Well, I managed to only spend $26 on groceries besides our WIC stuff this week and a package of diapers. The menu for the week is pretty basic except for one excellent extravagance. Not really, it was super cheap to make but took quite a bit of time today. I have to tell you about this recipe though, it turned out so tasty!

It's from www.kraftfoods.com and it is Chicken and Peanut Stew.

I wanted so badly to take a picture of it on the plate all steamy and wonderful. However, my poor camera battery is just dead and won't hold a charge anymore. So this one from the website will have to do. I have to get a new battery pack before my trip out to California for my mom's wedding.

Anyway, this recipe is really good. I used chicken leg quarters (which I would normally never buy but they were on sale at Kroger for $1.85 for a package of 4 huge pieces of chicken!), and used my dutch oven to brown the chicken and veggies. I would have left everything in there to cook down but had to transfer it over to the crockpot because my dutch oven isn't big enough to hold all of this yumminess. I did add some additional salt though, and I think another can of tomatoes would have also been good. Spicing it up some would be fantastic, but it's hard to do with a three year old around. I already had to omit the peanuts and just add them to mine because Jason was all fussy about it. Also, I am getting a few meals from this. Here's how.

1 Dinner: Each of us had a leg quarter (Jason ate half of Freddy's and his own!)
1 Lunch: One quarter was left and I am packing that for lunch for myself at work)
1 Side: I had enough rice & sauce left to put quite a bit in the fridge as a side dish for a meal this week sometime
1 Sauce: I put the remainder of the sauce/soup part into a freezer bag to store for later. I think this would be excellent on some lo mein noodles, just add some veggies & maybe some pork or chicken and yummmmm!!!!!

I just wanted to share this and inspire some hard work in the kitchen with excellent and super frugal payoff. An hour in the kitchen got me 3 1/2 meals!

Oh, and Addie LOVES sweet potatoes. I figured I'd cook and smush some of those while I was browning my chicken. Two big sweet potatoes made a ton! I filled up my ice tray and have a tupperware full in the fridge for the next couple of days. I'll try and post pics when I get a new battery for my camera.

I can't really do math, but I'm going out on a limb here to say that we are being bamboozled on diapers. I have noticed this recently because I haven't had it in my weekly budget to buy a case of diapers in the past few weeks. I've been settling on the jumbo, mega, doowoppy whatever package of Pampers BabyDry that come in packs of 42 in size 2. They are normally 8.99 or 9.99 depending on sales/location/etc.

Math
8.99/42 diapers = .21 cents a diaper

I always have some kind of a coupon and this week I'll get a whopping $3 off due to a Target coupon I have. So my total will be, depending on price this week:
8.99-$3.00 = 5.99/42 diapers = .14 cents a diaper
or
9.00-$3.00= 6.99/42 diapers = .16 cents a diaper

New Scenario
Let's say I were to be awesome and buy a case in order to save money per diaper...this is the rationale behind buying in bulk, correct?

Case of size 2's at Target is $44.99 for 228 diapers
44.99/228 = .19 cents a diaper
This is cheaper than the .21 cents a diaper in the smaller pack, BUT let's see how it stacks up when you add the coupon.

44.99-$3.00= 41.99/228= .18 a diaper

UM, what, is my calculator on this computer all jackity? If I used my precious coupons on a case to be more budget conscious, I would actually end up sepnding .4 more cents a diaper? Huh? As I said, I can't do math...but this seems legit to me.

It's the same with the advertised specials this week of 17.99 for jumbo packages. There are 86 size 2's in a pack for 17.99. With my coupons that is still .17 a diaper.

I know we're talking about pennies here, but imagine it. I use a 42 pack in a just about a week, which is because I am a horrible mother and don't change her often enough. That's over 2000 diapers a year and the pricing will just get worse as less come in a pack when she grows. We're getting close to savings of $100 a year by just doing some math. Take your calculator to the store with you and look a little weird.

I also suggest www.diapers.com because they give you a per unit price to help you figure out the best deals and you can send them manufacturers coupons. Use my code AMAN0974 and get $10 off your first order of $49 or more and get me some credit too. They don't always have the best deals, but at least they don't try and trick you! Use your coupons wisely and if you understand this mathematical phenomenon, let me know!

Thank you all for you kind words on the photos!

Now, for the challenge. We are super poor this month due to Jason being enrolled in his non-traditional licensure program and being unable to accept closings except Fridays. We're trying to spend as little as possible on groceries for the rest of the month. I mean like close to nothing. This is made a bit easier by the fact that we qualify for WIC and receive many items through this wonderful program. I have used a lot of these items in meals this past week, but my goal is to use ONLY these items. That may not be possible, so I'm willing to add an extra ingredient or two here and there. So, I need your help. I will post a list of the items we get free from WIC and maybe you can find or provide a recipe using mostly those ingredients.

Milk
Eggs
Cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, monterrey jack, pepperjack, colby)
Beans or Peas (Dried, unseasoned, no mixed bags)
Carrots (16 oz can or 1lb fresh)
Tuna (canned in water)
Peanut Butter
Baby Cereal
Oatmeal (plain) or Cream of Wheat
Cereal (Various options-Cheerios, Kix, Honey Bunches of Oats, etc.)
Juice (Large canned variety including V8 & tomato juice)

I've made lots of tuna sandwiches, tuna melts, and I'm doing a casserole tomorrow. Scrambled eggs w/cheese (I hate omelets) have also been a recurring theme. I'm doing Chuckwagon pinto beans this week and making some homemade refried black beans. Addie gets lots of homemade carrot baby food and I'm going to cook & mush some split green peas for her in a few days too. I'm willing to try anything, like these AWFUL carrot patties I got from the Kraftfoods website. They do have that awesome search engine where you list ingredients and it brings up recipes. Well, I would appreciate any help you can give. Thanks in advance!

My kiddos made it to the internets for real! We did a photo session for an up and coming photographess this past Saturday. It was a lot of fun and she posted a few sample pics on her blog/website. I can't wait until they are finished. Her name is Meagan Jackson, go check out the pics here. I'm going to have to dip into Christmas savings to buy these photos.

Feel free to comment on them, I've heard things like, "They should be models," and "Oh my gosh, they are precious!" Wait, that was me saying those things!

I finally got paint on my living room walls. I painted the two brown ones...mostly. Then we hired an awesome dude we found on craigslist to come do the other two blue/grey ones. It's called Moody Blue and brown is called Dark Rust, both compliments of Wal-Mart's ColorPlace selection. $8.97 a gallon friends. I was inspired by Manda G's blog of paint colors that I needed to post a picture of the finished walls.

Now, we're ignoring the glare from the light at the top, the messy junk all over the place, the disheveled couch cushions, and lack of window dressings, right? Just focus on the color, which also leaves something to be desired on this computer monitor. This room opens into the coffee tan yuck hallway and on the other side to our awesome two tone green dining room and the light icy blue kitchen, as conveniently displayed in some older pictures below.

Kay, thought you'd like to see.

Little Girl with her self proclaimed honorary Aunt Manda on her real "1st Birthday."

Sweet Angel, Happy Birthday!

Kristina, my lady friend, you are a great mommy and made you one beautiful baby with that hubby of yours.

11:43 pm and Addie has "cried it out" right on out to sleep! I don't know how long it will last, but I'm off to bed in a big ol' hurry!

I am in mommy hades at the moment. Adeline is in her crib screaming her head off in this deep angry cry that won't stop. She will be six months next week and she has not been able to fall asleep on her own more than once or twice since she stopped the newborn sleep all the time phase. She's been teething and miserable for days now, which finally got a little better last night. I slept for about 6 hours, but it's 11:14 and she's already nursed twice, had a dose of ibuprofen and tylenol, been given baby orajel and some of those homeopathic teething tablets. I've cuddled and rocked her, I've fed her green beans, I played with her, changed her, yelled at her, and I'm currently trying some lullaby cd. So far, it's just drowning out the sound of her crying a little.

I am trying to focus on more positive things like the fact that I am an official mother of two now. Freddy's adoption was complete on Monday! I got a part time writing tutor job that I'm in training for, but wouldn't you know that there isn't any time to complete it all? I come home and cook and get a few things done around the house, then put Freddy to bed, then wrestle with Addie for a couple of hours and then I'm so tired I can't stand it.

Okay, I'm being super negative. One more thing though, my darling husband is in bed. I can't help but harbor some resentment. Not that he doesn't help on occasion when I am desparate or cussing him in the middle of the night! :) It's just expected that I be the one up with her because I have the boobs I guess. I am NOT giving in to her again before 12:30 though, because she's eaten TWICE...8:30 and then again at about 10:00 and neither time would she go to sleep.

So, I need to have a talk with God. It sounds somethiing like this, "Jesus, thank you for my babies. Thank you for answering my prayer to have a baby and for blessing our lives with sweet Adeline and Freddy. Please give me the strength and patience I need to minister to my children and family. Grant me grace towards my husband when I feel resentful, and the wisdom to realize that my controlling and picky ways are most likely the reason he takes a back seat sometimes. Help me be a light to others and a righteous wife and mother, and let me give all the glory to you. If my children are praised for how beautiful they are, let me honor you with that. If people tell me my children are well behaved, let me thank you and give you the praise. When my baby cries, remind me to pray for her peace and for mine. When they are ill, I will know you are the healer. You have given me the Holy Spirit as my helper, let me listen and know my limits, and set my expectations for myself in attainable places. I am your daughter, and I've given you more sadness and pain than I can know, yet you welcome me into your arms, forgive me, and rejoice when I do right. Help me do right, help me look like Jesus to you. I love you, Lord, with the love you have given me. Apart from you there is no love, so I come to refill my cup at your feet. I pray this in the name of Jesus your son, Amen."

Well, I hate to be all pharisee-ing it up by praying out in public for all to see, but I guess I hope you know that I'm not insane and ungrateful, just sleepy and in need of some Godly perspective.

It was a fun day. We went to my sister-in-law's father's house, yes that's right. He had a huge cookout on his smoker/grill that her dad made! It was awesome and I hate that I didn't get a picture of the awesome thing. Anyway, I'll post some pictures of our day and some from Freddy's 3rd birthday party.

Oh, and might I mention that I did a horrible job shopping this week, so I made up for the under $30 last week. I did take advantage of the continuing Kroger Daytona Event deals. I got Velveeta for only $3.99 and a 12 pack roll of Scott for $5.63, and Goldfish were on sale for $10/10, that was best deal ever coupon or not!


Freddy loves him some corn on the cob, and swimming!

Freddy and cousin Aurora in the pool, they were hard to catch.




Freddy running from the fireworks, maybe he'll be a little more brave next year!

Jason [left] and his brother, Will.

Oh my cute baby girl, having her some water on Pappa's lap. Really she was just chewing on the nipple because it feels good on her tooth nub!