Penny Pinching Peach

For the semi crunchy, homeschool friendly and totally frugal!

Tag Archives: couponing


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Grandma’s Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken

A Family Favorite!

A Family Favorite!

This is a treasured family recipe, dating back at least to my great-grandma. My mom told stories of going every Sunday to her grandma’s house for this Ritz cracker chicken and a good time with her huge, close-knit clan of kinfolks. This was one of her stand-by meals for our family growing up, and one we looked forward to every time. When I was dating my now-husband, I fixed this chicken for him. He had a fit over it, and insisted on taking me to his parents’ house and having me fix it for him. Maybe it brought on a proposal? 😉 He requests it from time to time, and my little Princess Peach and her baby brother are already in love with what she also calls Grandma’s Special Ritz Cracker Chicken. She thinks it is a “recipe from Heaven”, though, because it is so yummy and she knows it is a recipe I learned from her Grandma, whom she never met ’cause she went to live in Heaven before Princess Peach was born. This recipe has so many good memories attached to it for me, in addition to being delicious! I’m happy to share it with you, and hope you can make memories with your own family while feeding them this scrumptious chicken treat.

We don’t always make this with chicken breast, for the record. You can use any pieces you want. We just like breast meat better in our house, so I buy huge packs when we find it on sale. I also frequently add chicken liver, made the same way, in with our chicken breast. It stretches the budget, and  the hubby and I love liver. I usually serve this chicken with mashed taters and either green beans, corn, baked beans or mac & cheese, but it would go well with just about anything. It is truly that good! 🙂

With no further ado…

Grandma's Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken

Grandma’s Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken

♥Grandma’s Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken♥

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large strips

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix crushed Ritz crackers, melted butter and black pepper until all is moistened.

Coat each piece of chicken well with the Ritz cracker mixture, and place in medium sized baking pan.

 Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through and lightly browned.

Enjoy!

She was enjoying her chicken and wouldn't stop to pose. :)

She was enjoying her chicken and wouldn’t stop to pose. 🙂

This recipe doubles well, and I usually do at least double the recipe so we can eat it

Chewing his chicken with a cheesy grin

Chewing his chicken with a cheesy grin

multiple times. You just have to cook it a few minutes longer for the extra chicken. The pan shown is about double the recipe, for reference. We love it so much that we’re always happy to eat the leftovers the next day!

No coupons this week, but this is a super frugal main dish.

So, now that I’ve shared one of my favorite family recipes with you, what’s a dish your family has long term ties with? If you don’t have a recipe like that, what dish do you fix that appears to have the potential to become “Grandma’s special recipe” for your own future generations?

For more recipes, please click the Chef’s hat!


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Another Great Diaper Deal!

Diapers and stuff

Diapers and stuff

If you have munchkins who are still diaper bottoms, this is a great deal for you! I’m surprised to have deals this great so close together! Also, if you’ve not yet done the Kimberly Clark Rebate, this is a great opportunity to take advantage of that. (See my previous post about it here: https://pennypinchingpeach.com/2013/05/24/fantastic-diaper-deal-rebate-and-more/ ) You could get diapers and wipes for nearly nothing after rebate if you buy three packs of Huggies and $5 worth of Huggies wipes and haven’t done the rebate yet! 🙂

I did two transactions during a quick trip to CVS today. My main purposes for going in there was to take advantage of the diaper deal I’d put together and to get some ibuprofen we needed. There was also a good sale on Pepsi products. I went in with no Extra Care Bucks to spend. I spent $21.49 out of pocket and saved $36.60, with a less-than-impressive savings percentage of 63%. I don’t feel bad about that, though, because I had to get the Ibuprofen since we’d actually ran out, for once, and I bought a couple of extra sodas just to be able to use my Extra Care Bucks from the diapers so I wouldn’t have to use my money.

Pay attention here! :)The deal I’d recommend you going to get before the stores close Saturday is the one on Huggies diapers. I had a couple of coupons from Sunday papers for $1.50 off and printed one for $3.00 off (which you can find for at least $2.00 off on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pennypinchingpeachpage , where I sometimes share “bonus deals” that I don’t write entire blog posts about). CVS is running a deal where you get $10 in Extra Care Bucks when you buy $30 in select items. Huggies and Pull-ups are two of those items, and they are $10 a pack. They also have a coupon printing off for alot of people at the magical coupon machine in the store for $5 off a $25 baby purchase. After my coupons and the ECB, they only cost me $3 a pack!! Now, that is a diapering deal to dance about, y’all! 🙂

CVS shopping tip: When you scan your card at those lovely red coupon machines in the stores, don’t just do it once. Keep scanning it again until it tells you there are no more coupons available, which is usually after two or three scans. That makes you more likely to get all of their current special coupons, but it’s not something they’re going to tell you. Try it! You’ll see. It keeps printing new coupons for at least two scans! 🙂

Which items do you search for bargains on? For me, it’s obviously diapers and wipes, but also grocery items that we use consistently.


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Cheesy Spinach Enchiladas

When I Became a Spinach Addict

When I Became a Spinach Addict

As someone who is addicted to both cheese and spinach, and loves Mexican food, this is a fantastic recipe! I’ve been a lifelong lover of cheese, but spinach has become a consistent craving for me ever since I got pregnant with my now one year old son. Weird, random, but true, especially since I was barely a mediocre fan of all things green and leafy until then. I’m drooling right now just thinking about these Cheesy Spinach Enchiladas! I want these right now, seriously! This is an awesome meal for a vegetarian or someone like me who can do without meat easily…or the guy whose wife can sneak in a meat-free meal when there’s enough cheese and sauce involved. 😉 It’s also very inexpensive, so who can complain about this one? If you’ve got someone who can’t do without meat at even one meal, just add a sprinkling of shredded chicken to each enchilada (or just his), so everyone will be happy. If you want to double the recipe and freeze one before you finish cooking, usually enchiladas freeze well, although I can’t guarantee them, of course. There are also coupons available to go with this delicious dish, which makes an inexpensive dish even cheaper. Can we say woohoo here?? 🙂

~*~Cheesy Spinach Enchiladas~*~

1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 (19 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.

In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cup of Monterey Jack.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.

Go to this site: http://www.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=MKRU3JAAR6CCY

Print these coupons: $1.00 off 2 Las Palmas Products and 50 cents off one Sargento cheese

I’m in love with this recipe, but I have a meat addict for a hubby, so I’d probably have to add some shredded chicken to mine, or at least make some beans with it. Does anyone else have a meat junkie in their household? Did anyone else crave something during pregnancy, and never lose the newfound love for a food which wasn’t a favorite before? My weakness is cheese. I could live as a vegetarian, if necessary, but being vegan would probably send me into withdrawals. 🙂

For more recipes, please click the Chef’s hat!


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FANTASTIC Diaper Deal, Rebate and More!!

Diapers and Deals

Diapers and Deal

If you’re looking for a killer deal on diapers, I have got a red hot bargain for you!!! This is one of the best diaper deals I have ever seen, and I’ve been buying diapers for close to 4 years now. I’m shocked, because I haven’t seen this scenario on any of the multiple deal sites I’m subscribed to, even the ones specializing in baby bargains. This is amazing!! 🙂

Kimberly Clark is running a promotion where if you buy $35 worth of select products in one transaction, you can get a $10 rebate. Huggies products are one of the eligible products, but there are others for those of you who are not in need of diapers. You can check it out at the link at the end of this article to find out the details.

CVS has a deal this week where if you buy $30 worth of Huggies diapers, you get $10 in Extra Care Bucks back. Their large Huggies multi-packs of wipes are $6 apiece. In the Sunday paper this week were some Huggies coupons, in one of the two Smart Source inserts. One was for $2 off of one pack of Huggies Slip-Ons, and the other was for $1.50 off any pack of Huggies diapers. I had bought a double paper this week, so I got two packs of the slip-ons and one of the snug & dry at $10 each, using two $2 off coupons and one $1.50 off coupon. I also got one of the $6 multi-packs of wipes, although I had no coupons for that.

After the Extra Care Bucks, coupons and rebate come through, this deal will wind up at $10.50 for three packs of diapers and a 186 count multi-pack of wipes. That is just over $2.50 each!! If you have ever bought a pack of diapers, you know this is beyond a terrific bargain! Hurry!! The CVS sale is only going on through tomorrow, although the rebate is available on purchases through the end of July!

I also got two coupons for $1.00 off any Wet & Wild nail, lip or eye products in the same Sunday paper, so I was able to get two nail polishes for absolutely free at CVS! This would work at most other stores as well, since they usually have polishes at 99 cents each.

CVS has another noteworthy promotion I took advantage of today, which is a 2 liter of Coke for 99 cents, along with a 25 cent off coupon at the magical coupon printer in store, making it only 74 cents for a bottle of Coke! There is a limit of one, so I wouldn’t make a special trip just for this, but it’s a great deal.

Blissful sleep in discount name brand diapers

Blissful sleep in discount name brand diapers

My husband was letting me run into the store quickly with the baby while he took our little girl with him to pick up a part for a repair, so this had to be a simple and planned trip. There are alot of other good deals this week at CVS, especially if you want makeup, but I haven’t had the time or need to take advantage of them all. If you are making a trip to CVS, I’d advise taking all of your makeup coupons with you this week, as they have some great promotions and in-store coupons on several brands right now.

Is anyone ready to jump on this fantabulous deal?? I absolutely couldn’t pass it up! I saved enough on diapers and wipes to pay for an entire week of groceries on a week when I’m not having to super stock on anything. 🙂

Here is the webpage with instructions and the link for printing the Kimberly Clark Rebate:
http://www.kcbrokerrebate.com/April-June2013/


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Smart Phones and Coupons

Smart Phone Savings

Smart Phone Savings

Have you ever had a great shopping trip planned revolving around certain high value coupons, only to reach the store and realize you didn’t actually bring aforementioned high value coupons? Well, maybe I’m the only one, but that has happened to me more than a couple of times! I hate it. I mean, I mega-seriously-deep-down DETEST when that happens! As a lifelong penny pincher, when I have a plan for some serious savings, and my own scatterbrained moment costs me some great bargains….ooooooo, it burns my butter, lemme tell ya! Thankfully, with my recent free upgrade to a smart phone, I’ve found a solution to many of these disappointing moments.

We were going to Party City to get a banner for our son’s upcoming first birthday, using a 20% off coupon I had found. Horror of horrors, we were nearly to the store when I went into my purse to get the coupon and realized I didn’t have it!! Well, I was pretty peeved, to say the least. However, I had a blessed “AHA!!” moment! I used my smart phone to search http://retailmenot.com for a coupon from Party City. Sure enough, there it was. I saved it to my phone’s main screen and headed into the store with high hopes. We got to the register, and it worked! They scanned my coupon right from my phone’s screen! My savings were…well….saved by the magic of technology!

Maybe everyone else has been using these smart phone dealimabobbers for ages, but I only got mine in the past couple of months. I am so thrilled when I’m able to use my new technology to help save money for our frugal family!

Moral of the story: If you have a smart phone, next time you forget your coupons at home, it may just save your savings, too. Now, if only I’d always remember that fact… 😉

Does anyone else forget her coupons and start kicking her own hiney?


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Hot Dog Casserole

Hot dog!

Hot dog!

This is one of those recipes I love, because it has your veggies for the healthy appeal, your hot dogs for the kid appeal, and the ease of throwing it together for the busy person appeal! It’s also very budget friendly, which teetotally appeals to the penny pincher in me! The doggie in the picture isn’t exactly the kind that goes in this casserole, but I think she’s pretty cute! I hope y’all enjoy this recipe! I’d say it’s a keeper. 🙂

First comes the recipe…

♦ Hot Dog Casserole ♦

16 hot dogs , cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 (15 ounce) cans cut green beans with liquid
2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes with juice
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a 2-quart casserole dish, stir together sliced hot dogs, green beans with their liquid, and stewed tomatoes with their juice.

Bake in the preheated oven until the juice is thickened, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, stir again, and sprinkle the casserole with mozzarella cheese. Heat the broiler of the oven, and place the casserole under the broiler until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it, as the broiler works quickly and could burn.

Now comes the savings…

Go to this site: http://www.coupons.com/coupons/Food-Coupons-107/

Print these coupons: Ball Park Lean Hot Dogs and/or Jennie O Turkey Franks

What’s your favorite way to eat hot dogs?


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Saving Time!

Look what we got!!

Look what we got!!

Today was one of my fun little saving while shopping trips. 🙂 I know there are other great drug stores for savings. The truth is that, with two munchkins to take shopping with me, I usually choose one place for non-grocery couponing and one for groceries each trip. CVS is my primary non-grocery couponing spot. Ingles is my usual choice for groceries in our fairly small town area, since they double coupons up to 50 cents, give treats to the kiddos and are pleasant to shop with.

To prepare for this trip, I spent about half an hour this morning making my grocery list, browsing the sales ads and looking at the CVS coupons I had from my last trip. Next, I glanced over the coupons on a coupon site (one of the ones I use to print coupons from coupons.com while earning points toward gift cards) to see what was on there to go with the items I needed, the sales bargains this week, my 30% off coupon for non-sale items at CVS, and the CVS coupons I already had. I threw the coupons I intended to use at each store into their respective folded store fliers, stuck them both in my purse with my shopping lists, and off we went.

CVS was decent today. I had to get diapers, “needed” some sodas, and have been wanting some new serving spoons and such. The first two things were on my automatic list. The rest were dictated by good prices on things we do use, but didn’t absolutely have to have today. We got diapers, facial wipes, nail polish, makeup, sodas, kitchen serving utensils, and protein bars. Princess Peach was excited about the super sparkly nail polish. 🙂 I keep her little fingers and toes painted pretty colors all the time with the nail polish I get for pennies on the dollar or even free.

Total Spent? $17.50

Total Saved? $53.84

Percentage Saved: 75.4%

We also did our grocery shopping at Ingles, which wasn’t so much a couponing trip, but getting what we needed while using coupons on whatever we could. In other words, there were things we needed that I got even though there wasn’t a sale or a coupon on them. Ohhhhh, the pain! 😉 Seriously, though, I’ve made it clear I’m not extreme.

Total Spent? $27.10

Total Saved? $11.82

Percentage Saved: 30.3%

I’m also going to get 40 cents back on my SavingStar account for buying yogurt.

Like I said, this wasn’t my best saving trip, but it only took me about 30 minutes this morning with two munchkins crawling all over me to get everything together and head out. It took two hours to do the actual shopping trip, but that had alot to do with Baby pulling Princess’ hair, throwing stuff out of the cart and feeding them their snacks to survive the shopping time. 🙂

What is your favorite grocery store to shop at?


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Throw-Together Casserole

Diapered dude and discount diva proving frugal is cool!

Diapered dude and discount diva proving frugal is cool!

Lately life has been moving right along at a busy pace, and I don’t always have time to prepare alot of dishes, desserts or anything special at all. This one dish meal is very simple to throw together, though, along with having some great coupons to go with it this week. You mix it up in the casserole dish, too, so clean-up is quick and easy, as well. It covers all of the food groups in that one dish, too, so…woohoo for health! On the days when my kiddos are more-than-usually underfoot and thinking my every moment revolves around their every sneeze and whim, one dish dinners are almost literally lifesavers. 🙂 What more could a busy person want from a hearty family dinner?

Throw-Together Casserole

1/2 pound sausage, fried and drained

1/4 cup sliced black olives

1/4 cup  sliced green olives

1 cup whole kernel corn

1 cup chopped canned tomatoes

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup cubed Cheddar cheese

1 cup cooked white rice

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
~In a 2 quart casserole dish, combine all ingredients. Mix together well.
~Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
There are a few coupons to go with this recipe. For the coupons, go to: http://www.coupons.com/coupons/Food-Coupons-107/
Print these coupons: Bob Evans Sausage, Hinode Rice, Contadina Canned Tomatoes
Who else is in love with one dish meals? I love the simplified preparation and snappy clean-up.


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Bic Bargain!!

Bic Bargain!

Bic Bargain!

Today I combined two $3 off Bic coupons from the Sunday paper with a Buy One, Get One 50% Off sale going on through Saturday at CVS. I paid 40 cents (just the sales tax) for two packs of Bic razors! That’s 2 cents per razor!! 🙂 These coupons will probably add up to very cheap deals on Bic at other stores, also, but that’s the one I had time to go to and it worked well.

Also, if you need anything that isn’t on sale this week, my Sunday paper had a circular with a 20% off coupon that is also good through Saturday. I’m not sure if that’s a local CVS circular or if it is nationwide. You can combine this with store coupons and manufacturer’s coupons, so that can add up to a good deal. I used it on nursing pads, wipes, diapers and Gillette products for my hubby. He will only use Gillette razors and shave gel. (Are all men stuck on certain brands???) They have a deal this week where you spend $30 and get $10 Extra Care Bucks back. I had several coupons to combine with it, including a BOGO, so it worked out to some super savings on expensive products. 🙂

What would you use the 20% off coupon for? 🙂 Are you or a family member stuck on one particular type or brand of a product, and won’t use anything else regardless of price?


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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups!

My daughter two years ago with a different cold sweet treat.

My daughter two years ago with a different cold sweet treat.

I just spent a good part of the afternoon putting plants out in our little yard garden. It’s warm outside, and the pollen count is at an ungodly high level. I would love to eat icecream right now, since I got quite warm & dusty and my throat is pretty itchy from that pesky yellow haze covering everything outside. I’m being a good girl and resisting temptation for the moment, but I’m sharing a tempting recipe that might make it difficult for y’all to keep from indulging. 🙂 What I’m sharing today is a frugal tip for fancifying that delectably cool warm weather treat: Homemade cookie cups filled with icecream. Mmm, mmmmmmm!!! 🙂 I’ve got savings to go along with it, which certainly sweetens the deal for me! 🙂

What you need: Cookie dough and a muffin tin, plus whatever you want to fill them with. I have always seen chocolate chip cookie dough used, but I’m sure other types would work and would like to try some other varieties this warm season.

What to do: Flip the muffin tin over, form the cookie dough around the cups instead of inside, then bake the pan upside down like that. Let the cookies cool, then pop them off of there and fill them with icecream or frozen yogurt of your choice, or even fresh chopped fruit with whipped cream on top, if you prefer.

Some flavor combinations that I think would be good to try: The classic chocolate chip cookies with vanilla, chocolate or peanut butter icecream. Chocolate chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter or strawberry icecream. Peanut butter cookies with chocolate icecream. Sugar cookies with strawberry icecream or fresh fruit & whipped cream. Your imagination is your limit! 🙂

Where to go for savings: http://www.coupons.com/coupons/Food-Coupons-107/

Which coupons to print: Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough and Yoplait frozen yogurt.

Bonus savings: Saving Star has an additional $1 on Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough that will go to your account there if you purchase at one of your registered stores using your store card! If you aren’t signed up for saving star, you can read up on it and then sign up by going to my post on Saving Star here:

What flavor combination can you come up with? Which do you think would taste the best? 🙂