Grocery Shopping!

Are you looking for ways to save money like I am? Don't go shopping with kids, and don't shop on an empty stomach! I made my list and went shopping first thing this morning and got it all done in record time.

Thanksgiving Dinner

This was my first Thanksgiving dinner where basically everything was up to me. My S-I-L was awesome and so laid back, she just went with whatever and helped out a ton. Together we made a beautiful dinner and the gravy was even great. The pies were beautiful and the turkey fell of the bone. We ate dinner at 2pm, literally sat down at 2pm. It was so nice!

Frugal Shopping & Eating

We all feel it. The price of gas has skyrocketed, food prices are ridiculous, and the quest that I have been on my whole married life is finally paying off. Since Nathan and I were first married, I have made it my own personal game to see how cheap I can get my monthly grocery bill. I will admit that the years that I was working outside of the home were not my best frugal times, but I am back at it and better than ever. The rules of my game are simple:

1. Feed my family nutritious, filling, delicious meals
2. Spend as little as possible
3. Build up a storage of food in the pantry to build self-reliance in times of financial hardship, disaster, or food shortages. (This has saved us at least three times in our years of marriage.)
4. Use coupons, sales, discounts, anything legal to save money and stretch our food dollars
5. Share my good deals with other families so that they can play my little game too!

In moving I have had to buy all new condiments and other things that one takes for granted. I cannot tell you the eye-opening "sticker shock" that I experienced when I had to buy a big bottle of Ranch dressing recently. I remember going to Sam's and being able to buy that bottle for around $3 something. This last week I had to buy it at a local grocery store, Smith's, and it was $8.29. It just goes to show that when you purchase these items separately along with your normal groceries you don't watch as closely, but I have already began my quest to make that cheaper without sacrificing the taste and quality. I will keep you posted to the dressing challenge!

Now that the girls are getting older and taking more regular naps and I HAVE A DISHWASHER!! I will have more time to share on the blog the good deals and awesome finds that I am adding to the Clark Cupboard.

Deal-of-the Day!!!

Smith's has bottled 1 Gallon jugs on sale for $1.00 but if you buy 10, you get $5 back. That is is 50 cents! Now I am not a big bottled water fan, I think all that plastic is really crappy for the environment. However, I believe in having two weeks worth of water for every person in the family in case of water contamination, disaster, etc. Don't scoff, it happens a couple times a year in a community, you always hear about it on the news, "such-n-such community has detected blah-blah in the water, residents are being asked to boil", or "the ____ city water main broke today leaving the residents with no water for at least 3 days." Don't tell me that you would be able to find a drop of water in the stores after about 5 minutes of that news break. It saves money to be prepared. We should also have at least 1-2 gallons in the trunk of each of our cars for various reasons.

Mother's Day Brunch

Stuffed French Toast-(I will post the recipe later) I wanted to show you all the delicious meal that I was served on Mother's Day.

Beans, Beans the magical fruit!

The more you eat, the more you....save money!

I have always had a bunch of dried beans in my food pantry, but I rarely use them. It always seemed so much easier to just use the more expensive and speedier canned beans for chili and soups. I once got like 25 pounds of beans on sale for like 32 cents a pound at Super Target. That breaks down to 2 cents per serving!!!! Super deal! Until now I have rarely used them. This week I decided that I would finally break down and cross into the dried bean frontier. I made black bean and Spanish rice burritos on Monday. They were easy and a big success, then last night I made homemade baked beans and hot dogs. The baked beans could have been better, but like I told Nathan, I can try again!

So here's my tip: Try cooking with some dried beans, they store well, they are nutritious, and Hannah adds "they are yummy!"

By the way, if you always eat a little bit of fiber your body gets used to it and you don't have to worry about being designated an alternative fuel source.

Just getting started...

Welcome to my homemaking palace! I love to be frugal. I love to read cookbooks and bake and cook and well experiment--sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes not. I love to find new ways to make things work. Some of the things that I will tackle with this website include:

• Cooking
• Menu Planning
• Food Storage
• Following the Word of Wisdom
• Grocery Shopping Lists
• Coupon Cutting
• Baking
• Cake Decorating
• Storage and Organization

Just so we are clear, I am not starting a blog on these subjects because I think I am an expert, it is because I want to strive to be better at these things. I find joy in motherhood and taking care of our home. I am not so great at it yet, but like all things I have set my mind to--I hope to be someday! So stop back and I will let you know what is in our cupboard.