I think I can, I think I can.....

I have minutes to get ready for Blissdom - literally.

I was up til 2:00am making those cookies...and then got to the end of that fabulous recipe, and realized I hadn't added the brown sugar.
I went back and added it, but at 1 am, it wasn't quite as funny as it is now.
And I consider myself a Queen of Multitasking. - HA!

The dishes are still in the sink.

My kids are asleep, and need to get started with school.

I am leaving the house a wreck...so sorry honey. UGH!

I am not packed.

I WANT to go to triple coupon weekend at Harris Teeter, and yet I am sitting here saying "good bye." (We've decided I need a real life if I am so sad over missing Triple Coupons...which I am).

But in spite of all that, I want you to know....I wish you were all coming, and I could meet every single one of you in real life.
And then you could ask me "how do you do it all?" in real life, and I wouldn't have to tell you about my dirty dishes on this blog.

Emily, the Nester, and I are leaving in an hour to drive to Nashville for the Blissdom blogging conference.

I'm bringing my laptop (well, my hubby's...but it's all the same, right?), and I'm sure I'll learn from all these ubber talented high executive bloggers,

how to post cross country.

I might even learn how to become a "real" blogger.

What's a "real" blogger?

One that is not constantly typing off her posts minutes before she hits "publish."

One that actually edits....

One that sits down with some themes in mind....

one that......

Sheesh, I better stop, or I may psyche myself out from going - NAW! :)

(edited to add) Chuckling as I type because this post accidentally published in the middle of a sentence. Having serious laptop issues....this real bloger is.....

I am excited to share all that I learn ...blogging has become a bit of a surreal experience, don't you agree? This conference will legitimize it for me, and hopefully teach me how to take it to a new level.
The best part is that it will be nice to have my friends jump out of this computer. :)

Now that I have procrastinate even more time away..I am off to pack.

Yes, some ladies have been shopping for months for this conference,

and I am going to sport my thrifty wardrobe.

For fun, I am only going to wear all things purchased second hand.

Can't wait to walk you through some designer wardrobes - all under $15 with shoes, and jewelry.

Now, off to find those in my closet....shouldn't be too hard. :)

Freebies for you...who doesn't like free things?

For those of you newer to my blog, this is a freebie weekly addition that I am testing.
Feel free to come back tomorrow for my regularly scheduled programming....which will either be a great $5 hutch redo, or some easy dinner ideas, while making extra to freeze, of course. :)

Since it's the beginning of the month, the coupon.com widget on my sidebar has been refilled. Take advantage of some great ones this month. If you have kids still in diapers, there is a Huggies $5 and a $3 coupon....that's incredible, but those will go fast.
Plus, there are some coupons for Free Diet Dr. P, yogurt, cereal, "fun food" items that my children love, and many more. This is always my easiest couponing of the month, just print and save.
Plus, even though the top says they don't double, my local stores doubled all of them, and I got
*edited - it was brought to my attention that the free Dr. Pepper isn't showing up - they must have printed at the max. Print early next time.

*******************************************************************************

As I went to my mail box this week, I realized that I have been enjoying many fun freebies that I have signed up for, but I haven't been sharing them since I didn't know if you would like this kind of thing. I have just started getting my samples, and I kind of wanted to test the water.
It's warm, so jump on in.

Some of you love deals, some of you don't...this is for those of you who love fun free things in your mailbox, with minimal work. For the few seconds it takes me to fill these out, I have been enjoying the great perks that my mailman brings me each week.

Signing up for these freebies, I have yet to receive much spam, but one thing I have done is to set up a separate free email through gmail or yahoo...do something like jensfreebies@gmail.

It only takes 30 seconds, and then you can sign up for things like this to your heart's content and never worry about getting any solicitations mixed in with your personal emails. I love that option.
Just this week, I have enjoyed a free Quizno's sub, free subscription to Martha Stewart, and two wonderful coupon booklets from Pillsbury and Betty Crocker.
Once a week, I'll post about these offers, making sure that they're all things that I would like as well.
If you're not the freebie kind of gal, just come back tomorrow. :)

So here are my picks for this coming week.

1. I can't wait to get these free Warm Delights brownies. I got these last month when I had a coupon, and they are just the right size (for when you don't want to eat your whole chocolate bday cake. :)

Sign up here for the Betty Crocker newsletter and you'll get these for free, plus lots of great ideas and future coupons. They may ask a few questions to match up your coupon needs.

Added late: Go here to get one free SUNDAE from Baskin Robbins through the end of the month

2. And if you don't want the brownies or sundae, then at least treat yourself to one of these because you're worth it. I don't have a Bob Evans near by, but I know one of you surely can take advantage of this sweet deal good through March 11. I wish I could join you. This will come to your email. :)

Go here to get your coupon for a free Caramel Mocha at Bob Evans.

3. Great tasting coffee is one of those things that you just can't get a good coupon for. I buy Starbucks in bulk at Sam's Club. Yes, and it's worth every penny. But I can promise you that the opportunity to have 3 boxes for $3, it's also worth every dollar. I've loved their free coffee pot 2 different times over the years. That deal is on my side bar :) Just don't forget to cancel future shipments, if you choose not to continue.

6. I love Cleansing cloths, but unless I get them playing my "CVS game", they're priced out of my range. Try them for free. Dove(R) Cleansing Cloths help refresh your skin while Neutrogena(R) Cleansing Cloths repair and heal your skin. Get a sample.
Click Here

7. I had a hard choice with this one from easybakewear...you can pick from pans, an adorable apron set, and even a tart warmer.
Pick one of yours for free.


8. I've mentioned before that I have gone back to working out. The only reason I have continued is because of accountability. The only reason I am posting this offer is because when I lived in WI, Bally fitness center helped me lose 20 lbs. If you've been debating whether you want to give it a try, find a friend and take advantage of a free week.


9. I just added this deal late since I just found it and am THRILLED! I typically buy two Entertainment books each year. The coupons pay for themselves with one outing, and now they have slashed them by 50%. You can check it out & see what they offer in your area.
I love Whole Foods, and there's a $5 coupon for it which I will use this week. :)



My goal is to learn how to do more home improvement projects. Home Depot will PAY you $10 to take their "do it herself workshop" this month. I want to tile behind my oven, but can I?

If you are getting into this, and want an even ten giveaways, I have some more freebies posted here.

Bulk Baking- 2nd Edition (Best ever cookie)

Come join us for the second edition of bulk baking.
If you haven't read the 1st edition, go here.

Since I have just finished polishing off the rest of the beauties on the tray below, I thought I would inspire myself to make some more before I leave for the Blissdom Conference on Thursday.

I am in the business of making new friends, and cherishing the old ones, this coming weekend. Since the competition is going to be a bit stiff, I think bribing girlfriends with a few of these babies may do just the trick. :) hee hee

Yes, that is how I am coming full circle to the bulk baking post which always saves our family LOTS of money....I need lots and lots of cookies, especially if I intend to leave any behind for the blessings.

(Does a good mom have to leave some cookies, or is it OK to hoard for special occasions?)

I guess if I can mix them in something like this, and I can, then I will have plenty to share. No excuses.

It's amazing to browse the cookie aisle and see how many choices we Americans have.
It's crazy... really.
And we wonder how we are raising a generation of children that have "entitlement" issues.
I mean, if I grew up "deserving" 300 varieties, I'd have issues too.
(Well, I do, just not cookie ones :)

So I am only going to give you two choices, and they are pretty similar...
in fact, the best ever!!!

Every one makes chocolate chip cookies...this is not a new phenomena, but are there any extra cookies ever left over? That's the key to this post.

The recipe I am giving you will make between 50-80 cookies.
If you've started any dieting resolutions, you may rethink your will power.

I usually bake up about 40 cookies, and then form the remaining 40 into cookie dough balls to freeze. I have a few cookie scoops which make the "perfect size."
I happen to have quite a few mini muffin tins, as well.
I scoop them into the tins for a flash freeze before I put them into the ziplocks.

Don't purchase a mini muffin tin just for this. A cookie tray works well also (but now you can be on the look out when you are thrifting...hint, hint).

Doing a quick freeze is important for freezer storage, otherwise your dough will stick together as it freezes. Once they dough has become slightly frozen, just pop them into the bag.
**Warning, frozen cookie dough is addicting, and rarely makes it back into the oven.
It's just too easy to pop those in my mouth - right from the freezer.
And don't even begin to warn me about salmonella - I've weighed the consequences...:)

I know that some of you are wondering if you can just stick the frozen dough straight into the oven with out thawing. You sure can, it works beautifully.
Just watch your baking time, it will vary a bit.
Quick tip: you know that toaster oven that is stuck in the very back of your cabinet;
the one that you got for your wedding and never use?
Pull that out...it is your new best friend.
Even with a family of seven, the toaster oven gets used daily.
It not only saves money on heating the oven, but is perfect when we want just a "snack." It's forced portion control.
We can easily pull out a few of the frozen dough and have fresh cookies in minutes (if we don't eat the frozen dough first).

And yes, even the muffin tins can substitute for cookie trays if you're running short.

Irony here? I can't find the pictures of my finished cookies. The regular looking ones...just imagine, or find me at Blissdom this weekend. You better make it early or they may be gone.


For years, I believed the urban myth that Neiman Marcus charged a customer $250 for this recipe.
If you haven't heard the story, google it, it's cute.
I have made this with slight variations and love it every time. I have even started adding a bit of instant decaf coffee powder and crave that new twist.
With all the oatmeal in this recipe, it "feels" so much healthier...so indulge - you have your fiber for the day.

THE FAMOUS NEIMAN MARCUS COOKIE RECIPE
(recipe may be halved):

2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder) *I have bypassed this at times
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
1 8 oz. Hershey bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream the butter and both sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda.
Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts.
Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Makes 112 cookies.

Remember, you will need a BIG bowl.

Quite often I have omitted the Hershey bar with great result.

Now, in honor of the
Real Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe,
here it is:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
*1 cup light brown sugar
* 3 TBS granulated sugar
*1 large egg
* 2 tsp. vanilla extract
*1 -3/4 all purpose flour
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1 1/2 tsp instant espresso coffee powder
* 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet choc. chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cream the butter with the sugars.

2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

3. In mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds.
Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

4. Drop cookies onto greased cookies sheet about 3 inches apart.

Bake about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

I would seriously quadruple this recipe if you want to have any nice size amount left over.

posted at: Grocery Cart Challenge

Bulk baking day....1st edition

Baking, baking...all this for your taking.

While many of you were cozied in with mounds of snow this last week, we took what we could get.
Only in NC, would all area school districts cancel for this.
Even though I had the highest of hopes for this home school to stay the course, by 8:30 am, I opened the door to nature's display of a winter wonderland. :)
Yes, the kids even hauled down the cross country skies, bless their hopeful hearts.
So what do you do when your snow activities are not an option?

Well, the kids roast marshmallows, and mom gets to baking...in her jammies, of course.

Since you've scrolled down anticipating some bulk baking tips, let's get started.
Every once in awhile, when the sun, moon and starts align, I decide to descend upon my kitchen for a few hours of baking bedlam. If the concept of cooking in bulk is fairly foreign to you, begin reading my other posts found
here and here.
They are obnoxiously long, but filled with a good foundation for what I am talking about.

With five children that are eating me out of house and home, I need to be ready to conquer the meal time madness war that is raged daily.
Part of that solution is having things accessible that are quick, filling and a little more healthy than the five boxes of Pop tarts (BOGO free/coupons) we polished off in two days.
Even though the box said "fiber filled," I am thinking that my pillow case has fiber in that as well,
and I know I shouldn't eat five boxes of those in two days. :)

What that means is cooking and baking from scratch more often, without making a ton more work for this Family Manager, and yes, that means having a teeny tiny plan...ugh!

You know how I feel about really detailed plans...it's up there with spending hard earned money on undies. I'm just not wound up that way, but a little forethought goes a long way.
And ladies...it's SO WORTH it!
The amount of money you will save, and the elevation of nutritional quality will amaze you.

Look around in your pantry and assess what dry goods you have on hand, need to use up, or is on sale this week?
Do you have enough eggs, milk, oil, and butter?

I typically always bake some kind of banana bread/muffins, but I actually had ten lbs of apples that were beginning to turn, and I knew that something with apples needed to be created.
I also have a ton of grain that needs to be used every week for the next 2 years, plus more flour than you can imagine. Chocolate chips from Sam's Club are dangerously laying around the house, and mysteriously disappearing, so cookies were screaming my name.
My goal is to bake things that freeze well, and can be thawed or heated up in seconds.

Plan for the day....

-muffins
-bread
-cookies
-waffle/pancakes

Just like with bulk cooking, why make just one batch of anything, when you can triple a recipe and freeze lots of extras for snacks or ready made breakfasts?
For me, the whole hassle is just getting started...it's those baby steps again.
Once the mess is out, why not indulge and make the most of it.
If you can periodically put 1-2 hours aside to bake, you'd be amazed at what you can get put up in your freezer.

Have you noticed how the cost of frozen grocery store waffles have gone through the roof?
This is one of my kids favorite breakfasts, but it's become completely cost prohibitive (unless it's triple coupons) considering my eldest eats 6 waffles at a sitting.
And, have you looked at the list of ingredients? Far from stellar.

I started making batches of pancakes and waffles years ago and then freezing them.
It's wonderful for the kids to just pop them out of their ziplock and heat them up in the toaster or microwave (if you like them softer). I lay them on a cookie sheet for a quick freeze first and then pop them in the zip lock bag. It keeps them from sticking together.
My favorite waffle recipe is a bit more time consuming than your basic add water mix :),
but so worth the effort.
I didn't think about turning this into a blog post til AFTER the waffles, thus no pictures.
I did not triple this recipe nor quadruple it, I had to what's x 5, it? Quintuple it? And after feeding them breakfast, still did not have as much as I wanted for the freezer....grrr....


Malted Belgium Waffles

2 cups sifted flour
2 TB sugar
1 1/2 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
2-3 TB malt (I omit this since I always forget to buy it, but it probably just makes it)
6 eggs (separated)
1 3/4 cups milk
6 TB melted butter

Preheat waffle iron. Sift dry ingredients together (do you know I never do this? I'm a lazy baker.)
Combine egg yolks, milk, and butter; mix until smooth.
Add to dry ingredients;mix until smooth.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and fold into batter.
Pour into iron and bake until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown.
Serves 8, unless your my family...

Pancake recipe that I love

Feather Pancakes
3/4 cups flour
1/3 tsp salt
1 TB baking powder
1 1/3 TB sugar
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 1/3 oil

Mix dry ingredients.
Blend together in blender of food processor (yes, takes out the lumps, but then I have to wash more dishes :), eggs, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture and beat until smooth.
Allow batter to sit for ten minutes.
Cook on griddle.
Serves 4 (when mine were toddlers, maybe)

Oh my sweet friends...I hate to cut you off short,
but please come back tomorrow for the next installment.....and oh, those muffins were scrumptious. :)

...the second edition is up:

A Sunday Moment

Thank you, Lord, for this precious hand.
So tiny, so innocent...
A hand that now rocks her dolly,
but may someday embrace her new born babe.
A hand that I now hold, but someday will be holding mine.

Lord, please take the hands of my beloved daughter and use them for Your glory.
Grow them, develop them, protect them, and steer them from evil.

I symbolically raise my hand as a blessing on her...she is yours!

(This was one of my favorite Disney moments. She glimpsed Cinderella in the distance during the parade, and the world stopped...just for her...
the princess was waving...only at her.
And my daughter's eyes were fixed... only on one.)

May I fix my eyes on the One with the same passion and intensity as my little girl.