Mid week Inspirational Quote

But they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 KVJ

Saving Money tip #1

 Going to a discount grocery store

My husband and I have decided we wanted to try to be debt free, besides our mortgage, within one year. But to do that we have had to take a big look at our spending habits and make cuts. One of the cuts that we decided to make, was to try to trim down our grocery bill, from about $110 to $50 a week. All of my friends are fascinated with how my family of 3 spends less than $50 a week at the grocery store. We are not one of those families that if we go over the $50 we start putting things back at the register, we will just try to make up the difference somewhere else in our budget for the week.

We also had to learn, that going to discount  stores can save us more money, rather than going to the bigger  name brand chains. The discount stores offer the same type of foods with just a different off brand name on them and sometimes I find the big brand names there also. Going to the big brand  name chain stores you are having to pay for the shelf stocking,  credit card fees, coupon discounts, cart clean up and the grocery bags that are being used. All of this is added into the cost of your groceries. I am not a brand snob. I will buy the store brand first and if we don’t like it I just won’t buy it again. I have yet to find a off brand that my family does not like.

One thing that I have discovered by not going to the  big brand name stores is that I am not persuaded to buy anything other than what is on my list. There is usually not  seasonal decorations, shoes, clothes, cleaning products that I want to try, toys my child is crying for, clearance items and etc…in a discount grocery store.  I know we all can relate to this. We only go in for a few items and walk out spending a fortune on other items we did not even intend on buying.  I only go to a big name chain store when I can not get the item at the discount store and I try to avoid going to these stores weekly. I try to only go into these stores when I have to and that is usually about once a month.

When I first started going to a grocery discount store I was skeptical that my family would not like it. My husband was kind of put back that you had to pay 25 cents to rent the cart, we had to supply our own bags or place the items in box’s and all the items were just stacked in open box’s. The first time we went I had went thru the sales ads that day and wrote down the prices of the big chain stores on the items I knew I wanted and I compared them with the items we were placing in the cart. I found out that the price was a big difference. Once my husband saw the price at the check out lane, he was totally won over. He did not even say a word when we had to bag the groceries up after checking out.

If you never have checked out a discount grocery store. I would highly recommend it. I have been going to  a discount store  for over 3 months now and I truly like going there. I disliked going to the grocery store, I disliked the crowds and especially what my bill was going to be at the end of the trip. I could never get out of the grocery store under thirty minutes either, it always took me over an hour to get out. The discount store that I go to  offers a double the money back guarantee and replacement of the food item if your not satisfied with their product. You can not go wrong with that.





Sassy Chicken Burritos

Recipe Monday

Today's recipe was a big hit with my family, especially for my four year old. It took me less than 5 minutes to prep. You can not beat that!!!

Sassy Chicken Burritos

Ingredients
1 pack of  boneless chicken breasts
1 packet of taco seasoning (Mild)
1 jar of salsa
1 packet of soft shell burrito wraps
shredded cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)


In the Crock Pot, place chicken, salsa, and taco seasoning together. Make sure the chicken is totally covered with salsa and seasoning. Make sure the seasoning is stirred into the salsa very good.Place the cover on the Crock Pot and let the chicken cook on slow for 6 to 7 hours. When the chicken falls apart the chicken is done. Now all you will have to do is shred the chicken very well. Next follow the directions on the soft shell burrito wraps for warming. Then fill with chicken and top with cheese and sour cream.



I have linked this to the following blog hops
Lori Ann's food & fam

Inspirational Wednesday

 Today's Inspriational quote comes from Romans

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 kvj




Today I linked up to the naptime review Like me on Facebook hop.

Pumpkin Patch

Today I was blessed to be able to attend my daughters preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch at Gallrein Farms in Shelbyville, KY. Yes... If you did not know that I am a Kentucky Girl, now you know, I was raised in a small town and then moved to the derby city for college and I have never left. Okay enough about my background, let's get back to the field trip. This farm had a petting zoo, tractor hayrides, hay play area and best of all a pumpkin patch. Somethings like the barrel train, corn maze and face painting was not working due it being the middle of the week. My daughter and I had a blast today. I took some pictures that I wanted to share with you.

Since I love signs and all that stuff to decorate. I was drawn to the signs for sale and I had to take pics of them to share with you all. 

This sign is so cute.

This was in the bathroom right above the sink. Isn't it cute?

This was just one of their decorations.

Here is another decoration. He looks kinda of scary?

Here is some more signs that was for sale. I love the spooky sign.

This was the neatest thing I saw the entire trip. This is awesome!
 I will have to say who ever created the man in the squash should win a prize. Where does people come up with stuff like this? That was awesome. This scared my four year old.

 The petting zoo hand pigs, lama's and goats. I am not a petting zoo kinda person. Ooooo gross. But my daughter loved it.




 After the petting zoo we loaded up on the hay wagons and went out to the pumpkin patch.
Not the best picture of the pumpkin patch. You can tell there were tons of pumpkins.

Here is my daughter and I . The pretty round pumpkin is the one I picked and the small one my daughter is holding is the one she picked out.  


Now on Twitter

The Nifty Thrifty Family has finally started tweeting. I am so excited about this because twitter is new to me. So come follow the Nifty Thrifty Family at https://twitter.com/NiftyFamily
I guess that's how you say it. O well if its not that link will get you there... LOL 

Ranchy "Crack"ers

Recipe Monday
Ranchy "Crack"ers

We had a food day at work the other day to celebrate bosses day and one of my co-workers brought in the best crackers in the world. I call these crackers "Crack Crackers" because you can not just eat a hand full, you will be back for more. So my wonderful co-worker gave me the recipe. This is exactly how she makes it. I just copied and pasted the recipe from her email. These crackers would be a great addition to any Halloween or Holiday party.




1 (1 oz) package ranch dressing mix
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 t dried dill weed (or to your taste)
1/2 t garlic powder (or to your taste)  I literally used 2 “shakes”
Salt to taste 1 box or bag oyster crackers

Preheat oven to 250°.

In a large mixing bowl, combine first 5 ingredients and mix well. Stir in oyster crackers mix to coat. Pour crackers onto a large cookie sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Cool and add to a covered container.




Eighties style turned Princess style

Eighties style turned Princess style

Remember those old 80's style night stands that were white and gold and in every little girls room? I picked one up at the Goodwill 10 yrs ago and I stained it a dark walnut, with a tan top.



This looked good with my bedroom suite. Not bad for my first refinishing project. I have another one that I redone at the same time in my guest room. So it was not that hard to redo it. 
When we moved my daughter felt like she needed one of these nightstands in her room and with her being so spoiled, like all children are....I placed one in her room.
The more I looked at my daughters new room the more I felt like it needed more pink. The walls were painted baby blue when we moved in and she wanted to keep the color blue. She is in a blue phase.
So I grabbed the pink paint and my pineapple soda paint and I thought I would surprise her with a new nightstand. 
I sanded and painted and painted and painted. I did not sand all of the dark off. I just basically roughed the stain up and just painted over it.




The yellow paint was not my friend in this project. It took 3 coats to cover that dark stain. 
Okay, I need to tell you the story about the color pink that was used. It was the paint that we used in my daughters room at our old house. We had painted her room several months before we moved.  I was sad to see that cute room go. So my wonderful husband packed the left over paint for me. Isn't he so sweet?

So here is the night stand. I am glad I used the old paint. It brought a little bit of our old house with us.


I love it. I can't wait to get the other nightstand out and paint it a different style for my guest bedroom. I bought the hardware at Lowe's, I was kinda iffy about it but when I placed them on it, I think it made it pop.

I have linked this to the following blogs:

 

Inspirational Wednesday

Inspirational Wednesday

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me" Philippians 4:13 KVJ

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. This verse reminds me that if I place my trust in Christ and lean on him he will give me strength. Somedays I need to remind myself and my family of this verse.
Who knowsI might have actually found the verse I have been looking for my kitchen wall.

Everyone have a Blessed Wednesday

Chicken and Rice Radcliff Style

Recipe Monday

Chicken and Rice Radcliff Style

I am always look for easy fast inexpensive meals for my family. I found a recipe for chicken and rice on Pinterest the other day. I thought I would make that recipe this past weekend. Well as I was making it I started adding other ingredients so it kinda took it own name and style. We are going to call it Chicken and Rice Radcliff Style. It is very simple and boy is good. Did I mention that I you can make it for usually under $8.00. 

Ingredients:
3 to 4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 can Creamy Chicken Soup
1 can Creamy Chicken and Mushroom soup
1 yellow onion
1 can Corn
White Rice
Dirty Rice

Place the Chicken in the Crock Pot with the Creamy Chicken Soup, Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup and the yellow onion that is chopped. Let that cook for 6- 8 hours until the chicken is done is easy to shred.

I just love my Pampered Chef chopper.
Here is what the crock pot should like.

After the 6 - 8 hours on low and the chicken is ready to shred. Cook the dirty rice and the white rice per the directions on the box. I would only make the amount you think will be enough for your family. If all of your family will eat the dirty rice then you don't have to make the white rice. My family is torn between the two rices. 
Don't forget to make the corn per the directions on the can. 

You have the option to place all the ingredients into one dish or you can do what my family likes and place it separate. Either way it will taste awesome. 



 Paper plates are the best invention. 

I love to hear from my readers, please leave comments.

I have linked this to the following blogs:

 http://debbie-debbiedoos.com/newbie-with-a-twist-party.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:

 






Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Say Goodbye to Buying Dishwasher Detergent


I have always struggles on getting my dishes sparkling clean thru the dishwasher. Either my glasses had a film residue or my plastics looked white. I can't say how many times my husband has complained about dirty silverware. There is just some detergents on the market that makes my dishes look embarrassing to eat or drink from. I have never had any store bought detergent that made my glasses sparkle. 
It never really dawned on me the reason why any of the store bought detergents were not working. Then one day it hit me. Where I live we have hard water. Most dishwasher detergents are not designed for hard water. So I searched and searched on the internet and I came across how to make homemade dishwasher detergent. I thought I would try it before I spent another dime on a store bought detergent and boy am I happy I did. My glasses now sparkle, the plastics look clean and my silverware is clean. All for just pennies a load. Here's how I made my homemade dishwasher detergent:

2 cups Borax
2 cups Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
2/3 cup Citric Acid
White Vinegar

Mix the Borax, Washing Detergent, and Citric Acid together in a bowl and cover



 I would leave the bowl on the counter for several days and stir the mixture one time a day. The mixture will harden if not stirred.
After that you can place your new cleaner in a cute container and you should not have to stir it anymore.

In the dishwasher rinse agent place the white vinegar.
Place 2 tablespoons of dishwasher detergent in the detergent compartment and 1 tablespoon in the prewash.  That's it. All you have to do now is wait for the dishwasher to do its job.

Since I am so proud on how this cleaner works, I wanted to show you the before and after pictures of my dishes. Yes I am about to show you how dirty my dishes can be after chicken taco soup night.

Before Washing


 
After Washing


Please note that you might need to fine tune the recipe to work with your water. I also found the Citric Acid at Wal-Mart in the canning section or you can order it off of Amazon. Mine was made by Ball. 

Always remember that I love to hear from my readers. If you have anything to add please feel free to comment. I will try my best to answer your questions. 

I have linked this to the following blogs parties:

 






Life on Lakeshore Drive