Frugal Friday

Thank you Lifeasmom.com for hosting this fun, money saving event every week. The ideas are great.

First a very cheap way to spend a rainy afternoon. My daughter loves to play with play doe- here is our favorite scented recipe:

Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour with 1/2 cup of salt.

Add 2 envelopes of kool-aid (any flavor except lemonade).

Meanwhile, bring 2 cups of water to the boil.

Add the boiling water and 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the dry ingredients.

Mix together.

Be careful, it will be hot for a little while.

Let the kids play with the scented dough.

Dough can be stored in plastic bags for a few days.

Now here is our favorite recipe that is safe to eat (and tastes great)

2 cups powdered milk

1 cup Peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

I help her measure and pour everything into a large bowl- she mixes with her hands. This recipe takes care of snack time too. Enjoy!

Recipe Swap

Visit Life As Mom for great grilling recipes this week.

I really do not like boiled dinner or the traditional St. Patrick's day feast, but I love Corned Beef on the Grill.

Rinse and Dry one 4-5 lb. Corned Beef. I usually buy 4-5 clearanced every March and Freeze them for Summer BBQs. Wrap The Beef in 2 layers of Aluminum foil and grill over medium heat for about 1hr 45 mins. Remove the Beef to a Baking Dish. Carefully take the cooked beef out of the foil and throw it back on the grill. Baste with home made sauce (recipe below) and serve with your favorite potato side dish.

Corned beef BBQ Sauce
1- 4oz tomato paste
1/4 c minced onion
2 tsp Worcheshire Sauce
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
One clove minced Garlic
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar

Mix all together and bring to boil over med. heat. Turn off and allow to rest for about an hour to let the flavors mingle and develop.

Garden Supply Testers

Word on the street is that National Gardening Club is hard pressed for product testers. They are sending out great goodie packages and magazine on free trial, $12.00 annual membership if you choose to be a member. The link to cancel comes in the reply/confirmation email so it is easy to cancel a day or two after you join. Click on the magazine to become a product tester.

Happy Memorial Day!

Visit Napa, fill out the form, print your coupon for FREE Windshield Washer fluid! What a great, useful, summer must have. The bugs are thick in the air here- This couldn't come at a better time.

Are you over 21? Visit Blue Moon to request your free bottle opener.

Click on The Very Chubby baby to request your free Children's DVD that will promote healthy lifestyles and exercise. Apparently you can also request them in bulk. They might be fun to hand out at your next Mommy & Me, MOPS, or Play group gathering.

Thank You Orgjunkie! Planning a week of meals based on what I found at the Farmer's Market, Price Chopper, and Prays was a breeze. Now I wont have to think about it at all- or at least not as much!

Monday- Hidden Valley Ranch Burgers on the Grill, Buns, Boiled New Potatoes, Garlic Bread, Apple Pie

• Hidden Valley Ranch Burgers- mix 1 and 1/2 lbs of ground beef with 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and one envelope of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Powder. Squish together to mix well- Yummo on the Grill!

Tuesday- Turkey- What am I doing with a turkey that I bought in November?? Tossing it on the grill. Any ideas or suggestions?I am thinking marinade, rub, and split like a chicken...May end up getting take out if it flops! Mashed potatoes, cranberry bbq sauce

Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner. Frozen waffles, sausage, fruit, cereal

Thursday- Pasta and Pizza ( from scratch)

Friday- Steaks, portabello mushroom bake, red skin mashed potato

• Mushroom Bake- Remove Stems and black "gills" (gunk) from underside. Saute whole in melted butter and olive oil.
• Remove to individual ceramic baking dishes. Add a good Glop of Goats cheese in the middle.
• In saute pan, add 2 tbsp butter (to what ever if left), 2 tbsp liquid/paste beef bouillon, 3/4 c REAL maple syrup, 1/4 c water. Simmer together and reduce bu 1/4.
• Spoon sauce over mushrooms and cheese.
• Bake in oven at 400 or under broiler if you are brave until cheese sets and melts a bit.

Saturday- Lemon Spaghetti, Zucinni cakes, garlic bread

Sunday- Potluck (Theme to be determined)

Best Chops of the Week 5/24-5/30/09

At First Glance The Price Chopper Flyer looked bleak. With no huge Unilever perk I went into planning a bit "half-hearted", but quickly perked up when I realized I could print several more sets of Kraft coupons directly from the Price Chopper Web Site

Today my grand total was $255.78. After Advantage Card and coupon savings I pushed 2 over flowing carts out for the small sum of $94.18 and $6.50 in register rewards for my next trip.
63% savings is pretty good.

I was able to continue stockpiling summer time condiments, snack, bottled water, and treats. A lot of what I bought will get passed out to family and friends, the freezer is officially full.

Great Advantage plus Kraft Printables from the Price Chopper Web page:

• Oscar Meyer Bologna (BOGO again) use 2 -$1 coupons = free
• Oscar Meyer Hot dogs (BOGO) use 2-$1/1 or use 1- $1/2= free-$1.69/2
• Snapple 12 pk $4.99 - $1 coupon=$2.99
• Cool Aid Canisters $1.99ea- $1/2 coupon= $1.98/2
• Mitchum Deodorant BOGO- Use 2- $.75 coupons to get 2/$1.89 (5/17 smartsource)
• Free Wheat Thins, Triscuts with PC coupon
• $.99 Honey Made Crackers, Ritz Crackers with PC coupon
• Cool Whip 4/$5, use 2-$1/2 coupons to get 4 for $1
• Smartfoods and Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs, $.29-$.89 after coupon
• French's Brown Mustard 2/$3 (use $.50-$.75 coupons)= free (coupons from most inserts since 4/1)
• Jello $.79 each- buy 3, use $1 coupon=$.20/3
• Over The Moon Milk- use $1 coupon from 5/10 Smartsource= $1.69/ half-gallon
• Bags of Edy's Ice Cream Bite snack packs (10 per bag)- buy 2 at $2.21 each- use $1 coupon from 5/17 smartsource= $1.21 each
• Lawry's Marinade, BBQ Sauce, and Salad Dressing deals for free are widely available.

The Kraft coupons really made tonight a great trip. When I consider that $10 of my order was fried take out food, the deal is even sweater!!

How much did you chop this week?

Online Price Chopper Coupons

Price Chopper has refreshed all of their online coupons. To find them click on
www.pricechopper.com

Click on the Weekly Specials Link on the Left
Click on Online Coupons

Even if you already printed a set, print another they will not expire until 8/31/09.
These coupons can be doubled.

Check back tonight for weekly coupon match-ups and best chops of the week!

Walgreen's is Great!!!

For not going in with a solid plan I did very well! Here is what I got:

• Day Planner for summer activities reg. $5.99, clearanced to 50c
• Sidewalk Chalk for Emma $1
• 2 Boxes of Popsicles ($2 total)
• Marshmallows
• Honey Made Grams
• 6 pk of Hershey Chocolate Bars
• 2 Crystal Light on the Go boxes of 14 mix ins
• Eye Liner Reg. $549, clearanced to $1.37
• Bic Razors $4.99, used $2 coupon. Got $4.oo Register Reward
• Aveeno- 20% off sale, purchased 3 small lotions 2.69 each, used 3- $2 coupons Paid just 69c for each of them, THEN got free Aveeno Travel kit $9.99 value
• Two Jumbo boxes of Cat Litter Box Liners Reg. $3.99, on sale for $1.49 each)
• Skintamate and Edge shaving creams. On sale, used $2 in coupons, got register rewards for each. $2 total register rewards
• Dry Idea, used $2 coupon and got a new RR for full purchase price (Money Maker)
• Neutrogena Make up reg. 10.99, sale for $5.49
• Mineral Make Up $6.99 reg, clearanced to $2.39
• Bottle of Walgreen's Tylenol- usually $8.99, clearanced to $2.49
• Asprin 3.79 reg clearanced to 44cents
• Excedrin reg. 3.99, clearanced to 99cents
• Aleve reg 3.99, clearanced to 50 cents

Grand Total: After my coupons and their in store coupons= 29.42-19.00 RRs from last trip= $10.42 out of pocket, and I got back $9.00 more in register rewards for next time

Frugal Friday Emma Land

This week I am participating in Frugal Friday- Life As Mom hosts this wonderful weekly event to provide an avenue to discuss ways to cut costs.

It all started with this. A simple little playhouse that looked like fun, but had a price tag that I just couldn't justify. One Sunny Fall day, When Emma was just two months old my husband came home with this house and a smile. "I Got a Great Deal" he said proudly. My stomach was in a knot. His good deals are not always what I consider good deals. "How Much?" I asked. "5 bucks" he replied. THAT IS MY KIND OF DEAL!


Why do I love Little Tikes toys? They last forever and when we are done building memories and imagination through endless hours of exploration, role playing and fun. Some one else will get some great deals from me when I pass these virtually indestructible toys on to other boys and girls. Friday morning I get up and have my tea with the classified section of our paper. There I scout out the weekend sales that advertise toys and Little Tikes, Little Tykes, and Step 2. Then we have 10 tons of fun adding desirable playground equipment for tiny fractions of original costs. I have rarely spent over $20 for large items.

Some of my best deals:



8 in 1 Climber- Retails for $499.99
I Paid $75.00
The price made me gulp, but was so worth it. We Spend hours climbing and sliding.







PicNic Table Retails for $79.99
$5 at Garage Sale

Triangle Climber $250 Retail

$5 Garage Sale

Castle Playhouse

FREE on the side of a road

I head out early and offer lower than most people ask, sometimes you don't even have to ask- they have no idea how wonderful their things are and price low to sell. We have had endless hours of play and so many sweet memories of Emma! The gift on an imagination is priceless, but I am glad I have the good Sense to not buy at retail, we have just as much fun on our gently used Little Tikes Wonderland.

Last year we went to a day care closing sale and were able to buy 2 kitchen sets, fish ride on, turtle covered sandbox, easel, rocket ride, Winnie the Pooh stroller, and a trike (all Little tikes for $24 total). So head out early and make an adventure out of it!

.

Turn it into an adventure- Set price guidelines and help them budget. Have a master "plan" list for the things you really want to find.

Ultimate Recipe Swap

Today's Recipe Theme is Favorite Birthday Meal. Check out the link to see a great list of birthday favorites from across the country.

I love a backyard BBQ- since my birthday is in May that usually works out well. Chicken basted with "Secret Sauce" and Chuckwagon beans are my favorite. I also love potato salad, but I don't have a clue how to do that.

Secret Sauce: Combine the following in the blender then whiz on high for about 30 seconds.

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 tbsp each of ; Salt, Black Pepper, Poultry Seasoning

3 eggs

Grill your chicken and start basting it after 20 mins of cook time. This recipe is enough for 6 chicken halves.

Chuckwagon Beans:

1. Brown 1 lb Hamburger, Add one large chopped yellow onion. Cook together until onions are soft. Dump into CrockPot set on High


2. Cook 1 lb. cut up Bacon. Dump Bacon (and some of the grease if you are not afraid) into the CrockPot.


3. Drain and Rinse 3 Cans of Kidney Beans and 3 Cans Butter Beans- Add to CrockPot.


4. Add 3 Cans of your Campbell's Pork n Beans.


5. Mix together 1 and 1/2 c. Kethcup, 3/4 c. Brown Sugar, 2 tbsp Worcheshire Sauce, 2 tbsp Molasses. Dump into CrockPot and Mix all together Well.


6. Cook on High for One hour, turn heat to low and simmer for 3 hours.

A Cold Slice of Watermelon with this cute little face is the perfect ending to my perfect birthday meal!

Thrifty Thursday

Yesterday's trip to Walgreen's was well worth the drive out of town! I will post more on that later tonight. First there are a few great contests and freebies to pass along.

Click on the Edy's Photo to nominate your group or neighborhood for one of 1,500 Ice Cream Social Packages. Edy's will deliver 10 half gallons and 36 snack cups right to your door. They will also send all of the supplies for you to host an ice cream social for 100 of your friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. The prize packs are amazing!!!

Alouette Baby Brie will refund your purchase price if you purchase on Brie before 12/31 (up to $6.49) when you fill out this mail-in rebate form. Thank you CouponCravings!

Organic Valley has a great new set of printable grocery coupons. Check them out and print them out before they disappear!

Join the Quizno's email club here You Inbox will soon see coupons for a FREE Flatbread Sammie, plus a free cookie on your birthday. They will also send out promotions and other coupons on a regular basis.

Don't for get to visit Mars Candy to get your free chocolate coupons tomorrow at 9am EST. Remember they are allowing 250,000 households every Friday morning to sign up until September.

Don't miss my Frugal Friday post! It will be up later tonight and will feature a few great recipes, tips on how I find great Little Tikes toys (How to get a $5000 playground for a few hundred), and my best Walgreen's trip ever (over $125 worth of stuff for $10.92 out of pocket, with a $9.00 Register Reward for next time).

Whatever Wednesday

Run..don't walk on over to the Kraft link (click the hotdogs). Kraft is giving away coupons for FREE hotdogs. The offer will stop just before noon today! Thank you Money Saving Mom!!!

There are a few new Tyson coupons on Coupons.com today.

Whine and Win on Wednesday

Good Morning! Our Wednesday got off to a very early start today. So I figured what better time to start a new Wednesday tradition. Next week I will try to get fancy and figure out Mr. Linkey, but for this week Add Your Whiny Wednesday story in the comments section. At the stroke of midnight Wednesday 5/20/09 I will close comments and randomly select a prize winner! And free, fun swag is always sure to bring a smile to my face!

So What are we Playing for this week:

A Brand New Brita Slim Water Filtration system

One 16 Count Box of My Current Favorite Beverage- 4C "To Go" size (20oz) Vitamin Stix.

And One Yummy Box of Turtle Candy

A Prize Pack Guaranteed to Take your Whine out of Wednesday!

My Whine:

Why Do I Hate Charter Cable- Let me count the ways!!! They must be running some sort of system maintenance because at about 335am the DVR/Cable Box in our bedroom started clicking off and on and running an annoying click/pop/reset program. After the third cycle I was wide awake. Now Emma is too- Drat!!! It is doing the same thing in the living room. Hopefully it will be back to bed soon!

Terrific Tuesday

Today was a terrific Tuesday! The sun was shining and we have a mating pair of Rose Breasted Grosbeak visiting our feeders. Price Chopper is still Rolling the Unilever deal over and over! My piles of laundry have now disappeared and tomorrow I am planning on a trip to Walgreen's in Malone. I smiled today as I drove by where our new Plattsburgh Walgreen's will soon be. It is so worth the drive to Malone every few weeks. It will be great to have one right here! Today's Tuesday deals are plentiful.

Blue Bunny is offering a "Try me Free" Promotion on several of their new summer products. Click on the icon to print your mail in rebate form. Purchase, Enjoy, Mail in the Form then enjoy the Refund!

Purina is Offering a lovely FREE gift for your dog. Head over to Mighty Dog Nation request your puppy pack. Some people report getting bonus items including great dog toys in their packages.

It's free to sign up. When you sign up you will receive:


*an official Mighty Dog national citizenship kit
*updates on national news and events
*a unique Mighty Dog Nation dog tag


One Per House Hold While Supplies Last. Purina is doing a lot of great community service projects. They have offered great coupons lately on both dog and cat food. In some cases they are donating $1 to customer's choice of animal charities when the customer redeems their printable coupon.

Walgreen's Has a Great Printable Coupon for $5 off of a $25 purchase. Click on the icon above to print one (or more) for in-store or online use. They have some great coupon matchups and register rewards this week.





right at home is offering a great coupon for their new Clip On Mosquito Repellent system- sure to help keep the Mosquitoes away on these Spring evenings in the North Country. I am going to try it- I'll let you know how it works.

Huggies Diapers: Head over to Money Saving Mom if your little one is still in diapers. If you join their new rewards club you can print up to 12 $2 off each pack coupons. Scroll down Money Saving Mom's page for a list of codes to enter on the Huggies Reward page- over 100 points! Thank you Money Saving Mom Crystal!

Thank you Lana and Lisa at blessedwithgrace (Click on Image) for hosting this wonderful recipe swap blog carnival! There are lots of yummy recipes over there today.

Today I am going to focus on two local/regional recipes that are very unique to the northern NY and Quebec areas. Michigan Hotdogs (These are NOT Chili Dogs) and Poutine.

A Little History:

Michigan hot dog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A Michigan hot dog or, "Michigan", is a steamed hot dog on a steamed bun topped with a meaty sauce, generally referred to as "Michigan Sauce". The chili may or may not be tomato-based, depending on where the Michigan is purchased. Michigans can be served with or without chopped onions. If served with onions, the onions can either be buried under the sauce, under the hotdog itself, or sprinkled on top of the chili.
Michigans are a particular favorite in the North Country of New York State, and have been so for many decades. In fact, one of the earliest known advertisements for Michigans appeared in the Friday, May 27, 1927, Plattsburgh Republican [1].
Michigans are also very popular in Montréal and other parts of Québec, where the sauce that is put on them is invariably tomato-based and is often simply referred to as "spaghetti sauce". Lafleur Restaurants, a Québec fast food chain, is known for its Michigans and poutine.
Oddly enough, "Michigan hot dogs" are never referred to by that name in Michigan itself, nor anywhere else in the Midwest. A similar food item, the "Coney Dog" or "Coney Island dog", is a hot dog topped with onions and either chili or a meatless chili called coney sauce. Conversely, the "Coney Island" is not called as such on Coney Island, or anywhere else in New York State; it's called either a "Michigan" or a "Red Hot." Finally, in southeast Michigan, a "Coney Island" is also the local slang term for a greasy spoon.

Locally we have many wonderful michigan stands- our personal favorite is Ronnie's Michigan Stand on Rt 3 in Cadyville. I would describe their sauce as pasty and not too spicy. The following recipe is the closest I have been able to come to their beloved sauce.

You will need

2 Large Onions

1 Large Green Pepper

1 lb hamburger

4 small cans of tomato paste

5 drops of Tabasco

1/4 c. french's mustard

1 cup ketchup

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp pepper

Now this is Super EASY! I slice the onion and pepper into chunks and throw them in the food processor to achieve the smallest possible "puree/chop". Toss everything raw into a pot and cook it over medium heat for about an hour. Stir frequently. The "cooking in the sauce" method will cause the hamburger to break apart all on its own. Frequent stirring- maybe once every 10-15 mins will ensure perfection.

This is better as it sits, so I usually make it in the morning, store in the refrigerator and heat up at meal time. Serve with steamed hotdogs, steamed hot dog buns, chopped onions and mustard. This is really very economical and will be a hit at your next BBQ or family gathering.

Now on to the perfect side dish: Poutine

Some Facts and Histoy:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Poutine (Quebec French pronunciation ˈputsɪn (help·info)) is a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy and sometimes additional ingredients. [1]
Poutine is a fast food staple sold mostly in Quebec and in areas of Ontario that border Quebec, such as Ottawa. It is sold by both fast food chains (such as New York Fries, Harvey's, Ed's Subs[2]), in small "greasy spoon" type diners ( commonly known as "casse-croûtes" in Quebec) and pubs, as well as by roadside chip wagons. International chains like McDonald's,[3] A&W,[4] KFC and Burger King[5] also sell mass-produced poutine. Popular Quebec restaurants that serve poutine include Chez Ashton (Quebec City), La Banquise (Montreal), Louis (Sherbrooke), Lafleur Restaurants, Franx Supreme [6], La Belle Province, Le Petit Québec and Dic Ann's Hamburgers. Along with fries and pizza, poutine is a very common dish sold and eaten in high school cafeterias in various parts of Canada

This is 100% not the most nutrient packed form of potato dish out there. It is a heart attack on a plate, but so so good!!!! And so easy!

Prepare French Fries (Baked or Fried), Sprinkle with Cheese Curds, Top with your favorite Gravy (Pre-Packaged is great in my opinion). This needs to be eaten with a fork. Sprinkle on a little fresh parsley to allude to the fact that this is tonight's veggie course...Enjoy!

I love this new Kraft Program. Not only will you be one of the first to hear about new products, you will often get coupons for Free products and many coupons to share with friends and family. Click on the link to sign up. They have some great extra coupons to print. It makes trying new foods cheap and fun. Right now free product "try me" coupons are arriving every 3-5 weeks. Just in time for hot summer nights when simple meals with no fuss are even more appealing.

Mars is celebrating summer by offering free chocolate coupons by mail to the first 250,000 households that sign up EVERY Friday until Fall. I think they are only sending out 4 coupons per household, but free chocolate is always good, even in small amounts! Click the Photo to head on over to sign up, or count the minutes until sign ups open.

Price Chopper's best Chops of the Week 5/17-5/23/09

I hope you were all able to get your hands on The Press Republican and Troy Record yesterday! The coupons were fantastic. Kraft has outdone themselves again. Click on the purple craft to head over to their site again. They have recharged most of last weeks coupons to allow for another printing round! These pair up great with so many of this weeks Price Chopper specials!

Super Buys This Week:

Friendly's Ice Cream ($1/2 coupon from last week) is on sale for $2.48 a half gallon. This drops the price to $1.48, but the original total of $2.48 is part of the Unilever promotion.

Heluva Good Dip $1.79 combine 2 with the 5/10 $1.00 off coupon from smartsource and they will make a great addition to any gathering at 79 cents each.

Claussen Pickles have been featured in both of the 5/10 and 5/17 coupon inserts and several parenting magazines ($1/1) coupons. This week they are on sale for $2.50 per jar. With a doubled coupon final price is 50 cents.

Marzetti Products are BOGO this week (Buy One Get One FREE). Click here to print off a $1/1 coupon from Redplumb. If you print 2 and put two in your cart, swipe your advantage card and present both coupons you will walk away with 2 for free. I love Free!

Dannon yogurt 2/$1- There have been many $1/6 coupons in the past 6 weeks= 6 for $1.00

In Yesterday's P&G Brand Saver there were coupons that make the following Free:
Crest Toothpaste (2/$4).

How to Roll The Unilever Deal: "Unilever Insert was in Troy Record 5/17" That was the sole source for all of my Unilever deals so far.
Transaction 1

• 4 Bryer's Ice Cream (1.48 each with $1/2 coupons)= $10.00 towards Deal
• 2 Caress Shower Gel: BOGO this week, use 2 $1 coupons from 5/17 Unilever insert and get both for about $1.40= $11 towards Unilever Deal

At the end you will have spent about $7.50 out of pocket, the register will give you a $7.00 catalina coupon towards your next purchase.

Transaction 2

• 2 Wisk Laundry Detergent- They are BOGO and priced at $6.99 each. Use 2 $1 coupons from the Unilever insert to save $4= $2.99 out of pocket (OOP)= $12.98 towards Unilever Deal
• Suave Shampoo/Conditioner $2 each (50 cent coupon from insert)= $1 OOP, $2 towards deal, toss into charity bin by the door- Collect Free warm fuzzy for your donation
• Snuggle Fabric Softener $2.99 (use $1/1 coupon) buy 2 and use 2 coupons= $2 OOP= $6 towards the deal
• Wishbone Salad Dressing= It is BOGO, there is a $1.00 off coupon from the insert. You will pay about 50 cents for 2, but all $6.00 will count towards the deal

Your out of pocket total will now be $7.00-$7.50 BUT STOP- Pay with your register reward earned in transaction #1 and pay tax- 50 cents depending on dressing choice. Guess What- Last night and today the catalina machine printed another $7 catalina.

The unilever deal is a money maker!! Essentially with coupons they are paying you to take $40.00 worth of products and saying thank you with another Register Reward. Even if you will not use the products consider donating to your food shelf charity of choice (JCEO or Interfaith Food Shelf).

Other Unilever Products for next to nothing:

• Hellman's Mayo $2.48 ($1/2 coupons)
• Country Crock Butter $1.69 (60 cent coupons)
• Knorr Lipton Pasta Sides 99cents (40 cent coupons)

Remember- Most free or cheap things assume your price chopper will double any coupon $1 and under.

Check back later tonight for more fun coupon links and Free Stuff.

Meal Plan Monday

Welcome to My First Meal Plan Monday. Check back every Monday. This week I want to Thank Kraftfoods for all of their lovely coupons from the past few weeks.

This Weeks Menu features lots of my Price Chopper and Kraft deals.

Monday- BBQ Ribs (On Sale at Price Chopper) with McCormick Rib Rub (50cents per jar on sale and after $1 coupon), roasted baby red potatoes, grilled corn, and apple slices

Tuesday- Hot Dogs (Thank you Oscar Meyer), buns, fries, homemade JR Watkins Chocolate pudding

Wednesday- Chicken Nuggets (Large bags of Tyson on sale for $6.49, $1 coupons in 5/10 sunday smart source= $4.49 per bag at Price Chopper. Bags large enough for 3 meals), mashed potatoes with Sargento Salad finisher Au Gratin Kit ($2.50 at my Price Chopper, $1 coupon doubled brought down to 50 cents), almond cake with berries

Thursday- Long day- Take out from Pizza Hut

Friday- Breakfast for Dinner (Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon (thank you Oscar Meyer), fruit bowl

Saturday- Hidden Valley Ranch Cheddar Burgers on the Grill, Roasted Asparagus, Rhubarb Crisp

Sunday- Steaks on the grill, Mushroom/Leek sauce, spinach and strawberry salad

Kelloggs Community Project

I love community service projects. I love Kellogg's Frosted Flakes ( I am not getting paid to say that- well atleast not yet). Please consider visiting the frosted flakes website (http://www.frostedflakes.com/). Please cast your vote for a small town to win a new community park. There is one upstate NY park in the finals. Maybe you will vote for a park in your home town or find a compelling story and cast your vote accordingly. Either way some small town if going to get a new park- Thank you Kellogg's!

Not Me Monday 5/18/09

Time for a weekly dose of free therapy.

I most certainly did not eat cheese cake bites at 6am Friday morning. And I would never let Emma have some too- for breakfast. If I did I would make sure to spread a little smuckers jelly on top to atleast "add some fruit".

Cats..I have three and love my three..but what is it about stray cats coming to OUR house?? I most certainly did not send my husband outside last night at nearly 10pm with instructions to run new Orange Screaching Cat off of our property. AndI would never tell him that it would be ok to zing him with the paint ball or beebee gun. Not that his attempts would work, small moving targets are not in his skill set. And I certainly didn't think twice about the fact that said orange cat might be rabid- considering the screaming, meowing, and pandamonium outside our living room window. I would never volunteer my husband to get rid of the rabid creature- not me!

What did you not do last week?

DiGiorno: Recession Rescue

DiGiorno wants everyone to hurry over to their site at the strike of midnight tonight (12am EST 5/18/09) Pay them a visit. They will mail a coupon for a FREE Flatbread melt to the first 100,000 visitors.
http://flatbreadmelts.digiorno.movies.msn.com/default.aspx

Karl hates Coupons

If you plan a trip into our friendly neighborhood Plattsburgh Price Chopper avoid Karl. He really was a pain in the butt and made the trip a little bit less than stellar. Now the savings made up for it, but Karl seems to think that coupons are criminal. Karl is from Sweden and his name tag identifies him as being from the meat department- run to another line (any one of the many Jennifers and Jessicas will do fine). My grand total on transaction #1 was $412.74. When all was said and done I paid $ 178.38 out of pocket and the catalina coupon machine printed out $12.00 in register rewards. Transaction #2 added up to $173.68, after coupons and advantage savings I paid $64.59 total. I used my $12.00 register reward from transaction #1 and the computer didn't recognize or over ride the Unilever promo and I was handed back $9.00 in register rewards at the end of the transaction.

Grand Total For Both: $591.12
Total After Advantage Savings and Coupons: $242.97
Register Rewards for next time: $9.00
Today I Saved: 59%

I also have $1.20 savings per gallon of gas up to 20 gals at Sunoco with my advantage card points.

Today's Press Republican and Troy Record proved to be well worth the $5.00 combined purchase prices. Check back tomorrow afternoon for coupon links and more matchups.

I have plans to try rolling the Unilever deal again tomorrow. I will let you know if it works again!

Todays Highlights

• Poland Spring Water $3.99 per case, use $1/2 coupons from online or last weeks smart source to knock the price to $2.99/case. Buy 4 and get a $5 catalina register reward
• Unilever products- buy $20.00 before coupons, get $7.00 register rewards.
• Hefty Baggies BOGO, add 2 $1.00 coupons to get them for free
• 100 calorie snack packs of smart foods popcorn or nabisco products are 22 cents after widely circulated $1 coupons
• Juicy Juice $2.29- only 29 cents after doubled $1 coupon from their web site or last weeks Sunday Paper coupons

Moneys Short, Times Are Hard, I'm In Love With My Advantage Card

Well This week does not look like it will be as good as last, but I am sure I will make atleast a trip or two to Price Chopper. Here are this weeks great deals and coupon match ups (5/17-5/23/09)

Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs, Bacon, Balogna.... If you like these "meats" you will love the deals this week. Hot Dogs and Balogna are BOGO this week. Pair two with 2 $1 coupons from last week's Smart Source insert and you get 2 for Free.
Bacon is on sale 2/$6, use 2 $1.00 coupons from the smart source and you can walk out with 2 packs of bacon for $2.

Friendly's Ice Cream (5/3 Smart Source $1.00 off or $1.00 off 2) on sale for $1.99- you can walk out with a yummy 1/2 gallon for 99cents-free. I like the FREE option.

Nabisco Wheat Thins/Triscuits- score a sheet of iSave PC coupons with advantage card on the way into the store. Use the $1.00 off 2 boxes coupon to bring the sale price down to 2/$3, add 2 $1/1 coupons from http://www.kraftfoods.com/ or http://www.coupons.com/ and you can walk away with 2/$1.

Unilever Promotion. The combinations are endless, but this week buy $20.00 of Unilever products (price BEFORE coupons) and the catalina coupon printer will spit out a $7 coupon on anything- for your next visit.
There are many deodorant, shampoo, and cleaning/smelly products coupons floating around from http://www.coupons.com/, smartsource, redplum that will give you free or near free purchases to qualify for this promotion.

While you are at the kraft or coupons sites make sure to print out coupons for A1, Hidden Valley Ranch, Kraft Cheese Singles, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Bacardi Fruit Mixers, Kraft Bagel-fuls, Cheerios, Special K, and Crystal light. With these coupons you can:

• Get free A1 Marinade ($1.84 on sale- $1 coupon doubled)= FREE
• Ranch Dressing $2.99, buy 2 for $5.98 and use $1 coupon doubled)=$3.98/2
• Kraft Cheese Singles $2.99 ($1 coupon doubled)= 99 cents!
• Philadelphia Cream Cheese 99cents (use $1/2 coupon doubled)=FREE
• Bacardi Frozen Drink Mixers $2.39 ($1/2 doubled) $2.70/2
• Kraft Bagel-fuls $1.99 (use $1 coupon doubled)=FREE
• Crystal Light- really good deals with a variety of printables- all result in free product.

Tricks:

1. You can pair a BOGO coupon with a BOGO Price Chopper sale item and end up with both free.
2. You can use a BOGO coupon to purchase 2 items and add another coupon for one of them to get additional savings. Last week Ziplock bags were $1.99. There was a BOGO coupon and a $1/1 coupon. Add the 2 together to get 2 free boxes of Ziplock bags.
3. Price Chopper doubles coupons until you reduce your grocery total to half of the original total, then the coupons are singled. Lets say the total is $150.00, The computers do not recognize the advantage savings as a reduction, so you can really get away for a much higher rate of doubled coupons. Your coupons will double until the doubled total reaches $75.00 (1/2 of original total). The computer will single everything else, then subtract the advantage savings. Last week I could have added 2 cases of coke at $6.99, my coupons would have doubled and I would have paid no more out of pocket. When in doubt add a few Just in Case items to the cart and if the totals are close keep adding until the scales balance out- more free product!

Isn't This Shoplifting?

Welcome to my first blog post. I love to coupon shop and have saved tons of $$ following advice of Coupon Mom (www.couponmom.com) and Money Saving Mom (www.moneysavingmom.com). I have had 10 tons of fun playing the coupon game and Price Chopper is the best locally to save more than a few bucks.
This week I made three trips to our Plattsburgh Price Chopper.

Today was my best trip to date! I was able to walk out with $148.74 in groceries for the tiny amount of $38.36 out of pocket. And the machine spit out a $3 catalina towards my next visit. Saving 74.21% is good any day of the week. From here forward I will work on coupon matchups. I will start with a run down on Sundays of what the best deals are complete with coupon match-ups and links to online coupons.

For now here are my favorite deals from this week- you still have over 24 hours to cash in on the savings. First off Kraft has exceptional coupons out right now via their web site and www.coupons.com. It is worth the time and ink to print many copies and cash in.

Kellogg's Cereal: With in ad coupon 4 boxes 17oz for $8.00. With online coupons you will get 4 free boxes. The combinations are endless (hopefully you will be able to print them still). I cashed in on this three times this week. Yes 12 FREE boxes- I have been giving free cereal away right and left!

Zip Lock Bags $1.99 per box. Last weeks press insert has a BOGO coupon and a $1.00 off coupon. Yes you can use both. One coupon per item! So you will get 2 free boxes of Ziplock bags for every set of BOGO and $1.00 coupons you have.

Scotties Tissue. Anyone who knows me knows that I should have stock in Kleenex. This week Scotties Tissue was 5 boxes for $5.00. Typically these are $1.59 a box. So I picked up 10 boxes for $10.00, but used 2 $1 off coupons (they doubled). $8 for 10 boxes of Tissue is a great deal anyday!

If you have Kraft coupons from online you can get free Kraft BBQ Sauce, Nabisco 100 cal. pack snacks, and salad dressing all for free with doubled coupons.

Crystal light was a steal at 50 cents a box or tube. I used a BOGO coupon combined with a $2.00 off of 2 coupon from Kraft. They were on sale for 2/$5.

Johnsonville had several coupons in the last few sunday papers- This week 4 packs of sausage were on sale for $10. I had 4- $1 coupons that doubled to give me $8.00 off. Can you imagine huge packs of breakfast sausage for 50 cents each? I used all of my coupons up and have ample supplies to last me a year!

This morning I also had the chance to run to a few garage sales. If you are looking for great toys there are a few great sales on the Flat Rock Rd in Morrisonville and on Barcomb Ave in Plattsburgh (near Pyramids). I scored a Little Tikes Rollercoaster complete with the car for $20. Emma has already made about 60 trips down. I also found a Little Tikes Mailbox for $5. A few great additions to our managerie outside. Thank you Price Chopper!!