29 June 2013

Butt Stock

I love onions and I love baking.  This morning (weekend off from work), I made homemade onion soup with get this, pork butt.

Never tried it before but since I got the butt for cheap, I had to see if it would work.  So I made a good strong stock a few days ago and today it was ready for the wonder that is the caramel onion.

My gosh, it's tasty.  So glad I gave it a go.

Meanwhile, we're having a very lazy day home.  Tim and the pups just woke from a nappy nap.  I'm waiting for my rolls to rise, and clipping coupons for Dollar General.

Although, I tell ya, I just might not go.  Why I haven't even gotten out of my jams yet and it's late afternoon.

28 June 2013

Friday Question: Blog Reading

Hello Boogerbutts.  As I write to you, I am officially done with my work day and even though I'm still in my prep clothes, I am OFF THE CLOCK - until Monday @11am.

You can't see, but I'm doing a little boogie in my chair.

Now my question.  How do you read and/or organize your blog rolls?  Do you use Feedly (I think it's called), or Blog Lovin'?  What works for you?

Or, what doesn't work for you?  And why?

Right now I have individual blog rolls, but I'm looking for a more efficient way to organize and read blogs.

Thanks and boogie boogie :-]

Guess Who's NOT Working THIS Weekend?


26 June 2013

And I Didn't Even Throw Up

Dig me.  I went the entire day without twitching.  Well, not the entire day, because I twitched when I wrote my last post, but overall really good, and excited for more changes.

And guess what else?

After work I opened my email and saw more car deals and prices, and I didn't even throw up or get a belly ache.

Such a big girl.

My Eye Won't Stop Twitching

We're working on getting a new car and it's making my eye twitch and my belly nervous.  So much money.  Hopefully we will snag a zero interest deal.  But even still, it's still a buttload of bucks.  Not so happy about that.

Just writing this post has my left eyelid a twitchin'.

But I know we need the car to get me to school, as both of ours will not.  I don't even like to think about the cost of school.  It's just too much money.  I'm gonna go sniff some coupons to take the edge off.  I doubt it will help.

24 June 2013

Hello Boogerbutts

Good Morning, Boogerbutts - it's been awhile since I posted, so I thought I'd pop in for a Hello and Happy Summer.

Hello and Happy Summer.

Or, winter if you live where winter started.  Either way, Happy New Season.  Meanwhile, I've been chopping my veg and learning more efficient ways to work.  Been a lot of fun. 

And dig my recent higher-end freebies.  That's zero oop.  Why pay full price later, when they're free today?

Okay dokey, just finished my chores, time for breakfast and soon enough, I hit the second shift in prep.  They've changed our hours again but it's all good because I got a little raise AND, they're training me so that I can open prep. 

Pretty happy about that.

And that's all I got.  What's up with you?  Eat anything good for breakfast today?  I'm having brown toast and eggs. 

Anyway, here's my recent hauls.  Dollar General and BigK.

Zero OOP (out of pocket) for these goodies.

12 June 2013

I Want to go Back to School

I want to go back to school.  Right this minute, that can't happen.  So I set out to learn from where I am.  And it's interesting to me, how I got what I needed.

I was at work doing cook's peppers, which is (or was), a messy and time consuming process.  On the ride home, I knew there had to be a better way.  Just had to find it.

That same night, Tim popped on Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course.  Guess what the first video included?  I kid you not, peppers.   How great is that?

The next morning at work, I tried Ramsay's method and it was sublime.  Absolute heaven.  A joy to prep.

I love how my knife glides around and under the pepper, leaving behind the seeds and fiberous innards.

And soon, Ramsay's book (UK version), will be in my hot little hands.  The book titled, Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course, works in conjunction with the videos.  And whilst I may not be in a classroom (just yet), I will be learning, practicing, and writing about it along the way.

I feel happy.

Look at these babies.  NO waste.  NO mess.
Click image to expand.

07 June 2013

Friday Question: Grilled Meats

I know nothing about grilling meats.  In fact, just this past week, was the first time I ever made and ate grilled pork chops, chicken, and hamburg.

I tell you this, I don't know why anyone would go out for a burger when it's so much better on the grill.

Holy cow.  It was good.

However, yesterday's chicken experiment didn't go as well.  I dropped the chicken on the grill and said to Tim, "I don't think the chicken is supposed to be on fire."

And it was.  Big old honkin' flames.

So I tried again with a second test batch and that worked much better, but still a little dry.  Like I said, I know nothing.  Having a been a veghead most of my life, I never gave two hockey pucks, about what people were grilling. 

But now I'm interested.  So brings me to Friday's Question.  What's your favorite grilled meat, fish, fruit and/or veg?

06 June 2013

My Only Goal Right Now ....

Is to stay awake until bedtime.  It's not looking good.

05 June 2013

Right in the Sack

As part of my get more staycation vibe into my everyday living, today I got home, showered and went outside with the pups.

Big pup is sunbathing.  Little pup is busy digging new holes for Tim to later step in when he mows.

It's a little game they play.  So far, Bug is winning.

At any rate, I'm nearly done detangling my wet hair, and I am LOVING this sunshine.  LOVIN' IT.

Now, let me tell you about today's transaction.  Five boxes of Tim's cereal and four containers of Almay eye make-up removers.  Total retail value: $19.74 BUT, I had $20 worth of coupons so in the end, they paid me 26 cents.

Not too shabby for the ride home from work.

Meanwhile, I best get supper ready.  Perfect timing.  Tim's headed toward the back deck and both pups are going crazy.  And I kid you not, Bug just nailed Tim and he said, "Oh, right in the sack."  So I kissed him and thanked him for my blog post title.  Just like a good wife should.

Creature Features

Headed back to work today.  Thinking it might be a short one so I've got my coupon bag packed, and I'm ready to score some deals.

For those of you who guessed yesterday, the answer was $404.14 - and we didn't pay a penny.  In fact, if you look to the bottom left side, you'll see they paid us.

As for the fours, I totally didn't plan that.

And now, I best get into my prep clothes.  Looking forward to making the pineapple upside down cake and creature features.  Creature features are the special salads and dessert of the day.  Each day gets a new one.

And that wraps things up here.  Cheers and boogie boogie.

04 June 2013

This is My BIGGEST Haul

I did these transactions before staycation.  It's my biggest haul yet.  Took some work but I'm happy with the results.

Missing from the photo, $4 in ECBs, 3 jars of Planters, 2 bags of chips/crisp, and 1 small bag of peanut M&Ms.

Total retail value: Any guesses?

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03 June 2013

I LOVE this PEN

It erases, but doesn't have an eraser.  It's a little hard nub, and works great.  I love this pen.  And thanks to my husband's Staples couponing skills, we got them for next to nothing.  Which makes trying new things so much fun.

I tell ya, I am digging this new toy.

Here's one catch, it does smear a bit when erasing on freshly printed paper, but regular lined paper, no problems at all.

Now you don't.

02 June 2013

Doing the Jiggly Wiggly

As trailer parks go, we've got a damn good lot.  Our kitchen connects to the back deck, which is nearly private.  Not so private that we can do the jiggly wiggly outside, but secluded enough to make staycation time, VERY nice.

So nice, that I'm not quite ready for the upcoming work week.  But I am eager to take some of this staycation relaxed feeling, and apply it our every day living.

But I've promised myself this before.  I've wrote about this before.  So what makes me think that this time will be any different?  I dunno.  Maybe it won't.

Maybe we'll go right back into the work-mode, without giving our down time a second thought.

Or, maybe I'll request every third or fourth Sunday off.  Just to have that time together.  Because I tell ya, right now, sitting outside, Tim writing, pups hanging - I think yep.

We gotta do this more.

It's a good day.

01 June 2013

Mean Little Sucker

It's Grill Time at the Manor.  Originally, we we wanted a side burner and a bigger grill area, but then decided to go with the smaller size to fit our back deck and budget.  And let me tell you, this is one mean little sucker, and he gets HOT. 

Yesterday I made caramel onions, potatoes, flatbread.  And this morning, scrambled eggs and reheated leftover pizza.  

I also burnt myself, dropped my spray over the side of the deck, watched my oven mitts blow away and battled with the black walnut tree fallings.

You know, things don't blow away when I cook/bake inside, which is something I never thought about before today.