Construction Birthday Party!

My kid loves diggers and dump trucks. LOVES them. It is all I hear about. Bob the Builder? His BFF. What does he want to be when he grows up? he tells me all the time 'I wish I can be a builder man' or 'I wish I was a digger man'. Deciding on the theme for his third birthday was easy!

I started with the cake. The most important part in my opinion ;) I had to figure out how to make a digger cake and could not quite get it. Inspired by a 'dirt cake' type idea that's made with pudding, I found recipes for a super yummy German chocolate cake and chocolate ganoche icing and went from there.

And the end result; not a digger but a dump truck full of 'dirt', tasty tasty dirt

The cake was baked in a big Pyrex dish, then cut and arranged to sit like a pile of dirt in the dump truck and then iced it. P had fun separating and crushing a package of Country Choice organic Oreos that we sprinkled on top of the cake pile to look like dirt. A couple candles and some gummy worms that came all the way from New Zealand and we were good to go!

The decorations were much easier! Buycostumes.com at the time had a good selection of construction themed decorations and some were on sale too! I would have loved to make them myself but this party was a week before Christmas. 'Nuff said...

They even had a digger pinata! For being made in China said digger pinata was VERY well made. That thing just would not break! We're not big into candy so I stuffed it with construction stickers, a car for each child and some Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops, which are, the best lollipops in the world. Have you tried them?

I wrote this post months and months ago - why didn't it post? I'm now planning the monkey's FOURTH birthday party. This year: Dinosaurs!

Fall Veggie Garden

Our fall veggie garden is moving along nicely. All seedlings have emerged and the squash and pumpkins are going great guns. So much so that I had to whip up something for the butternut squash to climb yesterday before they started taking over our yard!

Our two summer eggplant plants are STILL going crazy, one of them has at least 8 eggplant on it!

Butternut Squash (Pumpkin) - they're going to go up and over to the other raised bed but I will be watching them ;)

Another round of zucchini! We should avoid borer issues in the fall... fingers crossed. And a couple green beans in the background there

A couple more late tomato plants (there's ONE good thing about living in Texas I guess)

And lots of spinach, beetroot and salad greens!

I canNOT wait for those butternut squash to start growing! I love butternut squash but they're so expensive!

Is anyone else working on their fall/winter gardens? I'd love to see them all!

Meal Plan Monday - Using What We Have

Still working on using our 'stockpile' and buying only what is absolutely needed for the week. Still aiming for at least 3 meatless meals a week. This week our meals look a little something like this:

Greek meatballs, brown rice and steamed broccoli

Making a large batch of meatballs today to freeze for later, have the rice and broccoli

Breakfast burritos, steamed veggies and/or fruit

Tortillas from the freezer, eggs that need to be used, produce from the fridge/freezer

Taco pasta bake and steamed carrots

Pasta, meat and produce from our stockpile

Eggplant parmesan or eggplant pizza, steamed veggies and roasted potatoes

Eggplant from the garden, organic potatoes free with coupons!

Homemade pizza with eggplant, bell pepper, pepperoni, sauce, onion and cheese

Veggies from the garden, the rest is in the fridge

Grilled chicken, brown rice, steamed veggies

All from our stash!

Baked potatoes, sour cream, onion, maybe some homemade BBQ sauce, cheese and steamed veggies

Also all in our pantry and fridge!

And my shopping list for the WEEK looks like this:
bananas
another fruit that's on sale, we already have lots of apples and melon! 
raisins from the bulk bins
1 box cereal for DH - have coupons for multiple brands, will choose the best one on sale + coupon
2% milk for DH
1% milk for me
coconut milk for DS + coupon

and that's it! woohoo! Should be coming in at least $50 under our grocery budget for September!!

Linking up with Orgjunkie

Run to Whole Foods! 89% Saved!

Especially if you want organic or gluten free pasta for FREE!

Total before coupons: 67.27
Saved with coupons: 40.18
- $20 GC bought for $10 from Living Social (came out of last week's food budget though!)
= 7.09 out of pocket for 3 bags of organic food and juice for DS's b'day party
or $17.09 if you wanna count the $10 for the GC - so 89% or 75% saved depending on your rules ;)

MQ = manufacturer coupon
PQ = printable coupon
WFQ = Whole Foods printable

Whole Foods combines their coupons with manufacturer coupons!

• 2 boxes Clif Kids org. Z bars 3.99 each - (2) $1/1 PQ + (2)$1/1 WFQ = 1.99 box (6 bars per box)
• 4 boxes Deboles org GF pasta - on sale for 1.33 - (4) $1/1 PQ + (4) $1/1 WFC = FREE + overage I think!
• 6 Brown cow org. yogurt on sale for 0.60 each - (2) PQ .50/3 + $1/5 WFQ = 0.27 a piece
• 4 boxes Nature's Path org. frozen buckwheat waffles on sale 2/$5 - (2) PQ 1.50/2 + (2) 1.50/2 WFQ = $1 a box
• Organic Valley cheese 4.99 - $1/1 WFQ = 3.99
• Rudi's org bread 4.99 - FREE after MQ I won off their FB page but they do have $1/1 PQs
• Arrowhead mills cereal on sale 2/$5 - $1/1 PQ = 1.50
• 2 bottles of org juice - 3.00 and 4.39 - both FREE w/ free product MQ
• Stonyfield org probiotic yogurt 2.49 - $1/1 from magazine + 0.50/1 PQ = 0.99
• Earthbound farms head of lettuce 1.99 - $1/1 MQ = .99
• Earthbound farms tub salad greens 5.99 - $5/1 MQ = .99

Just had to brag! Some of these items are generally so pricey, and not as unprocessed as we generally like - we don't buy them so P is excited about his one frozen waffle he'll be getting each week LOL

Banana Oat Muffins

Moist and fluffy AND sweetened with dates! This has got to be our favorite healthy muffin right now!

Here is the recipe for the batch I made yesterday. I think the next batch will have even less sugar, all whole wheat flour and more dates!

Banana Oat Muffins

1 1/4C whole wheat flour

1/4C all purpose flour

3/4-1C rolled or instant oats

1/5C sugar (used just less than 1/4C)

2t baking powder

1t baking soda
1/8C ground flaxseed

1/2t sea

1/2t ground cinnamon

sprinkle nutmeg

3/4C milk

1/3C oil (I did half oil, half applesauce)

1/2t vanilla extract

1C mashed bananas

2-3 diced dates

~ Mash bananas in a large bowl. Slightly beat egg and add with milk, oil, applesauce and vanilla extract

~ Add oats and mix well, let soak for a bit while you measure out flour, sugar, salt, flaxseed, baking powder and soda then add to the oat/banana mix along with spices and diced dates. Mix until just combined

~ The batter should be fairly runny/loose, I added a splash of milk - should sit in a spoon well but still fall off easily if that makes any sense. Add a large spoonful and a 1/2 per muffin to a greased muffin pan. Should make 11-12 large-ish muffins

~ Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

~ Let cool almost completely in the muffin pan and remove once cooled - keeps the muffins moist

Rhyming Game Printable

P has started taking an interest in reading and rhyming words so I thought he'd love a rhyming game.

I lovingly found copyright free images, placed them in Photoshop, printed and 'laminated' the cards after cutting them all out.

I was wrong, he was only interested in pouring over the crane and train pictures. I enjoyed matching them and talking (to myself) about each thing and what rhymes with it. Maybe someone else's kid will appreciate it? ;)

Fossil Excavation

Best $9 ever (not) spent (got it free with Swagbucks!)

Banana Crumble

What do you do with 5 over ripe bananas and 25lbs of rolled oats? Crumble them!

Banana Crumble

4-5 ripe bananas

1C rolled oats

3T brown sugar

2t coconut oil

2T shredded coconut

1-2t cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a square baking dish with butter

Slice bananas approx. 1/2 an inch thick into the baking dish

Mix the rest of the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl making sure the coconut oil is evenly distributed

Sprinkle on top of the bananas and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bananas are soft but not mushy

Serve with vanilla icecream!!

No photos, it was gone in seconds!

Saving Diapers For Future Babies

 Another post in my unofficial 'Disposables Don't Do This' series; 

The cloth diapers I have stashed away for #2

How much will it cost me to diaper our second child from birth to say 9 months or so? Not. A. Thing. We have everything we need and anything we don't have (like wool covers) I can make with all the fabric I have sitting upstairs! We even have a huge stash of cloth wipes and plenty of fabric to make more!

Most of the diapers shown above like the prefolds, fitteds I made and a couple of the pockets were used on P. The new Fuzzi Bunz were sent to me by the company to replace some defective ones I sent in and since P start potty learning we never used them! I won another of the diapers from a free lotto and the flats are receiving blankets from IKEA ;)

$0 for almost a year's worth of diapers? Diapers that can be sold after use? Can't do that with disposables!

I love cloth!

Meal Plan Monday 9/12-9/18

I am trying to keep this week's grocery shopping as close to $25 as possible. I have a coupon to get $25 for a transferred prescription for our new Kroger that expires on the 13th and it would be great to be able to put this week's grocery money into our holiday and debt savings accounts.

This week's meals:

Meal	Ingredients
coconut chicken fingers brown rice salad, steamed carrots	coconut, bread crumbs, rice, salad greens, sweet chili sauce, eggs carrots, chicken tenders
BLATs on homemade 'pretzel bread'	yeast etc, avocado, lettuce, tomato, bacon, AP flour
spaghetti bolagnaise	meat, tomato sauce & paste, onions, herbs & garlic, carrots, whole wheat pasta
lentil tacos	lentils, tortilla ingredients, taco seasoning, sour cream, salsa, avocado, cheese
Pizza	pepperoni, cheese, eggplant, sauce, pineapple, pizza dough
Cottage Pie	leftover spag sauce, frozen mixed veggies, potatoes
Rice and beans	brown rice, pinto or black beans, salsa, sour cream, leftover bacon, steamed veggie

For those meals I need to buy (in bold): 2 baking potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, AP flour, bacon and eggs. Then there is of course fruit for snacks, milk etc for baking but I should be able to keep it pretty close to $25! I'm not going to count DH's diet coke in there... look, it's not his fault he's addicted! ;)

Linking up with Org. Junkie

Save Money on WOODEN Toys for Christmas!

I've mentioned it before; I run co-ops on a forum I belong to. We currently have TWO wooden toy co-ops running that will close and ship in time for Christmas. Co-ops are a great way to get your shopping done and save a lot of money in the process.

I'm not talking 10%... or even 30% off. Think bigger! Puzzles, games, art supplies, doll houses, play food...

Come take a look!

Buying in Bulk From Your Grocery Store

25lbs of organic rolled oats for $26.78!

Do you love bulk bins as much as I do? Not only are they generally cheaper than pre-packaged equivalents but they cut down on packaging too!

We just got a new Kroger 'Marketplace' closer to us than our regular Kroger. I went in to check it out and found bulk bins (enter excited squeak here!). My favorite organic items are very competitively priced, most of them much cheaper than HEB and Whole Foods which are the cheapest bulk bins around.

Organic rolled oats are 1.69/lb at Whole Foods, 1.99/lb at HEB and 1.19/lb at our new Kroger! But they were always out of them, and I need more than a scoop at a time. I found someone in the natural food department and asked about buying a 20lb bag. She took my name and number and called me a week later to say they had arrived.

After getting an additional 10% for their grand opening promotion I paid $26.78 for 25 pounds of organic rolled oats! Best price I have seen anywhere, including online, no shipping, no tax! And she's ready and waiting for my next order, of anything they have in their bins!

Dinosaur Skeleton Craft

We found an Apatosaurus fossil hidden amongst some rocks! It took some time but we managed to puzzle all the pieces together to build the skeleton of the giant dinosaur ;)

P was so inspired he drew a dinosaur for the very first time (I about cried!) - you can see it in the picture above, it's green

And then another! A T-rex!

You can find a fossil printable over at PreKinders, along with a bunch of other craft ideas!