Homemade Milky Way Candy Bars

I love it when I have the foresight to buy delicious ingredients at the grocery store to have in my pantry. So on days like this when I search for something yummy (and chocolatey) to eat and don't find anything, I can make these - Homemade Milky Way candy bars!

I first saw these over on Erin's blog Dinners, Dishes and Desserts. I quickly pinned it over on Pinterest to make sometime soon. (If you haven't checked out Pinterest, you are missing out!)

They were easy to make and they were awesome! My poor thighs are not thanking me but my kids (and all the neighbor kids) said a huge thank you!

Ingredients:
* 1 bag milk chocolate chips
* 3 Tbls. evaporated milk
* 1 container Marshmallow Cream
* 1 (14 oz.) bag of caramels, unwrapped
* 3 Tbls. evaporated milk
* milk chocolate for dipping (about a pound)

Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.. Microwave for about 45 seconds. Stir. Continue to microwave in short bursts (about 30 seconds) until chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in the marshmallow cream and 3 Tbls. milk.

Pour into a lined and greased 8 x 8 pan. Place in the fridge to harden while you make the caramel layer.


Put the caramels and the rest of the milk into a microwave safe bowl. (Have a helper unwrap the caramels for you but watch carefully - they might eat them all!)


Microwave for about 45 seconds. Stir. Continue to microwave in short bursts (about 30 seconds) until melted and smooth. pour over chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.


Once firm, remove from pan and cut into squares. Melt the milk chocolate over a double boiler (or in the microwave) and start dipping.


Enjoy!


I had a little girl who liked to clean up any caramel that oozed out =o)




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Learning How To Coupon Shop

I've always thought of myself as a coupon shopper. I would cut them out of the Sunday paper (when I would buy one), you know, and use them. But then my friend, Renee, schooled me. What was I thinking all this time?! I wasn't couponing... I was just casually using coupons =o) Well, not any more. It's kind of a game now. She'll come to work and tell me how much she saved (she's awesome at this!) and then I get all envious and try to one up her (which I can't do.) So it's a game now. Who saves the most money. That's a good game, right? (Sadly, I always lose. But we won't dwell on that right now.)

Here's my finds so far (and remember... I'm new to this.)


Colgate toothpaste - 25 cents
2 bottles of Garnier Shampoo and 1 bottle of Garnier Conditioner - $1.17
Tick Tacs (my daughter loves them) - free
2 boxes of Magnum Double Caramel Ice Cream bars - $2.98

Yep, you read that right! All that for $4.40

And my other one...


2 pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream - $3.48
Bulls Eye BBQ Sauce - free
Dannon Yogurt - free

Oh yeah, I'm on a roll.

This was my best savings yet...


I paid $13.10 for all of this. That's a savings of $52.95!

I know it's small stuff to those of you out there who do this all the time, but I'm a beginner and I'm totally psyched by this. I can't wait to see what else I can find... for free!

So how does one do this? You "layer" coupons. There's a site that my friend told me about, Frugal Living NW, that will walk you through it basically. It tells you what stores are having the sales and where to find the coupons (which Sunday paper, etc) How easy it that?!

And it always helps to have a helper =o)


Do you have any tips for me? I'd love to hear them!

Garlic Aioli Sauce

I've discovered a new love. It's Garlic Aioli Sauce. Holy smokes. I could seriously eat this on everything. it has taken the place of Ranch for me (which I put on everything.) This is even better. Mind you, my breath smells absolutely horrible after I eat a cup of it on my french fries. But I don't care!

I first had this dipping sauce when I went to Burgerville. Burgerville is a fast food restaurant out here in Oregon. I am so sorry for all of you who have never experienced Burgerville. It rocks. It's a little more expensive than the other fast food places but it's so much better. And they have things on their menu like Deep Fried Asparagus and Shitaki Mushroom Wedges (when they are in season.) That's mainly what I go there for. I can eat mushroom wedges everyday!

I never dreamed it was so easy to make.

Ingredients
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
* 3-4 garlic cloves (minced or pressed)

My kids loved squishing the garlic in the garlic press. I kind of lost track, though, of how many garlic cloves they were squishing. I think it was about 12 or 14 so we had to add a little more mayonnaise.


Mix everything together and viola! The best darn dipping sauce ever!


(The mushroom wedges in the picture are from Burgerville. See what I mean when I say it rocks?!?!)




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The Pokemon Birthday Party Has Arrived

After all the prep, the birthday party has finally arrived. Invitations went out, goody bags were made, and finally the big day arrived. Here's what the filled goody bags looked like.


I'm fortunate enough to be able to have these events at my work (school). I love it. I don't have to worry about my house not being big enough or how clean it is =o). And the kids can run and run and we don't have to worry about weather. That's an issue out here in the Northwest. June can either be hot as heck or rainy and chilly.

We started the party with everyone painting their own Pokeball. Messy? A little. But fun? You bet.


We played Pokemon Bingo (which we called Pichu). I found a great website where you can print out these great Bingo cards in different designs/themes. And thank goodness they had Pokemon! Perfect! We used Skittles as the markers and the kids got to take home the bag of leftover Skittles in their goody bags.


We also played pin the tail on Pikachu. I drew a big Pikachu and printed out tails.

Then we had some "Pokemon food".




This isn't very "Pokemon-y" but how could a bunch of 8 year old boys be in a school gym and not have a dodgeball tournament? Not possible.

I think this is one happy boy! (I'm not quite sure about his sister.) =o)

That's a lot of Pokemon! But I think everyone had a great time. My son said it was awesome. So, totally worth it!



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Summer Movie Express at Regal Cinemas

It's that time again... SUMMER TIME! Oh man. This is my favorite time of year. I'm not sure if it's because of the sunshine or the fact that I don't work during the summer and I get to hang out with my kids everyday and play. Maybe it's both. But the one thing I have noticed during the summer time is I end up broke pretty quickly. Everything seems to cost money these days. That's one of the main reasons I started this blog. To write about things to do with your kids that don't cost a lot of money. And here's a great one!

Regal Cinemas each summer does a very cool thing. In years past it's been called Family Film Festival and it was free. This year their summer special is called Summer Movie Express. Every Tuesday and Wednesday morning for 9 weeks they show 2 rated G or PG movies for $1. That's a bargain. Check it out here to see what's playing near you.

My kids and I can't wait! We're going to go see...

I know! Right?! A very cool movie for only $1.

Do you know of something fun and inexpensive to do with your kids? Let me know!

Squiddlers {Repost} Kid Friendly Dinner

This was one of my first posts (and it's a pretty poorly done one.) So I thought I would repost this. It's one of my son's favorite meals and he asks for it all the time. I'm not sure if he likes eating the hot dogs and noodles or if it's just the way he eats them that makes it his favorite. =o) I saw this awhile ago in Disney's Family Fun Magazine. It's my fav!

How fun, right? And so easy!

Cut up hot dogs.


Skewer them with spaghetti noodles.

Boil in water until the noodles are cooked.


And there you have it! Squiddlers!





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