Meal Plan Monday

Monday- Rotisserie chicken, hummus, flat bread, carrots and olives

Tuesday- Marinated NY steaks, beer cheese bread and salad

Wednesday- Chicken dumplings that I never got to last week

Thursday- Shrimp phad thai and chicken cilantro potstickers

Friday- Out to dinner

Saturday- Having friends over for dinner (not sure on the menu yet)

Great Breakfast for Kids!

I recently have tried these on my busy mornings for the kids and they are really good! They have frozen yogurt inside the bag with the fruit and all you add is milk. I am able to make one each for the kids and a small one for me from one bag. Right now at Vons they are on sale for 2 for $6.00. They seem kind of pricey, but it makes 3 small smoothies so I look at it as breakfast for $1.00 a person. Right now you can go here and print off 2 $1.25 off coupons. You will get 2 bags for $3.50. With my laptop I was able to print off 4 of these coupons and I am going to stock up!

Just an extra, I make these smoothies and whole wheat toast for the kids. It feels them up, they think they are getting a treat and it is quick!

The numbers are in......

Saved: $470.55
Spent: $606.69
Actual: $1077.24

That is about a 44% savings with going to Costco and Trader Joes. My goal is 50% in total.




As you can see out cabinets are full! Here are some bathroom items we are stocked up on as well:
7 Toothpastes (all purchased under .30 cents)
10 Dove soap bars
3 bottles of lotions
3 Olay body washes
2 bottles of shampoo
7 packs of Venus razor systems
2 Thermacare packs
4 deoderants

Goal for March is to only spend $400.00 on groceries and household items. I am getting there.

Life without ink....

I have been without computer ink for almost 1 week. We bought black and it printed few, but then the color ran out. I was hoping that we would get the color ink in the mail today, but it has not come. Coupons are resetting and I do not want to miss out on anything. So much to print, so little ink!

Guess what came in the mail today?

Update:


That's right, my coupon clutch! Now I am busy organizing my coupons! I also received my coupon for free Oreo double stuff cakesters in the the mail too.

Update:
I organized all of my coupons and it is so nice that I can see the coupons that I have. I had some that I forgot about and can use this week.

I try not to go all over town and do multiple shopping trips. I only buy what I know we will eat and use. Just because it is a good deal does not mean that I will buy it. The point is to save money, not buy more save more.

I hit Walgreens once a week, though if something is a really good deal like the Huggies from a couple weeks ago, I will go back. Usually hubby is with me and he will purchase something then I will purchase another. Most of the time though I just go through the line a couple of times and they do not mind.

I go to Vons once a week and Target usually every other week. I do not like running all over the place, so I just try to plan before I go shopping with a list and the coupons I plan to use. Those are the 3 stores I mainly shop at.
On a couple blogs that I follow, they come out with a list of coupons or ads that will be coming out the next week or month and I start thinking about what coupons I have. Most of the coupon blogs I follow tell you how to use what coupons with what deals and which store, so it makes it pretty easy.

Jack In the Box

Buy a large drink at Jack in the Box and get a free grilled sandwich on Tuesday, February 23. No coupon is required.

Thanks Freebies 4 Moms. You may want to call your nearest Jack In the Box to make sure they are offering this promo before heading out.

My Best Buy Yet.....

Have to say that yesterday was my all time best at Walgreens. I spent a total of $2.63 and got all of this:

2 Olay body washes (Had buy Venus razors get Olay body wash for free)
5 cans tuna ($1.00 off 5 and Walgreens in add coupon)
3 cans Hunts tomato sauce ($1.00 off 3 and Walgreens in add coupon)
1 softsoap (.35 off and Walgreens in add coupon)
1 Dove bar (Walgreens in add coupon)
2 Motts apple juices 64 oz.(Walgreens in add coupon)
1 Mitchum deoderant($1.00 off coupon and Walgreens in add coupon)

I used $8.00 in register rewards that I had from buying 2 Venus razors (and had $2.00off coupons for each razor system I bought). And the best thing is that I will send in an Olay rebate for $15.00 for 3 body washes that I ended up getting for free after using coupons.

GOD Is Creative!

Pastor Jan at church today spoke about letting God answer your prayers in His creative way, not your way. This made me laugh because I witness God's creativity all the time. Here is a little story of that happening lately.

A couple weeks ago I asked the Fitness Director at the gym that I work for if anyone is giving up a morning class because I would really like to drop by Wednesday night class but need to pick up a day class in exchange. She got back to me and said no, no one is changing their schedule. That night I prayed that God would some how let me drop this night class since it was not really working out in my schedule. This is where God became creative, the next week the Fitness Director bought a gym, left her position at Centerpoint, took one of the girls with her which led to other changes and viola, I got 2 morning classes and was able to drop my Wednesday night class. Crazy isn't it!

I like when God is creative because I get a kick out of it!

Meal Plan Monday

I'm already thinking about this coming week. I need to go to the grocery store, so I need to plan out what we are having for dinner.

Monday- Spaghetti and Meatballs (I'm going to make the meatballs today and freeze them. I have school on Monday and need a quick meal).

Tuesday- Tri-tip, baked potatoes and salad

Wednesday- Tilapia with mushroom sauce (never made it last week)

Thursday- Chicken and dumplings w/cauliflower and broccoli

Friday- Out to dinner

Saturday- Turkey burgers w/sweet potato fries

Baked Goods- Banana bread and carrot muffins w/cream cheese frosting.

Now I know what my grocery list will be. I only spent $28.00 last week on grooceries, I was trying to stay out of the stores. Got to go back, but only for what I need. I am trying to have money left over this month in the "household" budget.

My new toy!

My mini-hp notebook.

You can see the size of it next to little man's toy computer. It won't break my back lugging it around.

And I got a pretty pink case for it!

Chicken Korma

Update:
It was very good. The kids did not like the meat, but they ate the flat bread and hummus and veggies. I will make it again and it only took me about 25 minutes to make everything.

I have school tonight, so I needed a quick easy meal that was good too. This is what I have found and I can't wait to try it! I will let you know how they turn out. I do make Greek food from time to time, but this has ground chicken in it instead of grilled or roasted chicken which makes this recipe fast.

Chicken Korma
Total time 35 minutes. Enough time to make pilaf.

1 large red onion 1/2 chopped 1/2 sliced (I will use yellow)
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (I use my garlic press for ginger)
2 cloves garlic mashed
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
kosher salt to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt for garnish
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
4 flat breads (I get at Trader Joe's) I like flat bread better than pita pockets

1. Puree the chopped onion in a food processor with the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 cup water.
2. Heat the veg oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook until golden. Add the spice paste and cook, stirring, until slightly dry about 8 to 10minutes. Add the chicken and cook until opaque, breaking the meat. Mix the yogurt with 1/4 cup water add to the pan and simmer over medium heat until the meat is cooked through, about 2-3 minutes. Add the cilantro and season with salt.
3. Warm the flat bread and divide the chicken mixture among the bread. Top with more yogurt and cilantro. Garnish with cashews and/or hot sauce.

I am serving this with pilaf and cutting up some carrots with hummus. If I think about it, I will take a picture and post.

I WON!

I chose the leopard print. You can go HERE to check them out.

Yes, I won the Coupon Clutch!! I am sooooo excited and now hubby is happy too because I don't have to spend money on it!

I follow Clippin' with Carie, which is on my side bar if you want to check out her sight. She is very detailed and even though she lives in Missouri, many of the deals are still the same.

Free Pantene Shampoo!

Vocalpoint is offering FREE Pantene Shampoo! So I went to check it out and yeah, I got mine! Go HERE and register or log in to VocalPoint and request your FREE full size bottle of Pantene Nature Smooth Vitality Shampoo. I'm sure these will go fast! Thanks Clippin with Carrie!

Meal Plan Monday

Monday- BBQ pork chops, baked potatoes and artichokes

Tuesday- Chick-Fil-A Youth for Christ fundraiser

Wednesday- Chicken Korma's

Thursday- Tilapia in a butter mushroom sauce w/brown rice

Friday- Out to dinner

My Finds this Week!

There were a lot of good coupons and sales this week. This is what I purchased:

*5 packs of Venus and Schick razors for cheap after register rewards, Target Gift Cards and coupons (about $10.00 after GC and RR's)
*2 free Olay body washes
*1 free conditioner from Herbal Essence w/a purchase of a styling product plus I used a $1.00 off coupon (2 products for $1.99)
*8 packs of Huggies diapers (23 count) that cost me $28.00 total. That is 184 diapers, at Costco you get 200 diapers for $45.97, so I think that was a good deal.
*1 217 count Huggies wipes for $2.00
*2 Dove deoderants for .90 cents
*1 free collage for hubby
*9 packs of gum for $2.75
*2 free packs (18 count) Tide stain release

And with all my register rewards from Walgreens I bought my Valentine's Day cards and a frame to put my collage in for hubby, multi-vitamins and hand sanitizer. Not to shabby for this week!

My goal for the rest of the month is to only buy perishable items so we have money left over at the end of the month. My goal is by June to have $400.00 left over at the end of the month in my food/household budget.

Chocolate Lava Cake

I am going to make a Chocolate Lava cake for dessert tonight. We are heading over to my in-laws, so I will make this ahead of time and bake it at their house while we are having dinner. I am going to use my heart ramekins and heart plates that I use every Valentine's Day for dessert. I love them!!


Ingredients:
6 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate
6 oz. butter (diced, room temp)
3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup flour
Butter for ramekins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Melt chocolate in a double broiler. When melted take off the flame.
2. Stir in diced butter until it melts.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar until it starts to whiten.
4. Stir in meted chocolate then the flour.
5. Butter 4 individual ramekins and pour in chocolate batter.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Tip ramekins upside down onto plates and serve (with ice cream of course)!

Tips:
You can make your recipe ahead of time and bake before serving. In terms of baking time, it depends on how runny you want the cake. 10 minutes for an oozing center but you can bake longer for an incredibly moist cake.

Valentine Cookies and more.....

Here are the cookies I made for little mans class tomorrow for their party.

I would have been more creative, but I just used what I had....frosting and a ziploc bag.

Little man got to decorate some cookies with frosting, chocolate chips and sprinkles. He licked his fingers so much and touched them that they are home cookies.



This is the slow cooker beef stew we are having for dinner. I already had a little with some bread since I have to work at the gym tonight. I did add a little garlic powder to it and a 1/2 cup more beef broth and a little water after it had cooked down.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I am trying more slow cooker meals and here is one:

Ingredients
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions
1.Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
2.Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

Savings

So far this month I have spent $222.64 and I have saved $246.53!! Over 50%!

Items that I have received free this month:

Stacy's Pita chips
2 Nestle crunch bars
2 packs of Golden Oreo's
1 International delight creamer plus I have one more free coupon
2 18 count bags of Tide stain release
2 bottles of Olay body wash
1 Herbal Essence styling gel
Lego activity book
1 Colgate toothpaste

and lots of items free after getting Register Rewards at Walgreens. Not too bad and we are only in the 2nd week of February!

Meal Plan Monday

Our weekend went by way too fast. Hubby and I went to Pismo without the kids to the Marriage Retreat sponsored by New Cov. It is great because they give you lots of free time and it's only $275 for a couple for 2 nights (Cliffs Resort) and breakfast was included and free clam chowder bowl at Splash Cafe. It is always Super Bowl weekend, so you may want to check it out next year! Lot's of great couples and speakers. And hubby and I got massages this weekend too!
So, because we were gone all weekend I am flying by the seat of my pants this week.

Monday- Beef stir fry with brown rice

Tuesday- Chimichangas (baked) w/ chili verde, beans and with all the fixings

Wednesday- Last night class at the gym at 5:30pm!! Woo Hoo!! Hubby is on his own for dinner.

Thursday- Dinner at the in-laws. I am bringing a dessert, maybe creme brulee???

Friday- Out to dinner

Saturday and Sunday- Up in Shaver. Lunch will be corn chowder with grilled cheese sandwiches. Making lasagna, french bread and salad for dinner. I will be making the lasagna at home so we can just pop it in the oven and forget about it.

Walgreens headache

I went to Walgreens for my weekly shopping trip today with hubby and the kids. I had my coupons, a list of what was on sale and what I would get in Register Rewards and knew exactly how I was going to make my purchases so it would run smoothly. I try to be helpful to the cashier. Well, I had the buy one Venus razors system and get a Olay body wash for free coupon. I was going to buy 2 razors so I could get the 2 free body washes. Unfortunately there was a new girl at the register and she was putting in the coupon incorrectly. I told her that I did not get the razors for free but the body wash (which the razors were more expensive). She got frustrated and called a manager, I think a new manager because I had never seen her as well.

The manager went on and told me that I could only use one coupon and gave me some run around answer and then I did not get my RR reward!! I was MAD!! I tried to explain that I have been coming here since they opened and we have never had an issue. She told me that they were trying to crack down on people getting items for free. I told her how frequently I shopped at Walgreens and I knew that I could use a manufacturer coupon and store coupon together and still receive a RR. She told me that I could not. My husband and I told her if this is the stores policy that they would be loosing our business and we give them A LOT of our business. I also asked where the sign is posted regarding their new policy? I did not get a response.

Long story short, hubby called corporate and asked for their coupon policy, gave us the name of their head manager which hubby called. It turned out that they manager talking to us was confused and not sure about the coupon policy. This would have saved us and the manager we were talking to so much trouble if she would have asked her boss. Hubby is now back returning some items so we can use both coupons and the manager spoke with his employees on the coupon policy. What a headache.

And what did I do to make them irritated during this whole thing? I took out my free Oreo coupon and 2 free Nestle crunch bar coupons. I was not even planning on buying them, but I could not resist. I felt so sorry for the cashier since she was caught in the middle until she told me I could only use 1 free coupon and not the other. We were able to buy all 3 items for free after we reminded her that the manager said one coupon per item while the manager was standing there. Aaggghhhhh!!!!

If you have a problem with coupons, just call corporate and then the head store manager and your issue will be solved an hour later.

Coupon Clutch

I want this and I told hubby. He laughed at me that I want to spend money on something that is supposed to save me money. Well, I still want it! You can go here to check them out.

What have I done to myself?

This will be my new work (gym) schedule:

Monday- 5:30am cycling and 8:15am glidding

Tuesday- Off

Wednesday- 5:30am cycling and 8:15am bosu

Thursday- 5:30am muscle conditioning

Friday- 5:30am cycling

Saturday- 9:15am cycling

Sunday- Off

Did you see all the 5:30am's? Guess I will need to go to bed early now. This will take some getting used to. I am giving up my 5:30pm on Wed. nights which will be nice.

I went shopping!

I went to Target and this is what I bought. The total came to $50.06 but I spent $33.00, a $17.06 savings. The only thing that I bought that I normally do not buy are the Sobe waters, but I really did not buy them since I got 4 for free! Kraft cheese is on sale at Target and I had 2 coupons for buy 2 get $1.00 off. The peanut butter was on sale and I had a .75 cent coupon for buying 2, with coupon and sale I paid .62 cents for the salad dressing, I had a $1.00 of coupon for up & up brand so I bought the kids their vitamins etc....And ofcourse, Motts apple juice is on sale for $1.88 a bottle.

This is my Walgreens trip. This is where I saved the big bucks. I even have 2 boxes of crackers missing since I gave them to little man's preschool for snacks. I figure if I can get boxes of crackers for under .50 cent I will donate them since we can't eat and I really don't want all these crackers.

I bought blink tears (I do use drops), 2 Thermacare heating wraps, 2 boxes of joint juice, 3 dole fruit bowls, Venus razors, 2 Club Crackers or .50 cents each, toothbrush, Valentines day cards, pita chips and bagel crisps and chapstick and other food products.


This is everything that I bought today. My total came to $188.31 but I only spent $65.24, that is a 65% savings!

I have been wanting to try joint juice and I printed a buy one get one free coupon and they are on sale at Walgreens for $10.00 and then you get a $10.00 register reward. I took that register reward and bought $10.00 worth of items for free. That is how you work the system. You can use 2 register rewards in one transaction, so I made 3 trips through the check out stand. And yes, I have no shame and I even told the cashier that I will be back around and she was very helpful. No more shopping for me this week, I do not need a single thing!