt, pepper, let it all cook for a while....and then I added some orzo pasta....it was fantastic..really hit the spot..It was hardy, low in calories, high in flavor, and just plain yummy.