To Go or Not To Go to the Warehouse Stores...

Warehouse shopping isn't always cheaper.  It is actually almost never cheaper, more convenient YES -- less expensive NO.

However, there are several items that I always buy at my local warehouse store.  These are items that we ALWAYS eat and eat LOTS of...

	Warehouse Price	Grocery Store Price
Cheese Sticks	48 @ 8.28	24 @ 5.49
Shredded Cheese	80oz @ 11.88	32oz @ 8.38
Bacon Bits	20oz @ 8.98	3oz @ 2.76
Salad in a Bag	32oz @ 2.88	9oz @ 3.50
Fuji Apples	6lbs @ 5.98	1lb @ 1.99

Other items that we often save money on are Strawberries, Roma Tomatoes, and Generic Claritn.

You have to be smart when shopping at a warehouse stores, think about what items are on sale and what items you can buy at your grocery store with coupons.

Warehouse shopping is a great place to stock up on all those items you know you have to have, but only if the price is right.  I wanted to stock up on Tuna the last time I went and was very disappointed that the price per a can was actually about 25 cents more expensive than my grocery store.  You have to pay attention to the Unit Price Sticker and remember the prices from your grocery store.

 Learning how to read these little stickers was the first truly 'grown-up' & responsible thing I did.  There are tons of sites out there that can explain them better than I, so I will leave that up to google.

Here is my Grocery List Price Sheet that I use all the time.  I only add items that I buy often and items that have varying prices.  Feel Free to print or download, and I hope it helps you like it has helped me...



While at your warehouse store, think about other things you've been thinking about purchasing.  For example, I have wanted a new broom for awhile.  We have hard wood floors and a black lab, I sweep 2-3 times a day!  I wanted a broom with a LONG handle (I'm very tall), I wanted the handle to be very sturdy and not come unscrewed while I swept. I also wanted a wide head.  I wanted it it cover as much floor space as possible....I wanted a lot!!  I looked everywhere, and nothing was the right price or the right quality.  Low and behold I found the absolute perfect broom in the industrial cleaning section at my local warehouse store for a whopping low price of $8.00.  The little flimsy ones at Wal-Mart weren't even that inexpensive.

Warehouse shopping is a hit or miss, you can save big but if not paying attention you could also spend big!  So if you've never shopped at a warehouse, keep these tips in mind and double check your prices.  

I am in NO WAY a budget savvy frugalista, but I try.  

So, please take my tips with a grain of salt, 

and if you have better tips for shopping at a warehouse store, PLEASE share them...

we are all trying to save a few pennies here and there.

Thanks!!

~XOXO~

Alisha

You can often find me at these Parties!

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Meal Plan {2/27-3/4} Changes

This week went by so very fast!!  I was not prepared at all for today's meal plan.

Avery and I have been sick...we have the crude....coughing, hacking, fever, sore throat, all over feeling yucky!!

Due to the vast amount of time spent cuddled on the couch, I have been fiddling with a new theme....do you like??  Can you tell that aqua is one of my favorite colors?  If you find any pieces out of order please let me know so that I can fix it.  I am not an HTML/CSS code expert, but I know a thing or two.

So I am in the mood for soup, yummy comforting soup...maybe because I haven't felt good.

Monday (2/27): Fajita Salad

Tuesday (2/28): Pasta Fagioli

Wednesday (2/29): Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

    Thursday (3/1): Leftovers

Friday (3/2): Pizza Rolls

Saturday (3/3): Ribs

Sunday (3/4): Salad & Sandwiches

Monday (3/5): Chicken & Rice Casserole

Tuesday (3/6):  Not Real Sure...

I have several recipes to post so please check back often...

I link up every week at Organizing Junkie, because even before we started this Gluten Free way of life and I wrote out our meals on the backs of envelopes or kid's school work, I always visited her site for inspiration.

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Chocolate & Peanut Butter Bars

Saturday I got the urge to bake. It may have been because my son was rummaging around the kitchen looking for anything that would half way resemble a cookie. Poor kid, we haven’t had any cookies in a while…I should have waited till Sunday to start this ordeal seeing as it was already almost 9pm.


At first I think its ruined…
The recipe I am adapting says to cook for 30 minutes, but when I check it at 22, the sides are already too brown for my liking. I do the tooth pick test and the center is still gooey…I was not sure what to do. I covered it with foil and turned the oven off, figuring it was a lost cause anyway.
In every book and blog I have read, every author stresses the importance of taking whatever you are making out of the pan and letting it cool on a rack. So in my attempt to do that I lost the majority of the middle of the cookie bars. It broke apart into two clean pieces, no crumbling or anything…


Feeling Completely Dejected, I covered it in foil and went to bed…

My son, who would eat anything with a little chocolate in it, decided he was going to have the first taste test. (at 7am) My daughter, who is a bit more picky about her sweets had the second taste test. (7:05am) And then, when they woke up my husband with chocolate smeared all over their mouths, he decided to join them in the taste testing…

Their official responses were “tastes kinda like a scone”, “not pretty, but very yummy”, and “can you add more chocolate chips next time”.

adapted from Bakerella

Congo Bars
2 3/4 c. GLUTEN FREE FLOUR (Bob's Red Mill)
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder (already in flour mix)
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. butter, softened
2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 package milk chocolate chips
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)



I added 1 cup Chunky Peanut Butter mixed with 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  I roughly mixed it into the already prepared batter and then spread it in the pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended. Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour and mix until combined. Stir in chips and then pecans.

Coat a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

Inspired by Six Sisters' Stuff

See where I Link Up...

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10 Day YOU Challenge: {Day 2} 9 Loves

9 Loves

This is going to be so super easy, too easy...

My first thought was to list off 9 foods that I really really love and have yet to replace in a gluten free replica.  

But, there really aren't 9 foods that I can't have, only one...

So, when I lived in Miami, I lived in Coconut Grove, which is a more upper class area of Miami.  I was a hick from Texas, working at a deli that sold $1000 bottles of wine and fresh bagels made daily.

If you've never had a fresh bagel, you are in for a treat.  They taste nothing like what is sold at the grocery store.  They are soft and so very chewy, mmmmm, just good!!

1)The only way to eat a bagel in my opinion is with cream cheese, tomato, and salt & pepper.  I LOVE THIS!


I am thinking the rest of the list will be pretty straight forward...Maybe a picture or two…

2) Pedicures.  I love to go get a pedicure.  Not only do I get pretty toes, but I get time with my girlfriends and a bonus back massage.  (all of the spas here have massaging pedicure chairs)

3) My husband's shoulder/chest...there is this spot that my head fits perfectly.  No matter what is happening, if I lay down in that spot, and he plays with my hair, I will pass out and sleep like a baby for at least 4 hours.  I love that he lets me take a nap when I need one.  I love that there are days that he says "come on you need to go take a nap."  I love that, even though my insomnia is a hassle and really a major pain in the rear, he is understanding most of the time.

4) My son's imagination.  He is amazing!  When he was about 3, we watched Eragon.  For months after, he would tell me stories about his dragon that lived on our roof and ate his corn dogs.  His dragon took all the leaves off our oak tree for his bed and then sneezed and they got all over our yard.  His dragon also decided that he was only allowed to eat chocolate and broccoli.  That one was a little difficult!  His imagination has matured as he has...he now draws robots and creates lego master pieces.  He plays with his voice, creating a new sound every 5 minutes.  This may not actually be a love...most of them are high pitched & squeaky!

5) "Oh I'm a pepper He's a pepper She's a pepper We're a pepper Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too!"  I am a HUGE Diet Dr. Pepper Drinker...I probably have more DDP in my blood stream than actual blood.  Yes, I drink that much...

REFORMED as of a week ago (2/13), I have not had a drop of DDP...I went through detox & everything!!

6) Cracking open a new book and falling in love.  I LOVE to read.  I love learn about the characters and picture them in my head.  I really do not like watching a movie before I've read the book.  If left a lone, I could sit and read an entire book cover to cover, in an afternoon.

7) Watching my children grow.  I always hated when people would say, "You'll understand when you're a mother", but, here I am saying it...They is just no way to put into words the exact emotion that comes from watching your child grow.  It is joy, love, fear, sadness, excitement, and so much more all rolled into one...I love it!

8) Winter.  I love Winter...but I have to explain...I live in South Texas, we have 9 months of sweltering 100 degree summer, and 3 months of bipolar winter.  I say bipolar winter, because Mother Nature just can't decide what to do...
Here is an actual weather forecast

• Monday 50 & Foggy
• Tuesday 87 & Humid
• Wednesday 70 & Foggy
• Thursday 60 & Drizzle
• Friday 50 & Rain
• Saturday 90 & Humid

And we all wonder why we keep getting sick.  It is wet, then dry, then hot, and then cold...
I would love to live in a climate that had all 4 seasons, with trees that changed colors and you actually needed to own a winter coat. 

9) My Husband and Children...they are my everything.  I love them more than anything else.  Without them none of the above would matter at all.  We are a small little family, but we are strong and solid.  We laugh at each other and with each other, we help when help is needed and we support without being asked.  We love with our whole hearts and we do our best to always share our true feelings.

To learn all there is about me visit the Who are We page.
You can also read about my 10 Secrets here. 

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Avery's Design Board {Room Make Over}

There is so much to do in Avery's room.

Her furniture is tattered and trashed looking compared to the crisp pretty new walls. 

I browsed Craigslist last night and there wasn't a single item under $50.  I don't know where all these DIY crafters live that get all these hideous pieces of furniture and then turns them into masterpieces...I even keep my eye out for any dumpster dive worthy furniture...nothing!!  Maybe I need to go drive around a different town...lol

I have pinned a few pictures of inspiration.  Most everything is bright and crisp...Not sure what Avery will say.  I know she wants Bright Pink, Light Orange, and Green, like a jade green color....she wants a bright cheery room!!

 

source

source

source

source

no longer available on etsy :(

Please tell me what you think!!  Any tips on where I could find CHEAP furniture??

Have a great day!!


Linked Up

• Show Me What You Got @ Not Just a Housewife
• Homemeade Projects @ Tip Junkie
• Creative Bloggers' Party @ Homemaker on a Dime 
• Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

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Avery's Extreme Room Make Over {part 1}

We have been very busy this weekend!!  

FYI...This is a long post...

Currently the entire Contents of Avery's room is spread out in the hall, our bedroom, and the living room.  

Her room has been gutted and stripped bare down to the concrete floors....

Non of this was really in the plans for this weekend.  It has been in the talks, but it was always a distant future that we would tackle the kids rooms...

We purchased our home in 2000.  It is a very basic starter home, no frills, bells, or whistles.  When we moved in, we were young, poor and too scared to touch anything.  We left everything contractor white until 6 months into my pregnancy with Avery.   Bed rest be damned, I was determined to paint a mural on those walls!  I think I finally stopped adding stuff to it when she was 3.  It would have been sooner but I had to go paint a boys mural too...

So, then Avery, my very artistic and wise WAY beyond her years started adding to the mural as well.  I painted a sky with clouds, flowers and luvbugs.  She decided there needed to be a tree with a beehive and bees.  Also birds, birds of every color that Sharpie makes...I searched all 50 million files for a picture of her room and this was all I could find...

About two years ago, I just couldn't take it anymore and started talking about painting her room.  She said she wanted Pink.  So I went to Lowes and bought 4 different paint samples of Pinks that I approved of...We all agreed on one and a few days later my husband comes home with a gallon of paint.  He and Avery lock themselves in her room and emerge a few hours later looking like a bottle of Pepto Bismol exploded on them...I swear!!  Avery is jumping with joy, Bob is grimacing, and I am laughing.  It was the worst color I'd ever seen.  The paint it's self was the worst quality I'd ever seen...It was bad all the way around...We left it because we were in the middle of replacing flooring in half our house.  p.s....Bob, forgot to take the paint sample with him and just picked a pink at random...

So now, here we are, Avery was just re-diagnosed with Asthma.  Our carpet is horrible...I mean really really horrible.  We have replaced the carpet in the front half of the house with wood flooring and we were eventually going to get to the bedrooms, but it was low on our priority list.  Well, thanks to a peeing dog, Avery's room got bumped up to doin it now. 

Saturday we moved everything out of her room. My house already looked like a train wreck now it looks even worse...

The boys ripped out her carpet and cleaned up the floors...

Sunday Avery and I spent the day at Lowes picking out paint...all her choice, my only input was a no on that really dark one in the top right corner.

Today we painted, we painted, and painted...and then painted some more!!  Guess what...we need more paint to paint more!!












Stay tuned for part 2!!  I have to put it all back together and seriously need to refinish a dresser!!

Linked Up

• CraftOManic Monday @ CraftOManic
• Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
• Homemeade Projects @ Tip Junkie

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Meal Plan {2/20-2/26} Budget Crunch

We have insurance, so why does going to the doctor still cost us an arm and a leg??

Avery's latest medical discovery...Asthma.  I'm not too surprised.  Both Avery and Cole were born with it.  We live in an extremely humid climate and due to their father's side of the gene pool they have HORRIBLE allergies.

But around the time that they were 4ish, they stopped wheezing and the breathing treatments were needed less and less, their pediatrician said they grew out of it.  I was fine with that and put the whole thing behind me, never to think of again...

FYI...you never grow out of asthma.  It just lays dormant for a while. I didn't know that.

So anyway, Avery is back on all the breathing treatments and I am trying to figure out how I am going to fit an additional $150.00 into our monthly budget.

Pink Floyd's Money keeps running through my head.  I have daydreams of winning the lottery, and although I'd miss my husband, wish he'd go back to his old job working 70 hours a week.  Oh, those were the days...

So, this Gluten Free meal plan is all about eating on the cheap.  Easy, Kid Friendly, Quick, and Cheap...my favorite kind of meals...

Monday (2/20): Chili Chalupas

Tuesday (2/21): Not Another Baked Potato

Wednesday (2/22): Spinach Fritata

Thursday (2/23): Chicken Tacos

Friday (2/24): Tex-Mex Skillet

Saturday (2/25): Chicken Chili

Sunday (2/26): Tuna Salad

Monday (2/27): Quick and Easy Enchiladas

Tuesday (2/28):  Not Real Sure...

I link up every week at Organizing Junkie, because even before we started this Gluten Free way of life and I wrote out our meals on the backs of envelopes or kid's school work, I always visited her site for inspiration.

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Chili Cheese Chalupas

Leftovers

They are a NO GO in my house(reason here).  

So I have to get very creative when we have them. 

9 times out of 10 I eat them for lunch or send them with Avery for lunch.

However, there is that rare time when we have so much food left over there is no way I'd want to eat Chili for 5 days straight.  So I usually freeze the food for a week or two then make a new meal.

Here is a super simple freezer to plate in 20 minutes or less meal...

Chili Cheese Chalupas.

What you need:

Chalupa Shells

Refried Beans

Chili

Cheese

Lettuce

Onion

Tomato

Sour Cream

Salsa

Guacamole

Hope you like it!! 

What do you do with leftover Chili??

Linked Up

• CraftOManic Monday @ CraftOManic
• Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
• Homemeade Projects @ Tip Junkie

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Inspiration

I blog surf.  I have done it for years.  There are several blogs that I follow and read often, but majority of the time, I am clicking from one blog to the next.  I have found some of the best blogs by doing this. 

I followed a link to oh, Amanda and started reading a posted entitled No-Niche Memoir Blog, which really made me start thinking about my blog.   

I write 75% of the time about food.  But not recipes that I have created.  Just meals in general.  Gluten Free Meals.  25% of the time I just blog.  I would like to 'just blog' more often.  I have a lot of thoughts swimming in my head, but I often think to myself " would anyone what to read about that or do they care about the dresser I painted?"

But tonight, I clicked on a link to a site that I seriously think I am going to sit down and read every single post.  Enjoying the Small Things.  The author of this blog, in my opinion, is brilliant.  Her writing spoke to me.  I think I have a serious girl crush.

I am going to quote a response she posted to a question on her FAQ page.

Q: It seems there are so many categories of moms these days, especially on blogs. What kind of mom do you consider yourself?

A: "Just a mom. I don't want to sum up what kind of mom I am in one word because that's limiting. I don't like being put in a box and I'm way too impulsive to fit into just one category. I've written about this before, but I think sometimes we feel like we can't explore a new area if we don't completely fit in the box. Like "I'd really like to buy that vintage plate because I love it, but my house is too contemporary and I'm not really Vintage Girl." Who says you have to be just one thing? Buy the damn plate if you love it. Our society is fabulous at pigeon-holing people and identifying them into categories as if they have to abide by a certain set of rules--and judgement and assumption often follows. We've identified the urban mom, the hipster mom, the churchy mom, the homeschool mom, the wild mom, the funny mom, the divorced mom, the laid back mom as if once you have a label, that's all you can be. That's so constraining and yet, I admit, I fall victim to the labeling. Like I thought I couldn't make my own laundry soap because it meant I'd also have to drive a hybrid car. Holding a solid faith and dancing out with the girls don't have to be opposites. Having a home in a suburban neighborhood doesn't mean I can't funk it up with crafts and cherished kitsch. And writing about "the small things" certainly doesn't mean I don't pay attention to "the big things" in life too. I want to passionately explore a multitude of areas in life and, while some areas might bubble to the surface with noticeable expression, some simmer beautifully and quietly underneath--not to be forgotten. I'll dip my toes into different hobbies and ways of life if I feel drawn to them, and I won't let the box of "who I'm supposed to be" stop me for a hot second. And I learn--oh, do I learn from so many other kinds of moms who continually broaden the definition of motherhood with their insight and experience.  We're women. We are multi-faceted. We don't have to fit into a box. We follow our own rhythms and we celebrate our movements that may change over the course of aging, mothering, learning, exploring, loving.

I follow my instincts and listen to my heart. That's the kind of mother I am."

After reading that, do you too feel like you have put yourself in a box?  I know I have.  I know I have seen a plate that I loved, but didn't purchase it because it didn't go with the theme of my house...

I am the theme of my house.  We (my family and I) are the themes of our house.  We make it a home, not the French Country Curtains or the Traditional Couch.  

So long story short,

Yes, This is a GLUTEN FREE blog, but it is also a blog about my life, our lives.  What we do, what we eat, and where we go.

There are 50 million blogs out in the blogiverse.  I am a tee-tiny little fish in that sea.  I am not looking to compete with any of them, I just want to have a place to go, write down all the thoughts in my head, and document our lives.

I hope you all stay along for the ride.


I'd love to hear your thoughts on this post,
Thanks

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Eggroll Stir Fry {A Pinterest Recipe}

Source

I made the yummiest dinner tonight all in thanks to Once a Mom always a Cook.  Have you been to her blog, OMGoodness...very yummy food!!  And most of her recipes are naturally Gluten Free or easily adaptable.

Tonight I made her recipe for Egg Roll Stir Fry.  It was surprisingly easy and good.  It really does taste just like the inside of an egg roll.  The recipe is enough to feed an army!!  I'm wondering if I can freeze the left overs???

Honestly, I had never purchased a cabbage before.  It isn't a vegetable that we eat often.  When I want coleslaw, I just buy the pre-made stuff at the grocery deli.  If in the mood for Chinese food...we go out.  Is there any other recipe that calls for cabbage??  See, we really don't eat it often.

Very GOOOOD!!

Hmmm, what to cook tomorrow...

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Pizza Night~ Gluten Free Style

Domino's use to be on speed dial.  I think they knew me buy name...or at least order..  We loved pizza night, no cooking, and leftovers for lunch the next day..

Well, Good Bye Domino's and HELLO Chebe!!

Tonight I made a homemade pizza that was pretty darn good.  The crust was crispy and chewy in all the right places,  seasoned perfectly, and loaded with all of our favorite toppings.

Chebe bread mixes are naturally gluten free and based off of a Brazilian type of bread.  Chebe states that "If you have a perfectly done Chebe roll it would be crispy on the outside and if you pull apart a baked piece of Chebe Bread, you would see that the center will stretch together for one or two inches before the two pieces would separate."

This first time I baked Chebe rolls, I was a little nervous about the texture, but the taste confirmed that it was done and it was GOOD!! I am a fan on the Chebe Facebook page, when I had a question about the texture, I received a response almost immediately.  I thought that was pretty cool!!

From start to finish our pizza was ready in about 20 minutes.

I am actually having fun discovering new foods to cook...

 who woulda thunk cooking could be fun...

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