Fall

Well, if you could not tell, we are soooo excited for fall to get here...We are sure you can tell my our blog page.. so, no more sweating on the "kid" walks and just wanting to be inside where it is cool. No more getting "eaten alive" by bugs...gosh we really dislike bugs!!!! We have gotten pretty good at this blog thing, well the layout portion of it at least! We are trying to give good input and relevant information, so hopefully you are all enjoying. Again, we love comments and want to hear your input to see if you are enjoying what you are reading. Thanks for visiting!!!! We also take requests, so let us know if you if there is something you want us to look into or talk about!!
Thanks again!!!

Pottery Barn end-of-season

Ok since my sister-in-law shared her "favorite thing" I thought that I would post mine as well; Pottery barn picture frames. Visit http://www.potterybarn.com, they are having an awesome end-of-season sale and their picture frames are fantastic!! Check it out!! Also, don't be afraid to mix the colors..they are fun and colorful and a great accent to any decor`.

Brownie in a Coffee Cup

I was just looking through my favorite blogs and saw this crock pot recipe on the "Year of Crock Potting" blog. This is so neat!! I cannot wait until it is cold and snowy, or we are skiing somewhere, to make this!!! If you have kids, (or not) this is way cool and worth checking out!!!
Be sure to check out this link here.

Favorite Things

I think a "favorite things" posting every now and again will help to explain who I am. The thing I am going to talk about today is one of my very very favorite things! I do not know what I would do without it! It was a gift from my mom (thanks mom and sister!) with a very long story about how I ended up with it..I did though, so we will pick up from there.
It is my Furi Rachael Ray Knife. Now, I do not give in to gimmicks and things like that, but this knife puts my "chef skills" ten fold when I have it in my hand (or at least I think so!) I feel like I can cook anything, chop anything and I feel like I look like Rachael Ray while I do it. (She looks cool, doesn't she?) So, here is one of my most favorite things, I would recommend to anyone who loves to cook!!! If you know a cook, it would make a great gift too!
(it is pictured here with the actual sharpener that goes with it...I love that too..it is not electric, so it is so easy to use and pull out of the drawer!)
Happy Chopping!!!
Please click on comments below and tell us what your favorite things are!!!

Home Grown Tomatoes

My neighbor just brought over a whole batch of homegrown tomatoes. I love the flavor home grown tomatoes give to any sort of sauce. It always seems so much fresher than even store bought, so to me, this was a real treat! Last time, I cooked pasta sauce with fresh rosemary and basil from my garden! Delicious!!
Well, I have lots of peppers in my refrigerator (thanks Kroger, $1 per red, yellow or orange pepper!!!) so, I wanted to utilize both...well, crock pot stuffed peppers! I cut everything up (including the peppers) and threw it in. Added a little garlic, chili powder, cumin, corriander, salt and pepper. I am good to go. I plan on serving it over brown rice. It was so easy. It has all of the ingredients as regular stuffed peppers, just in a different form =). I'll report back on how this turned out, pictures included!!!!

Kraft Foods

If you have young children in your home, you probably have a lot of Kraft products in your pantry and refrigerator. If you don't have young kids, you still probably do! Kraft has a magazine they publish for FREE and you can get their recipes delivered right into your mailbox. I love this magazine! you sign up for free and they send it to your REAL mailbox!!! (If you are like me, things that get sent into your "inbox" are harder to appreciate and read!) The recipes are sooo easy and things you probably already have n your refrigerator. Click here to register for the magazine.
They also have my number one appetizer on their Kraftfoods.com website. I love this website too. When I am having company I always browse around on it to find something simple and delicious to make. Listed below is a sure fire crowd pleaser!!!! So easy too!!!!

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 loaf (1 lb.) French bread, cut in half lengthwise

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

3 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

2 Tbsp. chopped pitted ripe olives

1 cup chopped plum tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix oil and garlic; spread onto cut surfaces of bread. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

MIX cream cheese and Parmesan cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Stir in olives.

SPREAD toasted bread halves with cream cheese mixture; top with tomatoes. Cut into 24 slices to serve. Sprinkle with basil.

Yummy!!!!

Recipe compliments of Kraft Foods.

Meijer Organics

Meijer's has an awesome line of organic foods. Seems so expensive to go organic, you have to shop at Whole Foods and spend double for something. My children can only drink organic milk. My mother was the first to give my son milk and it happened to be organic. Well, now that is all he can drink. We tried to give him regular and it was something out of the "Exorcist" movie..needless to say we have not tried again!!!! While the price is annoying, all of the things you hear about milk and what they put in it,makes me happy my mother made that decision for us long ago (thanks mom!). So, while it is a little pricy, definitely one of those extras that is worth it!!!
So, I found organic milk at Meijer which is on sale 2/5! That is a great price on milk for me! Listed below are there other deal on their organics line...Sale ends Sat.
Organic Bread 2/$5
Organic yogurt 10/$6
25% off organic cheese and crackers
Organic cereal 2.49
Organic frozen veggies and fruit 3/$6
Organc peanut butter and jelly 2/$5
Organic milk 2/$5 (half gallons)
Organic pasta sauce 1.59
Organic pasta 1.79
Organic apple juice 2.99
Organic mushrooms 4/$5
These are some great prices..haven't tried everything, but I am confident it would be worth a try!!!!

CVS

So, I had my first official CVS experience yesterday. I have to say I think I did well, although I am not thoroughly impressed yet. I had a few coupons, not printed off of the internet, real manufacturer coupons, and the manager had to come out and help. (She was very nice and did get everything to register!) I am not giving up, I am chalking it up to, I tried to do too much, so I will break it down into smaller trips I guess....
BUT...They do have an awesome clearance on summer things...75% off. I got kid lawn chairs, kids hats, flip flops, bubbles, all for very cheap! So it may be worth checking it out for there for sure. I guess I am going to try another CVS or maybe break my trips down....Does anyone have some advice on this? It was kind of weird...My receipt says I saved 60 some dollars, so I know I did somewhat well, but why the headache with the coupons?
Thanks for your advice in advance!