Do you like yogurt? Then go check out Noreen, over at Silly Mommy of 2 Silly Girls Blog. She is holding a giveaway. You can enter it Here.
You have until midnight March 18th to enter.
Good Luck!
Sluggy
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Rudi's Organic Bakery Giveaway on PEACE AND QUIET...
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Rustic Pork Ragu-a Fabulous & Inexpensive Meal
I have declared a moratorium on frozen food shopping until further notice.
My freezer is incredibly JAMMED with food. Ok....make that TWO freezers full-the little freezer above the fridge AND my big old freestanding upright Freezer in the garage.
Seriously.
Full.
Like not 1 square inch of space left in either.
I blame 50 blocks of cheese from an incredible deal a few weeks ago.
And then there was a sale on the little boxed packages of Green Giant Vegetables that retail for $1.79. The store in my teeny tiny town had them marked $1 on sale. I forgot I had coupons for 50 cents off on GG veggies, that my store doubles to $1. Using the coupons made them 50 cents a box, so I had to go stock up last night before the sale ended. Hey, I only bought 20 boxes.....don't look at me like that!
So I actually had to rearrange and evict a package of meat(a pork roast) from the freezer to make all the boxed veggies fit. You can see about 1/3 of the cheese blocks here in the door. The rest are with the boxed veggies and their friends, the bacon, the local corn-on-the-cob & the salmon filets in the upright freezer.
A Seriously full freezer section.
So dinner tonight is NOT the Boston Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Biscuits and Smithfield Ham slices as planned.
Tonight is the Rustic Pork Ragu over Orrichiette Pasta.
It's basically pasta & spaghetti sauce with bits of pork. Orrichiette is Italian for little ears. My family likes this shape of pasta. It's a little bowl shape with ridges, so you get 2, count 'em 2, methods to hold the sauce.
This PORK RAGU recipe is a family favorite. My daughter is attending a friend's sweet 16th surprise party tonight. When she found out I was having to make this dinner tonight, she complained about having to eat Pizza instead at the party.
I found the thought of a teenager disappointed in having to eat pizza slightly amusing. ;-)
And because of my good grocery store deals lately this meal will cost me very little.
The basic recipe is this...
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pork roast or loin or shoulder(boneless or bone-in) approx. 2-3lbs
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic
2-4 cans of tomatoes(28 oz. size)
2 sprigs of rosemary(or try basil for a different flavor)
kosher salt
black pepper
1-2 lbs. of pasta(orrichiette or whatever non-long spaghetti type shape you like)
parmesan cheese(optional)
tomato paste(optional)
*Chop up a large onion.
*Mince 4 cloves of garlic(fresh is better, but you can use already prepared from a jar or garlic powder as a last resort).
*Pour 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil in a Dutch Oven or Large Cooking Pot & heat on medium/high heat.
*Salt and Pepper the Pork Roast & place in the hot oil.
*Sear on each side 3-4 minutes.
*Remove Roast from Pot.
*Add Onion, Garlic & Rosemary(1 teaspoon or 2 sprigs fresh, chopped) to oil & cook a few minutes, stirring.
*Add 2-4 large cans of crushed, whole or puree tomatoes. I use the 28 ounce cans. If you want more sauce, use more cans, less sauce-less cans. If you like a chunky sauce, use whole or crushed;if you like a smooth sauce, use the puree.
*Scrape off the bits of pork that stuck to the bottom of the pot during the searing.
*Return the pork to the pot with the tomatoes and bring to a boil.
*Once boiling, lower the temp. to simmer and cover with a lid.
*Simmer until the pork is fork tender & falling apart-about 3 hours.
*Once done, remove the pork to cool. After cooling, pull the meat apart into bite sized chunks and discard the bones (if you used a bone-in roast).
*Put the pork pieces back into the sauce.(If you like a thicker sauce, add 1 can of tomato paste at this point.)
*Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box/bag.
*Serve Ragu over pasta, sprinking Parmesan or Romano Cheese on top.
My freezer is incredibly JAMMED with food. Ok....make that TWO freezers full-the little freezer above the fridge AND my big old freestanding upright Freezer in the garage.
Seriously.
Full.
Like not 1 square inch of space left in either.
I blame 50 blocks of cheese from an incredible deal a few weeks ago.
And then there was a sale on the little boxed packages of Green Giant Vegetables that retail for $1.79. The store in my teeny tiny town had them marked $1 on sale. I forgot I had coupons for 50 cents off on GG veggies, that my store doubles to $1. Using the coupons made them 50 cents a box, so I had to go stock up last night before the sale ended. Hey, I only bought 20 boxes.....don't look at me like that!
So I actually had to rearrange and evict a package of meat(a pork roast) from the freezer to make all the boxed veggies fit. You can see about 1/3 of the cheese blocks here in the door. The rest are with the boxed veggies and their friends, the bacon, the local corn-on-the-cob & the salmon filets in the upright freezer.
So dinner tonight is NOT the Boston Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Biscuits and Smithfield Ham slices as planned.
Tonight is the Rustic Pork Ragu over Orrichiette Pasta.
It's basically pasta & spaghetti sauce with bits of pork. Orrichiette is Italian for little ears. My family likes this shape of pasta. It's a little bowl shape with ridges, so you get 2, count 'em 2, methods to hold the sauce.
This PORK RAGU recipe is a family favorite. My daughter is attending a friend's sweet 16th surprise party tonight. When she found out I was having to make this dinner tonight, she complained about having to eat Pizza instead at the party.
I found the thought of a teenager disappointed in having to eat pizza slightly amusing. ;-)
And because of my good grocery store deals lately this meal will cost me very little.
The basic recipe is this...
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pork roast or loin or shoulder(boneless or bone-in) approx. 2-3lbs
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic
2-4 cans of tomatoes(28 oz. size)
2 sprigs of rosemary(or try basil for a different flavor)
kosher salt
black pepper
1-2 lbs. of pasta(orrichiette or whatever non-long spaghetti type shape you like)
parmesan cheese(optional)
tomato paste(optional)
*Chop up a large onion.
*Mince 4 cloves of garlic(fresh is better, but you can use already prepared from a jar or garlic powder as a last resort).
*Pour 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil in a Dutch Oven or Large Cooking Pot & heat on medium/high heat.
*Salt and Pepper the Pork Roast & place in the hot oil.
*Sear on each side 3-4 minutes.
*Remove Roast from Pot.
*Add Onion, Garlic & Rosemary(1 teaspoon or 2 sprigs fresh, chopped) to oil & cook a few minutes, stirring.
*Add 2-4 large cans of crushed, whole or puree tomatoes. I use the 28 ounce cans. If you want more sauce, use more cans, less sauce-less cans. If you like a chunky sauce, use whole or crushed;if you like a smooth sauce, use the puree.
*Scrape off the bits of pork that stuck to the bottom of the pot during the searing.
*Return the pork to the pot with the tomatoes and bring to a boil.
*Once boiling, lower the temp. to simmer and cover with a lid.
*Simmer until the pork is fork tender & falling apart-about 3 hours.
*Once done, remove the pork to cool. After cooling, pull the meat apart into bite sized chunks and discard the bones (if you used a bone-in roast).
*Put the pork pieces back into the sauce.(If you like a thicker sauce, add 1 can of tomato paste at this point.)
*Cook your pasta according to the directions on the box/bag.
*Serve Ragu over pasta, sprinking Parmesan or Romano Cheese on top.
My cost break down...
I used a bone-in Pork Roast that was a Manager's Special at .99 a lb. It was just over 3lbs.=$3.15
I used the 4 cans of crushed tomatoes from the markdown table, I bought during my Price Chopper Saga post last week. 4 x .50=$2.00
1 Onion=$.25
4 Garlic cloves=$.10
Olive Oil=$.30
Salt,Pepper=$.05
Rosemary=$.15
Orrichiette Pasta(2 boxes)=$3.00 (You can use less expensive pasta, orrichiette is NOT widely available and runs more than most boxed pastas in this part of the country.)
Parmesan=$1.00
Total=$10.00
(I didn't use tomato paste this batch, but that would have added about .65 cents to the total.)
This much sauce & 2lb. this shape pasta give you 12 generous servings.
That makes this dinner $.84 a serving! Add a salad or some sauteed chard or escarole and you have a yummy, healthy, well-balanced meal.
This dish is Crockpot Friendly as well. After searing your pork and sweating your onions & garlic, you can transfer this to a crockpot to cook with your tomatoes. As long as you have time in the morning to do the chopping & searing, you can cook it off while you are at work or running errands or kids around to activities.
Crockpots are great for letting you have a Slow Cooked meal without having to be home to stand watch over the process.
So what did you make for dinner tonight?
Sluggy
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tiring Tuesday
Gee, I think it's time to clean my desk.
Today was one of those days....
I couldn't do one thing without being interrupted by a dog, a kid or a husband.
So even though I spent all day trying to accomplish little mundane tasks, I don't feel like anything was actually finished.
Except for the run to the grocery store for cream and pie crust so I could make Quiche for dinner.
I'll have to go back tomorrow as it's the last day of the current sale at Mr. Z's/Weis and I need to use my napkin coupons. Dixie brand napkins are on sale this week for $1.99 package. I have 20 $1/1 Qs making my 20 packages 99 cents each. woohoo
I spent a good chunk of today getting my MIR(mail in rebate) forms filled out & ready to mail out. That is partly why my desk looks so bad.....well, that's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it! ;-)
Off to finish baking the cookies(oatmeal cinnamon chip)& head up to bed.
The kids have a half a day at school tomorrow. Maybe I'll just have to go off in the afternoon.
Sluggy
Monday, March 9, 2009
Walgreen's...Savings over 86%
So daughter needed me to take her to do some errands on Sat.-get a gift card for her friend's Sweet 16th birthday party & find a dress for the school play at the Salvation Army. I usually sew her costumes for the plays she's performing in, but this year I wanted to try to find something cheap at Sallie's first. I usually end up spending close to $100 if I have to make her costume. And we are already out $31 for tap shoes of all things! Daughter doesn't dance, by her own admission, and CAN NOT Tap! But she is in the chorus of this play and she has to at least pretend to tap in the dance numbers(try finding tap shoes in the right size USED at Sallie's-ha!), so I had to buy shoes that she will NEVER use again.
Back to the shopping....
So while we were out running her errands, we concluded my PRICE CHOPPER TRIPLER CAMPAIGN(see previous post) & we stopped into a new to me Walgreen's(WAGS). This WAGS was so different from my usual WAGS. It is NOT downtown, so there were hardly any shoppers in the store, the shelves were well stocked(except for a few of the month long Easy Saver Rebate items)and the clerks were actually smiling & seemed happy to see you.
Wow!
I pulled my battle plan, er....my notes out of my purse and began the hunt. Along the way, I found some clearance deals & had to send daughter out to the car to get more coupons from my box. Daughter was not pleased with me, until I found some insanely cheap Hair Coloring & allowed her to put it on my tab.
Oh, how quickly some free gum, shampoo & cheap hair dye can change the mood of a surly 16 yr. old female.
I went into the store with 3 RRs.
I came out with $197.94 of products & $21 RRs.
I spent $28.68 OOP including tax.
I used $169.26 in MQs, Instant Qs, Wags Qs, RRs & clearance prices.
Savings of $169.26($176.25 after MIR) or more than 86% (89% after MIR)!
Transaction #1
3 Slim Packs Wrigley's Gum $1.19, used 3 Free Item Qs=FREE
Colgate Max Toothpaste=$3.29 + got $3.50 in RRs
Excedrin Menstrual Gelcals $5.99, used $4/1WQ & $2IPQ=.01 overage
Vaseline Lotion $3.59, 25% off & used $1.25/1Q=$1.61+ got $2 in RRs
8 Dove Soaps $12.72, used WQ(-$4.80)=$7.92 + got $10 in RRs
Reach Toothbrush on sale $1.59, used $1/1Q=$.59
Total Value with tax=$33.48
Total Qs & Sales=$22.12
I spent $11.36 OOP including tax & Received $15.50 in new RRs
Transaction #2
6 Natural Instincts Hair Color (on sale for $2.39ea.)$14.39, used 6 $2/1 Q=$2.39
4 Clairol Hair Color(on sale for $2.99ea.)$11.96, used 4 $2/1 Q=$3.96
1 Clairol Hair Color(on sale for $1.29ea.)$1.29, used 1 $2/1 Q=.71 overage
Viactiv Chews(on clearance) $3.49, used WQ $3/1 & $2/1 Q=$1.51 overage
Excedrin Menstrual Gelcals $5.99, used $4/1WQ & $2 IPQ=.01 overage
2 Sambucol Tabs $25.98, used $10/1WQ(x2) & $4/1 IPQ=$1.98
2 Vitamin Shampoo BOGO=$6.99 & a MIR for $6.99
Total Value with tax=$138.41
Total Qs & Sales=$133.29
Total spent OOP=$5.12
Used $10 RR from the Dove Deal in the previous transaction so $5.50 RRs left
I'll send for the MIR on the Vitamin Shampoo so delayed OOP is -$1.49
The clerk let through some overage with coupons but she wouldn't let me use my 2nd $4IP Sambucol Q and kept telling me not to buy anything in this transaction that would print a RR. She IS a WAGS expert(she said!)and she said if you pay with a RR, no RRs will print on items in the transaction you pay for with a RR. I thought if I just didn't buy more Dove & pay with the Dove generated RRs I could buy other stuff, like the Colgate or Vaseline. I had a tube of Colgate in this transaction but she took it off and made me buy it separately, as well as 6 more Vaseline Lotions!lol
She was so sweet to me(and did let some overages through), so I just went along with her and bought the toothpaste & lotions separately. ;-)
Transations #3-9
Colgate Max Toothpaste=$3.29 + got $3.50RRs
3 Vaseline Lotion $3.59, 25% off & used $1.25/1Q$1.61 x3=$4.83+ got $6 in RRs
3 Vaseline Lotion $3.59, 25% off & used $1.50/1Q$1.44 x3=$4.32 + got $6 in RRs
Total Value=$26.05
Total Qs & Sales=$13.85
Total spent OOP=$12.20 + got $15.50 in RRs
All totaled, I spent $28.68OOP + I'll get $6.99 back on a MIR for the shampoo, so $21.69OOP & $21RRs to spend next time.
If you are one of those who add the RRs onto the total spent, this trip was a -$.69...Money Maker!
That's just how we Divas Roll the Savings in PA.
This was a fairly frugal trip and totally COMPACT(for all my fellow compactors). All consumables(teeth,skin,hair,medicine) and a mix of compostable & plastic packaging. I'll have to check if the lotion/shampoo/hair color bottles can be recycled.
Be sure to check out how other Thrifty Divas are saving this week at the "Cents"ible Sawyer DRUGSTORE DIVAS Page.
Please leave me a comment if you get the chance. I appreciate all ya'll who read my ...IT'S BORING Blog. ;-))
Sluggy
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