This spaghetti sauce from Kroger was on sale for $1, which is cheaper than even the Walmart brand! I don’t like pasta, but I cook it occassionally since my boyfriend loves it. I made chicken parmesan with this sauce… and it was amazing!! The sauce has a nice depth to its flavor, and it’s not too sweet like many sauces are. It also really imparts a cheesy flavor. I highly recommend it, especially for $1!

 These are a few of my Oxo Good Grips Pop-Up containers. I know, I said I don’t like pasta… but how could I resist how pretty it looks in these containers?! I love how they stack. It really makes the pantry look nice, even if I’m the only one who ever sees it. I also like that I know exactly how much of each thing I have.  The negative would be the price. I’ve received most of mine as gifts. On the couple I did buy, I used a 20% off one item coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond. For me, they are definitely worth the price!!

I spotted these cappuccino coolers on the clearance shelf for 25 cents, so I decided to try a box. I think these are regularly $2.50ish per box. I think that is kind of an outrageous price! Granted, however, that it is cheaper than buying something at Starbucks. To make, you open the packet and pour into a cup of milk and stir. Pretty easy and quick! The taste was OK… obviously not a $5 Starbucks drink. My final determination is that they are worth 25 cents but not $2.50!

I tried a new type of apple this week – Rome apples. They are, to put it mildly, horrible! My main issue is that the texture is very grainy. It’s like eating couscous! Secondly, the flavor is bland. It’s not sweet or sour. I chopped one up to eat, dividing it into 8 pieces. I ate one piece and was disgusted. So I took it downstairs to my boyfriend. He immediately counted the pieces remaining – 7 – and suspected that I had tried one and hated it. I guess I need to get some tactics. Anyway, I chopped up the two apples I had bought and made Pioneer Woman’s Apple Brown Betty… it was much better received in the warm, brown-sugary form.  

 I’m not really a hairspray girl. This probably stems from fourth grade, when I went through a “phase” in which I would wet my hair, spray it with Aquanet, comb it into a style, and then spray again. It’s painful to even think about!! But, alas, I have had side sweepy bangs for the past couple of years. And unfortunately, I have a natural cowlick-part-sort-of-thingy going on in the front right in between the bangs. This makes hairspray a necessity. I chose this one because it wasn’t Aquanet or Suave… and also wasn’t $5. It was right around $2.89, which I hate to pay, but I think it will last a long time.

The first time I used it, I realized point #1: remember to take off your glasses before spraying. Duh! And point #2: when you have taken off your glasses, close your eyes!! Duh! This stuff is great… light, not too sticky, and frizzy-defeating. It kept my bangs as they should be. I love it!

Lastly, I share with you some delicious Peeps. I love Peeps. I just can’t explain it! But… I really, really, really (!) love them stale. That’s right, open the package and leave on the counter for 4-6 weeks until they are crusty. Admittedly, it concerns me that they have enough preservatives to stay squishy that long out on the counter. I also have a difficult time staying out of them long enough to let them stale, as evidenced by this photo. If you’re not convinced, leave just one Peep out for a few weeks and try it. You’ll never go back!!

For more Works-for-Me Wednesday tips, visit We are That Family.

So it’s the backwards edition of Works-for-Me Wednesday, which I am excited for! All through my college years and the first few years in an apartment, I had less-than-adequate baking sheets. They were brown and dingy, somehow becoming yuckier and filthier with each use. I gladly trashed those terrible pans, and slowly, I have been able to add higher quality items through the last few years.

Last Christmas, I got a gift card to Williams-Sonoma, a store that I dearly love, yet can’t afford a single thing in. I splurged and got several nice items, including a new half sheet pan. I was so excited!! I quickly put it to use. Unfortunately, my new sheet pan has the same grossness as the old. I tried to scrub it, but just managed to scrub off the finish instead in one big spot. So, give me your tips and suggestions! No, I’m not even willing to post a photo, because I’m that annoyed! Yes, I’ve tried baking soda, Borax, SOS (bad), a sponge, hot water soak, Dawn, Dawn Power Dissolver (amazing for stovetops though!)… but I’m open to any new secret you have!

For my friend’s housewarming party, I made some of Bakerella’s Puppy cake pops. Man, these were hard to make! You can see below the final product, which is not as cute as Bakerella’s, but it’s a start. Also included in the cake pop “bouquet” is a Target gift card because regardless of money-saving measures, Target can be considered a life necessity.

So, I posed a question to Mrs. Micah:
As a first-time homebuyer in 2008, I received a $7,500 tax refund this year. The deal is that the government will take $500 out of my tax refund every year for the next 15 years until it’s paid off. Additionally, if I move before 15 years, I have to pay off whatever is left immediately. (Not too worried about this, for various reasons.)

Anyway, I took the money. So, should I pay off debt with the money? Or should I just put the money in savings for emergencies? Or should I put it aside in case I move in 5 years? I’m just not sure what is the most financially-responsible thing to do. Perhaps you could address this in a post, as I know there are probably many other people in a similar situation.

Mrs. Micah broke down my question into a few easy parts and laid all the information out. And now I know what to do. So if you’re looking for a great blog on money written in regular words and spoken by someone who knows what it’s like, visit www.mrsmicah.com.

In honor of Works-for-Me Wednesday, I thought I would post a new twist on basic dinner items.

I needed hamburger buns, but I didn’t want to put on shoes and go to the store. So I came up with this recipe called, hmm, Mexican Corn Cake Surprise. OK, that sounds suspicious, so I’ll go with Mexican Fiesta Burgers. There we go!

What you need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 box of cornbread mix
2 cans of black beans
cornmeal
garlic
oil
cheese for topping
taco seasoning
crushed red peppers
parsley and/or chives (whatever you have)

Start with the beans. Dump two cans of black beans into a pan. Do not drain!! Use a potato masher to mash most of the beans. Season with taco seasoning and red pepper flakes to taste. Stir, and they’re done!

Next, make cornbread mix according to package instructions (typically add egg and milk to box mix). Add taco seasoning, parsley and/or chives, and red pepper flakes to taste. Add a small handful of cornmeal to make the dough thicker. The consistency should be thicker than pancake batter. Drop big spoonfuls into 1 Tbsp. of oil in a frying pan. I got 8 large corncakes from 1 box of mix.

Next, make the hamburger patties. I add garlic, red pepper flakes, cornmeal, parsley, and chives to make a flavorful burger. Mix together and form into patties.

Side note: I was taking some random photos and noticed that my long-neglected, left-out-all-winter chives are coming back without any prodding from me! That’s why chives are used in this recipe… otherwise, I wouldn’t because they are way too expensive in the store! Too bad the other herbs didn’t come back…

Cook the hamburger patties. We normally grill, but it was raining. Geez, the 73-27 ground beef is very greasy! But we’re on a budget and ground chuck or sirloin are at least a dollar more…

Below is the final product. I added goat cheese on top because if I add it to my meal, I feel less guilty about slicing it off and gobbling it up.  I added a basic spinach salad on the side. I used our new favorite viniagrette, courtesy of Rachael Ray. It’s the perfect mix of salty and spicy and nutty. (Yes, I know it’s Asian, and our meal is Mexican, but we’re all about global tastes here.)

Wasabi-Soy Viniagrette
1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons -virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk all ingredients except oil. Drizzle in 3 Tbsp. oil and whisk until emulsified (creamy). Dress salad.

Below is the final product. Enjoy!

I am quite particular about fabric. I knew exactly what I wanted but I couldn’t find it… for almost 11 months! I would wander around JoAnn’s aimlessly each week to no avail. Then, I was at Target (where I could live) and from afar, I spotted these gorgeous bowls with pears on them, and I was hooked. I have a “thing” for fruit. I’m strangely drawn to it.

But you see, I’m on a budget. So I walked away from the $19.99 Orla Kiely pear bowl and serving tray. Then, two days later, I went back, and there were new pear items!! I saw a woman holding some pear kitchen towels, and trying not be creepy, I gasped, “Please, where did you find those beautiful towels?” She looked at me and pointed to the back of the store. Fortunately, there are enough strange people in that Target that I was just like everyone else.

As I reached the back of the store, I saw a tablecloth in the exact fabric that I wanted for the dining room table. I bought it and took it to the register, giving up my final Target giftcard from Christmas. Here is my gorgeous tablecloth:

I figured that I could match curtains to the cream color in the tablecloth, and it would all come together to compliment the chocolate brown walls.

I ran home, unwrapped the tablecloth, and discovered that it was too big for my table. Not easily discouraged, and most certainly not giving up the perfect fabric, I looked around… and it hit me. The tablecloth would make perfect curtains. I figured I would head to Target and buy two more. But then that would be $40 more. I tried to talk my boyfriend into giving me his Target giftcards, but he just looked at me.

That’s when I realized that regular long curtains would destroy the gorgeous sunlight of the room. So I was going to make valances. I measured, and amazingly, one tablecloth was exactly perfect for curtains. After measuring and sewing, measuring, measuring, cursing, measuring, and sewing, I finished them. I am proud to show you these.

Go ahead, tell me how beautiful they are.

I guess technically, Amberland is in the Midwest. What a lovely place. I have big hair all summer long from the humidity and freeze the rest of the year. We bought our house in May 2008.  It was built in 1941, and our 86-year-old next-door neighbor built it. I guess you would call it charming – original hardwood floors, corners that aren’t perfect, cold in the winter and summer (thank you cinder blocks ), drawers that aren’t perfect, wallpaper on the ceilings. But most importantly… it’s ours!

This blog will document my pursuits… the good, the bad, and the “thank-goodness-nobody-who-reads-this-knows-me-in-real-life-so-that-I-don’t-die-of-embarrassment” ones.