It's A Gran Life

08/30/2026

Orange cranberry twist rolls

08/16/2026

Please, Sir. I want S'mores!
Or caramel apple...
Or Elvis...
Or even plain...

08/08/2026

07/26/2026

Everything with cheese and bacon!

07/15/2026

So simple but so tasty!

BBQ cheeseburger wonton stars

12 meatballs, precooked
BBQ sauce
Shredded cheddar
Minced onion
12 wonton wrappers
Season to taste with garlic powder, lawrys, onion powder, salt and pepper

Line a muffin pan with wonton wrappers and lightly push them in the cups. They're not going to be all against the sides of each muffin cup. It's fine.

Preheat 375°

Place cooked meatballs in a bowl and drizzle with BBQ sauce until coated.
Sprinkle on some minced onions to your preference.
Place some shredded cheese in each cup.
Place one meatball in each cup.
Add more cheese.
Drizzle a bit more sauce.

Bake 15 minutes.

Be ready for the family to count how many everyone else has because they wanted more!

07/12/2026

At some point, we're gonna have to talk about it. Might as well be now.
The price of groceries is OUT OF CONTROL!
I know you're feeling it. You should know that we are too.
What are some ways you're cutting your grocery costs?
These are some of our ways:
1. Brothy soup night.
Egg drop soup.
Green onion soup.
Broth base with ramen or noodles.
2. Fasting
We're finding that by fasting one or two nights per week that we're actually helping to reset the metabolism. And we're finding out that we enjoy the meals more after fasting. (THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!)
3. Harvest meals
I know you've read about these here before but they're so important AND delicious. You don't have to have 3 pieces of chicken leftover. Just use the chicken you have as an ingredient instead of an entrée. Fried chicken on Wednesday becomes chicken LoMein or chicken bacon pizza.
4. Get more in tune with the old ways. Make your breads, rolls, buns and tortillas. A loaf of cheap bread is still $1.30 or so at the store and it's about a quarter to $.50 to make at home and it's so much better for you! No preservatives. No junk. Just food.
5. Cut back on the beef. This is where we struggle because we've always been beef eaters. But we're finding that seasoned correctly that ground turkey is an excellent substitute. Sausage is also a good replacement in a meal, but it won't take on the beefy flavors that turkey does.
6. Sugary snacks aren't necessary. Yes they're fun to have, but they're not necessary. But if you just have to have something sweet homemade cookies, cupcakes, home cakes are the best!!

What are some ways you're cutting costs?

06/21/2026

This is meal 6 of our Dollar General grocery challenge

PASTA AGLIO E OLIO

Spaghetti noodles
Garlic
Red pepper flakes
Drizzle of olive oil
1 Lemon

Get that pasta on to boil and when it's just about 2 minutes from being al dente let's start the rest.

In a large skillet over medium heat pour a quarter cup of olive oil and 2 cloves of sliced or diced garlic or even lazy garlic. Once that garlic has started to brown slightly on the edges it's time to get your spices involved.

Sprinkle a dash of red pepper flakes. And stir. Add in about 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. A teaspoon lemon zest would be great IF YOU HAVE IT.

With your tongs or a fork, remove pasta from your pasta water and place into your olive oil mix. Once you've turned all of the pasta over in the oil, add about a half cup of the pasta water. Stir to coat.

If you have parmesan by all means add it in there! I had some parmesan in the fridge!

Not every meal needs meat. I hate to break it to the carnivores out there, but sometimes a budget just doesn't have it for every single day. And if you don't have it on the budget for every single day, find alternative ways to gain protein. Beans, peanut butter, lentils and eggs. Include a couple celery sticks with peanut butter on them, even a tortilla with peanut butter smeared over it and rolled up is an excellent protein boost.

Don't get hung up on what you can't afford this week. Look for ways to try new things that agree with the budget a little better. A couple hard boiled eggs is cheaper than steak, but still contains pretty good protein. 4 extra large eggs has the same protein as 100g of steak (that's about 3.5ounces of steak).