Whether you forgot to throw dinner in the crockpot, have a power outage, or other problem that is preventing you from making dinner, this recipe ALWAYS comes to the rescue. I think this is our family's favorite soup. I made this as a starter at Thanksgiving dinner when my parents were visiting. Albeit not traditional for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone in the family kept telling them how wonderful this soup is, and my mother refused to believe it. But it IS good....so good! It is so easy it can be doubled easily or adjusted to your own taste. I have put this on noodles and used it as a dip. It is quite unique. It is all from a can, so you can have it on hand at all times. I always use a crock pot, but if you are in a rush, it can be heated up on the stove also. It can even be heated up over a few candles if need be. It is perfect for kids and non-cooks alike.
Anyway, here are the ingredients:
1 can of shredded chicken
1 can of Rotel
1 LARGE can of cream of mushroom soup (or 2 normal size)
1 can of enchilada sauce
That's it! Just heat and serve.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Monday, February 13, 2012
Book review: Suddenly Frugal By Leah Ingram
I try not to put exceptionally long posts in reviews, and this is an UNPAID review of this book. The reason I am including a post about it is because it is a recent book, it doesn't have a lot of "new" ideas so to speak, but it is an excellent book to get started on saving. This is a great book for a displaced worker or a sudden drop in income. This one includes a lot of old ideas with new solutions. The fact that it was written so recently makes it much more useful than other books.
This is not the tightwad gazette (which I coincidentally GENUINELY recommend. This book really requires someone with a LOT of time on their hands, but is 900 lbs. of awesome information!), but includes a lot of great information.
This is not the tightwad gazette (which I coincidentally GENUINELY recommend. This book really requires someone with a LOT of time on their hands, but is 900 lbs. of awesome information!), but includes a lot of great information.
Monday, February 6, 2012
money saving money ? Do coupons REALLY save you money?
Coupons can be considered a form of currency. After all, if you consider you are trying to buy a bag of chips that is $2, if you give the cashier a coupon, you now owe $1.50 (the same as if you just gave a cashier 2 quarters).
I remember going to the store (in my extreme couponing days) about 5 months ago with about 10 coupons. I had matched the coupons with the sale items, and was ready to save a ton of money! I walked out of the store with nothing I went in for...
Why?
Well, I went into the store, and when I realized I could buy the store brand for cheaper than the SALE AND COUPON TOGETHER I was awfully disappointed. This happens at least 75% of the time. If you do the math, one of the things I was looking for was DiGiorno Pizzas. They were "regularly" $6.99, on sale for $4.99 with a 75c coupon. So for $4.24 I could buy a Digiorno pizza, $3.79 the generic (though tastfully identical), or I could make the pizza for under $2 (and tastes MUCH better!).
This was just one example. I tried this not once, but 3 TIMES!!!!! I saved more buying store brands, which with a few exceptions are tastefully indifferent.
The question you need to ask yourself is twofold:
1. What is the minimum wage you would accept to be at home for the time you are cooking (taking care of the kids, etc.).
2. What is MORE IMPORTANT? what you save or what you spend?
Think about it.
Look at it THIS way...
For Big Family, lets start with an even $100 worth of food
Regular retail: $100.
Regular sales: $80
With Coupons, extreme couponing, several hours per week: $60
Home made, from least expensive stores: $35-50
The simple fact is, if you adapt yourselves to a more "simple" lifestyle, learn to cook and "shop the outer edge" of the supermarket, then you save money. Not to mention, time from clipping coupons.
We are going into a month of TRUE FOOD FRUGALITY.
I remember going to the store (in my extreme couponing days) about 5 months ago with about 10 coupons. I had matched the coupons with the sale items, and was ready to save a ton of money! I walked out of the store with nothing I went in for...
Why?
Well, I went into the store, and when I realized I could buy the store brand for cheaper than the SALE AND COUPON TOGETHER I was awfully disappointed. This happens at least 75% of the time. If you do the math, one of the things I was looking for was DiGiorno Pizzas. They were "regularly" $6.99, on sale for $4.99 with a 75c coupon. So for $4.24 I could buy a Digiorno pizza, $3.79 the generic (though tastfully identical), or I could make the pizza for under $2 (and tastes MUCH better!).
This was just one example. I tried this not once, but 3 TIMES!!!!! I saved more buying store brands, which with a few exceptions are tastefully indifferent.
The question you need to ask yourself is twofold:
1. What is the minimum wage you would accept to be at home for the time you are cooking (taking care of the kids, etc.).
2. What is MORE IMPORTANT? what you save or what you spend?
Think about it.
Look at it THIS way...
For Big Family, lets start with an even $100 worth of food
Regular retail: $100.
Regular sales: $80
With Coupons, extreme couponing, several hours per week: $60
Home made, from least expensive stores: $35-50
The simple fact is, if you adapt yourselves to a more "simple" lifestyle, learn to cook and "shop the outer edge" of the supermarket, then you save money. Not to mention, time from clipping coupons.
We are going into a month of TRUE FOOD FRUGALITY.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
DO VEGETABLE GARDENS REALLY SAVE MONEY?
NO! OK, maybe.... in the long run. But not enough. When people visualize a beautiful garden full of vegetables, they don't imagine pulling off hundreds of caterpillars, bugs, fungus, etc. every day to be able to even get one decent tomato.
I would have to say, I spent $300 on my garden, and got about $50 worth of produce. NOT a good deal.
I took a HUGE loss, especially considering the time I put into it. SO.... I decided to give people other options to reap the same benefits with better guarantees, and this comes with a CSA. We have a CSA that for $550 per year, you get 1 share. I WANT my family to eat healthier food so desperately that I decided to check into it.
Now, I have NO IDEA how much you get for that $550, but I looked under employment, and they were looking for people to help out 5 hours a week. These people who work 5 hours per week for 20 weeks, receive a full share ($550 value) of the CSA. So, for 100 hours of work, this is about $5.50 per hour. This is NOT a bad wage considering I can work it around my oldest child being home, and no "Taxes" on my share. Taking a $50 daycare day into consideration, and 18% of that, my share WOULD cost me nearly 2k. Since Big C can watch them for the 5 hours I am gone, it equates to free food. Not only that, it is an EXCELLENT learning experience and will better my abilities to growing my own food. So... fingers crossed, I hope I get the "position"
I would have to say, I spent $300 on my garden, and got about $50 worth of produce. NOT a good deal.
I took a HUGE loss, especially considering the time I put into it. SO.... I decided to give people other options to reap the same benefits with better guarantees, and this comes with a CSA. We have a CSA that for $550 per year, you get 1 share. I WANT my family to eat healthier food so desperately that I decided to check into it.
Now, I have NO IDEA how much you get for that $550, but I looked under employment, and they were looking for people to help out 5 hours a week. These people who work 5 hours per week for 20 weeks, receive a full share ($550 value) of the CSA. So, for 100 hours of work, this is about $5.50 per hour. This is NOT a bad wage considering I can work it around my oldest child being home, and no "Taxes" on my share. Taking a $50 daycare day into consideration, and 18% of that, my share WOULD cost me nearly 2k. Since Big C can watch them for the 5 hours I am gone, it equates to free food. Not only that, it is an EXCELLENT learning experience and will better my abilities to growing my own food. So... fingers crossed, I hope I get the "position"
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