Coupons. . . what a pain. . . .c

A few weeks go, Chris and I had a talk about our grocery and household items budget. We are really trying to cut back and save more each month. He would be content eating hot dogs and pb&j sandwhiches every night for dinner, while I would love a 4-course meal every night. We compromise and I usually cook one or two things that are more substantial and then we fill in with veggie quesadillas or sandwhiches. After our talk and our new resolve to save money, I took some advice from a few friends (I posted a question on FB and got lots of feedback!) and started checking out coupon blogs/sites. HOLY COW, what a can of worms that is!! I got really excited, learning I could get laundry detergent for dirt (ha ha) cheap, toothpaste for pennies, and any other toiletry product for almost free if I paid attention.

I hit the ground running, clipped my coupons from the Sunday paper, found ones from online sites, scowerd the adds both in print and on line, read every blog about couponing to make sure I found everything, got in the car with the boys, and lasted about 10 minutes in CVS. I hit a wall. Everything I was going to get for 'free' was out of stock, Kade was screaming, Zander pooped his pants and was yelling at me because he had to sit in the back of the basket, and because I forgot to bring fruit snacks, and it was just too much. This is the second week something VERY similar happened when I went 'shopping' last week. I just don't think this is going to work until my kids are a little older, like, in school. I ended up getting so frustrated at them and the annoying checker, that I ended up being in a bad mood the rest of the day, especially to my precious boys. That is just not worth it to me! They are the priority, not great deals!

 I was talking to my friend, Angie, about it, and she felt the same way. She has 4 kids, only 1 is in elementary school, and although her second is in pre-school, it just adds to the errands she already has to run. Did I mention her husband just got called to be Bishop at Church?!?! So, yeah, she is busy.

I am going to give this one more week. Maybe I can escape one evening while Chris is home and go out looking for deals. Alone. Maybe if I can focus, think, and plan better it will go smoother. Any thoughts?

White Chip Bars

***I started this post last week, but never finished it!! ***
I seriously think I have a problem. I am OBSESSED with making desserts. Like, I have to make something every week!! And I can't just use the good old stand by's. I have to try something new. The Missionaries are coming over for dinner tonight and although I have some cherry dump cake from FHE left over, I had to make something else. Mainly because there wasn't much left.

I scored and bought cookie dough for really cheap the other day ($1 for a tube of sugar cookie.Sweet deal, huh!) and searched the Pillsbury site for something yummy to do with it. This is what I found. The pan is siting in front of me, with one piece alredy missing. That's the beauty of making up bars like this- I can cut them up and arrange on a plate and nobody (ie Chris) will ever know just how much I have scarffed down!!

Here is the recipe-
1 16oz (or around there) pkg sugar cookie dough
1 can sweetend condensed milk
1 1/2 cup coconut
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds

*preheat oven to 350.
*In a greased 9x13 pan press the cookie dough down, making sure there are no holes, and try to make it even. Press the chips down firmly, into the dough.
*Sprinkle the coconut and almonds, then pour the sweetend condensed milk over all.
*Bake for 30 minutes, or until the middle is a little brown. I have a fear of buring or even over cooking things, so I took mine out a bit too soon, like before the middle was starting to brown.
*You can take an additional 1/3 c white chips, melt them, then drizzle on top after they cool a bit for a nice look.
*These are a 'white' version of magic cookie bars, so if you like those you should love these!!
 Here is the link to the official recipe, which you might want to use for reference.!!
I often buy the dry packaged cookie dough when its on sale. I am sure if you add the ingredients listed on the back, you could use that too. Or any cookie dough recipe you like! Enjoy!!

Three Whole Columns!

Hello friends! With a little bit of work, I changed things up a bit on the blog, as you can tell.
*I graduated to a three column layout, mainly so I can see everything I want too without scrolling all over the place. Organization is something I am really striving for in every aspect of my life, so I started with the blog, figuring it would be pretty easy.
*I have caught a coupon-clipping bugg and have added a few links to some great sights.
*New recipes are always fun to find, so I added some links to my favorites.

What fun, this blogging is!

Natalie