Marinated Pork Chops

Marinade:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup lime juice
4tsp balsamic vinegar
2tsp sugar
2tsp Worcestershire sauce
1tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic,minced
6 boneless pork loin chops

In a large Ziploc bag, combine the first 8 ingredients; add the pork chops. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain and discard marinade. Grill pork chops, covered over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or 160 degrees. (I put a wire rack in a cookie sheet and put these in my oven on 500degrees for about 10 min and flipped once after 5 minutes)

I was pretty skeptical on these, I thought the combination of the marinade was a little weird.. HOWEVER they were AMAZING! So good! Even Sissy said "These are some good chops Momma!"
I served these with baked potato and baked beans and it was perfect! With the marinade it kinda tastes like a steak!  :-)

Try these out this summer, you won't regret it!

Saving Money

Saving Money....Who doesn't want to do that?!? Well, changes in our house recently have forced us to figure out a different strategy and so I jumped in with both feet and this is where I am so far...

Yard Sales: I have always loved yard sales but, I love them even more now since that is where I will be getting the majority of our clothes,shoes,and junk  from now on  :-)  Here is an example of why I LOVE yard sales!

Here you have 2 pairs of Timberland boots(Retail:$45-$50), a pair of Superball shoes(Retail $50) and a pair of Keen sandals(Retail $55)   The total for all 4 pairs retail would be around $190-$200.....I PAID $8 That's right folks $8 for all of these shoes and they don't even look like they were wore that much! I was SUPER excited about these.

With gas prices the way they are I will have to scope out the good yard sales before I leave the house!

Now on to the shopping...My new obsession is coupons! I have used coupons in the past but I never used them to the full potential...Now I know how,and let me tell you I will never go back the other way!

Some things that I will NEVER pay for again(b/c you can get free with coupons):
*Deodorant     
*Soap
*Tooth brushes
* Tooth Paste
*Shampoo/Conditioner
* Body Wash
*Band aids
*Antacids
*Razors
*Air Freshener
* Just to name a few, there are LOTS of other things that you shouldn't pay for because you can get it free with a coupon!

Here are some shopping trips:

These are priced $7.99 at Walgreens. With coupons I only paid the tax on them, so around $2. That's almost $16 saved! And these are GREAT for the arthritis in my knee from multiple surgeries!

These were priced $1.99 at CVS. With coupons I paid just .49cents a piece for them! :-)

  

Paid $19.26 for this order. (The deodorant not on sale cost $5each) Saved $75.14

             With tax I paid $5.44 for this order at Walmart-keep in mind those body wash are $3each! :-)

This was a large trip I had at Kroger, here is what your looking at:

40 boxes of pasta- ALL FREE (Some for me, some for family, and some to donate)
Cheez-Its
Triple pack of  Gerber puffs
Pinesol
2 pks of Hillshire lunch meat
4 pks Butterball Turkey Bacon
4pks Starkist Tuna -FREE
Ground Turkey
PAM
2pks Kraft Cheese
2 bags Boulder chips
Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns (cheap for a cook out- I don't like buying these..cheap...white...blah)
Sourdough Bread
3 BRUT Deodorant- FREE
(There was also a gallon of milk don't know why it's not in picture)

My total was $157 and some change on this order. I PAID $ 37.02!!!   :-D YAY!!

I would also love to have a garden to save EVEN MORE money and to do some canning with my momma.. That hasn't happened yet so for now I am going to be looking to friends with abundant gardens...hint hint   HA HA

**** Just so everyone knows I AM NOT A "Extreme Couponer". Those shows are fake and there are ALOT of BS that goes behind the shows, not to mention some of them commit coupon fraud in order to get those huge orders for pennies!!!!

I am trying to be a frugal as I can since we have gone from a 2 income family to just 1. So any more suggestions would be appreciated! :-)

Some Rambling and a Menu 5-1/5-8-11

Rambling from a crazy lady:

• Praying for tornado survivors
• Glad I have items to donate for tornado survivors...
• Yay for Spring Break
• Brother needs a hair cut
• Need a present for Sissy's teacher
• Excited that there is FOUR coupon inserts in paper today
• Need to read Dr Bass book
• Need to put together a post on saving money and couponing
• Start cleaning basement and get yard sale items ready
• Wish I could get an answer on something I am waiting for....
• 54 days of NO SMOKING  WHOOHOO!!   :-)
• Mothers Day = Lacarettas??
• Need to move stockpile...it's in the way!
• Need to start a menu for NEXT week

But here is this weeks menu!

Monday :
Cereal
Bento/Soup
Crispy Chicken w/Italian Pasta

Tuesday:
Bacon, Tomato, and Avocado
Bento/ Salad
Veggie Soup w/Cornbread

Wednesday:
Jelly Biscuit
School/Midnight Snack Sandwich
Enchilada Stuffed Shells 

Thursday:
Cereal
Bento/ ?
Turkey Burgers w/HM Fries

Friday:
Yogurt w/Fruit
Bento/Sandwich
Curry Chicken w/Rice

Saturday:
Eggs,Toast,Ham
Turkey/Basil Melt
          ?

Sunday:
BLT
Hot Dogs w/Chips
**Mothers Day- Lacarettas? Hint Hint**

*No Bake Cookies

Menu 4-25/5-1

This week Sissy is on Spring Break, so my menu went out the window! I'm just going to put out some options for dinners here because who knows what we will get into! :-)  
Also I am going to do a post soon about....COUPONS....my new obsession!! And saving money in general...

Here are some dinners:

Pork Chops,Sweet potatoes and Green Beans

Curry Chicken with Rice

Crispy Chicken with Italian Pasta

Shepards Pie

Breakfast Casserole

This is one of Big Daddy's favorite dishes. This is our Christmas breakfast every year! :-)

Here is what you will need:

1 1/2 lbs breakfast sausage
3-4 slices bread, cubed
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
9 large eggs
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

First fry up the sausage until no longer pink, allow to drain on paper towels

Spray a 13x9 baking dish with Pam spray. Add the cubed bread

Top with sausage and cheese.

Whisk together eggs and next four ingredients; pour evenly over cheese.

Cover and chill 8 hours.
Let stand at room temp for 30 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until set.

Chili Noodle Casserole

Chili Noodle Casserole

We all loved this casserole. I wasn't sure about it because it sounded out there but everything came together well! Sissy declared it was the BEST dinner...then she found an onion piece! UGH!! Oh well...

Here is what you will need:

12oz package egg noodles
1 small onion, chopped
1lb ground beef
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup milk
1 packet taco seasoning
4 slices American cheese
3/4 cup crushed corn chips

1. Lightly mist a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles until al dente, 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Add ground beef and onion to a skillet and cook until no longer pink,about 10 minutes; drain
5. Add tomato sauce, taco seasoning and milk. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute, stirring once.
6. Add noodles to beef mixture and mix well. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Top with cheese slices; sprinkle with crushed corn chips.
7. Bake until cheese is melted and browned and mixture is bubbly, about 20 minutes.

Yum Yum! Y'all try this out, it is quick and easy and delicious! :-)

Menu 4-18/4-24

So things have changed a bit around here and someone will be home for all three meals...every day....

So here is our menu for this week:

Monday:
Bento/Tuna Salad w/ crackers
Baked Chicken w/Roasted Potatoes and green beans

Tuesday:
Jelly Biscuit
Bento/Stromboli(freezer)
HM Pizza Night

Wednesday:
Smoothie
Bento/Midnight Snack Sandwich

Thursday:
Oatmeal w/Fruit
Bento/ ?
Ramon Noodle Mix

Friday:
Cereal
Bento/Sandwich
Pork Chops w/Sweet Potatoes and Peas

Saturday:
BLT
Tuna Casserole
Smoked Chicken Sausage w/Italian Pasta

Sunday:
Breakfast Burritos w/Smoothies
*EASTER DINNER
   L.O.'s

Yum Yum Pudding

This is my Grandma Monje's recipe(Sissy calls her Grandma Polk-a-Dotty). Some people call this Chocolate Delight..We call it Yum Yum pudding because it is SO YUMMY!

Here is what you will need:

1 cup flour
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup chopped walnuts
8oz block cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
Tub of Cool Whip
3oz pkg chocolate pudding
3 cups cold milk

Mix flour, butter and nuts.

Spray a 13x9 casserole dish with Pam. Press mixture in bottom of dish.

Bake at 350 degrees until brown. About 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Blend cream cheese and powdered sugar. Then fold in 1 cup cool whip.

Spread cream cheese mixture on top of crust. Be very gentle or you will pull up the bottom crust. I used a little Pam on my finger tips to help spread it around better.

Mix pudding with milk, until thick.  Spread on top of cheese layer.

Spread remaining cool whip on top of pudding. I also add chopped walnuts on top of that.

Chill overnight until set.

This was YaYa's birthday cake this year! :-)

Dutch Lettuce

I was first introduced to Dutch Lettuce by my Aunt Debbie in New York. It is definitly different!
But it is very yummy. I don't recomend eating it very often though... 
It is basically wilted lettuce mixed in mashed potatoes!  :-)


Here is what you will need:

6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup milk
Salt and Pepper
1/2 lb bacon, in pieces
1/4 head of lettuce, chopped
1 Tbsp vinegar
4 hard-boiled eggs

1. Boil Eggs and let cool.
2. Boil potatoes. Drain. Add milk, salt and pepper. Mash
3. Fry bacon until crisp. Remove and crumble up. Add vinegar to bacon grease(GENTLY).
4. Stir in lettuce to drippings until wilted.
5. Cut eggs into quarters.
6. Add everything to mashed potaoes and mix well

I did add a teaspoon more of vinegar once everything was mixed, just because I like the flavor in this!
Your going to want to make this when you have plenty of people to eat it because it does NOT make great leftovers.

Super Moon and Cades Cove

This post is so late... Do y'all remember the "Super Moon" a few weeks back?
Well we heard about it and when we looked outside we couldn't see it! So we decided that we would take a ride and go find the moon!

Brother says "This woman is crazy Yo"

After we drove to several different places it finally came out from behind the clouds for 5 minutes!

"Yay, Sissy did you see that big ball in the sky?"

We were gone about 2 hours and guess what we saw when we came home...

This picture was taken from the front door of our house! :-)  Oh well.....

The next day Big Daddy was off and he took us to Cades Cove for Family Fun Day!

And to end the perfect day...