Welcome to my blog TT Does It All! I am so excited to share my home life with you. Mostly I blog about hair styles, hair cuts and products that we use. We are economically challenged right now and live on a very tight budget so coupons and sales are very high on our priority list. We shop, primp, cook and clean on products gained by our frugal shopping style. I will be sharing tips, recipes, shopping advise and antics of our home.
My husband and I raise my 11 yr old nephew and 12 yr old niece. My daughter recently got married and her husband added three grandchildren to the mix. My mom "Nana" stops by often bringing my niece baby Bella along. Donavan is my kid's little brother and he is often here spending time with them. Confused yet? Lol you'll get used to it, like most families today the dynamics are far from the norm but with love and patience we make it work.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime
Sorry it's been a bit since I posted it's been a bit of a rough start to the summer. Kids with flu, bronchitis, vacation, Vitamin D deficiency oh the list goes on and on. Things are back to normal and I've made a quick meal I think is great for the summertime. Mexican Cornbread!!! Here goes.
Best to use well seasoned 10 - 12 in black iron skillet. Put it in the oven to heat up while pre heating the oven to 450. Brown ground beef, turkey or any ground meat you like. Add onions, garlic salt and pepper, put in taco seasoning and a drained can of pinto beans and a small can of chopped chilies. Now let it simmer and make cornbread. I use yellow meal mix, 1 egg, 1/2 stick of melted margarine, a nice plop of sour cream a drained can of corn and mix with buttermilk til it's a thick consistency.
Once the oven is ready and the skillet is hot pour a couple of Tbsp of oil and then pour about 3/4 of the batter. Spoon the meat/bean mixture almost to the edges. Don't be concerned about the bread rising it's ok but work quickly. Ok now sprinkle about 1 1/2 c of shredded cheddar cheese. Top with the remaining batter smearing with a spoon as needed to cover the cheese. Bake about 20 min until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let sit a few minutes while you get you drinks together and set the table. I cut the bread into pie shape servings. I often serve fresh cherry tomatoes from the garden or a salad on the side. Might even use a dollop of sour cream and a spoon of salsa on top. Guacamole would go great with this meal. Leftovers are even better if you can manage to have some : )
Best to use well seasoned 10 - 12 in black iron skillet. Put it in the oven to heat up while pre heating the oven to 450. Brown ground beef, turkey or any ground meat you like. Add onions, garlic salt and pepper, put in taco seasoning and a drained can of pinto beans and a small can of chopped chilies. Now let it simmer and make cornbread. I use yellow meal mix, 1 egg, 1/2 stick of melted margarine, a nice plop of sour cream a drained can of corn and mix with buttermilk til it's a thick consistency.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
My favorite spring home cooked meal!
I love the spring and all the fresh produce that shows up and my local markets! My favorite meal to prepare this time of year is taco salad. This is what we do. I brown ground beef or ground turkey and season it with a taco flavor packet then I add either a can of rotel or simply diced tomatoes. I let that simmer while I cut fresh lettuce really small shreds, cut tomatoes, onions, and black olives. I pull sour cream and salsa from the fridge and we set out tortilla chips and or fritos. I often open a can of pinto beans and spin them in my Magic Bullet and warm in the microwave. It's much less fattening than refried beans. I have been known to just use the whole drained beans.
We layer our bowls or plates first with the chips, then meat, beans, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, then all the salad fixings with sour cream dollops and spooned salsa! It's soooo good our kids never complain about it and we often eat it twice or three times a month during warm weather!
We layer our bowls or plates first with the chips, then meat, beans, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, then all the salad fixings with sour cream dollops and spooned salsa! It's soooo good our kids never complain about it and we often eat it twice or three times a month during warm weather!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Scrapbook for Kids
I always get bogged down with scrap booking with my kids when we go somewhere special. I'm sentimental about the kids having mementos from vacations and fun days but it can be really difficult to keep up with all the little bits that we want to preserve. I've come up with an idea that I'm now going to use. I've found lots of little picture holder books and mini scrap books on sale at various arts and crafts stores or in the clearance isle of walmart. I'm taking a little time to let my kid use a Sharpie to Title the book or use supplies I have like foam letters. Then take the empty book with on the outing or vacation. As stickers, movie stubs, museum fliers and other bits are collected they can go right in the book. Later when pictures are developed from the outing we can slip them in and wha la! The memento is complete. If extra embellishments are wanted then they can easily be added on a rainy day.
I think the brown bag scrap books are great for this too but require some prep and may end up being a lot of fuss! Unless of course you have used a rainy day and made some up. The pockets are great for little treasures and will open more than the regular picture sleeves.
For those treasures that are to big and need attention later carry a bag in your tote, diaper bag or purse.
I think the brown bag scrap books are great for this too but require some prep and may end up being a lot of fuss! Unless of course you have used a rainy day and made some up. The pockets are great for little treasures and will open more than the regular picture sleeves.
For those treasures that are to big and need attention later carry a bag in your tote, diaper bag or purse.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Savings Just Keep Adding Up!
My local Market has another great sale this week and I've found some ways to take advantage of the savings.
Green and red grapes are on sale for .99 lb!!! That's an almost unheard of price so we just had to think of a way to store them. I decided to take them off the stems, rinse them in a colander and roll them onto a kitchen towel to dry. Once dry we simply put them in a zip top heavy duty freezer bag and stored them in the door of our freezer.
The little frozen bites of heaven make a healthy, quick snack for my family. We do NOT thaw them the texture won't be firm so we eat them frozen and the delight in your mouth on a warm afternoon is better than any Popsicle or Ice cream bar!
Another unbelievable bargain, 3 lb bags of yellow onions for 79c each, I bought three bags! I am taking a little time to peel and chop them and just throwing the diced bits into those handy dandy freezer bags. I press the air out and lay flat in the freezer. Now all I have to do is reach in and take out the amount I need while preparing meals. It really helps to get supper going in a hurry and I only have one crying session! lol. I usually use 3 lbs of onions a month give or take so I could be saving my self from paying full price for three months. I'm thinking I'll run across another sale in that time and replenish my supply before I run out so I won't have to pay full price by "buying forward". That means buying more than I really need at a cut rate price and having enough to use until they go on sale again. Of course I'll leave a few out to use fresh while I can.
Look for seasonal bargains and find ways to store them. Sure it will take a little time to prepare store them but when you add it up I bet it saves time compared to preparing just a little if you do it every time you need it for a meal.
Happy Savings!!!
Ttdoesitall
Green and red grapes are on sale for .99 lb!!! That's an almost unheard of price so we just had to think of a way to store them. I decided to take them off the stems, rinse them in a colander and roll them onto a kitchen towel to dry. Once dry we simply put them in a zip top heavy duty freezer bag and stored them in the door of our freezer.
The little frozen bites of heaven make a healthy, quick snack for my family. We do NOT thaw them the texture won't be firm so we eat them frozen and the delight in your mouth on a warm afternoon is better than any Popsicle or Ice cream bar!
Another unbelievable bargain, 3 lb bags of yellow onions for 79c each, I bought three bags! I am taking a little time to peel and chop them and just throwing the diced bits into those handy dandy freezer bags. I press the air out and lay flat in the freezer. Now all I have to do is reach in and take out the amount I need while preparing meals. It really helps to get supper going in a hurry and I only have one crying session! lol. I usually use 3 lbs of onions a month give or take so I could be saving my self from paying full price for three months. I'm thinking I'll run across another sale in that time and replenish my supply before I run out so I won't have to pay full price by "buying forward". That means buying more than I really need at a cut rate price and having enough to use until they go on sale again. Of course I'll leave a few out to use fresh while I can.
Look for seasonal bargains and find ways to store them. Sure it will take a little time to prepare store them but when you add it up I bet it saves time compared to preparing just a little if you do it every time you need it for a meal.
Happy Savings!!!
Ttdoesitall
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Spring Break Zoo Day!
Price break wasn't bad either!
Our schools are on Spring Break this week so we went to the zoo.
We were gifted a zoo membership for Christmas by our family so we took the money today and signed up for an annual membership. Believe it or not there was a coupon!!! Yes even events and amusements often have coupons. Our family is so great at holidays and birthdays about asking what the kids need or want. We often give suggestions that are non traditional. If your kid's rooms are like our's they have enough toys and electronics to keep every nook and cranny filled with overflow. Since we are asked for suggestions we try to be ready with ideas that make the givers feel good about how they spend their money and the kids feeling great about the gift. This year when asked at Christmas we suggested that instead of individual gifts we'd like a family membership to the zoo! Grandparents loved the idea of treating the kids to such a wonderful gift that truly keeps on giving all year long and the kids LOVE going. Here's how the cost broke down. Normal family membership for 2 adults and children under 21 in a household costs 99$. We had a coupon for 10$ off so that took it to 89$. There was a bonus if you paid an additional 20$ you could take a guest with you on each visit. This is really great for us because grand parents, cousins and friends often want to go with us. So for 109$ we get unlimited visits to the zoo, free parking, fast entry members only lines, discounts to special events during the year and a 15% off gift shop purchases. That is a bargain in my book. So now even when we have limited funds we know we can go to the zoo with no further costs!!! With this membership it takes the pressure off of trying to doing the entire zoo in one trip! We did preferred sections today knowing we didn't have to exhaust ourselves trying to see and do everything. We can go frequently so the next trip we'll do things we didn't do today.
Luckily our zoo is very nice and has natural habitats instead of bars and cages so it gets very high marks every year in comparisons to other zoos. There are reptile houses, nocturnal exhibits, African animal sections and much more. Here are a few pictures of our visit. Look in your city for family friendly memberships at museums, amusement parks etc.. You may be surprised at how little you would have to pay over the price of just one admission to get a membership that would give you unlimited or frequent access and discounts that would give your family something to do all year long!
Our zoo also brings in special exhibits throughout the year. Right now there is a dinosaur exhibit and it does cost extra but members get a discount so it was totally worth it. Later in the year they have a butterfly exhibit, there are activities at Halloween and Christmas too!
I love putting captions of what I think the animals are saying!
Roar!!!
Whatchu lookin' at?!
Hide ya'll that lady has a camera!
Gimme a kiss!
Yeah this is my park, I'm letting you check it out!
Does my butt look big in this dirt?!
The humans are just boring me to death today!
Price break wasn't bad either!
Our schools are on Spring Break this week so we went to the zoo.
We were gifted a zoo membership for Christmas by our family so we took the money today and signed up for an annual membership. Believe it or not there was a coupon!!! Yes even events and amusements often have coupons. Our family is so great at holidays and birthdays about asking what the kids need or want. We often give suggestions that are non traditional. If your kid's rooms are like our's they have enough toys and electronics to keep every nook and cranny filled with overflow. Since we are asked for suggestions we try to be ready with ideas that make the givers feel good about how they spend their money and the kids feeling great about the gift. This year when asked at Christmas we suggested that instead of individual gifts we'd like a family membership to the zoo! Grandparents loved the idea of treating the kids to such a wonderful gift that truly keeps on giving all year long and the kids LOVE going. Here's how the cost broke down. Normal family membership for 2 adults and children under 21 in a household costs 99$. We had a coupon for 10$ off so that took it to 89$. There was a bonus if you paid an additional 20$ you could take a guest with you on each visit. This is really great for us because grand parents, cousins and friends often want to go with us. So for 109$ we get unlimited visits to the zoo, free parking, fast entry members only lines, discounts to special events during the year and a 15% off gift shop purchases. That is a bargain in my book. So now even when we have limited funds we know we can go to the zoo with no further costs!!! With this membership it takes the pressure off of trying to doing the entire zoo in one trip! We did preferred sections today knowing we didn't have to exhaust ourselves trying to see and do everything. We can go frequently so the next trip we'll do things we didn't do today.
Luckily our zoo is very nice and has natural habitats instead of bars and cages so it gets very high marks every year in comparisons to other zoos. There are reptile houses, nocturnal exhibits, African animal sections and much more. Here are a few pictures of our visit. Look in your city for family friendly memberships at museums, amusement parks etc.. You may be surprised at how little you would have to pay over the price of just one admission to get a membership that would give you unlimited or frequent access and discounts that would give your family something to do all year long!
Our zoo also brings in special exhibits throughout the year. Right now there is a dinosaur exhibit and it does cost extra but members get a discount so it was totally worth it. Later in the year they have a butterfly exhibit, there are activities at Halloween and Christmas too!
I love putting captions of what I think the animals are saying!
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