Faith, Food and Family

Click on the image to go find your Bargain Meal of the Week! Welcome to the third installment of the Bargain Meal of the Week. I am enjoying this and hope you all are too. Check out even more great recipes and bargains at 5Dollar Dinners ! Food Lion's ad had a several options this week. I definitely would encourage you to check your local ad. Meal #1 Bone-in pork chops $1.99/lb (1.5 pounds for $3.50) steamfresh frozen veggies (10/$10) (1 package of green breans- $1.00) I would add a box of au gratin potatoes to this. They don't have them on sale but I usually have a package at home that I've picked up on sale for $1 a box. Southern Fried Pork Chops 1 cup vegetable oil for frying 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt, or to taste salt and pepper to taste 4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Combine flour, seasoning salt, salt and pepper in a paper or plastic bag. Place pork chops into the bag, and shake to coat. W...

Have any of you seen this movie? My husband and I went to see it in the theaters when it came out. I have to say, if you haven't I highly recommend it. Our marriage has had several issues and I think this has helped me see what we think of marriage is just not the way it is. We are raised as girls to believe in fairy tales. The prince who is just so romantic. Hollywood glorifies romance and we just totally fall for it. You know that weak in the knees kind of love. However, that's just not reality and many times once we realize it we want out. Thinking somehow that the next one will be better. It's just not the way it works. Love and marriage are a choice. That's something I understand now but it's hard to put it in action. It's not a feeling. Love should be unconditional. This movie really hits that home. I'm still having trouble because my wiring tells me that I should feel this or that. Then when I don't, I am incredibly unhappy. My unhappiness is also...

On Thursdays, I attend Community Bible Study at a local church. It is an awesome program and is non-denominational. We study the bible and are currently studying Romans. I had missed several sessions due to sickness (whether it be me, the kids or DH) and almost felt like I had fallen behind so much maybe it'd be better to just stop going. I realize that is just what satan wants me to do and that I need to just keep on truckin'. So I went this past Thursday and I am glad that I did. I couldn't even find my lesson that morning. I could find other ones but not the one for that day so instead of continuing to look for it and be late or not go at all I just went on to CBS. I highly encourage you to look into Community Bible Study and see if there is one nearby. They have a wonderful children's program as well. I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the year at CBS.

Click on the image to go find your Bargain Meal of the Week! Welcome to the second installment of the Bargain Meal of the Week. I am enjoying this and hope you all are too. Check out even more great recipes and bargains at 5Dollar Dinners ! Food Lion's ad looked pretty good this week. I definitely would encourage you to check your local ad. I have three meal ideas this week..... Meal #1 Country style pork ribs $1.49 a pound I would get about 3 pounds. It been awhile since I've fixed ribs and you have to account for the bone in these. Then a bottle of barbeque sauce. I can usually find one for $1. Pour the sauce over the ribs and bake in the oven 300-350 degrees until nice and tender. Serve with your favorite recipe of Mac n cheese and a side of green beans. Meal #2 Chuck roast $2.59/lb 2 pounds ($5.20) To Make Shredded Beef Chimichangas Meal #3 fresh roasting chicken .99/lb 3.5 pounds ($3.50) Cook the chicken in the crockpot . Debone the chicken and use it for Creamy Chicken ...

I had to drop off my husband's prescription at Walgreen's yesterday. He started the sinus/ear infection on Monday of last week and his ear is still infected. So they gave him another round of antibiotics. The Dollar Tree is right behind Walgreen's so I thought I'd go look around while I waited for his medicine. I usually look down all of the aisles. You just never know what you may find. There sitting in the food aisle were Campbell's Cream of chicken and mushroom soups. The healthy request kind. That's all I ever buy so I was excited to find it for a $1 a can. It can be around $1.50 and I rarely find it on sale. I decided to pick up a few cans to have on hand. I do want to start making my own cream of soups eventually but thought this was a great opportunity to stock up. I'm sure items available can vary by location, but it just might be worth a trip to your local Dollar Tree to check. You never know what you might find. :) God bless, Amanda

Erin over at 5Dollar Dinners is giving away 2 Walmart Gift Cards ! Hurry over and enter! Make sure you check out her blog. It's awesome! God bless, Amanda

I am so excited to be a part of 5dollar Dinners new feature: Bargain Meal of the Week! I am a bit behind because of being so sick last week. My store is Food Lion and they run the ad from Wednesday to Tuesday. Tomorrow is the end of the ad so these prices will still be good until then. You can view your own weekly ad at Food Lion as prices can vary depending on location. I'm in middle Tennessee. Here is my meal for the week. 1 pound of cube steak $3.49 2 packages of Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers (one corn, one broccoli and cheese) 2/$3 Total: $6.49 To make Country Fried Steak with Gravy Most of the items to make the steak and gravy would be pantry items. So this meal would be probably around $8.50 total including those pantry items. My goal is to find more meals around the $5-7 dollar mark. However, even at $8.50 it's much cheaper than eating out! Or even frozen dinners for everyone (which can be $3 each). My new meal for Food Lion will be up by Thursday. Hope you enjoy! ...

Maria is the winner of the giveaway! I've emailed you and Congrats! Sorry I hadn't posted before now. I have had a sinus infection that went to a really bad ear infection and haven't been much use to anyone for a few days. My ear is still to where I can't hear out of it so I just feel off. I am hoping to update more later. Thanks guys! Bear with me and I'll be back on more often. God bless, Amanda

Well, today is my 30th birthday! I spent the day at work but afterwards, my mom, dad and sister took me out to eat at Olive Garden. I really enjoyed getting to spend some of my birthday with them. So in honor of my birthday, I am hosting my very first giveaway! I will be giving away a surprise cookbook. I will choose one and send it to you. I will draw the winner on Wednesday February 11th. All you have to do is leave me a comment. Get an extra entry if you link your blog to this giveaway and post another comment with your link. This giveaway is open to US addresses only please. Thanks so much and good luck! God bless, Amanda P.S. Check out more great giveaways at http://www.momadvice.com/blog/

This is one of my most well known recipes that I make. Everyone loves it and always asks for the recipe. It's as close as I have gotten at home to Chili's Quesadilla Explosion salad (which is my favorite!) Plus with all of these veggies it's so good for you. I usually use light ranch and it's just wonderful! Hope you enjoy! Check out more wonderful recipes at http://www.5dollardinners.com It's an awesome site! I check it daily. Southwestern Salad 1 16oz container of Ranch Dressing 1 avocado fajita seasoning 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed 1 large green bell pepper, diced 4 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced ½ onion diced 1 head of lettuce 1 bunch of cilantro 1 1/2 cups shredded colby and montery jack cheese or cheddar 1. In a small bowl, combine ranch dressing, fajita seasoning about 1-2 tsp taste and see, bit of cilantro and avocado; mix well and Set aside 2. Drain and rinse beans. Dice bell pepper, tomatoes and onion. Chop cilantro. Layer beans, ...

Today was Upward Day at church. My older two children, Caitlin and Jacob, are involved in Upward and have really enjoyed it. You can go here for more info about this program www.upward.org I'm glad they have had the opportunity to participate this year. My mom and sister then took my three kids out for ice cream after church. They did have lunch at church as part of Upward Day. So they didn't have ice cream for lunch. :) We enjoyed spending a bit of time with my mom and sister. My sister told me that she wanted to do something for my birthday, which is Tuesday. I turn 30! :) So we're getting together a Girl's Night Out and plan on having dinner somwhere and then bowling. I will have to remember to take my camera and post some pictures. I am very excited because I am not one to do much of anything for my birthday and it will be fun to do this. I love to bowl but just don't do it very often. I am planning on starting a Menu Plan Monday or something of the sort by ...