Grocery Madness, Part Deux!

Albertson's... I have not been to one in ummm 10ish years. Nope, I am not that old. Moving on.

There is only one Albertson's left in my area, and it's a little bit of a drive, but not too bad. And lucky me I have a friend that lives near so I have more than one reason to drive that way! TheKrazyCouponLady.com posted some amazing deals for Albertson's, and it was up to me to check them out! I prepped and prepared. And screamed out in joy when there was double coupons in this Sunday's paper. Three of them. And you can double coupons up to $1 in value. Now if I subscribed to four newspapers like suggested, I would have had a few more of those amazing little suckers. But I am not sure if there is a limit to how many you can use.

This is what I got.



I spent $27.58 and my total coupon savings was $21. Technically my reciept says that I saved $54.69 but I don't count it that was as Albertson's prices are a bit higher to account for using the "club card". So I will stick with my $21 and be proud! Plus, I got some amazing coupons for my next visit that really bring my savings total a little lower. I will share those in a minute. Here we go!



Cereal. Does your family go through it like mine does? We didn't used to go through it very quickly because my minions used to demand that I cook for them every morning. Thankfully, they have let up and discovered the goodness that is cereal and cold milk. But I don't buy junky cereal. Ever (okay, Lucky Charms when I am pregnant but that doesnt count). I am very picky about how my minions start their day and for us it will not be with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs (much to the Side o Beef's dismay). The cereal's above were all on sale for $1.79 (with club card). I had a coupon from the newspaper from a week or two ago that was $1 off 2. And I printed two additional coupons, both $1 off 2. I doubled one of those coupons. The coupons that I had were for Raisin Bran and Frosted Mini Wheats. Which is just fine by me. That is as sugary as it gets for us. I bought 4 Raisin Bran at $1.79 each, 2 Frosted Mini Wheats at $1.79 each, and one Rice Crispies for $1.79. Total $12.53, not a bad price for cereal. Subtract the Coupons ($4) and I paid roughly $1.21 per box of cereal! Now why did I get all Kellogg's cereal (besides the coupons)? Let me tell you!



An amazing Catalina! Buy 3 or 4 participating Cereals and get 1 free gallon of milk. Buy 5 or 6 and get 2 free gallons of milk. Buy 7 boxes of cereal and get 3 free gallons of milk! Milk for free? Sign me up! So I basically got 7 boxes of cereal and 4 gallons of milk for $8.53! That is like $.85 each! Seriously.



The Side o Beef takes coffee to work. I buy whatever is on sale and I have a coupon for. Lucky for me he isn't picky. On sale for $5.99 at Albertson's. $1 off coupon doubled. I got his coffee for $3.99! Super!



I love these noodles, but don't like to pay the premium price for them. So, instead, I got them for free! Really! They are on sale for $1 each at Albertson's, and before I left in the morning I printed off a coupon for $1 off 2. I doubled it and got them free!



I don't often buy pre-shredded cheese, but occasionally it is nice to have on hand. Especially at these prices! They were on sale for $2.38 each, both of them had a $.50 coupon on them, and I had a coupon for $1 off 2. I got them for $2.76 or $1.38 each.

Pampers. I had an amazing coupon for the diapers because I wrote them a nasty letter complaining about The Tank's soggy wet bottom every single morning when they took out the dry weave liner. But they added something back in, so I figured I would give this "New" Dry Max thing a try. They were on sale for $18.99 and the coupon that I was sent was for $10 off. What better time to try them? Diapers $8.99. And because of that purchase, I got this...



It is a coupon for $5 off on any purchase. Albertson's is running a promo when you buy participating items (they have a list in store) and spend $20 in a single transactions (before coupons!) you get this lovely Catalina. $5 off any purchase? Yes please! I will be going to Albertson's again for sure!

I also, got a 5 pound bag of Russet potatoes for $1, 2 pounds of carrots for $1.49, and two sweet onions for $1.82 (1.29/lb).

Bringing my grand total to $27.58. Not too shabby. With all my coupons that is about a 43% savings! I am serious about this couponing thing. I feel so proud to be saving my family money on what we use most, FOOD!

All this time I thought that by meal planning and sticking to my list that I was doing the best for my family. That I was saving money. But I have learned that if I only buy when things are on sale and stock up my pantry at the same time, then I am going to be getting the best deals.

If I hadn't stocked up on ground beef the last time it was on sale I would have bought that today as well. $1.98 lb for 85/15 at Albertson's.

Check out TheKrazyCouponLady.com for all the latest deals at the stores in your area.

Happy Grocery Shopping and Peace out Homies!

Grocery Madness!

I recently stumbled across an amazing blog.

And my life may be forever changed! Let me tell you why...



I went to Fred Meyer yesterday and spent $16.98. I got all that for $16.98. At first, I felt like I had failed, like I had spent too much money. Then I looked and I had saved $7.23, the Side o Beef assured me that I had done good. I had saved roughly 30% off my grocery bill! Holy Crap! TheKrazyCouponLady.com gives you all of the tools to get the best deals that are out there. Complete with links to print coupons! It is up to you to implement them in the correct fashion. I looked through and found the deals that would be best for me and my family. And then went shopping. Let's break it down, shall we?




Coupon in this Sunday's Paper for $1.50 off when you buy two Gallo products. On Sale at Fred Meyer 2 for $6. Coupon on one of the Packages for $1 off of one. I didn't know at the time but I could have torn off another of those $1 off coupons and used one of each of those, plus my $1.50 off the two. Amazing right? All in all I paid $3.50 for two, or $1.75 each.



Coupon in Sunday's paper for $1 off any Halls. On sale at Fred Meyer 10 for $10 or $1 each. Price after coupon, FREE!!



This wasn't an amazing deal, but pretty good with Easter coming up. They are on Sale at Freddy's for $1.25 each. I printed off a $.55 coupon. Bringing my total to $1.06 each. I bought three because of a suspected "Catalina" that would have printed off another coupon for $.75 cents off, but alas, no coupon. Had I only bought two, they would have been $.97 each.



Campbell's Soup. Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken $.75 each. Printed off a coupon for $1 off of two. Price for two: $.50 or a quarter each! Seriously!



Went searching through the discarded/unwanted coupon bin at the front of Fred Meyer. Found a coupon for $2 off any Purex product. Original Price $3.15, with coupon $1.15 for laundry soap!



Flour, one of my big reasons for going to Fred Meyer in the first place. I dont know if you have noticed that I like to bake. But I do! And flour gets spendy. This week in the Fred Meyer ad they have a coupon for $.98 Gold Medal Flour (limit two)! Holy Crap! Let's not think that I paid $2.48 last week for some. I will be going back to stock up on this before the sale ends. $1.98 for 10 pounds of flour.



Eggs, oh eggs! In addition to going thru flour like crazy, you can imagine that I use some eggs. This week in the Fred Meyer ad, Two 18 packs of eggs for $4. I find this to be a pretty dang good deal.

I didnt take individual pictures but also good deals, were all leaf lettuce for $1 each this week. And those Town House Crackers were on sale for $1.88. Also not pictured I bought a red onion for $.78 (they are 0.99/lb).

In the coupon basket I spoke of earlier, I also found a discarded Catalina for $1 off any purchase. I put that sucker to use as well.

All in all I would have to say that it was a successful shopping trip. But wait until you hear about my trip to Albertson's today! Wowsers!

Happy Grocery Shopping and Peace out Homies!

This Does Not Take The Cake.

Well I did it. Sort of. I made the Raspberry Lemonade Cake. Sort of. Let me begin with letting you know that I will not be sharing the cake recipe. I just wasn't impressed with it's outcome. Chunky. That is how the Side o Beef described my cake. Chunky. Never has anyone called one of my cakes dry, let alone Chunky! (He did say it was better the next day.)

I was going for a moist, fluffy, light lemon cake. My results, Chunky. Apparently. I would call it dense. It was not dry, it just wasn't light, or fluffy.



I did do a few things that I did like. I made a lemon infused simple syrup, that was tasty! (Especially in the Lemon Drops I was required to consume following my non success.) But I didn't take a picture of the syrup. I took this one instead. I just love it!!



While I let my cakes cool, I made a lemon curd (no picture) and Raspberry Puree that would be used to tint and lightly flavor my frosting. That was easy to make. Puree Raspberry (or your fave fruit), and strain to get all the seeds out (you dont need to strain, although for raspberries I recommend it). And then mix a 1/4 of a cup or so into your fave frosting recipe. I was using a simple buttercream. 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter, 1 lb of powdered sugar. Where you would normally add a few tablespoons of milk to reach desired consistency, I added the raspberry puree. The frosting received rave reviews!



My next task was putting all the components together. Cake Layer one. Spread a little of the Lemony Simple Syrup onto the top of the cake. Outline cake with frosting to attempt to keep filling inside. Spread Lemon Curd. Spread Seedless Raspberry Jam (not homemade).



Rinse and Repeat. Really you don't rinse anything. It just sounded witty at the time. That time has passed.



Top Layer of course still gets the lemony syrup but does not get any filling. It does however get a big ol' scoop o' frosting!



I don't generally use any kind of a fruit filling. So this was kind of new for me. I may have overfilled. Because this happened when I tried to frost it.



There do you see it? The layers slid! Slid!! The only other time any cake layer of mine slid was when I let the crazy Side O Beef drive with a Black Forest Cherry Cake in the car. That made me cry a little. I don't want to talk about it.

It may have looked slightly askew, but my taste testers were geared up a ready for a sample. I wish I had a picture of their excited faces. Instead, I have this.



That is my wonderfully fancy cake cutter that everyone is jealous of. Admit your jealousy freely, it will help you to move on. That is my Lemon Drop that everyone is jealous of. Admit your jealousy freely, it wont help you move on though. You need to drink one first. That would also be my cluttered counter top. Nobody is jealous of that. They all just feel sorry for me. Oh, and that, my lovely friends, that is a container of bacon grease. It was my New Years resolution. Pioneer Woman made me do it, and I am never going back!

Let's Dig In!!



This is where the SoB says, "Wow! That Looks Chunky!" Lovely isn't he? Although I will (again) mention, I need his criticism. Nobody else really gives it to me. They Ooh and Aah and then go throw up in silence so as to not hurt my feelings. What lovely taste testers I have! My mother in law even tried to tell me that she went to "The Place" where they had this cake that I was trying to replicate, and she tried to tell me that mine was better! HA! I love her. Her lies make me happy.

Time for a piece of cake...Chunky Cake.



It wasn't a bad cake. It really was pretty tasty. I just couldn't get past the texture of the cake, as it was not what I had intended. But I realized my mistake. In my attempts to "wing" it with a recipe. I tried to replace some of the milk liquid with some lemon juice. A fine idea. Except when you add them together. Being as that created a buttermilk. And that does not make for a fluffy cake. I am going to attempt another lemon cake. But at the suggestion of a wise man, I may be trying a Lemony Goodness Lemon Drop Cake. How tasty does that sound? I will keep you updated on my endeavors.

Next time, I promise something useful for you all. A recipe. An easy, tasty, inexpensive recipe! Also, I promise it wont be a week until I post it.

Peace out Homies!

Oh Nuts!

As I lay in my bed trying to fall back to sleep at 2 am this morning (yup, the Tank thought that was an acceptable time to be awake), I thought about what I would blog today. And man oh man was it witty! You will just have to take my word for it as I am barely able to form a sentence currently. For some odd, horrible, annoying reason, even when my minions sleep in until well after 8 am, my body decides that 7:15 is an acceptable time to be awake. Now, I know normal people everywhere are up well before that. I am not normal. (Was that a news flash or what?) Normal people also don't spend hours in the middle of the night trying to bargain with an almost 2 year old. I generally lose.

Coffee, I need some. Oh that liquid that makes the world go round. It was invented for mom's. Of this I am certain. Also, I could really go for a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Or perhaps a Snickers. Maybe even a spoonful of Nutella would be great. But alas, these are banned substances. You see, the Tank decided (yes, consciously decided) that things were not challenging enough around here. So, in her decision making process she declared herself to be allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, cats, and we are now learning also seasonal allergies. She is fun. Not! Our life has consisted of reading labels and filling that child full of Benadryl when she gets something that has been cross contaminated (read: everything baked at Costco!) or when she comes in contact with a location that has had prior contact with a cat. She is sensitive. Which is a weird characteristic for a tank...

Now I don't know about you, but I was rather fond of the peanut butter. Not as fond as the Side o Beef, who may or may not have eaten it by the spoonful. The Red Head basically got most of her protein from the forbidden nut as she does not eat any meat. Seriously, it is painful for her to even consume a single chicken nugget. And the Big Kid has taken it quite well. She has learned to embrace the Jelly Sandwich.

Oh, I am sorry, did I have a point? Not really.

Today will begin my task of trying to replicate a certain Raspberry Lemonade cake from a Certain Bakery. I have my guinea pigs all lined up, as it is Fiesta Friday and they don't have a choice! I have assembled my artillery of ingredients. I have mapped out a game plan. I have three glorious little minions to mess all of that up. But I will push through! I will persevere!! Well maybe. I will make a cake which may or may not be edible. But I plan on at least taking a picture or two to share my journey with you.

The Side o Beef, is not as excited as I am. He said, "Aren't you going to make something chocolate?" My reply, "Nope!" He likes chocolate, a lot. Especially with nuts. Too bad SoB. No nuts for you (or any of use for that matter)! He would really appreciate me replicating the cake that he ate that special, lovely date night. A Chocolaty Peanut Buttery concoction of a cake. Oh he adored it. So much. Can I borrow a kitchen from someone? You know, cross contamination and all makes it impossible for me to make it even if the Tank were not home. Damn cross contamination, it is a powerful beast.

Thus (I really just love that word!), I am off to embark on my journey. A journey of epic proportion. Lemony goodness proportion.

Peace out Homies!

The Beginning.

Let me begin with a greeting, "Top of the Morning to Ya!" Yeah, I am not good at being Irish. So I will, instead, go with a "Happy Saint Patrick's Day". (Please consider that your greeting.)

Today marks the beginning of Spring Break for my sweet Big Kid. It's great because she is already asking me when she will be going back to school. Thus, today marks the first day of many where I will hear the question, "Are we there yet?".

I am very excited about Spring Break because I have purposefully not made any plans! Other than to bake tons of things that involve tons of butter and hopefully, maybe (for the sake of my marriage) clean something.

Today marks another important milestone. I have not yet talked about my love and adoration for a certain person. A woman. A Pioneer Woman. The Pioneer Woman! Today will mark the beginning of what will most likely be many posts about her.

I will begin today by discussing her beloved Lemon Pound Cake. If you have not yet looked her up, let me give you the link and save you the trouble. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/perfect-pound-cake/
This link is specifically to the lemon pound cake (trust me you need this). I made it on Monday for the Mother In Law. She is in love with this cake. She had a leftover piece back in January and hasn't stoppped talking about it since. Last time I made it, I made a very simple glaze (and loads and buckets of it) out of powdered sugar and lemon juice. Just whisk and taste and adjust. Very simple.

This time I didn't have any lemons (what has the world come to?), so I adjusted and used an orange. It just wasn't the same. Side o Beef said, "It's not as good as last time. Did you do something different?" He is brutally honest and supportive when it comes to my baking endeavors. I need that. Like the time he asked, "Why are these cupcakes so crumbly?" The answer to that was simple, "Because I wanted them to be!" Or I overmixed. Whatever! But at least he is honest.

So if you haven't done it yet, click on the link. Embrace the Butter. Butter is your friend. And make the damn cake! You will thank me for it. Your thighs however.... Well, let's just not talk about them. Okay?

Peace Out Homies!

A Weekend, A Plan, A Promise.

Oh my! What a weekend it was! I had planned on posting Saturday. Then, Sunday I really was going to. So, here it is Monday morning. Let's recap the weekend, shall we?

It all started on Friday night when a very kind and lovely soul brought me the makings for Lemon Drops! Oh how my heart sang with delight. It was a great way to ring in a Fiesta Friday. We had a lovely evening surrounded by family and friends.

Saturday morning was a bright and early morning (just like every morning as the Minions tend not to sleep in). We were going to help a dear friend move into the house she bought. How exciting! I was a little worried that my showing up to "help" would be more of a hindrance as I was packing some childrens. But it out turned out pretty dang good. The Side o Beef is strong and awesome and was able to help move a lot of stuff quickly. The Big Kid is an amazing helper. I was so impressed with how she just got in there and started lugging boxes around. She is strong! Red was super good at helping to unpack toys, as was the Tank. Although the Tank mostly wanted to be underfoot, any foot in motion with a goal. Even Mommy moved some boxes and whatnot! Good afternoon.

By Four 'O Clock in the PM time, the minions were all ready to go over to Grandma's house, as promised earlier in the day, for a sleepover. The Side o Beef and I were supposed to be going to a birthday party but opted out as we were exhausted and not wanting to make the drive. We decided to go home. After slight discussion we realized that we had not been on a solo, one on one date for about (ummm) 7 months. We decided Sushi was in order and went and had an amazing and delicious little meal. Also, I decided dessert was in order and since I didn't have the energy to go home and make anything, we went out for dessert also.

Now this dessert deserves it's very own paragraph, maybe it's very own post! It was Raspberry Lemonade Cake and it was glorious! I am going to have to attempt to replicate (goal is that this will occur Thursday/Friday as there is no school). I will keep you posted on progress, as well as possibly post my first picture if it turns out!

Oh Sunday. We went to go get our Minions from Grandma's house pretty early in the morning. Technically it was nine, but due to the horrible idea of changing my clock it was actually ten. This horrible trick also made me think that I had slept in til 8 but then realized that it was still actually 7, but really still 8. Gah! The minions were happy to see us, quite excited really. But then things took a nasty turn at the mere mention of heading home. So we hung out. No harm.

While waiting for the okay to head home (from the kids) I managed to come up with this: My meal plan for this week (and next week!). Would you like to know what we will be eating our meals? Of course you would!

Sunday: Leftovers. Yup, I didn't want to cook last night.
Monday: Meatloaf, Twice Baked Potatoes, and Corn.
Dessert: Lemon Pound Cake.
Tuesday: Pizza and Salad
Wednesday: Rib Eye Steak in a Whiskey Cream Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots.
Thursday: Leftovers (cake making attempt day)
Friday: Fiesta Friday!! Taco Night (DUH!)
Dessert: Hopefully Raspberry Lemonade Cake.
Saturday: I think we may be going out again.
Sunday: Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Carrots and Onions.
Monday: General Tso Chicken (what will be my 1st attempt at making it homemade),
Rice, Broccoli.
Tuesday: Cake. I will be making Cake. Not sure what yet, but cake.
Wednesday: Cornbread Chili Bake (a whole meal for less than $5! This you will be
getting a recipe for!)
Thursday: Leftovers (that's a lot of food I will be making)
Friday: Fiesta Friday!!
Saturday: Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans.

See? Nothing overwhelming difficult. Nothing overtly expensive. I try to keep our food budget down as much as I can. I have read that some people spend as much as $800 a month to feed a family of 5. Can you believe that? Most months I believe that I spend around $200-300 for our food. It is much easier to cut your monthly food budget if you do meal planning. Go even further with this if you base your meals off of the sales that are going on at the local grocery store and clipping coupons.

I already bought meat on sale last week and the week before. All I will need to buy meat-wise for these two weeks is the Rib Eye Steak (I promised Side O Beef that I would make this for him). Last week Fred Meyer had baker potatoes on sale for 10 cents a pound! I bought 20 pounds (in case you noticed we were eating a ton of potatoes during the next few weeks). I will be needing a few items to round out the meals planned, but I don't anticipate spending more than $20 this week. Honestly, Butter will be my major expense for the weeks, what with all the caking I am planning.

And there you have it. All in all, a very low key post. But the promise of excitement in the future. And isn't that all we really want anyway? After all, it is Monday morning. Let's not get too ambitious.

Peace Out Homies!
(Since I have a whopping 7 followers now!!)

A Rant, A Rave, and A Recipe.

So here it is finally Friday! At long last, Friday has come! Thankfully, there is no school today so we are able to sit and relax a little bit more than usual. I am starting to realize that I have incorrectly named my blog. While I am a stay at home mom in the sense that I do not have an employer (other than the three little minions running me), I am hardly ever home!

This morning has been spent, for the most part, yelling at that Red Head about how she should not be swinging between the chairs (is yesterday such a distant memory already?), she should also not be jumping from the recliner to the couch (or the reverse), nor should she be spinning in the computer chair. Seriously! That has been the most consuming part of the day, thus far.

Enough ranting, let's rave!

Have I spoken to you yet about about crack? No, not that kind. Or that kind. I am talking about Tortilla Crack! There are these amazing flour tortillas at Costco that are not yet cooked. They are Tortilla Land, All Natural (no cholesterol, no saturated fat for those who care about that stuff), Uncooked Flour Tortillas! They are located in the refrigerated aisle, near the lunch meats and such (at least at the Costco in Salem). The package comes with forty-four tortillas for $6.79. Good deal huh? And they are delicious, scrumptious, and AMAZING! Even Little Red who doesn't eat anything will eat these. These tortillas have made our taco night what it is. Fiesta Friday!! (Oh, are you starting to understand why Friday is the best day ever?) I cannot get enough of these tortillas. Forcing breakfast burritos on my kids day after day, just so that I may have one more tortilla. I have a problem, I know. But I refuse to seek help as long as my pants still fit. Moving on...

In honor of Fiesta Friday, I should probably share a recipe that we will be consuming in mass quantities this evening. But instead I will finish explaining the ease and amazing goodness that is a breakfast burrito.

Of course, our breakfast burritos are made amazing by Crack (please reference above if you are confused). As evidenced by yesterday's post, I was interrupted mid-breakfast burrito-ing (yup, it's a word now) yesterday by a certain child. So I finished it up this morning. But let me tell you how easy what I made yesterday really was!

I start by gathering the following ingredients:

Olive Oil
Butter (don't judge)
Onion
Potatoes
Bacon
Eggs
Salt & Pepper
Lawry's Seasoning Salt (I tend to use this in mass quantity, but use what ever seasoning you like)
Tortillas
Cheese
Tapatio (for the Side O Beef)
Salsa (Mrs Renfro's Hot Salsa holds the key to my heart)
Sour Cream (for the big kid and Mommy)

Pretty Darn basic stuff. And here are the pretty darn basic instructions.

Dice the onions. Cube the potatoes. Chop the bacon into chunks. Heat a skillet over medium-ish heat for the potatoes (I always use my cast iron one), toss in the butter, drizzle in some Olive oil (you don't want anything to stick), and then throw in the onions. While they cook for a few minutes, throw that bacon into a a smaller skillet, cook til desired crisp. Back to the onions, stir and toss in the potatoes. Season how you like and cook those suckers till they are crispy and delicious.

When the potatoes and bacon are done I toss them in a huge ass bowl. While I scramble and cook the eggs (which i do in my same cast iron skillet the potatoes just cooked in), I also start cooking the tortillas. (See how I multi-task? Pretty amazing huh?) When the eggs are cooked toss them with the potatoes and bacon and mix. Sprinkle cooked tortilla with cheese and toss on the potato-bacon-egg mixture, then top as you desire. For Side O Beef that is simple, Tapatio. The Big Kid and The Tank like sour cream. Red Head only wants a tortilla (She "no like" anything). Mommy needs salsa and sour cream! Happy Eating!

And there you have it. They refrigerate well (and even freeze well) for easy reheating during the week for a breakfast on the go! Though I wouldn't recommend adding the sour cream if you plan on consuming at a later time. Sour cream does not reheat well. Blech!

Remember to celebrate your Fiesta Friday with crack! Until later...

Peace out Homie!

Oh Little Red...

Really just settling on a title for this masterpiece was difficult. I could have titled it so many things. "The Never Ending Day" crossed my mind. As did, "Soak in Wine." Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

There I was in the kitchen like a good Susie Homemaker making breakfast burritos (don't worry I will address my simple recipe for that later) to freeze for my loving Side o Beef so that he would have breakfast for next week, when the following occurred. CRASH! BOOM! WAHHHHHH!!! Tears and blood mixed as this pathetic little child came looking for her mommy.

Yup, that would be the Red Head. She was in the living room looking for her cup of milk, allegedly. Little did I know that the mischievous little girl was actually swinging between the two mini recliners that reside in the children's viewing area. You know, like the one thing that mommy constantly tells you not to do. "Hey girls! Don't do that! It's not safe. Someone will get hurt!" Does that sound familiar to anyone at this point? I yell it just about all day at that Red Head!

Anyhow, She had a lovely bloody nose and mouth. Now, anyone who's anyone, knows that I am an awful, horrible, terrible person when it comes to handling trauma. And by trauma I mean just about any amount of blood, the possibility of anything broken, and in general pain that I cannot fix. Scratches may be my limit.

But I handled this really well, if I may so say myself. I plopped her on the chair and told her not to move while I ran and got a wet rag. I wiped her mouth, I tilted her head back, got all the bleeding to stop. But she still wanted the rag and to sit in my chair. No harm. I set back about my business in the Kitchen (now I know you are on the edge of your seat, and the answer is no, I didn't burn a thing!). A few moments later I heard the lovely words that every mommy wants to hear from her 3 1/2 year old...

"MOMMY!! I have NEVER had a loose tooth before!!" as she breaks into hysterical tears. I calmly (yeah right) stop what I am doing. I go check and sure enough, a loose tooth!

Enter, The Big Kid (yeah she is turning 6, that is huge!). "What!?! That's no fair!! I don't even have a loose tooth yet!"

The Big Kid has been in a funk for weeks over this not loosing a tooth thing. "EVERYone in all of Kindergarten has lost one but ME!" She sulks on an almost daily basis. I assure her that her sister's loose tooth is not a good thing.

Instantly mommy is on the phone calling the dentist. I am told that this is a "Dental Emergency" and to bring her in right away! Holy crap! I was still making breakfast burritos! I hadn't even showered yet for Pete's sake! But Dental Emergency sounded serious!!

I threw everything in the fridge to be finished up later. Threw clothes at the big kid and demanded that she quickly (she isn't known for her speed) get dressed. I run to throw some clothes on myself. Oh crap! Is that really what I look like in the morning? UGH! Leave the Red Head in her PJ's. Put clean PJ's on The Tank (aka the baby). And we rush out the door, leaving my breakfast behind.

When we arrive the Red Head is pointing to a different tooth. I go take a look and wouldn't you know it, she did work!! Not just one, or two, but FOUR! Her bottom front four teeth are loose!! UGH!

So the diagnosis is this for our Little Red Head. Her teeth have "mobility". What an awful thing! Basically we are to watch for signs of swelling, irritation, infection. In the mean time, (now this is the fun part) we get to wait for the dang things to start to discolor (yeah to basically black, YUCK!) and fall out on their own. Now don't get my wrong. I don't want those teeth to go anywhere. But if they are going to get all fugly and nasty, I don't want to be looking at them either. So basically we wait. And wait.

Oh and the nose! The Dentist advised that we get her nose and chin looked at by a Doctor because of the bloody nose and the fact that they were visibly swollen. So, there is a chance that her nose is fractured but we have to wait five whole days for the swelling to be gone to assess the damage. And there you have it. My fantastic, wonderful, awful, no good, very bad day!

But don't feel too badly for me. As, I may or may not have bought an economy sized bottle of wine. And I may or may not have put the kids to bed at 7:30. And I may or may not be drinking all of said bottle of wine.

Peace out Homie!

Lemony Goodness!

As a showing of good faith (and to apologize for that awful post earlier today), I will now impart my wisdom on you. The wisdom is this: Lemon Drops!!

These are the perfect end to a bad week, a bad day, a bad couple of hours, or a bad situation. Okay, let's try that again... These are simply PERFECT!!

Now, let it be said that there are many ways to make a Lemon Drop. But in Susie Land there is only one way. And yes, it takes a little preparation. And yes, Susie Land is a real place (just ask my Side o Beef!).

You will need Ice (you do want this to be cold, right?), Vodka (duh), Lemons (yum!), and Simple Syrup. Wait, What's that? You say that you don't have simple syrup and you don't know how to make it? Let me share some more of the wisdom of which I possess.

To make Simple Syrup the Susie Sweet way, you will need...

Water and Sugar! Easy, huh? Pour water, I generally do about 2 cups, into a saucepan and add an equal amount of regular old granulated sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and let simmer for a good 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool (now is a good time to pour it into a measuring cup or something with a pour spout). When cool pour it into the vessel of choice. A good option is a plastic squeeze bottle. I keep mine in the fridge. It is a good thing to always have on hand and ready for a drink should the need arise. Let's just say that I have never had any go bad... Moving on.

Lemons. I always, and I do mean ALWAYS, go with fresh squeezed lemons for my lemon drops. Yup, Costco has an economy sized bag just for this situation. Use your favorite method of squeezing lemons to get the most juice out of every lemon. Whether it be a fancy food processor with juicer attachment (color me jealous), or a $5 juicer from Winco, just juice the heck out of those lemons. I (sometimes) have been known to pass the juice thru a mesh strainer to ensure that there are no seeds and not overly pulpy. Either way, lemon juice does have a shelf life. I generally juice on command. And by command I mean when I get that bag of lemons home, I do the whole dang thing. What? No judgement, please.

Next, You will need to find your shaker of choice. Some people are skilled enough to use two pint glasses, I am not one of those people. Instead, I use my nifty, handy, Martini Shaker (go figure). Fill that thing with ice. The Susie Homemaker way of making said Lemon Drops is equal parts of the three liquid components. So if you add two shots of Vodka, you best be adding two shots each of the lemon juice and simple syrup. If I am feeling daring, I may add an additional shot of vodka without upping the juice or syrup, but only if I am feeling very daring (and if I am not planning on driving anywhere for two or three days...). Either way, put the lid on that shaker and shake, shake, shake til its all cold and lovely and maybe slightly frothy.

Now if you want to be fancy you would have taken a lemon and ran it around the top of your glass (which should be of the martini variety) and then promptly dipped said moistened glass into a ring of sugar. But I am rarely fancy, nor do I take the time for such frivolous matters. Just gimme the darn drink already. What? No judgement.

And that my lovely people is the perfect (and only) Lemon Drop in Susie Homemaker's book.

Please Drink Responsibly.

Peace Out Homie.

My First Blog Entry

Here it is! My blog. Due to an overwhelming response for me to start a blog, I did. And by overwhelming I mean two well-meaning friends and one not so supportive Side O Beef.

I am currently in the process of realizing that I may (possibly) spend too much time on my Blackberry, as my fingers do not know what to do with this keyboard thing. You mean that I dont have to hit the shift key for every single punctuation mark? So weird!

So what am I going to do with a blog? Realistically, how am I even going to find enough time to blog? I am currently (at this exact moment) being afforded the opportunity to write this very sentence only because in a weird cosmic coincidence both my babies are napping while the big kid is at school.

Do I have a purpose? Nope. Will I come up with one? Maybe. Do I care? Nope. Do you? If you answered yes to this question, feel free to stop reading.

Anyone that knows me knows that I wont be blogging about anything crafty. And if you came here looking for advice on time management or how to keep a tidy house, you have come to the wrong place. Leave quickly. I could possibly write about cooking. I do that fairly well. But again, if you are here for low fat, low-cal recipes.... Leave quickly! I also will not be giving advice on how to exercise. Although, I could help you embrace the butter. Butter is your friend. It is good. So very, very, very good.

Thanks for reading my very first, very pointless post. I hope to come back at ya with something more profound. Like butter!! Did I mention that its amazing?

And that is how I roll. Random.

Am I supposed to have a catchy signing off phrase at this point? Cuz I totally dont. So I shall end with my big kid's favorite....

Peace Out Homie!

Susie (the Stay At) Homemaker