Compassion International ~ You can help too!

I support Compassion's Christian child charity. You can too. Sponsor a child today.

What I do ~ And how you can too!

Welcome, I am so glad you are here :-) My name is Angel Kennedy, AKA "LittleMsCoupons". I am currently feeding my family of 4 on $150.00 a month (which includes all health/beauty and households products too). We offer classes that can help you learn biblical principles for getting your family out of debt while teaching you how to shop on a budget and become good stewards of all God's blessings! Experience a Faithful & Frugal revolution in your household...contact us today.
Happy Shopping, Little Ms. Coupons

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone! Wow, can you believe another year has come and gone??? I hope that you have enjoyed your Christmas and spending time with family and friends...I know I have :-) I wanted to take a moment and say THANKS for all your support of the Faithful & Frugal ministry during the 2009 year! THANKS to all of you for your prayers, for your kind words of encouragement, for your testimonies and most of all for spreading the word about Faithful & Frugal to those that you know. As we prepare to close the door on 2009...I can't help but reflect on all that God has done during our second year of F&F ministry...God is so good!!! I am so excited and am filled with expectancy about what God has in store for the year 2010...I know that it will be another great year of ministry!
I pray that 2010 is a year in which we all strive to be better stewards of what God has blessed us with...I pray that 2010 is the year you are set free from the bondage of debt...I pray that the new year holds abundant blessings for you and your family, blessings that you don't even have room enough to contain...Continue to be Faithful & Frugal, give God what is His and always remember that you are being blessed so that you can be a blessing to others :-)

Happy New Year!!!

Much Love~
Angel

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Publix Penny Item ~ 12/27 & 12/28


The Mystery Penny Item at Publix for Sunday 12/27 & Monday 12/28 is:

Publix Grape Juice ~ 64 oz.

This week's penny item is available with a $10 purchase (before coupons) and is only available on Sunday 12/27 and Monday 12/28.

Happy Shopping!!!

Coupon Preview ~ Sunday 12/27/09

Normally on holiday weekends like Christmas, we do not get any coupon inserts in our papers...BUT Southern Savers is reporting that Procter Gamble will be breaking those rules today and there will be 1 insert in today's paper...

So today you can expect:

1 P&G insert

Happy Shopping!!!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that today finds you spending a most wonderful day for family and friends :-) I pray that this Christmas brings you blessings beyond measure and that you are filled with hope for the coming of our Savior. Celebrate His birth and praise Him for all that He did for you so many years ago on that cross...He died so that you might have life and have it more abundantly!

Today as we celebrate Jesus' birthday with family and friends I can't help but be reminded of all that God has blessed my family with. Today, take a moment and savor what He has done for you also. Take a moment to thank Him and tell him how much you love Him. We can never thank Him enough!!!

Celebrate Jesus, enjoy this Christmas with great friends and family, eat tons of food and be a blessing to others.

Much Love~
Angel

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Publix Penny Item ~ 12/20 ~ $5 off $50 coupon


The Mystery Penny Item at Publix for Sunday 12/20 & Monday 12/21 is:

Being replaced with a Publix $5 off $50 purchase Coupon

This week's mystery item is a Bonus Coupon and is good Sunday 12/20 thru Thursday 12/24.


Unlike most weeks you WILL have to have the coupon to get the $5 off $50...so be sure to cut it out and take it with you :-)

Happy Shopping!!!

Coupon Preview ~ Sunday 12/20


This Sunday 12/20/09, you can expect 0 inserts in your Sunday paper:

No COUPONS this week...However, be sure to get your paper for the Publix Mystery Coupon (please see Publix Penny Item 12/20 & 12/21)


Please remember to pick up the paper with your area's largest distribution (I buy the Tennessean) as papers with lower distribution do not contain as many coupons.

Happy shopping!!!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Things to Think About ~ The Christmas Version

At this time of the year, with only about 10 shopping days left before Christmas...do you find yourself STRESSED? WORRIED? Financially strapped??? If you said YES...Then this post is for you.

I have felt God nudging me to share with you some truths that I have come to learn over the last 4 years. I'm gonna tell you a little about my journey, how some things are easy to learn while others have to be learned the hard way...I'm gonna be honest with ya...I ain't gonna lie to you. It. Ain't. Pretty. (just keepin' it real) But it's all for the greater good (at least that is what I keep telling myself, lol)

It's a really long post (consider yourself warned). Sooo, if you need a good laugh...grab a cup a joe...settle in and start readin' ;-)

I share in my classes that when we actually sat down and prepared a budget for the first time..I didn't like it...I was sorta like one of those bad kids you see in Toys R Us after their mom just told them No, you can't have that toy...you know the one that kicks and screams and generally makes it known that their not happy! Well, that was me...I mean I wanted to be debt free...I really did...BUT I also didn't like feeling restricted or like I was be told what I could or could not buy. You know...the whole "if the envelope is empty that means no more spending" restriction...You've been there right? (please say yes)
It was really hard for me, but after some prayer time and some soul searching I realized that Dave was right...yes, Dave...you know, the great DR...Dave Ramsey. Yeah, he was right...if you always do what you've always done, then you will always get what you have always gotten...OUCH! Thanks ever so much DAVE! :-) So basically he meant if I continued to use credit cards to purchase the stuff we didn't need in the first place...then I would continue to get the bills in the mail asking me to pay for the stuff that we bought that we didn't need in the first place and while I was at it I could throw in a little interest too, just as a stupid tax? Yep, that's what he meant!

Soooo...we sat down and I made a conscious decision to try and do better with our money. We started planning things and buying things only when we had the money not just the available credit ('cause there is a big difference in a credit line and cash money...can I get a witness???)
We also put God first and started tithing BEFORE we paid the bills (man did that ever make a difference...but that's a whole nother post). Then we starting paying things off as quick as we could...we cut up the credit cards and tore up every offer that came in the mail. We shut off the cable, starting using coupons, sold our house and started renting...all the things that you should do when trying to get out of debt...BUT there was still one battle that we still seemed to fight. CHRISTMAS.

This was me (in a nutshell)...I always LOVED Christmas in December when I could go buy the gifts that I wanted to buy 'cause I had the credit cards to charge it...BUT then I dreaded, no...hated January when the bills would come for all that charging...yeah, January was a drag! BUT then February would come and hey, we could do our taxes and then...whoopie...we had some money again........NOT! That just meant that we had money to pay the credit card bills. That made me dread February!!! Can ya see the cycle here??? (Hey, I warned ya it wasn't pretty :-)

But all that changed when we embraced 2 principles...
1) It ain't about the gifts.
2) It is about Jesus. THE gift.

Since we started walking the road to becoming debt free, I have found that each Christmas becomes sweeter and just gets better! Let me tell you why...the first year we started out on a cash only Christmas budget it was tough...but we were determined that we would make the best out of a low budget Christmas and find the joy in the true meaning of Christmas...those two things changed our Christmas outlook for the better AND more importantly it shaped our kids mentality on Christmas.

We started teaching our kids the things that we really had always believed and knew were the true heart of Christmas, but that we had somehow lost sight of in all the hustle and bustle. Here are 5 simple things we did that made a BIG difference in our holidays:

1) We refocused on the true meaning of Christmas...we started reading scriptures and bible stories to the kids, we made an advent wreath and bought an advent calendar to celebrate the birth of Jesus for the entire month...each day the kids would get a treat and we would share something that we were thankful for, we sang carols and hymns, we would read books, make crafts and just enjoy time honored traditions...Little things that make a huge impact!

2) We focused on giving to others...Angel Tree kids, kids from school, kids from church, our Compassion kids...that kind of thing. We started adopting families that couldn't provide Christmas for one reason or another. Don't get me wrong, we have always been givers...it's my nature...I LOVE to give...it makes me happy! But for some reason at Christmas time, I would loose sight of that and I would focus more on what my kids needed and how I wasn't able to buy all the things that I wanted them to have...when the truth was they didn't "need" anything, they had everything they needed already. Giving to others became a priority...it happened before we did anything else...the kids began to love this and now they look forward to it every year...they anticipate it :-)

3) We cut down the ole' Christmas list. We told our friends and family that we just could not buy for everyone (though we would love to). Then we asked for understanding and in the end no one hated us for it. (whew) Man, did that lift a load off my shoulders...no more worry about what to buy, would they like it, where was the money coming from...it was no longer an issue. If the year's budget allowed, then we would make homemade gifts for those special people...but if it did not, I knew there was always next year. I learned that if people really love ya...the lack of a gift is not gonna be a deal breaker for the relationship. Truth be told, most people want to crack their list down too, but are afraid of hurting your feelings...you're really just helping them to help you :-)

4) We stuck to a cash only Christmas budget...meaning if we could not pay cash for it, then we could not buy it...plain and simple! Each person on the list had a set amount of money that could be spent on them and guess what...you can learn to be really resourceful when given a limited budget. It's true. Now, repeat after me...sales and coupons are my friends...(your turn)...great job, you said that with such enthusiasm :-) Seriously though...it's true...pair a great sale up with a great coupon and SHAZAM...you just got an AWESOME deal on something that other people are paying full price for. One other tip...pray about finding those great deals...God cares about the little details too you know...if it's important to you, it's important to Him. When I get a great deal on something...my husband calls it "favor dust"...he does this little dance, all while pretending to sprinkle favor dust on his head...true story! He's crazy like that...but then again isn't our God just as CRAZY about us? I know, I know...TMI (but you know your laughing right now, just picture the dance ;-) Really though...every time he does that, it reminds me that God's favor was upon us...gotta love that!

5) We implemented our friends Brandon & Kelley's kid proof giving plan...I have to tell you that this is one of those things that I just think it so SMART! (Thanks Kel for sharing it with us)
We only buy 3 gifts each for our kids...one big one and two small ones...Why is that, you ask? Simple, really...the wisemen brought Jesus 3 gifts...so it all ties right back into the Christmas story. Now, our kids are still little...so they still get Santa gifts...but whadda ya know, that Santa...well, he's a pretty SMART fella too...'cause he also only brings 3 gifts each and did you know that he loves to read the Christmas story in the bible while he eats his milk and cookies ;-) yep...he is one smart fella, I tell ya!


Oh and by the way...remember at the start of this post when I told you that one of the first things we did was cancel the cable...well, turns out that too was an added benefit for teaching our kids a lesson about Christmas...who'da thunk? You see no cable, meant no commercials. Before we even realized what had happened, our children had quit asking for all those toys that they always saw on T.V...It was amazing really...We would ask them "what do you want for Christmas" and it was literally like pulling teeth to get even one toy on the list...they just didn't have the same mentality that they once had. Their focus had shifted to others instead of themselves and they didn't know it was happening...I love that God used losing one thing to help use gain something so much more important...perspective. Sometimes what seems like a negative turns out to be a positive in the end :-)


I hope that sharing my experience on these lessons learned has somehow inspired you in some way to revamp your holiday plan...most of all to refocus on the true meaning on Christmas...to celebrate Jesus :-) Remember to GIVE, GIVE, GIVE...you can't out give God...it's not about us, it's about HIM! Be the light of Christ to someone you know this Christmas season.

Check out these great posts on keeping the holidays frugal...
For The Mommas has a great post HERE on "how to check your list thrice"

I love "Advent Conspiracy" and their Christmas can still change the world campaign...Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All!

HERE are some ideas for cheap Christmas gifts


Get FREE holiday phone calls from Santa or Sammy the Snowman HERE thanks to Kroger


About.com offers a whole library of cheap Christmas ideas...they even have some budgeting forms...go HERE

Living a Better Life has a great article on 63 gifts under $10 HERE


Simple Mom shows you how to budget for Christmas HERE and while your there check out her "12 Weeks to a Peaceful Christmas" post...really good stuff there!

Publix Penny Item ~ 12/13 & 12/14


The Mystery Penny Item at Publix for Sunday 12/13 & Monday 12/14 is:

Publix Hot Chocolate

This week's penny item is available with a $10 purchase (before coupons) and is only available on Sunday 12/13 and Monday 12/14.

Happy Shopping!!!

Coupon Preview ~ Sunday 12/13/09


This Sunday 12/13/09, you can expect 3 inserts in your Sunday paper:

1 SmartSource
1 SmartSource (General Mills)
1 RedPlum

Please remember to pick up the paper with your area's largest distribution (I buy the Tennessean) as papers with lower distribution do not contain as many coupons.

Happy shopping!!!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

$50 Publix Gift Card Giveaway @iheartpublix


IHeartPublix is giving away 2 $50 giftcards for Publix, there are 5 ways to win...go here to enter to win:

Giveaway
Good Luck!!!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Publix Penny Item ~ 12/6 & 12/7

The Mystery Penny Item at Publix for Sunday 12/6 & Monday 12/7 is:

Publix Bleach

This week's penny item is available with a $10 purchase (before coupons) and is only available on Sunday 12/6 and Monday 12/7.

Happy Shopping!!!

Coupon Preview ~ Sunday 12/6/09

This Sunday 12/6/09, you can expect 2 inserts in your Sunday paper:

1 SmartSource
1 RedPlum

Please remember to pick up the paper with your area's largest distribution (I buy the Tennessean) as papers with lower distribution do not contain as many coupons.

Happy shopping!!!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Nominee for the 2009 Divine Caroline blogger awards!!!

Oh my goodness, imagine my surprise when I found out this morning that my blog was in the running for the 2009 Divine Caroline awards...I was sooo excited!!! Turns out Faithful & Frugal had been nominated for a blogger award in the home & food category and I needed your help to vote for us. Sooo...I started tweeting, facebooking and emailing...only there was one HUGE problem...The awards voting ended last night :-( Who knew...not me, LOL...I didn't even know we were nominated until this morning. I was so bummed that you guys didn't get a chance to vote for us...BUT the honor of being nominated up against sites like IHeartPublix, Once A Month Mom, A Thrifty Mom, IHeartWags and the like, is so amazing! I just can't tell you how thrilled I am!!! Thanks so much to the person/people that nominated us, you're awesome...there is always next year and I am looking forward to it! ;-)

I encourage you to head over to Divine Caroline and check out all the great sites that got nominated in the different categories...there are some great sites for sure!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Homemade Christmas Gift Idea ~

I wanted to post these little treats that I made for our kids teachers for their Fall parties...You'll have to overlook the fact that they are in fall containers and such and just imagine what they would look like if in Christmas containers...but I wanted to be able to give an idea of how you can make some super cheap, really sweet gifts...and since I do not have the Christmas ones made yet...I thought you could at least get the idea...hope this helps. I plan on posting some more gift ideas soon too, so stayed tuned for more ideas.

If your pantry is starting to look mine than you probably have lots of brownie mixes and lots of rice crispies and lots of cookie mixies that you got for super cheap or maybe even free...gotta love that! Well, it's time to start thinking about how to make those things into frugal homemade gifts.

First decide what kind of gifts you are going to make as you will need to start looking for containers. I try and think ahead and purchase these kind of things on clearance throughout the year when I see them. But I have found that the Dollar Store and Michael's always seem to have a nice selection at fairly decent prices. (The chinese style take out containers youe see below were bought at Michael's.)I made some rice crispy treats and cut them into squares...then I put them out wax paper and drizzled them with chocolate topping them off with some fall sprinkles, think red/green/white sprinkles or snowman sprinkles. Then I filled the bottom of a clear sack with candy corn...for Christmas think crushed peppermint, holiday corn, red hots, etc. Then I tied the bags off with some ribbon...think red, green, sparkly ribbon.

You can also have fun with you rice crispies by adding food coloring to them...here is some I made for St. Patty's Day...but you could make them green (add the coloring to your marshmallow mixture) and cut them into wreaths using a round cutter and then cutting out another smaller round hole in the center forming a wreath :-) add red hots for the lights and voila...a rice crispy wreath.The next thing I did was make some brownies (these were the Betty Crocker cookie bar brownies) and did the same thing as the treats...placed them on waxed paper, drizzled in chocolate and topped with sprinkles. Now...I use Almond Bark coating for the drizzle (either chocolate or white chocolate) for one reason...it will set up hard once dry...making it much easier to package...plain melted chocolate will not set hard and it will smear once packed. If all you have is plain chocolate, you could add some Gulf Wax to help it set up.
Once the chocolate had set up, I wrapped each brownie in plastic wrap as seen below...I then inserted a piece of tisue paper into a chinese style take out container that had a fall pattern...for Christmas I have seen some with really cute patterns like snowman, reindeers, snowflakes and Santa. Once the tissue paper was in, I added the brownies.After I had the containers packaged, I took a sharpie marker and added the teacher's names and my children's names and tied some fall ribbon around the handle. Again...think Christmas ribbon for this time of the year...make it really festive :-)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Cooking 101 ~ Cheap Chicken ~ Part 3

Welcome to part 3 of the cheap chicken series! This post shows what I did with some of those chicken breasts that I got on super sale. I'm only posting one recipe, as I froze most of the chicken for later use...but I wanted to give you an idea of how to create a no fuss, super simple and most importantly...a cost effective (AKA cheap) meal.


BTW if you missed part 1 or part 2 of this series, be sure to check them out too!


Remember the all natural chicken breasts that I got at Target for $1.50 a pack? Well, there were 3-4 breasts in each pack so for this recipe I used 2 packs.


This is another crockpot recipe, love those...it's called Paula Deen's Busy Day Chicken and man was it good!!! Anything Paula cooks is good and surprisingly enough there was no butter in this recipe, I'm sure Paula could find a way to add some in though ;-) LOL


Paula Deen's Busy Day Chicken
3 pounds chicken (I used boneless skinless breasts)
1 envelope of onion soup mix (2 oz.)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 can plain tomato sauce (15 oz.)


Place the chicken in the crockpot and sprinkle evenly with onion soup mix and brown sugar. Pour the tomato sauce over all. Cook either way below...


In a skillet ~ Turn the heat on medium high and cook until the mixture just starts to bubble around the edges, then turn down the heat to medium low and cover. Cook for 35-40 minutes or until the chicken is done.


In a crockpot ~ Cover and cook on low for 4 hours OR high for 2 hours.


*If you are feeding a crowd, you can use one can of tomato sauce and 2 tbsp. brown sugar for every 3 lbs of chicken...do not increase the onion soup mix. Cooking times should be about the same, but may vary slightly. You can find this recipe on FoodNetwork.com


Here's how mine was done...
I did not have any plain onion soup mix...but I did have the onion mushroom...mmm, it was still perfect! And that's my FREE after coupon Muir Glen organic tomato sauce :-)Just put your chicken in the crockpot laying evenly across pot.Top off as directed in the recipe and your pot should look like the picture below. That's it...now just cover and walk away...I cooked mine for 2 hours on high and it was perfectly done. This made 2 meals for us.To serve this meal...either serve the chicken over egg noodles or rice and add some veggies and a salad on the side...simple!


And because I tend to get pasta and rice for $0.50 or less after coupons and frozen veggies are typically $0.50 or less (sometimes FREE)...this makes a really inexpensive meal for a family...Gotta love that!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Cooking 101 ~ Cheap Chicken :-) ~ Part 2

I had one more pack of those $1.00 chicken legs...so while the Part 1 chicken was cooking in the crockpot, I put these into my stone baker and put them into the oven :-)

I started with just some simple seasonings...
Salt
Pepper
Roasted Garlic (about 2 tsp.)
Season All
Then I added the legs to the baker and poured in enough chicken stock to cover them 3/4 of the way...this time I used the College Inn White Wine & Herbs chicken stock...Why, you ask? Well...because of course, it will instill a gourmet flav...oh who am I kidding, it was because it was what I had in the pantry...yep, that's the only reason. It was cheap after coupons. I bought it. I had it. I used it. :-)

Your pot should look a little sumptin' like this:
Okay, now cover and insert in the oven at 350 degrees for along the lines of 3-4 hours...this is the part where I say...ahem, "check the chicken with a meat thermometer, make sure it reads at least 180 degrees"...there I said it, now you will all be safe! LOL But me...I just wait until the meat is falling off the bones, you can tell when it is done ;-)

If you are using a deep dish stoneware baker, then you should be seeing this:
Yep...you guessed it! We're gonna follow the same procedure for deboning as shown in Part 1 and then package the chicken for the fridge or freezer...I sealed mine for the freezer...You can use this kind of chicken in all sorts of recipes...I decided on chicken pot pie (because of all those pie crusts I got during the Mega Event...'memba them?) and chicken salad (recipes below)...umm ummmmm!!!

Here's the pot pie recipe...
Let me preface by saying that this my absolute favorite pot pie recipe...it's a while house crowd pleaser around here :-) It will make 2 large pies!!!

This is my TN bestie Lisa's recipe and she makes it for my "nephew" Rocky, who adores this so much that he runs around the house saying "pop pie, mama, pop pie" all the time...it is just precious! Anyway, she actually sticks it in the food processor once it is cooked and makes it more like baby (toddler) food...GREAT IDEA! Well, here ya go...

Chicken Pot Pie (Rocky style ;-)
2 Packages Deep Dish Pie Crusts (4 crusts...2 pies top and bottom)
2 chicken breasts (boil until falling apart) **I use whatever chicken I have on hand**
1 large can of Veg-All (drained)
2 cans Cream of Potato soup
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your bottom crusts in two 9" pie pans. In a seperate bowl, mix all the other ingredients together until combined. Divide the mixture evenly between the two pans and then cover each with a top crust, flute the edges and trim the excess of the crust and put in oven. (you can make little toppers for your pie using up the excess crust...see below..or sometimes I use it to make little individual desserts too)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

It should look like this:OR if you have kids and they like silly things on their pot pie AND you're a crazy mama or papa, like me...then it would look like this:
Them there are little dinosaurs ;-) but I've been known to make leaves, hearts, names and various other critters to top off our pies...just depends on my mood I guess, LOL.
**Now keep in mind that this is another recipe that I use what I have on hand to make. So depending on what is on hand I might replace the cream of chicken with cream of mushroom... the Veg-All with frozen mixed veggies...the chicken breasts with Perdue Shortcuts, canned chicken or rotiseree chicken...you get the idea, use what you have! I have found with couponing and stockpiling at the rock bottom prices that things often vary in my pantry BUT I can still make it work for recipes.**
For the chicken salad, depending on what is in the pantry...I just cut up the chicken and mix it with some mayo and add the following:
dried cranberries OR sliced grapes
chopped walnuts OR pecans
chopped celery
salt and pepper to taste
roasted garlic pieces to taste
You could also add chopped hard boiled eggs or chopped onion if you would like.
If you have a great chicken salad recipe that you want to share, please leave it in the comment section of this post :-) Thanks!
Stay tuned for Part 3 of the Cheap Chicken recipe series...

Cooking 101 ~ Cheap chicken :-) ~ Part 1

Remember that cheap chicken that I got on sale at Target before Thanksgiving? Well, I promised I would show you what I did with it :-) So here we go...

First...I wanted to take the chicken legs and make them very flavorful. In my family there are some who prefer the white meat only...for those folks I needed to make the dark meat really tasty and I knew I would be using it only IN a recipe, not by itself. So here is what I did with one of the $1.00 pack of legs (10 legs) ~

I started by mixing up a Jamaican style spice rub:

2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp. Jamaican jerk seasoning (McCormick's)
2 tsp. garlic salt w/ parsley (Lawry's)
1 tsp. seasoned pepper (Lawry's)
2 tsp. Mixed Up salt (Jane's Krazy)
2 tsp. dried garlic & onion (McCormick's)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (herbs)
2 tsp. light brown sugar
2 tsp. roasted garlic pieces (The Garlic Co., I buy this at Walmart in the spice section)
1 tsp. ground cumin

Mix all the spices together in a shallow bowl and then pour a little olive oil (about 4 tbsp.) in another shallow bowl...I quickly coated the legs in the oil and then rolled them around in the spice mixture...Add the legs to the crockpot and then add enough chicken stock to cover them about 3/4 of the way, be sure to add the liquid to the side of the crock so that you don't wash off all the seasonings. They should look like this...
I cooked these on low for 10 hours (overnight), but you could also do high for about 4-5 hours. Once they are cooked, they will be falling off the bone...literally ;-) So at this point I remove them from the crock and let them cool slightly on a plate, just cool enough to touch.
Out comes the last leg...your crock should look like this: And your house should be smelling fab-u-lous!!! Yummo

Okay...next step is to remove the meat from the bones...I remove the skin and any fat too. your legs should be looking like this...Alrighty...if you made it through the deboning, then your chicken should look like this:
At this point, you would either place in the fridge or seal up for the freezer...mine went in the fridge.

This mixture is mildly spicy...so it goes great in mexican dishes, jamaican dishes, anything that requires a little kick :-)

I actually took one box of jambalaya mix (Zatarain's) and one bag of yellow rice, mixed them together and cooked in a pot on the stove. I added the chicken to the pot at the start of cooking and that way the chicken was heated through by the time the rice had cooked. We added some veggies and some spicy black beans and voila...dinner was served!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Cheap Chicken recipe series....

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, as I count my blessings...I wanted to take a moment and just say that I am so thankful for this ministry and the things that God is doing through it. I am thankful for each and every one of you...my faithful & frugal readers! The last 2 years have been an absolute whirlwind and I'll admit, at times overwhelming...but at the end of the day when I sit down and think of all that God has done in the lives of all the Faithful & Frugal alum...I am blown away :-) I have been so blessed to meet so many of you and hear your stories about how God used this ministry to transform your family in some way...that is an amazing feeling and honestly one that I just can not put into words, it is truly awesome! I am so proud of all of you that have made life changes to better your financial future...you are blessed to be a blessing :-) I also want to thank each one of you that have shared Faithful & Frugal with your friends and family...it is because of you that we are what we are today and for that I am so thankful!

I pray that today you are experiencing a Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and faith :-)Much love and blessings to all!

Angel

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Black Friday Ads ~ Preview the deals


** Wanna see all the Black Friday ads in one place...then go HERE to BlackFriday.info :-) These ads don't come out until Thanksgiving Day...BUT this site has them all posted now!

You can click on each sales ad and see all the available upcoming deals for Friday!

Thanks Shelley & Big 98 WSIX for the heads up!
** If you wanna see another great Black Friday resource...go HERE and check out Faithful Provisions post on BF deals!
Thanks Kelly!
** And don't forget to check out www.SouthernSavers.com and www.AFullCup.com for even more deals!
Most importantly BE SAFE when shopping on Friday...remember that no deal is worth getting hurt or hurting someone else in the process...a $20 DVD player just isn't worth getting trampled over :-)
Happy Shopping!!!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Target ~ NEW Coupon Printing System

THANKS SouthernSavers.com for the heads up on this...

Please be sure and read her post on the NEW system that Target has installed for printing their coupons...it's a BIG CHANGE and not one that I am really thrilled about :-(

I have not been able to verify if this is the same system that will be running on the in-store kiosks or not, because the computers have been down for 3 days at my local store...sorry! Be sure to check one you get to the store.

Go HERE to read the post

My Kroger trip ~ 11/21/09 Saving 75%

I had several FREE item coupons from recent Kroger mailings and they were getting ready to expire, so I made a quick trip and picked up a few sale items along with the FREE items...While I was there I used up my ground beef coupons and my seasoning coupons since they were expiring too...all in all a great trip! Here's what I got:

Spent $16.93 ~ SAVED $48.97 (includes $2.54 tax)
1 Kroger large eggs ~ used FREE item coupon = $FREE
1 Dole salad blend ~ used FREE item coupon = $FREE
1 Aleve caps ~ used FREE item coupon = $FREE
1 Tylenol caps ~ used FREE item coupon = $FREE
1 Duncan Hines cake mix ~ used FREE item coupon = $FREE
2 Starkist tuna pouches ~ $1.00 each ~ used two $0.50/1 MQ = $FREE
6 McCormick grinders ~ $1.00 each ~ used six $1.00/1 MQ = $FREE
4 Kroger ground beef (1lb tube) ~ $1.25 each ~ used four 0.50/1 MQ printables = $0.25 each
4 Campbell's tomato soup ~ $0.73 each ~ used $0.50/2 MQ printable = $0.23 each
1 Scotch Fur Fighter ~ 8.79 ~ used $4.00/1 CellFire ecoup & $4.00/1 MQ = $0.89
1 Kroger butter quarters ~ $1.65 ~ used $0.35/1 store coupon = $1.30
4 Kroger gal. 2% milk ~ $2.35 ~ no coups = $2.35 each
2 Kroger 1/2 gal. chocolate milk ~ $0.99 ~ used $1.00/1 wyb 2 gal. white milk MQ printable = $FREE+
**I normally only buy organic milk, because of the added hormones in regular brands. So when I went to the store I intended to get organic...however it was $2.50 more a gallon, when I read the label on the Kroger milk it stated that their farmers pledge not to treat their cows with hormones...so for this deal we will give it a try :-)

Target ~ My meat deals for 11/20/09

I was super blessed to be able to catch a great meat markdown at Target on Thursday & Friday...we needed meat, so this was perfect timing...Isn't God cool like that?
I stocked up on some chicken and beef. While I was there I meet a great gal that I had only communicated with via email...Rachel it was great meeting you and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your coupon organizer ;-) so chic! I also ran into several F&F peeps too and I met a super sweet lady who teaching canning, woohoo! It was a great outing :-)

Here's what I got:
(sorry no picture, as I was in a hurry and needed to get everything repacked for the freezer)

Spent $27.51 SAVED $76.25 (includes tax)
2 packs of chicken legs (10 piece) $2.50 each - $1.50 coupon on meat = $1.00 each
8 packs of all natural boneless/skinless chicken breasts (1.25lbs package) = $1.50 each
10 packs of Laura's Lean ground beef (1lb pack) $1.00 = $1.00 each
1 pack beef stew meat (2lb pack) $2.35 = $2.35
3 jars Heinz gravy $0.79 each - $1.00/3 MQ coupon = $0.46 each
1 bunch green onions markdown $0.89 = $0.89

Tune in later to see what I did with the chicken legs :-)

**P.S. A big THANKS to whomever left the gravy coupon on top of the gravy jars (it was expiring that day)! If your reading this...you rock! That was a really nice surprise :-)

Publix Penny Item ~ 11/22 & 11/23


The Mystery Penny Item at Publix for Sunday 11/22 & Monday 11/23 is:

Publix Sliced Cheese, individually wrapped

This week's penny item is available with a $10 purchase (before coupons) and is only available on Sunday 11/22 and Monday 11/23.

Happy Shopping!!!

Coupon Preview ~ Sunday 11/22/09


This Sunday 11/22/09, you can expect 1 insert in your Sunday paper:

1 SmartSource

Please remember to pick up the paper with your area's largest distribution (I buy the Tennessean) as papers with lower distribution do not contain as many coupons.
**NEXT WEEK ~ there will be no inserts due to Thanksgiving!

Happy shopping!!!

Friday, November 20, 2009

FREE activity book from Lysol

Parents, family and caregivers -Teach your kids fun ways to learn healthy habits with this exciting booklet filled with games, puzzles, pictures and more-brought to you by the makers of LYSOL® and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP).
Kids will love to learn about healthy eating, hygiene and safety when they play the road safety maze, complete crossword puzzles, connect the dots to discover healthy teeth and gums, and more!

After all, LYSOL® cleaners and disinfectant products have long helped families to avoid illness and maintain good health and hygiene. The Healthy Habits Activity Booklet for Kids is just one more way for the makers of LYSOL® to continue caring for the needs of families and households.

Click here to receive your FREE copy!

THANKS Dr. Mel ;-)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Mall Coupons! Awesome :-)

CBL Malls throughout the country have free holiday coupon books that you can use for stores in your local mall. You can pick these up throughout the mall, or you can print most of them online!

To get to the online coupons for your mall:

1.Go here to find a mall near you, click on your mall.
2.Click on the red box that will pop up at the top of the page.
3.On the left side click on “Holiday Coupon Book”

For the locals...Cool Springs Galleria is included :-)

These are great for Christmas shopping!!!

THANKS Southern Savers!!!

Some more great printables!

Print this $1/1 CoffeeMate creamer coupon...this could mean FREE creamer if a good BOGO sale comes along :-) Go HERE to print yours.

Go HERE to print a $1.50/1 WetOnes coupon! Could also mean FREE wipes with a good BOGO sale.

Here's hoping...fingers crossed ;-)


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tasty Tuesday ~ recipe sharing!

Here is an example of a really cheap meal that will feed a lot of people...there are 4 of us in my family, however this meal fed us and my parents with a little leftover :-) Utilizing coupons and sales...this entire meal costs us less than $4.00!!! Total cooking time from start to finish...25 minutes!

Because I come from a family of Cubans...I LOVE cuban food...however it can be very time consuming and costly to make...so on my budget I revamp things using what I have gotten on sale with coupons to make the meals that I love but without the cost and headache. So, here's what I did...

I start with 2 large cans of black beans (Progresso & Bushs both make a great black bean that we often get coupons for). I know, I know...you're thinking CANNED BEANS yucckkk! But the secret to not having to slave away rinsing, sorting and boiling beans is to buy canned beans and then season them up :-)
Sooo...I start with chopped onion and garlic in a little olive oil, just saute until tender. Then add the beans to the pot and stir together. Next, I season them to taste with "seasoned pepper" and "garlic salt with parsley"...then I add 2 whole bay leaves and a seasoning called "Jamon" (it's made by Goya and found in the ethnic section) basically it is ham flavored concentrate...it is amazing and I use it in all my beans :-)
Now...just let that cook on med. heat for about 15 minutes.

Now is when I start the yellow rice...another real time saver is to used to canned white meat chicken (I stock up when it is on the lowest sale). So I start the water boiling according to the directions on the package...as soon as it boils I add the rice and 1 can of drained sweet peas and 1 can of drained chunk white meat chicken. At this point I cover and simmer according to the package directions...about 20 minutes. Just fluff when ready to serve.
**Side Note ~ depending on what's in my pantry sometimes the chicken is Perdue Shortcuts...sometimes it is leftover rotisserie chicken...just use what you have ;-)

Something that I look for and stock up on when it is on sale is Goya fried plantains (found in the freezer section). These are pretty close to homemade and really super easy to prepare...really, all you do is remove the outer wrap and place in the oven...how simple is that?
While the plantains are baking, so is the bread...this particular night I did not have any cuban bread :-( BUT I did have garlic bread in the freezer...free garlic bread in fact...gotta love coupons! So I improvised again and used that instead.

The only other thing I do for this meal is finely chop some onion and soak that in a little olive oil for topping the black beans. Um, Um Good!

**P.S. If you are the adventurous type and like trying new things...then try adding a little bit of italian dressing to top of your bowl of yellow rice...my family adores it that way :-)

Cracker Barrel ~ Rewards Program!!!

Anyone who knows me...know I LOVE Cracker Barrel...so I am thrilled that there is a NEW rewards program. Go HERE to sign up! You get a $5 off $20 purchase coupon just for joining :-) Then you can earn rewards for eating and shopping as well!

Tons of Printables!!! Go Print yours NOW!

There are a whole new group of Campbell’s, Pepperidge Farm, Swanson, and V8 printable coupons out. Go here to print any.

$1.50/3 Campbell’s Chunky soup bowl or can
$1/4 Campbell’s Condensed “Great for Cooking” soups
.50/2 Campbell’s Condensed Tomato soup
.50/2 Campbell’s Condensed soups (excluding Tomato, Chicken Noodle & Creams)
$1/2 Campbell’s Gravy
$1.50/3 Campbell’s Healthy Request soups
$1.50/3 Campbell’s Select Harvest soup bowl or can
.50/1 French’s French Fried Onions
$1 off Pepperidge Farm Cookie Collection, Holiday Cookie Bites or Pirouette Rolled Wafers
$1/2 Pepperidge Farm Frozen Bread
$1/2 Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Turnovers
$1/2 Pepperidge Farm Stuffing
$1/2 Swanson Stock Cartons
$1/2 V8 100% Vegetable Juice or V8 Splash beverages 64 oz.
$1 off V8 V-Fusion Juice 48 oz.

THANKS Southern Savers!!!
While you printing, go check out ConAgra Food's Simple and Delicious website for even more printables. Go HERE to print!

$1/1 Egg Beaters Flavored Variety
$.50/2 Hunt’s Canned Tomatoes
$1/1 La Choy Creations
$.75/1 Marie Callender’s Pasta Al Dente Al Dente
$.50/1 Wesson Oil

RedPlum also has some NEW printables up...Go HERE to print!

$1/1 Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer or Lip Gloss
$1/1 Burt’s Bees Non-Lip Product
$2/1 Coty Fragrance
$.75/1 I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (Target Only)
$.50/2 Domino’s Sugar
$1/2 Pillsbury Cookie Mixes
$2/1 Prevacid 24-Hour Product
$1/1 Starbucks Ice Cream
$2/1 Visine Product

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