winn-dixie trip

So, today after class I went to Winn Dixie. I managed to get out without spending more than 100$ and I am up to 90 cents off per gallon for the month (filling up tonight!). I got 2 good deals and I thought I would share.

1. Purina One Beyond Dog Food- so, if you have a small dog that doesn't eat much (definitely not my case), you can get this pretty good food for really cheap. Or, in my case, I want to donate to the local no-kill shelter, but donating money isn't an option. So I keep an eye out for deals.

Enough rambling here is the deal. Price: $7.99, Winn-Dixie store coupon (available in the front of the store by the weekly circular) for $2 off, that paired with a $5 off coupon from the SmartSource insert from 1/15. That means I paid $0.99 for a bag of food that I can donate. They are also usually pretty cheap at Walmart, and you will end up spending a dollar or two if you use the coupon.

2. Snacks!!!!! I love snacks, ask anyone, I ALWAYS have snacks. So there was a $2 off 3 participating brands of Nabisco snacks in the SmartSource from 1/8. This included 100 Calorie packs of Snackwells and Nabisco cookies (like chips ahoy, oreo, etc.) and a few other brands (they were pictured on the coupon). So, I picked up 2 boxes of Chips Ahoy 100 Calorie packs, 2 boxes of 100 calorie Snackwells (yogurt covered pretzels and the mint chocolate shortbread ones), and two boxes of graham crackers (the stayfresh packs, I know it creates extra wrappers in the landfills, but I would never eat a whole thing of crackers before they go stale). It would normally be 3.29 for each of the 100 calorie boxes and they were on sale 2 for $4. The graham crackers were B1G1 free (normally $3.99 each). So after coupons and sales, I paid $1.33/box.....score? I think so!

I did a little bit of a "I saved money" happy dance when I figured that last one out! So long for now!

MY ADVENTURES IN COUPONING

So, I started couponing maybe 6 months ago. And man, I had no idea what I was in for! Now that I have had time to learn the ins and outs, I would love to share my tricks and tips. So how to start.....

First you need coupons. I get one or two papers a weekend (but make sure that there are inserts in them, sometimes there are no inserts going out at all, and sometimes people steal them out of the paper). I also get my mom and mother in law to save me theirs (even though my mom takes out what coupons she wants, but never uses :p). In return for their inserts, I put them on my "coupon list," if I find something they use on sale, I just get it for them (with a coupon of course!).

So I have around 3-4 copies of each insert.

Now comes the binder. Oh lord the binder.....some people use the baseball card protector pages, and I tried that. But that means you cut out each coupon, file it where it needs to go, and then throw out all your hard work in like a month or so. Poop on that!

Which leads me to MY organization. I keep them organized by insert. I have a page protector for each insert. If you want, you can put all your copies in there, or you can rip the insert into individual pages and organize each of the pages together so you have all 3-4 of each coupon together (my preferred method because it makes it easier when I need more than one coupon).

Then I go to sundaycouponpreview.com (or you can sign up for them to be sent via e-mail each week). They have it organized with how much the coupon is worth, what its for, and.......wait for it.....the expiration date (yes that excites me)!

So I print the preview (put it in Word and shrink it down and such) and slide it in with the insert. I go through each of them and highlight which coupons I actually have. This means that I can see what I have in that sleeve and if its expired. Also, some of the coupon matching websites tell you to use coupons that you may not have gotten so its nice to know in advance before you go on a wild goose chase for a coupon that doesn't exist.

Now, this one doesn't have the exp dates, but oh well.....you get the idea. It makes for quick picking!

Now to the ads, I have not gotten the exact hang of how to quickly look at an ad and determine what deals I have coupons for...unless it says in the ad "free with coupon". So, I cheat. I LOOOOOOVE The Krazy Coupon Lady. They have individual tabs for each store (CVS, Walgreens, WalMart, etc etc). She has the weekly ad all listed with what coupons to use for which deals. She also has a quick look list of things that are great deals and she has a little icon next to the best deals which makes running through her list even easier.

Now to the list. I go through each section on the website, making a list of the things I want to snatch up and what coupons I need. I used to have an envelope for each store, but my mother in law gave me this little thing for photos (it holds about 15 pictures, but is perfect for coupons and lists). So, I make my list, collect my coupons, and wha bam. I am ready to go.

You should also be aware of the coupon policies at each store because some won't allow multiple stacks (deals plus mfg coupons plus reward bucks etc). Or have limits on how many of the deals you can get.

I also have a list that I found somewhere, but I will post the website when I can find it. It that has a list of items and what you can usually get them for, and the super stock up price. I added a column for the lowest price that I have gotten them for just so I can keep tabs on what the normal prices I pay are.

Also, don't be afraid to have a stock pile. It is nice not to have to go out and grab a 5$ bottle of shampoo, I can grab it out of my stockpile knowing I only paid like 1$ (or less) for it a while back and that I have selections.

 I know magnificent right?!

Some other tips:

CVS's magic coupon machine prints out coupons randomly and they can be stacked with your mfg coupons to make even better deals. So scan your card every time you walk in, and keep scanning it until it says "no more offers, check back tomorrow"

If you see an online coupon for an item that usually has a travel size (if there is no disclaimer on the coupon saying it cant be used for travel sizes) and print that bad boy!

Leftover coupons, I also have a index card box from school days, I have a colored card for each month, then I have a card that has a specific expiration date, for each date, I list the coupons that are behind that card, so I can flip through the cards to see if there are any coupons that I can use.

There are lots of websites out there, don't limit yourself to one! If you find a site you love, BOOKMARK IT! For some reason my mom likes http://www.couponmom.com/ I can't quite get the hang of it, but try it out!

So, good luck on your couponing, more tips to be posted when I can think of them!

Funfetti Rice Krispies

Sweet mother of invention.....who ever created these should be crowned and sent right on through to sainthood!

I won't bore you with chit chat, here is the recipe:

3 tbls of butter (I used Country Crock with Calcium and Vitamin D....that makes them healthy right?)
1- 10oz bag of mini-marshmallows (mine was 10.5oz so I was FORCED to eat some to make it less)
1/4 c of dry yellow cake mix
6c rice krispies
1-1.75 oz container of sprinkles (I bought the big container and eyeballed it)

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows. Once those start to melt begin to add the cake mix in a spoonful at a time. Once everything has melted, add it to the cereal. Once most of the cereal is coated with the marshmallow mixture, add in about half of the sprinkles. Once everything is mixed together put it in a baking dish and allow it to set (yeah....right), and top with the rest of the sprinkles.

Addition and Alterations:
The girl that originally tested the recipe added in 1/3 c of cake mix....I added a little more maybe a heaping 1/3 c. It is delish regardless of how much you add in.

What to do with the rest of the cake mix? There are some random recipes out there....easiest one, cake mix with enough water to make it cake-battery-like, microwave for a few seconds (enough to take the sheen off the top of the cake).

All I can say is put on your boots and hold on its going to be a tasty ride!

Honey Lime Tilapia

I didn't burn the house down.....and I didn't set off the smoke alarms. Wooo hoo me! So tonight I tried making Honey Lime Tilapia. It was a pinterest recipe from God knows where. It was pretty good and is a fairly healthy recipe. Here is what mine looks like (nothing like the picture from the website, but I am not that good at frying things. My track record goes something like burnt, burnt, smoking, raw, burnt....so yeah.)

Fish- Tilapia (dur, I bought the buy one get one free kind from Winn Dixie and used 3 filets)

Marinade
Zest and Juice of 1 Lime
1 tbls of Olive Oil
1 1/2 tbls of Honey
1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
1/4 tsp of garlic powder

So for the marinade, recipe suggests 1 hour (I'm impatient so I did 30 min)

Then dredge in:
1/2c of flour (I'm sneaky, I did half whole wheat and half regular flour and the picky eater couldn't tell the dif)
1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper

Heat about 2 tbls of olive oil in a pan over med to med low heat and fry. This isn't a cooking show so I'm not telling you how to fry it. Plus, I am not entirely sure how to tell when its done, it just has to look golden brown and delicious.

Addition and Alterations:
I added a little more honey just because I like it. Also, a great suggestion from the recipe's origination point was to make the marinade, put the fish in a ziploc bag with the marinade and freeze. Then throw it in the fridge in the morning, and as it defrosts, it will marinade. Pretty freaking sneaky if you ask me.

I would add a picture of mine, but it won't let me. I think you have some idea of what fried fish looks like. So, alas, I will add a picture of someone elses (it's probably more appetizing than mine).

Adventures in Pizza

So, tonight I decided to try pita pizzas....NEW FAVORITE! It is going on my list of easy to make dinners.....literally 10 minutes including prep.

1 pita for each person (I bought the kind that isn't cut in half)
3 tbls of pizza sauce (who doesn't have a lingering jar in the fridge door)
Mozzarella Cheese (no such thing as too much cheese)

Cut the pita in half (to make two pizza "shells"). For mine, once I cut into the pita, it was already split in half, just have to cut around the outside. I suggest putting the pita halves in the oven as its pre-heating to 350 so they can get crusty. Once they have a little toasty-ness to them, pull them out and add the pizza sauce, then the mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is deliciously bubbly and starting to brown.

Additions and Alterations:
I have "pizza seasoning" on the useless spice rack we got for our wedding (never seems to have what you need), so I used that, but oregano and basil (especially fresh) would work well too.
BBQ Chicken (BBQ sauce, chicken, red onions)
Margarita (Olive Oil, garlic, mozzarella)
Spinach and Artichoke (Margarita with spin and artichokes added)

Man I am hungry again!

This is a picture stolen off of Google images (mine was devoured before pictures could be taken :). But it looked the same.

Enjoy!