Walgreen's Trip - 9/12/08

I guess feeding my flock and trying to save money can go hand in hand with shopping trips. I have to say I LOVE the Internet. If I hadn't run across Deal Seeking Mom in the newspaper and checked out Tara's site, I would have remained clueless to a number of shopping deals available. With freebies and nearly freebies and register rewards and Easy Saver Rebates and a $10 coupon, I just had to try Walgreen's this week. I'm pretty proud of myself. I didn't buy anything I wouldn't or couldn't use. I did not overstock up on anything. I only get 1 set of coupons in the paper. I'm still really impressed.

I must say creating a spreadsheet ahead of time really helped, although the people behind me in line thought I'd gone a bit overboard and had too much time on my hands. I told one lady the internet helps a lot, so I didn't find all these deals on my own. Any my Walgreen's had all but 1 item I had on my list, so I substituted something else even if I didn't have a coupon.

Buy 4, get $5 back RR
Shout - 2.49 - .75c
Fantastic - 2.49
Windex - 2.49 - .75c
Antibacterial Windex - 2.49 - .75c

Buy 3, get $4 back RR (she rang it up weird so I only got credit for 2 and $2 RR)
Tylenol Cold - 4.99 - 1.50c
Benedryl - 3.99 - 1.00c
Sudafed - 3.99

Buy 3, get $10 RR
Robitussin - 3.99 - 3.00c
Advil - 6.99 - .75c (100 tablets w/bonus 24)
Dimetapp - 3.99 - 2.00c

Visine for contacts - 4.49 - 3.00c (All You), 2.00c (ES)
Tylenol - 3.49 - 1.00c
Speedstick B1G1 3.99 - 1.00c (plus each had a travel sized stick)
Pert Plus - 3.79 - 1.50c - 3.79ES
Chex Mix (2) - .99 - .60c
Crest Pro-Health toothpaste - 3.79 - 3.79ES
Lypsyl Lypmoisturizer - 1.99 - 1.99ES
Revlon Nail Color - 4.79 - 2.00c - 4.79ES

$10 off $40 purchase
Final cost - $36.86
$17.00 Register Rewards
$14.66 Easy Saver

I then purchased -Huggies Pull-Ups - 11.99 - 2.00c
Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash - 4.49 - .75c - 4.50RR
Hershey candy bar - 1.00 (needed 1 item to offset number of coupons)

Rolled $10.00 RR
Final Cost - 5.84
$4.50 Register Rewards

Not too shabby. The cashier (who I was VERY nice too especially since the coupons didn't all want to ring in right) was very impressed, and she said she doesn't impress with coupons easily. Now that I've been through a major purchase like this, I know I could do things differently. I could have pulled the lypmoisturizer from the first purchase and not needed the candy bar, or still bought the bar and used 2 RR. No biggie. I'm also glad I knew ahead of time that the number of coupons can not outnumber items.

I think I'll use my RR on kids' toothpaste and some hair things for my daughter.

9/1/08 - Labor Day Grilling

Labor Day begs to have flame-charred food on the table, and I am happy to oblige. We didn't do much for the holiday. I mean, why Labor on Labor Day when you can take it easy and enjoy the day off.

• Rib Eyes (from Angel Food) - somewhat thin but they were moist and good and almost shredded with our fork. I took them straight out of the package, not even fully thawed, and had DH toss them on the grill. We didn't even season them. Served with A1.
• Broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix (also from Angel Food), microwaved and served with champagne vinegar
• Parmesan Spinach noodles from Aldi

Once again, no leftovers.

8/31/08 Its Skyline Time

Tonight was Skyline night. I admit, I used a can of Skyline chili and didn't make my own. For the uninitiated:

4-Way -
spagetti
red beans
chili
shredded cheese

Remove beans and it is a 3-way. Add diced onions and you have a 5-way. Don't forget the hot sauce!

Since we never eat all the chili, we have coney dogs too. Boil hot dogs, serve on bun with mustard, chili, cheese and finely diced onions. Top with hot sauce if desired.

8/30/08 - Grill Night

I found some hamburger patties in the freezer, so I decided to grill. Hamburgers with cheese, pickles, tomatoes and other condiments, canned baked beans, coleslaw.

Apple Coleslaw

1/2 head cabbage, shredded
1 apple, cored and diced
1/2 cup raisins

dressing:
1 1/2 T oil (I used 1 T vegetable and 1/2 T walnut oil)
2 T red wine vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cracked black pepper
1/8 t red pepper
1/8 t garlic powder

Whisk dressing ingredients well and pour over salad mixture. Stir well and let set in refrigerator 2-4 hours.

8/29/08 Calzones

Friday night is (almost) always calzones and pizzas. We used to order pizza in, and while I miss that sometimes, I have found it is WAY cheaper to make my own. Also, everyone gets exactly what they want, and I can make as much dough as I need. DH and I get loaded calzones, and the kids get little pizzas.

Here's my basic recipe. I used about 1 cup whole wheat flour because I ran out of white flour. I may need to add a bit of gluten to get it to rise more, but no one complained. It helps we normally eat whole wheat bread.

1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
3 cups flour -- or more if needed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
oregano, garlic powder, Italian seasoning -- to taste

Place all ingredients in breadmaker according to your machine's instructions. Make
on dough cycle.

When finished, remove, roll into a ball and let rest covered in olive oil coated bowl 30-45 minutes on counter or up to overnight in refrigerator.

Separate into 3-4 pizza sized pieces of dough, 5-6 calzone sized, one large Stromboli, or whatever form your family likes to make pizzas. Bake at 425' with whatever toppings you prefer until golden brown - approx. 6 minutes for a pizza and 12-15 for a calzone.

I also make this in my Kitchenaid mixer - place water, yeast and sugar in bowl and
let proof for 5-10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix with dough hook 15
minutes or so. Form into a ball, coat mixer bowl with olive oil, roll to coat and
cover with plastic wrap. Proof in refrigerator 2 hours to overnight. I let it
rest at room temperature 15 minutes or so to make the dough easier to work with.