Getting Good Deals Online...that Works for Me

I don't do a LOT of online shopping, but it is a great tool to use to help find things cheaper than in a brick and mortar store.  One of my favorite sites lately has been Amazon.com.  Lately, I have found some GREAT deals on there that I have been wanting to share with everyone so that you can also find great deals and save some money!  Here are three ways I have saved money with Amazon in the last few months.

1. Gift Cards
• The best way I have found to get gift cards is through Swagbucks.  All you do is sign up on swagbucks and use it as your search engine.  You earn swagbucks for searches (though not everyone) and there are a variety of other ways to earn swagbucks on the site if you want to really get into it.  For every 450 swagbucks you earn, you can redeem it for a $5 Amazon gift card (FYI: You can redeem these for other things or use them to enter drawings, this is just how *I* use them).  I can earn 450 usually in about 2 months...it's not a lot, but it helps me get free or discounted things on Amazon.
• Another way to get gift cards is to request them as birthday or holiday gifts (I do this since I also have a Kindle and can buy books with them) and I even found a Groupon deal for a gift card to amazon (paid $10 for a $20 gift card)!  You can sign up for swagbucks HERE and Groupon HERE.  (Disclaimer: I do get a referral bonus if you subscribe through my links for Swagbucks and Groupon.
2. Subscribe and Save.  Amazon runs deals where you get an additional % off (usually 15%) if you subscribe to have the items shipped to you regularly (this can be monthly, every other month, every 6 months, etc).  You can go in and change your subscription at any time and even turn it off (meaning they won't ship again until you tell them to).
3. Amazon Moms.  This is a new program they are offering to moms and other caregivers.  You get a discount on all baby items, free Super Saver (2-day) shipping for a few months, and other perks!  It costs nothing to sign up and has been WELL worth it for us!

How has this worked for me?
Here are a few examples.

1. I had had my eye on a few kitchen gadgets that I just couldn't bring myself to spend money on b/c I felt they "weren't essential", but didn't feel bad buying with gift cards.  I bought a cheese planer and garlic press for free!  I also bought this quirky "action figure" as a Christmas present for a friend of ours (who, incidentally, looks just like this action figure).  All FREE with Swagbucks gift cards.
2. I ordered 2 new wet bags and a toy hammock with a $10 off coupon I got in a magazine for any baby item through Amazon (I think it was in Baby Talk) and my Groupon card.  This entire order was also FREE! 
3. I ordered some coconut oil (great for baking) using Subscribe and Save which got me an extra 15% off.  Total purchase was $11.51 for two containers with free 2-day shipping (b/c I signed up with Amazon Mom).
4. Luvs diapers (since we're using sposies while I'm in classes).
• Size 2 diapers:  normally $35.54 for 228 diapers.  Discounted 15% for subscribe and save, additional $15% for Amazon Mom subscribers, and free shipping (also from Amazon Mom)...brought my total to $24.88!
• Size 4 diapers:  Normally $34.54 for 180 diapers.  Discounted 15% for subscribe and save, additional 15% for Amazon Mom, and free shipping...brought my total to $24.18!
5. Pregnancy tests are expensive, but I found this package of 25 for $5.36 and ended up only paying $1.25 with gift cards.  If I only use 2 ever I will have paid myself back :)

This has definitely helped me save money on Amazon purchases in just a few easy (and mostly free)!

This has been posted as part of Works For Me Wednesday over at We are THAT Family.

Super Easy Chicken Recipes, Make Ahead Monday

OK, so I just realized that I haven't every posted two of my favorite chicken recipes!  I wanted to rectify that today by sharing with you two recipes that my family really enjoys!  The second is one of my husbands FAVORITE dishes!  These both freeze wonderfully and are quick to heat up for dinner...which makes me love these dishes too :)  Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (serves ~8)
4-6 c cooked, diced/shredded chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup^
1 small can diced green chilies (undrained)
flour/corn tortillas cut into strips or cubes
grated cheese

1.  Combine chicken, soup, and chilies.
2. Layer: tortillas, 1/2 chicken filling, 1/2 cheese, and repeat.
3.  Sprinkle top with paprika and bake @ 350 for approx 20 min.
[This usually makes 2 casseroles for our family, 8x8 sized casserole dishes are what I use.  If you make the whole thing, you'll probably want to use a 9x13.]

**You can also mix all of this together and put in a Ziploc bag to freeze for later.  Then you just thaw, pour into a casserole dish, and go to step #3.


Dump Chicken (serves ~10-12)
12 chicken breasts or thighs (trust me, use boneless)
1/2 c melted butter
2 envelopes Italian salad dressing mix (you could try a homemade mix...here's one...or here)
2 cans cream of chicken soup^
1 c chicken broth/white wine (I always use broth, but the recipe originally called for wine...your choice)

1. Mix butter, dressing mix, soup, and broth/wine together.
2. Place chicken pieces in Ziploc bag and top with wet mixture.
3. To freeze, just seal it up, label with date/name/instructions, and freeze.
    To cook: Dump in crock pot and cook on low 8-9 hours (or high 4-5 hours).  toward end of cook time (about 1 hour until end), stir in a tub of flavored cream cheese (we like garden veggie).
4.  Serve over rice, potatoes, or noodles.

**I make this into two smaller batches b/c otherwise this is A LOT of food.  But this would be great to feed a crowd!  Also, even if I halve the recipe, I usually still use a full tub of cream cheese at the end (b/c if I tried to store 1/2 a tub it would inevitably go bad before I got back to it).

^I highly recommend this recipe for cream of chicken soup.  It doesn't have any MSG and it tastes so much better in my opinion.  It's also super fast and easy!  I read somewhere that you can also freeze this which sounds awesome and something I plan to try soon.  A heads up...this recipe makes the equivalent of 2 cans of cream of chicken soup so make sure you only use 1/2 if your recipe only calls for 1 can.

WFMW - Finding Shortcuts in the Kitchen

So, I promised to write more about my marathon-o-cooking that took place last week.  Trust me, it was NOTHING compared to the cooking days I had in preparation for Henry's birth (you can read more about that here).  I do, however, like to set aside find make time to do some small things in the kitchen that help make my daily cooking adventures a bit easier.  So, from time to time, I will do a few days like this (usually not all at once) to keep my freezer stocked.  So here are a few ideas that I've found to help me keep up during busy times by being prepared for our families needs. (NOTE: Our family is different than yours, not better or worse...just different.  Find what works for you and try to make time to fit it into your schedule to make it easier on you at other times when you just CAN'T find one extra second.)

1. Browning large quantities of ground beef at once.  I don't like to brown too
much b/c of fears of freezer burn, but having some already browned ground beef that can be quickly thawed for dinner can shave off some serious time in dinner prep--especially if you're like me and often forget to thaw the raw ground beef you need to start fixing dinner...in an hour.  Last week I browned about 16 lbs of ground beef, stored it in 1 lb portions in Ziploc bags, labeled them with the date and contents of the bag, and put them in the freezer.

2. Cooking up several pounds of cinnamon apples.  Carter loves cinnamon apples for breakfast, I quite enjoy them in oatmeal or grits (I know...no true Oklahoman apparently likes sweet grits, but I'm a transplant), and James enjoys cinnamon applesauce for snacks or lunch.  I core and dice several pounds at once, cook them with a bit of cinnamon and sugar, and then put them in canning jars.  One usually goes in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.  Also, this is a super easy way to make applesauce, just puree the apples in the blender after you're done cooking them (or after you've thawed them in the fridge).

3. Blanching and freezing potatoes.  This is something that never occurred to me before last week when I was upset, once again, for having so many potatoes about to go bad and not knowing how in the world I was going to use them all.  My solution was to dice them into approximately 1" chunks and blanch them for about 5 minutes in boiling water.  I then put them on a cooking sheet and in the freezer.  Once frozen, just pop them into Ziploc bags.  This works great as we really love cheeseburger soup, stone soup, and cheesy potato soup, and casseroles...it makes the cooking time on all of these a lot faster also!

4. Sauteed onions and celery.  Celery is another thing that usually goes bad before I can use it all.  Today I chopped several stalks of celery and about 1/2 a large onion and sauteed them in butter, laid them out on a cooking sheet, froze them, and then bagged them up for use in future soups and stews.

5. Cooked, chopped/shredded chicken.  Usually at least once every 3-4 weeks I cook two small roasting hens in the crock pot all day.  Then I take the meat off the bone and shred/dice.  I package it in 1 cup portions and freeze them.  This is also convenient for use in making quick meals (like this one).

Well, that's what's working for me right now.  Are there shortcuts you use in the kitchen that make dinner prep easier?  I'd love to hear about them!


This was posted for Works For Me Wednesday, hosted by We are THAT Family.  

Menu Plan Monday - quick fix edition

For those of you who don't know...which is probably most ;)...I am back in college.  I am currently enrolled in a course that meets for several hours two nights a week leaving my husband to get the boys feed and to sleep all by himself...not something I even look forward to, poor guy.  Anyway, to make it easier on him I have planned pretty simple meals for those two nights, please don't think poorly of me for feeding such "junk" to my family...a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do sometimes.

Monday - cheeseburger soup

Tuesday - enchiladas (trying this for the first time, but the recipe can be found here)

Wednesday - pepperoni pizza

Thursday - hamburger helper (we are using the icky store-bough stuff, but there are great recipes out there for more homemade versions....try this one or this one...I haven't tried either but they look yummy!)

Friday - tandoori chicken (new recipe) over brown rice

Saturday - breakfast strata (recipe coming soon)

Sunday - clean our refrigerator night