Thursday, March 25, 2010

So Basic Tutorial on Couponing!

Makes you go hmmmm...I can actually do this. This lady makes it doable, and she does a spectacular job.
Couponing Basic Video Tutorial

The biggest thing that I got out of this tutorial is on HOW I shop. Majority of us look in our pantry/fridge/freezer and write a shopping "want" list. These are items we want, perhaps need, and are willing to pay top dollar to purchase the items we "want" right now. We then scramble these items up to create meals without a plan of attack.

What I learned to do different: Buy what's on SALE...doing this alone, without couponing can save you 25% instantly! Buy your items that you know you will want later when they are at their rock bottom prices. Most items go on sale 4-6 week cycles so stock up enough till they go on sale again.

The videos cover getting started really well. Have fun!

Monday, March 22, 2010

First Shopping Trip with Coupons

Store: Kroger
# Items Purchased: 59
MFG Coupon Savings:  $12.00
Store Coupons & Plus Card Savings: $57.54


Total Spent: $94.73
I came $5.27 under my weekly budget....I actually used this towards my next newspaper purchase.

I shopped what was ON SALE, used the few COUPONS I could find to MATCH the sales {the amount of Q's (coupons) I use will go up as I build my coupon stash}.
THIS IS HOW YOU SAVE!!!!
I just got that...after all these years making up a list of items that I WANTED and then buying them, with very little thought. Who taught us to shop like this? You save by buying what's on SALE, then plan your menu around what was on sale.

At the moment the family is eating out of our pantry/freezer/fridge. I am stocking up on what we will need for meals ahead.

I'm just gonna highlight some of the deals that got me excited....

Paid $94.73 for $164.27 worth of products.
(final price paid after sales and coupons in parenthesis)

(10)  Sargento Shredded Cheese 8 oz $1.49 ea ($.99 ea.)
     *the Kroger brand Bar or Shredded Cheese 16 oz at $2.99
(8) Ronzoni Pasta 16 oz at 79¢ ea (makes it 24¢ ea)
-$1/2 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest
-$1/2 Ronzoni Garden Delight
-$1/2 Ronzoni Smart Taste 

(4lbs) Red Delicious, Cameo, Jonagold or Braeburn Apples at $1 lb 
(2lbs.) Bosc or Anjou Pears $1 lb
(1 bag) Kroger Value Russet Potatoes 10 lb bag at $3.99 ea
(4) Kroger Dozen Large Eggs $1.18 ea 
(2) Garden of Eatin’ Tortilla Chips 9 oz at $2 ea
-$1 off Garden of Eatin’ product  (makes $1.00 ea)
(1 bag) Jumbo Florida Navel Oranges 8 lb bag at $5.99 ea
  

Printable Coupons, Where to get them.

Here's my list of links to where i get my coupons in general. Also many times links from @SouthernSavers takes you to company websites, requiring you to sign up to be able to print off their coupons. Their legit and you do need to sign up. I suggest using an email address that is just for couponing. I already had a junk-mail email @yahoo so I used it.
  1. Yahoo! Mail: The best web-based email!
  2. MSN Hotmail
  3. Gmail: Email from Google
  4. AOL Mail: Simp


    Coupon Sites:  You will need to download a coupon printing program that will allow your printer to print out these coupons in a special format.



    SmartSource
    Coupons.com

    RedPlum.com
    Publix Clubs 

    Shortcuts.com
    Unilever Rewards


    and I also registered at Cellfire.com
    to be able to load coupons directly onto my Kroger Savings Card. In all honesty...I haven't used many of the coupons on this as much as I thought I would, and the coupons are very sparse. But hey if I get one coupon out of it...it's still a savings.

    I love printing coupons...why?

    1. They are exactly for what I want to buy.
    2. I can print up to two, (sometimes more) for one coupon.
    3. Printables are usually higher value coupons.
    4. It's easy to cut out a bulk of coupons with my paper cutter at one time. I just line the sheets up.  The coupon program formats them to line up.

     


Thursday, March 18, 2010

So I am hooked. Couponing!!!

So I am hooked. Couponing just gave me an unbelievable high. My local Publix just made me so happy (they allowed me to use all the printed Q's I had) So here it is 8 boxes of WW Pasta for LESS than the price of one head of lettuce ya'll! 10 cents a box Whaaaat!!!

Save more so I can GIVE more...This will going to the The Pantry DC!! God is Good!!

In total I bought: 46 boxes of pasta = 46lbs.
@$1.29 for 2 (sale price)
46 boxes of pasta would cost = $29.67

Since I was able to print off 1 Q  per item
46 coupons totaled = $25.30
------------------------------------------------
$4.37 (not including sales tax)
FOR 46 boxes of pasta!!!!!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Couponing Officially Begins!

Goal $100 a week for groceries..for a family of 3 adults, 3 kids: this is going to include baby diapers and formula for now (the baby is 8 mo.).
Our family does like variety and Asian foods so I do buy many ingredients that just won't ever have coupons for.

I've printed nearly 50 printable coupons and purchased a double stack Sunday paper today. I found an old leather zip binder of mine that has pockets that I can use to hold pens, and even scissors.

As far as organizing I think I will do it like this initially and tweak as I see fit.

  • - On Sunday purchase Sunday Paper (Regular: $2.00 ea.  Double Stacks: $3.00 ea.) I am buying 4 reg. or just two double stacks *I'm just crazy like that) **You can also purchase the Early Sunday Edition on Saturdays.
  • -Remove all Coupon Inserts from paper.
  • -Open each Insert and combine all duplicates to staple together (makes for easy cutting when I cut later)
  • -Place each Coupon Insert into individual plastic sleeves...Labeled with the Insert Source and Date ie:  Red Plum (RP) 03/00/10, Smart Source (SS) 03/00/10, Procter & Gamble (P&G) 03/00/10.
  • -Print off list of the coupons in the inserts...HERE will insert into sleeves in front of each insert. Love this because it also includes the expiration dates. I do go through the list to mark off the coupons that wasn't included in my inserts due to the fact that coupon inserts vary regionally and paper to paper.
  • -@SouthernSavers I will print off the weekly list of matchups from each store...and gather the coupons I will use for that week into a sleeve labeled: This weeks coupons. The printable list is awesome to keep me on track at the grocery store of my coupons and spending. I just write off to the side the extra items I need to buy and factor it into my budget.
  •  -@SouthernSavers  I will also print off Printable Coupons that have been linked on their matchups. This is great way to get you started with printed coupons. I initially signed up for the top sites and just printed and printed....boy was that a headache sorting because of my printing frenzy. **You can print off your coupons twice, sometime 3-4x...this is a must on those coupons you know you will use.
  • -Just cause it helps to have it tangibly in my hand I will keep the various store weekly ads folded in the back of my zip binder. But there is a great site to go to that has all the links to the individual weekly ads for all the stores you want...Sunday Saver.

Now off to the store and buy. Have no idea when and how that will happen just yet. I haven't decided on the right day, and if I will wait till I can go on my own. Probably should go on my own one night this week for my initial shopping with coupons venture.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

4 Cups Uncooked Brown Rice

This is my first time cooking brown rice to FREEZE...I've looked all over the web that says it'll freeze well but I'm scared that the rice will get gummy, instead of being a bit chewy like I like it. So there's a first time for everything. My trusty Zoji rice cooker is on for brown rice...it has a 4 cup limit for brown rice so I thought I'd start with that. I used about 6 cups of the chicken stock I made earlier, as the cooking liquid. The smell of the stock and rice cooking is already wafting through the house...YUM!


Rice all done and cooling down. If I hadn't mentioned before...aluminum pans are such a big help during the freezer cooking. They help to portion out meals and helps to get the foods cooled down quicker before they get put into the Zip freezer bags.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

What got done today...

I still want to get:

  1. green smoothies prepped for the SHOH (Spiritual Head of Household aka Hubby)
  2. I've got the pineapple frozen down stairs and the green grapes frozen upstairs. 
  3. Cut up all cantaloupe (just did one)
  4. bring up all frozen berries from down stairs
  5. prep chicken breast for Katsu...wrap individually in press n seal wrapper.
  6. prep chicken breast for French Friend Onion covered Chicken...will serve with Stove Top.
  7. prep for blueberry muffin mix
  8. cook up blueberry pancakes
  9. cook up whole wheat french toast
  10. prep for crab cakes (shirley's recipe)   
So not a very fruitful day in the sense that I got much of this list taken care of. I actually had an impromptu Massage appointment to do first thing this morning @ 9am. So went and helped out SHOH's co-worker out by giving him a 1hr. massage. Apparently he was in so much pain yesterday from a previous injury that he was close to tears during work. As a massage therapist, how can I not want to help with my healing hands. He seemed to get some relief from the session. I can't be too sure because I am still not all that confident in my skills as a therapist. I constantly doubt my ability to really affect people in a healing way despite my raving reviews from all the clients I ever saw during clinic at ASHA. He did graciously show his gratitude and I am thankful for it.

As I am leaving for home, I hear on the radio of all these county schools closing early for another snow day. It was mainly just slush and rain but in the area where the Big Baby goes to school at, it was blanketed in snow. I say...here in the south, Snow is a very formidable obstacle. So {love technology} I checked my email and lo and behold there it is...school is closing at 12pm {mind u it's already 11am}. So off I go driving towards a winter slushland as I drive further NW. I wish I had taken a picture of all the snow...I really need to take more pictures during my day to correspond with my ramblings. I have an iphone for goodness sake. Well it is a new day tomorrow.

Monday, March 1, 2010

So at the END of the day!

Wowzers I got a lot more done than I thought I would. I even got the kitchen cleaned up and dinner done just as the hubby and mil walked in. After all that cooking my back is killing me, but I have to pat myself on the back for getting so much done without a solid plan. Truth be told I wasn't even planning on freezer cooking today at all. I just had some burst of motivation as I walked in this morning after dropping off the Giant Baby aka (oldest son).

I did not get around to prepping any fruit for smoothies. I recently bought four cantaloupes that were on sale at Kroger this week for 1.39. I couldn't pass that up. We use cantaloupes a lot in our green smoothies. So I'll be freezing what we can't eat fresh. They are still not ripened much so I've actually got time. The bananas too are a much used fruit for smoothies and for banana bread. I love me some banana bread. But I think I will wait till the family has had their fill of fresh bananas before freezing them.

Did remember to bring up the block of sharp cheddar to defrost in the refrigerator so that I can have at it in the Kitchen Aide sometime tomorrow. I think I will make Taco fillings with one of the bags of browned ground deer, and go ahead and set aside the cheese for it.


So what I got for the freezer today was this:


  • 1 bag of diced onions
  • 2 sandwich bags full of diced chicken meat = 2 chicken Scampi dinners.
  • 2 bags browned ground deer w/ onions.
  • 2 bags spaghetti meat sauce.
  • 2 portions of homemade chicken stock
  • 8 cups (cooked) brown rice cooked in chicken stock.
  • 2 mochicko chicken dinners
  • 1 dozen single servings pureed carrot and applesauce baby food.
  • 1 extra large dinner portion of Spaghetti Parmesan. 
I still want to get:
  1. green smoothies prepped for the SHOH (Spiritual Head of Houshold aka Hubby)
  2. I've got the pineapple frozen down stairs and the green grapes frozen upstairs. 
  3. Cut up all cantelope 
  4. bring up all frozen berries from down stairs
  5. prep chicken breast for Katsu...wrap individually in press n seal wrapper.
  6. prep chicken breast for French Friend Onion covered Chicken...will serve with Stove Top.
  7. prep for blueberry muffin mix
  8. cook up blueberry pankakes
  9. cook up whole wheat french toast
  10. prep for crab cakes (shirley's recipe)    
I say....NOT too shabby for an unplanned, spur of the moment First Freezer Cooking Day.
I just might blow it outta the park if I actually planned it out!

Spaghetti Parmesean (formaly known as Tom Cruise Spaghetti)

I already have some spaghetti cooked and frozen, and we just bought bacon that was on sale w/ a coupon. I thought to prep this for my weekly 30somthings Woman's small group. I didn't think I could really freeze this meal all combined and cooked because I think it just won't taste the same as when it's freshly made due to the eggs....but I looked it up and this article says that you can freeze beaten eggs. I think I will try some and see. I_Can_Freeze_That


Here I am browning the 1lbs of the bacon I diced up. I browned 1lb. at a time because I did not want to boil the bacon but to crisp it up and render majority of the fat. I then drained the crisp bacon into my trusty aluminum pan lined with paper towels.



Next I used about 2 cups of the onions I had pre-diced and added sliced fresh mushrooms to the skillet to cook till they were translucent. I then added the mushroom/onion mixture to the pan of dried bacon and mixed. As soon as it cooled...I transferred the mix into a large Zip bag.

How this dish was named...It's been years ago now...Tom Cruise was a guest on Oprah (like for the billionth time) and at the time he was dating Penelope Cruz..."Cruise/Cruz".  Anyway Oprah asked Tom...what does he like to cook at home for Penelope that she loved to eat?..and so I being the adoring fan that I am of the "Cruise/Cruz" couple...perked up and paid attention...not enought to really remember what he called the dish, but as I've seen in other recipe's with the same ingredients...this dish is likened to the Italian's Spaghetti Carbonara...ah it's all the same to me so I think Tom was cooking along the lines as Tyler is in his recipe...
tyler-florence/spaghetti-alla-carbonara...BUT what I did was substitute the pricey ingredients with the ingredients I usually always have on hand.

Panchetta = Bacon
Freshley Grated Parmesan-Reggiano Cheese = Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese
and I thought to use onions, added sliced mushrooms, and used house seasoning in place of the fresh cloves of garlic.

So Tom cooked this on the Oprah show. I modified it to be more user friendly for my kitchen, and thus was born what I called Tom Cruise's Spaghetti.
A few years later he is jumping on Oprah's couch declaring his love for (his 16 year junior) Katie Holmes...that didn't bother me much until he got started adamantly endorsing Scientology and disapproving Brooke Shields for her abuse of her star power to endorse drugs for her PP Depression. (I suffer from depression and there has been a time where medication was the only option to getting out of the pit of despair.) So needless to say I have not been much of his fan since then. And to call this delightful dish after him would ruin the taste of it...at least in my mouth. My family could care less...they inhale it!

Mochicko Chicken, a little taste of Hawaii!

Grew up eating this in plate lunches, but not until just recently did I make this for my hapa-haole family. They ate it like they'd been starved to death. So ONO as they say in Hawaii.


So for two batches I used an entire tray of chicken thighs, it's pricier but we buy the wholesale club vacuumed sealed chicken. I won't go back to the clustered tray of chicken meat that I'd have to individually repack to freeze. I inevitably always forget to divvy them up right away so it goes to spoil in the refrigerator or I just shove into the freezer, thus I end up with an entire tray frozen SOLID. So yes, I will pay for the convenience of having the portions individually vacuumed sealed, neat and tidy.

I was out of Mochicko flour (kinda funny that I'd be out of the ingredient that hence the name of the dish) so I just used cornstarch. The substitution is not noticeable.


Mochiko Chicken
5 Packs chicken thighs, skinned, deboned and cut into bite size pieces. (or chicken wings)
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup shoyu = 10 TBS
8 tablespoons Mochiko flour = heaping 1/2 cup
8 tablespoons cornstarch = heaping 1/2 cup
6 tablespoons sugar = 1/2 cup
1/2 cup green onion, finely chopped = 2 lg. stalks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
oil for frying
Mix everything (except chicken and oil). Marinate chicken for 5 hours or overnight in refrigerator. Fry chicken in 1-inch hot oil until golden brown on both sides. Cool and cut into slices.

Whole Chicken Chicken Stock

This will be an awesome twofer....once the chicken gets all cooled I'll shred and dice the meat.

So once the chicken cooled, and I add to the pot some root veggies...carrots, celery, garlic, and onions just roughly chopped, a dash of house seasoning and a few bay leaves. Maybe next time I'll add some dried rosemary or oregano for some depth of flavor.
I shredded the chicken while standing next to the pot so that I could just drop the bones back into the pot to continue the cooking and extract all the flavor from the bones and innards (from the pouch found in the chicken).

I yeilded about 6 cups of flavorful..slightly bland homemade chicken stock. I did the bland intentionally, and you can do that when you make things from scratch. So much healthier for you.


The whole chicken yielded 2 sandwich bags full of diced chicken meat that I will use for Chicken Scampi later on in the month. I already have the spaghetti noodles cooked and frozen so the sauce is all I'll have to add when I make the dinner. I've found that the cream of chicken doesn't really freeze well and separates when thawed out so this is as far as I go to prepping this dinner.


As for the chicken  stock I have plans to use it to cook my brown rice. The extra flavor to the brown rice is really tasty. This will be the first time I cook brown rice to freeze it. We'll see how that turns out when I defrost to use for a recipe.

Homemade Baby Food..It's Time!!

My baby is finally old enough to start solids and oooh how I was looking forward to this time. I remember the first time I made homemade baby food and that was for my now 10 year old son. It was fun then but so time consuming and messy (canning jars were such a hassle). Third child later, I'm wiser and craftier so not a huge problem to whip up some tasty, healthy baby food for the baby....ahhhh VitaMix. Love, love my VitaMix. Pureed Carrots is first off. A handful of carrots ( I had baby carrots on hand today so I used those), a few tbs. of water and a few tbs. organic applesauce....VitaMix on for a minute or so and there she is...homemade baby food.
 
 

 I spooned it into a ice tray, covered and put them in the freezer. Will get them out a little later to put into a large Zip bag to actually store better in the freezer.

First All Day Freezer Cooking: Deer Meat

The morning went quick...already made 2 spaghetti dinners and browning more ground deer for the freezer...enjoying my freezer cooking day so far! I think the aluminum pans are a huge help. I have a bunch of them to use when I need to take food out to a social gathering (no worrying about remembering to take home the dirty dishes). So here I can use them to divvy up the portions, and help to cool down the entree before pouring them into the gallon size Zip bags that will store much easier into my freezer. It's also great that I use these pans because I know I can stick them into the dishwasher and easily reuse them. Gotto love that.


First All Day Freezer Cooking

Why am I blogging this I don't know...for my sake, sanity, and some laughs. I've found a lot of moms doing this to motivate themselves to do the best with what they have for the Glory of the Lord and sharing their experience to benefit others mutual pursuit. I'm jumping on the bandwagon of Blogging my adventure of Mommyhood.

So my first entry is this...I'm following along MoneySavingMom.com  as she and her readers are  tackling OAMC = Once A Month Cooking. Now I surely did not technically plan to do enough to last us a month of dinners for EACH night, but surely after our grocery shopping yesterday I know I can generate at least a dozen frozen meals for the family.

I am so excited to be doing this. I want so much to be able to feed my family healthy, home cooked meals but not at the expense of going insane and killing myself of exhaustion due to our busy lifestyle. Eating out has it's place, so does fast food but after a bit I just can't stomach the money wasted that could better serve to keep me from having to go to work. Also it's scary to overuse eating fast foods that are potentially hurting my family's health...so here I go on with the Freezer cooking!

The haphazard menu/game plan looks like:
Deer Meat Spaghetti
Whole Chicken boiled for Stock and meat.
Chicken Meat for Chicken Scampi...I've already got Spaghetti Noodles frozen.
Deer Meat browned w/ Onions that were previously frozen.
May be cutting up more onions to freeze.
Chicken Thighs for Mochicko Chicken
Chicken Breast prepped for Chicken Katsu

This may get more elaborate as I get through the day.