$1.04!!!!

After using coupons for so long now I don't know how I ever got by with out them!! I went to Target yesterday and got a killer deal!! I bought 12, 3 packs of Crystal light. .99 cents each. I also bought 8 Johnson Buddies soaps. .97 cents each. Finally I bought a 4 pack of fruit chillers. I believe thats what they are called. $2.04 regular. Now to my coupons. I had (I don`t remember the exact amounts of each coupon) some $2 off 2 packages of crystal light and I had some $1 off 1 package. I had enough coupons to get 12 packages total for FREE!!! I had 2 coupons for the buddies soap that were $3 off 3 and I had 2 coupons that were $1 off 1 soap. After the coupons they were FREE!!! I`m on a pretty good roll so far hu!! The fruit chillers were $2.04 each and I had a coupon for $1 off. So they were $1.04.

I then went to WINCO and bought 2 boxes of ritz crackers and 2 boxes of wheat thins. I had 2 coupon for FREE wheat thins when I bought ritz. So I bought the ritz of course with a coupons for those. I had 2 $2 off coupons so that brought the price down from $2.25 or so to $1.25!! For all the crackers I paid $2.50!!! For everything you see in the pic I paid $3.29!!

I just found some more crystal light coupons, enough to get 6 more 3 packs for FREE!!

Want to know my savings for the day?? If I had paid full price for everything I would have spent $30.08. Remember I only paid $3.29 for all this. That is about a 90% savings!!!! Pretty impressive!!

Awesome shopping trip today!!!

My Mom and I went shopping today. I have come to love grocery shopping thanks to coupons!!! We went to a few stores. We started out at WINCO. I bought: 4 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce, 3 containers of McCormicks pepper and 8 containers of Kraft individuals mac 'n' cheese, for a grand total of $4.11 Can you believe that!!!! I will explain how I did that. The Kraft BBQ sauce was on sale for .98 cents. I had 4 coupons for $1 off 1 bottle. So there for the BBQ sauce was FREE!! The McCormiks pepper was on sale for I think $1.29. I had 3 coupons for .75 cents off of 1. I paid .50 cents each. Finally the mac 'n' cheese was on sale for about .77 cents each. I had 4 coupons that were $1 off 2. I paid about .25 cents each. I was so excited when I saw my total.

Next we went to Rite Aid and I bought 3 packages of Trident gum regular price $1.29 on sale for .99 cents. I had 3 coupons for .75 cents off 1. I paid .75 for 3 packages of gum. AWESOME!!!

We then went to Fred Meyers where I hit the mother load. Oh my goodness it was so cool. I bought: 8 boxes of Kelloggs frosted mini wheats. They are regular $4.50 each. They were on sale for 2/$6. BUT Freddies had a coupon that dropped the price to 2/$3. Pretty good hu...NOPE!!! There was a limit of 8 with this 1 coupon. When you stack coupons you get even better deals. I used the freddies 2/$3 coupon PLUS 6 coupons for mini wheats that were $1 off 1 box. So that dropped the price from 2/$3 to 2/$1...thats right .50 cents each!!! I had 1 coupon for $1.50 off 2 boxes. So those were 2/$1.50 or .75 cents each. All in all I spent $4.50 for 8 boxes of the cereal. Now that is a great deal.

I also bought 3 boxes of band aids. Regular price $1.99 on sale for $1.40 but I had 3 coupons for $1 off 1 box. That dropped my band aids to .50 cents each.

I bought 2 large boxes of pop tarts. I`m not sure what the regular price is but I believe its just over $3 each. They were included in the 2/$3 coupon that I used on my cereal. But once again I am not satisified with the store prices so of course I had a coupon. It was $1/2 boxes. It dropped the price to 2/$2 which is pretty good. $1 per box.

I spent for all this plus some bananas and 2 bags of salad, which of course was on sale, $12!!!!! Pretty awesome!!!

At safeway I bought 4 bottles of Kraft Mayo, regular price $4.29 (just over $17 for all 4 reg. price) on sale for $2.50. I used 4 $1 off coupons plus a Safeway double coupon. The double coupon doubles upto .50 cents. So it was an extra $2 off. This dropped my price down to $4. That is an incredible savings of almost $14!!!

I tell you I have gotten so into coupons that I have a hard time buying anything at regular price now. I wont spend more than $1 for cereal anymore.

Using coupons might not sound like fun or sound too time consuming but I have come to enjoy it. I enjoy sitting down on Sundays and looking through all the adds and clipping coupons. It has become relaxing to me. It does take time to plan and figure out what you are going to do ect. But think of the savings. $14 on mayo alone. $31.50 on cereal. On those 2 items alone I saved $45.50 today. Who doesnt need the money these days. What a great way to save money and build your food storage at the same time. If you ever have questions or want to start using coupons but arent sure how/where to start feel free to give me a call or email me. I would love to help you.

Enjoy

Graham Crackers

I just learned how to make the best graham crackers I just had to share. They are so much better than store bought and so much cheaper as well. To see a video of how to make these go to

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2009/04/29/graham-crackers-whole-wheat-food-storage-recipes/food-storage-recipes

I just cant tell you how good these are!! In Crystal`s video she says that in a pinch you can use tin foil to roll the dough out in. I tried that and I got so frustrated that I threw it all away. I would not suggest using tin foil at all. I ended up pressing my dough out on the cookie sheet with my fingers. It worked for me. Just find what works for you and go with it!!

Graham Crackers

1/3 c. shortening
3/4 c. + 1 Tbs. sugar or brown sugar
3 Tbs. warmed honey
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. wheat
1 1/4 c. white flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. + 2 Tbs (5 oz.) water
1-2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine the shortening, sugar, honey, and vanilla and blend it until it is combine. This will look like cookie dough after you have creamed the ingredients. Add the dry ingredients into the dough. SLOWLY add the water to the dough. You want the dough to slowly clump up like bread does. Divide the dough into 1/3`s to make it easier to roll out. Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper the size of your cookie sheet. Put 1 piece down on the counter with the side that wants to roll down. Place the dough on the paper and then place the other parchment paper on top. You will roll the dough out between the parchment paper. You want the dough to be THIN!!! About 1/16" thin!! Grease the cookie sheet and flip the rolled out dough onto the sheet. Trim the edges so they are just short of touching the edge of the pan. Use those pieces you cut off to fill in any empty spaces you have. Score the dough into the size of crackers you want with a pizza cutter but do not cut clear through!! Poke each cracker with a fork or toothpick. Bake 300 deg 22-24 minutes until light brown. Cool before breaking apart.

Enjoy!!

Coupons

Ok so I am a total and complete coupon nerd!!! I am ok with that though. I have to share my experience I had today. I have been using coupons for a month or 2 now. I have had some GREAT deals. .50 cents for brand name cereal that was normally $4.50. Not too shabby. I was thrilled. I have never gotten anything for free like you hear all the time though.

So today was the last day of Safeway's add and they had a sale, buy 10 or more of certain items and get them for $1 each. 1 of the items was the toothpaste I use...Aquafresh. I thought for $10 I can get a year supply of toothpaste. Not too shabby. After I picked out the toothpaste I thought I would just walk around and see if there was anything else I wanted while I was there. I remembered that I had coupons for toilet paper. So I went to look at that. Sure enough that was. And not only was it on sale it was part of the buy 10 items get them for $1 each sale but I also had a coupon. I had 3 coupons for .50 cents off. So I was going to get the toilet paper (4 roll pack) for .50 cents each. Awesome I was thinking. Then it hit me. I need to use a double coupon. So I was able to double those 3 coupons. Thats right...I got the toilet paper for FREE!!! I could not believe it. It was so cool. I could not wait to get out to the van so I could call someone...anyone. And to think that I was not going to go to Safeway this week.

For the 3 packs of toilet paper and the 7 tubes of toothpaste I spent $7.79. Now THAT is great deal!!! That is what you call provident living!!!

Couponing is something that I will be talking about in my food storage group. I have shaved $40 off my weekly grocery budget. I am still learning how to use coupons and getting the "art" of it down. I hope to cut more off in the weeks to come.

Enjoy

Oh...Wow...Flour tortillas

A few weeks ago I was looking for a recipe for homemade tortilla shells. I found one I thought would be good. So I made them and then threw them away!! They were REALLY bad. I promised my self I would NEVER make tortillas again. They turned out that bad!! My favorite site, http://www.everydayfoodstorage.net , just added a tortilla recipe. I have yet to try a recipe from Crystel that I have not liked. So I decided to try to make burritos for dinner. As soon as I had the dough made I knew these were going to turn out. I was just not prepared for how good they were going to be. After taking a bite of my burrito it was like oh...wow...they were so good. Even my kids, including Cody, said they were so much better than store bought and they want me to make these from now on. So here is the recipe.

Flour Tortillas
2 c. flour (any mixture you want, white or wheat)
½ tsp. salt
1 heaping ¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ c. oil
2/3 c. hot water

Mix all ingredients in food processor. I did mine in my kitchen aid and it seamed to work just gine. Mix until it forms a ball of dough. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Uncover and form until balls of dough just larger than a golf ball. Cover with damp cloth and allow to rest for 15 minutes – 1 hour. Flatten and roll out. Cook on hot skillet flipping when bubbles form.

If you want to watch a video on how to make these go to

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2009/04/21/fresh-homemade-tortillas-food-storage-recipes/food-storage-recipes#comment-4487

Crystal always makes really great how to videos!!

Enjoy!!!

New Adventure

I haven`t posted in a while. I have been busy starting a new group for church. I have been asked by several ladies to start a food storage group. After thinking about it for a while I decided that it would be fun. So I have been coming up with different ideas to talk/learn about. I have come up with what I think are some really good ideas. If I am not posting new recipes it is because I am busy working on getting my group started. I will be posting not only recipes but also different topics pertaining to food storage and things that we are going to be doing/talking about. Wish me luck on this new adventure I am about to embark on. Also if you have any ideas that you think for my group let me know. I am open to all!! Thanks

This is a picture of my new Shelf Reliance shelf. I LOVE it!!! I want another one so bad!!! With time though they are pretty spendy.

Enjoy

Spaghetti Zucchini Bake & Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

So I have been slacking on posting. I have tried several new things that I just have not had time to put up. I have a few minutes so I will try to get a few of them up. I have had so much fun trying all these new recipes. And I must say...I have lost 10 pounds in the process. YEAH!!! I did make some cookies the other day that were SO good I decided NOT to put the recipe in the cookbook I am making for myself and a few others. They were just too good so sorry I wont be passing that one on. If you have not checked out http://everydayfoodstorage.net yet, do, she has so much good info there. Anyways here is a few recipes that I tried and LOVED.

Spaghetti Zucchini Bake

1 lb. Penne or Macaroni Pasta
1 1/2 lb. Italian Sausage, cooked
2 cans 14 oz. Diced Tomatoes
1-2 cans Mushrooms (optional)
1 can Tomato Paste
1/4 c. Dehydrated onions
1-2 Cloves of Garlic
4-5 c. Zucchini, cut into large chunks
1 tsp. Oregano
2 tsp. Basil
2 c. Mozzerella Cheese, grated
Salt to Taste

Cook your pasta in boiling water until tender. Combine diced tomatoes, mushrooms, tomato paste, garlic, oregano, and basil in large pot. Heat to boiling and simmer for 5- 10 minutes.
While the noodles are cooking, cook the Italian sausage. Place zucchini chunks in a bowl and microwave for 3 minutes (just to cook them slightly). Add zucchini and meat to sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in noodles and 1 c. of cheese and stir. If you don’t want to heat up your oven just place remaining cheese on the table for people to top with. Place Spaghetti Zucchini Bake in a 9×13 casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Place under broiler until cheese is melted. Make sure and watch it so the cheese doesn’t burn.

Another good recipe I have tried was:

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

1 1/3 c. oatmeal
2 c. (1 pt.) buttermilk (see page on how to make your own)
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ c. wheat
½ tsp soda
1 egg (2 Tbs. egg powder + ¼ c. water)
2 Tbs. butter melted

Soak your oatmeal and milk for about 30 minutes. If you are using regular oats and not quick oats, soak them over night. ( I soaked my regular oats for 30 minutes and I think they turned out just fine.) Mix your dry ingredients into the milk/oatmeal. Then stir in the egg and melted butter.

I will try to get some more recipes posted soon.

Enjoy