Our New Ride

We got our rental car yesterday.

I was expecting a white Taurus or something similarly bland, but they gave us this .

The Mazda 6

It is sure fun to drive.

Attention Walgreens Shoppers . . .

We were down to our last bottles of shampoo here at the zoo, so I headed out to Walgreen's with my crinkled, but dry coupons in hand.

Last week was another great deal week at Walgreen's

Here's what I got:

6 bottles of body wash

6 bottles of shampoo

7 bottles of conditioner

3 bars of soap

1 bottle of mineral foundation

2 boxes of trashbags

4 lightbulbs

4 bags of chocolate

Total before coupons: $110.27

Total after coupons $34.34

I paid with my Walgreen's gift card from previous rebates so my out of pocket was $0.

I got back $6 in register Rewards and will be getting back $39.10 in rebates.

This week looks like it will be free cereal week.

Check over at moneysavingmom.com to see all the great deals.

Grandma's Chocolate Cake

I always used to make cake from a cake mix. One day when I was feeling quite domestic, I remembered making a cake from scratch with my mom using my Grandma's recipe. This was quite a while ago, but I remembered it being so moist and delicious. So, I made this chocolate cake last month for my chocolate lover friend Farmgirl's birthday. It got rave reviews, so when it was time for me to make dessert again, I thought I would keep a good thing going. Only one problem, my recipe had vanished. Gone. Disappeared.

So I looked in my Betty Crocker cookbook that I always turn to for regular recipes that most of us just open a box to make these days. There was a recipe for chocolate cake, but I knew it wasn't the same. So I went straight to the source. I called my Grandma. She told me she used to make it once a week back when she was making seven lunches every morning. I can't even imagine packing seven lunches every morning. She said she stopped making it because it always boiled over. I have never had that problem, but I always have made it in two round cake pans instead of a 9X13 dish.

So, the recipe has been saved and the finished product was delicious!

Grandma Aldridge's Quick Chocolate Cake

In a saucepan melt

3 squares of unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup butter

Add 1 cup boiling water

Prepare

1 cup sour milk

(milk with a touch of vinegar to make 1 cup, let it sit at least 5 minutes)

In a mixing bowl stir together

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 pinch of salt

To flour mixture add the melted chocolate mixture and milk.

Beat in

2 eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla (or more to taste)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the recipe Grandma!

What a Wreck

That is usually what I say when I walk into the room the kids are currently playing in. But this time I am referring to our car. The kids and I were out on a quick errand. We were driving beside a semi-truck on a rural highway not far from home. We were starting to slow down as we came up to a quaint little town. The truck turned right and out from that street came a green Grand Prix turning left, trying to get out of the truck's way. The only problem was that we were still going straight. It felt like we were in slow motion and I tried to get out of her way, but it could not be done. We slid to a stop on the other side of the highway and caught our breath. All of us were wearing our seat belts and were just a little shaken up. The other driver was fine too. I can't say as much for the two vehicles.

We were getting close to needing new tires anyway.

But the bumper was just fine. I guess we'll need a new one of those now too.

And maybe a few other parts.

I got out and hugged each of my precious children and we said a thankful prayer to God for protecting us. We have so many things to be thankful for. No one was injured. There were no vehicles in the oncoming lanes. No one was sitting in the passanger seat.

Now at this point I was thinking, "What now? I have three kids and two dogs with me, but my cell phone is sitting on my night stand." The police had been called and a nice man who had stopped to make sure everyone was okay let me use his phone call the Zookeeper.

While we waited for the tow truck I gathered the few thing that we had in the car. I found the contents of my coupon box that had been on the front seat opened and scattered onto the floor. That must have happened a split second before my cup of lemonade splashed all over it.

The tow truck came and took our car away and then we got to ride in the police cruiser up to town, so we didn't have to wait on the side of the road. The kids rode in the back seat with the two dogs. I looked back through the bullet proof glass and told them "I never want to see you in the back of a police car again!" They thought that was funny.

Farmgirl arrived just moments later and brought us safely home. (Thank you!)