Playing "Ketchup" with Weis Cat Deals this Week and I Veer Off into a Rant

I don't know about you, but we seem to go through an inordinate amount of ketchup(or catsup)at our house.  Shhh, don't tell the food police.lol
Not only is it de rigeur for burgers and fries around here, but I find it handy and helpful in a pinch as an add-in ingredient when I am cooking.  It can add a touch of tastiness(tomatoey and salty) to so many dishes in cooking.  I used it in place of tomato paste when I made my Beef Bourguignon recently.  It is also part of my recipe for Beef Stroganoff, as well as Chili, homemade Sloppy Joe's, etc. etc. etc.
You get the picture.....

So when I saw that Weis Markets was having a catalina deal going involving Heinz Products, including Ketchup, I had to head over and get me a piece of that!  It's similar to the Shaw's/Albertson's deal--spend $XX, get $XX OYNO Cat coupon.  The Weis deal is Spend $12/Get $3 OYNO Q or Spend $20/Get $7 OYNO Q.
The Ketchup is regular shelf price of $2.85, on sale for $1.99.
The Heinz Gravy is regular shelf price of $1.79, on sale for $1.25.

I bought 7 Ketchups (reg. shelf price $19.95).  5 Cents short!!....so I bought 1 Gravy(reg. shelf price $1.79), so I had $21.74 RSS.  Sale price was (7 x $1.99=$13.93+$1.25)$15.18.
I used a $6 OYNO Cat so the OOP was $9.18.
And I got a $7 OYNO Cat Q for next time.
That's 7 40 oz. bottles of red ambrosia & a nasty jar of gravy(headed for the food bank) for $9.18.
And that's without coupons.

Then I used that $7 OYNO Cat to buy Oreos.
I needed 5 bags of Oreos for the Kraft/Nabisco Back-to-School Rebate.
Yes, I buy junk.....but it's not just any old junk....it's OREOS!  The royalty of cookie junk.lol

There was a similar Cat deal on Oreos at Weis....Buy $12 Get $3/Buy $20 Get $6.  Regular shelf on Oreos is $4.19 here, on sale for $3.  I bought 5 bags of cookies(reg. shelf of $20.95)for $15.00  I used 2 x $1/2 Nabisco Qs from the BTS Rebate Booklet and the $7 OYNO Cat from the Ketchup($2+$7=$9 off).  5 Bags of Oreos cost me $6 OOP and I got another $6 OYNO Cat to spend later.  It sure would have been nice if the Coupon gods had given us, in this part of PA, that Heinz ketchup Q in the SS insert.  I guess marketing dept. at Heinz thinks that since we live in PA we automatically buy Heinz(over Hunt's or Del Monte, etc.)just because of the long history of Heinz in our state.  Personally, I avoid Heinz whenever possible....it's a PA political thing....

All things being equal, I am tempted to roll this Cat into more Ketchup.  Is 7 bottles enough??lol

If you are going to take part in these Cat Deals, they run through Wednesday evening at Weis.

If you don't get a chance to get to Weis for this sale, there should be another one coming up Oct. 22-28.
At least that is what the Catalina I got last week said...."October 22-October 28 You can earn up to $7 off your next shopping order...just purchase the qualifying items on your favorite participating brands and receive dollars off your next shopping trip.  Look for details in next week's circular."

I just hope these next batch of Cat Deals are something other than Junk Food and Frozen Stuff.  Seems anytime we do get Catalina OYNO Deals at Weis it's for highly processed junk.
This week's Cat Deal Qualifying Items....
#1  Pretzels, Water, Bottled Tea & Starbucks, Doritos and Lay's chips
#2  Jello, Pudding, Lunchmeat, Pizza, Cookies, String Cheese, Kraft Mac&Cheez
#3  MORE Pizza, TV Dinners, Frozen Bagels, Frozen Waffles/PAncakes/French Toast Sticks
#4  Hormel Chili Master, Compleats, Dinty Moore, SPAM, Salsa, Hormel Entrees, Shredded Chicken or Pork in Sauce, Pepperoni, MORE Lunchmeat
#5  Bagel Bites, Pasta Sauce, Ketchup, Gravy, MORE TV Dinners, TGI Friday's, Frozen French Fries/Onion Rings
#6  Paper Towels, Paper Plates, Toilet Paper
Most of it's Junk food....nitrate laden meats....pizza and tv dinners, sugary sauced up shredded meat, and some paper products.

I do have a freestanding large Freezer but I have NO Room in that thing for loads of boxed up pizzas and tv dinners and highly processed frozen junk food.  If I filled it up with stuff like that, I'd have no room for the fresh meat and veggies in there instead!

And looking at this ad, I am just amazed that people actually buy frozen pancakes and french fries.

How difficult is it to cut up a Potato folks....or make a pancake without resorting to buying frozen??

How much of a time savings is buying frozen pancakes over making pancakes from scratch?  I'll guess that not only is making them from scratch waaaay cheaper but it would take you about the same amount of time to make fresh pancakes as 1-taking out the box, 2-opening it up, 3-taking out a pancake, 4-pulling the toaster in, 5-putting it in the toaster, 6-waiting for it to heat up enough, 7-taking it out of the toaster, 8-putting syrup or whatever you put on your 'cakes, 9-eating it.
Dumping an egg, milk, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl, stirring it and pouring it out onto a griddle or frying pan is NOT rocket science. 8-))

I know, it's nice to be able to get some convenience foods but we are turning into a nation of lazy cooks or even worse, people who can't cook.  Do you know how much MORE you are paying for that box of frozen pancakes compared to buying the ingredients to make them fresh?  Even with a coupon, things like frozen pancakes are a rip-off.  And we wonder why people don't have money to pay their bills!?

Ok,  this is turning into a rant and I try real hard not to rant.....no, really!  I do!!lolol

Just say a little prayer that thursday's Cat Deals at Weis have some things I can use please instead of just cardboard pizzas and chips....


Sluggy