Monday, August 10, 2009

Meal Plan Monday.....August 10th Edition Back in the Saddle, Sort of

Well last week I didn't have a Meal Plan. Since #2 son was at Band Camp from 9am to 8pm and ate all but breakfast away from home, I didn't even bother with writing down a weekly menu. I just shot from the hip! Just call me Ms. Spontaneity!lol

Each morning I'd open the pantry/freezer/fridge/garage storage doors and peer in and wait for the Inspiration to hit me.
And most mornings, it did and I pulled together something darn tasty and simple. Hubby loves leftovers so we used some of those up last week....which is always a GOOD thing!

Having produce in the garden ready to pick each morning was a great inspiration last week. Whatever was ripe it what we had, along with a protein/meat. We dined on Yellow Summer Squash(Battered & Fried), Swiss Chard(sauteed with bacon), Salad Greens(still harvesting those this late is crazy good!), Cucumbers(made into 'New Pickles'). I used up some meats from the freezer....ham slices, a London broil, kosher hot dogs, ground beef & turkey in meat pasta sauce, & a frozen pizza. I also dug some corn on the cob out of the freezer from last fall & served it. It tasted as good as it did last September!

Since #2 son will be away for meals this week as well, I'm going to stick to what I did last week, BUT I will write out a tentative Menu. The meals will be served but not necessarily in the order presented here. After regularly having a Meal Plan each week posted for many months now, I just felt weird NOT having one last week.


Here's what our family of 2(+ 1 more for the weekend) will be eating this week...

Monday-Hubby out of town, I'll eat whatever is leftover in the fridge
Tuesday-Veggie Burgers(in freezer),Summer Squash Casserole(from garden)
Wednesday-Grilled Chicken, Deviled Eggs(I have eggs to use up),Fried Zucchini(from garden)
Thursday-Ravioli in Meat Sauce(sauce is leftover), Salad Greens(from garden)
Friday-Band Picnic-will take a dish to share, not sure what yet
Saturday-either Chili or Beef Stroganoff(using leftover London broil)
Sunday-Chicken Parmesan(using chicken from freezer), Swiss Chard(from garden), garlic bread(using homemade loaf)

Desserts-French Apple Pie(using frozen apple pie mix I made last fall), Watermelon

My shopping list for this week's meals consists of....hamburger rolls, watermelon & ravioli. I am going to try to stay out of the grocery store this week besides these 3 items.....I really need to stay out for a bit after hitting Acme's Unilever Deal hard last week, as well as Price Chopper's Deal Saturday night. With those 2 Campaigns I got a TON of groceries/toiletries(over $1400 worth) but I've spent approx. $170OOP out of my Food Budget already for August.
I never did get to the farm for the bushel of green beans 2 weeks ago, so I'll try to get there this week. I might NOT get a bushel though as there isn't alot of real estate open in the freezer just yet.

Food Waste Report.....not much food was made the last 2 weeks(besides the metric TON of meat sauce!lol), so not much in the way of leftovers. Tonight I need to do a sweep in the fridge and see what got pushed to the very back on the shelves. Hopefully nothing is growing fuzz yet and there's something the dogs can eat back there. I have been faithfully using my compost bucket by the sink for anything that can be put on the pile out back.

Check out Organizing Junkie's Website Here to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Sluggy

Friday, August 7, 2009

Right At Home Coupon Mailer Sign Up


The P&G Right At Home Coupon Mailer Sign-Up has been reset. It contains $35 in Coupons for brands such as Cascade, Dawn, Febreeze, Mr. Clean & Swiffer.

Go HERE to sign up to receive it. For the last few times I have received it, among the coupons for cleaning products there has been a coupon for a FREE bottle of Cascade Rinse Agent(a product like Jet Dry)for Dishwashers.

It usually takes 4 weeks or so to receive the booklet.

Sluggy

What to Buy this Week at Rite-Aid 8/9-8/15


This coming week(Aug. 9-15)is going to be a pretty barren week at Rite-Aid for getting things for FREE or making $$ on the deals.
There is only ONE Staight Up FREEBIE that week. But there are some ways to get things for really really cheap.

Here's a Scenario I have planned that is a teeny tiny Moneymaker for me after tax.

1 Scotch Tape Pop-Up Dispenser on sale for $2.49
3 Aero Orthotics Inserts on sale for $5.00 ea.=$15
3 Dawn Dishwashing Soap on sale for .99¢ ea.=$2.97
5 Snapple bottles on sale for .99¢ ea.=$4.95
SUBTOTAL $25.42+tax.

Using these coupons....
1 $5 off $25 purchase Rite-Aid=$5
3 $2/1 Aero Orthotics=$6(These were peelies from 2 months ago)
3 .20¢/1 Dawn from last sunday's P&G insert=$.60**If you get the P&G Right At Home home mailer, there are .50¢ Qs in those
5 .55¢/1 Snapple=$2.75 (These were hangtags from bottles I picked up awhile ago)
COUPON TOTAL=$14.35

$25.42-$14.35=$11.07+taxOOP

Submit for SINGLE CHECK REBATES....# Aero Orthotics($10) & Scotch Tape Pop-Up Dispenser($2.49)=$12.49

$11.07-$12.49=$1.42 MoneyMaker!
Well that depends on your state tax rate. Here in PA, the tax will eat up $1.23 on that Overage, so I get a .19¢ MoneyMaker.LOL
Not such a great moneymaker for me, but hey!....I got all that stuff for FREE at least, right? ;-)

If you have the Scotch Tape Q, your OOP will be lower. Unfortunately, I don't have that Q....

My scenario is strictly a YMMV as the Qs you have may be different. The Aeros are a $1MM in their own right if you have those $2 Peelies. I found some at KMart, so take a ride to visit Mr. BlueLight this weekend before you go to Rite-Aid if you need those Peelies.
There are quite a few items that are part of the .99¢ sale this coming week at Rite-Aid. Check if you can find some Qs in your stash for some of the things that are .99¢ and be sure to print out a $5/$25 Rite-Aid Q before you go.

If you can't find enough Qs to do a $25 order that's ok. You can still do the Scotch Tape as it's at the least a Total FREEBIE after SCRebate(and tax...blasted tax!lol). And if you have the P&G home Mailer Qs for $.50/1 Dawn, be sure and grab some .49¢ Dawn early in the week before it's all grabbed up.

I think I've blabbed about Rite-Aid enough over the last two days, huh?lol

Sluggy

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Rite-Aid Scenario for Very Cheap Baby Care Products


Here is a great scenario for the Johnson's Baby Products on sale until Saturday at Rite-Aid.
There is a Buy $50/Get $25 Single Check Rebate for select Johnson & Johnson products, including Johnson Baby Products.

Sale Price is 2 for $7.
Johnson & Johnson Baby Care Powder 22 oz.
Oil 20 oz.Bath or Lotion 15 oz.
Foaming Wash 9 oz.
Lotion 8 oz.


Scenario #1
Buy 8 Johnson's Baby Care items
8x$3.50=$28
Use the $5 off $25 purchase coupon HERE.
And use 8 $1/1 Johnson's coupons from the Sunday inserts.(5/17)
Or use the printable coupons linked below.

$28-$13=$15OOP

Do this scenario twice.
Total OOP $30.
Submit for the Single Check Rebate #97.
Receive a $25 refund.
$5 for 16 bottles of Baby Wash/Lotion/Powder.

If you haven't bought the Werther's Chocolate OR the Duck Tape that are Freebies this week after rebate,do the above Scenario ONLY once and then do this one for a lower OOP....

Scenario #2
Buy 7 Johnson's Baby Care Items.
7x$3.50=$24.50
Then buy either the Werther's or Duck Tape($2.99 or $1.49)
Total either $27.49 or $25.99.
Use the $5 off $25 purchase coupon HERE.
And use 7 $1/1 Johnson's coupons from the Sunday inserts.(5/17)
Or use the printable coupons linked below.

$27.49-$12=$15.49OOP or $25.99-$12=$13.99OOP

Total OOP $30.49 or $28.99.
Submit for the Single Check Rebate #97($25) and either Rebate #146($2.99)or #69($1.49)
Receive either a $27.99 or $26.49 refund.
Either Rebate(chocolate or tape) used with the Johnson's Rebate you end up with $2.50OOP for 15 bottles of Baby Wash/Lotion/Powder & a bag of Chocolate or a roll of Duck Tape.

This is a fan-so-tastic price for all these Baby Products! Basically it's .17¢ each for the baby care stuff and free chocolate or tape.
And you don't need to have a baby to get this stuff.
Think charity donation.
Think gift baskets(going to a baby shower anytime soon?)
Think sell it at your Yard Sale.

I LOVE to use Baby Wash in place of soap! And who doesn't like a little baby powder in the sticky heat of the summer?

Thanks to Luv to Save for the 1st Scenario Idea & the printable coupon links!
Sluggy

Cheap Cereal & Batteries until Saturday at Rite-Aid for VocalPoint Moms

If you have signed up to receive coupons & samples from VocalPoint, you may have gotten one of these mailers in the mail recently.

And when you open it up and hear that cute little Cereal Gnome Crackle, you'll find these.....



5 Coupons for $1 off a box of the new improved Rice Krispies AND a Coupon for a FREE BOX of RICE KRISPIES!

Among all the Grocery Stores having cereal sales this week, Rite-Aid has selected types of Kellogg's Cereals for $1.99 a box. A real decent price for cereal.
One of the select cereals on sale is.....what else?.....Rice Krispies.

Rite-Aid also is running a Single Check Rebate deal this month-buy $15 worth of select Kellogg's, Keebler, Sunshine, Austin, Famous Amos & Murray Sugar Free Products & you get a $5 coupon on your next of purchase of Kellogg's products.

Go up to Rite-Aid with your 6 Rice Krispies coupons, 5 Duracell battery coupons(from the Sunday paper) & print out the $5 off a $25 purchase HERE before you leave home.

Buy 6 boxes of $1.99 Rice Krispies for $11.94.

Then go find the DURACELL Batteries that are on sale for $3 a pack and buy 5 of them for $15.00.

Rite-Aid is also running an offer in the Single Check Rebate on Duracell-buy $15 worth of batteries and get a $5 rebate.

Your amount due at the register for 6 boxes of cereal and 5 packs of batteries will be $26.94.
Hand the cashier the $5 off Rite-Aid coupon first, then the manufacturers coupons.
$26.94-RA Q$5=$21.94.
$21.94-Cereal Qs$6.99=$14.95
$14.95-Duracell Qs$5.00=$9.95*(Your regions Duracell Qs may be less than $1/1 value)

Your total OOP will be $9.95+tax.

Take your receipt home and submit it for the Single Check Rebates for $5 on the $15 Duracell purchase.

After the rebate comes in your OOP drops to $4.95 for 20 batteries and 6 boxes of cereal.

If you buy 2 more boxes of cereal for $1.99 this week at Rite-Aid(and use a $1/2 Q from the Sunday paper)you'll spend another $2.98 & you can submit for the $5 OYNO Q on the cereal.
Do that and your totals will look like this....

Total OOP $7.93+tax(higher if your battery Qs are less than $1/1) AND a $5 Q for more cereal
Total items 20 batteries & 8 boxes of cereal + $5 worth of more cereal

So what do you do with 8 boxes of Rice Krispies?
It shouldn't be too hard to eat all that, especially when you can make MARSHMALLOW Treats out of some of it! It would be a very frugal dessert type treat.
Why pay $4 or so for 1 puny box of premade Rice Krispie Treats that are full of preservatives and chemicals? They aren't that hard to make, especially if you have a child assistant who enjoys getting messy!lol

And if you got the VocalPoint Rice Krispies mailer for goodness sakes, take the blasted coupons OUT OF THE HOLDER immediately! That way you don't have to keep opening it every time you want to use a coupon and have to listen that that voice chip thingy 5 billion times.
It gets ANNOYING REAL FAST!
Do ya hear that VocalPoint??lol

Sluggy