Chocolate + Peppermint = Cookie Heaven!

Anyone remember the bag of peppermint baking chips I picked up awhile back for $0.29? They've been sitting in my cupboard just waiting for the right recipe to come along. Last week, I saw this recipe and saw my opportunity to put them to good use.

I replaced the 1 2/3 cups of mint chocolate chips called for in the recipe with a little over 1 cup of these peppermint chips and 2/3 cup mini-chocolate chips.

They were delicious! In fact, they taste a lot like Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. I'd like to say they are better for you too, but that would be a blatant lie. Did I mention they were really good though?

Frugal Finds - Groceries

Since summer started, I've gotten more lax about stocking my pantry. This week, I noticed that things are looking a little bare in the pantry so I picked up duplicates of a few things. Here are my good grocery store deals for the week.

First, up was Hy-Vee:

Bananas - $0.39/lb
Pineapple - $2.77 used $50 off coupon FINAL COST: $2.27
4 Bags Shredded Cheese - $0.99 ea.
3 Cereal - $1.99 ea., used $1/3 coupon FINAL COST: $1.66 ea.


Next was Dillon's where they are having the Daytona 500 event, meaning that if you buy 10 participating items, you get $3 off. I haven't been getting the Sunday paper lately so I didn't have coupons for some of the items. For those of you who do, you'll be able to get some of these even cheaper!

Daytona 500 items (I'm showing the price after the $3 off those 10 items):
3 Cereal - $2.36 ea., used 3 $0.55 coupons doubled to $1 here FINAL COST: $1.36 ea.
3 Kraft BBQ sauce - $0.69 ea.
2 Manwich - $0.70 ea.
1 Ragu Alfredo Sauce - $1.36
1 Hotdogs - $1.49

Other items:
Chex Mix - $2.19 $0.50 cellfire coupon here and $0.50 coupon doubled FINAL COST: $0.69
Yogurt 4-pk - $2.56 used $1 cellfire coupon here and $0.50 coupon FINAL COST: $0.56

FREE Paint

Here's a great giveaway - the Glidden National Paint Giveaway! Go here, choose a color, and you could get a FREE quart of paint. And while you wait for your free paint, you can start planning those endless summer paint projects.

Experimenting with New Tastes

For the first time, we are participating in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this year. For those unfamiliar with CSAs, it is basically a farming cooperative. Traditionally, participants pay for a share of the harvest at the beginning of the growing season, thus sharing both the risks and benefits of the growing season. Ours is a bit different in that the risks are pretty much eliminated. Instead of paying for the share up front, we pay a deposit and then a weekly amount (paid at the beginning of the following month). Our cost is $16/week.

One thing I like about participating is that it forces us out of our routine and into trying new foods. Instead of a steady rotation of a few vegetables that we love, we’re suddenly incorporating a variety of produce, some of which we’re tasting for the first time. The challenge, however, is adapting my menu to accommodate foods I have no idea how to prepare. Or what to pair them with. But I’m working on it.

Last week was our first week participating. As we learned, we’ll receive 6-8 produce items each week. Many of these are presented as a choice. For example, we could pick rhubarb or strawberries, asparagus or radishes. That first visit, I let my son do all the choosing. His strategy seemed to be, if it looks weird and I can’t recognize it, choose that. It’ll be fun watching mom try to figure out what to do with it. This week, I did the choosing. Variety is good, but too much is overwhelming!

This week’s CSA haul, much if which you’ll see incorporated into my dinner menu, included red potatoes, salad greens, lettuce, bok choy, sugar snap peas, radishes, and garlic chives.

Menu - June 8th

Here's my Monday menu plan on Tuesday!

Monday
Hamburgers
Tator Tots

Tuesday
Grilled Chicken Breasts
Rice
Bok Choy Braised with Garlic

Wednesday
We're packing a picnic so we can enjoy Wednesday night's city band concert in the park.
Tuna Cups (popovers filled with tuna salad)
Bowtie Pasta Salad (bowtie pasta tossed with Italian dressing, diced red onion and red bell pepper, grated carrot and parmesan cheese)
Sugar Snap Peas, Baby Carrots, and Radishes with French Onion Dip
Watermelon Slices

Thursday
Kids' activities make this a dinner on the go night.
Sandwiches
Apple Slices

Friday
Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
Salad Greens tossed with Italian Dressing and Toasted Almonds

Saturday
Out of town for a wedding.

Sunday
Marinated Steak
Roasted Red Potatoes with Garlic and fresh-from-my-garden Thyme
Corn on the Cob

For even more menu ideas, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Frugal Finds

First, for the usual good deals. This week, I found several good deals at Dillon's as well as a couple more at both Hy-Vee and Target. Here's what I got:


Dillon's
4 Knorr Pasta Sides - sale $0.87 each, used two $0.75/2 Cellfire coupons here FINAL COST: $0.50 ea.
Betty Crocker frosting - $1.59, used $0.50 coupon here (doubled to $1) and $0.50 Cellfire coupon here FINAL COST: $0.09
Betty Crocker Warm Delights - $1.99, used $0.50 coupon here (doubled to $1) and $0.50 Cellfire coupon here FINAL COST: $0.49
6 Yoplait Yogurts - sale $0.50 ea, used $0.45/6 coupon here (doubled to $0.90) and $0.50/6 Cellfire coupon here FINAL COST: $0.27 ea.

Hy-Vee
2 Kraft BBQ Sauce - sale $1, used two $1 coupons here FINAL COST: FREE
2 Kraft Shredded Cheese - sale $1.50, used $1/2 coupon here FINAL COST: $1 ea.

Target
2 Bliss candybars - $0.99, used two $1 off coupons (expired today) FINAL COST: FREE


In addition to the run-of-the-mill grocery deals this week, I also got myself a little pretty for next to nothing. About a week ago, we bought my husband some much needed shorts at Kohl's and got $10 Kohl's cash that was expiring on the 10th.


These pretty flip-flops were on sale for $10.99, which after the Kohl cash, was $0.99 plus tax. Go me!

Nature Journaling

Gearing Up

When contemplating making a nature journal, the choices can seem endless. Big or small? Buy a tablet or make your own? Lined or unlined paper? There were several factors we considered when making ours.

1. Cost – Let’s face it, I’m all about the cheap. If I wanted to spend $20, I’m sure I could have found countless beautifully bound journals complete with illustrations and instructions geared toward children. However, half the fun is in the making. Originally, I thought we’d make our own out of typing paper and cardstock, but then I ran across these wonderful drawing pads on clearance for $1. Who could pass that up? A few embellishments, and we had our journals ready to go.
   
2. Use – What sets a nature journal apart from an ordinary run-of-the-mill journal is the melding of sensory observations. It’s not just about writing about nature. It’s also about sketching/painting what you see and recreating the textures of the natural world. Lined paper seemed too restrictive so the drawing pads were a perfect alternative.
3. Durability – To up the durability quotient of our somewhat flimsy drawing pads, we used twine. Although the pages were bound like a tear-off pad, I knew that the binding wouldn’t hold up to rugged outdoor use. Tying them with twine just gave us an insurance plan against wind-scattered pages.
4. Portability – The size of the journal shouldn’t be so unwieldy that it becomes impractical, particularly for little hands to tote around. And in our case, since we were already adding twine, I figured we might as well add a simple loop so the kids could slip them over their wrists for easy carrying.

Once you’ve got your journal figured out, you need to consider other supplies. Here are some things to consider adding to your journal.

• A small tote or backpack to keep everything together and easy to carry
• Pencils with erasers
• Colored pencils
• Pencil sharpener & ziplock bag (for the shavings!)
  
• Watercolor paints & brushes
• Magnifying glass &/or binoculars
• Camera for capturing wildlife photos
• Envelope to store flowers/leaves for later pressing

Aiding Your Child’s Journaling

First, find opportunities to record nature. Hikes and nature walks are obvious choices. But don’t limit yourself to just the obvious. Going on a picnic? The zoo? Take the journal along. Even a morning in the backyard will uncover a wealth of opportunities to record the natural world.

For each entry in the journal, remind your child to first record the date. When your child finds something (an animal, plant, or setting) that he or she wants to record, ask your child questions that prompt full descriptions. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Can you touch it? What does it feel like? Don’t forget to have the child record environmental information also. Where are we? What does the animal or plant’s habitat look like? What is the weather like?

Be sure to allow adequate time for the child to gather information and record observations through drawings and/or descriptions.

Want to really jumpstart your child’s ideas? Be more than a cheerleader; create a nature journal of your own so that you can compare ideas and observations.

Don’t Stop There

Once you get back home, don’t forget to follow up. A huge component of a nature journal is learning. Take a few minutes to research what you’ve found. If you have field guides, you can do this on the spot. But if not, you can find virtually anything courtesy of google these days! Add notes, facts, and interesting tidbits as you uncover them. You’ll not only be teaching your child about that specific plant or animal but also fostering valuable research skills.

Helpful Resources to Get You Started

Websites:

• Family Fun - A quick guide to getting started.
• Homeschooling About.com – Great tips and ideas.
• The Illustrated Nature Journal: A Handbook – Good overview of the nature journal, offering plenty of food for thought.

Books:

• Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth - We checked this one out of the library, and it’s packed with great information!
• Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock - We’re still waiting for this one, but it comes highly recommended.