Couponing | The Whole bag of Chips

Archive | Couponing RSS feed for this section

New after school snack recipe: Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

I’m a couponer now, I told you last week. In my new life as a couponer, I have discovered something in the coupon fliers: Recipes! Last week I found one that looked like it would be a great after school snack that all my of kids and I would like. It only had two ingredients (even better!) and both were things I almost always have on hand. I decided to try it this past week and my kids inhaled it.

The thing I like about dips with veggies and/or fruit is that I find that my kids will consume much more fruit or veggies with a dip than they would if they came home and I directed them to the fridge for a piece of fruit. So, I like to find new and different dips for them and I love to surprise them with something new when they come home. They show up ravenous, so I like to have their snack on the table when they get in, before anyone has a low-blood sugar meltdown. Sometimes I’ve only just gotten in myself, so my after school snacks need to be quick and easy, just like all my other recipes and meals.

So, here’s our newest addition to the recipe files. I’ve already made it twice in one week, it was so good. Please note that if you have a peanut allergy in your house, this would not be a good one for your family, my apologies.

You only need two ingredients for this recipe! Love it!

PEANUT BUTTER YOGURT DIP

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt

Dipping suggestions: bananas, apples, graham crackers

Mix the yogurt and peanut butter together until completely mixed. Try to refrain from licking the spoon over and over before the kids come home. 🙂

When I first made this I only had single-serve yogurt cups, 4oz each but they worked out great, I just used two. When I made a stop at the store later on in the week I picked up a bigger container and more peanut butter. The second time I made it, it was a weekend, and Alex mixed the whole thing herself, so even kids can make this dip pretty easily.

My kids love to come home to a new after school snack.

That’s it! That’s all there is to it. The first batch I made had a little left over, the second time I made it, the entire thing went. Give it a try and see what you think!

Tags: after school snack, Aldi's, apples, cooking with kids, eating on a budget, fruit dip, Jennifer L. Cowart, kids, motherhood, peanut butter, peanut butter yogurt dip, recipes, shopping on a budget

Comments 2 Comments
Categories After School Snacks, Cooking with Kids, Couponing, Eating on a budget, Jennifer L. Cowart, Kids, Motherhood, Parenthood, Recipes, Shopping on a budget

To Coupon or Not To Coupon? That was the question.

30 Jan

I will not be an Extreme Couponer, I will not be an Extreme Couponer, I will not be an Extreme Couponer, I will not be....

I admit, I am a little obsessive. Definitely a Type A personality. When I want to do something I do it and I give it 110%, no matter what it is, which is good…and bad….because how many things can one person give 110% to without losing their minds?

Sometimes Don says, “Can’t you ever just do something 75%? Just once?”

Um…No.

When I started this blog, I wasn’t going to blog EVERY day, I mean, that’s a lot. Just on occasion, when the mood strikes me.

You see my problem.

Therefore, when all of this Extreme Couponing started popping up on TV, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I was so tempted.

“I could do that,” I’d think to myself.

“I would be so GOOD at that!” I’d think.

But then, I’d remind myself: I shop at two stores for all my groceries that don’t take coupons because their pricing is already so low, namely Aldi’s and Price Rite. And, I don’t want to change that and I don’t want to go all over town buying one thing here or there just because it’s free.

Yet, I also shop at Walmart and CVS (I’m addicted to Extra Bucks) where I *could* use coupons and where I was probably missing such great deals because I don’t coupon.

I was so torn.

It kept me up at night.

Finally though… it happened. I got an email from my friend Karen. “You should really coupon…” Since she’s the one who introduced me to Don, I trust her entirely, I mean, she was so right about the husband thing…

So I decided to venture into it just a little bit. I promised myself I would NOT be an Extreme Couponer, that I would NOT spend entire days couponing or hours and hours in a store, but that I would just try to be better about having coupons for the things I do buy at Walmart, CVS and omg…I forgot about Target, love it there, and try to save even more money than I already do by shopping where I do.

The first time I went to CVS with coupons AND Extra Bucks, I was so nervous! I wanted to make sure I had the best deals to spend my Extra Bucks on so that I’d make the most of them. I was mad when I got home because I realized that they didn’t count one of my dollar off coupons, so I promised myself that next time I’d do a better job like those ladies on the TV show, of watching what goes in and what comes off the bottom line BEFORE I get home. My mom was always so good at that, still is. My attention to mathematical details…not so good.

Despite the fact that I missed getting one of my dollars off, I think I did pretty well! I came home feeling pretty proud of myself!

So, there it is. I’m officialy couponing. A little. And I have to tell you, literally EVERY time I get a tissue from one of my free boxes of Kleenex brand tissues (which would normally be a splurge in our house,) I think to myself, “This tissue was free.”

Every. Single. Time.

I’m still trying to keep to my promise of not being extreme, and I can definitely tell why people who are extreme need dedicated storage spaces for their haul, because as silly as it seems, my first thought when I got home was, “okay so where do I store four deoderants,” since I usually only buy one as I need it. But, I found a place. However, those are small items, and those extreme couponers…they buy lots of stuff and lots of bigger items.

I won’t be that way.

Right?

I won’t….