food

11/13/17 Meal Plan Monday!

Abby H.

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We’re scraping the bottom of the produce drawer, so I’ll be hitting up .99 Only to pick up some salads, veggies, and berries.

I’m just posting dinners for our meal plan. The kiddos usually have a small toasted bagel with cream cheese for breakfast along with fruit.  Hubs likes Oatmeal (my recipe for an easy almost instant oatmeal mix can be found here) if he’s got time, otherwise he and I have protein shakes with frozen bananas and PB2.

Lunches for Lil’ Man are usually Peanut butter and crackers, fruit, milk, a protein muffin (aka a kid cupcake), and applesauce cup. He takes his lunch every day! Hubs usually has a protein shake or I pack him leftovers or a frozen entree.

Bitty Bird and I usually have leftovers from the night before, or soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. She eats almost anything!

Monday:

  • D: Potato Cheese soup and fruit

Tuesday:

  • D: breakfast for dinner- probably pancakes, eggs, and fruit salad

Weds:

  • D: BBQ chicken (in the crockpot), green salad, biscuits

Thursday:

  • D:  Grilled chicken and grilled veggies 

Friday:

  • D: Date Night! (we go out)

Saturday:

  • D: DIY pizza night!

Sunday:

  • D: Leftover buffet

The menu may change, as  I pull stuff out of the pantry to rotate what we’ve got (I am trying to cut down on waste, and put the older stuff up front to get eaten first).

Veterans Day Freebies

Abby H.

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Veterans Day is coming up on November 11, and like most holidays, there are some great freebies available. All of these freebies are available to veterans and active duty military only, unless otherwise specified.

Free haircuts at Great Clips on Veterans Day  Active Duty and Veterans- And if you don’t need a cut that day, you can pick up a card for a free haircut card good through the end of 2017.

On Veterans Day, November 11, participating Sport Clips locations will offer free haircuts to all active duty military and veterans (with valid ID.)

Grace For Vets teams up with carwashes all over the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia to offer free carwashes to active duty and veterans on 11/11/17.

Looking to get away from it all? National Parks are free next weekend to commemorate Veterans Day.

Lots of places have free admission for active duty and veterans next weekend.

  • Knott’s Berry Farm
  • Aquarium of the Pacific
  • Main Event Centers (none in CA, but in tons of other states) will be giving Active Duty and Veterans Enjoy a Free Entree + $10 FUNcard as our appreciation and thanks to you!

There are countless historical monuments, museums, and historical places of significance that will be free to active duty and Veterans next weekend. It’s always worth a phone call or a quick Google search before you leave the house!

And are you going to be Hungry? Probably…. Here are just a few restaurants offering free meals sometime next week:

  • Menchie’s Veterans Day Free Frozen Yogurt (Saturday, November 11, 2017)
  • Farmer Boys Free Veterans Day Cheeseburgers (Friday, November 10, 2017)
  • Olive Garden locations will be offering a free meal to Veterans and Active Duty (November 11, 2017)
  • Denny’s Typically offers free Grand Slams to active Duty and Veterans on the 10th or 11th (check your local Denny’s)
  • BJ’s Restaurant All veterans and active military can enjoy a complimentary entree under $12.95 on Friday and Saturday November 10-11/2017. Guests over age 21 will can also receive an alcoholic beverage for $6. Please present your military ID to receive this offer.
  • Red Robin All Veterans and Active Duty Military get a free dine-in Red’s Tavern Double Burger and Bottomless Steak Fries on Veterans Day 11/11.
  • Golden Corral On Monday, November 13th, 2017 from 5 PM to 9 PM, Golden Corral offers a free sit-in “thank you” dinner for Military veterans, retirees, and active duty members.

This is by no means a full list- There are tons of restaurants, bars, and pubs that honor active duty and veterans with a free meal, drink, appetizer, or dessert. Please feel free to leave one you’ve discovered in the comments below.

A Review: What’s up with Restaurant.com?

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2017-10-25 at 10.29.17 PM.pngFor those who have never used Restaurant.com, but hear me extol its virtues, here is how it works.

You purchase a discounted gift certificate (make sure to check the cert for restrictions, such as a minimum purchase amount or mandatory gratuity ) for a local restaurant.  You have a year from the date of purchase to use it.

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Here is an example of how to use the certs to your advantage.

Cafe XYZ- Certificate for $15.00.  Terms of cert: $15 off the purchase of $30 or more.  Mandatory 18% gratuity.

  • The check comes to $30.00
  • Mandatory grat. 18% $5.40
  • Minus Cert amt. -$15.00
  • Total New Bill: $14.60
  • Gift Certificate Cost $6.00, but thanks to coupon code REAL, you save 50% off the certificate making the total $3.00 for the Gift certificate.

The price for this complete meal is $17.60 (that includes the cost of the certificate).  The total amount saved $12.40.

They offer discounted certs in smaller amounts too.

ABC Cafe- Certificate for $25.00.   Terms of the cert: $25.00 off the purchase of $35.00 or more.  Mandatory 18% gratuity.

  • The check comes to $35.00
  • Mandatory grat. 18% $6.30
  • Minus Cert amt. -$25.00
  • Total New Bill: $16.30
  • Thanks to coupon code REAL, you save 50% off the certificate making the total $3.00 for the Gift certificate.

The price for this complete meal is $19.30 (that includes the cost of the certificate).  The total amount saved $15.70.

There are always coupon codes for http://www.restaurant.com/ on Retailmenot

Meal Plan Monday!!

Abby H.

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I need to go to the grocery store this week, so this is what I’ve planned based on what we have on-hand and what’s on sale.

I’m just posting dinners for our meal plan. The kiddos usually have a small toasted bagel with cream cheese for breakfast along with fruit.  Hubs likes Oatmeal (my recipe for an easy almost instant oatmeal mix can be found here) if he’s got time, otherwise he and I have protein shakes with frozen bananas and PB2.

Lunches for Lil’ Man are usually Peanut butter and crackers, fruit, milk, a protein muffin (aka a kid cupcake), and applesauce cup. He takes his lunch every day! Hubs usually has a protein shake or I pack him leftovers or a frozen entree.

Bitty Bird and I usually have leftovers from the night before, or soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. She eats almost anything!

Monday:

Tuesday:

  • D: Waffles and fruit

Weds:

Thursday:

  • D:  Grilled chicken and grilled veggies 

Friday:

  • D: Pizza (I’m making a batch of dough to stash in the freezer, so we’ll bake a few up and have pizza!)

Saturday:

  • D: Date Night! (we go out)

Sunday:

  • D: Leftover buffet

The menu may change, as  I pull stuff out of the pantry to rotate what we’ve got (I am trying to cut down on waste, and put the older stuff up front to get eaten first).

Pumpkin Baked Donuts!

Abby H.2 Comments

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We love donuts. BUT, we don’t love that they are fried and dipped in sugary frosting (ok, some of us do… the kids).

After hearing hubs and Henry complain about neeeeeeding donuts, I rummaged through the cupboard and came up with:

Similar to my 3 ingredient chocolate cake, I set in motion to make some tasty donuts.

I grease my silicone baking dishes. I use a little butter.

All you do is mix the cake mix with the pumpkin and add spices to taste (usually 1t. cinnamon and a few dashes of ginger and nutmeg).

Pour into the donut “holes” (about 1/2 full) and bake per the mix directions for cupcakes.

Most cake mixes make 12 donuts. I let the donuts sit in the pan until they are cool, them take them out and do batch #2.

If you NEED glaze, mix:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
  • 1 T. soft butter
  • 1t. vanilla (you could use maple extract if you wanted to make it UBER FALL)
  • 1T. milk

Whisk all together and drizzle over the donuts.

This recipe is easy peezy pumpkin squeezy! It’s totally kid approved as well, which is why there are no after photos.It goes great with a PSL or other fall themed coffee beverage,

 

It’s Freebie Time!

Abby H.
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While a flower in your mail box is cute, freebies are better!

There are some pretty cool freebies available now and free events coming up soon!

Free LEGO Bricktober Events at Toys R Us

Free Samples of Bragg Delight Seasonings & Nutritional Yeast

Free Walmart Welcome Baby Box

Free Sample of Meow Mix Single Servings Cups

Free Sample of Carnation Breakfast Essentials

Panera Members – Free Bagel Everyday in October

Free Panda Express Entree with Any Side Item Purchase

Meal Plan for the Week!

Abby H.

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This week has been crazy, and it’s just Tuesday! Mr. is sick, so our usual routine has been thrown off.

I’m just posting dinners for our meal plan. The kiddos usually have a small toasted bagel with cream cheese for breakfast along with fruit.  Hubs likes Oatmeal (my recipe for an easy almost instant oatmeal mix can be found here) if he’s got time, otherwise he and I have protein shakes with frozen bananas and PB2.

Lunches for Lil’ Man are usually Peanut butter and crackers, fruit, milk, a protein muffin (aka a kid cupcake), and applesauce cup. He takes his lunch every day! Hubs usually has a protein shake or I pack him leftovers or a frozen entree.

Bitty Bird and I usually have leftovers from the night before, or soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. She eats almost anything!

We’re pretty stocked up of food for the next week or so- We’ll need milk, cream cheese, and cheese. I’ll probably hit up Costco tomorrow.

Monday:

  • D: Chicken Tortilla Soup and toast

Tuesday:

  • D: Soup and grilled cheese (While Mr. is sick, we may be eating a lot of soup)

Weds:

  • D: Breakfast for dinner

Thursday:

  • D:  Spaghetti Squash boats with Vegetable Marinara sauce

Friday:

  • D: Date Night! (we go out)

Saturday:

  • D:  BBQ hamburgers and BBQ veggies

Sunday:

  • D: Leftover buffet

The menu may change, as  I pull stuff out of the pantry to rotate what we’ve got (I am trying to cut down on waste, and put the older stuff up front to get eaten first).

9/26/17 Meal Plan Tuesday

Abby H.

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I’m a day late– Bitty Bird is having super fun 2 year sleep regression and it’s making me loopy. No sleep for her means no sleep for Mommy!

I’m just posting dinners for our meal plan. The kiddos usually have a small toasted bagel with cream cheese for breakfast along with fruit.  Hubs likes Oatmeal (my recipe for an easy almost instant oatmeal mix can be found here) if he’s got time, otherwise he and I have protein shakes with frozen bananas and PB2.

Lunches for Lil’ Man are usually Peanut butter and crackers, fruit, milk, a protein muffin (aka a kid cupcake), and applesauce cup. He takes his lunch every day! Hubs usually has a protein shake or I pack him leftovers or a frozen entree.

Bitty Bird and I usually have leftovers from the night before, or soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. She eats almost anything!

We’re pretty stocked up of food for the next week or so- We’ll need milk, cream cheese, and cheese. I’ll probably hit up Costco tomorrow.

Monday:

  • D: Colonial Chowder (I’ll post the recipe soon) and toast

Tuesday:

  • D:  Chef Salads

Weds:

  • D: Frittata (Thanks to my friend Lizzy for the eggs!)

Thursday:

  • D:  Frozen Entrees with veggies

Friday:

  • D: Date Night! (we go out)

Saturday:

  • D:  Salsa chicken with quinoa and veggies

Sunday:

  • D: Leftover buffet

The menu may change, as  I pull stuff out of the pantry to rotate what we’ve got (I am trying to cut down on waste, and put the older stuff up front to get eaten first).

We’ve got a busy week with ABA Therapy three times, doctor’s appointments, CSA pick up, and my 20th High School Reunion on Saturday!

9/18/17 Meal Plan Monday!

Abby H.

DSC07997

I’m just posting dinners for our meal plan. The kiddos usually have a small toasted bagel with cream cheese for breakfast along with fruit.  Hubs likes Oatmeal (my recipe for an easy almost instant oatmeal mix can be found here) if he’s got time, otherwise he and I have protein shakes with frozen bananas and PB2.

Lunches for Lil’ Man are usually Peanut butter and crackers, fruit, milk, a protein muffin (aka a kid cupcake), and applesauce cup. He takes his lunch every day! Hubs usually has a protein shake or I pack him leftovers or a frozen entree.

Bitty Bird and I usually have leftovers from the night before, or soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. She eats almost anything!

We’re pretty stocked up of food for the next week or so- We’ll need milk, cream cheese, and cheese. I’ll probably hit up Costco tomorrow.

Monday:

  • D: Steak (it was a gift!), roasted broccoli, green salad, cheese toast. The kids don’t like steak, so they’ll probably have grilled cheese sandwiches on cheese toast (Lil’ Man discovered them not long ago and he told me it’s the “fancy” way to make grilled cheese).

Tuesday:

  • D:  Bean, Rice, and cheese bowls (they also have caramelized onions and peppers) This is a fav in our house. It’s healthy and inexpensive.

Weds:

  • D: Home made Red Sauce (made in the crockpot- Recipe will be posted tomorrow!) baked with cheese in Zucchini Boats. Thanks to my friend Lisa for the monster zucchini!

Thursday:

  • D:  Breakfast for dinner (probably frittata)

Friday:

  • D: Date Night! (we go out)

Saturday:

  • D:  Home made Pizza, and fruit salad

Sunday:

  • D: Leftover buffet

The menu may change, as  I pull stuff out of the pantry to rotate what we’ve got (I am trying to cut down on waste, and put the older stuff up front to get eaten first).

We’ve got a busy week with ABA Therapy three times, a Lego Movie event, a Lego event at our local Library, and a trip to Legoland on Saturday (just me and my Lil’ Man!).  I’ve made sure to fill up our snack backpack and wash out our water bottles.

Earn Rewards with Fetch Rewards!

Abby H.7 Comments

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Have you heard of Fetch Rewards? It’s the newest in receipt scanning, cash/reward apps. Most of us already know about all of the other smartphone apps (my list is here) that get you cash back or other rewards (like gift cards).

Fetch Rewards is different. Shop at any store, scan your receipt and earn points that you can redeem for Amazon Gift Cards (or other GC’s, I just love me some Amazon GC’s). You can use coupons, you can even use other apps like Ibotta, Checkout51, or Find&Save to double or triple dip.

Gift card cash outs start at just 3000 points for a $3.00 Amazon gift card!

Here’s how it works…

Purchase your regular groceries.. Seriously! Fetch Rewards is partnered with brands like Pepsi, Quaker, Starbucks, Naked Juice, Axe, Dove, St. Ives, Suave, Jello, Dreamwhip, Kraft, Coors, Miller, Polly-O, Oscar Mayer, Boca, Cool Whip, Weight Watchers Smart Ones, the list goes on! You can see the full list here.

Open the app and scan in your receipt. The app does the rest. It goes through your receipt and picks out the brands you bought and gives you points!

And it gets even better, they have Bonus Point Deals! Score Extra points when your purchase specific items! Here are a just a few available now:

See, it’s actual food from actual brands you have heard from before! And you don’t need to pre-select the deals before you go to the store to shop!

So, if this seems like an app you’d enjoy, check this out: Use my code ND2TB when you sign up and you’ll score 1500 points after you scan in your first receipt with Fetch Rewards. That’s half way to your first $3 Amazon Gift Card (or whatever $3 Gift Card you choose). You can find Fetch Rewards in your app store.

If you use my code, I’ll get 1500 points when you do. Win/Win, right? Honestly, my disclosure statement is here. I’m here to help ya’ll save money, not make a million dollars!

This is a great way to save up giftcards for holiday shopping or to defray other costs (They also have CVS and Target GC’s available).