Out of Milk App Review

Well, there was a change in plans tonight.  We ended up going out of town to pick up a really sweet Craigslist deal.  SO, we ended up eating out.  The pizza and hamburger didn't get made.

SO that means tomorrow I will be putting the Ravioli's in the crockpot for us to eat.  Also I might not be able to blog the next few days because we will be open and have "guests" until the wee hours of the morning both nights.

So tonight instead of telling you how awesome my pizza was, I am finally going to tell you about the out of milk grocery app I use.  it is available on Android, Iphone, and Computer.  I also have it on my original Kindle Fire .  You can sync between devices, edit, share grocery lists and so much more.

Here are a couple screen shots from my android app.  This is my most recent trip to the grocery.  I love how it adds what is in your cart, and includes sales tax.  It also tells you any dollar amount you have left, if you need to go to another store.  I usually make separate lists for each store I go to so I have the exact dollar amount due at check out.  #1 for my benefit so I don't have more to buy than money in my purse, and #2 so I can have an accurate price and keep tabs on the cashier.  They aren't always right, and neither are those bar code price scanners at checkout .

Here is the list before checking things off (trust me there are more items than fit on the screen, but not too many.)  I usually manual enter the items, but I do occasionally use the bar code scanner, and it works and is product accurate most of the time.  Sometimes it's way off and I have to edit the product.

Another feature is product history.  It tells you the date and price of the product last time it was entered or updated.  The $0.00 items are when I first enter them as a "new item" then when I add a price it creates a new product with the price.  

There is also a pantry list which I am in the process of working on.  I want to use it more like a price comparison list than a pantry list.  You can create categories or just put everything in the same place.  Items are easily added to your shopping list too from your pantry.

Here is the entry screen.  Note the store and product size shows up in the list above.

 The clock near the unit price also shows price history.

I really like this app, I have also even used it for keeping track of inventory for our business.  I used the pantry feature and the amount feature so I knew when I needed to buy.  

Over all I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this app.  I don't have the paid version, just the free one, because I'm cheap, BUT if I ever DO decide to pay for an app, this would defiantly be one I would consider worth it.  If you're looking for a great easy to use grocery list alternative to the paper and pen that you often leave at home on the counter, I suggest you give this a try.

I am not being compensated nor have I been contacted by the company to write a review.  This is all mu own opinion from using this app for multiple things over the past 3 years.

You can read this same review and others I've written  on my Amazon account

Root Beer Chicken

Tonight we had the Root Beer Chicken.  You can see the original recipe HERE.

Root Beer Chicken with mashed potatoes and homemade chicken gravy.

We got off to a rough start.  I set the alarm on my phone to remind me to put the chicken in the crockpot to get it started cooking, on low for about 3 hours, which I had another alarm set to remind me to go drain the grease/broth off and add the root beer sauce.  Two hours after I started cooking hubby texted me "The crockpot isn't plugged in".  UGH!  Now what!  I asked him to plug it in and turn it on HIGH, hoping supper wouldn't be too much later than planned.  He also folded a towel up and put it on top of the lid to help hold in the heat. (I think that worked)  At this point we had about an hour before we would be home.  I had the pizza crusts pulled from the freezer, just in case, so we did have something for supper.  It ended up working out pretty good as we had customers in our store that stayed and chatted for 30 minutes after we were supposed to be closed.  They are good customers, we didn't mind.  By the time we got home, the chicken was done.  I drained the grease/broth off and added the root beer sauce, made the mashed taters in the microwave, and decided on a whim to make gravy with the chicken drippings while the chicken finished cooking.  I looked and looked for a homemade chicken gravy recipe and didn't find one, so I just went out on a limb and did my own thing.  The gravy was OK, but it needs a LOT of work.

Now for the chicken.  It wasn't bad, even for me, who doesn't really care for chicken (unless it's processed).  Hubby said he thought it would be better if the chicken was cooked in the oven and the sauce was basted over the chicken.  I wonder what it would taste like if it were marinated in the sauce.  I also wonder if it would be better if the skin were removed, hubby said leave it on.

We did like the chicken, and I do plan to make it again.  the gravy.......yah well, it may end up in the trash. ;-)

Tomorrow night we're having homemade pizza. The temps outside are supposed to be cooler, so using the oven for a bit and not having the AC on shouldn't be too bad.  I will also be cooking up the hamburger patties I premade and using THIS SEASONING on them.  I've made them before and learned I needed to add more seasoning.  Just tasting it before adding to the hamburgers it was pretty spicy, but the spice wasn't as noticeable on the hamburgers once they were cooked.  The hamburgers will be for Friday night, something we can heat and eat, since the arcade will be open.

Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak

So Day #2 of my menu (Day #1 needs work in my opinion, I have another made up and in the freezer, so when I'm satisfied with it I will share) we had   Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak.  OH MY this was GOOD!  Simple and easy too.

My picture doesn't do it justice.....

You can find the recipe and instructions HERE on the Budget 101 web page.

Here's what I did different than the posted recipe:

• I used beef that was on sale
• I bought a bag of frozen fajita vegetables which had onion, and red, yellow and green peppers. (it was cheaper than buying the fresh vegetables)
• I only had to cook on LOW for 4 hours.  (Maybe my cooker is hotter than theirs, I'm finding cook time is less than suggested time on the recipes I've tried so far)
• I toasted the buns, and melted the cheese under the broiler in my oven
• We added Mayo to the bun

Next time I will try:

• a little more seasoning, maybe salt & pepper?  It needs a bit more
• more cheese, 2 slices instead of one maybe
• "specialty mayo" something tastier than just plain mayo.  

This one didn't get frozen, it looked and smelled so good I knew I had to make it soon.  I will be making this again.  It will probably freeze just fine.

Tomorrow is Root Beer Chicken......if it's good I'll share the recipe.  Of course you can always go look yourself on my menu if you can't wait on me.

Happy Homemaker Monday 7/27/15

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Hot, Hot, Hot, cooler with rain chance, then Hot Hot Hot!

Things that make me happy:
Having meals ready to put in the crockpot to have ready to eat at 5:00

Menu for this week:
Not sure what order we will have them, but you can see what I have planned for the next 2 weeks HERE

What's on my TV today:
Haven't been watching anything lately


Looking around the house:

Other than the few spots I need to clean because there were people over all weekend and  we were gone on Sunday, but it's not too bad right now.

On my To Do List:

Finish grocery shopping and make ahead some meals.

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I have a lot of new ones I will be trying.  I will share them if we like them.

In the craft basket:
I'm still working on the afghan for my sister.  I've also been making some more potholders to sell and give away (the peace sign one is for my sister), and I volunteered to make a rich textures tote for a fellow yarn club member. This one is out of cotton yarn.  It will be fun to see the difference when I get it done.

Looking forward to this week:
I'm not sure.  Friday nights are fun at the castle.  It's Game Night with the "Young Adults".  Also Saturday is starting to be exciting, we have a growing group of MTG players coming for Saturday Night Magic, now that we are set up with "Wizards of the Coast".

Tips and Tricks:
Planning ahead for the weeks menu saves money.  Eating out and shopping nightly both get expensive.

Currently Reading

Almost finished with "The Fiddler" by Beverly Lewis *affiliate link*


No words needed (favorite photo or picture):

Fuzzy took a selfie.......:-)

Lesson learned the past few days:

You can't please everyone no matter how hard you try or how nice you are.

On my mind:

Slow Cooker dishes....must.find.more.  Pinterest is my friend for finding good ones.

Linking up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Menu for 2 weeks

I have to try and make some changes, and stick with them.  This going to the store nearly every day and not having a plan isn't working, it makes is want to eat out more.  Starting with 2 week plan of make abead things for the crockpot, which I can use when the AC is on, without tripping the breaker.  SO here goes, in no particular order, starting last night with the crockpot chicken tacos/burritos:


Root Beer BBQ Drumsticks  Mashed potatoes with butter, green beans

Crockpot Chicken Tacos/Burritos (lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream, cheese)

Balsamic Glazed Drumsticks corn, bread & butter

Honey Garlic Chicken mashed potatoes and butter, green beans

Crockpot Beef and Gravy mashed potatoes and corn, bread & butter

Roast, Corn on the cob (crockpot, and I will do mine a bit different than the recipe it's for time reference), mashed potatoes and homemade gravy



Homemade Pizza (making and pre-cooking the crust ahead of time trying this recipe.  Trying this sauce recipe also)

Cincinnati Chili  spaghetti

Crockpot Ravioli  ???

Hamburgers and Fries

Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak

Roast, Corn on the cob (crockpot, and I will do mine a bit different than the recipe it's for time reference), mashed potatoes and homemade gravy

I still need to go get some things from the store as they were out of some things when I went the other day.  Looks like Sunday is going to be prep day, but only after church and going to do laundry.

Midweek Check Up

Monday I posted some To Do's. Here's my mid-week update.

Make Incense   getting ready to put it out to sell. 

Package Smells To GO!

Clean bathroom at the shop

check out grocery ads online and make a list/menu. Ads came out today.  One store, my favorite one, is having a 3 day sale Friday, Saturday & Sunday.  Good Deals on some things we would eat.  I may get a few things to tide us over until Sunday and do some more shopping then.

wash dishes. Did this last night but there are still a few to wash

put clean dishes away. Did this last night so I have more to put away since I washed some

work on the afghan for my sister

work on my latest crochet project.   Finished and working on 2nd side of Tunisian potholder.

Maybe go to the gym tonight. Went Monday. Did some moving things around on Tuesday. Hoping to go tonight. I really like the recumbent bike. 

HHM 7-13-15

Hello!  Hello!  Hello!  Glad you stopped by.  It's Monday again.  It's hot outside!, and did you know that this day, 2 years ago was a Friday the 13th?  I LOVE Friday the 13th's.  Monday the 13th hasn't been too bad so far. ;-)

The weather in my neck of the woods:

Can we say sizzle, sizzle, sizzle? Heat index will be well over 100 this week. As long as the humidity stays down though I think it won't be too bad.  I hope anyway.

Rich Textures Tote

Its finished!  This is the week 1 project for the Yarnspirations summer beach bag stitch along.  I used acrylic yarn and had to barter for more because I didn't have enough. I love how it turned out. It was quite easy to make.  Links to this project can be found on yesterday's HHM post. Now off to work on the next hooked project.

Before I post this, let me show you what we had for supper tonight.....Steak Fajita Queadillas.  MMMmmm they were good.

HHM 7/6/2015

Hello!  Hello!  Hello!  Glad you stopped by.  As soon as hubby gets back I'm going to go turn the espresso machine on.  I finally got some milk.  I've been wanting a cold latte (not iced, I just don't steam the milk) for about a week now.  Hang around, I'll get you one too.  While you're waiting, how about reading my Happy Homemaker Monday post for this week.

The weather in my neck of the woods:
We have a cold front moving in this afternoon.  Cold front is welcome, but the rain it's bringing, is supposed to also bring flooding.  Rain is good, but not so much that it floods.  I'm thankful for it all though.

Current WIP

For some reason I decided to make one of the Crochet Crowds Summer Beach Bag crochet along bags. I don't know what possessed me to do so. I chose the Rich Textures Tote and expected to have to watch the tutorial video step by step. I've watched it once for "bobble stitch" clarification. I've even been following the diagram instead of the written pattern. It makes more sense this time. I started it Yesterday afternoon and will probably have it finished tonight or tomorrow. I'll share the finished  bag once I'm done. I'm over half way now. Its super easy! Here is an inside out photo so far:

Can't wait to get it done.