Happy Memorial Day everyone I hope you are all have a bless time with your families this year.

The $6 Gourmet Valentine’s Dinner for Two

For under $6, you can make a special Valentine’s Day dinner for two. Tawra and her mom over at Living on a Dime have put together this Valentine menu that is sure to please that special someone!

You can add a little romantic ambiance with a nice place setting. Fancy napkins, tapered candles, china place settings and a lace tablecloth add a nice touch. It is relatively easy to find one or two nice settings of china for 50 cents each at thrift stores or garage sales.

If you happened to hit the after Christmas sales, you may have found that white taper candles usually get marked down 75% after the holidays. You can also purchase red napkins, lace tablecloths, and red ribbon after Christmas for .50 - $1.00. Try it after next Christmas. You can also purchase things on sale 50% after Valentine's Day and keep them for next year. ... Of course if you’re with the one you love, who needs food for Valentine’s Day!

For The Menu: ( $5.69 for 2 people)
French Onion Soup
Tomato Basil Salad
Maple-Glazed Chicken
Glazed Carrots
Lemon Potatoes
Red Velvet Cake
Water with lemon slices
Tea or coffee with desert

French Onion Soup ( $1.15)
2 onions, thinly sliced (yellow onions work best) (.25)
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine (.10)
2 cups beef stock (made with bullion cubes or beef bones) (.10)
1 bay leaf
2 slices day-old French bread (.20)
1/2 cup mozzarella or Swiss cheese, grated (.50)

Melt butter in a skillet. Saute onions until slightly brown. Add onions to beef broth in saucepan. Simmer slowly 10 minutes or simmer overnight in the crock pot on low. Pour into bowls. Place bread on top of each bowl of soup, and sprinkle the cheese on top. Then set under broiler and cook until cheese is melted and brown.

Tomato Basil Salad ($1.44)
4 large peeled tomatoes (.79)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1 Tbsp. wine vinegar (.10)
2 Tbsp. olive oil (.05)
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped into small pieces (.50)

Dice tomatoes and combine with salt, pepper, vinegar, oil and basil. Serve. You may also add cubes of mozzarella cheese.

Maple-Glazed Chicken ($1.43)
1/4 cup maple syrup (.05)
4 tsp. lemon juice (.05)
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine (.05)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
4 pieces chicken ($1.28 purchased on sale at $1.34/.lb)

Preheat oven to 450º. Mix maple syrup, lemon juice and butter together in a small saucepan. Simmer 5 minutes. Spray a baking dish and place chicken in it. Add salt and pepper to the chicken. Bake 10 minutes. Remove chicken from oven and pour on glaze. Bake 15 minutes more or until juices run clear.

Glazed Carrots (.37)
1/2 lb. fresh carrots or baby carrots (.12)
1/2 stick margarine (.05)
6 Tbsp. brown sugar (.10)
1 tsp. cinnamon (.05)
1 tsp. ginger (optional) (.05)

Clean carrots and cut into bite-size pieces. Steam 10 minutes in a small amount of boiling water (just until tender). Melt margarine in a large skillet over low heat. Add brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Cook 1-2 minutes. Add hot carrots, stirring well to coat. Remove when shiny and well glazed.

Lemon Potatoes (.75)
6 new potatoes or 2 medium potatoes, cut in halves or quarters (.50)
2 Tbsp. margarine (.05)
1/2 tsp. lemon peel, grated
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice (.05)
1 tsp. chives, chopped (.10)
1/4 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
dash of nutmeg (.05 for all spices)

Clean and steam potatoes 20 minutes (until tender). Heat remaining ingredients just to boiling. Pour lemon butter over potatoes and serve.

Red Velvet Cake (.50 for 2 servings)*
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla
1-2 oz. red food coloring
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk

Cream together butter, eggs and sugar in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients except the flour and buttermilk. Mix well. Add flour and buttermilk alternately. Beat until all the lumps are out. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Frost with Red Velvet Frosting.

Red Velvet Frosting
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Cook milk and flour until thick, stirring constantly. Cool thoroughly. Beat milk and flour for one minute until fluffy. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add to milk and flour and add vanilla. Mix well. Frosts one Red Velvet Cake.

*Or purchase a box mix on sale .79 and canned frosting on sale .69. plus .50 for eggs, etc. to make the cake $1.48

Happy New Years all you savvy saving people. I want to thank you all for being readers of Budget Savvy Mommas. See you all next year!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday.

Well tomorrow is Chirtmas and I am not going to post about how to save money because I have spent enough already. As my day is winding down in the office I am already packing up my stuff to leave for the day. I hope everyone has a great time with their families and love ones. Please dont drink and drive, or dont drive if you have to drink. You all know what I mean. Be safe and I will talk you after christmas.

Well this weekend I was at a school functions for my children when I noticed they was selling home made Christmas cards to make money for the education department. At first I was like who wants a hand made card make by a lot of 4 and 5 year old but when I seen them I though it was  a great Ideal. So after investigating the ideal I am posting what the cost is to do this with your family. For me I decided to do it because I wanted it to be personal because most of my cards goes to family and close friends.

I got a lot supplies at the everything dollar store in town and paid a lot less that what is posted below but i wanted to give an ideal of what it would cost if you order the supplies. If there is something that you like please click on the pictures and you will be directed to the company.

First if your family is small like mine you can buy these cute blank cards and envelopes.

Cost: Cards-25 for $6.25 Breakdown $.46 per card.

         Envelops 25 for $4.00 Breakdown $.16 per card.

Find a stamp that says something cute and to the point.

Cost: Stamp $7.75- Inside note; $7.00- Angel

         Ink: $8.00

 To see more stamps and cards check out http://www.impressrubberstamps.com/

Tomorrow I will be posting my children's creations that we have been working on. Please try this out and and it will be a blast.

Well this is a one of the first holidays of the year where you can rejoice with family and reflect on all the great times of the year. For some tomorrow will be a hectic time with tons of family and food. For my family it will be very normal for the most part, my husband is going to work, the kids are with the grandparents and I will be at home enjoying the peace of a quite house.

So how many are you going to be shopping on Friday? Have you searched for deals so can get the most for your money? Some great tips to live by for this season are to leave the credit cards behind and use cash, because one day can cause a whole year of bills. I know you are calling me crazy but we want 2009 to be a productive year for us all.

Starting December 1^st we will start forming our 2009 New Years Resolutions. You know all the stuff you plan to do and forget, but this year it will be different because we will all work accomplish them. I already know my first thing is to complete my coupon folder because I am still not fully organized at that.

So what is it that you need to work on this year?

Please comment and let us know what your plans are.