RIP 42" plasma tv

Our tv broke. It is only 3.5 years old. The entire bottom of the screen just went black for no reason. It's only been 2 days and I already miss it. Apparently this is a common problem on the plasmas. I wish I had known that 3.5 years ago. The husband is taking it to the tv doctor to see if surgery will help. But if it costs too much we might have to put it down and send it to tv heaven. :(

Next time we will get an LCD.

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I have been meal planning lately and reading a whole bunch of blogs about saving money on groceries. My goal is $50 per week. I spent closer to $75 the last two weeks. But I think I will get there! Tonight I decided to try pigs in a blanket. But I thought it was ridiculous to spend $4 on a tube of refrigerated crescent roll dough like all the recipes suggested. And I couldn't find any reasonable recipes online. 99% of them used the pre-made dough. DOH! So I decided to try it with my favorite biscuit recipe and I have to say they were pretty darn good! I will post it for you!

Leslie's Homemade Pigs in a Blanket
(Kids of all ages will adore!)

1 pkg of hotdogs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 TBSP Sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup of milk

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Boil hotdogs in a pot big enough that the water completely covers them.
3. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until it looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough leaves the side of the bowl. It will be soft and sticky.
4. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Split in 2 and put half back in bowl.
5. Roll one half out into large circle (about 1/4 inch thick) then use a pizza slicer or knife to cut into 12 equal wedges. Repeat with second dough ball.
6. Rinse cooked hot dogs under cold water and cut each hot dog in half. Place at the wide end of your dough wedge and roll up. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat.
7. Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the dough is golden. Serve with fries and ketchup!

I substituted 1 cup of flour for whole wheat to make it a little healthier.

Everyone enjoyed and I have enough leftover that I will send some to school for the kids for lunch tomorrow!

Meal planning is really working for me though. The point is to limit the amount we are spending on take out on the nights when I don't feel very imaginative. I did 2 weeks at a time then tried to shop for those two weeks and I picked my menu by looking through the flyers and coupons and seeing what I could get deals on, then based on that and what I had on stock I dreamt up my menus! I also tried to go for ingredients that I could use more than once. Such as canned diced tomatoes were on sale when I went shopping so I bought 2 tins and made chili one night and swiss steak another night. I am trying to cut out as much pre-made processed crap out of our diets as well, since they add up to cost quite a bit! Also I am thinking of ways to stretch the meat a little further, since it is usually the most expensive part of the meal!

What is your favorite way to save money on groceries? Any tried and true tricks for a newbie on how to coupon clip, menu plan or save altogether?

We gotta get those debts paid off so I can have a baby! It's amazing what a little motivation will do!