World's Easiest Cookies

Seriously.  There's no measuring involved, and they always taste delicious!

I first made these as a recipe called "Gooey Butter Cookies."  Then I decided to experiment, and any flavor works!

Gooey Whatever-Flavor-You-Like Cookies

1 package (8oz) of cream cheese (the light kind works just as well)
1 stick of margarine
1 egg
vanilla
1 box cake mix in whatever-flavor-you-like (I've done white, lemon, yellow, cherry chip- stay away from the extra butter and angel food types, though.)
Powdered sugar.

Let the cream cheese and margarine soften up for a few minutes in the mixer bowl, then turn on your mixer on low speed til they're smushed together nicely.  Add in the egg and about a capful of vanilla (I never measure this- just fill up the vanilla cap and dump it in), let the mixer smush them in.  When it looks pretty smushy, dump in the whole bag of dry cake mix.  Let the mixer do its thing until it all looks evenly mixed.

Dump some powdered sugar in a bowl.  Scoop out (or use your hands) 1-inch balls of cookie dough.  If the dough is really sticky, it'll be a bit tricky roll them, but I promise it'll look better in a minute.  Roll the dough balls in the powdered sugar (they look better now, no?).  Put them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet about an inch or so apart.

Bake for 11-13 minutes at 350* or until they don't look wet any more and the bottoms just start to brown. 

They'll be soft and rich and delicious.  They're even better when they sit overnight!

Dan's Favorite Hawaiian Rolls

I've grown to love throwing ingredients in my bread machine, running the dough cycle, and then baking up the dough into something delicious.  Dan's favorite is this recipe for Hawaiian rolls:

Hawaiian Dinner Rolls (adapted from Diana's Hawaiian Bread Rolls)

In a bread machine, add the following (according to machine specifications)

• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 egg
• 2 Tb honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 1/4 cups bread flour
• 5 Tb white sugar
• 2 Tb dry milk powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tb margarine
• 2 tsp bread machine yeast

Run the dough cycle.  Turn the dough out onto a piece of wax paper.  It will be sticky, but still manageable.

Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a golf ball.  (I usually get 18-24 rolls from a batch).  Place the dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Cover with a damp dishtowel and let rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Uncover the rolls.  They should be bigger now!  In a small bowl, beat 1 egg.  Use a brush to brush the beaten egg on top of all of the rolls.  This step guarantees that they will look beautiful after baking.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and smelling amazing!  Let cool and enjoy!

We've found that these rolls are even better- more Hawaiian- when you put them in a Ziploc bag and let them sit overnight.

This week's Schnuck's trip

I'm getting better at this coupon thing every week!  Here's how I did at Schnuck's today:

I bought...
6 cans of Progresso soup (this has been my go-to quick lunch lately)
3 Green Giant frozen boxed vegetables (perfect quick sides!)
3 boxes of Hamburger Helper (not so nutritious but fast and filling)
2 bags of Krunchers potato chips
4 bags of Fresh Gourmet croutons
1 lb of 73% ground beef

I used...
2 $1 off of 3 Progresso coupons
$.60 off 3 Green Giant coupon
$1 off of 3 Hamburger Helper Coupon
$1 off of 2 Krunchers chips coupons
2 $1 off of 2 Fresh Gourmet coupons
$3 off meat purchase Catalina coupon from last week
$3 off purchase Catalina from transaction of 6 soups

Total before sales and coupons was $44.47
Minus sale prices (approx $20.51) and coupons ($12.60)

I spent a total of $11.66, or 26% of the normal retail prices!

I got... $3 coupon for next purchase, plus my purchases donated $4 to Komen for a Cure

Let's try this again

Okay... this is attempt number 3 at creating some type of consistent blog!  Third time's the charm, right?

My basic goal: a blog about my attempts at making a comfortable home, creating delicious meals, saving money, and ranting about life.

A bit about me:
I'm Kelly, age 26, engaged with no idea when the wedding will be, and working through my first year as a teacher.  I live with my fiance, my cat, and our dog.  Both he and I are working on master's degrees right now, his in engineering and mine in education. 

We try to live on a tight budget, saving what we can.  I've taken up couponing as a way to cut back the grocery bills- I'm starting to really reap the rewards.  (Don't worry- I'm not one of those crazy extreme couponers like they show on TV!)  I do a lot of home cooking and baking.  We're DIY folks, fixing up the house a bit at a time. 

I teach computer classes to K-5 students in 3 different school buildings.  It is definitely NOT a job I ever thought about having as I went through school, but as the weeks go on, I love it more and more.  Every day is different and I love working with so many different kids.

With that all said... I'm definitely not Suzie Homemaker, but I'm getting a bit closer every day!