Lunch for a group

Here is what I served for a recent meal when we had 12 guests.

Easy crock pot beef tips - except I baked ours in a Dutch oven in the regular oven- doubled the recipe

Make ahead mashed potatoes - this recipe does not use cream cheese like most make ahead recipes call for  - also doubled this recipe

Baked carrots

Green beans

Worlds Best Dinner Rolls - I followed the recipe exactly except I mixed them all by hand in a Tupperware fix and mix bowl. The recipe says to shape the dough into 24 rolls but I made them a regular dinner roll and had about 40. At 24, they would be very large rolls I think, more like a jumbo sandwich bun. 

Dessert was fresh fruit -a Georgia seedless watermelon, red grapes, strawberries and fresh pineapple-and a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies I got on sale for 99 cents. 

I usually bake a dessert or 2 but my husband and I have not been eating dessert for about 2 months and with all the other cooking, I just didn't feel like baking a dessert too. Unfortunately, 3 of the guests were disappointed with my baking slack off.  They did not leave hungry though, they just ate extra rolls and watermelon. 

Beverages were plain and sweet tea. 

I recommend all of the recipes.  And that is one of the ways I feed a crowd. 

Spur of the moment yard sale

We were out early this morning as we took the oldest grandson home after a sleepover here.

I had not planned to yard sale, but as we got home, we saw 2 sales right in our neighborhood.

The first sale had so much nice stuff and at very good prices. I considered buying lots of things but decided to just get what we needed.

This heavy patio set was $50. It needs a new paint job but other than that, it is perfect. It is very sturdy and should survive our harsh weather.  There is a hole in the center of the table to hold a big umbrella.

It came with 5 chairs, 2 are rockers and 3 are regular chairs.
We are really happy to get this. We've looked at new patio sets but they seem to be not sturdy, or too fancy or expensive or not strong enough for the Oklahoma weather. 

I also picked out a few play clothes for the oldest grandson. They were 50 cents each.

I was in Walmart yesterday and checked out the $1 rack that is still in the action aisle beside the shoe department. It was full of knit leggings in very bright colors - all seemed to be for babies size 0-3 months and junior girls size 0-2.  It was nothing we needed but I will keep checking that rack when I go to Walmart. 

Recent bargains

This bargain is about as good as bargains get.

I rarely shop at Walmart but it has been so hot and I had a short list with coupons so I went to Walmart to get everything and not make multiple stops. 

I walked through the shoe department just as they were doing some major shoe clearances.

These are all little boy shoes, sizes 7 through 12. They were all discounted to $1 a pair! 

It looks like lots of shoes but we have 3 young grandsons and there were many more pairs of shoes on clearance.

I also got 3 bags of socks and 1 pack of little girl undies - these were bags that had been ripped open- they were discounted to $1 as well.

The black socks bags held the full amount but the girl socks and undies were missing a few- I am not complaining though - $1 is an amazing price, complete bag or not. 

My daughter and I have both been back to Walmart, hoping to be there if and when little girl shoes get marked down to $1. We saw the men's and women's clearances and my daughter and I each got one pair of walking type shoes for ourselves. 

No success yet on shoes for the granddaughters but I'll let you know if we score. 

Have you found any great sales this month?

$1 flip flops dressed up with help from Pinterest

This $1 pair of pink flip flops is from Walmart, the ribbon is 1 1/2 inch wide and I just hand sewed it to cover the straps. The bows and buttons were hand sewn and then secured with a dab of E6000 glue.

The second pair were from Dollar Tree. They are not as thick as the Walmart one.
I followed this tutorial pretty much exactly as written.
Covered flip flops tutorial

I have been wearing them around the house and they are very comfy. I wonder how sturdy they are and if they will hold together, so far so good! 

If you want to fancy up flip flops, just search on Pinterest for flip flops DIY. There are many many cute ideas.  

First day of July

Don't forget to flip over your calendar pages

I like patriotic scenes so much that I have 2 calendars in the laundry room.

Both of these calendars were mailed to us from charity groups.

2 grandchildren a year ago- they are both much bigger now!

And clean out the expired June coupons from your coupon stash.