Thrifty Thursday: Sunday coupon preview and coupons to print for upcoming deals!

October 15, 2009 by

Click on the banner above to access the coupon preview and see what coupons are coming in this Sunday’s paper. There will be a Smartsource and a Red Plum insert. Among other things, there will be coupons for Trident, Theraflu, and Triaminic that will match up well with Walgreens deals next week. There will also be a .50/1 Bird’s Eye coupon, which means veggies for .25 at Kroger (if your store doubles coupons)

For CVS next week:

Dimetapp – $2/1 printable here

Robitussin – $2/1 printable here

For Walgreens next week: I didn’t post any Walgreens deals this week. They have some decent deals, but I was so discouraged because all of my RR were in my purse when it was stolen and so the deals weren’t quite as good if you were starting from “scratch” – I am hoping to rebuild my RR with deals that are coming up next week.

Theraflu – $2/1 printable here (click on the link on the left hand side) – if you missed the last Theraflu deal, they will be on sale next week for $4.99. Buy 3, and get an $8 RR. **Try to get your hands on a Healthy Living book with the $2 Walgreens coupon, too, if you can. Check in the pharmacy area**

Triaminic – $1.50/1 printable here (click on the link in the lower left hand corner to print) – these will also be part of a RR earning deal next week.

Zantac – $5/1 printable here – These will be free after RR next week (and a moneymaker if you are “rolling” RR into the deal!

Other “hot” printables:

*Join Kraft First Taste and get a $2/1 Wheat Thins printable

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Instant Win Wednesday: Febreze, Kraft, and New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas!

October 14, 2009 by

Febreze Freshest Game Day Ever (ends 12/27/09): Click here to enter to win a 50″ plasma screen TV, a $25 NFLshop.com gift certificate, or a coupon for a free Febreze product (Febreze Noticeables Scented Warmer, Febreze candle, Febreze Air Effects, or Febreze Fabric Refresher). One person will also win a 5 day, 4 night trip for four to Super Bowl XLIV in South Florida on 2/7/10.

Kraft Foods Grocery Cash Giveaway (ends 11/6/09): Click here to enter to win the Kraft Foods grocery cash giveaway. The following prizes will be awarded: 1st prize – $100 cash, 2nd prize – $25 cash, 3rd prize – coupon for a free brich of Philadelphia cream cheese, 4th prize – coupon for a free 16 oz. Kraft salad dressing

Ring in the New Year – Vegas Style! (ends 11/30/09): Click here to enter to win an Excailbur New Years Eve package (includes 3 nights deluxe room accommodations, roundtrip limo service, 2 tickets to the New Years VIP party) or a travel voucher for a 2 night stay at the Excalibur Las Vegas hotel (must be 21 or older to enter)

Click here for the instant win games from previous weeks. Be sure to come back and let me know if you win.

GOOD LUCK!

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Get Thomas the train for $1.99 shipped!

October 13, 2009 by


Click here to get Thomas the Tank Engine for $1.99 (shipping is free!) from Learning Curve.

Save 50% off additional Take along Thomas items here.

UPDATES:

*I got this offer in my e-mail. It appears that you can only get the free shipping if you click on a link from an e-mail. This link here should work.

*Once you add the $1.99 Thomas to your cart, any other items you purchase will have free shipping, too!

*Toby is also $1.99!

*The offer runs through 10/16/09!

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Tip of the Day Tuesday: Buying meat on a budget

October 13, 2009 by

One of the most common questions I get asked by people who read my blog is – where’s the meat? If you read my Menu Planning Monday posts, you’ll see that we really do eat meat, but if you see my Saturday shopping posts, there isn’t meat pictured a lot, so I can understand the confusion!

The answer is ~ I stockpile meat, too! Last year for Christmas, I told my husband that all I wanted was a second freezer for my garage, and Santa came through. So, we have a freezer that is basically full of meat and I ONLY but meat when I get an awesome deal on it, so if there is a great deal on meat one week, I might put the bulk of my $40 for that week toward meat and the basics (milk, bread).

Here are a few tips for saving on meat:

*Look for markdowns – Every grocery store I have ever been to has a section for marked down meat. Sometimes they do these markdowns early in the morning and other stores will do them late at night. Over time, I have managed to figure out when my stores do these markdowns which kind of gives me “first dibs” at the newly marked down items. From my experience, marked down meat is typically 30-50% off the original price. For example, on Saturday, I found a package of pork chops that had been marked down to $3 and a package of round steak that had been marked down to $4.

*Use your OYNO catalinas – When I post the grocery deals and match-ups, I typically also post any good catalina deals that are going on. I use the “OYNO” catalinas to help offset the cost of things like meat because there aren’t coupons for those items very often. For example, with the meat I bought on Saturday, I had two $1 off meat catalina coupons that I used, so I ended up paying $5 for meat for two meals this week. Sometimes there are also wine tag coupons for meat and every now and then, I get personalized customer loyalty card coupons for a certain dollar amount off of a meat purchase.

*Look for good sales and stock up when meat is on sale – I pretty much only buy meat if I can find a good deal. Here are some examples of what I consider good stock up prices for meat:

Beef:
Beef roasts – $.99/lb (yes, you can really get it for that cheap on sale – I’ve got several roasts in my freezer right now to prove it)

Beef round steak – $.99/lb

Ground beef – we ONLY use the 93/7 lean beef, so $1.99/lb is a “stock up” price on this for me

Chicken:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – $.99-$1.69/lb (it’s hard to find it for $.99/lb these days although it does happen every now and then…so, I consider $1.69 to be my “stock up” price when I’m getting low) – I know that “bone in” chicken or whole chickens are much cheaper but this is much more convenient for me, so I’m willing to pay more

Pork:
Pork chops (again I buy boneless) – $1.39/lb

Pork spare ribs – $.77/lb

Pork roasts – $.99/lb

Turkey:
Ground turkey – $1.99/lb (again we buy the 93/7)

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Menu Planning Monday: my menu for the week of 10/11

October 11, 2009 by

This week, I hadn’t done the bulk of my grocery shopping when my purse was stolen. We do the Dave Ramsey plan which is based on all cash, so our cash for the week was in my purse. So, all of my recipes this week are centered around things that we already had on hand and our goal is to get through the week without spending any money.

Our breakfasts are “on the go” – things like cereal, Pop Tarts, and waffles mainly with scrambled eggs thrown in there every now and then. I do try to cook “real” breakfasts on the weekends, but I am not always good about planning ahead for that. Our lunches are also “on the go” – sandwiches for my daughter and salads, leftovers, or frozen meals for me (my son eats at daycare and my husband fends for himself!)

If you have blogged a menu plan for the week (or even just a favorite recipe), please feel free to comment and share your link. I’m always looking for new ideas and inspiration and will be happy to share a link to your blog if we try your recipe!

If you need inspiration, check out the weekly meal plans from hundreds of other bloggers here at Organizing Junkie.

SUNDAY: Beef tenderloin with mushroom gravy – This was originally posted by Amy (amyls) on the BBC Cooking for Your Family board and comes from Cooking Light magazine

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (1/2 inch thick)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup presliced mushrooms
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 cup low-salt beef broth
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks with pepper and salt. Add steaks to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan.

Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Place sour cream in a medium bowl. Gradually add mushroom mixture to sour cream, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in minced parsley. Serve gravy with steak.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 steak and 1/4 cup gravy)

CALORIES 210 (33% from fat); FAT 7.8g (sat 2.9g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 26.2g; CHOLESTEROL 75mg; CALCIUM 45mg; SODIUM 237mg; FIBER 0.7g; IRON 3.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 6.7g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2002

MONDAY: Creamy Ranch Mushroom Pork Chops – This was originally posted by Astrid on the BBC Cooking for your Family board. The recipe sounds similar to the cream cheese chicken recipe I make and that is a family favorite, so I figured it was worth checking out. This will be my first time making this recipe.

Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops
1 packet ranch seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can chicken broth
1 block cream cheese

Spray a crockpot with cooking spray, and put all ingredients but cream cheese in. Cover, and cook on low “all day” (I did 10 hours, but you could do less). Before serving, stir in cream cheese until melted. The sauce is also delicious with veggies!
Astrid

TUESDAY: Taco soup – it’s been awhile since I’ve made taco soup….so long, in fact, that I couldn’t find my favorite recipe. So, I checked out various taco soup recipes online, and took “the best” of different ones to come up with this:

Ingredients:
1 1/2-2 lb. ground meat
1 packet Ranch dressing seasoning mix
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can corn
1 can pinto beans
1 can Ranch style beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel
1 can water

My plan is to make this in a slow cooker. I am going to brown the meat and then add combine the meat and other ingredients in a crock pot and to cook it on low all day. When we’re ready to eat, I will serve it with tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese.

WEDNESDAY: Cheesy rigatoni bake – this recipe came from this cookbook: Girlfriends on the Go: A Busy Mom’s Guide to Make-Ahead Meals (it can be frozen although I have never tried it that way)

Ingredients:
1 16 oz pkg rigatoni noodles
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 c. milk
1/4 c. water
4 eggs, beaten
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 cups sherdded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and salt until smooth. Gradually add milk and water. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Drain pasta and place in a large bowl. Add beaten eggs. Spoon into a greased 9X13 pan. Top with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Spoon white sauce over top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
(I prepare this in the morning and refrigerate. I just pop it in the oven when I get home).

THURSDAY: Swedish meatballs (slow cooker)

Ingredients:
2lbs meatballs (I just buy the frozen ones)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can golden mushroom soup
1 can beef broth
1 envelope brown gravy mix

*Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.

We serve this over rice with a vegetable side dish.

FRIDAY: Chicken pot pie – This recipe comes straight from the Bettycrocker.com recipe box.

1 cup cut-up cooked chicken
1 bag (12 oz) Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1 cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix
1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1 egg
(*I also dice one potato and add it to the mixture)

1. Heat oven to 400°F. In ungreased 2-quart casserole, mix chicken, vegetables, soup and 1/2 cup milk. Microwave on High 4 minutes; stir.
2. In small bowl, stir Bisquick® mix, 1/2 cup milk and the egg with fork until blended. Pour over vegetable mixture.
3. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 1, increase milk to 2/3 cup. Bake about 35 minutes.

SATURDAY: Italian Chicken Fingers – Steph at One Day, One Dollar at a Time posted this recipe as the “recipe of the week” on her blog today. It looked yummy and kid friendly, so I decided we would try it out this week!

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
Spaghetti or pizza sauce for dipping

Pound the chicken breasts to flatten. Cut into 1″ wide strips. Mix oil and garlic and dip the strips in this mixture. Mix bread crumbs and cheese; coat chicken. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until tender. Warm sauce and use for dipping. Serves 6.

Filed Under: Menu Planning Monday