This is a few days late in posting, but I wanted to share anyway.  My son needed a Valentine card box for a birthday party with his picture on it.  I gave my husband an empty tissue box and asked him if he could come up with something.  He created this great rocket ship Valentine Card Box.  Great job Honey!  We didn't spend a cent - we recycled materials we already had and our son had a cute Valentine card box.  In fact, I think it's so cute, I couldn't throw it away.  I stored it away for later.  If I ever decide to pitch the box, I will keep the picture rocket ship for scrap-booking.  
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Linking up at Create with Joy, Dream Create Inspire

¾ cup butter, softened 
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
½ tsp. almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
red and green gel food coloring
1/3 cup raisins
1 tsp. sesame seeds



1.     In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Beat in egg and extract.  Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.  (I used my electric mixer to make dough.)  Set aside 1 cup of dough.  

2.     Tint remaining dough red;  shape into a 3 ½ in. log.  Wrap in plastic wrap.  Tint 1/3 cup of the reserved dough green; wrap in plastic wrap.  Wrap remaining plain dough.  Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. 

3.     On a lightly floured surface, roll plain dough into an 8 ½ in. X 3 ½ in. Rectangle.  Place red dough log on the end of a short side of the rectangle; roll up.  Roll green dough into a 10 in. X 3 ½ in. rectangle.  (Don’t worry about exact measurements, just roll until it looks like it will cover the dough log.)  Place red and white log on the end of a short side on green dough; roll up.  Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.  

4.     Unwrap and cut into 3/16-in. slices (just less than ¼ in.).  Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Cut raisins into small pieces.  Lightly press raisin bits and sesame seeds into red dough to resemble watermelon seeds.  (I omitted the sesame seeds.)

5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9 -11 minutes or until firm.  Immediately cut cookies in half.  Remove to wire racks to cool.  Yield 3 doz.  (I double the recipe)


This recipe came from a Taste of Home Summer Grilling cookbook - one of my favorites!  They have a wonderful delicate almond flavor.  I left the sesame seeds out when I made these so they are an optional ingredient.

I am entering this recipe in the My Wooden Spoon Food Challenge for February.  http://mywoodenspoon.com/february-food-challenge/

Yesterday morning I needed to go to the grocery store.  I usually do most of my shopping at Meijer, but I dropped my son off at pre-school and decided to go to Aldi which is not too far from his school.  I knew I could not buy everything on my list there, but there is a Super Walmart across the street. 

I searched the car for a quarter when I got there because you have to rent your shopping cart (this helps Aldi offer lower priced goods).  I finally found one and went to get my cart and a kind woman gave me her cart and told me to keep my quarter.  

I always shop sales and use coupons for items I need, but I could not believe some of the good deals I found at Aldi.  I have shopped Aldi before but it has not been my regular store.  I will be making more trips to Aldi on a regular basis.  

Here are some of the good deals I found at Aldi:

3 1/2 pound bag of Honeycrisp Apples $3.99
10 pound bag of Russett Potatoes $1.49
Avocados $0.99 I have bought them for $0.49 at Aldi before 
Celery $0.59 (I pay $1.89 at Meijer for celery)
Grape tomatoes $1.69
Bread $0.79
Canned Cut Sweet Potatoes (large can) $0.69
Canned butter beans $0.69 (these are so good - we have been eating them for years)
Mandarin oranges $0.49 a can
Canned Spinach $0.55
Vienna Sausage $0.37 a can
Cranberry Sauce $0.39 a can
Canned Mushrooms $0.50
Turkey Half Ham $1.89 a pound
15 oz. Bedtime Baby Wash $1.29 (It smells just like my Johnson's bedtime baby wash that I paid over $3 for.)
Iceburg Lettuce $0.89
Baking Soda $0.45
String Cheese $2.69
Sliced Swiss Cheese $1.99
Lip Balm 3-pack $1.49
8 oz. Fresh Mozzarella $2.49 (this is really good - we eat it with cut up tomatoes in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper - delicious!)
Vegetable juice (like V-8) large bottle $1.99
Bacon 1 pound $2.69
Dried Apricots $1.49
Not from Concentrate Orange Juice (similar to Simply Orange) $2.39
Extra lean ground beef $2.99 a pound

I did not have my own shopping bags with me so I bought a few at $0.06 each.  You will need to bring your own bags to avoid paying for them (another way they keep costs down).  I did have to wait in line for a long time since we have a snow storm and everyone was out shopping yesterday morning, but it was worth the savings.