Target Today, Hunting for Holiday Glade Deal

Quick run to Target today while I was out with hubby.

What I went there specifically for, was the Glade "Buy 5 holiday scented products, Get a $5 Gift Card" Deal that has reportedly started this week at Target.  It runs until the end of the year.
Well, the only store here has NOT put out the display or even any of the holiday scented products on the regular shelves.  Bleh.
So it's a good thing I brought along some other coupons to use.....

2 x Kashi Go Lean Crunch! Cereal temp. markdown @$2.75=$5.50
3 x Purell Hand Sanitizer @$1.37=$4.11
4 x Campbell's Tomato Soup on sale @.60ea.=$2.40
2 x Rimmel Mascara on sale $2.24=$4.48  FINALLY had some!lol
2 x Chef Michael Dog Food temp. markdown@ $.84=$1.68
1 x Degree Deo $3.29
1 x Degree Body Mist  $3.29
2 x Mr. Clean Eraser @$2.24=$4.48
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner  $2.99
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner  $2.59
SubTotal   $33.81

Coupons Used

2 x $3/1 VocalPoint Q Kashi Go Lean Crunch! Cereal adjusted down to $2.75=$5.50
3 x $1/1 Manu. Q Purell Hand Sanitizer=$3.00
2 x $1/2 IP Q Campbell's Soup=$2.00
2 x $2/1 Manu. Q Rimmel Mascara=$4.00
1 x BOGO TARGET Q Chef Michael Dog Food=$.84
1 x $1.50/1 IP Q Degree Deo=$1.50
1 x $1.50/1 IP Q Degree Body Mist=$1.50
1 x $3/2 TARGET Degree Deo & Mist=$3.00
1 x BOGO Manu. Q Mr. Clean Eraser=$2.24
1 x $.75/1 Homemailer Q Mr. Clean Eraser=$.75
1 x $.75/1 TARGET Q Mr. Clean Eraser=$.75
1 x BOGO Manu Q Mr. Clean Cleaner=$2.59
1 x $.75/1 Home Mailer Q Mr. Clean Cleaner=$.75
1 x $.75/1 TARGET Q Mr. Clean Cleaner=$.75
 Coupon Total   $29.17

$33.81-$29.17=$4.64 OOP

I had another BOGO Chef Michael Q from a package insert to pair with the Target Chef Michael Q but the cashier won't take it....yes, using 2 BOGO Qs can be a YMMV situation.  Though I could have argued about that, I didn't.  My total should have been $3.80 if I had been able to use both Qs.

I was able to use 6 coupons on the 4 Mr. Clean products.  This was my favorite play today!

2 x Mr. Clean Eraser @$2.24=$4.48
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner=$2.99
1 x Mr. Clean Cleaner=$2.59
Subtotal of $10.06

Use the BOGO Q(sunday inserts)for the Erasers, takes off  $2.24.
Use the BOGO Q(sunday inserts)Buy Big bottle for $2.99, get Sprayer bottle free, takes off $2.59.
Use the .75/1 Q(from Right@Home mailer)on the Eraser that wasn't free and stack the Target .75/1 Q found around the neck of the Big Bottle , takes off $1.50.
Use the .75/1 Q(from Right@Home mailer)on the Cleaner bottle that wasn't free and stack the Target .75/1 Q found around the neck of the Big Bottle, takes off $1.50.
Coupon Total of $7.83.

$10.06-$7.83=$2.23 for all 4 Mr. Clean Products.

I've got another coupon hangtag with the 2 Target Qs so I'll go back later in the week to check if the Holiday Glade stuff is out yet and I can do the Mr. Clean Products Deal again.

Have any of you dear readers found the Holiday Glade products at your local Target yet?

Sluggy

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

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Was sitting in the family room Monday morning and hubby yelled to me to quick turn around and look out the back door, quick before it left or the hounds started yelping at it.
"IT" turned out to be a Pheasant!
Yep, there was a female pheasant walking across our back deck.

I tried to get a photo but there are those blind-thingies inside the glass of our french doors....they louver open or close but you can't pull them up out of the way.
So the big white 'stripes' in these shots are the blinds.

Pheasant with it's head down pecking at something on the deck.

Pheasant sticking it's head through the railing and about to hop off the deck into the yard...

Right after I snapped that shot, the beagles caught a whiff of the pheasant and it was instant chaos and bedlam in the house.lolol

That's the first pheasant I've ever seen around here.  Use to see them lots around our old house in the Poconos, along with the deer, bear, turkeys, raccoons, possums, etc.  The old house was in a largely undeveloped gated summer community bordered by a state forest and a state gamelands.  We were lousy with critters!lol
Not so much lousy with 'em in the rural suburban area here on the mountain.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday....October 19th Edition Nothing Much to Buy

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...

Everything was served as planned except we never got to the Ham & Bean Soup so that transfers to this week.
I changed up my Meatloaf recipe when I made it on Sunday.  I usually grate veggies(squash, zuke, carrots)and throw that in along with onion and garlic.  I halved the ground beef this time and substituted ground turkey, plus I threw in some steak sauce(finished the bottle) and some ketchup.  I also subbed half of the bread crumbs I put in with panko this time.  Between the panko and the ground turkey, this meatloaf was not as heavy and dense as a regular meatloaf.
I also grated a little hunk of cheddar cheese I had left and then free formed the loaf on a foil lined small baking sheet instead of the loaf pan.  As I was forming the loaf shape, I made a channel in the loaf and put grated cheese in the center of the hunk of meatloaf.  Halfway through baking I topped the loaf with tomato paste.  When I cut into the meatloaf to serve, you got a cheesy center in each slice. Yum!

I never did get around to that Baking Day and this week isn't looking too promising as hubby is home all week.  I'll at least get some Zucchini Bread baked but beyond that I am not making any promises.lol

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week....it's a lot of comfort type foods & using up some leftovers and fresh local produce I picked up while selling my stockpile items at the flea market yesterday and the last of the garden greens.  I picked up some very inexpensive pork cutlets(very thin ones)a couple of weeks ago.  I am going to be making Pork Parmesan with them.  This will be a first time for me making this dish with pork.


MONDAY--Pork Spareribs w/Chinese Sauce(freezer/stockpile), Rice(stockpile), Veggie Melange(freezer)
TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza(stockpile), Salad(garden)
WEDNESDAY--Ham and Bean Soup(freezer/stockpile), Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
THURSDAY--Pork Parmesan(freezer/stockpile),Swiss Chard(garden), Pasta
FRIDAY--Meatloaf(Sunday leftover), Garlic Mashed Potatoes(stockpile), Honey Carrots(freezer)
SATURDAY--Leftovers
SUNDAY--more Leftovers or Breakfast for Lunch(Band Competition that night)
SNACKS/DESSERTS--fresh seasonal Fruit,Zucchini Bread, something made with Apples

Be sure and check out the Ham and Bean Soup recipe link above.  I am NOT a fan of bean soups but with this one, even I want to lick the bowl clean!  It should be called the "Bean Soup for Bean Soup Haters" Soup.lol

Last week I spent $39.24($22.46 at local independent market & $16.78 at the Bakery Outlet)on groceries. 

This week's menu shopping list.....I don't see anything on the menu that I need to buy except fruit. A quick run to the farm stand to load up on root cellar type veggies before they close will take up most of my weekly food budget this week.  Between the weekly milk purchase, the fruit and the root veggies I'm figuring I'll spend $35 this week.

Food Waste Report....thanks to the doggies, nothing went bad and had to be thrown away.  The one good thing about having dogs.lol

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Sluggy

Giveaway over on "Happy Mom Of 5"....Ends 10/21/09 so Hurry!

"HAPPY MOM OF 5" is having a Giveaway for a Nature Valley Prize Pack.  Go check it out HERE.
The contest ends 10/21/09 at midnight central time so be sure to enter soon!

Sluggy