Menu Planning Menu: My menu for the week of 3/29

March 30, 2009 by


Here’s my menu plan for the week. I posted a lot of information about my family and how we plan meals in this initial post.

Sunday – no cooking (We’re taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University right now and dinner is provided during the class)

Monday – Chicken teriyaki (freezer meal) – This is a recipe from my freezer swap

Ingredients:
1/2 c Soy Sauce
1 1/2T Red Wine Vinegar
1 Garlic Clove
1/2 c Sugar
2 T Oil
3/4 T Ground Ginger
1 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

To cook: Thaw. Put in pan and cook @ 350 for 3o min.

Tuesday – Beef tips (slow cooker) – I found this recipe in Taste of Home Magazine. I haven’t tried it before, but it looked and sound good, and it’s in the slow cooker, so it’s a hit with me already!

Ingredients:
1 beef top sirloin steak (1 pound), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 to 3 medium carrots, chopped
1 to 1-1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed golden mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 to 1 cup white wine or beef broth
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Hot cooked egg noodles

Directions:
In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the beef, carrots, celery, onion, soup and wine or broth. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until meat is tender.

Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into cooking juices. Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes or until thickened. Serve with noodles. Yield: 4 servings.

Wednesday – Chicken Ole! – I saw this recipe on my BBC board (I’m sorry I can’t remember who the original poster was) and I decided to give it a try!

Ingredients:

Can of cream of mushroom soup
Can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. grated onion
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese
12 flour tortillas, each torn into 6-8 pieces
3-4 cups cubed, cooked chicken
7-oz. jar salsa
½ cub grated cheddar cheese

Directions:
In separate bowl, combine soups, sour cream, onion, and 1 ½ cups cheese. Place one-third of each of the following in layers in slow cooker: torn tortillas, soup mixture, chicken, and salsa. Repeat layers 2 more times. Cover. Cook on low 4-5 hours. (Note: This recipe does not respond well to cooking on high.) Gently stir. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup cheese. Cover. Cook on Low another 15-30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and lettuce.

Thursday – Monster Mash hash – Here’s another recipe from my BBC board (thanks 3boys4Steph) that I decided to test out!

Time Required: 30 Min
Serves: 4 (we usually double)

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (8oz) stewed tomatoes, cut up
1/4 cup catsup
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 can (7oz) whole kernel corn
8oz. pasta (we use rotini)
Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

In large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add turkey, onion & garlic. Cook, stirring until turkey is browned.

To skillet add tomatoes, catsup, oregano, salt & pepper. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

To mixture in skillet, add corn & its liquid. Heat through.

Friday – Tuna casserole – Tuna casserole isn’t the most popular thing, even at my house, but this recipe actually is pretty good and I have all of the items to make it in my stockpile.

Ingredients:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. sour cream
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. mayonnaise
7 oz. can tuna (I will use a tuna pouch)
1 c. grated cheese
2 T parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 T lemon juice
cracker crumbs (Ritz)
3 c. cooked noodles (your choice)

Combine all ingredients and pour into a 2 quart shallow dish. Top with cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Saturday – Sweet and sour pork (another family recipe from my mother in law)

Ingredients:
1 t. soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
dash of salt
1/2 c. pineapple juice or water
3 T cider vinegar
2 T ketchup
Pineapple, onions, green peppers
Chopped ham

Mix ingredients in a pan. Stir constantly over low heat until thickened and translucent. Add pineapple, onion, green peppers, and ham. Serve over rice.

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My $40 weekly grocery budget shopping trip

March 29, 2009 by

Between being out of town, being sick, and having sick kids, I have not been good about posting my weekly grocery trip pictures. This week, I actually had to talk myself into going to the grocery store. There wasn’t anything I really “needed” but I finally convinced myself to go out last night knowing that this would be a hectic week with no time for grocery trips.

When I got to Randalls, I decided to just peek in the water aisle and saw that the Aqua Pod water was fully stocked! I have been trying to do this deal for a couple of weeks now and every time I went to the store, the shelves were empty. I called my husband and made him get on HCW to see if people were reporting that the catalina deal was still working and people were still reporting that it is! So, I did three back to back transactions (at the self check-out).

Here’s the breakdown of my transactions:

#1: Bought 10 AquaPod waters (used $1/2 coupon and got the $5 off instantly for the Mix and Match promo….sadly, I didn’t have my card and had to use my parent’s phone # since I don’t have my phone # registered to my card, so I didn’t get my 10% off) – paid $14 OOP (received 5 $2 off OYNO catalinas)

#2: Bought 3 Digiorno pizzas, 2 Dreyers ice cream (they were BOGO free), 1 Ore Ida Steam & Mash (I normally wouldn’t buy all of this stuff without coupons, but it’s stuff we like/use, and I used the $10 in catalinas from transaction #1) – paid $15.32 OOP (received $10 Chill out at Home catalina)

#3: Bought canned pineapple, cider vinegar, 2 cans 98% FF cream of mushroom soup, 2 cans 98% FF cream of chicken soup (I used to buy the Kroger brand of these, but recently discovered that Randalls is cheaper!), Sara Lee bread, Hormel turkey, beef stew meat (I paid $1.75 for the package because it was marked down!), bananas, green peppers, carrots – used .55/1 Hormel lunch meat coupon and the $10 Chill Out at Home catalina, paid $5.21 OOP

You can find more details on the Randalls (Safeway if you have it) promotion here and here. These deals should be active through 3/31.

Not pictured: We had a coupon for a free rental at Hollywood Video, so I had my husband stop at get some grapes at Kroger when he went to get our free movie. Total OOP = $2.16

My total OOP for the week was $36.69. I plan to go buy 4 boxes of the Quaker cereal at Kroger (on sale 4/$6 through 3/31 at my stores) and use three .50/1 coupons for Quaker oatmeal squares(which will double) and one $1/1 Life Coupon, so I will pay $2 OOP for 4 boxes of cereal and still come in $1.31 under my budget for the week.

Please vote on my poll in the upper right hand corner of the blog to help me decide what to do about my $40 weekly grocery budget and my freezer swap group. I have been doing the freezer swap for the past two months. Typically, I end up spending about $45-50 out of pocket and I get 8 meals. I’m trying to decide how to figure that into my budget. Here are my choices:

*Cut my grocery budget to $30/week and use the extra $10 to pay for the freezer swap
*Skip out on grocery shopping one week and use that money to pay for the freezer swap
*Skip out on the freezer swap

Be sure to vote!

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New Target printables and other deals for the week

March 29, 2009 by


Here are the current Target deals. If you know of another deal that’s not listed here, please feel free to share!

WEEKLY DEALS:

Buy any 5 Pepsi 6 pk bottles or 12 pk cans, get a $5 Target gift card: prices were not listed in my ad. If you have the coupons from the Frito Lay rebate (and a Target $5 gift card to “roll”), and need Pepsi products, this might be a good deal.

All Leapster games and accessories are on sale. Some games are on sale for $15 (Wall-E and Star Wars Jedi Math are listed in the ad). There are $5 printable coupons on coupons.com (you can print them from the blue sidebar link) and there was a $5 off $35 coupon in a recent home mailer.

Here’s my plan: Buy Disney Princess Leapster game (listed at $18.99 online) and buy Leapster Scholastic Puzzles game (listed at $18.99 online). Use 2 $5 printable coupons and the $5 off $35 coupon. Spend $22.98 OOP.

New printable coupons are up on Target.com:(these coupons expire 4/25/09)

*$1 off Market Pantry® fruit snacks

*75¢ off 11- or 12-oz. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee

*75¢ off 6-pk. Gatorade beverage

*$1 off With purchase of two 8-pk. Nutri-grain bars

*55¢ off Splenda sweetener
.55/1 Splenda, Any – All You, February 20, 2009

*$1 off With purchase of two Betty Crocker Warm Delights microwave desserts
.50/1 Betty Crocker Warm Delights Bowls or Mini Bowls, Any – 02-08-09 GM

*$1 off 1-lb. or more Archer Farms® deli cheese Deli Dept.

*$1 off Archer Farms® pork fillets Herb or Teriyaki or Chipotle

*$1 off Dole bagged salad – These are on sale 2/$5 this week. There were $1/2 blinkie coupons at my store, so this will make a good deal on salad.

*50¢ off With purchase of two Gerber Graduates toddler foods – Check out Gerber.com for printable coupons. There are also home mailer coupons that match up with this.

*75¢ off Johnson’s baby toiletry Excludes trial size – these coupons are good for almost a month, so wait for a sale on Johnsons products, and then stock up!
$3/3 printable coupon here
$1/1 Baby Bubble bath and wash printable here
$2/2 Johnsons printable here

These coupons are no longer available on Target.com, but you can access them through the coupon generators on HCW and AFC (these expire 4/11/09)

*$1 off Archer Farms® artisan bread Bakery Dept.
There are small “artisan breads” priced at $.99 in the bakery area, so they are FREE with the coupon!

*$1 off 5-lb. bag Green Giant Russet Potatoes Excludes organic

*1.50 off 1-lb. or more Archer Farms® bulk deli meat Deli Dept.

*50¢ off Hostess snack cakes
.50/1 Hostess Snack Cakes, Any Family Size Package – 02-22-09 RP
.50/1 Hostess 100 Calorie Packs, Any – 01-11-09 RP
.50/1 Hostess 100 calorie packs printable here

*50¢ off Ming Tsai frozen meals

*$1 off 40-ct. Bagel Bites
$1/2 printable coupon here

*$1 off With purchase of two Eggo frozen waffles

*$1 off Cheetos snack
Buy the small bags by the registers. They are priced at $1.19 at my stores, so $.19 after coupon!

*$1 off Pop Secret popcorn
$1/2 Pop Secret microwave popcorn, any boxes – 03-08-09 SS
$1/2 Pop-Secret Microwave Popcorn, Any Boxes – 02-08-09 GM
$1/2 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn, Any – Eat Better America booklet (click on the link to get your free coupon book in the mail – mine came really fast!)

*$1 off 5.5-oz. Febreeze candle
Febreze Candle (1) And Get (1) Febreze Air Effects Free – 03-01-09 PG

*$1 off Pledge furniture care product
$3/2 Pledge products, $2 off Pledge multi-surface cleaner, $2 off Pledge Fabric sweeper for pets printable coupons here

OTHER DEALS:

Gillette Men’s Body Wash/Shampoo – Target carries a smaller size (8 oz) that is $2. use the $2/1 coupons from the 3/1 PG insert and get them for free! (my husband LOVES this stuff). In my stores, these have been on a special end cap display.

Huggies Gentle Care wipes – If you have the “original” Huggies Gentle Care coupon, it says good on “ANY” Gentle Care item. The bags of wipes are priced at $5.49 this week making them $.49/bag with the $5 off coupon. Please check the wording on your coupon. The newer coupons specify ‘on diapers only.’

Awesome clearance deals – Target.com has some AWESOME clearance deals right now. I used gift cards I got from Swagbucks and got my daughter several pairs of PJs for $3.75/each and for boys, they have long-sleeved college sports tees for $3.49 and hoodies for $4.49. If you spend $50, you get free shipping (you can also do returns in store). Don’t forget to shop through Ebates to get 4% cash back (you also get a $5 bonus if you are registering for the first time after your first purchase credits).

Here are the links to some of the clearance deals:
*Toddler girls
*Girls (4-14)
*Toddler boys
*Boys (4-14)
*General clearance

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CVS scenarios for the week of 3/29-4/4

March 28, 2009 by


If you are just learning how to shop at CVS, start here for some helpful tips.

The coupon match-ups for the weekly deals are here.

The following are scenarios for people who are “new” to shopping at CVS or who have very few ECBs to start with: (these are just ideas….you do not have to follow this exact order and you can skip some items if you do not need them or don’t have the coupons that match up with them)

Transaction #1: (you have to do this on Sunday/Monday)
Buy 1 Paas egg decorating kit – $1.99

Spend $1.99, get $1.99 ECB

Transaction #2:
Buy 2 Fantastik All Purpose Cleaners – 2/$5 (you could also buy Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, or Windex, but you would pay a little bit more because the coupons are not as much – see the weeky coupon match ups for details)

*With these scenarios, you get $14.98 in merchandise for $4.99 OOP with $1 ECB left to spend

Use 2 $1 Fantastik coupons
Use $1.99 Paas ECB

Spend $1.01 OOP, get $1 ECB

Transaction #3:
Buy 2 Colgate Total toothpastes – 2/$5
Buy 1 Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber – $2.99

Use $1 Colgate printable
Use $1.50 Colgate Total coupon from April All You
Use $1 Fantastik ECB
Use $2.75 printable

Spend $1.99 OOP, get $1 ECB

Here is my scenario for the week (I am able to do one big transaction because I have enough ECBs to spend): $41.94 in merchandise for $0 OOP, earn $19.98 ECBs
Buy 1 Paas egg decorating kit – $1.99
Buy 2 Fantastik All Purpose Cleaners – 2/$5
Buy 2 Colgate Total toothpastes – 2/$5
Buy 1 Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber – $2.99
Buy 1 Accu-Chek diabetes monitoring kit – $9.99
Buy 1 Glade Sense & Spray – $5.99
Buy 2 Veet – $5.49/each

Use 2 $1 Fantastik coupons
Use $1.50 All You Colgate Total coupon
Use $1 Colgate Total printable
Use $2.75 Scrubbing Bubbles printable
Use $4 Glade coupon
Use $1 Glade CVS CRT
Use 2 $2 Veet printables

Total before coupons = $41.94
Total after coupons = $25.69

Spend $25.69(pay w/ ECBs), earn $19.98 ECBs

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Coupon round-up

March 28, 2009 by

There will be two inserts this weekend and there are some good insert coupons coming out. Here are a few that I saw.

From the Smart Source insert:

*Free single bag of Halls or Halls Sugar Free cough drops (up to $2.29), expires 5/31/09

*$1.50/1 Kraft salad dressing, expires 4/29/09

*.50/1 Barilla Piccolini pasta, expires 4/30/09 (if your grocery store doubles and these go on sale 10/$10, which they likely will at some point during this time period, you will get them free!)

*.50/1 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta, expires 4/30/09 (I got 40 boxes of these at this time last year with doubled coupons because they were free….I’m converted to whole grain pasta now!)

*.35/1 Birds Eye Steamfresh vegetable or rice, expires 5/9/09 (if your grocery stores triple, these will be free if they go 10/$10, which they likely will)

*Crystal Light – buy 2, get one free (up to $3.29), expires 4/25/09

*.35/1 Eggland’s Best eggs, expires 6/30/09 (if your grocery stores triple, these usually end up being cheaper than the store brand of eggs with the coupon)

*.50/1 French’s classic Yellow mustard, expires 7/19/09 (once the grilling season starts, these will go 10/$10 likely multiple times which will give you FREE mustard if your grocery store triples)

*.40/4 Swanson broth, expires 5/10/09 (there will be “deals” on broth with Easter coming up, so with the coupon, if your grocery stores double, you can get good deals)

From the Red Plum/Valassis insert (some papers no longer get this insert):

*.30/1 Keebler Ready Crust Pie Crust, expires 5/24/09 (if your stores triple, these will be free or close to free pie crusts!)

*$1/1 Quaker Rice snacks, any, expires 5/31/09 (these go 10/$10 all of the time making free rice snacks!)

Coupons are already available for purchase on The Coupon Clippers. If they don’t have what you’re looking for in multiples, check out eBay (make sure you check the seller’s feedback!)

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