Six Word Saturday

OK, for fun, thought I'd try to sum up my week in six words to play along with this meme. This week has been one of the most stressful I've had in a very long time, dealing with some serious problems with DD's Type I Diabetes and the school's poor responses to the issues-- and I'm just too wiped out to write out all the details. So, in sum:

Don't mess with this Mama Bear!

Tomato Overload! Help?

Help! I know it's a common problem this time of year, but, I'm looking for ways to use up tomatoes, specifically the bite-sized cherry tomatoes.

My kids are unusual in that they love tomatoes... in fact, in the winter time I buy the cherry tomatoes in the 5lb. boxes. They love to snack on them, and I frequently make a tomato salad, tossing them with cheese and Italian dressing.

However, right now we're all just sick and tired of them. The cherry tomatoes don't freeze as well as larger ones, so I really want to use these up. So, if you have a tasty recipe for some of these tiny tomatoes, I'd love to hear it!

Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

A friend has blessed us with several zucchini this summer (and last), and this zucchini bread has become one of my new favorites. It tastes wonderful, and, it doesn't dirty up very many dishes as it can all be mixed in one bowl. I love to have a warmed-up slice of this with a glass of iced coffee.... mmmm... perfection!

Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons vanilla

1 cup oil (I use canola.)
2 cups zucchini, grated

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using one big bowl, combine ingredients in the order listed. Divide batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake for one hour.

I'm linking up with both Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday... check them out to find more great recipes!

Operation Organization: Oops!

Confession time: I signed up, had a list of small projects in mind, and then promptly forgot to follow-up with blogging my goals after week one on the Operation Organization Challenge. Ugh! There have just been too many things on my mind lately with school starting and some other life things, and blogging has fallen to the bottom of my list.... but I'm still here! :)

Anyways.... our entire family worked together last week to do a big clean-up of the basement playroom. The carpet is now spotless... and more importantly, you can SEE the carpet because all of the toys are put away on shelves and in baskets. There is still more organizing to do down there, but we got rid of several large outgrown toys and cleared some space. It looks MUCH better!

So, my goal for this coming week: to reclaim the kitchen island cupboard. This is where things like mixing bowls and casserole dishes live, but it's also where things get stashed when we're in a hurry. Things are starting to pile up in there, and a plastic bowl fell out when I opened the door the other day. Oops. Time to reorganize and purge the island!

My other goal for this week: to rejoin Operation Organization and remember to post before/after photos! :) Check out the other participants and cheer them on over at Coming Clean: Confessions of an Imperfect Parent.

Menu Plan Monday

School starts on Tuesday~ we have a very busy week ahead! We also have a lot of fresh veggies on hand, so tomatoes and salad will be on the table every night.

• MONDAY: new recipe: Grilled Moroccan Chicken, grilled potatoes, tossed salad


• TUESDAY: tacos & all the fixings, new recipe: SongBirdTiff's refried beans, ... meal by request of the new first-grader :)


• WEDNESDAY: hamburgers, grilled potatoes, tossed salad


• THURSDAY: new recipe: Baked Pork Chops, squash, tossed salad


• FRIDAY: new recipe: Pasta with Garlic & Tomatoes, tossed salad

Check out more great menu plans or share your own at Menu Plan Monday!

WFMW: organzing coupons by store & sale

Coupon clipping, sale watching, cherry picking deals.... it can all become very time consuming, and very confusing.

Here's the super-easy way I organize my list by store and by coupon when I'll have a few smaller stops to make during the week. I use one envelope, often a recycled junk mail envelope, per store. I list the item, sale price, and coupons I have. Then I tuck those coupons into the envelope, and I'm ready to go. The envelopes go into my purse until I have a chance to stop at the store-- which could be on an at-home day, or, on my lunch break from my part-time job. Sometimes I also carry my coupon file for last-minute deals, and sometimes I just stick with the list-- it depends on how much time/ money I have!

To see what I got with this {messy} list.... and learn how CVS paid me $4.77 to take these things home.... check out my previous post.

And for more great Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to We Are THAT Family!

CVS paid me again. :)

Yesterday's CVS run:

• Huggies Diapers: on sale 2/$18
• used 2 coupons: -$1.50 printable, -$2 home mailer
• *see Coupons.com in my right sidebar for printable coupon
• received $4 ECBs
• = like paying $5.25 per pack
• Revlon Colorstay Mousse Make-Up: on sale $9.99
• received $9.99 ECBs
• = FREE
• Colgate Toothpaste: on sale, B1G1 free (2/$2.79)
• used $1 coupon from newspaper
• = $.90 each (x2)

Final breakdown: I had $12.96 in ECB's to spend. I had gone to the website just before we left the house, and watched a quick video, answered a couple of questions, and was rewarded with a $5 off $25 coupon. I paid $9.22 out of pocket, then received $13.99 back in ECB's.... which means a profit of $4.77!

My receipt also included my August freebie, which was a bottle of CVS brand aspirin, "up to $3.69 value". I'll use that on my next trip.

For more CVS deals and steals, check out this week's CVS posts at The Centsible Sawyer and Money Saving Mom . And if none of this makes sense to you, I recommend Money Saving Mom's CVS 101 Primer for a great "newbie" post on how to play the CVS game!

Abortion Doesn't Belong in "Health Care"

I am so tired of hearing about the proposed healthcare "reform" and the crazy paid people who show up and scream at town hall meetings. I saw a man on the news tonight who was screaming about "keeping the government out of Medicare"... ummm, hello? Who does he think runs that program now? ::sigh::

I strongly oppose the whole mess myself, for several reasons, but I don't think that screaming is accomplishing anything. I think it's our duty as Americans to become as educated about the issues as possible, and then act like reasonable people in expressing our views.

Want an easy (non-screaming) way to express your ProLIFE views? Click the pink button above and sign the petition. From there you can also write letters to your representatives and read more details on what the proposed "reforms" might mean.

This quote, swiped directly from the Happy Catholic, sums things up pretty well for me: Catholics want to "extend health care to as many people as possible...but you can't call it health care if it includes a type of killing. It's as simple as that."

Cathleen Kaveny, law and theology professor

University of Notre Dame

quoted in the Wall Street Journal

Don't forget to check out the great freebies and deals I share from other people's blogs.... you'll find them in a white and green box near the top of my right sidebar. I enjoy reading about these offers and often take advantage of them myself. Current highlights include free food at Fazoli's (kids eat free on August weekends-- who knew?!), free Domino's cake for August birthdays, and free cat food.

Operation Organization Challenge: Week 1

OK, this challenge is right up my alley. Join the "Operation Organization Challenge" for the next eight weeks to share your progress on organizing eight areas in your home. Don't worry, they don't have to be huge projects.... you set your own goal each week, and it can be as simple as cleaning out a junk drawer.

My first project was on my to-do list this week anyway... finish up the master bedroom. I started it two days ago, when I was home with a sick child and had some unexpected free time. I cleared off all the flat surfaces, polished all the furniture, vacuumed, and rearranged the decorative items on the entertainment center.

What's left? I'd like to clean out the bookcase, go through the decorative basket of unmatched socks and pitch any that have been mate-less for a while, and get rid of any other random clutter that's left in the room. It doesn't sound like much, but it will do my spirits a world of good to get that room completely clutter-free, so that's my goal for the week!