Easy Asian Noodle Salad

Haven't been shopping much as I have been busy with summer activities with my kiddos but one thing I can't avoid is cooking dinner. I has been so hot here the last couple of days so I always cook my dinner early to avoid heating up the kitchen in the afternoon. Thought I'd share some of our favorite summer dinners. Easy and usually cold salads and such but we tend to eat lighter when it is hot. One thing is I usually add some sort of meat to the salad for my hubby.

I came up with this recipe when I wanted to make a salad with chicken I needed to use up. You can omit or add as you like as I don't cook with garlic but it would be a nice addition to this recipe.
One package of linguine
2 cups cooked chicken diced
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/4 c. chopped cilantro (my salad above is missing the cilantro as my store was out)
1-2 green onions
dash red pepper flakes ( I add these after the kids are served or just to my hubby's)
1-2 cups of sweet peas (I like a lot in mine but you could add less)

now I am guessing on the rest as I usually add to taste:
Soy sauce 1/4 cup
Seasoned Rice wine vinegar 1/2 cup
Sesame Oil 2 TSP
Canola Oil 3-4 TB spoons
Sugar 3-4 TB spoons (or more if you like it sweeter)
mix all together then toss with salad.

Refrigerate until dinner time at least 3-4 hours more preferably.
Serve with sliced cantaloupe and maybe some crunchy bread.
Enjoy

Easy Freezer Cooking

I love the idea of freezer cooking. You prepare all these different meals and then freeze them so you don't have to be in the kitchen cookin every night. Well, like a lot of other things, the the thought of one day in the kitchen cooking for a month is absolutely overwhelming to me. Plus, I only have a small freezer in the house and in the garage so with all the other things I freeze, I would never have enough room. So  I came up with a way for me to make ahead and freeze meals that is so easy. In fact everyone is probably doing this too so I am wasting my typing here but I thought I'd share.

Whenever I cook a meal that is freezable I make at least two and sometimes three meals so I can cook one that night and freeze the others. Tonight it is lasagna.

I just set up an assembly line and make everything twice. As for the recipe I just use the one on the box of noodles.
I boil the noodles and cook the meat so all the dish requires is heating in the oven.
One box of lasagna noodles perfectly makes two pans of lasagna.

After I'm done I just cover with a layer of plastic wrap and then foil and write the date and what it is on the top and send one of the kids out to the garage to pop it in the freezer. I use these dishes on nights we are busy and I know I won't have time to cook.

Any casserole type dish will work well for freezing and soups are great too. If you don't want to put the grated cheese on something you can just grate that and place in a small ziploc and tape to the foil and freeze it along with the dish. It is nice to have dishes made for last minute pot lucks or to give someone that you want to make a dish for. Now it is already in your freezer to just grab and go.

$15 MM from my couch-Neutrogena deal

I just did the Neutrogena deal while sipping coffee and sitting on my couch.
First I went to Walmart.com and purchased the Neutrogena Clinical Eye Lift Contouring Treatment.  They have a $15 e-gift card promo plus free shipping right now so in the end all I have to pay for is the  sales tax. I will submit for the Neutrogena rebate http://www.neutrogenaclinical.com/tryitfree for the full price and minus 2.04 I will have a pro fit of $12.96. Not bad from my couch in my PJs.

Good Old Jello Poke Cake

Made a jello poke cake for Memorial Day and again at the request of my daughter, for her birthday. My kids love it. I hadn't had one in years and was looking for a different dessert for our BBQ. This is such an easy recipe and perfect summer-time cake.

All you have to do is bake a cake as usual and let cool. You can do a sheet cake or two rounds like I did. Once cooled, poke holes all over the cake and dissolve one 3oz. box of jello into 2 cups of boiling water and pour over the cake. Refrigerate at least three hours and place the bottom of the cake pan in warm water before you flip the cake out of the pan. Then frost with whipped cream. I used real whipping cream but you could use Cool Whip if you would prefer. I put sliced strawberries between the layers and garnished with berries on top.

Sunday Favorites

Organizing the Spice Cabinet

A few weeks back I was feeling a little overwhelmed with chasing those deals so I took a week off and spent some time reorganizing a few things. This was a much needed spruce up of my spice cabinet. All those little bottles were always falling all over and spilling so I decided to purge some of the really old stuff and contain all the rest in white plastic bins. I picked up the bins at the 99cents store and got out my label maker which I love to find reasons to use and went to work scrubbing and organizing. I am happy with how it came out and it is working fine so far. Let me know what you think.

Hey I made some money with surveys!

I can't believe it but I actually made $28 in June doing surveys. I wasn't sure if I would actually ever receive my money but I did. I recently joined Pinecone Research and was so surprised to receive my $3 check within days. Now that is fast. The other $25 came from Surveyhead. They take a little longer to pay but it was deposited right into my account using Paypal. While watching TV in the evenings I usually try to do one survey a night. This is all extra money to go into our vacation fund.

Great Giveaway Blog!

I enjoy this blog so much and she always has lots of giveaways. Check her out. I am hoping to win the coffee maker she has featured.  Frugal & Fabulous: Giveaway & Review: $60 Gift Certificate to CSNStores.com!

Cheap summer fun for the kids

In my quest to spend as little as possible but still entertain my kiddos this summer, I have had to be creative with my plans. This past week we went to the beach which was the most costly outing at $15 for parking and the gas to get there but for an entire day of fun for all the kids and with making our own lunch, it was relatively inexpensive. We took rackets and balls and walked to the park for a morning of tennis which was totally free. We have also had the best time using the Wii sports and I have finally beat my daughter at bowling, my favorite. Outside water play for my littlest one and lots of walks and playdough time have kept her busy. I have lots of ages at home from 16-2 so it is not always easy to keep everyone busy. The kids swam at grandma's house on Wed. and judging by how tired everyone was last night, I'd say they all had a good week. Now to keep busy next week. We leave on vacation for a week of camping on July 2nd so one day will be spent washing the trailer. That is always a wet but fun time with the kids.

NEW Swagcode

Check the blog!

CVS freebies- Check your inbox

Check your e-mail. I just recvd a printable coupon for either a free pack of wipes or free shave cream.

Free Sample Purina One

You can choose cat or dog food. http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid88466.aspx?toLoad=4

Christmas in June

Every year I vow to start my Christmas shopping early so that come November I am almost done and hopefully wrapped. We are so busy in December that I'd like to take the shopping/wrapping part and move it earlier in the year. I also like the idea of paying for Christmas early and not having the stress of all that shopping/spending $ at one time of the year. Soooo I started cashing in my Swagbucks every time I could get a $5 Amazon gc. This week I used a bunch of those $5 gc's to buy a Wii Fit for my girls as they have been asking for one and another toy for my little one. Bill prior to giftcards $114 after my total gc's $40. I'd say that was a great savings. Thanks Swagbucks. If you aren't using Swagbucks yet, you ought to be. I am now saving more gc's to buy my youngest a scooter for Xmas.

CVS = SWEET Diaper Deal

Last week I was lucky enough to get the $3 cpn from CVS off a box of Huggies so I saved it for this weeks deal.
Box of Huggies 19.99
minus $3 CRT
minus $3 printable coupon
get 10 ECBs.
I paid with enough ECbs that my oop was a dollar and change and still have the 10 ECBs.
I'd say that was worth the trip to CVS.

Father's Day Code from Swagbucks

Check the blog!

Happy Father's Day!!

The papa in our house constantly proves his love and care for us. Even on this Father's Day my husband took some overtime hours and left our house at 4:00 am to work. I have never had to worry about him providing for us in the 20 years we've been married. He is my best friend and my kids biggest fan. He is such a great dad. We are always thankful for the dad in our house. Love you hunny!!!