Happy Thanksgiving!

It's that time of year!  When colder weather moves in and we celebrate the things which we are most thankful for.  I've got so much to be grateful for and to summarize it in a blog post is nearly impossible but I'm going to give it a shot. 

 1.  God~  He's been there for me in the darkest times and literally carried me through some big trials.  It was in those lowest times that I felt Him and knew He was with me in ways that are most precious.   2~  My husband~  Life came to a screeching halt 2 1/2 years ago when my husband had 3 brain aneurysm, one of which hemmoraghed.  The fact that he is absolutely normal with no brain damage or memory loss is a true testimony to the wonderful miracle that God has allowed us to experience.  I am so grateful every day.  Every day is precious. 

3.  Friends~  There are those people in life who you have your back.  They know all your faults but lovingly encourage you to better and be more.  They've stood behind me and held me up in prayer when I had no strength to go on.  It's genuine friends that I am so grateful for! 

4.  Family~  They've taught me genuine compassion and life lessons that were invaluable.  My Dad was carefree and spontaneous and my Mom showered me with genuine love.  I am blessed with sisters and brothers,  nephews and nieces and I'm glad to be on this journey of life with them.  

5.~  The mundane things of life.   Waking up next to my husband with his favorite song as an alarm tone.  The smell of brewed coffee.  The sound of Shane and Shane playing guitar with their tight harmonies on my stereo.   Being able to sleep in.  The list goes on.... 

Happy Thankgiving to you!!!   Know that you are loved!

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Have a Lovely Day!!! 

Low Carb Crepes

We've had a moderately warm summer that left us scratching our heads, wondering when the hot weather was going to hit.   It's the middle of August after all!  So, we've finally got some warm weather but it's making my hubby and I wonder what kind of winter we have in store!  

I'm always on the lookout for new things to try and a friend told me about these great crepes.  If you're looking for a traditional recipe you'll have to look elsewhere since these are gluten free and low carb with no flour or sugar added.   And yet, they do hit the spot.  Aren't they pretty?   

Super easy ingredients make this quick to whip up.  

6 eggs 

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream 

1 packet sweetener 

dash of ground cinnamon (not shown)

splash of real vanilla flavoring

Place your ingredients in a cup and mix well.  

I love to use my immersion blender since it makes it super duper easy! The batter will be quite thin.

Using a small pan, add a bit of oil and pour batter thinly into hot oil while spreading batter around.  When it is brown, flip and cook the other side. Add a bit of oil for each crepe.

I filled my crepes with cream cheese and topped them off with some homemade whipped cream and rasberries.  They were delish! 

Yum!

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Have a Lovely Day!!!

The Country Cook

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Back to School Couponing

My husband was a bit hesitant when I told him I wanted to give couponing a try.  I'll admit I was hesitant as well.   I'm practical.  I didn't want to be purchasing items that I would never buy on a regular basis since it would be a waste of money and space.  And besides that, who needs 10 packages of something I will not use?  Not I.   But, I'm here to tell you that it really works and that I surprised myself in the past three weeks.  I've been very choosy with my spending and have walked away with some serious deals.

Here's my shopping trips from yesterday.  All of the grocery stores I visited are within a 2ish mile radius from my house so no extra travel and gas was neccesary.   We don't do cereal in our home but my husband likes one kind.  When I saw it at CVS recently I snatched it up.  I was able to buy 8 boxes for  $10.48 cents.  It usually costs $3.24 cents a box so we saved $15.84 total

Bumble Bee tuna was on sale (also at CVS) and I picked it up for .69 cents a can.  8 cans came out to $5.52.  

My local Food4Less has had some awesome deals lately for Peanut Butter due to back to school.  If you purchase Jif in multiples of 5 they are only 1.49 cents each.  Normally they are 2.49.  What a great deal!  I made sure to stock up for the winter (and beyond!)  I paid $11.92 for 8 and normally would have paid $19.92.  That's a savings of $11.92.  

My last deal was from Ultra Foods.  The Welch's jams were .98 cents each and with a coupon came out to .50 cents each. The Alberto V05 came out to .25 cents each.  The total I paid out of pocket was $3.10.   

There you have it!  Proof that couponing does work!  

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Have a Lovely Day!!!

 

What I've Learned about Couponing.

I'm two weeks into couponing.   I've bought two weeks worth of coupons and I've learned a ton so far.   I've also saved quite a bit of money and that makes me sooooo happy.  

I'm sure I'll learn a ton of more stuff but here's what I've learned so far.

1.  Mistakes will happen.  My first big transaction didn't go as I had planned.  I was nervous and didn't do it correctly and I could have saved us more money.  Even though that happens it's still a learning experience and that's still okay.  
2.  Buy newspapers at the dollar store instead of at Walmart and other retail stores.  My first week I only purchased 2 newspapers because they were over 3 dollars EACH!  For the same amount of money I could have purchased 6 papers at Dollar Tree.  (Dollar Tree sells Sunday papers on Saturday afternoon which is very convenient) 3.  It takes patience.  Patience to know which coupons are in your binder.  Patience to know that grocery store circulars run from Wednesday to Tuesday.  Patience to know that Target and Walmart ads run from Sunday to Saturdays.  And more patience to match local sales to coupons and know how to work ECB's (extra care bucks) etc.  The ECB's still make my head reel.  (ECB= Extra Care Bucks at CVS.  Other stores have different names for them including Up~rewards) 4.  It takes a ton of time and effort.  He replied that many don't coupon because it's hard work.  I have to admit that I agree with him.

5. Just because it's on sale doesn't mean I have to have it.  I can pass it on by.   6.  If it's a rock bottom price, buy it.   Yeah, that's the opposite of what I just mentioned, but it's the truth.  This week I was able to pick up a name brand shampoo/conditioner for 50 cents each so I purchased 6 of them.  I couldn't pass it up and it's great for my stockpile. 7.  Don't buy things that you normally wouldn't use.  I make my own laundry soap much cheaper than any store bought detergent I could buy with any coupon.  I can't justify it.  8.  Make a price point list.  This is still a work in progress for me and will take time to put together and complete.  It's great info to have the price of what an item sells for retail, on sale and the rock bottom price to know when I can stock up on certain items.  9.  The coupon binder takes time to put together.  I had made all of my binder divisions before I started putting coupons and it was really confusing.  My choice of sections isn't like everyone else's and I found it's easier to simply start off with three sections which are cleaning stuff,  personal hygiene and food.  After having those in place I can add subdivisions that fit my need.  Soooo much easier!  10.  Everything is not free.  All those extreme couponing shows are not realistic.  Deals will come and deals will go. 11.  Couponing is not a waste of money.  I have saved so much money on things that I normally would have purchased anyhow.  I was able to buy 6 containers of Mitchum deodorant my first week for a grand total of $5.88.  I would have normally purchased those for 3.23 cents each and would have cost $19.38. These are some of the things I've gleaned through friends, online friends and local sites that have been such a great encouragement to me.   Thanks friends!
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Have a Lovely Day!!!

The Country Cook

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Homemade Vanilla Almond Ice Cream

Oh boy... this is good stuff.  I have known for a while that I wanted to get an ice cream maker but I didn't want to pay the hefty price tag.  I'm a tried and true bargan hunter...what can I say?  So with that in the forefront of my mind, I started keeping my eyes peeled for ice cream freezer bowls at local thrift stores whenever I would go.

  I had seen incomplete sets in the past and knew one would show up soon.  

These two took about 2 weeks of my patience and 2 dollars for 2 bowls.  

Not too shabby.

They are double lined with liquid in the middle to insulate and freeze the contents.  

I also use my handy dandy immersion blender and a rice paddle.  I LOVE my immersion blender!  A wooden spoon would work nicely for this too but I use what I've got.  

If you are interested in a low fat version of this I think you probably should look somewhere else.  :)  This is full on fat and full on delicious!  It can be used for a low carb diet and for those who are trying to control their blood sugar.  It makes Carb Smart Ice Cream look anemic in taste and ingredients.

Here's what I used~ 

 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

splash of vanilla extract 

1 package of sweetener

whole almonds

slivered almonds 

 Measure out your HWC.

 Add the vanilla and sweetener.

 Whip until thick with your immersion blender...

Add WHC mixture and almonds to the bowl.  As you rotate the bowl with one hand, scrape frozen portion to the middle.  Put it in the freezer for a few minutes, take it out and give it another stir, making sure to scrape the bottom as well.  Depending on your temperature and humidity you might have to do this multiple times.  It only takes a minute or two in the freezer between stirs.

I've done it as few as 1 time and as many as 3 so it really is personal preference. 

I hope you enjoy this treat a much as I do.  

I plan on making some variations on it in the future. 

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Have a Lovely Day!!!

The Country Cook

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Tomato Stack Salad

I know that technically this is a Caprese Salad but it's missing some fresh basil.  I also added a few extras as well~  some olives and artichokes.   Oh, let me tell you~it was out of this world yummy!   

A word about Mozzarella.  

If you've never had the fresh soft, squishy mozzarella, 

then you are missing out on a huge chunk of life.  

Seriously, it is incredibly awesome.  I purchased mine at Aldi's (go figure!) and it the best mozzarella cheese I have tasted in my entire life.  

I won't go through a recipe because it's sooo simple to make, 

but here's a list of the ingredients I used and it only took about 5 minutes to stack it and put it together.~ 

Sliced tomato

Soft Mozzarella, sliced

Olives 

Artichoke Hearts 

Sliced Red Peppers 

Olive oil for drizzling 

Balsamic Salad Dressing for drizzling 

Sea Salt and Pepper Grinder in between each layer.

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Have a Lovely Day!!!

The Country Cook

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Sausage, Zucchini, and Pepper Bake

I'm always looking for some sort of new way to improve my veggie intake and I do love zucchini.  When my local store doesn't have zucchini I use the calabacitas squash which is in the zucchini family, is very tender and also quick to cook.  They are exchangeable in recipes.  

1 pound country sausage

4 or 5 zucchini, washed 

1 red pepper 

1 yellow pepper

salt and pepper grinders

grated cheese (your choice of kind)

Chop up your veggies and set aside for now.

Cook your country sausage and drain grease well.

Add peppers and saute till done.  Add in zucchini and cook on low heat till zucchini is cooked to your desired doneness.  I don't like them too wilted.

Add a good grinding of salt and pepper.

Transfer to 9 by 13 pan that has been sprayed with non stick spray and top with cheese.

Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

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If you'd like to get updates from my facebook page please click HERE to follow and get notifications.  I'd love to hear from you here on the blog as well so please leave a comment!

Have a Lovely Day!!!

The Country Cook

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating