So I am back from my trip to San Antonio. We went to Sea world on a budget :{. Well here is the deal. I ended up also bringing my 15 yr old cousin ( who by the way is the best help a person can ask for). So my budget changed from 4 to 5 ( I don’t really count my 4 month old b/c she was free and only drinks formula). Any ways, so Sea world is having an AWESOME Deal . You can get a season pass for the price of a one day pass. WOW! (it's good threw Dec 31 2009). I thought that everyone would know about this but my husband’s boss had gone like a week or 2 before us and he totally missed out (really you do need more then one day to see this park. The shows alone took us the day. Thank god we have a season pass). Then when you are in the park it is crazy my 5 yr old was begging me for everything he saw. Finally I made a deal that would work out for all of us. If you purchase him one of their souvenir drink cups (make sure you get the ones designated ). You pay for the cup but then you can get 99 cent refills . On top of that all you have to do is bring the cup back on your other visits and you get the same 99 cent refills ( way to go SEA WORLD on getting people to reduce reuse recycle). So the kids get a little something to bring home, and it can be used over and over (verses a stuffed shamoo that would have been thrown in the back of the closet anyways).
MY HUGE MISTAKE!!!! I was so ready for this trip I had snack galore. I even made my hubbies fave chicken salad sammies, and pasta salad. I had an ice chest full of soft drinks, and juices( Oh no forgot the water bottles). Well we ate a good breakfast before hitting the road. We went to the River walk to have a nice late lunch, walked around and headed to the hotel. I was not counting on everyone getting hungry after our late lunch so the lunch I made for SEA WORLD was gobbled up late that night. The hotel we stayed at was also the hotel my husband’s boss had stayed at and he had said their breakfast was huge it had bacon and eggs and all kinds of goodies. I don’t know what happened because when we went there was just bagels, yogurt and some dried cereal. They had a waffle maker that made some good waffles, but my son was not happy about no bacon. We had breakfast at 6:30 am , but the park was not open tell 10am. Bye the time 1pm came everyone was on empty. We finely gave in and got some food at the park. Keep in mind we hunted for a bargain, but there was none in site. We ended up getting a brisket platter that ended up looking like a sampler, and shared it between the 4of us ( My husband, son, 15 yr old cousin and me. Oh and there was only 4 slivers of brisket on top of a hand full of fries). As you can imagine the rest of the day did not pan out like I thought ( I got to say my 5 yr old was not too bad) if it had not been for the fruit gushers , Capri suns , and 99 cent refills we may not have made it. By 4pm we were ready to call it quits. Keep in mined it was 103 degrees ( thank god I packed a fan/water sprayer we had gotten from a Disney trip we took over the summer. That thing was 12 bucks! I was going to get my money’s worth). So we hit up Texas road house. Nuts I had left my coupon book back at home in Houston and I totally had one for Texas Road House ( The new saying should go Coupons, never leave home without them). So Here is a mini break down from Fri- Sun noon.
Around 50 bucks in gas. I have a 4 cylinder van that is great on gas.
230 on park tickets. 3 adults and one child season tickets. That’s with Tax.(oh and they scan your finger print so you can’t pass it on to a friend)
180 for 2 night at LA Quinta. That includes tax, and my husband had rented MALL COP on the TV which was 16 bucks. Trust me he got an ear full of words.
40 for lunch for 4 on the river walk
50 for dinner for 4 at Texas Road house
20 for 2 shamoo cups which can be used for future trips to Sea world and get 99cent refills. Oh and I got a discount since I had a season pass
8.70 for brisket platter at sea world. (Most ridiculous 8.70 I ever spent).
Total= 558.70
I say not too bad, but I know I can do better. The biggest thing I learned is do your research before you go, and even if you do research sometimes there are glitches. I will post some other barrens I found later this week. I am off to bed.

HELP!!!!

My Family and I are planning to take a trip to San Antonio to go to Sea world. I am doing it on a strict budget, but still want to have fun. Do you guys have any tips and tricks to share with me? There will be two Adults and one 5 year old and a 4 month old. We will be leaving in 2 weeks. HELP!!

Need a side dish that thakes no time?

WOW moms you are going to love this!

I got this recipe from Sandra Lee Semi Homemade . It is SUPPER FAST and SUPPER EASY(My Favorite). I don’t have a picture of it because it diapered just as fast as it took me to make it. Here is how it goes:

1 can cheese soup. Any brand would work.
1 0r 2 handfuls of shredded Cheese (I love lots of cheese)
1 regular size bag of frozen cauliflower
About ½ cup of bread crumbs (eye ball it)
Some Extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Put the all the everything in a microwave safe, and oven safe container except bread crumbs and olive oil(no need to mix yet). Place a damp paper towel over the container and micro wave until everything is nice and warm and gooey.

Mix everything together and then place the bread crumbs in a small bowl and add just a little bit of the olive oil to it. Combine the two together and sprinkle on top of the dish. Place the entire thing in the broiler for a minute or two(just until the bread crumbs get nice and crunchy. And Presto You have a amazing side for your dinner. It took me longer to type this recipe up then it did to make it.

TIPS & TRICK

On this day I did not have the bag of frozen Cauliflower, the can of cheese soup, or the bread crumbs. I did how ever have frozen broccoli thanks to Kroger’s 10 for 10 sale almost a month ago ( I was all stalked up). I did have cream of chicken soup I had also stalked up on this a few weeks ago when Walgreens had a sale on cream of chicken and cream of mushroom, and I had coupons so I think I paid like 25 cents a can. I did not have bread crumbs, but I did have Pan co Bread crumbs. I used what I had on hand to substitute for what I didn’t and it was still Yum.
If you don’t have everything a recipe calls for. Look in your pantry see what you do have that can make a good substitute. Sometimes you have to think outside the box. It will save you a trip to the grocery store that is not needed. Which will save you time and gas.

Ummm you CAN eat the Play dough

This is a great activity to do with your kids. It is a very sweet and sugary snack so you may not want to give this to them right before nap. I like it for younger ones who don't know yet that they can't eat play dough.

1 can of frosting (any flavor I picked chocolate)
1 1/2 cup of powder sugar
1 cup of creamy peanut butter

and about a 1/2 cup of flower give or take it may take more or less depending on how hot it is. So just add until it turns into a dough. Don't freak out if it is a warm day you may need to add allot b/c the heat makes the oils from the peanut butter come out.

The verdict: Well my Oldest Loved it. He had it all over his face. This makes a big batch so you can put some away and keep it in your fridge for another day. Don't give them the entire thing. It may give them a upset tummy eating so much sweets. I nice cold glass of milk goes nice on the side.

Saving Money

I am starting this blog for fun. I just started clipping coupons thanks to a friend of mine. I am not very good at it yet, but I am saving. I went from spending 100-120 a week on food and stuff. I am now down to 60-70 a week. I have seen people saving more, but like I said I am new to this, and will be more then happy to get any tips of the trade.

I was also going to use this blog as a place to share ideas. I have 2 kids (one is only 3 months, the other 5yrs) that I have to keep entertained on a budget. I thought I could share some of my ideas with you, and hopefully you can share your tricks with me too.