Thanksgiving at the Floyds

This year, Casey and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house. My grandmother had been sick and in the hospital for over a month this summer/ early fall. She is doing very well now, but she tends to overdo it when it comes to cooking. We thought having Thanksgiving at her house might be a little much for her this year, and we love having people in our home. I was really pleased with the way it all turned out. Casey even said it was the best Thanksgiving meal he's ever had. :) Getting everything organized ahead of time was really helpful. My mom was here early in the week, and she did all my grocery shopping for me while I was at work on Tuesday so that I had get home to my sick hubby. That was a huge help. I gave her my grocery spreadsheet and all my coupons. I was able to get all the groceries for the big day plus some other stuff for the week for $35 thanks to the great deals and coupons. On Tuesday night, I made a schedule of what I was going to do at what time on Wed and Thurs to make sure all the food was done on time. Here are some pics of our family dinner. Casey is still getting over pneumonia, so I didn't make him suffer through any pictures this time.

My mom thought it was so funny that I put all my serving dishes out with labels on Wednesday and insisted that I take a picture of it.

My 1st turkey...it was yummy! Thanks to my sweet father-in-law for teaching me how to cook a turkey over the phone!

Setting the table


Some of our yummy food. My grandmother made the dressing, green beans, and deviled eggs. I made the turkey, candied yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and crescent rolls.

For dessert, I made pumpkin pie, of course, and red velvet cake for Mom.


Our place cards...I wrote everyone's name on the front and a Bible verse about thanks on the back of each one.

My precious Grandmother and me


Mom, Grandmother, and me

Rob and Mom

Great Deals at Publix

I had a very successful trip to Publix today. My mom is in town, and we always coupon together when she's here. She's the one who taught me to coupon, but I'm proud to say that I found all these deals myself and shared them with her this week. :) I will try to take a picture of everything later this week and add it to the post, but here's the list for now from my receipt.

-4 boxes of Rice Krispies (FREE)
-2 bags of mini marshmallows (FREE with sticky coupon on the box of Rice Krispies)
-6 bags of Chex Mix (FREE)
-2 bottles of Lysol kitchen cleaner ($.35 each)
-10 tubs of Betty Crocker frosting (FREE...for all the cheap cake mix I got a few months ago)
-Publix hot dogs (penny item)
-6 cans of Progresso soup (80 cents each)
-4 cans of Campbell's cream of chicken soup (50 cents each)
-2 boxes of Progresso chicken broth ($1 each)

Grand Total with tax = $7.44

Most of the coupons I used today were printables that I printed right from home. If you'd like to save big at Publix, visit Hot Coupon World and Southern Savers to get started. These deals are good through tomorrow (Tuesday) at Birmingham stores. My store was out of the Chinet napkins which would have been free and the Yoplus yogurt (my fave) which would have been 25 cents for a 4-pack. Be sure to get a raincheck from the customer service desk for any items they are sold out of. Happy couponing!

Menu Plan Monday

It's been a few weeks since I made a menu plan. I got really sick with a yucky viral infection a few weeks ago. It was actually worse than the last time I had the flu, and I missed 8 days of work. I've never missed more than 2 from being out sick. I'm finally recovering, and my sweet hubby got sick this week. I'm finally up to cooking again and excited about menu planning once again. Check out all the menu plans at orgjunkie.

Monday - Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday - Taco soup

Wednesday - 3 packet crock pot roast

Thursday - Dinner at church/ leftovers

Friday - Date night

Saturday - Old fashioned meatloaf

Sunday - Meatless meal...maybe vegetable soup or beans & rice

Meet Charlie Roomba

I am very pleased to introduce the newest member of our household, Charlie Roomba. I recently saw a roomba in action for the first time at my friend Lauren's house. It was love at first sight, and I knew we had to have one in our home. I have been saving my birthday money from family and a little here and there for the past month to purchase a roomba of my own. Yesterday afternoon I went to Bed Bath & Beyond with my 20% off coupon in hand and bought a shiny new robotic vacuum cleaner. Casey and I tried it out today. I followed it around and just watched it move from room to room, from hardwoods to rugs to tile to carpet. I had originally planned on using my birthday money for clothes before I saw the roomba, but I am so glad I got this little guy instead. I'm sure buying a vacuum cleaner with birthday money seems crazy to most people, but it makes perfect sense to me. It makes my life easier, and I LOVE a clean house. Casey and I decided to name him Charlie. Turk and Mylie (our labs) are very scared of Charlie. Turk hides from him, and Mylie lunges at him but then runs backwards when he comes near her. I've been quite entertained watching Charlie clean. While Charlie was cleaning the floors, I was able to do laundry and clean the bathrooms. He's a super cool addition to our home. He is now scheduled to clean the floors at the same time every day and then return to his charger. I don't even have to push a button! Welcome home Charlie...I'm so glad you're here!

Bama game with friends

We went to Patrick and Lacy's house for the Bama game last night. We haven't seen them much lately with all of our busy schedules, so it was great hanging out and catching up. We had lots of yummy food, and Alabama won...Roll Tide!

Casey & Gavin in their matching #8 shirts

Lacy's super cute shirt says "Roll Tide Baby!" Perfect since she's having their 2nd baby (Chloe Lynn) in December

Birthdays with Family

We celebrated lots of birthdays at Casey's parents' house recently...Chris (Casey's brother), Mr. James (Casey's dad), and myself. While we were all together, my mother-in-law wanted to get some family photos. She has lots on her camera that she's sending me, so I'll post those when I get them. We had a delicious meal, as always. My mother and father-in-law are both excellent cooks, so I always look forward to eating with them! I'm truly blessed to have not only an incredible husband but also a wonderful family that came with him and the 2 cutest nephews ever!

Menu Plan Monday

My menu planning was quick and easy for this week since I spent so much time Saturday finding new recipes to try. Check out all the menu plans at orgjunkie.

Monday - Baked Salmon with asparagus

Tuesday - White Chicken Chili for small group

Wednesday - Paprika Chicken with Mushrooms with green beans

Thursday - Casey has dinner at church internship. I'm going out with a friend or eating left-overs.

Friday - Date Night

Saturday - Good Easy Garlic Chicken with broccoli and salad

Sunday - Black Beans and Rice (We're going to try to do a meatless meal once a week.)