FREE FLIP FLOPS!

Need new flip flops? Then log onto the website for Red Cross, click on blood drives in your area and go get your own pair!

In all seriousness this is a wonderful way to give back to your community that cost nothing. In fact, my work place does two blood drives a year and we actually give blood on company time, get free pizza and usually some kind of goodie too! I enjoy seeing people I haven't seen in awhile and the morale of the group is usually through the roof. Everybody is super supportive, and we are especially supportive of the first time donors!

Like I said, go get some free flip flops, visit with a few friends or make some new ones.

Check it out at the Red Cross in your area!

Frugal and Fabulous Style - Hairstyle

One of the things we do in our family to reduce expenses is to visit a nearby hairstyling academy for haircuts. You can walk in anytime, no appointment needed. Just this past week my 16 year old had the full treatment, shampoo, cut, blow dry and style for the grand total of $ 15.00. That same treatment in a regular salon would have easily cost $ 60.00. We saved 75% and my daughter was treated to a great new style by a young and hip student.



Just remember to do your homework ahead of time if you plan to try a new hairstyle. Print out pictures or tear out magazine pages. The director of the academy checks each students work and touches up (teaches) the student hairstylist as they work on your hair. The students have already passed certain stages of their education to progress to actually working on a live subject. No one in our family has ever had a bad experience. Ever!



Here in North Carolina we have Mitchell's Styling Academy. Click here for locations.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza - YUM!

I was inspired to build this pizza by a friend and co-worker that made a Chicken Cordon Blue pizza the previous week. This was easy to do from pantry staples, and as I was making the pizza for my family I realized most of the items were free after using coupons. Even better.

What you need for the crust:

Flour, yeast, warm water and sugar

Simply follow the dough instructions on your yeast package, I did :-)

For extra convenience just use Pillsbury pizza dough in the tube.

For the topping:

your favorite alfredo sauce

precooked chicken ( I used canned, it was free )

bacon bits (free)

mozzarella cheese

Simply layer as listed, bake at 425 degrees until it is bubbly and golden.

We heated up leftover alfredo sauce and dipped our slices for extra yummyness!

Enjoy.

You can check this recipe and others out at Tasty Tuesday over at BeautyandBedlam.

Click here

Harris Teeter- SUPER DOUBLE COUPONS

One of the best ways to save money is to maximize the value of your coupons by doubling or tripling at point of purchase. Harris Teeter allows you to use up to 20 coupons a day and doubles coupons that have a value up to 1.98. Awesome. Try it!

Crepes

Crepes-Yummy!!!

My daughter's French class made these and of course we had to try them at home too! So easy and so very good. Very few ingredients.

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups of milk

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. melted butter

Combine ingredients. Refrigerate 1 hour. Mix well. Preheat non-stick pan over medium heat. Using a single Tbsp pour batter into pan and swirl. It will only take about 15-20 seconds for this thin layer to completely cook. Repeat, stacking them in a plate as you go.

What you see in the picture is four crepes with Nutella and thinly sliced bananas tucked inside. The topping is whipped topping, sliced banana, and little chocolate drizzle.

Yummy!

Tasty Tuesday

Fab Frugal Fun - Visit your State Park

This Sunday afternoon we took a fifteen minute drive to our local state park. We were grandly rewarded for our short trek. We hiked, we took pictures, we waded in the water, and we made plans for future visits! My daughter picked the trails, one of which landed us squarely on the beach as you see in our pictures above.

As you can see the views were great. On this particular day several families were out on the beach with coolers and picnic baskets. Lots of laughter, food and fun were being had all around us. This particular state park doesn't charge an entrance fee either. It has several picnic areas, camping areas, swimming areas, and an education center. They generally host events 2 to 4 times during the weekend. Usually a morning and an afternoon program that starts in the education center and ends with a hike.

I have a feeling we may be back soon to swim and if I am lucky talk my mom into providing us some fried chicken and potato salad for a picnic. Wish me luck :-)

Look for a park in your area here.

Fun Stuff - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

So-o-o-o our library is hosting several activities this week. One of the activities is the showing of the movie, "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs." The movie is based on the classic children's book. The kids will get to see the movie, get a fun movie related activity book and some treats.

One of the treats is this big platter of spaghetti and meatballs I just finished making or really baking. It is really a platter full of cupcakes with vanilla icing, strawberry jam and the meatballs are Ferrero Rocher chocolate. YUM! I was lucky enough to run across this idea in Woman's Day magazine well before the movie was ever released and this was the perfect excuse to try it out. It was super easy.

You will need the following items:

1. 
   
   Cake mix of your choice


2. 
   
   Two containers of vanilla icing


3. 
   
   One jar of strawberry jam


4. 
   
   One package of Ferrero Rocher


5. 
   
   One zip lock bag or use piping bag if you own one

Follow package directions to bake cupcakes. Open one container of icing and smooth over cupcakes. Place cupcakes on a platter. Open second container of icing and place in Ziploc bag. Snip corner of bag and go crazy piping strings over the platter full of cupcakes. You want it to look like a mound of real pasta so have fun. Next you will slightly warm strawberry jam in microwave, remove the lid please. Place a small amount in a bowl, drizzle the remaining jam over the platter of cupcakes to look like marinara sauce. Take the Ferrero Rocher, unwrap and coat in the jam you had set aside. Place the coated Ferrero Rocher on top of the cupcakes to resemble meatballs. It looks fantastic, taste yummy and kids of all ages will get a kick out of it.

This idea could work well for a classroom party paired with a book reading. It would also work well for a child's birthday party. It is also a simple baking activity for the beginning baker. With summer approaching it would make a neat theme for a sleepover too!

Enjoy!

Check this out over at Beauty and Bedlam. Click here.