Tag Archives: shopping on a budget

It was like a crepe buffet!

28 Mar

Having apple cinnamon crepes for breakfast is like having apple pie for breakfast.

Is there such a thing as a crepe buffet? If not, then I think we invented one. If so, then I think we had one at our house too.

Two Sundays ago, Don asked me the fateful question: What do you want for breakfast today?

Now had he asked me, “What are we having for breakfast today,” maybe my answer would have been different, like “Scrambled Eggs” or “French Toast” or whatever we usually have for a typical breakfast on the weekends.

What I wanted, what I was craving, was Nutella Banana Crepes.

But on that day he asked me what I *wanted* for breakfast. Well what I wanted was crepes with bananas and Nutella in them. Yup, ever since National Nutella Week, when I saw them somewhere on some yummy food blog out there, I have been craving that very item. So when he asked, that was my answer.

“I want crepes with bananas and Nutella in them.”

His answer: “WHAT????”

We went back and forth for a bit, as in, “I’m not making that,” and “Fine, I’ll make it,” to “No, fine, I’ll make it.”

The kids were having fun garnishing their plates with whatever we had on hand that day.

It was settled. We were having crepes for breakfast. I was SO excited. The kids were excited too, when they heard.

Don found a recipe on Allrecipes.com for Basic Crepes that he followed to a “t” with one exception, which I’ll note later on when I post the recipe.

I cut up some apples to saute, as we decided to make a whole bunch of different kinds of crepes: the banana Nutella as requested, some apple cinnamon, some scrambled egg with ham, and some with just egg and cheese.

It was a regular ole’ crepe buffet at our house that morning!

There’s a commercial on TV now, I don’t even know what it’s for, come to think of it, but it has couples being asked “what’s the most romantic thing he’s done for you lately?” It’s a very funny commercial, and I thought of it that morning as Don handed me a crepe on a plate, just for me: a chocolate peanut butter crepe. There was just one, and I could’ve easily polished it off myself, but I shared.

Yes, I shared my peanut butter and chocolate chip crepe with my kids!

I know, that’s big for me, sharing my food.

I cut off some pieces for each of the girls and I ate what was left.

It.Was.Delicious.

And so, that is the story of how we very possibly invented, or not, a crepes buffet at our house that day. It was so successful that our kids now want to have that for breakfast EVERY Sunday.

Ooops.

Basic Crepes Recipe from AllRecipes.com

It was crazy-busy in Don's Kitchen that morning as he prepared all kinds of crepe varieties for us!

INGREDIENTS

(we doubled this recipe)

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth. *This is where we changed the recipe. Mix all the wet ingredients together first and all the dry ingredients together and then combine them and whisk. The very first comment alludes to the same fact.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
  3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

    A crepe buffet...who would've thought?

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New recipe, new product review

27 Mar

The Weelicious oatmeal recipe for the crock pot is one of our favorites.

Back in January I posted the recipe for the Weelicious Overnight Crock Pot Oatmeal and said how much my family enjoys it. One of my gripes about it though, is that as delicious as it is, it makes a thick “skin” on the inside of the crock pot, which takes forever to clean. Normally I have to soak and scrub, soak and scrub.

I found the idea of the slow cooker liners intriguing.

Therefore, I was intrigued when I saw a coupon for Reynold’s Slow Cooker Liners back in early March. I decided that since I had the coupon and since I use my crock pot kind of a lot, they’d be worth trying out and I could decide at that point if they were worth buying again. The cost at Shaw’s was $3.99 for four liners and I had $1.00 off.

Around the same time, I discovered a new Overnight Slow Cooker Apple-Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal on Pinterest, which was originally from Monica at The Yummy Life blog. I decided to try the recipe and the liners at the same time.

The recipe was indeed “yummy” as the title of her blog implies! It was very similar to the Weelicious one but it had brown sugar and butter that were extras. I always add apples to my Weelicious recipe, but they were in this new one too. I also noticed she had two other overnight oatmeal recipes on there. I might check them out in the future too.

As for the liner, it was okay. I opened the box and found the instructions, which say:

1) Open the slow cooker liner and place it inside the slow cooker bowl. Fit the liner snugly against the bottom and sides of the bowl; pull top of liner over rim of bowl.

2) place ingredients in lined slow cooker first, then turn on slow cooker. Place lid on slow cooker. Cook according to recipe.

3) Carefully remove lid to allow steam to escape. Serve meal directly from lined slow cooker.

4) Cool slow cooker completely; remove liner and toss.

The illustrations show a sparkling clean slow cooker at the end.

I followed the directions and had no problems using the liner. It fit inside my slow cooker easily and the cover went on without a problem.

All ingredients ready to go.

In the morning we ate our oatmeal as usual and I followed the directions, serving it right out of the container. I was worried that the plastic might tear when I was scraping the spoon against the sides to serve it, but it didn’t rip.

The "after" photo, after the liner had been removed. Not as clean as I'd expected but not as bad as without.

I let the crock pot cool completely before pulling out the liner. I was surprised to find that the crock pot wasn’t as clean as I’d expected it to be, based on the illustrations in the directions from the box. However, it also wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it would be without the liner and it was much easier to clean.

Overall, the jury is still out as to whether or not I’d buy these again. I think it will depend on how the liners do with our other recipes. I do think the cleanup was much easier though, so we’ll see how it does with something like “gravy” or BBQ Beef. Those can be super-messy and that might be the true test for me.

Here is Monica’s recipe for the oatmeal. I also like that she included the Weight Watcher’s Points at the bottom.

The magic of the crock pot: it cooks while you sleep. I love coming out in the morning and having breakfast already done, especially on a school day.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2-1/2 to 3 cups chopped)
  • 1-1/2 cups fat-free milk (I had 1%)
  • 1-1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into 5-6 pieces (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed (I don’t have flax seed so I skipped this one.)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Optional garnishes: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup, additional milk or butter

DIRECTIONS

Coat inside of 3-1/2 quart (or larger) slow cooker with cooking spray (I used the liner instead). Add all ingredients (except optional toppings) to slow cooker. Stir, cover, and cook on low for 7 hours. Spoon oatmeal into bowls; add optional toppings, if desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Freezes well.

To reheat single servings: Put 1-cup cooked oatmeal in microwave proof bowl. Add 1/3 cup fat-free milk. Microwave on high for 1 minute; stir. Continue cooking for another minute, or until hot.

Recipe can be doubled in 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Increase cooking time 1 hour. I doubled mine and cooked it from 10 pm to 8 am.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 4 pts per 3/4 cup serving

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A new after school dip from Budget Gourmet Mom

22 Mar

Chocolate chip cookie dough dip...how could I resist trying this one?

I follow several different blogs and one of the ones I really love is the Budget Gourmet Mom blog. I actually wait all day long to see what is going to pop up in my inbox each afternoon. She and I seem to have the same taste, the same love of chocolate and the same frugal lifestyle when it comes to cooking.

Last week when Krista posted a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip, I knew I just had to try it out.  Now Krista is not just a great cook, but she takes beautiful photos of her food. You have to go over and check them out. Everything always looks so pretty, right down to the wood on her table. It’s very different from when I take my photos, on top of the stove, the counter, or wherever I can find a space. She also has a way of writing while she shows her photos. I just love to read her blog, it’s thoroughly enjoyable.  And, Krista has a ton of kids, I think four of them, so I can’t say she has nothing better to do, because she’s super busy too.

I tried this out last week, and my kids enjoyed it, but they still stand by the peanut butter yogurt dip as their favorite.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 tblsp cream cheese, softened
  • 1 heaping tblsp light brown sugar
  • 6 oz lowfat vanilla yogurt
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a medium bowl use a spoon to work the brown sugar into the cream cheese. Stir until combined.
  2. Add the yogurt and stir until creamy. You may want to use a mixer to fluff it a bit but it’s not necessary.
  3. Fold in the chocolate chips and serve with graham crackers, fruit, or pretzels.

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Grandma Grello’s Mashed Potato Bake

21 Mar

My memories of our summer days at the beach are very special to me.

As a kid, I spent at least half of each of my entire summers with Grandma and Grandpa Grello down by the beach near their house. We often slept there for a couple of weeks at a time while my parents worked. I have great memories of all the times we spent with them, the things we got to do, and of course, all the great things we got to eat while at their house. They made the best french toast, the best omelettes, the best pizza, the best everything.

As an adult with my own kids, I have made sure to take advantage of the fact that until recently we still had both of them in our lives and even now, we have her in our life still. I know how lucky we are, how lucky my kids are, and I do my very best to cherish this time with her, hoping to make similar memories for my kids to cherish too.

I tell you this not because I’m going off on a tangent, but because today’s recipe is another one of her recipes and it’s one that she made for our family a couple of summers ago after a day at the beach. Very often we would to take our kids to the beach, spend a good part of the day there, and then come back to her house to shower and change up for dinner.

In the time we’d spend at the beach, and entire dinner would be prepared for us, including appetizers, which was usually their famous homemade pizza and spinach pies.  Oftentimes there was a homemade blueberry pie sitting on the counter cooling as well, and ice cream in the freezer to go with it. (Hungry yet?) We’d eat our dinner, and then sit out on their deck for hours, having coffee and dessert out there while the kids played in the yard while the sun set, chasing rabbits (there were always so many rabbits in their yard, it seemed.) It was idyllic, to say the least.

I think of Grandma Grello and our days at the beach near her house, every time I make this.

One particular visit, she served us a whole roasted chicken with this amazing Mashed Potato Bake on the side. It wasn’t anything complex, but it was so delicious I couldn’t believe we’d never had it before. Now, every time we make it ourselves, I think of her and those times we spent at their house.

As you know, she’s famous for her homemade French Meat Pies, and since she gives us one for our freezer every year, I usually will make this Mashed Potato Bake as the side dish to go with it. This year Don made the mashed potato bake to go with the meat pie and it was as delicious as ever.

I don’t have a specific recipe for you, but it’s really super easy:

1) You make a basic recipe of mashed potatoes using as many potoates as you normally would, but when you are mashing them, add in about a half block of shredded cheddar cheese (more for a big batch, less for a smaller batch.)

2) Spread the mashed potatoes into a casserole dish and top with more cheddar cheese, bread crumbs and bacon bits.

3) Bake until crispy and brown around the edges.

Super easy, super delicious and for me, full of happy memories.

Gram Grello's Mashed Potato Bake with her French Meat Pie: the perfect combination of tastes and memories! Enjoy!

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A new pork chop recipe to try

20 Mar

This recipe was super-easy, and delicious too!

As you know, pork chops aren’t our favorite “other white meat” here. I love them though, and I get tired of chicken over and over again, and pork is very affordable, so I’m always trying out new recipes. Here’s one I read on a food page I’m part of on Facebook, and from the link I can see the person who posted it found it on Food.com. I liked it and it was easy.

If you try it, let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 -4 pork chops , 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick
  • ¼ cup chicken broth
  • 1⁄8; cup honey
  • 1⁄8; cup soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • ¼ teaspoon ginger
  • 1⁄8; teaspoon garlic salt

    I love it when you can mix everything in one measuring cup. Less dishes to do later.

    DIRECTIONS

  1. Brown pork chops on both sides.
  2. Place in greased casserole dish.
  3. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops.
  4. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for one hour.

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A new-to-me recipe: Brown Sugar Lemon Chicken

15 Mar

I love when people send me recipes to try out. This one from Shawn was delicious!

Everyone knows I’m always on the lookout for great recipes to try out and everyone pretty much knows what my tastes are (dessert for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert) so I am often sent new recipes to try out because someone just knows I’ll love them. Today’s recipe is one such recipe. It’s a recipe that has two words  in the title alone, which ensure that I’ll love it:

Brown Sugar.

That equals dessert for dinner in my book.

Today’s recipe was sent to me as a “must try” from my friend Shawn. She’d tried it and knew for sure I’d love it, and she was so right. It seems that the recipe came from a blog, Cooking with Cristine and even she got it from somewhere else as well. Either way, it was delicious. Give it a try, let me know what you think and be sure to check out her blog as well!

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Juice of one large lemon
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350.
Using a meat mallet pound the chicken breasts thin. Set aside.
Combine the flour, paprika and salt in a large shallow bowl and stir to combine. Dip the chicken breasts into the flour mixture to evenly coat.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken breasts, cooking two minutes per side. You are just browning the outsides, not cooking completely through. Remove from pan and set aside.
Pour the lemon juice into the pan and stir to de-glaze the pan. Put chicken breast in a casserole dish and pour lemon juice mixture on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar and lemon zest. Bake for 30 minutes or until temperature reaches 165°F.

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Breakfast or Snack: Apple Oat Muffins

14 Mar

Twice in one week for a Karen's Cookbook recipe.

Friday afternoons and evenings tend to be chock full of after school activities for us, between dance classes and Daisy meetings. Therefore, I often try to choose that day if possible, to make a pretty solid after school snack for the kids, one that will last them until 7:45 when we usually get to eat dinner on Friday nights. Last week when I pulled out Karen’s Cookbook for the Taco Bake recipe, I flipped through it and saw her Apple Oat Muffins recipe and knew that’d be a perfect-and almost healthy-snack for that Friday afternoon. I even, gasp….threw in raisins instead of adding in chocolate chips the way I normally would. They were delicious, even though Alex picked out all the raisins, wondering what on earth those foreign objects were, since they neither looked nor tasted like a chocolate chip. The recipe is simple and I know you’ll love it!

You will love these super-moist muffins!

APPLE OAT MUFFINS
INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 cup shortening (I used 1/4 cup butter after looking up a substitution for shortening on the internet.)

1 cup quick oats

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

2-4 apples peeled and sliced

Cinnamon sugar for the tops (I have a shaker of this mix, so I sprinkled that on top.)

(raisins or craisins or chocolate chips are all good add-ins if you’re interested)

DIRECTIONS

Mix flour, baking powder and cut in shortening til coarse crumbs form.

Stir in oats.

Combine eggs, milk, and brown sugar, beat well.

Add dry ingredients and apples.

Spoon into baking cups and top with cinnamon & sugar

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

The kids can always tell when they get home, if I've baked them a treat, and on this particular day, my house had a delicious smell. They knew right away that something good was in store for them!

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Couponing Update: a one paycheck snapshot

12 Mar

After my last couponing update, my one month check-in at the end of February, I had so many emails. Everyone was intrigued by the post and everyone had questions about specifically HOW to do it, exactly what I did. I’d shown the stuff I had gotten for free all month long, but everyone wanted to know *exactly* how I got those things free. So, I decided to keep very detailed notes during the next two week pay period, detailing where I went, what deals I was going for, what I got, how much I paid and how much I saved.

Well, two weeks is up. Tomorrow is pay day and it’ll be time to start all over again. So, here is the running record, with photos, of what I got, when, where, why and how. Hopefully it helps to answer any questions you had, but if not, be sure to email me and I’ll answer them if I can. Please remember, I’m new at this, so I’m not by any means an expert, but I am sharing what I know. Please also remember I only utilize certain stores, so although there might be other deals other places, I’m trying to keep to places I normally go to, places I can go to in between my travels as a “roving reporter” and a mom.

Be sure to read to the end (or skip to the end if you must) to see our final numbers; what we spent, what we saved, what we got for free. It’s amazing to me.

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Payday: February 28
We get paid…time to shop!

FEBRUARY 28:

Regularly scheduled two-week “big shopping” at Aldi’s $120.40  (This is approximately $100 less than average prior to couponing and stockpiling. Two weeks ago when I did my ” big shopping” at Price Rite it was $193, still under with hardly any errands in between to get anything extra, but now this was way under, this time.)

Walmart Run (no coupons) $42.87 (10 items I absolutely had to get, no coupons and hadn’t had any for them in the past month. Time to just cave in and buy them. Even still, this is approximately $60 less than average prior to couponing and stockpiling. And, just as an aside, one of the things I bought, a giant tub of laundry detergent, ended up being something I’d get for free during the following two weeks, but at the time I didn’t know that and we were out.)

FEBRUARY 29: Last day to use February expiring coupons, first day shopping the new week’s sales and deals.

CVS February 29 Transaction #1

CVS
Store Extra Bucks specials

 Cover Girl Spend $10 get $3 in Extra Bucks, Maybelline Spend $10 get $3 in Extra Bucks, Colgate Toothpaste Sale $2.74 plus get $1 in Extra Bucks at the register

Store coupon emailed to me that day: 20% off entire purchase

Expiring Coupons
Cover Girl $2.50 off two items, Maybelline $2.00 off lipstick item, Colgate $1.00 off toothpaste

Gillette Buy one deoderant get one free body wash, Gillette $1 off deoderant

Gillette $1 off body wash

Purchased

Transaction #1:

Two Cover Girl Items (These particular items are items I regularly use and run out of, not things I was just buying to get the Extra Bucks or to use the coupons.)  $7.79 and $8.29, One Colgate toothpaste $2.74, Two Maybelline Items (This lipstick I bought two of, is “my” color so I use it and run out of it and I was currently out of it.) $8.99 each, One Cranston Herald Newspaper $.50, Gillette Body Wash $4.99, Gillette Two Pack Deoderant $8.99, and a specific shampoo and conditioner needed, for $5.99 each and had no coupons for.

Used all the coupons listed above.

TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS, SALES, DISCOUNTS: $67.65

TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $50.56

TOTAL ATER 20% DISCOUNT: $41.86 (TOTAL SAVINGS: $25.79)

EXTRA BUCKS EARNED FOR FUTURE PURCHASES: $7.00

(NOTE: You can get a price adjustment if you find a coupon you didn’t use. I later went back and got $1.00 off one of the $5.99 items. That decreases my total above and increases my savings above by $1.)

Transaction #2

One Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail product for my daughter who was with me, $9.99

Used Expiring coupon $1 off one SH Nail product (the specific one she was buying)

Used $7.00 CVS Extra Bucks (normally I’d use the Extra Bucks on things we needed, but I’d allowed her to use them instead. I wanted her to see the value in waiting to spend until she had a coupon and EB. She only owed me $2.69 instead of $10.)

TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS: $10.69

TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $2.69 (TOTAL SAVINGS: $8.00) **FYI: when I put my final numbers at the bottom, I do not include her purchase as it’s her money being used, not ours.

(NOTE: The Salon Effects nail product didn’t work at all, so I emailed Sally Hansen (Coty) right away and will be getting the entire $10 back in the mail–essentially making a $7.00 profit, although not on purpose, obviously. But, that $10 purchase added to my running tally of Beauty Club purchases for which you earn $5 Extra Bucks back every time you “spend” $50.)

Target February 29

Later that same day…
TARGET
Target Store Specials:
Quaker Granola Bars $2 per box (These usually are $2.50 or more, even at Price Rite.) Hunts canned tomatoes $.84 per can

Expiring Coupons:
Yo Crunch Yogurts $.29 off (I had eight coupons)

Yoplait Yogurts $.50 off ten

Any gallon of white milk FREE with any three breakfast products (granola bars, yogurt count as breakfast products) *Milk had to be a name brand. Target brand didn’t count.

Hunts Tomatoes $1.00 off four cans (I had two coupons.) Quaker Granola Bars $1.00 off two boxes

Transaction:
Nine Yo Crunch Yogurts (I know I only had 8 coupons but I needed nine yogurts, three for each kid.) Ten Yoplait Yogurts, One gallon Garelick Farms Milk @ $3.84 per gallon, Two boxes Quaker Granola Bars, Eight Cans of Hunts Tomatoes

Used above coupons

TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS: $26.69

TOATAL AFTER COUPONS: $17.88

TOTAL AFTER RED CARD DEBIT CARD 5% back: $16.99 (TOTAL SAVINGS: $9.70)

My free cereal from Shaw's. But, they wouldn't take my free milk coupon, so I left the milk and went home. I'll never go back to Shaw's.

March 2: On the way to pick up the kids at school I decided to make good on a raincheck I’d gotten a couple of weeks back.

SHAW’S

*Normally I don’t shop at Shaws because it’s so expensive, but I broke my own rule a few weeks back when I realized they had Cheerios for $1.49 and I had three coupons for $.75 off each box. I had to get a rain check for the cereal because they were out. In the meantime I got the free gallon of milk coupon when you buy 3 breakfast items, so I went back to use them together. They also had an item there that I couldn’t get at Aldi’s or Price Rite and I had a coupon for it.

However, when I went, they refused to accept the milk coupon. I will never shop at Shaw’s again.

 

Transaction:

Three boxes Dulce De Leche Cheerios $2.50 each before raincheck : $7.50, One box Slow Cooker Liners $3.99

TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS: $11.49

TOTAL AFTER CEREAL RAINCHECK, CEREAL COUPONS AND LINER COUPON: $3.21

(TOTAL SAVINGS $8.28)

Surprise savings! All I paid for in this photo was the nail polish remover, which was an item we were out of at home.

March 3: CVS surprise trip, surprise savings

I mentioned on my last CVS trip that I needed to bring in a coupon to CVS to have them take it off my receipt because I didn’t have it with me when I went last time. It was for $1. I was going to be in and out, get my dollar and go. As I was getting my $1 back, Caroline went and scanned my card in the machine and out popped $5 in Extra Bucks. With them we bought 2 laundry detergents on sale for $1.99 (happened to be the brand we usually buy, Xtra) and one shampoo and paid nothing. As we were walking out, I saw nail polish remover (which was on my shopping list for next week) with a coupon on it: buy a 2pack of CVS brand nail polish remover ($4.99 for the pack) and get $2 Extra Bucks at the register. So we went back in, bought the remover and used the $2 in Extra Bucks to get a third bottle of detergent. The sale on the detergent was $1.99 but it ended that same night, so that’s why I went back in and bought the remover so I wouldn’t miss the sale.

And best of all….when we went to pay for the nail polish remover to get the extra bucks, they didn’t print out. Upon a closer look, it turned out the label on the nail polish remover was expired at the end of January. So I told them forget it I didn’t want the remover or the detergent. But, they were able to print out $2 ECB for me anyway, which I then did use on the detergent.

Important lessons from this trip:  1) Always scan your card whenever you’re in CVS. 2) Always bring back coupons to take off your receipt if you get them in a reasonable amount of time after you shopped. 3) They will honor expired Extra buck offers if they are advertising them. 4) Always have your coupons with you if you’re going into a store. You never know if you’re going to “need” to shop. If I’d needed a coupon for the remover or the detergent I would’ve had it with me even though I hadn’t planned to buy anything while I was there. You just never know.  5) The CVS Beauty Club rocks. That’s how I keep getting these “surprise” $5 Extra Bucks. Every $50 you “spend” you earn $5 back in EB even if what you “bought” was free or almost free.
TOTAL SPENDING: $5.34 for the remover  TOTAL SAVINGS: $7.00

 

Love the free milk coupons!

Earlier that same day…..

TARGET:
I had purposely been spreading out my Target runs to go with when I needed a gallon of milk so that I could use my free milk coupons as needed. I hadn’t paid full price for a gallon of milk in more than two weeks. But since I can’t store or use all that milk at once, I’d wait til I needed a gallon and then go to Target to get it.

Target Run:
Free Milk Coupon requires that you buy 3 breakfast items. We needed cinnamon bread for french toast and sandwich bread for lunches, those count as the three items. I had a coupon off the two cinnamon breads and of course, the milk was free.

Total before coupons:  $11.71
Total after coupons: $6.87
Total after Red Card Savings: $6.53 (TOTAL SAVINGS: $5.18)

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Sunday, March 4: Price Rite Run: Don decided he wanted Chicken Parm for dinner that night so he made a run to get all the chicken, sauce, cheese etc., needed for that meal. $14 added to our 2 wk. grocery spending at non-coupon stores ($134 total so far. Still wayyyy under the $200-$225 we normally spend when we do our pay day “big shopping.”)

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In my efforts to get all my frozen stuff put away quickly after shopping, I forgot to take a photo of that day's "haul." But here's my tip: storing Eggos out of the box is a space saver in your freezer.

March 5 (start of a new sale week)
TARGET

Store specials and sales, stacked with Manufacturer’s Coupons:

1) Buy 5 Eggo Waffles and/or other specific Kellogg’s products get a $5 Target Gift Card
Sale on Eggo Waffles $2 per box
Coupon for Eggo Waffles (I had two) $1 off three boxes
Coupon for Free Gallon of Milk FREE Garelick MILK ($3.84 value) with purchase of three breakfast items

2) Target Coupon $1 off ten Yoplait Yogurts
Manufacturer’s Coupon $1 off ten Yoplait Yogurts
$.50 off six Yoplait Yogurts

3) Milk Bone Dog Treats on sale
Manufacturer’s Coupon $1.50 off Milk Bone Dog Treats when you buy two
Manufacturer’s Coupon FREE Healthy Treats Dog Treats when you buy two Milk Bone Dog Treats

4) Over the counter daily medicine $1.25 off one, had two coupons, needed two boxes

5) Target Coupon $1.00 off three Kellogg’s Cereals plus the above mentioned Kellogg’s deal
Manufacturer’s Coupon $1.00 off three Kellogg’s Cereals
Sale on certain Kellogg’s Cereals $2.75 each

6) Manufacturer’s Coupon $.99 off Scott Naturals Toilet Paper 4 rolls

7) Target Coupon $1.00 off Quaker Life Cereal
Sale on Quaker Life Cereal $2.74

TRANSACTION ONE: Everything listed above.

TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS: $66.34
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $46.55
TOTAL AFTER RED CARD: $44.75 (TOTAL SAVINGS: $21.59)
EARNED $10 in TARGET GIFT CARDS (which I used for Transaction 2)

TRANSACTION TWO:
Clothing on clearance: Three tank tops, two sweatpants for Elizabeth
TOTAL BEFORE GIFT CARDS: $29.96 (or $6 each on average)
TOTAL AFTER GIFT CARDS: $19.96
TOTAL AFTER RED CARD: $18.96 (Savings $11.00)

TOTAL TARGET SPENDING BEFORE SAVINGS FOR TWO TRANSACTIONS: $96.30
TOTAL SPENDING AFTER SAVINGS FOR BOTH TRANSACTIONS: $63.71
TOTAL SAVINGS FOR TRIP ($32.59 or all of Elizabeth’s clothes and one box of waffles for free!)

Zyrtec is very expensive, and two of the girls and I all take it, so getting any sort of deal on them is awesome! In this photo everything but the Zyrtec was free, and I didn't even pay full price for that!

March 7
CVS
Store specials stacked with coupons and Extra Bucks:

1) $10 off Zyrtec 70 count pills one week only. 70 Count is usually $34.99, 2) Had Two Buy 1 Get 1 Manufacturer’s Coupons: Buy one Olay facial cleanser, get an Olay Body Wash Free. 3) Had Two $2 off Olay Body Wash coupons Coupons
4) Olay Facial Wipes on sale $3.99 each, 5) Earn $2 Extra Bucks when you buy Olay Body Wash (Limit 1)
6) Received $5 Extra Bucks from the Beauty Club when I scanned my card today.

Transaction 1:
Bought Two Olay Facial Wipes on sale $3.99 each, Bought Two Olay Body Washes that included a FREE bar of soap with them $6.99 each
TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS: $23.50
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $5.52 (TOTAL SAVINGS: $17.98)
EXTRA BUCKS EARNED: $2.00

Transaction 2:
Bought One 70 ct Zyrtec $34.99, CVS Brand Cotton Balls $1.99, CVS Brand Ibuprofin (sale) $4.99, Cranston Herald $.50
TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS: $45.41
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS AND $7.00 EXTRA BUCKS: $28.06 (TOTAL SAVINGS: $17.35)

 WHAT I WOULD HAVE SPENT TOTAL WITHOUT COUPONS: $68.91

TOTAL SPENDING BOTH TRANSACTIONS: $33.58 (less than what Zyrtec alone had cost originally.)
TOTAL SAVINGS BOTH TRANSACTIONS: $35.33

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March 8: Aldi’s Run: Originally I went in for my end of pay period pick up of fresh fruits and veggies, milk, eggs etc. That’s usually about a $25-$30 or so run. However, they had Steel Cut Oats in, and on sale. I had to buy several containers to stock up since I use them often and they are expensive. That and a couple of other extras made my run a $47 run instead.

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We go through one box of waffles per week on average and one box of toaster strudels per week also. We have enough waffles to last approximately....three months. I won't need to buy them again til summer!!

March 10: Just when I thought I was done….
Target

I couldn’t help myself. I received not one, but TWO more Eggo Waffle $1 off three boxes coupons from my friend Pam. The fact that the sale at Target was going on for just one more day was all I could think about. (If you remember the sale was $2 per box and buy 5 get a $5 Target card.) I thought about it for two days, do I go back, or don’t I?

I went back. I opted to buy six boxes to use my two coupons. I used my free gift card to get Pillsbury Toaster Strudels, which I also had a coupon for, $1 off three boxes. So I spent $10 and my $5 gift card.

TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS AND GIFT CARD: $15.87
TOTAL AFTER GIFT CARD, COUPONS AND RED CARD: $10.00

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Here’s the lowdown on our final numbers

GROCERY SHOPPING:

Running 2 week grocery tally: $181, even with enough steel cut oats to sink a boat. This includes doing a “big shopping” as well as my end of the pay period pick up of the milk, eggs, veggies etc. This is much less than normal, well below budget
Walmart trip: $43

COUPON SHOPPING:

Total spent over 2 weeks: $182  ($91 per week)
Total earned free product stockpiled as a result of coupons: $143   ($71.50 per week)

Rebates earned this pay period:

$15 P&G Best in Beauty
The best thing about this rebate was that a while back I’d downloaded the form to my desktop from an email and then forgot all about it, so I didn’t even realize it when I was shopping that the things I was “buying” (Olay, Cover Girl, Head & Shoulders) were qualifiers for a rebate. Later I looked to see what that was on my desktop. It was the rebate and I’d met the qualifications. $15 more back in our pocket!

So there you have it….

Overall, I spent MUCH less on grocery shopping this month and slightly more than last month on coupon shopping but I got more than $140 in free product including what are normally expensive medications, in the process. And…lots of waffles. However, my coupon spending amount is still MUCH less than what all of my Walmart, Target and CVS trips used to be prior to couponing and on those trips I never earned anything for free. My Walmart shopping alone was $100 a trip usually. I have stayed with my goals of 1) only buying what we need, use, run out of, and nothing just for the sake of buying it, and 2) of only going to my usual places, and 3) only buying what we can store. Thankfully, we have Grandma Grello’s freezer in our garage or I could not have made good on all the waffle coupons and sale.

I am spending much less and earning much more.

And, that’s the way I like it!

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Bakerella’s Black Bottom Cupcakes

9 Mar

Bananas, cream cheese, chocolate. Seriously, could anything be better?

Did you ever just have one of those memories of something you ate in your childhood, but never had again? First of all, I have memories of things I’ve eaten, probably every day. But, things I’ve never had again but still remember? Not as often.

When I was younger my mom used to make these fabulous black bottom cream cheese brownies. They had chocolate chips in them. They were mouth-wateringly (is that a word?) delicious. My mouth is watering right now and all I’ve got is my bagel for lunch to satisfy it.

Anyways…I follow this blog, Bakerella, and in fact, she just announced this week that one of her recipes will be featured in the April Women’s Day Magazine. One day on her blog she posted these yummy looking Black Bottom Cupcakes, and just the photos on her blog made me want to make them THAT DAY, never mind the fact that they reminded me of my mom’s black bottom brownies of my youth.

So I did. I made them that very day.

They were SO GOOD.

And healthy! Yup, they have THREE bananas in them. That makes them in the fruits food group in my opinion.

After I made them, I passed the recipe along to my mom and she said, “Those remind me of the black bottom brownies I used to make.”

ME TOO!!

And now, I have her brownie recipe as well. I’ll make them soon and post that one too. Bonus.

In the meantime, here is the recipe for Bakerella’s Black Bottom Cupcakes. One thing to note: It says it made 18, but I ended up with 12. Twelve very large muffin-like brownie cupcakes. I think my muffin tin is too big. Other than that, they were quick and easy. Delicious, definitely a keeper, according to my family.

Now, my photos aren’t as amazing looking as hers, so definitely go over and see her recipe post too, so you can see what I mean.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Two batters, two bowls.

Cream Cheese Mixture
 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 small banana, pureed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Mixture
 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large bananas, pureed
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the cream cheese mixture:

  • Beat cream cheese and sugar until nice and fluffy.
  • Add banana, egg and vanilla and mix together until combined.
  • Stir in chocolate chips and set aside.

I used my Pampered Chef scoop to do the chocolate batter.

For the chocolate mixture:

  • Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, soda and salt using a wire whisk.
  • Add bananas, oil and vanilla and mix together on low until combined.
  • Use a large scoop to fill cupcake liners with batter.
  • Repeat topping the cupcake batter with the cream cheese mixture.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until done.

Makes about 18 cupcakes.

Recipe adapted from Great American Favorite Brand Name Cookbook, 1993.

See...mine were kinda large by the end! And of course, everyone had to fight over who would get the biggest one with all the chocolate chips from the bottom left corner.

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Cauliflower Au Gratin

8 Mar

Cauliflower AuGratin got four thumbs up this week. It was a recipe I found on Pinterest.

I have had Cauliflower Au Gratin before but I have never made it myself. I’ve never even thought of making it until I happened upon it while perusing Pinterest last week. As I’ve said before, I’m always on the lookout for new things to try, new ways to have “the same old thing.” I thought to myself, “Well, they like mac and cheese,” and figured I’d try this. That’s Mom logic for you.

Funny thing is, I was almost right. Overall, everyone except Alex loved it. Alex had peas though, so everyone was happy.

Here’s the recipe, straight from “Point-less Meals,”  the blog that I pinned on Pinterest. I did have to make some adjustments because of what I did or did not have in my house at the time I made it. I’ve noted them.

INGREDIENTS

serves 12 ( 4 points + )

3 pkgs. ( 16 oz each ) frozen cauliflower (I used a head of fresh, could’ve used two or three though.)
1 large onion, chopped (I used half a large onion.)
⅓ c. butter, cubed
⅓ c. flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground mustard
¼ tsp. pepper
2 c. skim milk (I had 1%)
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese

Topping:
½ c. whole wheat soft bread crumbs (I used plain bread crumbs)
2 T. butter, melted
¼ tsp. paprika
DIRECTIONS

Cook cauliflower in a Dutch oven with a little water; drain. (I steamed mine.)

Place cauliflower in the bottom of a 13 x 9 dish coated with cooking spray.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter. Add onions and cook until tender. Stir in flour, mustard, salt and pepper.

Gradually add milk, stirring and cooking until thickened. Remove from heat; add Parmesan cheese. Stir until blended.

Spread cheese mixture over cauliflower.

Mix bread crumbs with butter and paprika. Sprinkle over cheese mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

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