Friday Four - July 27

What I Watched: A few days ago I watched the movie Midnight in Paris. I am sorry to say I was disappointed. I had heard so many good things and had high expectations. For me, it didn't meet them. Has anyone else seen this? What did you think?

What I Read: I started the book Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. It is the first sequel to the book Delirum, which I recommended in my last Bookworm review.

What I Listened to: This week was all about Kelly Clarkson. She was the perfect artist to help keep me motivated through the continuous process of setting up my room. IPod artist shuffle is fabulous!

Where I Ate: We tried a new restaurant after church called Cafe Caturra. I had a turkey and avocado sandwich, which was pretty good. I would go there again, although it's a tiny bit pricey for what you get.

Thrifty Thursday - July 26

This was another week of not buying that much. We just got our new co-op batch in, so we didn't need too much in the way of food. I did do some stocking of chapstick, as we are on our last sticks, and I also got a John Frieda shampoo for $1.50, which was only 27% of its original price!


PUBLIX
Total Spent: $25.99
Total Saved: $15.85

 

The Co-Op: Month 3

Here's some more kitchen inspiration for you this month! Who would have ever thought I'd be writing posts like these?! Not me :-)


Recipe Inspiration: Onion Rings

Onion Rings
Ingredients we used: Vegetable oil, Great Value dry pancake mix, red onion

We followed the recipe exactly, except we used our mini deep fryer instead of a skillet. These are the BEST onion rings I've ever had. The batter stays on and the onion doesn't slide out. Oh my goodness, I want some more right now.



Recipe Inspiration: Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Pie

Ingredients we used: We used the same ingredients listed.

We had a ton of delicious sweet blueberries, so Jamie wanted to make a pie. This was the first blueberry pie I'd ever eaten, and I think it was quite good. We took it over to some friends' house and everyone there thought it was great, so the people have spoken! (And I have to give Jamie all credit for the lattice work :-D)



Recipe Inspiration: Light and Fresh Potato Salad

Light Potato Salad
Ingredients we used: balsamic vinegar, canola oil, salt, ground black pepper, 3 red potatoes, 2 small cucumbers, 3/4 cup grape tomatoes, 2/3 of green pepper, 1/4 cup yellow onion

I originally liked this recipe because it had no mayonnaise or mustard. I didn't have rice vinegar, hence the balsamic, which I think actually made it better. This was really good and I will definitely make it again... especially since they always give us LOTS of potatoes!



Recipe Inspiration: Baked Eggplant Chips

Eggplant Chips
Ingredients we used: No differences from the recipe

I followed the recipe, but as you can see from the picture, they turned out a bit chewy. If I make these again, I will use the recipe from the squash/zucchini chips and see if they are any better.



Recipe Inspiration: Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes
Ingredients we used: green tomato, salt, Mrs. Dash Table Blend, cornmeal, vegetable oil

These tasted really good actually, but next time we're going to cut them thinner so they cook a little faster, and also peel them so the cornmeal sticks better. Yum yum!



Recipe Inspiration: Roasted Radishes

Roasted Radishes
Ingredients we used: radishes, lemon, olive oil, thyme, salt & pepper

Sooo...these didn't turn out so great. I couldn't get them very evenly cooked; some parts were soft, but most not soft enough. I managed to get down what you see here, but I threw the other portion out. I hope they don't buy radishes again!!




Recipe Inspiration: Oven Roasted Eggplant

Roasted Eggplant
Ingredients we used: Same as listed... watch the oil and salt though, because it coats very easily

We made this twice, and the second time we peeled the eggplant, which was a great decision. It was much easier to eat without having to chew the skin forever. It made a little bit of a crisp on the outside anyway, so it was perfect. This is definitely my favorite eggplant recipe so far.




Recipe Inspiration: Baked Eggplant Sticks

Baked Eggplant Sticks
Ingredients we used: eggplant, olive oil, salt, pepper, cornmeal, milk, cooking spray

This was another recipe fail. They were way too cornmeal-y. Maybe it was because I changed too many of the ingredients. If you try this, let me know, so I can figure out what to do!

Friday Four - July 20

What I Watched: TNT has a new show that premiered last week called Perception. It's another crime show, but this time the main character is a bit of a schizo, who talks to people who aren't there and whatnot. Part of the reason I'm really enjoying it though is the cast, headed up by Eric McCormack, Rachel Leigh Cook, Kelly Rowan, Arjay Smith AND Levar Burton! If you like any of TNT's other crime dramas, like I do, you will probably like this one too :-)

What I Read: Still trying to finish up A Time to Kill... I have to get all my reading in before school starts!

What I Listened to: Nothing in particular this week, but I've been enjoying the shuffle on my IPod while I'm working on my classroom.

What I Ate: We went out of town this weekend for family reunions, so we had lots of good home cookin'! But we also had Dairy Queen on the way up where I got their delicious Blizzard of the Month, Chocolate Candy Shoppe. It was sooooo good! 

 

Thrifty Thursday: Clothing Edition

I've been wanting to do a clothing entry for a while, but I don't really buy clothes very much anymore. However, I was so very lucky to get some gift cards and money for my birthday and so I took my frugality to stretch those gifts as much as I could. Here is what I came up with:

I shopped at Old Navy, Forever 21 and Loft. I bought twelve shirts, two pairs of shorts, seven pairs of underwear, one pair of capris, one skirt, and nine pairs of earrings. The total amount of money I saved versus the original price of these items was... $153.93.

It really helps to go shopping when they have huge clearances going on, such as an additional 50% off already marked sale items. There's really not too much reason to pay full price for clothes, as they always go on sale at some point (unless it's a really fast selling item).


Where do you all shop for clothes to get the most bang for your buck?

Friday Four - July 6

What I Watched: Well, thanks to 'Retro'Mtv, I have watched the entire series of Laguna Beach and am working on The Hills. And I realized I actually didn't watch much of this the first time it was on, so at least I'm not re-watching, right?
I finally saw A Few Good Men this week in its entirety. I had only seen clips before. What a great movie!!

What I Read: still working on A Time to Kill by John Grisham

What I Listened to: Pentatonix's EP came out this week. It is AWESOME! If you have never listened to a cappella before, this just might be the best introduction you'll ever get. I'm also super proud of them for debuting in the top 15 albums of the Billboard 200! I'm not sure that any a cappella group has ever done that. Here is their first "official" music video for Starships:

 

Where I Ate: Miyo's! I sure do love that place :-)

Junebug

June ended up being a bit of a busy month for us. One thing that takes up a lot of our month, due to the fact that we are Gamecocks, is baseball! We are so proud of our team. How many other teams can say they made it the the College World Series finals three years in a row? Not to mention win two years in a row :-)
Anyway, just wanted to make sure my love was noted!

 

 How about that catch?!

 

We discovered that hydrangeas grow in our backyard! Jamie has apparently never noticed, and the reason it is especially weird is because that was our wedding flower and we had trouble finding some. He cut some for us to enjoy for a while:

I got to see my classroom a couple of weeks ago and discovered that I have a LOT of work to do (volunteers anyone?). But I also was left a gift from the parents I subbed for last year, along with this sweet card. I hope they really mean it, since I will likely have some of their kids this year, haha :-)

We enjoyed our holidays this month. On Father's Day we ate lunch with Jamie's parents and spent time with my grandpa, mom and her side of the family. We celebrated Independence Day a bit early, by hanging out with some friends on Lake Murray and watching the fireworks on June 30th.

Vicki Wilson Photography

We got a good bit of 'friend time' in this month too! I went to visit my old boss from grad school and had lunch at Takosushi with my friend Tara. We went to Reid's house for one of the baseball regional games and also had a dinner and game night with The Privetts and The Hofts. 

We also spent a lot of time house hunting this month, and bought a house on July 1st. In a few months we'll be moving to Irmo!

Thrifty Thursday - July 5

We didn't buy a whole lot this week, so I will get straight to the totals! This was a big Coca Cola week :-)


PUBLIX
Total Spent: $24.85
Total Saved: $11.65

WALMART
Total Spent: $8.22
Total Saved: $3.00

TOTAL SPENDING: $33.07   
TOTAL SAVINGS: $14.65