Quick and Easy Dinner

One of my favorite fast and easy recipes(which also happens to be inexpensive) is Pasta with sundried tomatoes, black olives and parmesan cheese. It can't get any easier than this:

Boil as much thin spaghetti as needed for your family according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. I then add about 1/2 of a jar of sundried tomatoes that are packaged in oil (I can get 2 dinners from a $5 jar of tomatoes). Open and cut in halves one can of black olives and add to pot. Stir until pasta is coated with the flavored oil from the tomatoes and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese before serving. Voila!

This comes to $4.50 plus parmesan cheese for my family of 5 ( $1 box of thin spaghetti, $2.50 worth of tomatoes, and $1 for a can of black olives-possibly less using coupons).

I will be saving this recipe for next week, as I already have my menu plan for this week. It is an old standby in my home.

Be sure to check out all the other great recipes at $5 dinners!

Menu Plan Monday

Well here's my first Menu Plan Monday! I still have to grocery shop this evening, so I get to see how much I can save with all the coupons I've been collecting the last couple of weeks. I'm so excited that I'm actually planning the week's meals ahead of time!

Breakfast is pretty much on the run during the week for my whole family, so I just keep quick foods on hand like cereal, oatmeal, toaster strudel, waffles, etc...

The boys buy lunch at school, which works out well for us since most of the time when I used to pack lunches, no one wanted the same thing, and most of it returned untouched. Picky kids!

So Dinner it is! My husband will be so happy to know he's getting dinner each night this week!

Monday- Layered Mexican Casserole

Tuesday-Chicken Parmesan with pasta

Wednesday-Lasagna and garlic bread

Thursday-Daddy's mac and cheese(the old standby made with Velveeta cheese with Ro-tel and hamburger)

Friday-Hamburgers and home made fries

I'm off to make my grocery list!

Another Crazy Monday Morning

Whew! Just got everyone off to work and school, and all of my daycare kiddos have arrived and are playing contentedly. Time for a few freebies and bargains!



Just signed up for a free sample of Quaker Quakes here. Can't wait to try these babies!

You can get a coupon for a free Kashi meal here. Great for those busy lunches.

Quizno's is giving away 1 million FREE subs! To get in on this action, sign up for their e-mails and they will send you a coupon.

I will definitely be taking advantage of Target's $5 giftcard when you buy 2 bags of Purina dog food this week. Sign up for Purina's Give a Bowl and print your $4/1 coupons here.

Ok. I've figured it out. This should make things much easier, and much, much prettier now. The computer illiterate blogger can now post a link. Try getting your free Diet Dr. Pepper here. Voila!

I'm starting to get excited about all the freebies that I'll be getting in the mail soon-can't wait for them to start pouring in! You can get a free sample of Pantene after you answer a few questions at http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100656/quickQuestion.iphtml?item=100656&source=mm10.

I've got my coupon for a free trial size aquafresh toothpaste in hand and several Johnson's & Johnson's coupons to use for free Bath Buddies soap (I should get 12 free bars in all). There are some really smart shoppers out there and you can definitely save some bucks if you take the time to browse all the blogs.

I'm still learning overall, and probably shouldn't be posting until I get the hang of it, but I figure I'm documenting my learning experiences and mistakes as well. Happy shopping!

Still Learning the Ropes

Get a free sample of Goody girls barettes at http://goody.com/Promotions/freebies.aspx

Also request a free sample of Doggy Delightz treats at http://www.doggydelightz.com/page1.aspx

You can get a free gain sample from Wal-mart at http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid66688.aspx

Get 2 free tacos on Tuesday Feb 24 at Jack in the Box at http://coupon.hangintherejack.com/two-tacos.php

As you can tell, I'm still learning the ropes when it comes to posting links to all the great deals out there, but I'll get there!

I took advantage of some great coupons at Target last night and got a couple freebies and some great deals.

I used a free coupon for a sample size Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothpaste, and got 2 free Huggies Bath Buddies soaps using $1 off coupons. I used Target coupons for $1 off Pepperidge Farms crackers to buy Goldfish crackers for $0.87 a bag.

Also decided to take advantage of the Walgreen's deal on Airwick Freshmatic using the $3 Easysaver rebate and $4 manufacturer coupon making my final cost $1.99!

Now I'm off to browse my favorite blogs for my next bargains!

Dinner Out- Again!

Well, the only deal I've taken advantage of today is once again from Restaurant.com. I bought a $25 gift certificate to Pujols 5 for $3 using the code PREZ. Looks like I'm going to be eating well as long as they keep up with these offers!