Lately

So we've been busy. 

It seems like yesterday we were celebrating a national championship for our little Auburn and we turned around and it's May.

I have every intention to devoting a full post to this, but I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention the complete devastation in the South caused by those April 27 storms. I quite literally had a meltdown when I saw the first images of Tuscaloosa. My friends, my school, and what was once my life were all in Tuscaloosa. Places I ate, visited, worshipped, and lived. Some completely gone. And that was only one affected area. Please continue to keep those families in your prayers and donate your time and resources when and where you can. #WeAreAlabama.

I've got pictures and stories from this past weekend's foray in world of manual labor and tornado cleanup, but I'll save most of them for next time. Here's a sneak peek, though:

One of the pecan trees in the front yard of my late grandparents' house. I thought this one was the biggest. I was wrong. 

This post is mostly an introduction to what I hope will be two regular blogging topics: 

1. Justin and I like to cook. Well, he likes to cook and I like to assist. I want to share our adventures; the trails, the errors, the freaking delicious things we cook sometimes.

Tonight, for instance, Justin wanted to cook John Besh's oeufs au plat with a creole sausage and chicken gravy. So he did. He had the day off today so he spent most of the day making stock and prepping vegetables so it would be ready to throw together when I got home from work. That man really knows his way around a kitchen. 

This was before we opened the biscuits and let the eggs fall. Just trust me. It was delicious. 

I was feeling frisky as well and decided last week that I wanted to make mayonnaise biscuits. I'd heard wonderful things about them and they have three ingredients (two cups of self-rising flour, one cup of milk, and six tablespoons of mayonnaise) so I figured I'd give it a shot. Tonight provided the perfect opportunity. Even with a little improvisation, like pulling out the silicone muffin pan at the last minute, they turned out wonderfully. 

Please excuse the plate. But I was proud of my first scratch-made biscuits :)

My photography skills aren't up to par yet, but believe me, dinner tonight was fantastic. Almost as good as the short ribs we made when I got Justin the dutch oven for his birthday. Almost. That one will have to be its own post one day. 

2. Since Justin and I like to cook, we spend a lot of money on food. To combat this, we have attempted to start couponing. It kind of started when I was reading our friend Bekah's blog and got inspired. She and her husband are adopting a baby from Ethiopia and are saving every penny they can. Just reading her stories of savings got me interested in how using coupons could really make a difference. 

Then came "Extreme Couponing" on TLC. Justin and I are both addicted. I don't have the space in my place to have a stockpile on the level that these couponers have, but it's really interesting to watch. 

My couponing world changed, however, when a friend on Twitter suggested I check out SouthernSavers.com. Phillip's suggestion blew this thing wide open. It had been on Bekah's recommended sites the whole time, but I'd never noticed. This website has everything a couponer needs, whether he or she is a novice like me or practically a professional like the extreme couponers on TLC. I noticed several of their lists are from Souther Savers. They even have videos on how to get started. I found those immensely helpful. 

We are currently in the "compiling our coupons" phase. Every Sunday, we pull the coupon inserts (I have an advantage because I work at the paper) and put them in our new accordion file folder. 

Not much in it yet, but we'll get there. Baby steps. 

And tonight, we achieved our first milestone. We got our first freebie. Nivea women's body wash was on sale for $3 and I had a coupon for $3 off! I paid 24 cents for a whole bottle of body wash! That's where Souther Savers is really useful. Without it, I'd have never put 2 and 2 together to realize this coupon made a freebie. 

Our first freebie!

And since there are some good deals at Kroger right now with one of their Mega Events, we decided to make a practical pantry since my duplex doesn't have a real one. The cabinets were getting a bit full so we took a shelf and added bins. I'll add more bins as I can afford them, but this is a pretty good start. 

Our make-shift pantry. Not too pretty, but pretty useful. 

Hope to make this sort of thing a regular occurrence. We usually cook something neat at least once a week and couponing is becoming a bigger part of my life everyday. I don't plan to let it take over my life like the Extreme Couponing people, but I do hope to be able to save a little. 

We'll see how it goes.

Spare a thought and a prayer for Tuscaloosa every now and then. Be safe.