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(Johnson and Johnson's No More Bedhead)

For more Works For Me Wednesday visit We Are THAT Family.

The chief bought a 50 pound box of potatoes for $5.00.  A great use for some of those potatoes?  Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes for the freezer! 

5lbs potatoes

8 oz cream cheese

1 egg

1/4 t. garlic powder

1 t. salt

1/8 - 1/4 cup chopped chives (optional)

(Makes 14 servings)

Peel and quarter potatoes.  Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover completely with water.  Bring to a boil, and then gently cook until tender.  Drain well.  In a large bowl combine potatoes, cream cheese, egg, garlic powder, and salt.  Mash well with an electric mixer.   Spoon potatoes into a 1 gallon freezer bag.  Divide into the bags according to the number of servings you need at one sitting.  For instance, for my family of six, I would divide this between two freezer bags.  Freeze.

To serve, thaw completely.  Pour into a casserole dish.  Put a pat or two of butter on top of the potatoes to melt over them as you bake.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until the top is golden brown. 

You'll love having this side dish handy!

Recipe adapted from What's Cooking America and 30 Day Gourmet.  Of course, it has been changed according to my taste and my pantry. 

For more Works for Me Wednesday, visit We Are THAT Family. 

Last week, I browned hamburger in the crock pot.  So easy.  Allowed me to do a large quantity at once. 

This week, I'm chopping peppers and onions for the freezer.  

First, prep and chop.  Then place the peppers in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Put in the freezer for an hour.  Pour the peppers in freezer bags for the freezer.  Doing this prevents the peppers from freezing in a clump, allowing me to grab a handful of pepper and add to whatever I am making.  Repeat with onions.

Filling the freezer def works for me.  What works for you?  More at We are THAT Family.

Love to fill the freezer!  Makes meal prep so easy. 

I usually brown lots of hamburger at the start of the week.  After I drain the grease, I spoon the hamburger into portion size freezer bags and freeze it.  It's so handy to pull it out and add to tacos, spaghetti sauce, or soup.  The easiest way to brown a huge amount of hamburger?  In the crock pot. 

My crock pot is large enough to hold all the meat at once instead of browning smaller portions multiple times.   

What works for you?  Visit We Are THAT Family for more...

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Hoppin' down the bunny trail

Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way!

Since the weather was chilly last year at the Ferguson/Duncan Easter Dinner, this was a great way to occupy the kids indoors.  It was easy enough for the littles and the bigs still thought it was fun. 

You'll need a gallon milk jug for each child.  Cut the top off the jug, making sure the raw edge is jag-free (you could also duct-tape these edges). 

Now, let the kids have their fun!  They can staple, tape or glue large construction paper ears near the still-intact handle.  Glue on paper eyes and a nose and then use permanent markers to add whiskers and a mouth. 

Best of all, there's really no "rules".  Just supply lots of craft stuff and let the kids use their imaginations.  (Cotton balls, pom poms, foam shapes, glitter...) 

Don't forget the "grass" for inside.  If your jugs are clear, the grass will give your bunny a color.  Or you could spray paint the jugs ahead of time.  See what I mean about no rules?   

Everyone had a great time using these homemade bunny baskets for egg hunting! 

This great tip was sent in by a reader to Family Fun magazine (Mar '08 issue).  Thank you Jessica Higginbotham of Logan, Utah!

For more works for me, visit We Are THAT Family.

Always looking for new and exciting ways to reduce the grocery costs and spice up the menu plan!  Pretty tall order, huh? 

A great resource I've found is CheapCooking.com.  I especially enjoy the Chronicles of a Curious Cook Blog.  Lots of great tips, notes, and recipes. 

A great place to start saving or just get new ideas!  Don't y'all need a little inspiration sometimes? 

For more Works for Me Wednesday visit We Are THAT Family.

Sweet n' Sour Chicken is one of our favorite Chinese takeouts.  Here's a yummy and money savin' substitute.

Dip your fave chicken tenders in this homemade sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Heat on stove until sugar is completely dissolved.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Easy.  Yummy.  Your husband will be impressed.   

I love freezer meals!  They have saved my budget and sanity tons!  I'm always looking for new recipes to try.  This is a really really good one!

3 lbs boneless pork ribs
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce

Place pork ribs in bottom of slow cooker. Cover and cook on High for 3 hours. Drain and discard liquid. Reduce heat to low. In a bowl, combine garlic salt, pepper, ketchup, brown sugar, honey, spicy brown mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Pour over ribs in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Remove from slow cooker and allow to cool. Place in freezer bag. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Heat until hot throughout.

For more great recipes, visit 30 Meals In One Day.

I love the convenience of shopping online.  I can do it in the comfort of my PJ’s with my babies sleeping soundly. My darling husband and I don’t have to moan or panic at the thought of braving the crowded store with four kiddos in tow. 

Life in a Shoe (http://inashoe.com/) taught me the ultimate secret weapon of online shopping.  Always search for a promotional code before buying.  This one little tip has helped me get free shipping, 15% off, 25% off… the savings are unlimited.  Here’s how it works.  Find the item you need at the online store of your choice.  Do a search for “(Enter name of store) promotional code”.  Choose the code that will save you the most.  Enter it when you check out.  So easy!  

More Works for Me Wednesday here.

Boy, does this ever Work For Me!

My four papooses love bacon!  I can't fry a little.  I have to fry a lot.  I'm not much on the bacon grease splatters.  So, I've discovered the handiest little tip.  I line the bacon strips on a cookie sheet.  Stick them in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.  After the bacon's done, I put it on paper towels to get rid of some of that grease, eww.  Then I yell, "BBBAAACCCOOONNN'SSS READY!"  Five minutes later, it's all gone.  lol

It doesn't matter which rack I put it on.  Sometimes I'll put biscuits on the bottom rack and bacon on the top.  Sometimes I'll put two sheets of bacon, one on each rack.  It still turns out great. 

Did y'all already know this?  Thanks for humoring me.  Get on over to Rocks In My Dryer for some tips you didn't already know.