Brigham's 18 month celebration!

I planned on waiting until Briggy turned 18 months to give him chocolate and nuts. A couple weeks prior to his 18 month mark I gave him a little chocolate mixed with his milk to see if he 1) liked it and 2) had any signs of allergy to it.
He seemed to like it and didn't get a rash so I went for a celebration cake on the
15th!
He's going to be 2 before I can catch my breath--he's growing so fast! He liked the cake, but he really prefers fruit over anything else.

This recipe for chocolate cake is special because it has pureed veggies in--beets!
(this is from jessica seinfelds deceptively delicious cookbook)



Batter:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
3 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup beet puree (I personally think you could add up to 3/4 cup...I didnt taste anything funky)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting:
1 8oz package of cream cheese
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

(I didn't have cream cheese on hand so I just made a buttercream)

1-Preheat oven to 350. Coat 9 inch pan with spray
2-In a large bowl, beat brown sugar with oil until creamy. Add the whole egg and whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate, beet puree, buttermilk and vanilla
3-Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat until smooth
4-Pour the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. (35-40 minutes) Let the cake cool for 5 minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.
5-Meanwhile, make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese with the confectioners sugar, cocoa and vanilla until smooth. Slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread the frosting over the top and between the layers of the cooled cake.

Beautiful Gift

My aunt was able to visit up from the San Antonio area for Oliver's blessing day. She suprized us with wonderful gifts (tons of diapers and wipes--you know your a mom when that makes you very, very happy!) and this AWESOME BEAUTIFUL GIFT!

She took the picture of Brigham that I took from Mother's day (where hes picking at a big flower) and printed it on transparency paper...glued it to this glass block...and then on the back printed "He loves me--John 3:16" on the back part of the block... so through the light you see the scripture through the photo.

Get it? He loves me...He loves me not....with the picking of the petals and of course John 3:16
--For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life--

How SUPER CUTE is that?! I still can't get over how great it is...and she assured its a very simple affordable craft project.
I have a feeling I'll be making a lot of these!

Birth Announcements by WiddlyTinks.com

Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Banana Bread for the Brigster!

Yesterday was my little Brigham's 17 month birthday!! I can't believe how time is flying and how much of a little boy he is looking like instead of a mushy little baby! I do miss that baby munchkin phase...but it should only be a *couple* more days until we have a new mushy baby to hold!
Yesterday I wasn't feeling so hot, so I didn't end up doing anything to special for Brigs. He's sort of had a boring couple weeks with me mostly laying in bed not doing much of anything...we did make Ollie a birthday card..but no special treats :(
So today I'm feeling better and thought I'd redeem myself by making my little monkey one of his favorites: Banana bread! This is a new recipe to me...sounds good...I haven't given Brig's nuts yet so I won't be adding the walnuts...can't wait to suprize my little man when he wakes up from his nap!



Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Banana Bread

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
3 small eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 ripe bananas mashed
2 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
(1/2 cup chopped walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350--lightly grease 9x5 loaf pan
1- Cream butter and sugar until fluffy
2-Stir in eggs, one at a time
3-Add vanilla and banana
4-In a separate bowl sift flour, powder, salt and oatmeal together
5-Combine wet and dry ingredients
6-Bake for 1 hour in preheated oven

I saved a TONNNNNNNN!

I am excited to report that my target couponing excursion was a success. They didn't have a few of the travel size items that I would have gotten for free, but I'm headed to Walmart tomorrow evening to see if I can stock up (renu contact solution and nexcare bandages) As well as $2 20-water bottle packs of Nestle Pure Life (I don't have any water stored in my food storage closet, so I thought this might be a good way to start it)

But.....my $23.72 Kashi bill was slashed to $4.60!!!!
And I did some "frozen food" shopping so we would at least have some go-to items when I have Oliver and am not up to cooking....and saved $20.66 from my $45 grocery bill (I did buy things without coupons)

The best deal from the frozen food bill was the Eggo Bake Shop items. They are normally $2.79 (marked down this week to $1.50 at target) (however, it wasn't marked at the price, so I checked with a salesperson)
and there are $1 off manufacturer coupons for them at coupons.com
so I bought 3 boxes of the twists, muffin tops and pastries for the SALE price of ONE! :) They come in handy for Tom's quick breakfast out the door.

I did buy some fancy new Degree deoderant with coupons....I got 2 regular size sticks for a little over a dollar a piece. They would have been nearly free If I had a coupon from a few weeks back..oh well...still way better than the $4.50 I normally pay for one!!!

There are SOOOOOOO many free sample sites that I feel are worth the minute or two to sign up...because when stock piled they can be put in 72 hour kits (most of the samples are healthcare products)

Yes, it does take a little time to search out the coupons (but not really with those sites I listed on the previous post--they do all the work for you!) but clipping the coupons and planning meals around what you can buy for pennies....makes me feel like I am contributing more to our families financial situation (in a positive way) since I am no longer working outside of the home.
Its worth it!! I would urge all of you to try it out!!!

*PS- I was so scared I was going to get a grump that wouldn't be nice about all the coupons, but the lady that rang me out was super nice and helpful. She even told me "you can always go to kroger.com to print out extra manufacturer coupons" in her sweet texan accent... :)
They actually didn't have the 10 oz boxes of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal that the target coupon posted as free....so I was able to get the next size up :) *

Coupon Queen

Okay, I am SO not...I am a wannabe couponing queen desperately trying to figure out the system. There are SOOO many of you ladies out there that have got it going onnn!!! seriously, I am in awe. Lately I have not been able to sleep AT ALL at night. (Up until 4 am awake at 7 am....) So I have been searching and reading up on coupons, freebies, rebates, etc etc.
I am starting to get the hang of some of it....except the CVS and Walgreens rewards points...that is just way over my head. Hopefully I'll get there someday.

There are these AWESOME blogs and websites that pretty much make couponing easy. They list the links of the printable coupons, tell you about the other inserts, put scenarios together (tell you how much to buy and what coupons to use per transaction) to save big. I have been adding their blog buttons on my side bar....check them out when you have time!!!

Krazy Coupon Lady
NWA Deals
Deal Seeking Mom
A Frugal Friend

This post is mainly about my *upcoming* target grocery trip I have planned for wednesday (unless Oliver decides to pop out sooner)

I love Kashi products, but haven't bought them recently because they tend to be on the expensive side. They taste great and are so much healthier for you than the average snack food.
Check out this scenerio (from Krazy Coupon Lady)

Krazy Kashi Scenario:

No newspaper necessary! All you need is ONE computer for printing!
8 products, 6 manufacturer coupons, 6 Target Coupons


Buy These Items:
(2)Kashi 10 oz. Heart to Heart Cereal: $5.32
(2) Kashi crackers $5.00
(2) Kashi TLC bars $5.00
(2) Kashi Go-Lean Waffles unconfirmed price $5.32
pre-coupon total: $20.64

Use these coupons:
(2)$1.50/1 Kashi Cereal Coupons
(1) $0.50/1 Kashi Cereal Target Coupon
(1)FREE Select Kashi cereal with purchase of any Kashi cereal Target Coupon(Heart to heart, Heart to Heart warm cinnamon, or Go0Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax)
(1) $1.00/2 Kashi Crackers Target Coupon
(2) $1.50/1 Kashi soft-baked cereal bars
(1) $1.00/2 Kashi Granola or Cereal bars Target Coupon
(2) $1.50/1 Kashi Waffles
(2) $0.25/ Kashi Waffles Target Coupon

Final Price: $3.98 for 8 Kashi Products
(if you take out the Kashi crackers, this deal will still be a moneymaker of $0.02!!)

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO HER SITE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO PRINT AND BE DIRECTED TO THE INDIVIDUAL COUPONS

I've been reading that Target isn't the most "cooperative" when it comes to couponing. I am sure this varies region to region, and I am hoping for a friendly cashier....but they do recomment carrying a copy of the coupon policy as sort of "proof" that what you are doing is in fact okay with their corporate policy.
here is the email target sent out explaining their coupon rules:


Thanks for asking us about using coupons at Target. Coupons are a great way to save even more when shopping with us, and it’s easy to use them at our stores. Because of the variety of coupons available to our guests, we do have some guidelines for how coupons can be redeemed at Target.

When accepting coupons, we use the following guidelines:

We accept two kinds of coupons: Target-issued and manufacturer-issued.
We’ll accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for the same item, unless either coupon prohibits it.
We can’t give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item; in this case, we’re able to adjust the value of the coupon to equal the price of the item.
We can’t accept coupons from other retailers, or coupons for products not carried in our stores.
All valid coupons should be presented to the cashier while you’re checking out.
For questions about using a specific coupon, we encourage you to stop by Guest Service and ask to speak with the Guest Service Team Leader. They’ll do their best to help while you’re in the store. If you still have questions after speaking with them, please call our Guest Relations team at (800) 440-0680. Either way, we’re here to help!

I'll let you know how my wednesday excursion works out!!

Visiting Teaching Project

Now that I am settled in our new ward (Kaufman) I have been assigned a VT companion and a few lovely ladies to visit teach.
I was trying to think of a useful gift to give but also something that would start off our friendship together....so I put together magnet boards for each sister that had magnets with each of our info and a magnet with a quotation on prayer from June's message.
I was going to apply spray adhesive to the board and paper, but I decided against it in case they don't like the paper I picked out...its just attached with glue dots on each corner. I think its a neat little gift and I hope they find them to be useful and fun!



Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
“Prayer changes our lives. Through it we draw near to the Lord, and he reaches out his finger and touches us, so we never again are the same."