The Pioneer Woman

Ree Drummond, a self-proclaimed former "food snob" left her Southern California lifestyle behind when she was swept off her feet by a cattle rancher whom she lovingly refers to as the "Marlboro Man".

In 2006 she started a blog and covered topics such as ranch life and homeschooling. She then began adding recipes with full color, step-by-step photographs. Her sense of humor and deliciously easy recipes using simple ingredients caught on and her blog has won many awards over the past 3 years.

In addition to recipes,the site includes personal stories, amazing photography, including a "how-to" section for budding photographers, and prize giveaways. This is my type of blog!

So, take a few minutes and check out her site at www.thepioneerwoman.com/cooking
You're sure to find a recipe (or ten) that you and your family will love, as well as have a few laughs along the way.

This site offers a ton of great recipes, so far I've loved every one I've tried.
Here are a few to look for...

- The Best Lasagna. Ever.
- Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs
- Pioneer Woman’s Favorite Sandwich
- My Most Favorite Salad Ever. Ever, Ever, Ever!
- My Most Favorite Burger Ever. (For Now.)
- Creamed Spinach to Die For
- The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever.

Save BIG on with Coupons!

I've used grocery coupons on and off over the years. You can really save big bucks if you do a little homework. I used to use a paid online service that did all the research, told you which coupons to use at various stores to get the most savings. After a while, I found that paying for a service that was geared towards saving money just didn't make sense to me, so I cancelled it, and did the research myself during times when I needed to stretch our grocery money a little further. But now, there are many free blogs popping up all over the internet that do all the hard work and provide you the shopping lists for free! Below is one that I heard about recently, I'll share links to other good sites as I try them out...

A friend on Facebook shared this blog link . (THANK YOU Jennifer T.! ) http://30dollarweeklygrocerychallenge.blogspot.com/search/label/Grocery%20Challenge

I hope some of you will find this information useful. I was really blessed by it and only paid $4.40 a couple of weeks ago for $33.86 worth of groceries! The blog is called “The $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge”. There are lots of great ideas for saving money on your grocery shopping and more. They even give you a list of sales at certain stores and which coupons to use from the newspaper and ones you can print online to save a bundle.

I read through the Harris Teeter list , which was offering their SUPER DOUBLE COUPONS that week so they doubled coupons up to 1.98. (a $1.98 coupon would become a $3.96 coupon!!) I then printed a bunch of online coupons using the links provided, and went out this morning and did my shopping. I didn’t have any coupons from Sunday’s paper so I missed out on a lot of deals, but I was amazed at what I was able to purchase just using the online coupons.

Here is what I got:

Coffee-mate Creamer 16 oz, $2 $1/1 printableFinal Cost: Free

Ore Ida Easy Fries $1.45 (buy 2)$1.50/2 printable Final Cost: Free

Wholly Guacamole $1.99 $1/1 printable Final Cost: Free

Yoplait Fiber One $2.95 $1/1 printable (this coupon said “do not double” so they wouldn’t double it) Final Cost: $1.95

Egg Beaters, select varieties, $2.99 $1/1 printable Final Cost: $0.99

Organic Valley Cream Cheese $2.59 $1/1 printable Final Cost: $0.59

Organic Valley Heavy Cream $2.19 $1/1 printableFinal Cost: $0.19

Weight Watchers Snack Cakes $1.99 (reflects BOGO price, only buy 1) $1/1 printable Final Cost: Free

Lip Smackers $1.99 $1/1 printable Final Cost: Free

Wet Ones $2.89 $1.50/1 printable Final Cost: Free

Stayfree Pads $2.50$1/1 printable Final Cost: $0.50

Subtotal Before Coupons: $ 33.86

Total after coupons, including tax $ 4.40

Total Savings: $ 29.46

Catch-up Time!

I can't believe it's been over a year since I started this blog. I intended to add to it at least once a month, but didn't even touch it in 2009. I think I actually forgot about it. I've been posting various things on my facebook page over the last year, so I think I'll take some time and update this blog with some of what I've shared on Facebook. Hope you find some of it helpful. :o)

Save on Groceries with Angel Food Ministries...

I saw this story on our local news about Angel Food Ministries.

They offer a way to purchase a box of groceries ($60-$75 value) which will feed a family of four for a week for only $30. This ministry does not have any income restrictions, it is open to anyone. It can be very helpful for either your own family or any family you may know who needs to stretch their food dollar a little further.

Here is a link to the news story http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/troubleshooter&id=6691676

and a link to the Angel Food Ministries website to learn more or find a distribution site in your area. http://www.angelfoodministries.com/about/