FIVE INGREDIENTS FOR FRIDAY'S

It's FRIDAY!! That means another five ingredient or less recipe and with temperatures the way they've been, this is sure to warm your family's bellies. It's fast and delicious! What more could you ask for?

SENSATIONAL CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

3 1/2 CUPS CHICKEN BROTH

1 MEDIUM CARROT, SLICED

1 STALK CELERY, SLICED

1/2 CUP UNCOOKED MEDIUM EGG NOODLES

1 CUP CUBED COOKED CHICKEN

MIX BROTH, CARROT, AND CELERY IN A SAUCEPAN. SEASON WITH PEPPER. HEAT TO A BOIL. STIR IN NOODLES AND CHICKEN. COOK OVER MEDIUM HEAT 10 MIN. OR TILL NOODLES ARE DONE. SERVES 4.

This recipe is from a "Campbell's Favorite Recipes" booklet. We have made it quite a few times. I have even used leftover turkey instead of the chicken. This is great to put in a thermos for your little one's school lunch or even your own. Hope you like it!!

My New Coupon Organizer

After my Kmart trip, I decided that if I'm going to do that again, I'd better get a little more organized. So I spent this morning putting together a little coupon organizer. I didn't want to have to carry a big binder for what little bit of coupons I have, so I used a small (6" x 9") binder from an old recipe book I had. It was one of those that you could write a recipe on and wipe it back off if it wasn't a recipe you liked. (kinda like a whiteboard). Problem with that was, I'd write my fav. recipes in it, and the messy cook that I am, I'd wipe off splatters and spills, and oops, there went my recipe : ( So I pulled out all the pages, cut tabbed dividers to fit, punched holes in the dividers & envelopes, labeled the envelopes, put them behind their corresponding divider, and stuffed the envelopes with my coupons. And this is what I ended up with:







It will sit in the cart like this:






Behind each divider are the envelopes labeled with what's inside/will be inside. These are behind the breakfast divider:





This is behind the canned goods divider:





And this is where my coupons for that category are stashed:


Not bad for using things I already had around the house. Now I know when I start to accumulate more coupons it probably won't work out, but for now I think it'll do. So, how do you have your coupons organized? I'd love to know...

My first "couponing" trip at K-Mart

First, I'd like to thank all of the bloggers out there that teach newbies how to coupon effectively. Especially MommySnacks I wouldn't have known where to start if it hadn't been for some of their posts. And secondly, I'd like to say that when I go couponing again, I'm going alone, and I'm wearing a headset to drown out the crowd. It was a madhouse out there tonight! Very hard to concentrate.

It didn't turn out as well as everyone else's trips, I still had to pay oop :( but over all I think I did pretty good, considering the prices were ridiculous to begin with. I planned my list, organized my coupons and got $68.50 worth of stuff for $16.66. My DH went with me and he was getting worried when the cashier rang up the $68.50. But after she scanned that last coupon, and said "your total is $16.66, he had the biggest grin come across his face. There were a few items I didn't get to get, because they were sold out. But, you win some and you lose some.

OOPS...didn't realize that was upside down. Oh well, stand on your head and read it lol...

Would I have purchased these items normally at $65 or $68? HECK NO!! Would I do it again for $16.66. YES!! So, I guess I can end this by saying:

Mission Accomplished!!

BEER SAUCED LINKS

Wanted to share another favorite recipes of ours. This time its an appetizer. I have a potluck at work this weekend, and this is what I'm in charge of bringing. They are so good!! This recipe was from a cookbook called "Fix it Fast". Give em a try:

BEER SAUCED LINKS

2 lbs. fully cooked Polish sausage or frankfurters cut into 1/2" pieces
1 cup beer
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. mustard
1 TBS horseradish

In skillet, combine sausages and beer. Cover; simmer 10 minutes. Combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in vinegar, mustard, and horseradish. Add to sausages; cook and stir till bubbly. Makes 36. Serve warm with wooden picks.

ENJOY!!

FIVE INGREDIENTS FOR FRIDAY'S

Every Friday, I will post a tasty recipe that contains five ingredients or less (I'm not counting the spices) The recipes that I will be posting already have a "hubby and 3 teens" seal of approval. Hopefully, you'll find some that could be added to your family's favorites and maybe share some of your family's 5 ingredients or less recipes with me. So, for my first FIVE INGREDIENTS FOR FRIDAY'S post, I am sharing with you this recipe that I found written on a piece of loose leaf paper in one of my grandmother's old cookbooks:

EASY CHICKEN FRIED STEAK

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup milk (put in a shallow bowl)

1/4 to 1/2 cup flour (put on plate)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 to 3/4 pack of crackers, crushed

Form ground beef into 5 or 6 patties. This next step is a very messy step, but trust me, it's worth it...Dip each side of the patty in the milk, then in the flour, then in the egg, and lastly in the crushed crackers. Place in a hot frying pan with a little vegetable oil. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Turn down heat and fry on one side. Then flip to other side and fry. They are done when the juices run clear. Serve with white gravy on top. When served with green beans, mashed potatoes, and a roll, you have a very tasty meal that is ready in no time.

ENJOY!!!

GOOD BYE PAPER CLUTTER...HELLO NEW BILL PAYING SYSTEM...

I am soo proud of me...lookie at what I tackled today(I wish I had a battery for my camera so you all could look!)

In September, my family and I started our home management binder to become more organized and to get/keep our house clean, you can read about that HERE .As of today, it's still working out great!! But, in order to have a really clean house, the clutter has to go bye bye. Today, I was on a mission to get rid of the paper clutter that had piled up over the year. Yes, you heard right...a year. (heck, I'm going to embarrass myself and tell you all that some of it was dated 2005) . What would happen was, we would bring in the mail, look through it quickly, pick out the bills to be paid and put them in a basket, lay the rest of the mail on the dining room table, pay the bills (hardly ever on time, because we would always write down on a piece of paper what we were going to pay and when, and then IT would be throwed in that pile of other mail that was already on table ). And when you know that you're going to have company, you HAVE to do something with that mess on the table. So we would gather it all up and throw them in an empty box or bag and take them to another room where noone will see them. After a year or more of that kind of habit, you have quite the collection of paper clutter. After seeing that our new chore sheets are working out great, (by setting new habits) I decided to find a new system to keep/pay/file our bills. I searched the net over to try and find a system that might work for us, and I'm hoping that the bill paying system here will work. Along with setting new habits when it comes to the mail, I think it will!! Soooo, since about 4:30 this morning, I have been shredding and filing. I printed off all the papers I needed for this bill paying system, found the rest of the bills that needed to be paid for October and put them in the binder. I also set up November's bill sheet, and it's ready to roll. Now I have a question for ya...how long do you really need to hold on to utility bill receipts, bank statements, etc? It seems like every website I go to has a different time frame. Some say pitch them when you get the new one in, some say keep them for a year, etc. How long do you keep yours? Have you ever pitched something only to find out that 6 months down the road you need a copy of that item you pitched?

Looking back on our Thrifty/DIY wedding

After celebrating our anniversary last week, I pulled out the photo album to look through our pictures. We didn't have a big, fancy wedding. It was in a small country church surrounded by family, a few friends, and a lot of good food lol. Our reception was in the basement of the church, and the whole shebang was DIY. Oh, how I remember trying to get everything made on time. TALK ABOUT STRESS!! (But I wouldn't go back and change any of it.) I wasn't working at the time due to an injury, so I had a very, very small budget to work with. Like a dollar store/thrift store budget. But, I think everything turned out pretty good. Everyone had a good time, good memories were made and 2 families were brought together as one. Anywho, I just wanted to share some of the DIY things from our wedding. I promise I won't show you ALL of them. lol. I'll start with the unity candle at the top of this post. The pillar candle and holder, and the two taper candles were bought at a Dollar Tree. The flowers were from walmart, and some that I already had around the house. The taper candle holders were things I already owned as well.

I purchased this little dress at my favorite local thrift store for $1.00!! It fit my flower girl perfectly. I also picked up that little basket there. I filled it with some of the flowers I bought at walmart. The picture doesn't show the color of the dress very well, but it was a deep purple velvet type material with lighter purple roses around the waist.
Oh, what's this? Not long before the wedding, I had two more little girls wanting to be flower girls also. They wanted a basket of flowers too!! So I quickly threw together two more baskets. Their mother had their dresses already. How lucky was I to have 3 little flower girls!!

Next, is my bouquet. Put it together myself. Tacky to some I'm sure, but I thought it was pretty. Also from the same walmart flowers. Here's a shot of the cake table and a closeup of the cakes I made. When my DH and I saw that cake topper, we knew we had to have it on our cake.


Like my "cake stands"? They were made using a microwave turntable on a small candleholder for the largest cake, the med. size cake is on a glass plate sitting on top of a turned over crystal wine goblet, and the small cake is on a glass saucer on top of a turned over crystal compote, (I think that's what they're called) . Hey, don't laugh...it served the purpose.lol. Well, didn't mean to bombard ya with a lot of pictures, (sure I did!!) but while I was looking through our photos, I thought what the heck, someone out there in blogland might enjoy seeing them. Thanks for looking, and come back again.

More crescent roll recipes

Okay, not sure why I can't edit that last post, but here's some more crescent roll recipes from the Pillsbury Crescent roll recipe booklet:

Bratwurst Braids

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls

4 tsps spicy brown mustard

1 can (8 oz) sauerkraut, well drained on paper towels (1 cup)

4 fully cooked smoked bratwurst (thawed completely if frozen

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp caraway seed

Heat oven to 375*. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll dough and separate into 4 rectangles; place on cookie sheet. Press each into 6x4 inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal.

spread 1 tsp mustard over each rectangle to within 1/2 inch of all edges. Place 1/4 cup sauerkraut and 1 bratwurst lengthwise down center of each rectangle.

on long sides of each rectangle, make 5 cuts at an angle and 1 inch apart almost to edge of sauerkraut. For braided appearance, fold strips of dough at an angle across bratwurst with ends of strips slightly over lapping, alternating from side to side; press ends to seal. Brush tops with egg; sprinkle with caraway seed.

bake 15 to 20 minutes or till deep golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm with additional mustard, if desired.

Here's a list of more recipes in this booklet. If you would like me to put the recipe on here, just let me know. I would be more than happy to.

APPETIZERS AND SNACKS

Artichoke-Cheese Braids

Bacon cheddar pinwheels

basil and havarti cheese pinwheels

crescent-crab purses

crescent nacho mini cups

crescent wrapped brie

easy pesto pinwheels

ham and swiss double pinwheels

holiday herb crescent trees

mexican confetti pinwheels

mini beef and provolone crescents

mini reuben turnovers

olive-feta pinwheels

pizza pinwheels

sausage snack wraps

smoked salmon pinwheels

thai appetizer pizza

BREADS:

cheddar twisters

cream cheese raspberry coffee cake

lazy maple crescent pull aparts

simply super crescent cinnamon rolls

COOKIES AND BARS:

chocolate macaroon crescent bars

DESSERTS:

country french apple crescent casserole

MAIN DISHES:

crescent topped burger bake

crescent breakfast pizzas

crescent chile rellenos

egg, broccoli and ham ring around

chicken breast bundles with cranberry chutney

chicken chile casserole

fiesta chicken taco cups

SANDWICHES AND FILLINGS:

crescent sloppy joes

buffalo chicken stromboli

easy crescent dogs

ham and cheese crescent sandwiches

individual pastrami braids

pizza in a crescent

pizzazzy sausage crescent sandwiches

savory crescent chicken squares

spicy cashew chisken bundles

whoo...that's a lot of little recipes in this little booklet...lol.

Crescent Rolls...yummy!!!!!!

Today, I want to share a few of our family's favorite recipes using crescent rolls with you.
This recipe is from a back issue of Taste of Home's quick cooking:

Sausage Brunch Braid

12 ozs. bulk pork sausage

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 pkg. (3 oz) cream cheese, cubed

2 Tbs. chopped green onion tops

2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley

1 tube (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls

1 egg, lightly beaten

In a skillet over medium heat, cook sausage, onion, celery, green pepper and garlic until meat is no longer pink and veggies are tender; drain. Add cream cheese, green onion and parsley. Cook and stir over low heat till cheese is melted; set aside.

unroll crescent dough n a greased baking sheet; press perforations together. Roll into a 12x10 rectangle. Spoon sausage mixture to within 3inches of long sides and 1 inch of ends. On each long side, cut 3/4" wide strips 3 inches into center. Starting at one end, fold alternating strips at an angle, forming a braid. Brush dough with egg. Bake at 350 degress for 20-25 minutes or till golden brown. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. Yield: 8-10 servings

That part about storing the leftovers in the fridge cracks me up!! When we make this, we always have to make two...and there's only 5 of us eating. We never have any left over...it's that good.

Here's another good one. This one came from a special edition Pillsbury Crescent main dish, appetizer, and dessert recipes booklet.

Bacon Cheeseburger Calzones

2 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

1/2 lb lean ground beef

2 Tbs. dried instant minced onion

2 tbs chopped hamburger pickle slices

2 tbs ranch dressing

1 italian plum tomato, thinkly sliced, if desired

2 slices american or cheddar cheese, each cut in half

1 can (8 oz) crescent rolls

1 egg, beaten

heat oven to 375*, In a 10" nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat 2 minutes. Add ground beef and onion; cook stirring occasionally, till beef is thouroughly cooked; drain if necessary. Stir in pickles and ranch dressing. Unroll dough and separate into 4 rectangles; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press each into 7x4" rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal.

Spoon about 1/3 cup ground beef mixture onto one end of each rectangle. Top each with tomato slices and 1 piece of cheese. Fold dough over filling; press edges with fork to seal (sandwiches will be full). Brush tops with egg. Bake 15-20 minutes or until deep golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm. Makes: 4 sandwiches. KITCHEN TIP: These calzones can be assembled up to 2 hours ahead. Be sure the beef filling is completely cooled before filling the dough. Cover the calzones and refrigerate till you're ready to bake.

Quilt giveaway

I wasn't going to post anything else tonight, but Oh my goodness, you have got to see this quilt that is being given away: http://pigtailsandsnails.blogspot.com/. Isn't it beautiful!! So much time and creativity has gone into this beauty. And it's in my favorite colors. Wish me luck!!

Home management binder...our new best friend!!

About a year ago, I was determined to get (and keep) my house cleaned and organized. I searched the net for any tips I could find. That's when I stumbled upon the FlyLady . This IS a wonderful site. I told myself "hey, I can do this". I got as far as putting together my Control Journal. I was so proud of my journal. But, working 50+ hours a week 7 days a week, I was just too tired to Fly. My good intentions flopped. I think what happened was that "I" was trying to do too much. "I" wanted to be the perfect wife and mother and I thought "I " could do it all myself. About a month ago, I found my control journal,(covered in dust lol) and after I dusted it off, and reorganized it a bit to suit our needs, the family and I have been putting it to use. My first section is the EMERGENCY #'s section. It proved useful one day last week when my DS#2 had to call me at work. I was so proud of him, knowing where to find that number. : ) My next section is a FIRST AID section. For everything from insect bites, to CPR. Hopefully I'll never have to use this section, but I panic in emergencies and thought with 2 teenage sons and a teenage stepson, I'd better go ahead and through it in there. I printed those sheets from Kids Health My next section is our CLEANING SCHEDULES. I realized that "I" can not and am NOT going to do all the household cleaning by myself. When that hit me, I immediately made up daily chore sheets for ALL of us. It has been a month since "we" started using our chore sheets, and I must say, I no longer have the "can't have anyone over syndrome". lol. I also have weekly chore sheets. I only work three days a week(40 hours) now, so I've been taking care of the weekly chores. Then I have my CALENDAR SECTION. This is another section that gets used EVERY DAY. I printed the two page calendar with room for notes on the side from Donna Young.Thank you Donna for the wonderful calendars! The next section is MY WORK SCHEDULE because I'm never off/working the same days each week. And last but not least, is our phone/addresses pages. I printed those off of Organized Home. Another wonderful website! I have a separate binder (which is also working out great!!) for menu planning/recipes/kitchen inventory. I'll share all that info in another post along with some of our family's favorite recipes. Now that I've rambled on and on about our home management binder, I'm curious as to whether you/your family have one and use it daily. What has worked/not worked in yours?