Smoky Potato Cheese Soup

Winter seems to have set in here in Central Ohio. Fortunately we haven't seen any snow yet. Cold weather is perfect for soups. We aren't crazy about soup at my house, but this is one that we all enjoy. I usually make this recipe a couple times a year.

The original recipe came from Allrecipes, but I lightened it up a bit. However, this is by no means lowfat between the smoked sausage and the Velveeta!

Smoky Potato Cheese Soup

1/2 c chopped onion
14-16 oz pkg light smoked sausage, diced
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
6 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 lb Velveeta Light, cubed
2 (12 oz) cans fat free evaporated milk
black pepper, to taste

Spray a large pan with nonstick spray. Cook the onion and sausage over medium heat until the onions soften and the sausage starts to get some color. Add the broth and potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Using a potato masher, lightly mash the potatoes, being sure not to completely mash them.
Add the Velveeta and stir until melted.
Stir in the evaporated milk and season to taste with pepper.Notes:
1. If the soup isn't as thick as you'd like, then make a slurry using equal parts cornstarch and water. Stir in about 1 tablespoon at a time to the soup until the desired thickness is reached.
2. For best results, leftovers should be reheated on the stove. Microwaving can curdle the soup.
3. Serve with some crusty bread and a salad.

Canning Jar Epiphany

I'm 32 years old and have been homecanning off and on since I graduated college. My mom did not can, so I did not have anyone to teach me how to do things. Everything I have learned has come from reading the Ball Blue Book and assorted canning cookbooks and the glorious internet. I've certainly learned a bunch by trial and error as well.

One thing has always bewildered me about canning jars. Modern canning jars have a two-piece system that comes in two sizes depending on the opening size of the jar. The small size is called "regular" and the large size is called "wide-mouth." Why not "small" and "large"?

The answer came to me today in an unexpected way.

I recently asked my in-laws if they had any spare canning jars hanging around that they wouldn't mind parting with. Today they came over with two boxes of jars that Joe's dad pulled from the attic. There were lots of different jars in there. Three of the jars were the old style with the rubber gasket and glass lids. A number of them were the old zinc one-piece lids. One jar had a wide-mouth opening, but most of the jars were regular opening size. However, a couple jars had tiny bands but no flat lid. Those puzzled me until I found this lid on one of the jars (the band is under the flat lid):

At the top it says "for narrow-mouth jars". Duh! There used to be THREE sizes! Narrow, regular and wide. I can totally understand why they no longer carry the narrow-mouth size anymore. It's hard enough to fit some foods in the regular size opening. I can't imagine trying to use the narrow-mouth for something other than jams and jellies. Then it becomes a pain stocking multiple sizes of lids. I only own regular size jars (until today) for that very reason.

As you can see below, the narrow-mouth and regular lids are noticeably different in size:
There was one other surprise in the box -- a 2-quart canning jar! I've heard about these, but had never seen one. On the left is a Ball quart jar and on the right is a Kerr 2-quart jar. The Ball jar is one that I purchased at the store. I have no idea how old the Kerr jar is. The stores no longer carry that size because it takes too long to safely process foods in a jar that large. Oh, but it will be fun to use it in the fridge.

Menu Plan Monday: Labor Day Week

The rain is pouring down this morning. It's bad enough that Directv can't even pick up The Weather Channel, so we have to use the internet to see how bad the weather is. It's kinda humorous.

No big Labor Day plans for today. Yesterday we hit up the tractor pull at the Richwood Independent Fair. Samantha really enjoyed herself. Her favorite thing were the animals, in particular the rabbits. She also liked the tractors with the black smoke. It was a vast improvement over last year when we left early because the animals and loud tractors scared her. Unfortunately the tractor pull had to be called before all the tractors had a chance to compete due to the sled breaking. It was a bummer because we waited forever while they tried to fix it.

Monday - hopefully the rain will clear up so we can grill some steak and jalapeno poppers

Tuesday - spaghetti and meatballs

Wednesday - Pizza Casserole

Thursday - smoked sausage, sauerkraut

Friday - lunch at the Popcorn Festival; dinner will be pizza on the grill if the weather agrees or in the oven if it doesn't

Saturday - spicy honey chicken thighs - these were really good the first time we had them

Sunday - Spaghetti Pie

Do you know what you're eating this week? If you would like some menu plan inspiration, be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie to see what others are having!

Generic vs. Name Brand with Coupon

I use coupons for nearly everything I buy at the grocery store. I get this weird feeling when I buy something without one. I hate it when the generic is still cheaper even after my store doubles a manufacturer's coupon on the name brand item. I'm saving money with the generic, but I know that I can do better if only my timing were better.

I'm in one of those pickles right now. I am down to my last teaspoons of sugar. I don't even have any Splenda to substitute. So I have to suck it up and buy sugar at the going price. I can't wait for the rock bottom price. I am at my store's mercy. One of my stores has Domino 5 lb bags of sugar on sale for $2.50. I have a manufacturer's coupon for 30 cents off one. That means I'll spend $1.90 at this store that doubles. I just don't know. That doesn't sound like a good price.

I'm probably going to Aldi and/or Save a Lot this week for some of their sale items, so I'll check out their prices before buying any sugar. I could stop in Walmart to see what they charge, but that's a crapshoot. I've noticed that WM is higher than regular prices at Kroger or Meijer on half the stuff I buy. The problem is knowing exactly which half is cheaper at any given time. I really don't want to go all over town comparing prices.

We'll see. I NEED sugar, so I know I will buy it. I just don't know how willing I am to make sure I'm getting a decent price before I hand over the cash. The gasoline just isn't worth it.

August CVS $10 Challenge: Final Week

I have had tomatoes on the brain, so forgive me for the tardiness of this post. Sunday, August 30, I did my final shopping trip of my August $10 Challenge. Joe threw me a curveball when he asked for the Blink Contacts eyedrops, so I had to pay full price for those, but everything else was somehow on sale.

Over two transactions, I bought:
(2) pkgs of filler paper
(1) medium Glade soy candle
(1) store brand hand soap
(1) Softsoap bodywash
(2) folders in Ohio State colors
(1) Blink Contacts rewetting drops

Retail price including tax was $29.49.

I had an instore savings of $3.60.

I saved $2.00 using manufacturer coupons:
(1) $1.00 Softsoap bodywash
(1) $1.00 Blink Contacts rewetting drops

I used $21.63 in CVS coupons:

- $1.50 CRT coupon for the bodywash
- $1.69 coupon from my email for a free gift (I chose the hand soap)
- $1.89 ECB from 8/16
- $1.98 ECB from last week
- $7.58 ECB from last week
- $6.99 ECB earned in the first transaction from the candle

Sunday's OOP was $2.26. I started the day with $2.61, so that left $0.35 in my pocket at the end of the month.

I walked out the door with $8.00 in ECB's:
1X $3.00 from last week
1X $2.00 from the bodywash

1X $1.00 from the folders (raincheck)
1X $2.00 from the filler paper (raincheck)

For $9.65 OOP, in August I purchased:

(2) book covers
(2) one-subject notebooks
(2) 5" scissors
(1) 3-pack glue sticks
(1) compass
(1) protractor
(2) 20-ct pens
(2) 10-ct pens
(2) rulers
(1) sticky note pad
(2) recycled plastic pencil boxes
(2) 1" vinyl binders
(2) mini composition books
(2) composition books
(2) pkgs of filler paper
(2) folders
(1) 36-ct aspirin
(1) Blink Contacts rewetting drops
(1) 10-ct box of store brand tampons
(4) Carefree ultra pantiliners
(1) set of earhook headphones
(2) Reese's peanut butter cups
(1) Glade candle holder for the scented oil candles
(1) Glade scented oil candles
(1) Glade Sense and Spray starter kit
(2) small Glade soy candles
(1) medium Glade soy candle
(1) store brand hand soap
(1) Softsoap bodywash

All-in-all I don't think I did too badly for the whole month. There are people who would have picked up each and every freebie and every ECB-earner in order to boost their numbers. I didn't do that. I stuck to items that my family will use or that I can donate.

I will be starting a new personal $10 challenge for September. Don't expect any blogging about it though. The blog provided the accountability and proof that it could be done. Besides, there are no coupons in next Sunday's paper, so I put in my vacation stop. No paper means no CVS ad, so I'm taking a holiday from CVS for a couple weeks.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week's MPM post was...how should I put it?...absent. I made up my menu and fully intended to type it up for all the world to see. Monday came and went, but no MPM for me. It seemed silly to post it on Tuesday, so I skipped it altogether.

Today's weather felt like fall, but the summer crops haven't gotten the message yet. Between my garden and the CSA veggies we get every Thursday, we are overloaded with vegetables. One day I may have them under control and then the next I can't find a spot for another zucchini in the fridge. A family of three can only eat so many veggies a week, so the freezer, dehydrator and canner are my friends this time of year.

This week's menu only covers the main dish so that I can feel free to use up whatever veggies are overflowing that day:

Monday - Spaghetti Pie

Tuesday - Pepperoncini Beef

Wednesday - Cajun Buffalo Wings

Thursday - Turkey Enchilada Casserole

Friday - pizza night - redeem coupon for a free cheese pizza from Papa Murphy's and top it with frozen homemade meatballs. If only I had some feta...mmm.

Saturday - grill night - burgers stuffed with pepperjack cheese and hot dogs wrapped in bacon

Sunday - CSA potluck/hog roast - I always enjoy potlucks at the farm, but Joe isn't crazy about them with all the funky vegetables dishes that the vegans bring. Something tells me that the vegans will be staying home, so that they don't have to witness the mass consumption of animal flesh by all the meat eaters. Ah, pork is so yummy.

Do you know what you're eating this week? If you would like some menu plan inspiration, be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie to see what others are having!

August CVS $10 Challenge: Week 4

I had a great time shopping at CVS today. I used the $5/$25 coupon that I got for the ReadyFill quiz. I didn't even have to try very hard to make it work. Just got lucky with my coupons.

Over two transactions, I bought:
(2) Reese's peanut butter cups
(1) Glade candle holder for the scented oil candles
(1) Glade scented oil candles
(1) Glade Sense and Spray starter kit
(2) Glade soy candles
(2) composition books
(4) Carefree ultra pantiliners

Retail price including tax was $50.86.

I had an instore savings of $14.25.

I saved $15.08 using manufacturer coupons:
(2) $0.55 Reese's (they were on sale at 2/$1, so the coupons were capped at 50 cents each)
(1) $1.00 Carefree that I got in the mail from a sample
(1) Buy Glade candle holder Get candles Free (they were on sale for $2.50)
(2) FREE Glade soy candles (they were $3.29 each)
(1) $4.00 Glade Sense and Spray starter kit

I used $19.57 in CVS coupons:

- $5.00 coupon for doing the ReadyFill Survey and purchasing at least $25 in merchandise
- $6.99 ECB that I earned 8/16
- $7.58 ECB earned today from 2 Carefree

Today's OOP was $1.96. I started the day with $4.57, so that leaves a balance of $2.61 for the rest of August.

In addition to a $1.89 ECB from last week that I didn't use today, I walked out the door with $12.56 in new ECB's for next time:
1X $1.98 from the composition books
1X $3.00 from the Glade Sense and Spray, candle holder and scented oil candles
1X $7.58 from 2 Carefree

For $7.39 OOP, I have purchased month to date:

(2) book covers
(2) one-subject notebooks
(2) 5" scissors
(1) 3-pack glue sticks
(1) compass
(1) protractor
(2) 20-ct pens
(2) 10-ct pens
(2) rulers
(1) sticky note pad
(2) recycled plastic pencil boxes
(2) 1" vinyl binders
(2) mini composition books
(2) composition books
(1) 36-ct aspirin
(1) 10-ct box of store brand tampons
(4) Carefree ultra pantiliners
(1) set of earhook headphones
(2) Reese's peanut butter cups
(1) Glade candle holder for the scented oil candles
(1) Glade scented oil candles
(1) Glade Sense and Spray starter kit
(2) Glade soy candles

Stay tuned for next week to see the final results of my August CVS $10 Challenge. What will I be able to bring home with just $2.61 cash and $14.45 ECB's?