This year I heard of something shocking. Earth shattering really. Someone said a turkey could be baked from a fully-frozen state to near perfection. Blasphemous! Who ever heard of such a thing. It’s been done the same way for generations and that includes starting days a head of time, placing the turkey in the fridge, checking on it, continually finding it frozen rock hard, and then finally thawing it on the counter and never admitting it.

A couple weeks ago I failed to take something out for dinner and resorted to rifling through the freezer and fridge in a desperate attempt to come up with a plan. (Admit it; you’ve been there too!) That’s when I saw the turkey in the freezer and remembered the option of cooking it from frozen state. So I did what any 2011 mom would do; I Googled it! Can you believe I found tons of information on cooking turkey by this method, as well as an endorsement by the FDA?

Well, I gave it a try and it worked perfectly. In fact, it was the easiest turkey I’ve ever made and it tasted so delicious. You’d think it would dry out cooking for 5 1/2 hours, but it didn’t. It was wonderful. All I did was place it in a shallow pan (uncovered) and put it in a 350 degree pre-heated oven. After about 3 hours I removed the gravy bag and extra parts. I gave it a little salt and pepper and put it back in for 2 1/2 to 3 hours and took it out to rest. Simple, huh?

We’re hosting Easter this year, which we don’t do very often. I like to make the table extra special and fun for the kids, but as always, save as much money as possible.

First, I decided on a color scheme of yellow and pink. I bought napkins at the dollar store in those colors, along with some cute pink and yellow bunny suckers, and some carrot suckers. Everything else I used was from around the house. Total out of pocket: $4.00

Next, I made name holders for each person. I reached into our stash of plastic eggs, used a permanent marker to write names, and then added a bit of bling I saved off of a previous project. I simply hot glued the jewels onto each egg. I used leftover construction paper to make circles to hold the eggs.

I found some pink flowers and yellow bow from a previous arrangement to decorate the vase holding the palm branches the kids got at church this week. I thought it would be nice to use them on our table to remind us of the journey Jesus took, that ultimately led to the Easter Day celebration.

I used construction paper to cover little dixie cups we had in the cupboard. I cut one cup apart to make a template, then simply taped the construction paper around each cup. I made some flowers and leaves out of scraps of colored paper and used a glue stick to decorate each cup. I filled the cups with Easter grass (I never throw this away, just put it back in a ziplock for next year), then a handful of jellybeans (leftover from my mom’s birthday party; yeah Mom!). I hot glued a little silk flower on each, and made a handle out of the millions of “loom loops” my daughter has in a drawer.

The napkin holders are made out of foam we had in our craft drawer. I cut strips, hot clued into a circle, and held it in place with a close pin. Then hot glued the outside and rolled them in beads. Once cooled, I used one pink and one yellow napkin to roll and fill the napkin holders, and stuck a sucker in each one.

I am borrowing a pastel tablecloth from a friend, and using the pink flowered china dishes my grandma gave me (that I rarely haul up from the basement).

Later this week, I’ll sit down with my coupons and ad inserts to see what kind of deals I can find for our Easter meal. If anyone knows of a good deal on ham  in the Hutchinson, MN area, please let me know.

Did you know that Coborn’s is offering double coupons on Tuesdays until April? Check with your local store to verify, but most Coborn’s are participating. They will double ten coupons up to $1.00 in value each. The coupons must not say “Do Not Double” on them. I know the next question is coming….Does this include Cashwise? I wish it did, but it doesn’t. I don’t know why.

I can’t wait for the winter weather and icy roads to be done so I can depend on being able to travel on Tuesdays. Last night wasn’t possible, as the roads were terrible. Happy bargain hunting everyone!

We spent hours making gingerbread houses, and I suffered through the clean up process.  After the houses were dry, we proudly displayed them in our family room until after the holidays. Not wanting to hurt the kids’ feeling by 86′in them, I decided to try a little project.

The houses were completely edible, although I witnessed the construction process and nobody in their right minds would want to consume them.  (*Think little fingers, licking, dog, carpet, more licking, booger picking, etc)

Fortunately, or unfortunately, for our wild life these gems were perfect for covering with some peanut butter and birdseed. So that’s what we did. We completely covered them in birdseed and corn for the birds and squirrels and then set them out on the snow in front of the window to watch.

Did you get to watch the premiere of TLC’s Extreme Couponing Show last night? I wasn’t able to watch it, but I’ve spent some time chatting with those who did. While some extreme couponers seem a bit crazy, couponing is fun and can save you a ton of money.

I’ve been couponing for about 9 months and estimate I’ve saved almost $1,000. Yesterday I made a coupon run to Target and Cashwise and found some wonderful deals that saved me about $75. In short, I paid $60 for $135 dollars of groceries. While my stories don’t compare to getting a $5,000 bill down to $12 or some such thing, I am experiencing some serious savings.

Opportunity:

If you are in the area of Hutchinson, MN or interested in driving, there is a great class this coming Monday, January 3rd, 2011 taught by a friend of mine. She has helped me considerably, and I promise it will be worth your time and money. Here are the details to her Advanced Coupon Class.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making homemade tortillas and Indian flat bread for quite a while. Now that I have been given all the lefse making tools it requires to roll and bake yummy lefse, my frugal mind went to work. Why can’t I get more out of this equipment? I think I can! So I set out on an adventure to make my first batch of flour tortillas, and you know what? A lefse stick works great for picking them up off the pastry board and turning them on the griddle. I ended up making several bags full, placed them in the freezer for future use, and spent pennies on them.

My two year old no longer wishes to brush her teeth or allow me to do it. It’s been weeks of trying, and nothing is working. She has a toothbrush that is really cool with the characters she likes on it. I have tried every flavor of toothpaste imaginable. She simply refuses to open her mouth. If I do get the toothbrush in her mouth, she clamps down. Anyone else go through this? Any ideas on how to help me get her to brush her teeth?

photo credit: sk8geek

It has occurred to me that not everyone is aware of the site TotallyTarget.com, because not long ago I had no idea it existed. I love checking it for good deals, clearance items, and coupon help.

Don’t have a Target in your area? I still use it for coupon ideas, and I have actually found better deals at Cashwise, EconoFoods, or Walmart with the same coupons/product saving ideas.

Just today I got tons of free and nearly free items, including all the Rolaids our family could possibly use in a long time, lotion, shampoo, and deodorant. I was bummed that the clearance Jello that would have cost about 11 cents were gone when we got there, but we still got some great deals.

Do you have a site you absolutely love that helps you save money and find good deals? Please share it with us.

photo credit: dno1967

Lions (roaring in the Badlands),and Tigers (hiding in the Rushmore caves) and Bears (in Bear Country). Oh my!

I promised to blog about a recent couponing class I took in my own town, Hutchinson, MN. I have been very interested in learning more about how those “crazy” women do it that I see on the news. You know the stories; $200 of groceries for $1.57 or some amazingly small amount.

I have also been watching other moms who blog about coupons and savings, but it all seemed overwhelming and quite frankly, incoherent for me.

I am happy to say that the couponing class was amazing, and I learned a ton. This is MY version of what I learned and what I feel is key to saving massive amounts on groceries.

1. It’s not about shopping sales or using coupons. It’s about finding as many “match-ups” as possible. This means that you look for sales or price cuts of items, find store coupons, and manufacturing coupons for the same product. Then buy as many products as possible.

• For Example, this week Cashwise had cereal on sale 4 boxes for $10. They then offered an “in store” coupon for 4 boxes for $6. Then I found manufacturers coupons for each of the four boxes I had to buy to meet the requirements, and I paid less than $3 for 4 boxes.

2. It is really important to get to know your local options rather than focus on what you don’t have in town. In my town, my options are Cashwise, Econo Foods, Target, Walmart, and Shopko. I have found very good deals at each one. I use the weekly ad/sale, as well as websites that announce sales. I then work to find manufacturer coupons for those deals, and again stock up on as many as I can.

• For Example, this week Target had a temporary price cut on band-aids. They also offered Target Coupons, and I found manufacturer coupons, so that when I left the store with $14 worth of stuff, I paid $1.98. If you factor in that I used a gift card that I earned on a previous shopping match-up, I paid nothing.

3. Buy more than one Sunday newspaper on Saturday. The inserts are in there, the newspaper is cheaper when it’s an early edition, and the more coupons you have the better the deals later.

4. Find some other people willing to do this with you and share their “finds”. We started a local couponing group and now I get an email or Facebook post about a local find.

• For Example, a friend told me about a recently clearance cart of salad dressing at Cashwise and pointed out that we all have multiple $1 coupons that make it free, after purchase.

5. Use Facebook and follow blogs for immediate notice of offers. This week I was online when two great offers came through. Many have a time limit or a print limit, so you have to use the tools available to you to get in on the deals.

6. Organizing is key. I have chosen to organize my coupons by subject. I have been able to do very fast match-ups this way, but most couponing sites like TotallyTarget.com will reference publish dates (i.e. Sunday paper they came out in)

Do you have some additional tips you can share? Maybe something doesn’t make sense. Please share your thoughts. I’ll help if I can. I am new at this and have plenty to learn.

photo credit: MissMessie