(Note: Each week Frugal Townie and I, in a combined effort post the Grocery Deals Round-Up and aFrugal Recipe that goes right along with the current deals.)
Lately I’ve shared the recipe: BBQ Yardbird Pizza. If you have any leftover chicken, this is a great way to use it!
This week…
There are a LOT of grilling stuff (and veggies) on sale! Visit my recent recipes for ideas. With all the fruit on sale, I’d like to focus on that this week.
Following is a recipe that goes right along with Frugal Townie’s Round-Up for the week of May 16th.
These are the items on sale for this week’s Frugal and Healthy Recipe:
In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring the plums, blackberries, blueberries, half the raspberries, the sugar, and ¼ cup water to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries begin to burst, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in the lemon zest and juice and the remaining raspberries. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 15 minutes.
Line an 8-inch square baking dish with 2 sheets of plastic wrap, allowing at least 6 inches to hang over each side. Place the bottoms of the buns in the dish, cut-side up. Spoon half the fruit mixture over the buns.
Top with the remaining buns, cut-side up, and the remaining fruit mixture. Cover with the overhanging plastic wrap, a plate, and two 15-ounce cans. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1½ hours. Spoon the pudding into bowls and top with whipped cream (if using).
It’s great to see more new faces this week!! I just love hosting this blog hop and getting the chance to see what projects are out on the blogsphere!! (Scroll down to link up!)
Sorry, I haven’t made it to everyone’s link yet (busy graduation weekend), but I will!! I make it my priority to follow everyone’s blog by the second time they link up (usually in my Google Reader) and like/follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. So if you link up, you will be followed! (by me, at least) Plus, I do pin your projects on my Favorite’s Board.
First, I’d like to show you what I’ve been up to this week, then I’ll reveal my favorite5!
Wine Bottle Luminaries
As we’ve been going through our house and decluttering, we found that we had MANY wine bottles we have collected. My husband suggested we put them to use in our decor as luminaries!
This was really easy to do, once we had the right tools. All we needed were:
- protective glasses & masks
- drill
- glass drill bit $15 from Home Depot
I helped to hold the wine bottles in place, while my husband drilled the hole:
This took some time, but once we had the holes drilled, it was easy to put a string of lights in and voila!
I love how it looks in our corner table in the living room:
My Favorite Five!
(You need to have a link back to Romance on a Dime on the project post or sidebar to be featured.)
If you’ve been featured today, or in the past, please grab a feature button from the sidebar!
What projects have you been working on lately?
*Link to a specific post (no giveaways)
*Link something you’ve done recently
*Post my button (found on the sidebar) on your blog OR a text link on the post (otherwise you won’t be featured!)
*Visit & comment on at least TWO other links posted
*Come back to see if you’ve been featured or pinned!
Come back Wednesday for a Frugal Recipe, Friday for Fabulous Friday Links, and Saturdayfor Saturday Spotlight. Thank you all! I LOVE seeing what you’ve been up to!
How’s it going everyone? Whew! I’m still recovering from the weekend. I’m exhausted physically and socially. Both my husband AND my youngest sister graduated this weekend. Friday evening we had the Arts convocation to attend for my husband (beforehand we hosted a BBQ dinner for family and close friends) and afterwards we hosted a party! Saturday I watched my sister graduated, then hung out at her house to celebrate on Saturday evening. Yesterday, my husband “walked down the hill” as is tradition for KU graduates. After that I/we didn’t do much of anything for the rest of the day.
We had a good number of leftovers from our graduation party, so you will note that on this week’s menu (we also froze some hamburgers for another time!!)
Step 1: In a microwave-safe bowl, stir together 1 c. black beans, 4 Tbl. salsa, 1 tsp. ground cumin and microwave on high for 40 seconds.
Step 2: Arrange 24 baked tortilla chips on two separate plates, top each with 1/4 c. reduced-fat Cheddar cheese and microwave on high for 30 seconds.
Step 3: Top chips and cheese with half of black bean mixture on each plate. Then add 2 c. lettuce, 1/2 tomato(chopped), 1/2 c. salsa, 2 Tbl. fat-free sour creamto each plate.
Serves 2.
Dinner: leftover Greek Pizza (I’m working on putting the recipe up on Romance on a Dime!)
Wednesday
Lunch: Taco Salad
Dinner: P.B. & J with fruit (maybe we will still have some leftover Pizza)
I’ve decided to break down all my goals for 2012 and May’s goals into manageable bite size weekly goals. Each Monday I will plan on blogging about my 10 Weekly Goals – how I did and giving my new goals for the week. Here are my goals for this week:
Wife/Marriage Goals
1. Write a love note to Matt
Home Management Goals
2. Declutter project - finish office organization (craft supplies) - I still have a little bit of craft stuff to organize.
3. Calculate the cost for the meals I make this week - I didn’t get this done…
4. Freezer cooking: Healthy Granola
Personal Goals
5. Couch 2 5K – Week 7
6. Read 7-10 chapters of the Old Testament
7. Finish the Resolutions for Women study and start a new study
I have all of June lined up as well. But I don’t want to spoil the fun by telling you all of my line up now!! If you are interested in guest posting for Romance on a Dime, check this post for a list of suggested topics.
This week we have Katie from Creatively Living in the Spotlight! She is so inspiring!! I have LOVED all the projects she has linked up to my Take it on Tuesday blog hop. Top, she is showing us a recent mailbox makeover. I love the end result:
I’m excited to be guest posting at Romance on a Dime today!
I’m going to share one of my latest project with you.
You see, I had a very ugly mailbox.
I liked the triangular handle, and it’s shape, but it was faded, and boring.
I wanted to adhere some nice vinyl wording on it, or something fun, but we have a serious lack of fun vinyl where I live, and I could only find any words I liked in black.
So, I decided to make my own wording for my mailbox makeover!
First I took the handle off and spray painted it with black.
Next, I took my favorite vintage wallpaper, (that I have stashed in my basement), and used WordArt in Microsoft Word to create this “Hello” sign that could be cut out.
Then I took the wording and used two coats of Modge Podge to seal them on the mailbox.
Even though it was thicker wallpaper, I still had to smooth the ridges out a couple times. I put one coat of Modge Podge on, let it dry, and then applied the second coat.
Perfect. Now i have a eye-catching mailbox in my entryway.
Now this mailbox is under an awning, so it won’t be getting very wet. I’m not sure how well this would work if it was constantly getting hit by bad weather.
I really like how it turned out. It works well with the blue house and my red geraniums
….and, the makeover was FREE
Thank you so much for stopping by. A big thanks to Betsy for letting me share it with you!
(Note: Each week Frugal Townie and I, in a combined effort post the Grocery Deals Round-Up and a Frugal Recipe that goes right along with the current deals.)
Lately I’ve shared the recipe: Spring Salad with Grilled Veggies. Many of the items needed for that are still on sale this week (bold items means it’s the best price):
- Toppings: ½ cup sliced roasted chicken breast + ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese + ½ cup sliced red onion + ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro – optional (we didn’t choose to use cilantro the first time making this, but we certainly will the second time!)
Preparation:
I make my own pizza dough using: 6 cups flour + 1-2 Tbl. yeast + 2 cups warm water + 2Tbl. oil.
Mix together ingredients, knead, and let rise until doubled. (This makes 2 pizza crusts.)
Add base and toppings to pizza, then cooked at 425 degrees for 25 min (I switch the pizzas in the oven halfway through for even cooking.)
So easy to make and it’s also very affordable. This pizza costs me about $3 to make. Pretty cheap meal! (Flour & Cheese from CostCo, Chicken – boneless chicken I cooked up myself for $1.88/lb., red onion from checkers) I am still adding to my recipe calculator, but that is something that is coming to Romance on a Dime in the near future!
Or, if you want to have Romance on a Dime delivered to your email, just add in your email address (located in the sidebar, near the top). Thanks so much!!
Additionally, Yogurt (Kroger Greek) is on sale – $4 / 5 @ Dillons.
It’s great to see more new faces this week!! I just love hosting this blog hop and getting the chance to see what projects are out on the blogsphere!!
Again, I’m going to make it my priority this week to follow everyone’s blog and like/follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. So if you link up, you will be followed! (by me, at least) If I didn’t follow you last week, I will this week!! Plus, I do pin your projects on my Favorite’s Board.
My Favorite Five!
(You need to have a link back to Romance on a Dime on the project post or sidebar to be featured.)
Katie’s {Creatively Living} The Kitchen Reveal – she has a pretty amazing kitchen!
Finally (yes, I’m adding a sixth again!) I absolutely LOVED Lindsay’s {Southern Lovely} Knock-off Striped Skirt
If you’ve been featured today, or in the past, please grab a feature button from the sidebar!
Duct Tape Purses
My Sister-in-law and Mother-in-law have been busy crafting lately. This weekend they showed me, and allowed me to help with one of their projects!!
Aren’t they so cute? They are amazingly easy to make too!
Step 1: Create Duct Tape Fabric
You do this by putting duct tape back to back. In this instance we chose the pink polka dots and a solid blue duct tape. The blue duct tape was actual duct tape sheets they had purchased at Michaels.
After creating duct tape fabric for the front and back of the purse, we put strips together to form the binding. For this we chose pink polka dots on one side and a cupcake pattern for the other side.
Step 2: Tape the pieces together and add binding
After we had all the pieces made, we lined them up like this and started taping them together, using the cupcake patterned duct tape for our binding:
Step 3: Make the ruffles
We used a box to help hold the form, as we were bending it around. (Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the rest of the process!!) Velcro secured the top flap over the purse.
Have you ever made anything out of duct tape? What projects have you been working on lately?
*Link to a specific post (no giveaways)
*Link something you’ve done recently
*Post my button (found on the sidebar) on your blog OR a text link on the post (otherwise you won’t be featured!)
*Visit & comment on at least TWO other links posted
*Come back to see if you’ve been featured or pinned!
Come back Wednesday for a Frugal Recipe, Friday for Fabulous Friday Links, and Saturdayfor Saturday Spotlight. Thank you all! I LOVE seeing what you’ve been up to!
Last week I talked about our new “Once a Month Cooking Plan“. The goal is to spend $125 the first week, then $25 each additional week. This week I’d like to share with you the breakdown of what we spent our money on the first week:
CostCo trip (I set $40 aside to spend for this trip, but only spent $30)
$6.75 for 25 pounds flour
$4.35 for 32 ounces Cheddar Cheese
$1.99 for gallon of skim milk
$13.50 for Perrier (my husband is now drinking Perrier instead of Pepsi!)
$1.19 for dozen eggs (I took a friend to CostCo and we split 3 dozen eggs)
$1.08 for 5 Aluminum pans (again, my friend took most of the package)
Total (with tax) = $29.25
Aldi trip
$2.97 for 3 pounds strawberries
$1.68 for 3 pounds Gala apples
$4.47 for 3 jars (24 oz. each) of Salsa
$2.38 for 2 bags Tortilla chips
$1.38 for 2 cans evaporated milk
$1.98 for 2 cans pitted olives
$2.97 for Basil, Oregano, & Parsley Flakes (1.125 oz each)
I’ve decided to break down all my goals for 2012 and May’s goals into manageable bite size weekly goals. Each Monday I will plan on blogging about my 10 Weekly Goals – how I did and giving my new goals for the week. Here are my goals for this week:
Welcome to the third post in my new guest post series: Saturday Spotlight!
Each Saturday, I will be featuring a guest post from another blogger. This series will be covering topics from creative crafts to DIY projects/tips to inspiring stories. If you are interested in guest posting for Romance on a Dime, check this post for a list of topics.
This week we have Handmade by Hilani in the Spotlight! I have LOVED all the projects she has linked up to my Take it on Tuesday blog hop. It’s fun to see what she comes up with – very creative! Today, she has a yummy treat to share with us:
You can normally find me, in my spare time, outside of Staying at home with two boys, sewing! I love sewing and by the request of friends, I turned my hobby into a small business. I’ve been sewing off and on for over 13+ years and never seem to get bored by it!
I’m Crafty when free time allows & Passionate about a lot; one passion being sweets. I’m so excited to be here, sharing my fun Apple Dip recipe. It’s always a hit when ever I bring it. And I feel less guilty about eating it, since there’s fruit involved.
The Apple Dip
Satisfies 10-12 Adults
Prep to Serve Time:
15 Minutes – the apple cutting takes the longest
Ingredients:
1 Bar of Cream Cheese, soften (1/3 fat ok)
1/2 of Light Brown Sugar
4 large Green Apples, sliced
1/4 or so of Creamy Caramel
4 Skor or Toffee Candy Bars
1 Pie Dish or a Serving Plate
Step 1:
Combine in a small bowl your Brown Sugar and Softened Cream Cheese
Step 2:
Smear Cream Cheese mixture into/onto your serving dish
Step 3:
Open your Caramel Tub (I try to use Low-Fat when available, makes me feel better)
Grab a large Dollop with your Spatula and begin to spear a layer of it onto the cream cheese mixture
It should look like this when finished.
Step 4:
Break open all candy bars and place into your processor. If a processor isn’t available, in the past I’ve placed all broken candy pieces into a ziplock bag. I’ve then place the bag in between a dish town and used the flat side of a spoon to mash up the pieces finely.
After mixing it should, can, look like this; some finely chopped and some pieces still large.
Step 5:
Remove all large pieces and place to the side. Sprinkle finely chopped candy over top of dish to evenly cover the mixture below. Add remaining large pieces to the processor and mix again.
Step 6:
Wash and dry your apples and begin to cut them into wedges. You can use an apple cutter but I’ve found that it’s the same amount of time. I like to cut them clean, meaning remove any core pieces from the apple.
Once you’ve finished cutting, place your apples into an air tight container and marinate them in 1/4 cup of lemon juice to preserve freshness and prevent browning. 7-up works as well.
When ready to serve, assemble apple wedges all the way around the brim of your dish.
Enjoy!!!
A Big thanks to Betsy for having me over, and letting me share this with her fans!
As I’ve been thinking about the coming year and gift giving, my plan is to make more presents so we can save money. I still want to give something meaningful and useful, but I would like to spend little, if no money on it. Instead, I’m going to put time, effort, and thought into my gifts.
With Mother’s Day coming up, I set about the task of searching for something perfect for my mom(s). Here are some ideas:
Make a Vintage Bookmark from a single earring, or other jewelry piece! {Country Living}
Cute Bath Jars and label printables!! {The Idea Room}
If you already purchase Starbucks Frappuccinos, then this is nearly free!
(Note: Each week Frugal Townie and I, in a combined effort post the Grocery Deals Round-Up and a Frugal Recipe that goes right along with the current deals.)
Lately I’ve shared the recipe: Tropical Fruit Toss. Here is a list of fruit on sale this week (bold items means it’s the best price):
- Bananas- $0.19/lb @ Checkers
- Grapes (Red)- $1.88/lb @Checkers
- Mangoes- $0.29/ ea @ Aldi - Pears- $0.99/ 4 pk @ Aldi - Strawberries- $0.99/lb @ Aldi
This week…
There are a LOT of grilling stuff (and veggies) on sale! Here’s a recipe that goes right along with Frugal Townie’s Round-Up for the week of May 2nd.
These are the items on sale for this week’s Frugal and Healthy Recipe:
This Spring we’ve been able to use a gas grill for the first time (we were given it late last fall). It has been so amazing!! The above picture was taken after we decided on the spot that we wanted grilled veggies on our salad, not raw. In no time the grill was ready and the veggies cooking.
Neither my husband or I are zucchini fans, but we LOVED the grilled zucchini on the salad. The flavor really meshed well with the romaine lettuce, grilled red onion, and EVOO Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing.
Since there are mushrooms and peppers on sale this week, I’m sure they would be a great addition to the salad!
Grocery Savings Tip: Making your leftovers a full meal with veggies
Another thing we have had recently grilled is corn on the cob. Sometimes, we were are trying to stretch our leftovers into a full meal, it’s nice to add fresh veggies or fruit to the mix. This week I made Butternut Squash & Parsnip Baked Pasta. When we were eating the leftovers, I suggested we grilled the corn on the cob as the side. This really complemented the meal and filled us up! Plus, we were using produce we had bought on sale.
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