Drugstore Highlights

I believe that part of being a sober wife includes wise and thoughtful use of our money... or our husband's money! :) With this in mind, below are the very best deals I see at the Drugstores this week.

I have posted before about how to "work" the drugstores, but I will be updating and reposting a lot of stuff about frugal shopping here soon. If there are any questions you may have, please feel free to ask (you can email me at christianfrugalmama@gmail.com) and I will try to address them all as best as I can or at least point you to where you can find the best answers.

Thanks to Money Saving Mom and Cherry Picker for all their great work in posting these deals so that we can all be a little more sober about our purchases!! :)

CVS

Blink Tears Eye Drops .5oz $7.99
$7.99 ECB
Use $1.50 printable printable
Use $1.00 from 8/15/R
= profit

Gillette Proglide Razor $9.99
$5.00 ECB
Limit one
Use $4.00/1 from 8/1/ P&G
= 99¢

Crest or Oral B Pro-Health $3.49
Complete Rinse, Clinical Protection Toothpaste,
Glide 38.2 yards
$2.00 ECB
Limit Two
Use $1.00 from 8/1/P&G
Use $0.75 froml 8/1/P&G
= 49¢ - 74¢

Purex Complete 3-in1 20ct. $5.99
$2.00 ECB
Limit one
Use $3.00 from 8/15/R
= 99¢

Zegerid OTC 14ct. $9.99
$7.00 ECB
Limit one
Use $3.00 Printable
Use $3.00 from 8/15/S
Use $4.00 from Aug/AY
= profit

Right Guard or Dry Idea - Prices BOGO at $2.99
Use BOGO from 7/25/R
= Both FREE

Kellogg’s Cereals 3/$10
$5.00 ECB
Use $1.00/2 Raisin Bran from7/25 RP
Use $.75 Cinnamon Corn Flakes printable
Use $1.50/2 printable
Use $1.00/2 printable
prices will vary

Dawn 97¢
Limit five
Use $0.25 from 8/1/P&G
= 72¢

Walgreens

Right Guard or Dry Idea BOGO
Use BOGO from 7/25/R
= both for Free

Pilot Frixion Erasable Gel Pen two pack $1.99
Use $1.00 printable
and
$1.00 from Walgreens August coupon book
= FREE

Twizlers $1.33
Use $1.00/3 from 6/27/S
=$1.00/3

Stride Shift Gum BOGO at $1.29
Use BOGO from 5/16/S
= both FREE

Campbell's Cream of Chicken or Mushroom Soup - 79¢ w/ad coupon
Use $.50/2 printable
=54¢/2

Rite-Aid

AMO Complete Multi Purpose Solution – $7.99
Get $7.99 SCR
Use $1/1 coupon from the 8/15 RedPlum insert
=Free plus overage

Rolaids Soft Chews – $1
Use $1/1 coupon from the 6/6 RedPlum insert
Or buy 2 and use $4/2 coupon from the 6/6 RedPlum insert
=free plus overage

Recipe: Crockpot Chicken

Photo by Tammra McCauley

I have been getting a lot of whole chickens from my CSA so far and I'm loving it! Whole chickens are pretty inexpensive in the store ($0.89/lb at Giant Eagle) and you can make them stretch pretty far. Here's a great way to cook up your whole chicken!

Crockpot Whole Chicken

• Whole chicken or two (about 5 lbs each)
• Old veggies that need used up (think onions, carrots, celery, etc)
• Water
• Herbs (I threw in a few sprigs of fresh thyme from my "garden")
• Other flavorings are optional (lemon is good, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, etc.)

I plop the whole chicken in the middle of the crock pot (mine once fit two in it, though I don't know that I'd recommend it) and place the old veggies around the chicken. Fill crock pot about 1/2 way with water, add seasonings and cover. Cook all day on low. Or high. Whatever. See how easy that is?

When your chicken falls apart when you look at it, it's done. :) Seriously, I have to fish parts of it out with a slotted spoon. Pick all the fabulous meat off the bones (once it cools down a little!) and discard the bones. Discard the veggies and large herbs. Left in your pot is a fabulous, golden liquid that is the base of fantastic soup. This stuff is worth it's weight in gold... almost.

One whole, 5 lbs-ish chicken can stretch to 3-4 meals. Think chicken stir fry, chicken soup, chicken casserole, etc. Because it's so expensive, we don't just eat a helping of meat. It's usually part of a bigger dish.

I love doing my chickens this way because it saves me a step. I don't have to boil the bones separately for stock, the crockpot's already done it for me! Refrigerate the stock and use within a few days or freeze it. Warning: the stock will get gelatinous, because it's made from the bones. Broth is made from boiling just the meat, so it doesn't get gelatinous. Learned that one from Alton Brown. :)

Check out Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tuesdays at the Table for other great inspiration! Also, you’ll find all kinds of new recipes this weekend at Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Parade!!

"The Fruit of Her Hands"

In trying to follow Titus 2:4-5, I'm learning so many lessons about being wise, frugal and a hard worker. Here's one of my recent lessons and reflections. Will you join me on this journey of being a Godly wife?

Not long ago, my family and I went blueberry picking. We try to do this every year now since they're only $1.40/lb and I'm obsessed with getting enough to last us all winter. I love frozen blueberries so much that I've been known to eat them out of a bowl with a spoon... still frozen! :)


Picking blueberries is very frugal and a great activity to do with children. It teaches kids about where some of our food comes from and the fact that sometimes you have to work for it. Somehow, food tastes just a little bit better when you've worked hard for it.... just don't forget the sunscreen!

Picking blueberries can also be very hard work, something we all need to engage in sometimes, especially considering the account of the Proverbs 31 woman. This virtuous woman was well known for her frugality and hard work. Today, it can be so easy to forget the virtues of good old fashioned hard work! Grocery stores and candle companies and soap companies, etc.... tend to make us forget all the work the ladies of old used to do.


I'm very thankful for our modern conviences, but sometimes homemade blueberry jam just can't be beat by anything you can buy in the store! Sure I could get $0.99 grape jelly, but when Christmas rolls around, all I have to do is pull from my stock of 16 half pints and 2 pints of blueberry jam and I'll likely save a bundle in gift money. I hate buying gifts for people they'll never use, so I often gift homemade things and things from my stockpile. My family really appreciates it!

So, get a little creative and find some fun ways of working hard and saving money. You'll learn and grow from it, your children will learn from it and your wallet will thank you! Check out these tips for freezing blueberries so they'll retain great flavor and texture or I'll try to post my recipe for blueberry jam later soon. Check out Finer Things Friday and Frugal Friday for other great ideas and inspiration!

Taking Time to Enjoy the Season

I learned a hard lesson yesterday about "loving my children." My husband's parents were coming over so I spent much of the morning tidying everything, sweeping, dusting, etc. I let my oldest daughter have a baby wipe to help me clean with. :)

After many trials and frustrations with both the house and the children acting up, when nap rolled around I was good and ready for some serious quiet time! I read my daughter her book and tucked her in when she looked at me sweetly and asked me to lay down with her, which is something I never normally do. For some reason, my heart already wanted to and I almost did, but I told her I was going to go downstairs and wait for Grandma and Grandpa.

I went downstairs and went about my tasks: mopping the floor, making yogurt and so on. These were all good things I needed to do, but within half an hour I realized how much I wanted to spend some time near my 3 year old "baby" girl. I wanted her to smile and snuggle close to me as we rested. But by the time I made it upstairs, she was already sound asleep (see picture above) and my heart broke. I had missed my opportunity for some wonderful bonding time.

I realized that this is a good example for a fact of life: you have opportunities with your children that won't always be there. They will grow up (very quickly) and time won't stand still for you to be ready to love and pour into your children. You have to take the opportunities when they come, for whatever season you are in. Someday the season will change and you won't have those same opportunities the lay a solid foundation again.

I lost my chance to rest with my little girl today and my heartaches over it. If you feel a tug in your heart to do something out of the ordinary with your children, I encourage you to follow it! The house may be a little bit messier, the yogurt may get made 2 hours later, but come on... aren't our children worth it?

It's a Brand New Day

I've been considering for a while now that I should write something, anything to explain my disappearance to those of my followers that may have actually read this blog semi-regularly. The reasons are very complicated and I won't bore you with them, but suffice it to say that I'm doing some "soul searching." Such a cheesy term for such a serious time of life.

In looking at my blog and my life, I'm realizing that I really don't have much to say. Or least not much to say that's worthwhile for someone else to read. There's already so much junk on the internet, I really don't want to contribute to the pile. With all the junk out there, it takes a great deal of time and patience to find the true gems and sometimes I just don't think the time away from our other duties is worth it.

In my soul searching, I've realized that I don't have much to say that's worth telling someone else about. Not yet anyway. I'm a fairly new wife (we're approaching 4 years together) and a fairly new mother (my oldest will be 3 this August) and I simply don't have the tried and true experience and wisdom of an older married mother, yet.

My heart's cry and passion revolves around Titus 2:3-5

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed"

I have long been feeling the lack of a wise, older woman to teach me those 8 things described above and I believe that many other young women crave this as well. It is a rare thing in today's culture that older, experienced Christian mothers pour into the lives of younger women not just in a "spiritual" way, but in a practical real life way. I don't want someone to just tell me to be sober, show me and teach me what that looks like! Of course, young people aren't so good at listening either.

These past few weeks have been humbling, difficult, and heart breaking but also encouraging, uplifting and inspiring. That's one of the amazing things about God. He will show you what a mess you are, but rather than kick you while you're down, He'll give you hope and provide a way to move forward.

From now on, when I post on this blog, I hope that it will be a reflection and encouragement for moving forward. I hope to inspire young women with anything that I learn that fits in with the 8 things listed above for young women to learn. I hope that I'll no longer be adding to the massive amounts of junk that have to be sifted through on the internet.

God bless you for listening to me pour out my heart and I hope you'll walk this journey with me of learning to be sober, to love our husbands, to love our children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, and obedient to our own husbands.