Recipe
Recipe: Apple Peel Confetti Crisps
Making Apple Peel Confetti Crisps with a variety of different apples
This past fall we went apple picking with the family, even though we have eaten all the apples from that day (we picked a bushel of apples which is approximately 40 pounds) whenever I pick up apples at the store the girls have several favorite recipes that we have tried and enjoy. One of their absolute favorites to eat and take to school is their Apple Peel Confetti Crisps.
It was one of those recipes that pop into my head at the last minute and turn out really well (not all of them turn out so well). As I was peeling some of the apples to make applesauce I noticed we had quite the accumulation of apple skins. I didn’t want all the skins to go to waste so I threw all of them into a big bowl, sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon and sugar on them, stirred and put them into the dehydrator for a few hours. What came out were what the girls named Apple Peel Confetti Crisps, a delightful sweet and crunchy apple peel snack.
- Apple Peels
- Dash of lemon juice
- Dash of Cinnamon & Sugar
Put the apple peels into a bowl. Stir in a little cinnamon and sugar for flavor. Put the apple peels into the dehydrator and cook until crispy. Remove from dehydrator and put into a ziplock bag. If you do not have a dehydrator you can set your oven at 250 and stir occasionally (works great if it is a convection oven).
We stored ours in the refrigerator but they should be fine at room temperature too since they are dried. Several kids in the girls class at school wanted to know if I could pack extra Apple Peel Confetti Crisps in the girls lunches so they could have some too. I was happy to hear the girls did share with their friends. One little boy said it was the best apple skin he had ever tasted and the only thing he would do different is add a little more sugar, ha! Loved that the rest of the first graders enjoyed the goodies as much as my girls.
Start with fresh apples
Peel the apple – Karlie taking a turn at peeling the granny smith apple
Stir a little cinnamon & sugar in with the apple peels
Put the apple peels in the dehydrator and let it run for 4 to 6 hours (or until the peels are crispy like the ones pictured above)
Apple Peel Confetti Crisps ready to eat!
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Dining On A Dime Cookbook by Tawra Kellam and Jill Cooper!
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Enjoy Reading Your New Cookbook & Saving Money!
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Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Lunch box goodies
About once a week I pack a special treat for the girls. This week in their little container I put two Hershey Bliss Milk Chocolate Meltaways and one of each color of M&M’s. The girls love getting these goodies and enjoy sharing with their friends as well. Here’s what they had today:
- Peanut Butter & Homemade Strawberry Jam
- Fresh Red & Green Peppers
- Fresh Strawberries
- Pita Chips or Quaker Granola Bar
- Yogurt
- Banana Muffin
- Juice Bag or Container
- 2 Hershey Bliss Chocolate Meltaways
- 5 M&M’s
Special treats in their lunch today
Fresh fruit & veggies
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
It was a fun week pack full of extra activities but I was able to make some headway on some of the goals I set for myself. I am hoping to make a lot of positive progress forward this week!
Here is the update on last weeks goals:
Family Goals
Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday- Read a book to the girls everyday – I didn’t read a book to the girls the night Jake & I went out for our Date
Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this weekGo on our Date Night with JakeSpend time together as a family
Personal Goals
- Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – in the whirlwind of events this didn’t get done
- Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday – too many late nights
- Finish reading When Work and Family Collide by Andy Stanley – barely had time to pick this one up
Read and listen to the next section of Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).Travel “To Do” List
Home Management Goals
All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one dayWeekly Dinner Menu planned and written by MondaySpend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house- Spend 30 hour a day de-cluttering the house – I picked up and maintained but didn’t de-clutter every day
Business Goals
Pay all bills that come in the mail this weekWork on ideas for upcoming blog postsSpend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk- Finish 2011 Business Taxes – waiting on the accountant
Ministry Goals
Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requestsMeet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4- Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – working on it
- Complete our personal 2011 taxes – waiting on business taxes to be complete
- Put money aside for upcoming trips – some set aside
- Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – part of the way through the first year
Here are my goals for the upcoming week:
Family Goals
- Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
- Read a book to the girls everyday
- Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week
- Connect with each family member at least once a day
Personal Goals
- Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
- Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday
- Finish reading When Work and Family Collide by Andy Stanley
- Read and listen to the next section of Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
Home Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
- Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
- Spend 1 hour a day de-cluttering and organizing the house
Business Goals
- Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
- Finish 2011 Business Taxes
Ministry Goals
- Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
- Email Alms & Legs Ministry Team & Complete Meeting Agenda
Financial Goals
- Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
- Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses
- Complete our personal 2011 taxes
- Put money aside for upcoming trips
- Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
The phrase “it’s a wild….wild….week” (kind of a spin off the phrase it’s a mad mad world) kept going through my head this week. I don’t see life slowing down for the next….well few months at least. Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.
Groceries from Save A Lot | RiteAid
Save A Lot | RiteAid Groceries:
- $11.03 at Save A Lot | RiteAid for 1 gallon Milk, 1 bag Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (on clearance), 2 trays Cube Steak (on clearance), 2 packs Sliced Cheese, and 1 bag fresh Carrots.
Groceries from Ingles
Ingles Groceries:
- $20.20 at Ingles for 2 bags Apples (clearance), 1 bag shredded Mozzarella Cheese (32 oz), 1 bag shredded Mexican Cheese (32 oz), 1 container Butter spread, 1 large container fresh Spinach (clearance), and 1 container fresh Mushrooms (clearance). (All the items were on sale or clearance.)
We were able to stock up on a couple great items this week. It was a busy week so I didn’t get a chance to shop around much, it was a maintenance week for us. I hope fill you in soon on some of the exciting stuff going on in our family! 🙂 Thanks for hanging in there with me while life is spinning around me!
This week I spent $31.23 on groceries. I was under on my budgeted amount for the week, yay! I was happy to find fresh produce and meat on sale that we can use for several meals. I hope that next week is better week, back to normal, and we can come under budget!
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Recipe: Beach Bucket Cake
Beach Bucket Cake (with cake crumbs for the “sand”)
I made this recipe a few months ago for my Community Group and it was a big hit. As we get closer to the Spring / Summer season I wanted to share this one with you. It was easy to put together and has a fun presentation for get togethers with family and friends.
Beach Pail Cake:
- 1 Yellow Cake Mix
- 1 (8 oz) Cool Whip
- 1 (3 oz) Instant White Chocolate Pudding
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 cups Strawberries
- 2 cups Blueberries
- Clean beach pail, shovel and shells
Made the yellow cake mix according to directions. Cool and cut up into cubes (see picture below) and set aside. Mix together the instant White Chocolate Pudding and one cup of milk. Add the container of Cool Whip to the pudding and mix well.
Put 1/3 of the cubed yellow cake in the bottom of your clean beach pail. Next put half of the pudding and cool whip mixture over the cake layer. Add half of the strawberries and blueberries for the next layer. Then repeat saving 1/3 of the cake but using the remaining cool whip and fruit mixtures. Crumble the remaining cake cubes and sprinkle over the top. Add your shovel to serve the desert and favorite seashells for decorations.
1. Yellow cake cubed and put in the bottom of the beach pail
2. Layer cool whip and pudding mixture over cake layer
3. A layer of strawberries and blueberries comes next
4. Second layer cubed yellow cake
5. Second layer cool whip mixture
6. Second layer of strawberries and blueberries
7. Cake crumbs on top to make it look like “sand”
8. Decorate the top with seashells or beach items. Add the beach shovel and enjoy!
There are a lot of great variations to this cake. I used what I had on hand in our pantry but you could do it with a pound cake instead of a yellow cake or substitute vanilla pudding instead of White Chocolate or add in different seasonal fruits!
Save A Lot: Deals for the week of February 22 – 28, 2012
The Save A Lot weekly ad deals are listed below for your convenience. It is a great time to stock up on some Save A Lot deals. Sign up for the Smart Shopper Club, by doing so you will get a $5.00 off of $25.00 coupon!
Meats and Seafood
Family Pack Rib Eye Steaks – $6.99 lbs
Assorted Pork Chops – $1. 79 lbs
Family Pack Cube Pork – $1.89 lbs
Port Side Tilapia (16 oz) – $3.99
Cooked Cocktail Shrimp (40 to 60 oz) – $4.99
Butterball Turkey Bacon (6 oz) – $1.00
Use $0.55/1 coupon insert from 1/15 Smart Source (Expires 2/16/12)
$0.45 each after couponCarolina Ground Turkey (12 oz) – $1.00
Pick 5 for $19.99 promo on going: Pick any 5 specially marked packages of your favorite cuts of fresh, frozen or smoked meats and pay just $19.99 (about $2 per pound).
Fridge and Freezer
Banquet Breaded Chicken, Patties, Tenders, or Nuggets (25 to 26 oz) – $2.99
Hot Pocket Singles, Pepperoni, Ham & Cheese, Breakfast (3 oz) – $0.88
Marie Calendar’s Chicken Pot Pie – $2.29
Oscar Mayer Wieners (16 oz) – $1.00
Oscar Mayer Bolagna (12 oz) – $1.00
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – $1.00
Save A Lot Today Chicken Strips or Meatballs (7 – 8 oz) – $1.00
Banquet Brown ‘n Serve Sausage Links, Maple or Original (6.4 oz) – $1.00
Gwaltney Pork Sausage (12 oz) – $1.00
Budding Deli Cuts, Ham, Turkey, Chicken, and Roast Beef (3 – 4 oz) – $1.00
Hormel Sliced Pepperoni or Hard Salami (3.5 oz) – $1.00
Use $1.00/2 coupon insert from 1/15 Smart Source (Expires 3/15/12)
$0.50 each after couponHinsdale Corn Dogs (3 count) – $1.00
Fisher Boy Fish Sticks (6 oz) – $1.00
Fisher Boy Shrimp Poppers (4 oz) – $1.00
Tortino Pizza Roll, Pepperoni or Cheese (15 count) – $1.00
Tony’s Crispy Crust Pizza, Pepperoni or Supreme (9 – 10 oz) – $1.00
Banquet Dinners (4 – 9 oz) – $1.00
Buyers Best Crinkle Cut French Fries (32 oz) – $1.00
Pillsbury Grand Biscuits (16 oz) – $1.00
Use $0.30/2 coupon insert from 12/4 Smart Source (Expires 2/25/12)
Use $0.30/2 coupon insert from 12/11 Smart Source (Expires 3/3/12)
Use $0.30/2 coupon insert from 1/8 General Mills (Expires 3/31/12)
Use $0.30/2 coupon insert from 2/5 Smart Source (Expires 4/28/12)
Use $0.35/3 coupon insert from 1/8 General Mills (Expires 3/31/12)
As low as $0.85 each after couponSunny D Orange Mango or Orange Strawberry (48 oz) – $1.00
Produce
Roma Tomatoes – $0.99 lb
Seedless Grapes, Red or White – $1.49 lb
Mini Carrots – $1.00
Dole Salad Mix (12 oz) – $1.00
Celery – $1.00
Yellow or Red Peppers – $1.00
Jumbo Navel Oranges or Red Grapefruit – $1.00
Klondike Rose Potatoes – $1.00
Household
Angel Soft Bath Tissue (4 pack) – $0.99
Sparkle Paper Towels – $0.99
Grocery
Crystal Bottled Water (24 pack) – $2.99
Hargis House Chili with Beans (15 oz) – $1.39
Kaskey’s Chicken or Beef Bouillon Cubes (3.25 oz) – $1.89
Marcum Gravy Mixes – $0.57
Mantia’s Wide Egg Noodles (12 oz) – $1.39
Shelby”s Grove Sliced Peaches or Fruit – $0.99
Mantia’s Garlic Toast – $2.29
Save A Lot Today Sandwich Cremes (12 oz) – $1.19
Libby’s Tropical Fruit Salad (15 oz) – $1.29
Sundia Fruit Cup – $1.00
Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta – (14.5 – 15 oz) $1.00
Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper or Chicken Helper – $1.00
Progresso Vegetable Classic Soup (19 oz) – $1.00
Nissan Souper Meals (4.3 oz) – $1.00
Hormet Micro Cups (7.5 oz) – $1.00
Chicken of the Sea Chunk White Tuna (5 oz) – $1.00
Knorr Sides (4 – 7 oz) – $1.00
Use $1.00/3 coupon insert from 1/29 Red Plum (Expires 2/26/12)
Use $0.50/2 coupon insert from 1/29 Red Plum (Expires 2/26/12)
$0.77 each after couponBetty Crocker Flavored Mashed Potatoes (4 – 6 oz) – $1.00
Kraft Mac & Cheese Cups or Boxes (2 – 7 oz) – $1.00
Malt O Meal Cereal (10 – 12 oz) – $1.00
Use $1.00/3 printable coupon from Malt ‘O Meal(coupon no longer available)
$0.77 each after couponKool-Aid Bursts (40 oz) – $1.00
Hawaiian Punch, Assorted Varieties (32 oz) – $1.00
Mrs Freshley’s Buddy Bars, Oatmeal Cream Cookies, Swiss Rolls & Honey Buns – $1.00
Nestle Candy Bars (2 – 3 oz) – $1.00
Wylwood Cut Green Beans or Whole Kernel Corn (28 – 29 oz) – $1.00
Diane’s Garden Tomatoes (28 oz) – $1.00
Red Gold Ketchup (36 oz) – $1.00
Remember you can use the $5/$25 printable coupon to sweeten these deals! Plus you can earn up to 5 additional $5 off $25 coupons for sharing the coupon with your friends.
For more information about Save A Lot’s coupon policies go here. If you find additional deals or savings please let me know and I will add them to the list.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Lunch Box Goodies
School lunch box goodies for the kiddos! Today the girls picked out some delicious items for their lunch. After they went to bed I made them a homemade chicken salad sandwich and put it in a pretty princess bag for them. Here’s what they packed:
- Homemade Chicken Salad Sandwich
- Fresh Banana
- Fresh Cauliflower
- BBQ Chips
- Yogurt
- Shared a Honey-bun
- Juice Bag
Always something fun to eat in the lunch box.
Recipe: Swedish Baked Potatoes
I had the family’s Valentine’s Day Dinner celebration pretty much planned out based off the items that I had in the refrigerator and pantry (steak, baked potatoes, fresh stir fry vegetables, fresh fruit salad, cherry limeade fruit punch from the girls birthday party, poppy seed french bread, and cheesecake). Since I had gotten potatoes on clearance at the grocery store earlier I wanted to do baked potatoes to go with the steak but was hoping to try a different recipe. I adapted this recipe from SeasaltwithFood and it turned out really well! Everyone in our family LOVED these potatoes (including the kids)! The girls even wanted to know if they could take the leftover potatoes to school for their lunches the next day they like them so much. The best part is they were pretty easy to do. They had much more flavor than regular baked potatoes plus we didn’t add any additional butter or toppings because they were so tender and tasty (which means they were probably healthier for us too). This one has become family favorite already!
Swedish Baked Potatoes:
- 4 large Potatoes
- Garlic Seasoning
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the potato on a cutting board and make thin slices down the whole length of the potato (each slice should go almost all the way through the potato). Put potatoes on a baking tray or in a baking dish. Sprinkle Garlic seasoning over each potato. Make sure some garlic seasoning gets down in between a few of the potato slices on each potato for extra flavoring. Spread butter over the tops of each potato with a butter knife. Brush olive oil on over the butter. Sprinkle the sea salt on top of the potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes on convection oven or 40 minutes if baking regularly (bake until potatoes are tender). When done the potatoes will be soft on the inside and the skin will be crispy.
You can put butter, sour cream, bacon pieces, and cracked pepper out as additional toppings for those wanting more flavor.
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
We had a birthday party celebration for the girls and Valentine’s Day this week but in between the fun I was able to make a quick trip to the grocery store. Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.
Groceries from Ingles, Dollar Tree, and Save A Lot | RiteAid
Ingles Groceries:
- $10.16 at Ingles for 2 bags Laura Lynn Bread, 1 container Portabella Mushrooms, 1 container whole fresh Mushrooms, 1 container fresh Strawberries, 1 loaf Poppy Seed French Bread, 1 bag fresh Bananas, 1 bag Romaine Lettuce, and 1 box Jimmy Dean’s Sausage & Biscuts. (All the items were on clearance, marked down or on sale. The produce was marked down on clearance.)
Dollar Tree Groceries:
- $14.00 at Dollar Tree for 2 jars Strawberry Jam, 3 boxes Applesause, 2 boxes Toast’ems, 1 Chocolate Frosting, 1 Vanilla Frosting, 2 containers Sprinkles, 1 can Canola Cooking Spray, 1 jar Vanilla Extract, and 1 bag Marshmallows.
Save A Lot | RiteAid Groceries:
- $7.76 at Save A Lot | RiteAid for 2 gallons Milk and 1 box Dannon Yogurts (yogurt was on sale).
We were able to stock up on some great items this week. Although we had the girls birthday party celebration and Valentine’s Day we were able to keep it within reason! 🙂
This week I spent $31.92 on groceries. I was over on my budgeted amount for the week because of the busy week with traveling, appointments, and upcoming celebrations so thankfully I have a little extra to cover the groceries this week. I was happy to find fresh eggs and great produce on sale that we can use for several meals. I hope that next week is better week, back to normal, and we can come under budget!
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
