Extreme Couponing

If I was important enough for such things, I'd first change the title of this new show on TLC to Insane Couponing. Because what I've seen in the first couple episodes was just that. Nothing short of completely insane.

For the record, I am ALL for clipping coupons. As someone trying to get out of debt and living on a strict budget, I am definitely dependent on finding sales and using coupons to get an even bigger deal. I am even fine with people stocking up on things that they use when they can get great deals. (I have a very humble stockpile on some shelving in our laundry room and recently bought an extra freezer to help with that storage space). However, I think there is a line between frugal and freaky, and in my opinion, that line was crossed on Extreme Couponing.

A friend on Facebook recently said "Extreme Couponing is just organized hoarding." I laughed and thought, "How TRUE!" Some of these people have very extensive organization systems in a room in their house, and everything (even though it looks like a small convenience store) is very contained. However, some people, like a woman I saw last night, have items stored in every available space in their house. Toilet paper under her kids' beds, 2-liter bottles of soda and rolls of paper towels completely filling closets, and shelves lining every hallway in the house. This woman even said she felt like her house was closing in on her. I can't imagine living like that. This particular family had enough paper towels and boxes of cereal to last her family for three years. But it's not as though she's going to stop buying those things for the next three years and live off her stockpile. She's going to keep accumulating and storing these items, making her house into a veritable warehouse store.

One woman knocked down a wall in her house to make a small closet to keep all of her newspaper coupon inserts. She had crates upon crates full of circulars. This same woman, in her stockpile, had loads of cat treats and cat food. And she didn't even have a cat. I think that illustrates what has been a huge rule for myself when couponing and finding deals. It doesn't matter if you get a product for ridiculously cheap. If the product isn't something you'll use, it's not a deal! The exception to that rule is if you can donate the item. So many times, these people are getting things for free (or being paid to take them), and they end up donating a LOT of it to a local food shelf, which is really great.

I truly think that some of these extreme couponers are actually addicted to what they do. I've seen these people spend anywhere from 35 to 60 hours a week on couponing--planning shopping trips, finding the right coupons, figuring out their transactions (since some stores have rules about how many coupons you can use on one transaction, etc). And sometimes their shopping trips are 4-5 hours long. That's a full-time job! And I guess that makes sense when these people are saving $40-60,000 for their families each year. That's their income for the work they do! But again, there is clearly a level of "thrill" that these couponers are attaining, and I really think it can become unhealthy. One woman last night was shopping for herself, as well as her daughter-in-law and a local food bank. At one point she said, "I am a person who needs to be needed." I sincerely hope this woman's self-worth isn't solely wrapped up in couponing, but after watching her episode, I can't be so sure.

All of this aside, it's hard to deny that the numbers are impressive. The people on the show are consistently saving 90-98% of their grocery bill. One family went through the store and had two different transactions totaling over $1101. Their out-of-pocket amount was $43.92. Another woman paid only $4.53 for groceries totaling $1161.22. She had two transactions--the first transaction actually ended with the store owing her money, which was carried over into her second transaction.

All in all, I think couponing is a fantastic way to save money when you shop. Even better if you can match up those coupons with store sales. And if you have the time and energy to devote to insane couponing, then by all means, have at it. I won't be joining you. But I will be impressed with your 95% savings. :)

You can catch Extreme Couponing on TLC on Wednesdays at 8:00 and 8:30. And I do recommend tuning in at least once. Even if you don't learn anything, it's really fascinating!

Sleep

A few days ago, I watched at TED talk by the composer Eric Whitacre. It was super fascinating, and if you have 15 minutes to spare, I'd highly recommend it. The video after the TED talk is the final version of the song he refers to in the TED talk. (And don't worry--the song is not actually over 9 minutes....it's about 5, and the rest is credits). It's beautiful! Enjoy. :)

five years

Dear Jack,

I am the mother of a five year old! That's a little crazy. Impossible, even. Except that it's true. Gosh, how did this happen? You were just a TINY (well....) baby and now you're a TALL boy. This morning, you woke up and came into our bedroom. "Mommy? Am I five now?" :)

Five years ago, we were blessed with a beautiful, 9lb 8oz, baby boy. And our lives changed, for the better, FOREVER! It was amazing. I remember thinking, "Wow. I can't remember what it was like before Jack was here." And I think that's exactly the way it should be. :)

Before I went to bed last night, I put all of your presents on the kitchen counter so we could have a little celebration this morning. Well, before you saw them, you asked if you could open ONE gift before your party. I said, "Jack! You can open ALL of your presents!" You were a little beside yourself. I'm not sure what you were most excited about--I think it was a tie between the Legos and the knight armor set. You make a pretty awesome knight!

The fact that your birthday fell on a Saturday was pretty fun. It might be the first time your birthday party was actually ON your birthday! Your party was, of course, Star Wars-themed. No-brainer. You are very interested in Star Wars right now. Scratch that, you're a little obsessed. :) You can turn anything in to a light saber! You got some fun Star Wars presents to add to your growing collection of Legos and figures. And I was honored to add to the theme with a very special Star Wars cake!

I think the biggest change this year is yet to come--you will go to kindergarten in the fall. And that's all I'm going to say about that because it makes me sad.

Your sister is still one of your favorite people in the world! Please don't let that change. You two just ADORE each other. I hate to say it, but I'm sure we'll get a few years down the road and think, "Remember when they loved each other?" :) It's so adorable to watch you together. Leah looks up to you so much, and she should. You're awesome! And you really do love playing with her. You know, when she's not stealing your Lego pieces or climbing on your stool when you're trying to eat lunch.

Well, you are just one of my favorite people in the world. I can't believe we've been blessed with you for five years already! I'm excited to see what the next year brings. Thank you for the JOY you bring to our family!

Hugs and kisses!
Love,
Mom :)

Poppa is SO funny

And so are dominoes.

My Jedi Master :)

The obligatory "after" picture

After the ordeal with our deck falling down, the association finally agreed to cover the cost and hired some builders to make a new one. It's all a HUGE blessing in disguise, and as of about 3:00 this afternoon, we have a brand new, beautiful deck! I'm a little bummed that it's still the middle of winter and we can't actually enjoy it right away, but I can't WAIT to spend some time on it this summer!

Meet Jack.

Jack had a friend over today and at one point, Jack came upstairs for something. I was pretty sure it was to use the bathroom, but I wasn't really paying attention until he was headed back downstairs. I stopped him and said, "Hey, what were you doing up here?" (mostly making sure he flushed and washed his hands if he was, indeed, using the bathroom).
"Oh, I was just looking for something."
"What were you looking for?"
"Oh, I don't remember."
"Jack, did you go potty?"
"No."
"What were you doing up here, then?"
"Well.....I just came up here to give you a really big hug!"
I lost it at that point, and he thought it was really funny and said, "Just kidding!"
Finally, I told him that if I went in the bathroom and saw pee in the toilet, he was going to be in big trouble.
"Okay, I'll go flush and wash my hands."
Stinker!
Then he got a time-out for lying. Even though he mostly cracked me up.

eighteen months

Dear Leah,

It has been one and a half years since you have graced our family with your fabulous presence. Sometimes I can't believe it's been that long! It feels like yesterday I was looking at your hours-old face and feeling so blessed. But other days I can't begin to imagine what our family was like without you and it feels like you've been here forever. :) I read your birth story last night, which was magical and surreal and made me remember what a miracle new life is!

Physically, you have grown from a 9-pound 13-ounce teeny tiny baby into a 27-pound toddler! You are very tall (surprise, surprise) and are running around everywhere. You have the most incredible personality and know just how to make us laugh. Sometimes you know exactly how to make me pull all my hair out, too. But that just come with the toddler territory!

Your favorite thing in the WORLD right now is reading books. If I sit down for more than a minute, you run and grab a book and bring it back for me to read. You seem to prefer books with real animals and people in them. I think it's helping you learn some new words (because, let's face it, your big brother does all the talking and there hasn't been a reason to start before now). You love to point out animals in books and make their corresponding sounds. I have to say, when you hear an actual sheep for the first time, you're going to wonder why it's not "baa"ing more quickly.

You are full of kisses. For me, Jack, Daddy, Lucy (aka the most tolerant cat in the world), and all of the puppies and kitties in your books. They started as lovely, open-mouth smooches, but now they're so sweet! Your little pursed lips are just to die for. As are your warm, rosy cheeks when you wake up from a nap. Those are something I can't stop kissing!

I'd rather not be around the day something happens to one or both of your blankets. Because at this point, I'm not sure you could survive without them. It's pretty adorable how you ask for your "deedee" and walk around with it and suck on the corners, but you are HOOKED on this thing! It's actually quite nice that you have a "lovey." Your silly brother had nothing. No blanket, no pacifier, no animal. He didn't know what he was missing. :)

It's hard to believe, in the middle of this freezing cold winter, that we'll be celebrating your SECOND birthday in six short months when it's nice and warm. You have been an immense blessing to our family in these eighteen months. It's very exciting to think about the future of our family of four. Thank you for your sweet spirit and incredible heart! You make me so happy that I'm a mom.

Love you to pieces,
Mama

Timber

On Tuesday, we decided to make a trek to Ikea to buy some new dining room chairs. On our way down our street, we noticed that there was a team of people getting ready to shovel the snow off of all of our roofs. Yay! What a smart thing for them to do (since they spent all summer a couple years ago putting new roofs on every home).

So we conquered Ikea, stopped for some lunch, and headed home to find that they were almost done with the snow removal. As we went on with our afternoon, they re-plowed our driveway and re-shoveled our steps. One area they LEFT, however, was our deck. It was PILED with snow that had been shoveled from the roof. I had noticed some decks as we drove down our street and into our driveway and thought, "Wow, that's a lot of snow for a deck to hold!" Of course, since they had re-plowed and re-shoveled, we assumed they would be back as some point to clear off the deck. Well, they didn't come back on Tuesday. They didn't come back on Wednesday.

On Wednesday night around midnight, Dan was downstairs and heard a huge crash. He looked out the window and, sure enough, our deck had finally fallen from the weight of the snow. Since there wasn't much he could do at that time of night, we called our association contact the next day. The guy came out about an hour later to check everything out, and by that night a team of people had gotten our grill, table, and chairs safely off the deck and into our yard.

The next day (Friday), the owner of the company that had done the roof shoveling came by to look at the deck. He was kind of a bully and said that the deck was in terrible shape anyway, etc. True (the deck is as old as the house--1979), but beside the point. The deck has held a normal amount of snow just fine for six winters and our grill, deck furniture, and all of US for six summers. He left kind of crabby and said he'd be back on Monday. So we'll see what tomorrow brings. But based on people we have talked to, it seems like a no-brainer. This is clearly his fault and we *should* get a new deck out of it. (Which is actually really exciting!)

Here are some pictures of the fallen deck. They'll hopefully come knock it the rest of the way down and haul it all away soon. :)

(Oh, and the same day the owner came to talk to us, his team was back--clearing off every last deck in our development!)

Looking straight out our deck door:

The other side, toward our front yard:

We thought of removing the railings and sledding down. ;)

Merry Christmas :)

Just a few shots of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day festivities.

The Butterfly Circus

I have to share the most amazing short film with you. Dan went to a discipleship training school in Kansas City with its writer/director, Joshua Weigel. This movie has already won the Clint Eastwood Filmmaker Award (among other 2010 film fest awards), and it is becoming a feature film. I'm sure it will be up for the Academy Award for best short film. It's really incredible! You can learn more about it at www.butterflycircus.com.

Thank you, anonymous commenter, for the link to the official video on vimeo!

The Butterfly Circus - HD from The Butterfly Circus on Vimeo.

Santa, Baby

We visited the best Santa in the world on Saturday. (Mother Earth Gardens in South Minneapolis--take note for next year!) Jack was enthralled. Leah, not so much. Really quite beside herself, actually. But it made for some cute pictures!

And it snowed....

Here in Minnesota, we've just survived what has been beautifully referred to as a "snownami." By the time it stopped last night, the Twin Cities had between 10 and 17 inches of snow. Pretty crazy. It even cause the roof of the Metrodome to collapse!

As it came down yesterday, I watched the depth on our deck continue to increase and got a great idea for a picture. It was literally as deep as Leah is tall, so I wanted to bundle her all up and plop her down in the snow. Unfortunately (well, for me anyway), she didn't sink down more than a couple of inches. So my awesome picture idea was out the window (since I didn't think she'd appreciate being pushed down forcefully), but we set her on top of the snow and still got a few cute pictures. :)

This is amazing

Seriously amazing. A friend on Facebook shared a link to this video. Please watch it and enjoy. :)



After watching it, I noticed another video on the right called "The Making of....." and I had to watch it. Well, it turns out there were four parts of "The Making of...." but it just made the original video that much more amazing! So please, sit back and enjoy. If for nothing else than to enjoy David Crowder's hair. Honestly. Love.

WFD 11/21/10

Okay, this is actually going to be for dinner tomorrow night, but I'm excited about it. :) I made this like three years ago when I first found the recipe in an old Cooking Light magazine. It was good, so I don't know why I haven't made it since then. Enjoy! (I personally add a little more bacon and cheese than it calls for--it's a little less "cooking light," but tastes great). :)

Cheddar Chicken Chowder
2 bacon slices
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4½ cups chicken broth
1¾ cups diced, peeled red potatoes
2¼ cups frozen whole-kernel corn
½ cup flour
2 cups 2% milk
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Cook bacon in a dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove and crumble; set aside. Add the chicken, onion, red bell pepper, and garlic to drippings. Saute 5 minutes. Add broth and potato and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add corn; stir well.

View full recipe

Whisk flour and milk until blended. Add to soup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in the cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon.

WFD 10/12/10

Sorry, I've been quite absent. :)

Stir Fry

Stir Fry:
chicken
peppers
mushrooms
broccoli
water chestnuts
pea pods

Marinade:
¼ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil

View full recipe

Mix marinade ingredients and add chicken.

Mix sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat oil in a large pan and saute chicken until cooked through. Remove chicken and saute vegetables until cooked. Add chicken and sauce mixture to vegetables. Cook until sauce thickens.

Pumpkin cookies

I got this recipe from my friend Amy and made them last night. They are delicious! They are also egg- and dairy-free, so they're great for people with those particular food allergies. :)

Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup oil
2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Combine all ingredients and drop by spoonful onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Cool slightly before moving to cooling rack.
I frosted some with cream cheese frosting, which was really tasty. :)

WFD 9/24

Here you go, Lisa. ;)

Chicken Pot Pie! Easiest CPP recipe ever. Okay, it's the ONLY CPP I've ever made, but it IS really easy. And it's also not mine. It's from my friend Crissy. Thank you, Crissy. :) My favorite thing about this is that it's a classic one-dish meal. No need for any other side dish--everything is in there!

Chicken Pot Pie
1/3 cup melted butter
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
Blend above ingredients in a saucepan and start cooking over medium heat. When it starts to bubble, add:
1 1/2 cups water mixed with 2 t chicken boullion
2/3 cup milk
Bring to a boil and add:
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 bag mixed veggies

Roll out one refrigerated pie crust in pie pan. Add mixture and roll another pie crust on top. Crimp edges and make a few cuts in the top. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

WFD 9/16

Well, I broke out my crock pot for the first time this season! I love using my crock pot--it's so easy to throw stuff into it in the morning, and I get to smell it all day long. :)

Tonight I made this beef stroganoff recipe. Really delicious! And oh, so easy.

Crock pot beef stroganoff
1-2 pounds beef stew meat
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms (this might seem like a lot when you throw it all in, but they cook down quite a bit--and they're just delicious)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10.75oz) can cream of mushroom soup (the 98% fat free works great)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1-2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 cup sour cream

Place everything except for sour cream into your crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in the sour cream and cook on high for another 15-30 minutes. Serve over egg noodles.

WFD 9/3

Yesterday was a freezing cold "summer" day, so I made soup. I bought a butternut squash at the farmers market last week, hoping there would be a nice blustery day to use it for soup, and I lucked out! So, here is the recipe for the first soup:

Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque
3 tablespoons butter
5 cups seeded, peeled, cubed butternut squash
1¼ cups chopped onion
½ cup chopped carrot
½ cup chopped celery
1 small granny smith apple, cored, peeled, and chopped
½ teaspoon ground allspice
3½ cups (or more) vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup apple cider
1 cup whipping creamView full recipe

Melt butter in a large pot. Add squash, onion, carrot, and celery. Saute for about 10 minutes. Mix in apple and allspice. Add broth and cider and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low and simmer about 30 minutes. Puree in batches and return to pot. Add more broth if too thick. Add ½ cup cream and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Ladel, drizzle with cream, and sprinkle with parsley.

Unfortunately, my husband doesn't share my love of butternut squash, so I made him chicken noodle soup. It's a Tyler Florence recipe that I found a few years ago, and it's really good. And it's not especially time consuming, particularly if you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken!

Chicken Noodle Soup
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
8 ounces dried wide egg noodles
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Fold in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.