the re-cap: CVS 12/22

It was a good day... the shelves were mostly stocked, and the magic coupon machine was printing. :)
I picked up all these goodies (retail of $114) at my first run to CVS for a dollar out of my pocket. (I did roll over my $70 ECB from Thanksgiving too). Days like this make ordinary weeks at CVS very boring.

Menu Plan Monday: Dec. 28-Jan 3

Monday: Speedy Sweet and Sour Chicken
Tuesday: Crockpot Turkey & Wild Rice soup using our Christmas turkey breast carcass
Wednesday: out to par-tay
Thursday: Happy New Year! Chicken Makhani in the crockpot
Friday: homemade pizza, using this crust I froze last month
Saturday: Curried Salmon Cakes

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 21-27

It's really cold here this week, so I'm in the mood for warm wintry soups.
Sunday: Cordon Bleu (from the freezer- we made this a couple weeks ago)
Monday: Tortellini White Bean Spinach Soup (I was pleased to see that other cooks rated this 5 stars; its a favorite of my family's for sure)
Tuesday: Orange Chicken
Wednesday: Crockpot Chili (not sure if I'll do my own recipe that the S loves, or if we'll try Barack Obama's recipe for fun!)
Thursday: Turkey breast et. al- MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Friday: Turkey et. al ala sandwiches or whatever; or pizza if we can't stomach the turkey again
Saturday: Out to Medieval Times (thanks Mom Fails!)

Open House casserole recipe

Many of my friends came by our open house last weekend; we are so blessed to have such good friends! Thanks all. A few of you were keen on the breakfast casserole I made, so I thought I'd just post the recipe here. It was inspired by Jenni Key, refined by All Recipes.com, but I couldn't find a recipe online that matched what I wanted. So here's my version.
4 1/2 English muffins, cut in half
8 precooked sausage patties (mine were frozen)
1 cup diced green peppers (mine were frozen)
1 1/2 c milk (I used 1 c 2% and 1/2 c skim)
6 eggs
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Lay down first 3 ingredients in a 9x 13" pan. Mix eggs and milk together (add a little salt and pepper if you like) and pour over casserole. Refrigerate overnight. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Yum yum!

Get a plan QUICK and get to CVS!

CVS has 37 free items for sale (sounds like a misnomer, but that's how it goes) today and tomorrow ONLY (free meaning after extracare bucks). Wahoo! I'm getting out there early tomorrow, and hopefully I can snag at least 17 of the 37 items. Believe it or not, I will resists buying somethings I do not need- like the Icelandic joint relief, for example.
Use your manufacturer's coupons to make money off the sale, after your extra care bucks. How so? Say you want to buy the Listerine for $2.99, which gives you back $2.99 in ECB. Bring in your Listerine manu coupon for $.75 off (from rp 10/5/08), and you'll only pay $2.24 out of pocket (plus tax in some states), and you still get the 2.99 in ECB. This means you are 75 cents richer in ECB to spend next time you go to CVS. You turn the manu coupons into ECB that you can spend on anything.
I'll be rolling over my ECB from Thanksgiving... I couldn't post that trip because it has some presents in it that should not be spoiled!
P.S. After viewing the physical CVS ad I noticed that the # items didn't look like 37 at all. I think that number is based on buying the "limit" for each item (up to 5 on somethings).

Where do you get all those coupons?

I've been hearing this question more and more lately, so I thought I'd put the answer in writing. Alas, I was trumped by Gina (aka mommymakingmoney). For an idea of the variety of places to get your coupons, see her post here. For me, I only troll the internet for coupons when I am given a link to it by another blogger, to meet a specific item that's on sale. I don't have time to just look around for coupons for fun.
I am a fan of the old fashioned Sunday newspaper coupon inserts. We have a home delivery subscription to the Washington Post, but my strategy lies in buying extra papers from a drugstore or grocery store, like CVS or Giant. At CVS, I can use a $/$$ coupon to save a percentage of the cost of the paper. Sometimes at sleepy CVS locations you can still buy the Sunday paper the following Thursday. At Giant, I can use the 50 cents off a Sunday paper coupon that's been in the mail for the last month (and we've stockpiled dozens of from our neighbors), which doubles to make the paper just 50 cents.
Even if I do pay the $1.50 for the paper, I do it when I know there are several inserts so its worth it.
BTW, if keeping your Sabbath day leads you to avoid buying the Sunday paper, watch for early Sunday editions on Saturday, or late editions on Monday. They usually have the inserts too.
OH, I almost forgot to add that friends and neighbors can be a great resource for coupons. Just ask! If you are really ambitious you could set up a coupon exchange, too.
Where do you get your coupons??

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 14-20

Sunday: Tostadas
Monday: Slow-Cooked Corn Chowder (Last week's menu went to pot when I got the norovirus, so here we go again with this)
Tuesday: Chicken Ritz casserole
Wednesday: Baked Potatoes with the works
Thursday: Bean Burgers
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: we'll be eating all day long at parties, including our open house (so forget dinner)! Please come by for brunchy food from 9:30am-noon.

Mr. Yanagi, you made my day!

We got our first Christmas card in the mail yesterday. Jerry tried to get me to guess who it was from- but I wouldn't have guessed it in 30 years.
It was from our car repair man (who we only hired once and I'm already claiming him)!
I've got cards from insurance agents, Jimmy Carter, and the Sierra Club. But this just really made me smile! Never mind that his wife hand addressed the card! Never mind that there is no signature or note whatsoever inside! I love it.
Mr. Yanagi, by the way, comes to your house to work on your car. This makes life SO much easier when you have a kid. He doesn't have the overhead of a retail space, so his rates are really reasonable too. It took 5 years to find him, but now, obviously, we're just like family.

Meal Plan Monday: Dec. 7-13

Sunday: Mini meatloaves
Monday: French toast or French bread pizza... can' t decide!
Tuesday: Slow-Cooked Corn Chowder
Wednesday: Crunchy Chicken Poppy seed Salad
Thursday: Pierogies
Friday: Out to ward Christmas party
Saturday: out to a potluck- taking cheese platter

My first giveaway has a winner!

Congratulations to Tarythe! Her guess was the closest one, so she is the new owner of the jeans! I spent $70.49 for a FULL cart of groceries; I paid just 35% of the shelf price. I know its not like the drugstore where you can get things for practically free, but this is FOOD and its pretty hard to get that for free at a store.
Thanks for all your comments- I know many of you have your interest peaked regarding how to coupon shop better. Watch for a post on that soon!

Kmart, falls apart

I don't have insider information about kmart's future, but I know they certainly didn't get any profits from me this week!
This trip wouldn't made for a better contest I think. You've all been too kind in your confidence about my abilities to get a deal on the jeans giveaway guessing... (hint hint- go HIGHER!!). I got away with paying less than 10% of retail on this trip, thanks to K-Mart's double coupons this week. Rang up to $56.xx, I paid $5.xx! Before you head out to Kmart, check your local ad to see if your store is participating because aparently only certain areas are doing it. This was the first time our store has done it. We'll see if they do it again after the damage done by me and other slickdealers.

Reminder: Best guess gets free aeropostale jeans

OK, so I know my brother won't win the jeans. Nor my slim SIL. So someone out there needs these jeans- so spread the word. I'd love to hear your comments, and its fun to guess about coupons (well I think so). If you don't think its fun you can tell me, that's OK too.
Deadline is Friday at midnight.
While you're at it, if you want to win more free stuff, check out Jacquie's Scentsy giveaway too.

Menu Plan Monday: Dec 1-7

Monday: we did a mock-up turkey dinner, thanks to leftovers from Emma!
Tuesday: Split Pea Soup (not exactly that recipe, but close- we add potatoes and Tabasco!)
Wednesday: Fish n Chips (baked salmon, baked potato wedges)
Thursday: Pork Roast ($1.99 at Aldi, cooked and all!), asparagus
Friday: Garlic Bread Pepperoni Pizza (thank you, $1.50 Aldi clearance)
Saturday: Nachos (for Jerry- I doubt I'll be hungry after two parties during the day)

I am really looking forward to cooking less and eating more this month. Tis the season of parties and brunches and hot cocoa. I'll do my share of baking and cooking, for sure, but more for the masses and less for everyday.
I'm reading the Omnivore's Dilemma now, and Michael Pollan quotes a study that explains how rats will gorge themselves to death when they're faced with unlimited amounts of lard and sugar (foods they don't normally eat alone in their diets). Likewise, when we are faced with an unlimited amount of food, we will eat more than we need to. So I've painted myself a little mental picture of a gorged rat next to a vat of lard to keep in mind when I approach the buffet line at the next holiday gathering. Hope it works.

My first giveaway- Aeropostale Jeans!

UPDATE:
I think I need to give ya'll a little clue, its only fair. **My total before coupons was $180.00. ** Carry on in the guessing, and pass along the link to friends who might fit the jeans! They need a new home!

What do jeans and triple coupons have to do with each other? I'm sure you can think of several connections... but for now, the jeans are my first freebie up for grabs to the person who guesses the grand total (in dollars) cost of our Shoppers shopping trip last week, after coupons.
Here's a glimpse of the purchases:
What you don't see in the picture are the refrigerated items (3 4packs of yogurt, sour cream, 2 blocks of cheese) frozen items (7 bags of frozen fruit, 8 bags frozen veggies, and roll dough), and 4 Washington Post newspapers (for coupons, of course!). So be sure to account for those. Feel free to ask questions about what you can't see in the picture, except for prices. ;)

And here are the jeans:

What?! You expected them to be new, or something? Sorry, I have no sponsorships here, so these are coming from my home to yours. They are Aeropostale "Haley" skinny flares, size 9/10 short, low-rise, stretchy and broken in, but actually fall down my hips too often so I am done with them. I'll even ship them to you if you're not in the DC metro area. SO comment away- the deadline for the giveaway is December 5th at midnight.

Menu Plan Monday: Nov. 23-29

This week I give thanks for food; boy do we have a lot of it right now. Thanks to the Shopper's Triple Coupon sale, we've augmented our food storage for the next year. Actually, I think this topic deserves its own post. Jerry did get a picture....

Sunday: Chicken Cordon Bleu
Monday: Navajo Tacos
Tuesday: Salads
Wednesday: Leftovers, clean out the fridge
Thursday: Thanksgiving Dinner with family- we'll contribute Swiss Medley and appetizers
Friday: out of town still
Saturday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Butternut Squash soup
Sunday: Manicotti

The Mom-preneur

If you haven't noticed yet, the blog world is full of people doing giveaways. This got me thinking about what I could do for a give away... stay tuned!
In the mean time if you are doing some web-based holiday shopping and want something different, check out all the cool things that mom-preneurs are making out there via the Tip Junkie's shop-a-thon. If you think you don't have time or skills to make something unique, maybe you don't. :) But here's your chance to buy it. I know I always see things and think I wish I could make that... but never get around to it. Now I've discovered a tap into the creativity of women everywhere: the above link, and etsy.com. So fun to browse and get ideas of things to make! Or just give in a buy them.

Change is everywhere

Just to show how inevitable, ubiquitous and welcome change is these days, I figured out how to change my blog background without deleting the gadgets (like I did last time!). Thanks Jacquie for the tech support and plug for TCBOTB.

Menu Plan Monday - Nov. 16-22

Sunday: Chicken Stroganoff (one of Jerry's specialties)
Monday: Taco Salad
Tuesday: White Bean and Spinach Pizza
Wednesday: Soup from a can (lazy day!)
Thursday: Stir-Fried Broccoli and Mushrooms with Tofu

Friday: Pierogies (never had them last week)
Saturday: Sloppy Lentils
Sunday: (since I usually post after the fact) Chicken Cordon Bleu

Love those lentils!

Just wanted to report that the Lentil soup from Sunday was well received- even Calista ate it up! Simple, filling and delicious!

Menu Plan Monday- Nov. 9-15th

Sunday: Lentil Soup
Monday: Ham & Broccoli Ring
Tuesday: I'm out to the Relief Society dinner; Jerry can make some mac n cheese (his fave)
Wednesday: Pierogies w/ peppers
Thursday:Crockpot Tamale Pie
Friday:Crockpot Curry
Saturday: Bean Burgers (still from the freezer- yay for cooking ahead!)

I discovered this lady who is using her crockpot everyday this year as her New Year's resolution. Her blog is at crockpot365.blogspot.com. I would be so sick of it, and I think she is too, but if you're looking for something innovative to do in the crockpot she's probably done it!

Menu Plan Monday (er Thursday!!): Week of Nov 2-8

I did plan on Sunday, just didn't get a chance to post until today! Last week I didn't stick to the menu completely, so there are a couple "roll-over" meals this week.
Monday: Chicken Enchiladas
Tuesday: Tuna Carrot salad
Wednesday: Stroganoff Meatballs
Thursday: Coconut Shrimp and salads
Friday: 7-layer dip & chips (i know this is not usually a "meal" but we'll make it one :))
Saturday: I forget... I'll get back to ya

Choose to Give Presence this Year

It's taken a while, but I have fallen in love with Christmas again. There were a few years when I honestly didn't care for it though. I hated the way I felt about gifts. Someone would give me something tacky or thoughtless and I wouldn't really like it (and call it "tacky" and "thoughtless") then feel badly for not appreciating the gift and figure I'm a bad person. What a great way to spend a day designed for reflection on the greatest gift, Jesus Christ our Savior! Once I realized that gifts really can be meaningless, and even given without meaning, I dutifully donated or regifted things appropriately to more meaningful homes. I focus myself more carefully on giving gifts with meaning, or not giving something material at all. I think about how exciting it is to see my gifts received, and not about how I'll feel when I receive something. This year, I hope more of my friends and family will reconsider their holiday traditions, and consider "alternative" gift giving as highlihgted by the advent conspiracy. Its still early enough to do something- so let's do!

If it's good enough for Jacquie O...

GIFFORD'S GIVES WASHINGTONIANS ANOTHER REASON TO VOTE: free hot chocolate on election day!!
"– Gifford's Ice Cream& Candy Co announces they are giving out a free cup of Hot Chocolate toVoters on Election Day. Anyone who enters a Gifford's location on November 4th 2008 wearing their "I Voted" sticker will receive a free 12 oz cup of Gifford's Signature HotChocolate.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and actress Goldie Hawn are counted among a long list of loyal Gifford's fans...Gifford's offers factory tours" (anyone want up for a field trip with me??) "ice cream socials, birthday parties, giftbaskets, ice cream cakes, and corporate gifts. Gifford's products are also available at the manufacturing facility in Silver Spring, MD and online at *www.giffords.com.*"

The new University Town Center location will be where I turn up next Tuesday to sip away my chocolate indulgence. Giffords has another great ongoing promotion called Sundae Mondays, where ice cream sundaes are just $3. This is actually a good price for Giffords. Really.

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Oct 26

Sunday: Spaghetti w/ apple chicken sausage (thank you, Jerry!)
Monday: Broccoli Soup and cornbread muffins
Tuesday: Homemade Pizza, using this crust I froze last month
Wednesday: Tuna Carrot salad (recipe from my childhood!)
Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas (anyone have a good recipe??)
Friday: Spooky Eyeball Tacos- Happy Halloween!
Saturday: Out to Cafe Azul with my mama (thanks to Restaurant.com)

I HEART MY KITCHENAID
I just wanted to pay tribute to the other chef in our home. My husband can really cook, and I am the "pampered chef" when he does it (and I do something else). We've agreed that he does the cooking on Thursday nights himself, but he is always willing to chop or give me a hand while I'm cooking too. I never knew cooking could be so fun until he joined me in the kitchen.

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Oct. 19

Sunday: Roasted Pepper Risotto (saturday's risotto never happened with all the goings on- I revised to this recipe)
Monday: Baked Salmon, potato wedges and green beans
Tuesday: Clam Chowder, zucchini
Wednesday: Veggie Omelets
Thursday: Pesto Pasta w/ Chicken Sausage
Friday: Bean Burgers (frozen from 10/10- we always double recipe and freeze half)
Saturday: parties, meetings, conference- forget cooking!

Maren commented last week wondering if we ever eat leftovers- and we surely do! We are big believers in BYO lunches, and my husband is, gratefully, unopposed to eating leftovers for lunch every day. We have our "lunch" tupperware containers, and when we clean up after dinner, we pack our "lunches" for the next day(s). This makes it easy to grab in the morning when we're running late, and saves $ by not eating lunch out.

What goes in must come out!

If there's one thing we are good at in our household, it is frugal shopping. This can cause issues when you live in a one bedroom apartment and have a toddler. So when I get a chance to clear out things we don't need, I seize the day. The Hyattsville City-Wide Yard Sale is Saturday October 18th. Please come out and support it- I'll have plenty to sell, and if you don't need any of my junk (or drugstore extras), how about a zucchini bread muffin with chocolate chips on top? :)

Rite Aid rules

If you have a young child, are pregnant or nursing, or have any other issues that would preclude you from using run-of the mill medications, Rite Aid has a sale for you this week!
There is a whole DPS (double page spread- my old publishing lingo coming out) of mostly "natural" and "safe" treatments for colds and flu symptoms. For example, I tend to get a sinus infection after I have a cold, and last winter while I was nursing, I couldn't take much to clear out my sinuses. My doctor suggested nasal irrigation. Ew, I thought, but as my friend Denise can attest, it works really well! And what do you know- Rite Aid has 3 or 4 brands of nasal irrigation systems for FREE (after rebate) this week. There are also homeopathic children's remedies, vapor rubs, chap stick and organic cough drops. All free, after rebate.
Now don't let the rebate thing set you off- you can do it online! I entered my receipt as soon as I got home, and now I just wait for the check to come in the mail. Not hard at all.
Maybe I went a little overboard (when does my new drugstore open, you ask?) but I will get all $130 back in a matter of weeks. And if you get sick in the mean time, and haven't stocked up at Rite Aid, give me a call. I'll send that irrigation system over.

Menu Planning Monday: Week of Oct 12

We enjoyed our weekend in Pennsylvania with family, and I'll be back to the kitchen on Tuesday. All the easier to plan my "week" of meals when there's a couple days fewer to plan. :)

Here's how the chili looked as it cooked:

Tuesday: Chili, cornbread muffins
Wednesday: Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Thursday: Taco Salad (another recurring item on our menus)
Friday: Stuffed Rigatoni
Saturday: Slow Cooker Risotto - we'll try something new to do with food storage wheat!

Shopping in a recession

What would you do with 24 cents? This is why I HEART CVS! I handed over my quarter and got all this, and a penny in return! This is a great week for free stuff at CVS, after ECB (ExtraCare Bucks). If you aren't familiar with my coupon clipping, cheap drugstore buying antics, or want to know how, check out cvs for newbies. If you are so unfortunate as to live where there are no CVS stores, you might find solace in iheartriteaid.com (Rite Aid), or iheartwags.com (Walgreens).

Repurposing- kittly litter buckets to diaper pails!

This is another Freecycle success story for me. Having switched to all cloth diapers recently, we needed something to keep the soiled diapers in with a good lid. :) We're trying to save money on this, so it didn't make sense to buy another diaper pail (we've got a Diaper Genie II up for grabs now- anyone??). So I went to the local Freecycle community, and received these buckets for free! They would work just fine as they were but I am slightly picky about things looking nice, so I picked up a can of plastic spray paint for $5 and voila! I've got nice white diaper pails.
Have you repurposed something instead of throwing it away? I'd love to hear about it!

Menu Planning Monday (er Tuesday)

I always knew I wanted to plan my meals better. I am finally in the groove of making weekly plans, and that works for me (better than monthly plans or the daily "plan")!
Posting my plan here will give me extra incentive and accountability for getting it done each week; I really don't expect y'all to care that much about what we're eating Thursday night.

• Sunday: Clam Chowder
• Monday: Spaghetti w/Chicken Sausage, zuchinni
• Tuesday: Taco Ring (pampered chef)
• Wednesday: Chef Salads
• Thursday: Pierogies
• Friday: Bean burgers (a big fave at our house)
• Saturday: on the road (traveling)

Too many gadgets

I will never actually get anything written on here if I don't stop looking for gadgets and filling out my sidebars. But that's whats so fun about blogs. What I have to say isn't nearly as cool as that new Jason Mraz song, eh?

Its a Blog!

Its been developing in my head for several months now- and tonight, a blog was born!
I just have so many ideas of what to do with a blog- now I just have to keep some semblance of order with all the stuff I want to post.
Wish me luck!