Check Your Phone Books for Coupons!

I just found these coupons in my phone book this morning!

Things to Do this Weekend in the Mobile/Baldwin County Area

I have been putting together my list of free/cheap events for the spring/summer, this is what I have found so far for this weekend:

The 181 Market Fairhope 2-May & 3-May FREE 9A-4P

Brown Bag Lunch with Phoenix String Art Fairhope 2-May FREE 11:30A

Blessing of the Fleet Bayou La Batre 3-May & 4-May FREE 10A-4P

Live Music by Michael Tilley Fairhope 3-May 11A

Toys R US Lego Star Wars Buiding Event 3-May 12P-2P

Bass Pro Shops Kids' Outdoor Challenge Spanish Fort 3-May & 4-May FREE 12P-5P

German Fest Elberta 3-May FREE 8A-5P

Home Depot Kids Workshop All Locations 3-May FREE 9A-12P

The 181 Market Fairhope 4-May FREE 9A-2P

Live Music by Alan Hartzell Fairhope 4-May 11A

I won a $50 VISA Gift Card!

I won a $50 VISA Gift Card from a local radio station this morning! Don't forget to enter those local contests guys!!! THEY DO PAY OFF!!!!

Hurricane Isaac

We have been busy the past day or so preparing for Hurricane Isaac. It's not even a hurricane yet and has now turned, thank goodness! Schools have been cancelled for today, tomorrow and Wednesday here. I took in three kids for the storm because they live with their grandparents and the grandparents were so nervous, they didn't know what to do, so I have six kids in my house (two are teenagers) with nothing to do for three days! That's ok though. I love kids, but believe I will be stressed to the max by Thursday! lol

Once hurricanes hit the gulf waters, they are truly unpredictable so who really knows whats going to happen. We are prepared for the worst and praying for the best, but the predictions at this time are way to the west of us!

I have a STACK of food that I really could not afford that are still sitting in the bags ready to be returned to Winn Dixie if the storm doesn't get us! That may be wrong, but I couldn't have all of these kids here with no food!

I am going to do some Hurricane baking today though just in case. I am making blueberry muffins, chocolate, chocolate muffins, brownies and peanut butter cookies. I know that sounds like a ton of junk food, but if we loose power for days, what else are we supposed to eat? I have fruit and chips as well as sandwich meat and bread too. I am using up the rest of the meat we have in the freezer for a huge pot of spaghetti tonight. If we wake up in the morning and it is starting to get bad, I have a huge can of boiled peanuts to throw in the Crockpot. If not, at $7 a can, that is SO going back to the store!

It is beautiful outside right now! The sun is shining and the breeze is WONDERFUL!

DVD & CD Organization

Oh, I am in love with this idea! I just found this at http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/04/iheart-organized-reader-raid.html

This lady organized all of her DVD's in binder sleeves! What a great idea!!! I am SO going to do this!




AND she keeps a print out of all of her movies so you don't even have to flip through the binders to see what movies you have!


I LOVE this idea for SO many reasons!!!

1. Less space taken up
2. You don't have to wonder where a movie goes
3. No more "Movie Game" (where the baby stands at the movies case and chunks them all over the floor and laughs!)
4. No more cheap plastic cases everywhere you look!  

I MUST check her website more often for ideas!

I LOVE ORGANIZATION!!!

Special After School Snack

We survived the first week of school AND we had leftover smores, (Yes, I can't believe that either!) so we got a special after school snack today! Smores Milkshakes!

1 (4 piece) Graham Cracker
2 Large Marshmallows
Chocolate Frosting
Scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream
Milk
Cool Whip

Put graham cracker, marshmallows, frosting, vanilla ice cream and a little milk in the blender. Blend.  Pour into a tall glass. Top with a Dollop of Cool Whip. Serve with a straw and spoon if thick enough. (Ours wasn't.) YUM!

Why DO you cut the end off of a Pot Roast?

I was talking to my mom about writing my cookbook and the reasons and all. (I don't want to pass away and my kids regret not having my recipes.)  She told me about a couple of recipes her grandmother used to make and how her mom attempted to make them after she passed, but they just weren't the same. Then she told me the best story I have heard in a long, long time.
My great grandmother had five girls, I think it was. One of her daughters, Helen, as a child liked to  watch her mom in the kitchen cooking. One day, she saw her cut the end off of her pot roast before she put it in the pan to cook. She never asked why. For some reason, that stuck with her. Years later, with a family of her own, Helen made a lot of pot roasts over the years and always cut the end off before she cooked it. Helen's curious daughter, Louise always wondered why she saw her mother do this. So one day she asked her, "Mom, why do you always cut the end off of your roast?" Helen's reply was, "I don't know, that's how my mom always did it!" One day while visiting her grandmother, Louise decided to ask the question, "Grandma, why do you always cut the end off of your pot roast?" Her grandmother looked at her confused, then looked at Helen. Helen said, "Yea, mom, why do you do that?" My mom's great grandma burst out laughing and replied, "I only did that once, because it wouldn't fit in my roasting pan!" Just imagine how many good pieces of roast Helen threw in the garbage over the years because one time as a child her mom's pot roast wouldn't fit in the roasting pan!!!

Restaurant Type Menu at Home

Going through my recipes and finding new ones, I had a brainstorm! Wouldn't it be awesome to have a restaurant type menu (think of what they hand you when they seat you at Cracker Barrel! that large brown fold out menu) at home! No way am I saying I would EVER sit my family down and hand them a menu and give them choices! If you know me, you know I cook a meal and expect anyone in the house at the time, family or friend to try it!
Put the family name on the front and all of the salads under salad, appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, etc. with a little description like restaurants do! I LOVE to try new recipes, some make it as a family favorite, others DON'T! The menu could be updated once a year or so though! I can't wait to get my cookbook complete (yes, I know it will NEVER be complete) but as complete as possible so I can make us a menu! I am so excited about this! I will have to post updates (hopefully soon!)
Why do we need a menu you ask? Well, I think it would help with the kids and hubby helping with monthly meal planning! Plus, wouldn't it just be cute??? (and something of mine my kids can tell their kids about!)

I'm Writing a Cookbook!

I come from a long line of GREAT Southern Cooks! I also married into a family of GREAT Southern Cooks! (That probably explains our weight problems!) My father in law passed away recently and my mother in law has Alzheimer's. Did any of their seven kids (or spouse's) or way too many grands and great grands to count bother to write down his A-M-A-Z-I-N-G biscuit recipe or any of the wonderful foods he cooked? Before my Great-Grandmother passed, did anyone bother to get her recipes? NO and NO! Why??? These days and times, people are too busy to spend time with the elderly! When they do, they expect the elderly to just make their famous biscuits! (Sadly, I have been in that family for 16 years and ate dozens of his biscuits, so I am included in this!)
My father has always said he was dying soon. Heck, he told me just last week, he was dying! He is 69 years old, swears he won't make 70! (It was quite a shock when the ambulance had to pick him up at 2:30 in the morning the day after he told me this too! He was having a severe allergic reaction to his medication. He is much better and home again now!)
I hate to say I am following in his foot steps with these thoughts, but I sort of am. I have so many fears. One, that I will die before I get a chance to organize my very unorganized pictures. Two, I am in the process of working on. I will die before I get a chance to leave my babies a copy of ALL of my recipes. I hate to sound cocky here, but I am a damn good cook! Until I started writing my cookbook for them, I didn't realize I made so many different dishes, but boy, do I! Of course, I am also adding dishes that I want to try in this cookbook as well!
I pray that the Good Lord will keep me here long enough to see my grands and great grands, and since I am only 34 and my oldest 17, almost old enough to be a mommy herself, maybe I will even get to see some great, great grands! BUT, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my recipes will live on!

Half Off Cammie's Old Dutch Ice Cream Shoppe

Ohhhhh, I wish I could afford to purchase this deal!

http://local15deals.local15tv.com/engine/SplashDetails.aspx?LID=2551&contestid=59878&productid=6944129&p=12&p=1

It is SWEEEEET!

I LOVE these half off deals!

Old Dutch has the BEST ice cream in the world and you can purchase a $6 certificate for $3! That would be about enough for two regular cones. We could swing by there next time we visit Daddy!

I really never thought I wouldn't be able to afford anything that only cost $3! What a life changing, SAD thing, job layoffs are!!! (even years later...)

Their Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips is like Heaven on Earth! Mmmmmm

Hurricane Isaac

So, we decide to move like a quarter mile from the coast a little over a month ago... Here comes Hurricane Isaac! Grrr! Go Away!!!

Lovebugs

I went almost 16 years without seeing a Lovebug. So many years that I had forgotten they existed until I moved from Birmingham to Jacksonville, FL. My kids didn't know what they were and my friends in Birmingham thought I was crazy when I talked about them. They don't have them up there. Aren't they interesting little creatures?

The ones I have flying around me right now look identical to the ones in this picture.

It makes me think that down here on the coast (not in Jacksonville anymore, but still on the coast) there is always 'LOVE' in the air!