Pies for Thanksgiving

So I have started working (which I love by the way) so my time is cut in half or more a day. I have been slacking on cooking dinner and doing the easy fast bag dinners or tacos and all the easy stuff. I LOVE to cook so I have felt bad that my family is having to eat food that isn't the freshest and all that. Well I decided I am not going to cheat this Thanksgiving!

I always make homemade pies and I am determined to do it this year too, working or not!
It is so easy to make home made pies and they taste so much better then store bought.


So my strategy is on Sunday (my day off) make my pie crust dough. I am making 3 pies so I will triple my recipe and after it is made up I will make 3 equal balls of dough and wrap them in plastic wrap place them in the fridge and they will be great till I make my pies the night before Thanksgiving.

After I cool my pies I will cover in foil, and set them in the garage. Well on my washer cause it is so cold here right now they will be perfectly fine and it frees up room in the fridge.



Here  is the recipe I use.

8 serving (two 8 or 9 in crusts)

2 1/4 cups all- purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, well chilled ( I use butter but I thought I would give you the real recipe and what I do!)
2 TB butter, well chilled
5 to 6 TB cold water

Combine flour and salt in bowl, mix for 15 seconds, Cut butter and Shortening into pieces and add to flour mixture. Mix till particles are the size of peas about 30-45 seconds. Continue mixing and add cold water one TB at a time, just until moistened dough begins to hold together. Divide dough into 2 balls wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge for 15 mins.

When you are ready to roll out your dough put it between 2 pieces of wax paper you want it about 1/8th in thick.
Fold into quarters to put into pie pan easier. Unfold and press firmly into pan against the sides and bottom.
Crimp sides the way you like. I pinch them.

Like I said I will make the dough Sunday. I will post pics then! Also When I make my pies I will post pics.

What pies do you make?
I make pumpkin, Apple and pecan.
If you have any suggestions please post in the comments! We all can learn a thing or two!

Have an awesome day!  

Coupon give away!!!! $100 in coupons!!!!

Hey everyone!
I am giving away $100 in coupons this weekend only!
I want to mail them out by Monday so if anyone has last minute Thanksgiving shopping you can use the coupons!

Here is what you need to do.

Join my GFC on this blog

Go to this Facebook page and "Like" it.
https://www.facebook.com/LonewolfHosting

There will be 2 winners

$75 in coupons
$25 in coupons

Winners will be verified by checking that you have joined GFC and "Like" the Facebook page.

Good Luck to you all! 

Closed minded people

Ok sorry to all of you that are just here for coupon info.

I need to vent!

I just saw a segment on the news about the Aids Walk LA . 
It is a wonderful way for everyone to help raise money for more research and hopefully find a cure.
Well I am so tired of people hearing the word aids and start saying stuff like " oh they are gay" 
These people think that you can only get Aids that way! Well let me be the one to tell you that is so not true! 
ANYONE can get aids, if you don't protect yourself Aids is transfered when people have sex,
 using a condom greatly reduces the chances of getting aids. Animals cannot get aids and can't
 transfer it. Aids comes from blood, semen and other bodily fluids. You can't get aids from saliva so kissing, hugging, handshakes, and just about everything else will not give you aids. If someone has aids, don't worry about it, as long as you don't have sex with them you'll be fine. 

Aids can also be transfered by blood. If someone with aids has an open cut, you can only get it if you are to share blood or eat the blood by maybe accedetly mixing it with food but the aids virus can only live for five minutes outside of the body. If you give birth to a child while not having aids, and you some how obtian it in your blood stream and breast feed the child, it will get aids even though it might have not had aids after birth.

I got this info from http://wiki.answers.com


Stop being so closed minded about things you may not know about. Get the facts before you open your mouth. Please! 
Just because some one is gay it doesn't mean they have Aids either! Why not just focus on the person in stead of their sexuality. Who cares if someone is gay? I sure don't! I hope you don't either! 


This is something that bothers me so much when people hate for no reason! Get to know people for who they are!


Thanks for letting me vent!

Ipad giveaway go enter to win!

<a href="http://makobiscribe.com/2011/10/ipad2-cover-giveaway.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://makobiscribe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ipad.jpg" alt="iPad2-giveaway" border="0" /></a>

Giveaway is ending!!!!

Ok everyone, The giveaway is ending tomorrow!~

I received the mixer on Tuesday but I still wanted to give you all to Thursday cause that was the original ship date.

I just love it! I already made Zucchini bread and Zucchini- carrot muffins! My family is in heaven!

I will be posting pics and the recipes I used soon. I have just been busy and hurting really bad!

Tomorrow I will be driving my husband to the DR which is 2 hours away. Driving sucks cause it is so hard on my back and neck but I need to get him to the pain management Dr.

Hope you have a great day!

Mom me time!

ok so what is Mom Me time? Most Moms don't know what this is but it is needed badly!
So how do you fit it in with EVERYONE counting on you to get so much done? How do you fit in me time when you are lucky to get a shower or at least one without interuptions!

Sadly the only way to get this needed Me time is to be organized. I know what your thinking.
How do I do it?
Well the best thing to do is make lists.
1) Daily chores (things that have to get done every day)
2) Weekly chores (things that have to get done that week not really on a certian day)
3)Monthy chores (things that needs to be done that month)

You can do more lists if you would like for the year or what ever you can think of.

So now you have the chores,print out a calender ( you can get one from printfree.com)
Now you just have to make your schedule. Make sure to put the times of your childs pick up if that is something you do. I like to put times next to the things I need to. I will block out
times, like Morning 9-12pm then afternoon 1-5pm then it isn't something scheduled every hour or anything but things are getting done. So how do you get that me time?
Look over your schedule, there should be at least an hour a day where you can sit down and do something for yourself. When your kids are between the ages of Newborn - 2 you will find this time while they sleep or when your spouse is taking care of them.
From 3-9yrs old the kids should be learning that you may need a time out to read or write or what ever you do to relax. Of course the younger they are the least they will understand this so you would have to explain to them that you are busy and you will help them in just a min.

So that is what you do.   By taking the time for yourself, you are also teaching your kids to take time for themself too when they grow up!  You will be a more relaxed parent, and they will be a parent that takes care of themself and helps  their spouse take time for relaxing too!

So today is my Me day! I am going read and relax and later make dinner!

Handbags.com

So I found an awesome handbag store. They have some really nice purses and bags. All different prices.
If you sign up using this link you should get a $10 credit. At least that is what it says.
So try it out, the signing up for an account is free so if it doesn't work no worries but if it does you can get something for just a couple bucks and free shipping!
Here is the link Handbags.com

Don't forget about my coupon giveaway!

I am still giving away 2 envelopes with $25 worth of coupons in each! Please comment on this post or the first post about the giveaway telling me the best giveaway you have ever won, or if you haven't won any yet tell me the best one you have entered.

This ends when I receive my best giveaway prize to date The Kitchen Aid Mixer. It should be here on Sept 29th so one week left!
Good luck to you all!

Check out this giveaway!

Adventures of a frugal mom is having a giveaway! She is giving away a book about blogging!
Supper Blogga is the book! It is an ebook so you can buy it and start reading right away!
So please go to Adventures of a frugal mom and enter this contest!

Thanks Adventures of a frugal mom for having this giveaway!!!

GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Ok Followers! I am going to do my 1st Giveaway!!!!!!!

In spirit of me winning the Kitchen Aid Mixer, I will hold my own giveaway!

I will give away $50 in coupons I have 2 envelopes of $25 of coupons in each so I will pick 2 winners!

Here is what you need to do! Post a comment on this post about the best giveaway you have won so far and how long you have been entering giveaways!
If you haven't won yet, post what was the best giveaway you entered and how long have you been entering giveaways.

The giveaway starts from right now till I get my mixer!!!! Which I should get it on Sept 29th. So you have 10 days to enter!!! Good Luck to you all!

 I just received the best email so far. I just won a Kitchen Aid Mixer. I have wanted one of these for years! I mean with it you can make so many things. Then I can buy all the attachments to make pasta and sausage and all kinds of things.My husband really wants homemade sausage! Really want ever my family wants I can make it now! I am so thankful to The Money Mavens for having this giveaway! It does work when you enter! I have been entering giveaways for 3 months and this is the 3rd time I have won. So go out there find the giveaways, enter them and share them with everyone. That's what I am going to keep doing!

From now till next Wednesday 9/21

Sorry for not posting much the last couple days! Life has been crazy and it seems it is going to be that way till Wednesday! Sadly for me! LOL
So after wednesday I will get back to posting on deals and how about some of my fave recipes? I still need to figure out how to make different tabs on my blog so I can have a freebies tab and a recipes tab and my Fave coupon blog tab! Anyone want to tell me how to do that?????

If you know please let me know by emailing me at lulurice79@gmail.com

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!! If you see any deal feel free to post them in the comments so everyone on my blog can see them! Thanks!
Lewannn

One of those days!

Do you ever feel like nothing is going right? Like my life wasn't supposed to be like this! Oh boy do I feel like that today! My 91yr old Grandmother was living with me, which I loved! Ya we had some rough days but over all I loved the time with her and so did she. Well in June she fell and broke her hip. Not so good! She had surgery and had to go into a nursing home to recover. the recovery was supposed to take about 20-40 days. Well it has been 3 months! She has a hard time drinking water so she is getting dehydrated, she has had pneumonia twice now, and a UTI. She is too weak to do physical therapy and I hate seeing her like this. Today I went to see her and she is on oxygen and can hardly talk! I was really trying not to cry cause it breaks my heart seeing such a strong woman just laying in bed not being able to breath or talk. Then I get to my car and it wouldn't start! Talk about being mad. I couldn't help crying out of frustration! I finally got the car started and just drove home! I didn't want to run into anymore things.

Well my car seems to be fine now, no idea why it wouldn't start before. I am just praying my Grandmother gets over this pneumonia and can get back to doing physical therapy and eating and drinking the way the Dr wants her too and we want her too!

Sorry for the venting! It has just been one of those days!

8 Days left for this giveaway!

Don't forget to go enter this awesome giveaway! $75 cash prize (paid through paypal) and there is also another prize package of 7 different prizes! Got to this link to enter and check out all the prizes! http://www.heavenlysavings.net/2011/09/blogorama-bonanza-giveaway-hop-2-prize.html

Restaurant.com Great deal

Today is the last day to get this deal! Spend $2 for a $25 gift Certificate! Great Christmas or birthday gifts too!Restaurant.com

Kohl's deal for TODAY only! 9/14

We were talking about Kohl's the other day and now there is an awesome deal going on TODAY only!

Kohl’s has a few great deals today.  Use code SHOPWITH30 to get 30% off your entire order with your Kohl’s Card + shop through Shop at home to get 5% cash back on your purchases today only.  Kohl’s cash back is usually 2% but shop at home as increased the cash back for 9/14 only.  You can also use the code freeshipping to get FREE shipping on your order as well!

If you don’t have a Kohl’s card you may be able to use the code SMS4371 to get 10% off.

Thanks to I am THAT Lady! 

Kohl's

So my wonderful friend Amanda, just shared with me an awesome deal.
When you sign up for Kohl's sale alerts (at the bottom of the Kohl's website) you will get huge savings!

Just for signing up you get
 - A $5 coupon to use in our stores

- A 10% off Promo Code to use online

Then if you just shop the clearance sale you can save so much! 

She has saved $120 and only spent $20! That is amazing discount! 

So go sign up for the sales alerts and start saving!

http://www.kohls.com

Thanks to Amanda for sharing!

Blogorama Bonanza Giveaway Hop

Thank you so much to all you new followers!!!! Hopefully I will help you save as much of that hard earned money so you can use it the way you want too!
If you haven't already please got to this link http://www.heavenlysavings.net/2011/09/blogorama-bonanza-giveaway-hop-2-prize.html and enter this contest for some awesome prizes!!!
Good luck to all of you!

Saving money on clothes

Clothes cost a lot of money these days. I don't even see how to make clothes to save money because the fabric is so expensive.

So what I do is first, check out all the clearance racks, you may be thinking well Duh I do that, but do you think ahead? When I go to the clearance rack I have a few things in mind.
1) the size my daughter is today
2) what size she could be in the next few months
3) anything that can be given as a gift.

I have purchased whole outfits for under $5 just from the clearance rack.

But that is not all!

We also have all those discount clothes store, Ross, Marshalls, TJMax.
Sign up for their emails and you will find out about even more discounts. The best part is if you buy online it doesn't matter if you don't have a local store!

Also if you sign up with Shop at home you can get an even bigger deal. They have coupon codes to save you even more.

One more thing I do is go to thrift stores. Some of them can be gross but the majority are very well kept.
I have found many clothes that still have the tags on them, so they are brand new for just a couple dollars.
One things I don't buy at thrift store is shoes. I don't know why but I just can't do it. LOL I am sure the shoes are fine. I mean if you get sneakers you can even put them in the washing machine. I just can't do it!

Oh another thing is checking out freecycle find a freecycle near you. It is all online in a message group, people post what they have to offer for free, and you can post what you are looking for. So you could even get a whole bunch of outfits for free!

If you have any other suggestions please post them in the comments!
Also if there is something you want me to talk about please let me know!

Blogorama Bonanza Giveaway Hop

I just sponsored this awesome sites Blogorama!
 Please go check out this Blog!
http://networkedblogs.com/mTSlu The websites name is 
Heavenly savings.


Please go to this site and enter to win one of two prize packages. One is $75 Cash via paypal the other is a fun prize pack with 7 different prizes!


Thanks to Heavenly Savings!

Free magazine subscription to Baby talk!

If you are pregnant, just had a baby or know someone who has a baby get this FREE subscription!

Its free and you can give it as a give to a family member or close friend!

http://www.formstack.com/forms/eMagazines-baby_talk_sc?sharedid=

What is this blog about?

So I thought I should let everyone know what I hope to accomplish with my blog.
1) I want to save money and in turn save you money!(using coupons,researching deals for the things we want to buy, recycling the things we have or reusing them in creative ways)

2) I want to be different then other blogs that save you money.(Try to not repeat the same deals)

3) Let you into my family life sharing stories of what is happening with us.

4) Show you how to get free things, samples, full size products and possibly your groceries!

5) How to make money from home, No really it can be done, It doesn't happen fast but it can help.

6) Share my experiences homeschooling.

So now how to I do this? I need followers for one thing! LOL Which means I need to step out of my comfort zone and advertise my blog! I am really afraid of rejection so this is going to be hard. I am so willing to do it. I have been told for years I should write down how I have saved money living on unemployment and now welfare.
Let me clarify, I am not saving money, like putting money away in a savings account or anything. I mean spending money the right way, living in your means and not going into debt having to by groceries.

Ok Now I need your help.
What are your questions? Do you have anything that you want to see deals on? Do you need help getting started with couponing?
Let me know and I will do my best to get you the help or answers you want.
Thanks!

Ways to find the good deals and coupons.

If you are new to couponing you may not know where you can go to get those deals or coupons.

First, many people know about the Sunday paper,but that is not all!
There are many sites where you can print coupons. www.coupon.com , www.redplum.com,  www.smartsource.com These are a few to start with.

Then Facebook is such a wonderful place to find coupon bloggers. So get a Facebook and start liking pages!
I hope to contact many bloggers to see if I can put their blog info on here so you can just click from my page to theirs! So stay tuned for that!

So now what every marriage needs is a date night to reconnect and just get away from the house or every day life, but how do you do that when you have no money or very little. You do have to decide if you can afford it. If you have to choose between paying a bill and going out to dinner, paying the bill should be your answer! You do not want to get into more debt!!!! That is not what I am talking about.
If you can afford it do it! Just don't pay full price!
I love www.restaurant.com You put in your zip code and then you scroll through a list of restaurants in your area that uses these gift certificates. Now these are at a discount already, but then they run specials where you can get the same certificates for $2,$3,$4 for a $25 gift certificate!!! What a huge discount!!!! Sign up for there emails and you will know right away when they are having these specials.

Here is what I do when I can afford it! I wait till the $2 special, then I stock up! They never expire! I will look up places we may be going soon, like we have friends that live in Las Vegas so I buy some for that area and my area and when we want to go out we can. The only thing is you have to read the fine print! They all have minimum purchase amounts. So most $25 certificates you need to spend $35. Really how hard is that? So you don't drink water with Dinner because you can splurge a little and have tea or soda!
Also you should show your waiter the certificate right away , they need to go call and make sure it is valid. They do add the tip on to the check too. I have never spent more than $20 out of pocket for 4-5 people eating. Not bad for a great meal and of course it is a huge meal.

Another sweet trick is there are website that give you cash back on online purchases. One is http://www.shopathome.com Sign up for this site then look around and find your favorite stores, do your normal shopping, hopefully using a promo code, and then you get cash back. I haven't had the money yet to actually buy anything, but I have seen so many people make a lot of money on the stuff they have to buy anyway, clothes, books, all kinds of stuff and I just found out that Restaurants.com is on here too so I will be checking that out very soon!
I know there is more but I am getting very tired and I should clean up the kitchen still and do all my bed time chores so I can go to bed!

Nordic Naturals give away

Nordic Naturals has generously offered one lucky reader two children’s products along with swag (coloring book, crayons, fun things 




Please go to http://www.giveawaytrain.com/2011/07/nordic-naturals-back-to-school-giveaway.html
to enter this give away! Good Luck!

My first post! Our back story.

Hi my new blog!
I would like to start out by telling a little about me and my family. My name is Lewann and I am married to my best friend and soul mate Josh. We have a 14 yr old Daughter Joey Rose.
We have had some tough times financially the last few years. Like most of the United States really.
For us it started in 2004, Josh was a Certified Electrician and his back went out. He was off work for 2 months. He was able to go back to work but in great pain. He has pushed his pain aside the best he can to provide for his family like the wonderful husband and Father he is. In 2005 I was rear ended sitting at a red light, I guess who ever the guy that hit me was talking too was more important then watching the road. LOL  

Well after that I ended up with many health problems and no insurance to deal with them. I won't go into all that other to say that I have Fibromyalgia and neck and low back problems. I am in severe pain all day. I am unable to work due to not being able to sit, stand or walk very long.

In 2008 Josh was laid off, at that time his back was not doing well. We couldn't afford insurance so he just dealt with the pain the best he could. He could work but not very fast and he needed many breaks and in the construction field you need to be the fastest you can be.
In 2009 Josh's back was just done. He could hardly walk, when he did walk he was so bend over like a little old man. It is so hard watching someone you love suffer so much. He applied for disability and we are still fighting for that.

In Dec 2010 Josh had surgery on his back!!! We found out the problem with his back is congenital, so he was born with it. Well the surgery went great! He had feeling in his left foot ,which he couldn't feel in over 2 yrs. The sciatica was much better at first, now it is back, not as much as before but it is back.

So we have gone through a lot in the last 6 years or so. The only thing that has gotten us through is the love we have for each other and our daughter and the support from wonderful family and friends.

So you may be asking why I wanted to make a blog.

Good question!!!!
I don't know! I love writing, I really want to write and publish a book, but also I have had to get pretty creative with our money situation to get bills paid, and still do things so my wonderful Daughter doesn't suffer because her parents aren't well.

I use coupons like they are money (which they really are if you think about it), I sign up with many groups to get free things or things at a discount. I don't pay full price, cause I just don't have the money to do it.

Right now with both of us not able to work we have to be on welfare to have any money (which isn't enough to pay our bills and we just have essential bills) I am very thankful that there is a welfare system when we need the help! I am all for drug testing all people on welfare. There are so many people misusing it and then it puts a bad taste in your mouth for anyone on welfare. I have been looking for something I can do from home, to make money, so we can get off welfare. We are also praying the disability case gets approved soon.

Any way I want to share with everyone all the things I do to save money, how to spend money better so you get the most bang for your buck! If you can get it for free Yippee!

Oh I have found a couple places online to do survey's for money so I am working on that and I will post that info also.
Well I guess that is all for now! If you have any question please feel free to ask.