Welcome to grocery deals and meals 12-15-07

Welcome everyone!!! Things are starting to look good for deals in the grocery store.

If this is your first time here this is my goal: to help you cut your finances by teaching you how to match store sales with coupons to make deals and how to turn those deals into realistic and easy meals. I have been doing this for over 10 years and feel like I have it down pat enough to share to others. I have saved over $28,000 since I got married in 1998 and my monthly grocery budget has gone from $250.00 to $200.00 to the current $150.00. I have 3 kids. Yes we do eat meat and yes I do eat name brands all the time! Included in this monthly budget is all hygiene items and cleaning supplies too. The only thing that I do include in my grocery budget is diapers and wipes. That being said you probably think I am either crazy or super uptight organized. I am neither- just a super strategic shopper and meal planner. I do make mistakes, I lose coupons, I sometimes pay too much and I sometimes walk right past a deal and not even see it. Couponing is an ever changing hobby or whatever you would call it and I am always learning something new. (sometimes I call it survival in the world of $3.00++ a gallon of gas).

I don't know if it is me, but I saw more ways to save money in the grocery store this week than normal. Who-when-what you must be thinking.

There are several rebates that I found that are going to match up with things that are currently on sale. First, at Lowes Foods, Food Lion and at Harris Teeter there are phamplets by Coors (beer). They don't look like a "regular" rebate so you have to look at them to see the rebate that is on the last page of the phamplet. The phamplet says "Super Bowl Party Guide" on the front and has a picture of a group of people watching tv. When you buy $20.00 worth of "Tostitos chips/dips/meat/soup/chili/condiments/or soda" you will get a rebate of $10.00. That is great. You can send in more than one receipt so you will have have to buy 20.00 at once or even at the same store. Save all your receipts and you will save yourself 10.00 that you can put back into your grocery budget. The items are so varied there is no way you can't refuse to do this one. I would suggest that you always make copies of any rebate/receipts you send it and date it so that you remember when you sent it in. If you have problems finding the official phamplet, go to http://www.checkmyrebate.com/ and look under the Coors rebate lists and see if they have put up this Superbowl one yet and then print off the eligibility page and list you NAZ (name-address-zip), add your DOB and SIGN IT and send it off.

Second, there is another rebate for seafood. This one I only found in Food Lion! This one is through Fosters (aka Miller Brewing Co). You buy $13.98 of seafood and get $6.99 back. I will describe on the Teeter page who to make this FREE.

Keep your eyes open. I found a hangtag on a wine bottle at Harris Teeter for a $5.00 rebate on Pointsettias and on another bottle a tag for 1.00 off floral. You could double dip and use the 1.00 off when you initially purchase the pointsettias and then send in and receive the $5.00 rebate. I know the big ones are more than 6.00 but some of the smaller ones I have seen for right around 5.00 so that would be FREE. Take it and give it to a teacher or the school office or the librarian/art teacher/ whomever and make just a random act of niceness for free. Just a thought.

I did a walk through in Food Lion for the first time in months and was shocked. I had written that store off because they do not double my coupons and most of the time I don't find "good deals there". But.... surprise surprise they had both rebates and several unadvertised sales that were great deals (refer to the Food Lion page). Guess I will add them to my weekly walk through....

Genna

Meals for 12-12-07 through 12-18-07

Now that you have bought the sale items and have saved a ton of money now comes the questions of what to do with everything and how do I make meals out of this stuff??!!

Here are a list of recipes you can use from this week's and last week's good deals.

Wild Rice Soup
French Chicken/Broccoli Casserole
Shrimp Stir Fry with Egg Drop Soup
Quiche Lorraine
Egg Casserole
Easy Lasagna
Deluxe Chocolate Marshmallow Bars



Wild Rice Soup:
1 cup uncooked wild rice
3 cups boiling water
2 strips smoked bacon
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup sliced carrots
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
2 cans (10.75 oz ea) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2 soup cans milk
1 can (4 oz) mushrooms, undrained
1 tsp seasoned salt
pepper to taste

Combine rice and boiling water in a large saucepan; simmer, covered 50-60 minutes. Drain off excess liquid, set aside. In a skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon; crumble and set aside. Drain all but 1 tbsp drippings; saute onion, celery and carrots. In a large skillet, combine milk, mushrooms, seasoned salt, pepper, crumbled bacon, sauteed vegs and wild rice. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Serve with quiche??



French Chicken/Broccoli Casserole:
1 lb fresh broccoli, sliced in spears and steamed OR 3 pkgs (10 oz ea) frozen spears, thawed
3 to 4 cups cooked chicken, cut into large pieces
Sauce:
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup chicken broth or white wine
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups milk
1 jar (2 oz) diced pimiento
1 pkg (8 oz) sharp cheddar cheese

In a greased 13 x 9-in baking dish, layer the broccoli spears and chicken pieces alternately. Set aside. In a saucepan over med heat, combine melted butter, dissolved cornstarch, broth, seasonings, milk and pimientos. Cook until thickened. Add cheese; stir until melted. Pour warm sauce over top of chicken and broccoli layers. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until bubbly.
I would serve mine with bread or rice, salad, vegs.



Shrimp Stir Fry with Egg Drop Soup:
from this weeks' paper!!
2 cups regular or instant rice
1 lb shrimp
1 lb frozen stir-fry vegs such as snow peas, onions and carrots
1/2 cup stir fry sauce (you can get the vegs and sauce combo in a bag together in frozen)
4 cups chicken broth
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Bring water to boil for rice. Bring chicken broth to boil for soup. Add rice to water and cook according to package directions.
Meanwhile, thaw shrimp (if frozen) under cold dripping faucet. Peel. Thaw vegs in micro.
Heat 2 tbsp veg oil in large skillet or wok set over med-high heat. When oil is hot, add shrimp and stir-fry about 1 or 2 minutes or until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove from skillet.
Add vegs to skillet and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Return shrimp to skillet and stir in sauce until shrimp and vegs are coated. (or in my case just dump the bag of saucy vegs to skillet and proceed) Remove from heat and cover.
For soup, increase heat of chicken broth to a rolling boil and slowly drizzle in beaten egg. The agitation of the water will creat egg noodles. Season with freshly cracked pepper.
Top rice with shrimp mixture and serve with soup.



Quiche Lorraine:
6-8 pieces Bacon
8 in pie shell
3 large eggs
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 salt
pinch each of butter and nutmeg
1 or 2 tsp butter

Preheat to 375. Slice bacon into 1/4 inch pieces and brown lightly and drain. Spread in bottom of pastry shell. Beat eggs, cream and seasonings and pour into shell. Cut butter into bits and distribute over crea. Bake on upper shelf of oven 25-30 minutes- until quiche has puffed and browned.



Egg Casserole:
8 slices of bread, crust cut off and chopped cruton size
3/4 lb (12 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 large eggs
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp dry mustard
1 1/4 cup milk
1 lb sausage (uncooked)

Layer bread, meat,& cheese in 2 layers in baking dish. Beat eggs til light and fluffy- add salt, mustard, milk and pour over top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake 1 hour at 350.



Easy Lasagna:
1 lb ground beef
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 container part skim Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Preheat oven to 350. Brown meat in large skillet on med-high heat.
Meanwhile, mix 1 1/4 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, the parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
Drain meat, return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Pour water into empty sauce jar; cover and shake well. Add to skillet; stir until well blended. Adding water to the sauce helps cook traditional noodles while baking so you don't have to cook them beforehand. This saves you 15-20 minutes.
Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce onto the bottom of 13 x 9 in baking dish; top with a layer of 3 uncooked lasagna noodles. Noodles will expand to fit the dish during baking.
Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup of the meat sauce over noodles. Repeat layers two more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles and the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese and remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with greased foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil; continue baking 15 min or until heated through. Let stand 15 min before cutting to serve.
I would serve with salad, garlic bread, and probably broccoli.



Deluxe Chocolate Marshmallow Bars:
3/4 cup butter or margarine softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp baking cocoa
1/2 cups chopped nuts; optional
4 cups mini marshmallows
TOPPING:
1 1/3 cups (8 oz) chocolate chips
3 tbsp butter or marg
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups crisp rice cereal

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa; add to creamed mixture. Stir in nuts if desired. Spread in a greased 13 x 9 in baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over cake; return to oven for 2-3 minutes. Using a knife dipped in wter, spread the melted marshmallows evenly over cake. Cool. For topping, combine chocolate chips,butter and peanut butter in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and well blended. Remove from heat, stir in cereal. Spread over bars. Chill.

Harris Teeter deals 12-12-07 through 12-18-07

This week's E-Vic offer is save $1.50 off Kellogg’s 17.9oz. Crispix,12oz. Rice Krispies, or 18oz. Unfrosted Mini Wheats. Offer good until Dec 18th. Do this in combination with the recent Sunday coupons for 1.00 off 1 box and it could be a GREAT deal.

REMINDER: You must be signed up for eVIC to get this deal. Sign up here: CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR EVIC I would highly recommend signing up because the weekly offers are sometimes awesome.

Plumrose bacon 4.99 BOGO= 2.50 ea (Lowes cheaper)
cooked shrimp 50% off= 32 oz for 10.99** see below for how I am going to do my rebate
Johnsonville sausage 3.99 BOGO -1.00/2= 1.50 ea
DeliSelect lunch meat 2/5 BOGO= 1.25 ea
Sargento shredded cheeses 2/4-1.00/2=1.50 ea
International coffee creamer 2/5-.55/1=1.40 ea
Polly-O Ricotta Cheese 2/6=3.00 ea (I plan to buy like 4 and freeze for future lasagnas- they hardly EVER EVER go on sale and it has been years since I have seen coupons for it)
Country crock butter 1.85 BOGO-.60/2 (from penguin board)=.33 ea
Nestle refrigerated brownies 3.59 BOGO-.50/1(fom penguin board)=.80 ea
Minute rice 2/3-.40/1=.70ea
HT spaghetti pastas 2/2 BOGO
HT Lasagna noodles 3/3 Good Deal
Folgers coffee bricks 2/4-.50/1=1.00 ea
Kelloggs Special K cereal 3.59 BOGO-1.00/1=.80 a box
Krusteaz pancake mix 2/4-.50/1=1.00
Duncan Hines cake mix 1.70 BOGO (.90)-.75/1 off mix and frosting= .69 for both together
Duncan Hines frosting 1.29
McCormick dry mixes 1.39 BOGO- .25/2=.45 ea
Ritz crackers 3.69 BOGO= .55/1=1.30 ea
Keebler Townhouse crackers 3.79 BOGO-.50/1=.90ea
Green Giant box frozen vegs 1.89 BOGO-.25/1=.45 or .50/2=.45 ea
Birds Eye frozen vegs 2/5 BOGO (1.25)-1.00/2=.75 ea
Pictsweet frozen vegs 1.99 BOGO, 3.19 BOGO, 3.69 BOGO- there might be a coupon on penguin board for 1.00/1- can't remember but do remember that the stir-fry bag is 3.69 BOGO that you can use 1 for the recipe which is good.

Deal: Fosters rebate- you will need the official form that I found at Food Lion but look at Teeter around the seafood section or any beer displays that you see Foster's. It states that you need to purchase 13.98 to get back 6.99. The way the Teeter receipts print up is that the 50% shrimp will ring up full price and then the next line or at the bottom will print a second line that takes off half. In my experience with this type of rebate is that they do not care what the sale price makes it cost in the end. In my experience, they care about the original/pre-sale price so I circle that line and send it in. Who knows? but it has worked for me.

Lowes Foods deals 12-12-07 through 12-18-07

bunch broccoli 2.49 BOGO- 1.00 target coupon from www.afullcup.com = .24 ea
cauliflower head 2.99 BOGO- 1.00 target coupon from fullcup = .49 ea
Plumrose sliced bacon 3.99 BOGO= 2.00 ea (better than Teeter's sale price)
boneless skinless chicken 1.99 lb
Sargento shredded cheeses 2/4-1.00/2 (from penguin board)-1.50 ea<
Lowes brand vanilla wafers 1.49 BOGO= .75 ea (they taste good so good deal)
Lowes pimientos 4 oz 1.35, 2 oz .75 or .79
VanCamps pork and beans 5/3-.50/5=.40ea
McCormick dry gravy mixes 5/4-.25/3=.60 ea
Armour chili 5/5-1.00/2=.50 ea
Minute Rice 2/3-.40/1=.70 ea (repeat sale)
Kraft Parmesan cheese 2.79-.55/1= 1.69 GOOD DEAL
Swanson broth 5/3-.25/4=.48 ea (ok deal but I have not seen much better lately)
Bisquick 40 oz 2.50-1.00/1=1.50 this deal is better than the 20 oz box for 1.oo b/c coup for 40oz
Borden eagle brand condensed milk 1.99-.55/1=.89 ea (good to get for Christmas baking)
Northwoods syrup (again) 1.79-.75/1-.29
Lowes brand cheerios 2/5 BOGO =1.25 ea
Lowes brand corn flakes 2/5 BOGO=1.25 ea
Lowes brand tp 2.69 BOGO
Glass Plus cleaner 1.99-.50/1=.99 ( I love this stuff better than windex)
Mrs T Pierogies 2/4-1.00/1 (from penguin board)=1.00
Edy's ice cream 5.29 BOGO= 2.64 ea ( I am holding out for coupons, don't like to spend more than 1.50 for Edy's or Breyers)
Pet Ritz frozen pie crusts 2/3-.50/2=1.00 ea

Food Lion deals 12-12-07 through 12-18-07

Food Lion 12-12-07 through 12-18-07:

Refer to the Food Lion page for their coupon policy information.

Cheerios & General Mills cereal BOGO - 1.00/2=
Pillsbury Toaster Struedel/Scrambles 2.50 BOGO-.50/1= .75 ea ok deal
Pepperridge Farms garlic toast 2.99 BOGO-.75/1= .75 ea

Unadvertised deals I found walking around!

There are several things I noted when I did a walk through of Food Lion. First was that there were several new rebate forms that must have just been put out. First one was by Coors in which you spend 20.00 in salty snacks/meat/soda/soup,condiments and get 10.00 back. This one is WONDERFUL because you could literally grab any ole receipt within the time frame eligible and send it in. If you cannot find it check http://www.checkmyrebate.com/ and it might be listed under any superbowl promotion. The actual phamplet has the title "Super Bowl Party Guide" on the front. The second rebate I found was by Foster's for 6.99 back on a 13.98 seafood purchase. This one too is wonderful if you use it when you buy your 50% off or BOGO shrimp at Teeter this week for the stir-fry recipe. The third coupon I found on a pad near the micro popcorn was for a free 2 liter when you buy 2 boxes of Orville Redenbacher popcorn. Grab it and save it because I know that it will go on BOGO for the smaller box and you will be able to combine it with future coupons for free popcorn and then free soda.

I noticed several other items dirt cheap that were not advertised:

Kellogg's Shrek cereal .99
Kellogg's Cinnamon Toast cereal .99
Kellogg's Eggo cereal .99
Kelloggs Choco/Vanilla cereal .99 and you can use the recent 1.00/1 to get it FREE
Kellogg's yogo fruit snacks .99 there is some coupon out there but mine got tossed
Kellogg's Backyardigans fruit snacks .99

CVS pharmacy store

CVS deals





CVS is a wonderful wonderful place to shop! Their ExtraCare Bucks program has allowed me to get tons of free stuff. I get tubes of toothpaste, deodorants, soap, soda, snacks, medicines..... FREE all the time. To maximize your savings at CVS you must learn the art of rolling your ECBs from product to product in combination with CVS store and manufacture's coupons. The easiest place to download CVS coupons is at http://www.afullcup.com/. You must get a CVS red card and they will allow one card per family member. That means that your husband can have a separate card too which allows you to save twice as much or get twice as much for free.





If you are just starting out, you will need to make an upfront out of pocket purchase to start generating your ECBs and then from there you will be able to purchase more products that will continue generating more ECBs.


For example:


The hypothetical sale/deal would be "Buy 1 tube of Crest toothpaste and earn $2.00 ECB, limit 5 per card". What this means is that you will buy a tube for 2.99, use a mfg coupon for a hypothetical 1.00 off and pay 1.99 plus tax. That will be your oop=out of pocket cost. You will now have 2.00 to roll over to a new transaction. You can now turn around and buy another tube for 2.99-1.00 mfg-2.00 ECB and pay tax. This is a simple explanation but this is the idea of "rolling" that will help you figure out deals and ways to maximize ECBs and earn more in the same move.





CVS will also allow you to stack a CVS coupon with a mfg coupon.


For example; you have a CVS coupon for 2.00 off Johnson & Johnson's baby product and have a mfg coupon for .35 off J&J baby powder. That means on a 2.99 bottle of powder you can take off the 2.00 CVS coupon and .35 mfg coupon and pay .65! This can sometimes be tricky though. Generally, the computer system does not have a problem with stacking but it does have a problem if you have more coupons that items. I can usually count on being able to use one more coupon than items, meaning if I have 5 items I will be able to use 6 coupons (I am including ECBs that I use for oop in this number). In my experience, it has always benefitted me to figure out my transactions at home and get my coupons clipped together before going to the store. That way I know in advance whether or not I will have more coupons than products and will know if I need to buy a "filler" item like a candy bar to make sure the system will accept all my coupons.





My plan is to let you see each week my CVS transactions to see what I got for free, the scenario on how I got it for free or for little oop, and to see how I have rolled those ExtraCare Bucks into larger amounts so that I can get additional items for free. CVS is a learning process, I am not an expert and I have and will make tons and tons of mistakes but hopefully we can figure this out together and loosen up our budgets.





Genna