School

It's the weekend! Sweet! I just decided that going grocery shopping on a whim is probably not the best move I could make. I came home with semi-useful items and then remembered more useful things once I got here. One thing about shopping at Krogers that I do love is the electronic coupons. I sat in the parking lot and loaded several to my card before I went in. These coupons allow me to buy some brands that I might otherwise avoid. Today they gave direction to my shopping. Possibly not the best idea. I think though that I'll have enough food for a while. It's just sort of random food. Tonight I plan to have French Toast and sausage because I need to use up some semi-stale bread.

I'm really starting to enjoy my tutoring time, and I think some of the kids like me as well. When I stopped by to talk to the third grade teacher, one of my girls who I only started working with yesterday told me that she wasn't going to let me leave because she wanted to stay with me forever. Sweet. I guess it'll be even sweeter if she says the same thing after I start making her write next week. The job started kind of slow and I felt a bit useless some days because I didn't have any groups. This was the first day though that I had three full hours of pull-out groups. This means I have to run back and forth finding these kids and returning them. I also don't have a permanent home so I'm holding my sessions in the library.

Sometimes these kids say the craziest things. Just yesterday, when I walked into the third grade classroom, this little girl looked at me and said that I look different every day. I didn't even think these kids noticed me since I hadn't really been doing anything with them yet.

Today I felt sort of bad for the sole boy in my fourth grade group. The girls had finished their spelling sheet from their teacher so I gave them markers and paper to write their words in all different colors. It's still amazing that such a simple activity brings them such great joy. The boy was still trying to meticulously copy down the run-on sentence on the paper. He is almost always the last one finished because he doesn't read or write very quickly. Everyday he asks me if we will have time to work on their drawings. I'm not sure he's finished one yet (the first day I let them make name tags for their folders and another day I asked them to draw a scene from the book we're reading.). He's still pretty cute though when he gets excited about answering questions.

A Spanish Omelette & This Week's "Groceries"

When we got home from our anniversary getaway this morning, I knew there weren't many quick meals in our current food supply. Thankfully, I remembered we had a few potatoes that had been hiding in the back of the pantry that needed to be fixed. Next, I thought about a recipe in my tapas cookbook, that a friend got for me after I studied in Barcelona last summer, for Spanish omelettes. I also knew we had 2 dozen eggs in the refrigerator. I looked up the recipe in hopes that we'd have everything to make it.

6 eggs - check

5 potatoes - check

1 cup olive oil - check

1 onion - eeeeck, I didn't have this but subbed with 1 tsp onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

By the way, this is a cheap recipe that would be perfect for a week that may be a little tight because the ingredients are so basic. Plus, it's simple too!

First, thoroughly wash and slice those potatoes. Shoot for one inch cubes. Then, starting heating up your olive oil. Although this recipe calls for 1 cup, I only used between 1/4 and 1/3. 1 cup just seemed like it would be too hard on my stomach even if it does get drained. Once the oil is hot, dump the potatoes, add onion powder (I didn't measure it but I put about 1 tsp), and stir frequently. 

Let those cook for about 15 minutes continuing to stir frequently. To know if they're getting close to done, I prod them with a fork. They'll be softer, like one you'd bite into, if they're ready.

While those are cooking, you can fluff the eggs and add the salt and pepper. Once the potatoes have finished, pour them into the egg mixture and let it soak for 10 minutes. Take the skillet off the eye and pour the excess oil into a bowl to be used later in the recipe.

Reheat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the potato/egg mixture being sure to spread the potatoes evenly in the skillet.

Here comes the exciting part! When the egg starts to brown and become firm, you have to flip it. Put a plate on top of the skillet. Please use oven mitts so you don't get burnt! Then, flip the omelette onto the plate and slide it back into the skillet. Do this 2-3 times per side to give the omelette a good shape and ensure that it cooks thoroughly. Here I am doing it in case you need a visual:

After you've done that, flip onto a clean plate and wah-la! You've made a Spanish omelette! Do you have any favorite Spanish dishes?

Because we're only going to be at home four days this week, I hadn't planned to do any grocery shopping. We have several things I can throw together and are anxiously awaiting some hefty health care bills (sigh) that will make our budget a little tighter. However, I found a few deals I just couldn't pass up.

So here's the breakdown price for each item:

• Dunkin Donuts Creamer Sale Price $3.69 - MFG Coupon 0.75 = $2.94
  Not a great deal, but something we use frequently
• Coffee Mate Creamer Part of Buy 5, Save $5 OP $5.49-$1= $4.49
  Again, not an amazing deal but something we use frequently
• 3 Boxes of Kashi Cereal Part of Buy 5, Save $5 OP $2.99-$1=$1.99 Plus, I had a coupon. Buy 2, Save $1.25 making the price per box of cereal $1.57 each
• Yuban Coffee (31 oz.) OP $10.99 Part of Buy 5, Save $5 SP $6.99-$1=$5.99
• 10 jars of Jif creamy peanut butter On sale at Save-A-Lot $1.79 each
  I don't normally buy in bulk because I refuse to buy stuff we won't use but the expiration date isn't until sometime in 2016 and the hubs frequently snacks on it. Initially, I wasn't even 100% this was really a good deal because we normally get Jif Natural in the larger jar but while I was at Kroger I did a price check. There, it was on sale for $2.99--nearly double the price. I knew we should stock up!

The last two items were bought because they were exciting treats and weren't a bad deal but I wouldn't call them a good deal either.

• PB & Co. White Chocolate Peanut Butter OP $4.59 - $1.25 digital coupon=$3.59
• Nutella OP $3.99 - $1 Man. Coupon=$2.99

What kind of good deals have you found lately? I'm always scanning ads scoping items that we frequently buy.

Last, later this week I plan to post about our trip to Red River Gorge. It was absolutely gorgeous and a nice getaway despite the few bug bites that have tirelessly irritated me today.

Until next time,