Mar 27, 2009

Good stock-up week! Shaw's and Stop & Shop sales

This is a GREAT week to stock your freezer at Shaw's and Stop & Shop! There are also deals to be had in pantry items, here's my picks for the week:

Shaw's:

Ground Beef - $1.99/lb (I would buy at least 2 family sized packages)
Half boneless Pork loin - $1.79/lb - bring it to the store butcher and have him slice into chops and roasts...it doesn't get better!
Canteloupe - $0.88 EACH
MarketFresh Spinach - $1 for a 10 oz bag
Hormel Chili - $1 each - use $1/2 coupon from 3/15SS
Bounty Single Roll - $1 each, use $0.25/1 coupon from 3/1PG (will double)
Shaw's unsalted butter - $1.99/lb
Post Cereals (select varieties) - 2/$3, must buy 2
Chex Cereals (select varieties) - 5/$10 - use $1/1 coupon from 3/8SS
Honex Kix cereal - 5/$10 - use $1/2 coupon from 3/22SS
Smuckers Preserves - 2/$4 - use $1/3 coupon in 3/29RP


Stop & Shop:

Boneless Chicken Breast - $1.79/lb (buy at least 2 family size packages)
Broccoli Crowns - $0.99/lb
Coffee-Mate 16 oz flavored creamer - 2/$4 - use $1.50/2 printable
Yoplait Yogurt - 20/$10 - use $1/8 printable




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The Goodie Bag

More saving fun to get your weekend started!




Free sample of Eucerin Smoothing Essentials

Free sample of Cottonelle toilet paper and flushable wipes

Free sample of Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion (thanks to "Deal"icious Mom!)

Free sample of Quaker rice cakes

Free sample of Tide Total care (thanks Bargain Central!)

Another one from "Deal"icious Mom - Visit OldNavyWeekly.com - there are hidden coupons in the online flyer!

Get a Bath & Body Works Free signature collection item ($12 value) with any $10 purchase

Just in time for Easter: Save at Dress Barn with $10 off $50 or $20 off $75 purchase of regular-priced items

Or at Sears, get $5 off a $50 purchase

At Victoria's Secret, get a free Beauty Rush lip gloss with any purchase - expires 3/31


Get 70% off savings at Restaurant.com, use the code SAVE at checkout, and get $25 gift certificates for just Three Dollars!

Get a free small popcorn with fountain drink at AMC theaters - expires 3/31





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Mar 26, 2009

OAMC - baby steps!

If you've been following my Bricklaying series, you know that I recently touched on a great frugal cooking method, Once a Month Cooking. I haven't yet delved whole-hog into the process yet, but I have been doing a LOT of reading about it...I'm one of those people that needs to make it work in my head before I can make it work in practice :)

I did, however, take a few baby steps towards that end. I haven't figured out yet how I can set aside a whole day for cooking but I DID use some of my cooking time a little more efficiently during the week!

For me, time is the biggest issue. I could handle the massive cooking, the packaging, the project management involved...but with both of us working full- or near full time, our days off are precious. I already cook full meals in the evenings, so I started to review my recipes to see which ones would be simple enough to double and freeze - and found that I had a pretty good arsenal to work with!

By just doubling a recipe that freezes well, you're guaranteeing you have at least one (or more if you usually have leftovers) meal completely prepared in your stockpile. You're adding minimal effort because you're already making one meal for your family. And if you're meal planning around the sales or your stockpile (as I do), you're getting more mileage out of those low prices AND saving yourself time down the line.

Last week, I had planned to make Bee Rocks - when I make a single batch, I usually end up with 6 or 7 for the freezer anyway...doubling the filling was easy (I used a dutch oven instead of a skillet because of the volume) and the dough is simple to make in multiple batches. I made the filling in the afternoon to save a little time, but you could easily make it a day or two ahead since it cooks again once it's in the dough. The assembly took about 40 minutes total - it added about 20 minutes to my dinnertime routine but I now have twenty-five neat foil packages in the freezer - that's after our meal for the night! That would feed us at least 3-5 times.

The other dip in the OAMC pool came on Pizza night - this is a weekly occurence in our house, so I always have the ingredients handy. I found new inspiration over at Once a Month Mom, where they posted a recipe for Pizza roll ups as part of this month's plan. Again, I just doubled my dough recipe on pizza night, and while the dinner pizza was baking I assembled the Pizza Roll-up. (My husband dubbed it "sushi-roni") The pizza rollups cooked while we ate our dinner, and I ended up with 12 pizza pinwheels for the freezer with almost NO extra effort! Two of them make a decent serving if you have them with a salad or side.

We've used the pizza rolls for lunch at work, and the Bee Rocks will make a nice easy dinner paired with some leftover soup from this week - it's not QUITE full-court OAMC, but it's a start!

*I'll be relabeling entries at The Recipe Mission to include OAMC as I find which ones work best!



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Cheap bowling!

Just found this on Coupon Cravings - $0.99 bowling at AMF lanes with a printable coupon!

Visit her post to get the coupon, details and find an AMF Bowling center near you! Gotta love cheap entertainment :)



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Mar 23, 2009

Menu Plan Monday - March 23 '09

Ok so I'm posting this from work because we got home WAAAY too late last night after a day of party going with the boy...I am too old to be this social :-)

Anyway, I will post recipes and prices later tonight when I have a moment to breathe, but here's my menu plan for this week! Don't forget to check on the other menu plans at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Monday - Chicken pot pie ($4.00 for 6 servings)

Tuesday - Roast turkey breast, sweet potatoes, mixed veggies ($10 for 6 servings plus TONS of meat leftovers!)

Wednesday - Pulled pork sandwiches (using leftover Pork roast and homemade rolls, corn on the cob ($2.99 for 4-6 servings)

Thursday - Leftovers! (Free!)

Friday - Tomato and chickpea soup, grilled cheese ($5.19 for 4 servings)

Saturday - Homemade pizza ($2.50 for 6-8 servings)

Sunday - dinner at the in laws




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Mar 21, 2009

This week at Stop & Shop

OK so I wasn't terribly impressed with Shaw's this week (they usually have the better sales, I was surprised!) For Shaw's Shoppers, there was a coupon in the flyer for $0.49 loaf of bread IF you spend $25 at the register...I couldn't come up with that much stuff to make the sale worthwhile, so I got my usual $0.75 bread at Price Rite.

Stop & Shop definitely took the day. Here's a few non-coupon deals I came across:

Shadybrook Farm frozen turkey breast $0.99/lb (most of the ones at my store were about 7 pounds, I bought two...each one will last about 3 meals!)

White Gem roaster chickens $0.99/lb (this wasn't advertised in my area, but the price was right! I bought one for the freezer)

Strawberries $2.99 for a 2lb container. At $1.50/lb that is a GREAT price! At my store these were big, ripe (but not TOO ripe) berries. I thought it was funny they were also selling 1 lb containers for $2.50 right next to the 2lb containers.

A few other coupon deals I didn't do but might be worth your while!

Healthy Choice Entrees 5 for $10
- use 2 $1 off 2 printable
- Buy 5, get $3 off your next transaction
**net cost - $5 for 5 entrees!**

Perdue Breaded Chicken Nuggets/Cutlets $2.99
- use $1 off 1 insert coupon (3/15 SS)
**net cost - $1.99/package**







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Mar 19, 2009

Entrecard woes

I was holding off on saying much about the new Entrecard changes, but I am curious as to what others think about what is going on, so here's my soapbox :)

In case you hadn't yet heard, Entrecard is making some rather large changes to the way they do business...they are going to be "monetizing" the system, creating 2 major changes:

1. You would be able to "cash out" your entrecard credits if you like, for real money. No mention has been made yet as to what the exchange rate is going to be, or what limits will be put on it (minimums or maximums)

2. You will have to share ad space with THEIR paid advertisers. Meaning, instead of receiving ad requests just from other bloggers, you will also get them from companies that pay ENTRECARD to have ads placed.

There were two major complaints that have since been addressed with changes to the requirements:

They were going to require that all Entrecard widgets be placed "above the fold" - meaning when you get to a blog you shouldn't have to scroll down to find the widget. There was a HUGE response to this, as many blog designs make that impossible. THE GOOD NEWS: They have now changed this rule and now have a "one-page down" rule...I think it's better, but it will still mean that I have to change my own placement if I want to stay with Entrecard...I'm still holding off to see if things change again.

They were also going to charge an ad rejection fee (if you rejected one of the outside advertisers' ads you'd get docked some credits). This has since been removed - thank goodness. This was probably the part I had most issue with - I can choose what (if anything) to advertise on my blog with no penalties from every other ad network, why should I be penalized if I don't want ads from Entrecard's folks? I'm not making any money if someone clicks thru to their ads, Entrecard is. Glad they got this one fixed.

Overall, I'm not hugely impressed. I don't like being told where I "have" to put my widgets, especially for someone else's advertisers. I'm not told where to advertise by any other third party group (and I am the one getting paid if they get click thru's!) and I still feel that's a little demanding. But I DO like the idea of not having to scroll ALL THE WAY DOWN the page to find the drop widget...there are some blogs I spend more time looking for the widget than I do actually reading. I don't drop a lot because I DO take the time to read blogs instead of dropping and running, and by keeping the widgets higher I can read more and hunt less. I DO like the idea of being able to get cash for my unused credits, I just don't know if the tradeoff will be worth it.

I was sorry to hear that many of the awesome blogs I found via Entrecard would have to bow out just because of this - for ME, Entrecard has been a great way to connect...I like the advertising, but I like discovering new bloggers even more. I'm reserving judgement until I see what the final result is - I'm glad Entrecard listened to the complaints and made changes, but I'm still not crazy about where they're headed.

What do you think? Will you stay or leave?






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Mar 18, 2009

Redbox Free Wednesdays!


Redbox has provided yet another free movie code for Wednesday! The same rules apply as free movie Mondays - good for one night's rental, one use per credit/debit card...movie must be rented by midnight tonight and returned by 9pm on Thursday. Your code is:

GTL456

Visit Redbox.com to find a kiosk near you...choose "rent with promo code", select your movie, enter your code and swipe your card, and enjoy the freebie!







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Mar 17, 2009

Happy St Patty's Day!


Happy St Patrick's Day! As someone who married into a DEEPLY Irish-American family, I am fully prepared to spend the day doting over shamrocks and looking for little green men (and this time NOT in Area 51..)

Though we won't be eating Corned Beef and Cabbage today, I'm pretty sure that will be on the menu Sunday when we're all gathered at my in-law's house. I actually don't mind it, I have several friends who are also green-to-the-bone and who regularly host "traditional" Irish parties complete with that salty hunk of meat and LOTS of Guinness :)

I did come across an interesting tidbit, for those of us who find this holiday charmingly silly...

This Wikipedia entry mentions that the History Channel found that corned beef is NOT (here's where I duck and cover) a traditional Irish dish....it was adopted by Irish immigrants living in New York in the 1800's who could not afford or find their traditional Irish bacon meat. They were introduced to Corned beef as a cheaper alternative by their Jewish neighbors.

That's right, folks....when you don your green bowler and bowtie, make sure you've got your yarmulke on underneath :)



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Mar 16, 2009

Free Movie Monday!



It's that time again! Yet another Free Movie Monday code from Redbox...if you haven't taken advantage of this I would highly recommend it. Redbox kiosk locations can be found at Redbox.com, where you can also find a complete list of available flicks!

Today's code is:

2GR4N8

When you get to the kiosk, choose "rent with promo code", select your movie, enter the code, swipe your card, and you're good to go! Movie must be rented by midnight tonight and returned by 9PM on Tuesday. One use per credit/debit card, any additional nights will be billed at the usual $1 per day rate.

Happy viewing!



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Mar 15, 2009

Menu Plan Monday - March 16th '09

Is it spring yet??? We had a very mild weekend in New England (50-ish and only slightly windy) so I really hope it's a sign of things to come. I am SO done with winter!!! Hey - the good news is, warm weather has to get here SOMETIME...

We did really well sticking to the menu last week - the only change was that we didn't get to my in-laws tonight, so I took the leftover rice, veggies and chicken from Monday's meal and made homemade fried rice...yummy!

This week I'm still diving into my stockpile - hubby FINALLY got a new job but doesn't start till next week, so we're pinching pennies more tightly until his paychecks start coming. But HUGE blessings that he could find work again fairly quickly! I'm boiling a family sized pack of chicken leg quarters to make shredded chicken for 2 of the meals, plus some stock for another time! I also plan on making extra Bee Rocks (and trying a batch with pepperoni, tomato sauce and cheese filling) for the freezer...and speaking of freezer, I've been doing a lot of reading about OAMC (as I mentioned in my Bricklaying post) and I think I'm going to team up with a friend and give it a try...that will certainly take some pressure off of MPM's!!!

Here's what I've got this week - check out Laura's menu at I'm an Organizing Junkie - then head over to $5 Dinners where Erin is guest hosting the Linky list for the week!

monday - Bee Rocks, green beans ($4.76 for 4 servings plus LOTS for the freezer!)

tuesday - Chicken Biscuit Wraps, mixed veggies ($5.62 for 6-8 servings)

wednesday - Herb crusted pork tenderloin, rice, veggies ($5.80 for 4-6 servings)

thursday - Cabbage Roll Casserole, homemade rolls ($4.87 for 6-8 servings)

friday - Leftover night (Free!)

saturday - Homemade pizza ($2.51 for 6-8 servings)

sunday - Dinner at the in Laws! (Free!)



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Mar 14, 2009

I'm a bargain!

Hop over to Entrecard - only 64 credits to advertise right now!! (I'm way behind in my dropping...)

Leave me a comment if you do buy an advertisement so I can return the favor :-)



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Mar 13, 2009

The Goodie Bag

Check out what's free or on sale across the interweb!


Free sample of Betty Crocker Warm Delights

Free sample of Caress Evenly Gorgeous™ Exfoliating Body Wash

Free sample of Dove Heat Defense Therapy or Intense Damage Therapy hair care

Free Cream of Wheat sample

Free sample of Emergen-C

Save $1.50 off Pampers

Get 80% off at Restaurant.com! That's a $25 gift certificate for just $2!

Deal Seeking Mom posted about getting Johnson's Buddy soaps for free - several coupons listed!

From Bath & Body Works:
Free True Blue Spa travel size item with any purchase (thanks "Deal"icious Mom!) (expires 3/15)
Free Signature collection shower gel with any $10 purchase (expires 3/25)

Awesome coupon from the Gap! Get 30% off your purchase AND they will donate 5% of your purchase price to Teach for America! This is good at Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and the outlet stores! (thanks to Free 2 Be Frugal!)

Want coupons for Organic products? Check out Coco's Top 10 coupons at Frugal in Paradise this week! Includes coupons from Organic Valley, Seventh Generation, Brown Cow, and many more.

Get ready for gardening - Check out these coupons from Home Depot's Garden Club and get savings on trash bags, weed killer, and spring bulbs! (thanks to Coupon Cravings)

Also, Freebies 4 Mom had a great post on getting more coupons for Home Depot - be sure to stop by!

Get HALF OFF the 2009 Entertainment book! It pays for itself with just a few uses, we get them every year.


Great savings and a freebie from Gevalia Coffee (they are YUMMY)














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Mar 11, 2009

Redbox Free Wednesdays!


You read correctly! Redbox is providing free rental codes every Wednesday in March! Just the thing to entertain us through the weeks until Spring finally arrives :)

The same rules apply as for the Monday codes - one movie, must be rented by midnight tonight and returned by 9pm on Thursday. One code per credit/debit card. Today's code is:

JBG123

Visit Redbox.com to find the kiosk near you and browse available titles!

A few new releases for this week:

Cadillac Records (the Etta James biopic with Beyonce Knowles)
Milk (Sean Penn's Oscar winner)
Rachel Getting Married (with Anne Hathaway)
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (a WW2 holocaust film based on the novel)






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