• Recipe: Fresh Blueberry Muffins

    Fresh Blueberries

    A couple weeks ago the girls and I went over to a friends house to pick blueberries.  I was really impressed with how dedicated the girls were to picking the blueberries with me.  They had a blast picking the blueberries, washing them and of course helping us eat them.  The kids loved eating the fresh blueberries and helped me make homemade blueberry muffins, blueberry smoothies, and more goodies with the fresh blueberries.

    When we picked the blueberries we used a beach bucket to store them in while we are picking because it had a handle.  When we got home we rinsed the blueberries, and laid them out on racks to dry out (see picture below) before bagging and putting them in the freezer.

    Fresh blueberries drying out after being rinsed

    You don’t want to store fresh blueberries in an tight container all today, especially if you are leaving it on the kitchen counter for awhile because they will go bad.  The blueberries, much like some people, need a little bit a space between them and the next one to breath.

    Homemade Blueberries Muffins (made with the fresh blueberries we picked together)

    I am so thankful for a sweet friend who let us come over and pick blueberries.  The blueberries have been a huge hit in our house and it was great having a chance to pick and catch up at the same time.  Blueberries are very healthy for you and this is the time of year to get stock up on some either picking them yourselves or getting them on sale at the store.

    Fresh Blueberry Muffin Recipe:

    • 1 cup fresh Milk
    • 1/2 cup Oil
    • 1 Egg
    • 2 cups Flour
    • 2/3 cup Sugar
    • 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 1 cup Fresh Blueberries

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a 12 muffin cup pan.  Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together and create a well in the center.  Put milk, oil and egg in bowl and blend well.  Add the moist items to the flour mixture and stir until moistened.  Fold in the fresh blueberries and spoon into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from oven butter the tops of the muffins and sprinkle with sugar in the raw crystals.

     

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    It was a wild week, our family has a lot of fun adventures coming up so I am trying to stop on top of everything.  Hopefully I will be able to share a little bit more about our upcoming plans before long.  I was not able to get to the grocery store until late on Friday but thankfully was able to pick up almost everything I needed this week even if I did got a little over budget.   Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Save A Lot | Rite Aid, Walmart, Ingles, and Walgreens

    Save A Lot | Rite Aid Groceries:

    • $7.90 at Save A Lot | Rite Aid for 2 boxes Blue Bonnet sticks of butter, 2 boxes Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, 1 container Butter Spread (3 lb), and 1 bag Carrots (2 lbs).  (All the items were on sale or clearance.)

    Walmart Groceries:

    • $0.00 at Walmart for 1 bag Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls (on clearance), 1 bag Everything French Bread (on clearance), 1 bag Chocolate Chips, 1 box Popcorn (8 count), 2 liter Mountain Dew (price matched), and 1 box Idaho Potatoes (free product coupon).  (Bought items on sale or clearance and paid with a gift card so the total was zero.)

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $42.84 at Ingles for 1 jar Peter Pan Natural Peanut Butter, 1 can Tuna Fish, 1 Starkist Tuna Fish, 2 boxes Pop Secret Popcorn, 2 loaves Laura Lynn Bread, 4 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 2 blocks Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 2 Laura Lynn sliced Cheese (16 count each), 2 boxes Breakfast Biscuits / Pancakes (on clearance, 10 count each), 6 containers Fresh Blueberries (on clearance), 3 bags Snow Peas (on clearance), 1 container Cherry Chocolate Covered Pretzels (on clearance), 1 container Roasted Soybeans (on clearance), 2 bottles Bare Naked Fruit Drinks (on clearance), 2 Laura Lynn English Muffins (6 count each) and 2 sweet Yellow Onions.  Not pictured 3 bags of chips we purchased to take over to a friends house.   (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance.  All the produce was marked down to $0.99 cents, I was able to pick up some more cheese on sale, and used some coupons for the items purchased!)

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $0.65 at Walgreens for 2 dozen Eggs, 1 S6 Power Bar, 1bag Domino Sugar (4 lbs), and 1 two liter A&W Root Beer (everything was on sale, I used $9.59 in coupons, and I received $1.89 in Register Rewards back to use towards my next purchase.)

    This week I spent $51.39 on groceries.  Even though I was over on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on some items at the same time plus I had a little extra to spend since I had come under budget in previous weeks.  I was thrilled to stock up on produce (blueberries) and diary items as well as other great fridge & pantry items this week.  I hope that next week is better week 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.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    Another week with a busy school schedule, including a “Back to School” Night.   Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles, Walmart, and Dollar Tree
    Ingles Groceries:
    • $16.00 at Ingles for 5 containers of fresh Strawberries, 1 container fresh Blueberries, 1 tray White & Sweet Potatoes, 5 bags Bing Cherries, 2 containers Half & Half Cream, 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread, 4 bottles Pink Lemonade,  (all the items were marked down on clearance or on sale)

    Walmart Groceries:

    • $15.40 at Walmart for Baking Soda, 2 cans Peaches, 1 bag Sugar, 1 bag English Muffins, 1 block Cheese, 1 jar Salsa, 2 boxes Vanilla Pudding and 6 packs Taco Seasoning.

    Dollar Tree Groceries:

    • $3.00 at Dollar Tree for 2 bags Whole Wheat Bread and 1 box Toaster Pastries.

    This week I spent $34.40 on groceries.  Even though I was only a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.     Thankful for the reduced cost of Whole Wheat Bread at Dollar Tree with all the lunches I have been making for school and work.  I hope that next week is an even better week and we can come under budget for the week.

    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.

  • Fresh & Healthy: Deep Freezer Goodies – Purple Grapes, Blueberries, Bananas, Green Grapes, & Strawberries

    Freezing Seasonal Fruit - Blueberries, Bananas, Strawberries, Purple & Green Grapes

    This summer we were able to stock up on some fresh produce, including fruit.  Thanks to friends sharing their goodies, time picking produce as a family, and clearance items at our local grocery store we have been able to fill up a section of our freezer with delicious fruit.  The girls have been enjoying Smoothies the last couple of months and were super excited to stock up on some of these great items.  They are already planning on having smoothies after school because they will not be able to share them with me over lunch.

    Here is a great Smoothie Recipe:

    There are many variations to smoothies, may be sharing a couple more favorites over the next few weeks.  Add a handful of fruit you have on hand, a little cream (milk or yogurt), blend,  and you have a smoothie.  If you want a little extra sweetness you can add a touch of honey.  Usually after adding the fruit that is plenty sweet for us but we have tried a variety of different ones.

    Another great use for strawberries is as a healthy sauce!  When we have pancakes or waffles we blend up a cup or two of fresh strawberries to use as a dipping sauce in place of the traditional syrup.  It is healthier and fresher plus the whole family enjoys it.

  • Recipes: Fresh Blueberry Goodies

    A friend let me come over and pick fresh blueberries last week.  Our family has been enjoying delicious blueberry goodies all week. It was great having a chance to catch up with a friend and pick blueberries.  I am thankful for the many amazing people in our lives.  Thanks Dee for your hospitality and the blueberries!

    Strawberry Blueberry Smoothie

    The Strawberry Blueberry Smoothies have been a huge hit with our family and the girls ask to have one every day for lunch now.  Here’s what we put in our smoothie (we have done several other variations throughout the week):

    • 1 cup Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
    • 1/2 cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
    • 1 Banana
    • 1/2 cup Strawberry Yogurt (any flavor will work, we used Strawberry Cheesecake a couple times too)
    • 1/2 cup Skim Milk

    Blend everything in a blender until smooth and poor into cups.  I poured this amount into three small cups, if you need more double the recipe.

    Homemade Ice Cream Topped with Freshly Picked Blueberries

    We had Homemade Ice Cream and as a special treat we topped it with fresh blueberries.  Next time I might put the blueberries in the ice cream from the beginning, I am sure Homemade Blueberry Ice Cream would taste delicious.  The fresh blueberries were a perfect topping.

    Blueberry Banana Pancakes

    Our family ate Blueberry Banana Pancakes for dinner this week.  I  added fresh blueberries to the recipe and more on top.  It turned out very tasty.  The girls loved the Blueberry Banana Pancakes and had three each.

    Fresh Blueberries on my cereal

    The girls and I were eating Blueberry Pomegranate cereal for breakfast and added fresh blueberries as a special treat.  Brina and Karlie thought it was the best cereal they had eaten.  Our entire family has been enjoying the fresh blueberries.

    Another great blueberry recipe is Blueberry Cobbler.  You can make Blueberry Cobbler using this recipe.  We have had blueberries on our yogurts and as a snacks.  What is your favorite ways to fresh blueberries?