Monday:  Pork Chop Potato Casserole

Tuesday:  Tacos

Wednesday: Tator Tot Casserole

Thursday:  Its my BIRTHDAY!! Birthday Dinner

Friday: Breakfast for dinner!

Saturday: Date Night

Sunday: Family Dinner

I have a few finds this week!!!

1. Coming from none other than DollarTree is this full size name brand Delsym Cough Syrup. They only had the grape flavor but this is still a great find! Especially since the hubby and I recently came down with colds ( I couldn't use it because I am prego but still!)

 

2. DollarTree also had Hanes Sweatshirts for Toddlers. Be careful when selecting. Sometimes they come into a DollarTree because the are imperfect or they have stains so double check everything carefully. I found a great one that was gray and had all types of sports balls all over it. No stains, and was sewn correctly! You could also buy these in larger sizes to use the fabric for sewing projects.

3. Check out your local Wal-Marts. They are having a major clothing clearance. My husband and I were able to find some great summer jumpers for our upcoming little boy for a whopping $1. It is always a great idea to buy things on clearance and stockpile them for a later date. Due to great sales, thrift stores, and generous friends we have enough clothes for our baby until he is 2 years of age. Yep, his FIRST 2 years are taken care of. Keep in mind what season it will be when your child will be that age. Its always worth it to stock up on clothing at end of the season sales. If your child doesn't end up fitting into clothing you had stock piled due to growth spurts or its the wrong season you can keep them on hand as gifts. $1 dollar gifts are great!!

Valentines Day Disastor

So sorry that I have been MIA as of late. My poor hubby has an incredibly awful cold. I could have posted our menu plan for the week but so far it looks like Chicken Noodle Soup will be dominating our lives...
Valentines Day at the VanBeck household was quite the disaster. I decided that I was going to make heart shaped pizzas for dinner....
It didn't work out so great. First off my dough was expired BOO!! I didn't even think to check it beforehand. I thought I would be an epic SUPERWOMAN and use some left over Pita Breads as a crust but alas, they were already starting to mold. To say the least we ordered out... and had our not so romantical pizza delivered. Not to worry I thought. I had a super romantical dessert planned just for the hubby! I had these delicious looking Peanut Butter Chocolate Parfaits picked out from P-interest. . . I followed that silly recipe and can I just tell you that besides devouring my entire kitchen in goopy mess they did not turn out. My sweet husband ate one anyway but they tasted awful!! The night ended in tears ( my defense is that I am prego!) I am just happy the day is over. . . but my husband did surprise me with a sweet card and a pandora knock off bracelet... WHICH I LOVE!

 Can you change someones day with a quarter? ... I can and I will show you how below:

Since moving clear across the world (HeeHee JK) it seems I send more and more Greeting Cards. Birthdays, Holidays, Weddings, are never ending in my world and Greeting Cards are just plain expensive! I always want to buy a really nice card. One thats either hysterical or really sentimental none of that crappy bargain card kind. I must admit every once and awhile you can find a really nice card in the $0.99 section but its rare and far and few between. But it really bothers me to pay $4 or $5 dollars for a piece of paper that I know is going to end up in the trash can. (Unless you hoard them like me ).
That brings me to this weeks Thrifty Thursday... Our local thrift store has a Greeting Card section! Does yours? The cards are new! Never been written on, come with an envelope and are generally really really nice! The best part is they come in at a whopping $0.25!
There is a catch, you knew it right, you were waiting for the catch!
They don't always have the specific card you need on hand. In fact, they generally only have 3 or 4 good ones at a time and it may not be the gender or holiday that you need! There supply is always changing and it's not the most reliable.
The SOLUTION: I buy every card I can see myself using in the near future. I keep a tab on upcoming birthdays, holidays, and I always have a stockpile of wedding and anniversary, as well as baby shower! Every time I visit the thrift store (Which is more often than I would like to admit) I check that neat little greeting card section out and I normally come home with 1 or 2! The benefit? I get really nice cards that retail for $3-$5 dollars for a QUARTER! ONE QUARTER! And I'm not really concerned about having to many because 1. I don't think I could ever have to many, I use them all the time and 2. For $0.25 I don't think I am losing out on anything.
I also like the idea of having a stockpile... because when a birthday slips my mind, which happens frequently, I can just go to my stack and pick one out. I love missing out on that whole running to the store and grabbing the first thing I see panic episode.
SO: I encourage you to look into your local thrift shops! Do they have a greeting card section? IF so it may just be worth your time to check it out!

HomeMade Healthy Jalapeno Poppers

So here is a recipe my  good ol' papa came up with. It has since been a family favorite and its much healthier than its deep fried counter part. Its about as healthy as you can get when bacon is involved. But HEY! You could switch out regular bacon for turkey bacon (If your willing to make such a sacrifice... our home is NOT! ) to make an even healthier option.

What you need:

10 Jalapenos
1 Block of Cream Cheese ( You can use the low-fat/non-fat option if you like)
3-4 Strips of Bacon ( Or Turkey Bacon if you slimming down)

- Fry your bacon in a frying pan until crispy. Keep in mind that these beauties will be in the oven as well for about 30 minutes so you don't want them to to done.

- If you are Kitchen savvy you can cut your jalapenos in half and de-seed them while your Bacon is frying.... our Bacon burnt when we were trying to multi-task. :) So maybe this is a completely separate step for you if your like me !

- Fill your seeded Jalapenos to the brim with your cream cheese.

- Add a small strip ( about 1/4 of a strip of bacon) to the top of your jalapeno.

- Bake 350 Degrees for 30 minutes.

The end result? PERFECTION. Another rewarding factor about these beauties is they are NOT incredibly spicy because the seeds are removed and with the added combination of cream cheese they are rather mild ... and scrumptious.

Wingers Sticky Fingers

If you are familiar with the restaurant Wingers then you will know just how amazing their Sticky Fingers are! Since moving to the east coast I have seriously been craving these guys especially since I am 7 months pregnant and since there are no Wingers over here ( the east coast is SERIOUSLY missing out) when I found this recipe (I can't remember where I found it, I know its been floating around Pinterest like crazy so for whoever created this recipe please take credit! I only wish I could have come up with this on my own!) I seriously thought I had died and gone to heaven. I have made it several times since finding the recipe and it made the perfect SuperBowl snack!

Wingers Stick Fingers:

3/4 C Brown Sugar

2 TBL Water

3 TBL Franks Red Hot Sauce ( It has to be Franks or it won't turn out )

Bring the above ingredients to a boil and pour over cooked chicken.

Can you believe its that simple? Neither can I . . .

Now devour these beauties before they are gone and they will be gone quick!

Monday: Turkey Panini's

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Orange Chicken over White Rice

Thursday: BBQ Pork on Flat Bread

Friday: Buffalo Chicken Subs

Saturday: Date Night


Sunday: Family Dinner

It's that time again! And I must say my local Dollar Tree never fails me. I have a slew of great finds to share with you!
First, lets start with this little bucket of goodness.

This was definatley a promotional item. These are fairly new. I have seen them and have been dieing to try them! Well, whata you know they had them! I paid $1.00 for this 2-Pack. It retails for $2.18 at my local Wal-Mart bringing in a saving of $1.18.

Next, I found this 'tempting' dessert.

These retail for around $3 depending where you shop... So I saved $2 !
And of course I saved the best for last!
This was truly an amazing find. I was super surprised when I saw them for only $1. . . You better believe I stock piled on these.

This kit included:
12 Taco Shells
Mild Taco Sauce
and, Taco Seasoning Mix for the meat!
I checked at Wal-Mart and these were selling for $4!! Can you believe that! That is a HUGE savings of $3 dollars a box. I just about wiped them out on these!
I hope you have fun looking for good finds!