Cooking for two

Here's a great recipe if you're cooking for two.


Ground Beef and Spinach Lasagna Rollups

Ingredients:
1/2lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 (14oz) jar tomato paste sauce
1 egg
3/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
5 oz. (1 1/4 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
4 Frozen precooked lasagna noodles, thawed (I used regular lasagna noodles and boiled them)
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves, washed, stems removed

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium-high heat until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Stir in 1/2 cup of past sauce. Remove skillet from heat.
2. Spread 3 tablespoons of remaining pasta sauce in bottom of ungreased 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish.
3. Beat egg in medium bowl. Add ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, oregano and 3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese; mix well.
4. Spread 1/4 each of ricotta mixture, spinach leaves and beef mixture over each lasagna noodle. Starting with short side, gently and loosely roll each noodle; place seam side down over sauce in baking dish. Top rollups with remaining sauce. Cover with foil.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minute or until bubbly and thoroughly heated. remove foil; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake an additional 2 to 4 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

We've chosen a name....

Well some of you may already know by this point, but we wanted to inform those of you that don't. Originally we decided that we weren't going to tell the name of our baby until a little closer to the due date, but I let it slip by accident so now the words out and we thought it would be fun to go ahead and tell everyone! After a lot of back and forth, we've decided to name him Grayson James. What's the story behind the name? It's simple, really. On one of our trips to Paris, back when we were engaged, Josh and I saw a sign for Grayson County. We both really liked the name at the time so we put it on our list that we were keeping of boy names. Then on our recent trip to Colorado we had decided that we were going to take a baby name book and try to decide what we wanted the name to be. After spouting off a lot of terrible names and a few okay names, I closed the book and read the list of names that we had been keeping all along. Then on the count of three we were both going to say what our favorite name was so far. We both said Grayson. So Grayson it is and because Grayson is somewhat of a unique name we wanted something more streamline and biblical for the middle name. So there you have it!

Couponing Deals this week!

I had another early shopping week and it paid off again! This was a pretty big week for great buys. Here's what I got from CVS, Walgreen's, and Target:

CVS -

1st Transaction:

Sally Hansen HD Nail polish: (unadvertised sale - I just happened to come across this, that's why you always keep your eye out for bargains!)
Original price: $6.99
Sale price: 75% off
Final Price: $1.75

Schick Hydro 5 Men's Razor:
Original price: $9.99
Sale price: $8.00
Coupon: $3.00 off
Extra Bucks: $4.00
Final Price: $1.00

2nd Transaction:

Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers (96ct):
Original Price: $22.99
Sale Price: $19.83
Coupons: 2/$2.00 off
Extra Bucks: $4.00
Final Price: $11.83 without tax- making it $.12 a diaper (which by the way, is pretty great!!)

Total Saved: $25.39!!

WALGREEN'S (WAGS) -

Colgate 360 Toothbrush:
Original price: $3.99
Sale Price: $2.99
Coupon: $1.00 off
Register Rewards: $2.00
Final Price: FREE! (I actually made $.01)

Walgreen's Diapers (36ct):
Original Price: $8.99
Sale Price: $4.99
Final Price: $4.99 (about $.13 a diaper)
Usually I wouldn't buy anything without a coupon much less off-brand diapers, but I thought it was such a good deal that I didn't want to pass it up. Plus I have been wanting to buy some off-brand diapers because I want to see for myself how well they work. I hear some pretty good things, surprisingly!

Colgate Toothpaste (4oz):
Original Price: $1.49
Coupon: $.75 off
Final Price: $ .74 cents

Windex window cleaner (bought 2):
Original Price: $4.29 each
Sale Price: 2/$4
Coupon (Walgreen's monthly booklet): $1.00 off 2
Final Price: $1.50 each

General Mills Cereal:
Original Price: $4.79 a box
Sale Price: 2/$5
Coupon: $1.00
Final Price: $2.00 a box (not the best deal but we needed cereal!)

Schick Shaving Cream:
Original Price: $3.99
Sale Price: $1.99 with Walgreen's in-store ad coupon
Coupon: $1.00 off
Final Price: $.99

Total Saved: $22.90!!

TARGET

Red Baron Pizza by the Slice (2 huge slices):
Original Price: $3.04
Sale Price: $2.50
Coupon: $.75 off
Final Price: $1.75

Up & Up Aluminum Foil (bought 2):
Original Price: $1.24 each
Coupon: used 2 /$.50 off
Final Price: $1.48 for both

Pop Chips (bought 2):
Original Price: $2.69 a bag
Coupon: Buy One Get One FREE
Final Price: $1.34 a bag

I only paid $.92 for all my stuff from Target. I used a $5 gift card I received from my last purchase at Target!

Total Saved: $4.98

Total Savings all together: $53.27

It's a boy!!

Well as most of you probably know by now, Josh and I found out last Thursday (5/26) that we are going to have a boy! We are thrilled :) The nurse that was doing the ultrasound was immediately able to tell that it was a boy.

The doctor's appointment went very well last week. I saw the geneticist again and there they tested me once more to make sure there were no signs of Downs, Spina bifida, etc in the baby. I'm still waiting to hear back from them with the results (usually takes a week or more). They also said the baby looked healthy and right on schedule as far as growth goes. My next doctor's appointment will be July 7th and of course we will keep you updated with the latest news!

P.S. No, we have not come up with a name yet. It's a work in progress!

Here's some pictures of him showing off his stuff!!

This is his spine...

These are his ribs...

Here is a great shot of his legs and toes...Looks like their all there!

And here are a couple of 3D pictures of him trying to suck his thumb...

Walgreens Run...

Tonight I realized that my $5 RR coupon from Walgreens was going to expire today. So instead of wasting that money, I made a quick run to the store and stocked up on junk for our road trip on Friday. Here's what I got:

Reynolds Wrap Foil:
Original Price: $1.69
Coupon: $1.00 off 1
Final Cost: $ .69

Sunflower seeds:
Original price: $ .50 each (bought 2)
Final Cost: $1.00

Haribo Gummy bears:
Original price: $1.49
Final Cost: $1.49

Snickers bar:
Original price: $ .89
Final cost: $ .89

Reese's bar:
Original Price: $ .70
Final Cost: $ .70

Total should have been: $5.02 BUT I used my $5 in RR and it only cost me $ .02!! :)

Wal-Mart Deals

This was an unexpectedly great shopping week for me. Check out the deals I got below:

Beech Nut Rice Cereal:
Original Price: $1.50
Coupon: FREE Beech Nut Cereal
Final Cost: FREE

Beech Nut baby food:
Original Price: $.68 ea (bought 2)
Coupon: 2 FREE Beech Nut jars (total value $1.50)
Final Cost: FREE
I received these coupons just by going to the Beech Nut website and signing up.

Nexcare bandaids:
Sale price: $1.00 (bought 2)
Coupon: used 2/ $1.00 off 1 package
Final Cost: FREE

STP Fuel Injector:
Original Price: $1.87
Coupon: $1.00 any STP fuel injector
Final Cost: $ .87

Total Out of Pocket cost: $ .94 for all my CVS products and my Wal-Mart Products combined!

I love Rainchecks!

Last week CVS ran a deal on Suave products. If you bought $10 in Suave products you could receive $3 in Extra Bucks. Well since everyone is a couponer now - of course they were sold out when I went to make my purchase. BUT the great thing about CVS is that you can get what is a called a Raincheck and you can go back the next week, after they have restocked their shelves, and still get the same deal! I love it! Here's the deal below -

Suave body wash:
Sale Price: $2.00 ea (bought 4)
Coupons: Used 2/ Buy One Get One FREE coupon
Total: $4.00

Suave Deodorant:
Sale Price: $1.00 (bought 2)
Coupons: used 2/ $.50 off
Total: $1.00

At this point, my total should have been $5.00 out of pocket but I didn't catch the mistake until I got home. The total actually came to $3.00 instead, so I saved $2.00 there and then I paid my total with the Extra Bucks I received from this weeks shopping trip. When it was all said and done it was all FREE!!!