Wordy Wednesday

Patty cake or Prayer?

Ranch Style Beans

We just love Ranch beans and the homemade beans are the best. Try this recipe for stocking up or building your "recession proof pantry."

2 lbs bacon, optional
7 lbs pinto beans
3 bottles catsup (small)
1 large can of tomato juice
2 T. chili powder
1/2 cup salt
6 large onions, chopped

Pick and wash the beans and soak over night. Next morning, drain them and cover with cold water then cook for 25 minutes at a simmer. Add water if needed. Mix all other ingredients, pour over beans, and simmer 10 more minutes. Pack hot into clean and sterilized quart size jars leaving 1 1/2 inch headspace. Process the jars in a pressure canner at 10 lbs of pressure for one hour. This will make 16 quarts.

Super Savings Saturday

Here's the savings for this week. I made 2 trips to Walmart...none out of my way, I was already in the area for other business.

Transaction 1

Planters Peanuts - 2.68 x 2
Kotex pantiliners - $1 x 2
Just Bunches cereal 2.62 x 1
Crayola crayons .22 x 4
Koolaid 0.20 x 6
Gold Bond lotion - 0.97 x 1
Buddies soap 0.94 x 4
Schick razors 1.97 x 2

Total before coupons - 20.73
Minus coupons - 19.00
Total AFTER coupons - 1.73

Transaction 2

Planters Peanuts 2.68 x 2
V8 Fusion 2.98 x 1
Just Bunches cereal 2.50 x 1
Pert Plus shampoo 2.88 x 2
French's mustard 1.52 x 1
Vlasic relish 1.08 x 2
Vlasic Ovals 1.98 x 2
Zantac 4.23 x 1
Buddies soap 0.94 x 6
Gold Bond lotion 0.97 x 2
Koolaid 0.20 x 6

Total before coupons - 37.25
Minus coupons - 30.52 (one was the free mustard)
Total AFTER coupons - 6.73

A Challenge?

My friend, Michelle, has challenged me to post more often. She tells me that she checks several times a day to see if anything is new. She has also suggested a few things she would like to see which is very helpful for thinking of topics.

Therefore, my question is...what topics YOU would like to see covered. I have a few on my list that I'm working on but I like to keep that list full....so leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

Financial Peace - June Update

In June, we paid off another credit card! Whoo Hooo!

Here is where we are in our "Baby Steps"

1. Emergency fund - DONE! August 2007
2. Debt Snowball - working, scheduled to complete by January 2010 but we are working HARD to be done before then...hopefully WAY before then!

It does not seem like we have gone far but when you consider where we were in August 2007 when we took our first class, we have made leaps of progress. We are no longer on the brink of bankruptcy and we see a light at the end of the tunnel and feel more hope than ever before!

We are also going to be saving for a van to replace ours when needed. It is getting old but we are hoping to hold off a little longer...after all...it ONLY has 191,000 miles on it! :) I have mixed feelings about replacing it because it has been such a good van with very few mechanical problems but, as with all things in this life...they don't last forever.

We were coordinators for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University back during the spring and we are happy to announce the beginning of our second class. We learned a lot in our first session and we're excited to get started again and apply what we learned. This will be our second time "teaching" and our third time "in" the class. We will be starting in late August and finish right before Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping season. Please pray with us that this class will make great changes in the lives of the participants.

Beef Marinades

A couple weeks ago, we had some delicious marinades for chicken. Today, along those same lines, we have marinades for beef. As with the chicken marinades, mix these up, divide steaks into gallon sized freezer bags, pour in the marinade, mix it around a little and freeze flat. Then simply thaw and cook as desired by baking, slow cooker or grilling.

Use these to save money and avoid those yucky preservatives found in store-bought marinades.

Basic instructions are to mix ingredients together well and marinate beef (steaks or roasts) overnight or put it in the freezer for later.

Stir-Fry (slice beef thin)

1/3 cup sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Schzeuchuan pepper seasoning
2 tsp ground ginger

Fajitas (slice beef thin)

1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 Tbs dried onion
1 tsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced

Teriyaki

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp curry
1/2 cup beef broth
3 Tbs orange juice

Beef Marinade (for roasts or steaks, this is great in the crockpot)

1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cup beef broth
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1 small can mushroom pieces (optional)

Wordy Wednesday

Beautiful climbing roses.