Author: Abby H.

9/26/2022 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI skipped meal planning last week. It was very busy, and there have been some kiddo-related issues that I’ve been dealing with, as well as working extra hours in the morning at my day job.

I hit up the grocery store on Sunday for milk, bread, and a couple things for school lunches. Again this week but we’re eating out of the pantry and our  Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box, which will be delivered this afternoon.

I did a mini bundle at Dream Dinners this month, and we’ll be enjoying a few of those meals as well.

We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods. I picked up 5 new products to try this week at Sprouts last night using my Social Nature coupons!

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. These snacks make up most of the kid’s lunches during the school week. School lunches are still free, but on most days, they prefer to bring their lunches from home.

Dinner: Now that school is in session and our weekday schedule is cemented, I’m using one weekend morning to do some baking/side dish meal prep, and Monday afternoons after school/work to prep the CSA box goodies.  As the price of groceries goes up, I find myself buying less meat, relying more on sale/clearance prices, and repurposing leftovers.

  • Monday: Dream Dinners Jambalaya (no shrimp for me), roasted veggies

  • Tuesday:  Breakfast for dinner (bagels, fresh fruit salad, protein shakes)

  • Wednesday: Loaded Smashed Potatoes – we didn’t have them last week, Salad

  • Thursday:   Chef Salad, garlic cheese toast

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday:  Leftovers
  • Sunday: Dream Dinners Central Park Chicken with Creamed Peas, fruit salad

Recipe: Spicy Szechuan Style Green Beans (a la PF Changs)

Abby H.

In our recent Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box, we received 5 fistfuls (about a pound) of fresh green beans. I cleaned them, put them in a large ziploc bag in the fridge until I could be struck by inspiration.

I was doing the end-of-week veg prep Sunday morning (to make room for the new box arriving Monday), and I came across the green beans. I was watching tik tok last night and saw a video for spicy green beans. I decided to give it a go.

To start, I searched online for a bunch of recipes and Frankestein’d together a recipe using what we had on hand, which wasn’t much. Our fridge died last summer and I still haven’t replaced all of the condiments, in part because of supply chain issues, and also because of freaking inflation.

Spicy Szechuan Style Green Beans

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
  • 2 T. your favorite cooking oil (I used grapeseed)
  • 2 T. Diced Garlic (It’s ok to use the stuff in a jar)
  • 1 T. Chili Paste or Sriracha (whatever you have)
  • 2 t. onion powder
  • 1 green onion, white and light green parts only
  • 3 T. Soy sauce (I used low sodium)
  • 1/4 c. water
  • 1 T. rice vinegar (or white- whatever you have)
  • Juice of half an orange

Optional, but tasty

  • Sesame Seeds
  • Red Pepper Flakes

Directions

  1. In a large pan or wok, heat oil.
  2. Cook green beans for 5-8 minutes, or until they start to brown and wilt. If your green beans have been stored in the fridge, it will take longer.
  3. While the beans cook, add the 1 T. garlic, chili paste, onion powder, and green onion to a small bowl and combine.
  4. After the beans have browned and wilted, add the chili/garlic mixture and combine/coat the green beans. Cook for 3-ish minutes on medium until the garlic is fragrant.
  5. Add the remaining liquid ingredients (I poured all of them into a mixing cup and set it aside until this step, but you can pour them directly into the pan/wok), cooking on low until some of the water evaporates. Remove from heat, and add sesame seeds and red pepper flakes (less than 1 tablespoon each).

This is a great side dish for any Asian food. I served it for breakfast -grown ups only- over basmati rice, topped with a jammy egg. It was very filling.

This recipe is vegan/vegetarian. If you are sensitive to gluten, replace your soy with tamari or coconut aminos.

The Best Potato Salad Recipe- PERIOD!

Abby H.

There are literally hundreds of ways to make Potato Salad. However, none of them should involve raisins (That’s an internet thing, I’ve never actually seen it in person).

This is my great grandmother Tootie’s Potato Salad Recipe, and I think it’s the best. Luckily for me, we’ve gotten all of the veggie ingredients in this week’s Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box.  And because they sell eggs too as an add-on, you can get most everything you need without leaving home.

This recipe is pretty simple.

Tootie’s Potato Salad

Ingredients

  • 4 cups peeled, cut-up potatoes (bite-size pieces)
  • 3 ribs of green celery, cut into bite-size pieces- I slice each rib in half and into small pieces.
  • 1/4 cup Italian Dressing- I like Wishbone
  • 1/2 cup Full Fat Mayo. I like Best Foods/Hellmans, but Dukes is good too
  • 3 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • Chives or parsley to garnish- optional

Directions

  1. Boil potatoes in water until they are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  2. Drain potatoes, do not rinse.
  3. Chill potatoes in the fridge (30 minutes to 1 hour-ish).
  4. In a bowl, combine the salad dressing and mayo, pour over cooled potatoes, and stir. You want to coat the potatoes in the mixture.
  5. Add in the celery and eggs. The egg yolks will break down and combine with the dressing/mayo mixture, turning light to medium yellow.
  6. Chill in the fridge at least overnight. If the salad is too dry, add a few more tablespoons of mayo and dressing (a 2-parts mayo to 1-part dressing mixture).
  7. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
  8. Prior to serving top with chives or parsley if desired.

If you like green onions (my mom doesn’t like raw onions so she doesn’t add them), you can add 1-2 sliced green onions to the salad during step 5.  I grew up without it, but they are really good in this salad.

This salad is good in the fridge for up to a week and is perfect for the 4th of July or other summer celebrations.

Dietary options: It’s already vegetarian, but I’m not sure it could be made vegan unless you use veganaise and omit the eggs (in my opinion it needs).

Amazing Deals at The Children’s Place In Store and Online!

Abby H.

Bitty Bird and I went to the mall after school on Thursday, and after a brief detour to the food court for a snack (Sbarro), we decided to check out The Children’s Place.

I haven’t been in there in a while, but they are having a really good sale right now, and that includes clearance.

Our local mall has a pretty small location, but we were still able to find a few dresses in her size on sale, in fact, this one was her favorite:

This dress is less than $10!

Such a great deal for a cute skater dress. This is her favorite style right now.

Their online clearance section is huge and as a bonus, The Children’s Place offers free ship to the store! Place your order online, once it’s ready, you’ll get an email once it’s ready to be picked up. It’s super quick and easy. And with ship to store, not only is the price of shipping waived, but you’ll also receive 10% off! That makes a sweet deal even sweeter!

 

$50 Eyewear Credit with Warby Parker!

Abby H.

Warby Parker makes incredibly tasteful and fashionable eyewear, they also sell contact lenses, and they’ve got a great deal!

Buy an annual supply of contact lenses, and receive a $50 eyewear bonus! No matter the brand or lens type, receive a $50 credit—good to use on any eyeglasses or sunglasses—when you buy an annual supply of contacts from Warby Parker.

The adults in our family wear Warby Parker glasses and Scout Contact Lenses (You can score a free sample of Scout contacts here).

Warby Parker has cool frames, regardless of your style or frame size requirements.

It’s almost that time for new glasses in our house, so I’ll definitely be checking out this deal myself!

Tea Collection: Up To 40% Off Sale & Clearance!

Abby H.

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Tea Collection is hooking us up with 192 new Fall markdowns + take up to 40% off sale & clearance prices!

It’s true! Now is a great time to shop wear-now styles at super-duper prices—including dozens of new markdowns.

Deal: Extra 25% Off Sale and Extra 40% Off Clearance
Coupon Code: PUMPKIN
Valid Through Friday, September 23, 2022, through Monday, September 26, 2022.

9/23/2022 Friday Freebies and Deals

Abby H.

Again this week we’ve had a lot of kiddo-based stuff happen, and I’m picking up more hours at work, so I haven’t had the energy to blog much.

Never fear, I’ve got Freebies and Deals for you!

Don’t forget all of the 2022 Birthday Freebies! Make sure to check this article out and sign up for birthday freebies at least 2-3 weeks before your birthday.

Freebies:

Free Moroccanoil Hydrating Mask & LesserEveil Puff Samples
Free Goody Bag at buybuy BABY Stores
Free Haircut at Sport Clips

Free Sample of TruSkin Vitamin C Facial Serum

Free Huggies Potty Training Kit
Free Ithaca Hummus Squeeze Hummus
Free Baby Samples & Full Sized Products from Amazon
Free Axe Antiperspirant Stick or Dry Spray Sample
Focus Group Pays with Visa Debit Cards
Free Sample of Enfagrow Toddler Formula
Educators – Free LGBTQ-Inclusive Books
Free Dunham’s Gift Card Giveaway
Free Body Care Gift at Bath & Body Works
Free Food & Drinks at Circle K
Free Chiki Organic Product
Teachers – Free Zollipops for Your Class
Free Fragrance Samples from Macy’s
Bed Bath & Beyond Wedding Registry Freebies
Free Natean Toothpaste at Walmart
Free Pizookie at BJ’s
Free Small Combo Meal at Taco John’s
5 Free Tickets to SeaQuest Aquarium
Free Big Zax Snak Meal at Zaxby’s
Free Bad Athletics Scary Strong Sticker
Free Tarte Foundation
Free Blind Fate: Edo no Yami – Dojo PC Game
Free Teach Your Monster to Read App
25 Free Disney Movie Insiders Points

 

Deals:

Womens Shoes 75% Off – Only $9 Free Shipping
Halloween Costumes for $5 at Walmart
Cookie Prep Set 17-Piece ONLY $10.13 (Reg $29)
Surprise Toy Mini Brands Collectors Case ONLY $5.70 (Reg $10)
Vitafusion Gummy Vitamins ONLY $6.99 (Reg. $15.99)
Get 3 Free Audiobooks
Men’s 2-Piece Pajama Set ONLY $10 (Reg $40)
Coach Umbrella’s Only $26.52 + Free Shipping (reg $78)
Flat Top Gas Grill Griddle ONLY $149.00 (Reg $300)
Ring Alarm Starter Kit 1st Gen ONLY $99 (Reg $200)
Lights & Easy Robot Vacuum Cleaner ONLY $149.99 (Reg $350)
Gibson 30-pc Ceramic Dinnerware Set ONLY $55.99 (Reg $120)
Get Rewarded for Paying Your Rent – Free $30 at Sign Up

Craftsy Fall Flash Sale!

Abby H.

Welcome Fall Flash Sale! All Classes 70% Off!    ** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. 

Craftsy is back at it!

Now through 9/28/2022, all classes are up to 70% off with code FALL70 at checkout.

I’ve been a Craftsy fan for years. They have incredible classes on so many topics from sewing, painting, and beading, to cabinet making and woodworking.

And if you are looking to check out some free classes, Craftsy has over 60 Free classes on a variety of subjects.

Q-insights Education study -It pays $175

Abby H.

QI-logoNOslogan.pngQ-insights is another company where I do research groups, focus groups, and online surveys to earn extra money.

They have a lot of stuff in South Orange County, and less often San Diego County. This study takes place virtually.

Q-insights is currently recruiting for a 90 min. online focus group with Parents, Teen friendship Pairs.

The study will run from Oct 10th to Oct 21st, and each will be compensated $175.00 as a thank you for your time

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the survey here to see if you qualify.

Using CVS Offers to Your Advantage! How I Paid $5.47 for Over $50 in products!

Abby H.

I have posted about it before, and I am a huge fan of CVS. They have their CarePass, which is pretty inexpensive ($5-ish a month or $48/year if you pay for it all at once).  One of the perks is you get a $10 ExtraCare Bucks each month, for a total of $120 per year. I posted about it before but I got more information here, and overall I think it’s a pretty great deal.

You probably also remember one of the reasons that I love CVS is they have Pharmacy and Health Rewards. When you fill 10 prescriptions at their pharmacy you receive a $5.00 ExtraCare Bucks that you can spend any place in the store.

With the number of prescriptions my family has, we earn a $5.00 ExtraCare Bucks every two months. Which is pretty decent. Between the CarePass, and Pharmacy and Health Rewards, we usually have between 10 and $15 in “free“ money to spend at CVS at any given time.

I went in this morning to go pick up a prescription and noticed that they had a lot of snacks on sale/marked down, and with ExtraCare Bucks rewards. I quickly scrolled through my CVS app and noticed I had six dollars off any purchase of $30 or more and my $10 CarePass ExtraCare Bucks, and a $5.00 Pharmacy ExtraCare Bucks Reward.

Knowing that we needed both cereal and snacks and I walked up and down the snack/cereal aisle and quickly set upon a plan.

  • Chips Ahoy and Oreo cookies are 2/$7 or 2/$8 (depending on the product) this week. When you buy two select, you’ll receive a $2 ExtraCare Bucks (limit one per person/account). My kids loved both Oreos and Chips Ahoy, so I picked two of each.
  • We were also out of Motts fruit snacks, and they are buy one get one free so I snagged two boxes as well.
  • Rice crispy treats are buy one get one free, so I grabbed two of those.
  • Cereal was on sale buy one box get one free with select Kellogg’s varieties, so I grabbed two boxes as well.

Now, this may look like a lot of junk food, but this is about three weeks’ worth of stuff to go in lunches (and about 2 weeks worth of cereal for me). The cereal is for me, but the rest is going to go in kid’s lunches or be available for snacks- I portion out the snacks and put them into the snack box in the cupboard. I will be hiding about half of it so that they don’t know we have tons of it and just mow through it.

As you can see by looking at the video about and all the stuff I got, it’s a pretty substantial amount. I ended up paying $9.47 out of pocket, and I received $4.00 back in ExtraCare Bucks.

$2.00 for purchasing to select Nabisco Oreo cookies, and a second $2 ExtraCare Bucks for purchasing two chocolate bars, cookies, select chips ahoy, or premium crackers.

Making my grand total after ExtraCare Bucks $5.47. That is one heck of a deal. I’ve also submitted my receipt to Fetch Rewards for points, and to Receipt Hog for points!

And I was in and out of the store in less than 20 minutes (including time to wait in line to pay). Doing drug store deals doesn’t have to be long and tedious. And sometimes it’s a small deal.

It’s worth the time to download the CVS app, join the ExtraCare club to save money, and join CarePass. You’ll find deals weekly (or monthly in my case when I go in). You’ll be saving money in no time!