January 4th Money Saving Accomplishments Today

• Made a large batch of spaghetti sauce in the crock pot.  I FINALLY created a spaghetti sauce recipe that Mr. R really liked.  Will post later with the cost break down.
• Made a box of whole grain pasta that I got at Aldi for $.89 and baked some brown and serve rolls that I got marked down to only $.49.  (I bought 4 packs of the rolls and froze 3 of them.)
• Estimating the cost of the spaghetti sauce since I haven't done the math yet, our dinner only cost around $4 for the four of us plus Mr. R packed the left overs in his lunch and we have a couple leftover rolls in the refrigerator.
• Since I heated the oven to make some brown and serve rolls, I went ahead and cooked a 5 lb. package of chicken breasts and the last 3 sweet potatoes.  These will be eaten this week for dinners and lunches.
• After baking, left the oven cracked so the leftover heat in the oven could help heat the house. 
• Having 2 sick little girls means we didn't do much this weekend.  It was relaxing as the girls seem fine as long as they have Tylenol to keep their fevers down.  We had a nice long "sleep over" nap time in the living room.  The girls slept on the floor and I slept on the couch.  We've also been reading a lot and watching a lot of movies this weekend.
• Cleaned the house.  Not money saving but it makes me feel good to have a clean house.
• Packing my lunch for tomorrow: Taco salad- using up left over beans, salsa and taco seasoned sour cream, lettuce and croutons.
• Prepped vegetables for the week.  I have a bad habit of buying lots of fruits and veggies and then never using them because they aren't ready to go when I need them.  This week they will be.
• Did 2 loads of dishes in the dishwasher without the Heat Dry setting. (It takes a lot of dishes to cook this much.)
• Plan on making some strawberry smoothies tonight for the girls with some strawberries that have been in the freezer for a while.  Again, I've been meaning to use these but have been too lazy.  But tonight's the night since I already told the girls I would make them.