Cookie trays / Friday's Frugal Fun

This week I have been busy putting together some cookie trays. My husband brought a tray into work for his holiday gathering and I made 2 trays - one each for the neighbors on either side of our house. I found this recipe for Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies from "...And a Cookie for Dessert" and figured this fit very well into my cookie baking and would help boost up the variety of my trays.

These are so easy to make and only 5 ingredients, all of which I had in my house. Let me just say that these came out so tasty (of course I had to sample some!) and while they look a lot like the Chocolate Crinkles I made for my cookie exchange (in fact my husband thought that's what they are), I can ensure you they are not. And...well...were a lot easier and quicker to make! Mine didn't stay in a ball shape like Bridget's and rather flattened out a bit like a cookie, but they were still delicious! I might be making another batch of these for Christmas.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
(from And a Cookie for Dessert)

1 (8 ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18 ounce) moist chocolate cake mix
confectioners'/powdered sugar, for dusting


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix.Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.




And on a random side note - a little bit of Friday's Frugal Fun for you! Check out this free sample! (I love Free samples). This one is for Dunkin Donuts Dark Roast!

Friday's Frugal Fun - Part III

Time for more frugality! Sorry for no post last week, I was out of steam!

With the holidays coming up, who couldn't use a few more ways to save money?

Another free sample site I like - Free Stuff Finder. I've gotten some neat stuff on here!

Recently I also discovered Ebates - a site that gives you rebates on your online purchases. I simply shop through their site and you get a percentage back on your purchases. I've already earned a decent amount of money back on some of my purchases for Christmas. They also have a ton of coupon codes for online shopping.

And speaking of coupon codes, Coupon Cabin is my #1 destination to find a coupon code whenever I am buying something online. Check it out!

Friday's Frugal Fun - Part II

It's Friday already? Where has the time gone? That means it's time for part II - check out my first Friday's Frugal Fun post if you are lost!

Anyway, time for another round of money-saving goodness. First up is a site I just discovered this week called Your Coupon Buddy. It lays out some of the best deals based on sales & coupons out there. Since I just found it, I haven't gotten to use it to its potential yet but the concept is great. I love that all the homework is done for me!

Another website I use is InboxDollars. You get a $5 bonus for signing up. They are largely a click-to-earn website - in other words you are often sent emails from them and when you click, you earn a few cents per email. You also earn money back on online purchases (they have a large list on their site of vendors and you can also sign up for free offers that will pay you perhaps anywhere from 25 cents to $1. To check it out, visit the link below



Want more free samples? Another site I use is Free Samples Blog. I find it's not updated as often as it used to be, but when it is the free samples are usually good ones! Also, Walmart's website is another place where you can also find some great freebies!

Friday's Frugal Fun

If you know me, you know I like to save money. I love a good bargain, an awesome sale, or a butt kicking coupon.

I've recently been reading more "frugal living" blogs lately. While I, by no stretch of the imagination, have saving money down to a science like some ladies do (and probably never will) - I at least appreciate what I've read and learned.

I have decided that every Friday (or every other Friday depending on how much time I have) I'm going to share with you either cool blogs I've discovered along the way, any pointers and tips I have myself, money savings websites, or any other information I've picked up along the way in my readings. and just in life Don't worry, this blog will still be 99% about food, you can be assured of that since I could never compete with some of the money-saving blogs out there. I just thought a little deviation, once a week, is sometimes a nice breath of fresh air!

Like free samples? Then you'll love Mommy Saves Big. This is one I've been using for awhile because I really, really love free samples. I can be picky about which ones I sign up for though so some days with this site can be hit or miss - for me at least. But when it's a hit it's usually a pretty big hit! This blog is a great central location for capturing all that is available about there whether it's for free samples of coffee, shampoo, or food products. Best thing I've discovered about free samples is that generally they almost always come with a money saving coupon (typically a better than one you'd find in your weekly Sunday paper too!).

Speaking of coupons, I am an avid user of Coupons.com. This website has a lot of similar coupons to what you will find in your Sunday circular, however, I find sometimes the money-off deals are off a lesser quantity of items sometimes, etc. Since it's only my husband and I at home, I really hate some of those coupons that are $1 off of 5 items, or something crazy like that.

Last is a site I've been a member of for awhile called MySurvey. MySurvey sends you emails when you may qualify for a survey. I usually get 2 -3 survey offers per week in my inbox, sometimes less, occassionally more. The qualifying part of the survey usually never takes more than 10 minutes most of the time less than that. If you qualify, well, the time to take the survey can vary but with that also comes a variation in how much each survey is worth - usually between 200 - 750 points if you qualify for a survey (100 points = $1). You can redeem your points, for cash or prizes, once you reach 1,000 points (which is equivalent to $10). You can click on the banner below for more information and to sign up.