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Archive for the ‘Random’ Category

I’ve got a couponing high…

Posted in Random on January 31, 2012| 6 Comments »

My friend Andrea and I taught a Couponing 101 class at our school this morning. It was exhilarating! I probably need to get a life for thinking this is the highlight of my day so far, but I get a kick out of teaching others how to not spend money as I am still somewhere in the learning process myself. I’m trying to break the negative self-talk habit, and finding something that I’m naturally good at has a beautiful sledgehammer effect.

New year, well, new day, so new start. Again. And as many times as it takes.

I’ll be back to tie up a few loose ends from the past few posts and announce my challenges for 2012. BUT, I’m off to cheerleading practice aka Writer’s Group. A few hours with my crazy writing peeps and I’ll be ready to sit my butt in a chair and pound  lovingly tap on the QWERTY for a while, regardless of how long this couponing high lasts.

Ciao! 😉

 

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My Parent’s Snowy Departure

Posted in Random on October 26, 2011| 4 Comments »

My mom and stepdad fly in from Wisconsin to spend a week with us every year. This time they stayed 9 days – longer than they ever have – and we still didn’t get to do everything we wanted to. Then this morning we woke up to 4 inches of snow. I’m the daughter who confidently said, “It’s supposed to be in the 60’s all week. Just bring a light jacket.” I should have known better. 😉 My friend Kay posted this in FB:

It’s been a good 9 days, but early tomorrow morning we’re headed to the airport, so this is going to be a short post. I have meetings all day tomorrow, and a class tomorrow night, so I guarantee that Friday will be pajama/crash day at our house. However, I’ll still post part 2 of Hobbies Shmobbies tomorrow sometime. Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

 

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Crock Pot Pumpkin Butter for Beginners

Posted in October Challenge, Random, Recipes on October 22, 2011| 5 Comments »

My friend Rae gave me 6 pie pumpkins a few weeks ago and they’ve been judging me from the kitchen counter ever since. 😉

We are a pumpkin loving household, but I confess I haven’t used fresh pumpkin for anything in years. The canned is so easy to grab and bake with, and I hate the icky factor of cleaning out pumpkin goop. Then Rae told me she bakes the pumpkins whole. Seriously? You can do that? Cool! So I searched the web and found several recipes for Pumpkin Butter and decided to experiment. I’m kicking myself for not taking pictures of this process. I’d fail as a photo blogger. The photos used are from people who thought ahead. Here are pics of pumpkins before and after baking:

         

Here’s what I did:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Wash and dry 6 pie pumpkins and place them directly on the baking rack in the center of the oven. Set the timer for 45 minutes. When it buzzes, start checking for doneness by sticking a fork in about an inch from the stem. If it goes in easily, the pumpkin is done. I baked mine for an hour. 6 pumpkins produced 12 cups of puree.
  3. Wearing oven mitts, pull them out to cool on the counter for a bit. Pull the stems off and use the fork to split the skin away from the flesh. The skin peels off easily. Cut in half and lay open to cool faster. When it’s cool enough to touch, scoop out the goop into a bowl so you can roast the seeds later on.
  4. Puree the soft pumpkin chunks in a food processor and let it drain for an hour in cheese cloth or a paper towel lined in the bottom of a colander to get the excess liquid off.
  5. Transfer the pumpkin puree to a 6 quart crock pot, and follow the recipe below, tweaking it until it tastes like you want it to taste. Some people like it really sweet, some like it a little spicier. Do what works for you and your family. This recipe is for a small batch, but I used my multiplication skills and used all 12 cups for the pumpkin butter.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Butter

2 cups of cooked, pureed pumpkin (or canned pumpkin)
1 cup honey (or sugar)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in crock-pot and stir to mix well. Cook on High for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. It will thicken as it cooks. Do not let it burn or stick. After it is done, fill pint jars and seal. The USDA does not recommend canning pumpkin butter due to differing pH levels among home recipes, but there are many people who do it anyway without incident. I chose to refrigerate and freeze mine in Ball freezer jars (shown) once the butter was completely cooled. This recipe easily doubles, triples, etc. Remember I started with 12 cups of pumpkin.

My family loved it. Not bad for my first try. What new things are you trying?

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Let the coupon craze begin!

Posted in Free to be me, October Challenge, Random on October 21, 2011| 4 Comments »

Mom, Zoe and I spent about 3 hours today clipping and organizing my coupons into categorized envelopes. I have baseball card sheets, labels, clear zipper pockets, a pink pair of scissors, and a paper trimmer, so I will begin putting together my binder as soon as I’m finished posting here. I’m excited about all the potential savings on items I’ll get for pennies on the dollar, if not totally free. And I’m excited about sharing the goods with my friends and family. BUT, I don’t think I’ll ever take this seriously enough that you’ll be calling me “extreme.”

It helps that I also have a knack for being in the right place at the right time when it comes to clearance sales. For instance, today we were at Wal-Mart and I found some treasures on the clearance shelves right by the check-out. I got a few notebooks for the kids (regularly $2.97), several clear zipper pockets for my coupon binder (regularly .99), and a few other small items, all for .25 each. I have learned to buy in bulk when I find a great deal. Imagine being able to pair those bargains with a coupon? I get chills just thinking about it. hehehe

My mom and I are canning pear and pumpkin butters this weekend, and I found 2 cases of pint jars for $5 each. I’m planning on making peach jam (Benny’s favorite) next week, and I found packets of freezer jam pectin for .25 each – regularly.99. I bought the peaches in a 25 lb. bulk box for $2. I love a great deal! It gives me such a rush! I could go on and on, but I have a coupon binder to organize.

I had said on Facebook that I’d post my pumpkin butter recipe here today, but it’s still in the crock pot and I’m tweaking it. I was trying to avoid white sugar and only use honey as a sweetener, and well…it’s just not sweet enough yet. I’ll be up late tonight canning it, and I’ll get the recipe up tomorrow, IF it turns out well.

So how about you? Are you a coupon person? What’s the best bargain you’ve found lately? Got any fancy tips for me as I kick my couponing up a notch? Just think, this could be me:

“After all of the coupons we owe her $104”

 

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Laughter is the best medicine…

Posted in Humor, Just for fun, October Challenge, Random on October 18, 2011| 2 Comments »

I was sick all last week, and now my October Challenge partner is sick. Since I’m in Colorado and he’s in France, I can’t make him (and his pregnant wife who is also sick) homemade chicken soup, I thought I’d do the next best thing. Who couldn’t use a good laugh when they feel crappy? Unless it causes a painful coughing fit….I hope not, but I apologize if it happens! Here’s to finding something to chuckle about, and I hope Don and Ami heal quickly!

(All of these pictures were found while on StumbleUpon. Are you stumbling yet?)

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