Deals and Steals: Sibling Shirts

I have been eyeing a few Etsy sites for "sibling" shirts for when #3 makes his debut.  

I have even considered having some shirts monogrammed.  

But, in all honesty the price makes me think twice.  

I could use that $60 plus dollars for diapers!

When I was in Hobby Lobby last week, I happened upon these "iron-on"

 BIG SISTER, BIG BROTHER, and LITTLE BROTHER packages.  

For $1.99 each, I could not pass them up.

Made by SEI Crafts out of Utah

Here is the package just in case you want/need 

to find them somewhere else than Hobby Lobby.

I picked up a white t-shirt for my daughter.  

I had a hard time finding a white t-shirt for my son, but ended up with one with a pocket. 

 I simply removed the pocket with a seam ripper.  

And baby boy has tons of solid white onesies.

I followed the directions on the package and VIOLA!  

Sibling shirts for $14.00!  

Which leaves me $46.00 left over for diapers. 

Pretty good deal if you ask me.

 For #3

For #1

For #2

I am really SOOOOO Excited to see them in these!

Deals and Steals: ALDI

My most FAVORITE recent find is ALDI.  I can not take ANY credit for this.....I owe it all to my friend Michele.  She has been shopping at ALDI for a while and they built one closer to our house several months ago....so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

WOW!  All I can say is WOW!  I am a Publix lover but I HATE their produce prices.  And since I usually make MULTIPLE trips a week for produce I needed to try and cut produce costs.  ALDI is the place where I can do just that.

It is amazing how much lower their produce prices are.  And much to my surprise many of their produce is the SAME produce brands I buy at Publix.  You do have to bag your own groceries and put your own cart back up but man I can do that!

This was one of my first purchases.

Peanut Butter

Grape JElly

Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Peppers

Lemons

Limes

Tomatoes

Cuties

Bananas

Salad

Cucumbers

Strawberries

Mushroom

Carrots

Grapes

Pinapple

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Bread

Gold Fish Crackers

Sweet Potato Chips

All for ~ $40/45!!!!!!!

That left me with a TON in my budget for milk, eggs, meat, and cheese.

I was truly AMAZED!  I am now HOOKED on ALDI.

And I am proud that I can feed my family FRESH PRODUCE for a lot less.

ALDI also has seasonal sections.

Last week I found these items in the seasonal section 

and I could not be more pleased.

Patio Table Umbrella (cranks and tilts) $29.99

Patio Table Umbrella Stand (30lbs) ($16.99)

Patio Umbrella LED lights ($8.99)

I have been eyeing these 3 items on Amazon for the last year!

NO JOKE.

Umbrella Stand $30.00-$50.00

Umbrella (crank, tilt and LED lights) $150.00

Amazon's Price &150.00

ALDI's price $55.97

I have never had to return anything but I do hear that they have an EXCELLENT return policy!

Deals and Steals: New Front Porch Furniture

I promised to write this week about a few steals and deals I have encountered lately.

First up:

Front Porch Furniture

We have never had a front porch and we now do.

I love the idea of sitting on the front porch but I hated the prices of front porch furniture.

I could not find anything in my budget at Home Depot, Amazon, Lowes or Target.

One day I happened on these steals at World Market.

This bench and chair are actually dining furniture but are the perfect height for our front porch.

They are being discontinued so you know I got a great deal

Bench $104.00

Chair $56.00

And the sales lady gave me a coupon for an extra 10% off.

They are the perfect addition to our front porch.

I dropped by Costco and picked up a 2 pillow pack for $25.00

You can't really beat that either when most places want $25.00 for ONE outdoor pillow.

I got this cute metal drum table as well. 

 It was not that much of a steal

but I loved it and decided to get it!

So all in all WORLD MARKET

&

COSTCO

get props for these Deals and Steals. 

Join World Market's Explorer Program (FREE)

and get TONS of coupons and Free stuff every week.

It really does pay to join!

Happy Mother's Day

Several months ago I journaled these favorite thoughts about my mom.  

They seem fitting to post today.

creative

she can do anything she puts her mind to

organized

clean

beautiful blue eyes

she remembers detail

she is a thoughtful gift giver

she loves me

she gave me life

she has sacrificed for me

she knows God's Word

she raised me with a knowledge and a fear of the Lord

she took me to church

she supported my dreams

she was always my biggest cheerleader

she prays for me

she let me go as God led me even when it was hard for her

she loved my dad's mom

she loves her mom

Thanks mom for giving me life so that I in turn could carry life
and become a mommy!

In the last 4 years I have carried 4 lives inside of me.

I gave my first fruit back to Jesus on April 17, 2009.

I birthed our second fruit on April 24, 2010

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.  Such trees are not bothered by heat or worried by longs months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing delicious fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

 

I birthed our third fruit on July 18,  2011

“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him.  Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

Colossians 2:7

                                                                                                

And I wait with great anticipation the arrival of our 4th fruit any day.

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

In the last four years I have thought a lot about what I want my children to say is true about me. 

I pray they will say,

My mom loves Jesus

My mom loves my dad

My mom loves me

I know if they have confidence in those three things, I have done my job well as their mom!

   

Orzo Chicken Salad

This is a great light Spring/Summer salad that my ENTIRE family devoured 

(and if you know my husband....that is saying ALOT)!  

I found this in a Publix Family Style Magazine and decided to try it out.

Orzo Chicken Salad

2/3 cup dried whole wheat orzo pasta

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

2 cups shredded baked chicken

1 cup grape tomatoes

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 cup crumbled reduced fat feta cheese

In a medium sauce pan, cook 2/3 cup dried whole wheat or regular orzo pasta 

according to package directions, adding 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels 

during the last 1 minute of cooking, drain.

Rinse with cold water to cool quickly; drain well.  

In a large bowl, combine orzo mixture, 2 cups shredded baked chicken, 

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved, and 1/4 cup snipped fresh cilantro. 

 Sprinkle with 1/2 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese. 

 Cover and chill for 2-24 hours.  

To serve drizzle with Avocado Lime Dressing (recipe below)

Avocado Lime Dressing

In a blender combine:

 1 small avocado

 1/3 cup of water 

1/2 tsp finely shredded lime peel

1/4 cup lime juice

4 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

 1/4 tsp salt

*Cover and chill for 2-24 hours*


This wraps up a great week of recipes. 
 I would love for you to share in the comment section below your favorite recipes. 
 I am always on the look out for new things to make for dinner.



Next week's post will be full of bargain buys/deals
 and steals that I have recently encountered.  
Hope you will join in and share as well.


May your Weekend Be FULL of SUNSHINE!
HAPPY WEEKEND!

Crock Pot Chicken and Chicken Stock

I love buying whole chicken and utilizing almost everything I bought.  It is a great way to save money. I bake whole chickens in my crock pot a lot but a few weeks ago one of my friends told me about making chicken stock.

I went to this website link and followed the directions (well I cooked mine in the crock a little longer than over night) but it turned out great!  I have 42 oz of stock in my fridge right now and 3 more 42 oz containers in my deep freeze.  I hope you will take some time to check the link above to 100 Days of Real Food Blog.

I love to use chicken stock to flavor green beans, rice, soups, and corn.  There are TONS of uses for chicken stock.  Hope you find this as helpful, time saving, and inexpensive as I did!

Oatmeal Bake

This recipe was given to me by my sweet friend Holly, who is a much better cook than me! 

 I had this Oatmeal Bake at her house one morning and could not get enough.  

My kids LOVE this stuff!

Oatmeal Bake

3 cups of oats

1 3/4 cups of buttermilk (you can substitute with 3/4 cup yogurt and 1 cup water)

1/2 cup of coconut oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar, maple syrup of honey

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup shredded coconut (this gets left out in our house)

1/2 cup chocolate chips mixed in batter plus 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top before putting in oven

Soak oats and yogurt covered on kitchen counter overnight.  I
n the morning, beat oil, sugar and eggs until glossy.  
Add baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla, beat.  
Stir in oats and chocolate chips.  
Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 for 20 min.

You can add anything to this recipe: chopped apples, raisins, pecans, bananas, 

dried cranberries, white chocolate, etc....