Diapers and diapered dude
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Lego Magazine
Checking out his new stash
There is another great diaper deal going on at CVS this week, just in time for me to re-stock on diapers for my little Peanut! 🙂
If you buy $30 of certain items, including Huggies, you get $12 in Extra Care Bucks back. I bought three packs of Huggies at $9.49 apiece and one container of wipes for $3.00. I had three $2.00 off Huggies coupons and a 50 cents off Huggies wipes coupon from this past Sunday’s paper and one $5 off any $20 worth of Huggies products from CVS.
I used the ECB to stock up on sodas with the deal they have going for three 12 packs of Coke products for $10 with a coupon from the magic red machine and get a couple packs of M&Ms as a treat.
My total out of pocket between the two transactions was: $22.63
My savings: $41.98
Percentage saved: 65%
I could’ve done better had I bought things I had coupons and a sale both on, but I only bought things that I wanted that were on sale. I didn’t have time to plan more than what I had to.
The Huggies products, though, worked out to $2.50 each!! AMAZING!! 🙂 I wrote this post Thursday, minus the numbers, with my baby sleeping on me, and had things happen to prevent me from making it to the computer to complete it in a timely manner. This deal is probably expiring tomorrow, so hurry on out!
That’s a pretty amazing deal, if you ask me! It was so easy that it only took five minutes to clip and write my list, and no time at all to shop. I was able to run into CVS alone while the kiddos and hubby waited in the car without coming back to cranky people, and that’s saying it was pretty stinkin’ quick. 🙂
I was holding out for another good diaper deal, and this one came just in time. 🙂 Who else is going to take advantage of this?
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
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. 🙂
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
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?
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Diapers and stuff
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.
Share the kindness through the generations!
I’m not sure if anyone noticed that I missed my normal “Cooking With Coupons” blog of the week or posting anything else for a few days. I apologize for the silence. What should have been my mom’s 51st birthday was a few days ago. My brain just hasn’t been able to churn out any creative thinking in the little time I’ve had to attempt to use it, and nothing I have written was inspiring me to post it.
She was radiant, and I only wish she were here now to continue to share that radiant sweetness she had with the next generation. She isn’t, but I am, so I’m doing my best to pass it along. Today, I’m going to just share a few thoughts and issue a challenge in her honor.
Princess Peach was upset that I didn’t make a cake for my mommy’s birthday, and was quick to let me know about it. She said I needed to make a cake right now so she could put a candle in it and make a wish for her grandma. When I asked her what she would wish for Grandma, she replied “I’d wish for her to be able to come down from Heaven to visit so she could meet her beeeeauuuuutiful grandbaby!” as she patted her own little chest. Her mommy wishes her wish could come true.
Moving on…
Take a few minutes out of your day and just do it. Some ideas?
I could go on all day, but I won’t. The point I’m trying to make here is that you don’t have to do anything huge. Just do something small every day you’re blessed with the precious gift of life to spread kindness in the world. It makes a much bigger difference than you may ever know.
Now for the challenge:
Egg Carton Caterpillars
My 3 1/2 year old, Princess Peach, loves to do anything cute, creative and crafty. I love anything that will keep her content, busy and not destroying anything for an entire hour at a time. I went on a quick internet browse for some things to fit the bill the other day when I felt a migraine coming on and needed her quietly occupied. I saw something kinda similar to this, and did my own thing from there with the materials I had on hand and the age of my munchkin. This little egg carton upcycled caterpillar project made us both happy! 🙂
First, I took an egg carton and cut the bottom off of it, then cut the two egg holder rows apart.
Curliques
Next, I poked a hole in each side of the end I designated the head of each caterpillar. I had a green pipe cleaner that I cut in half, threaded one half through the head of each little critter’s head and twirled the ends into cutsie curliques.
At this point, I would’ve put some googly eyes on the caterpillars for best results, but I didn’t have any. I thought about gluing small black buttons on for the eyes, but did I mention I started this whole project ’cause I had a migraine coming on? Yeah. So, I wound up just doodling eyes and a little cartoon mouth on each with markers and calling it good.
Princess Peach’s Project
From here, Princess Peach took the reins. I laid out her markers and a few different types of stickers for her to choose from to decorate and left her at the kitchen table while I laid on the living room couch trying to keep the migraine from coming on while being able to keep an eye on her and my little Bam-Bam baby boy. (Didn’t work, by the way. Worst migraine in forever!) For older kiddos or when you’re in a more hands-on mood, you could definitely add some glitter glue, buttons to be glued on as spots, macaroni art designs or anything else your little hearts desire.
My little artist had a great time creating her little critters, and when she was done she had just as much fun playing with them. She dubbed them brother and sister, and had them going on adventures together all over the house. It was pretty stinkin’ cute, even though part of her adventures took place making them fly around the bathroom telling me to feel better while I was throwing up from the migraine pain & pressure.
Want a rating on a scale of “zero” to “you’ve gotta do this”? Honey, if you’ve got preschoolers who need a rainy day or busy time activity that costs you nothing you don’t already have on hand and could even be considered “green”, I’d call egg carton caterpillars a “gotta do this” kinda activity. 😉
Playing with her caterpillars
Playing Outside With Our Chickies
It’s a beautiful spring day here in Georgia, and wonderful weather for a picnic! With this in mind, I’ve gotten together a perfect picnic for pennies on the dollar. Not only is this a cheap menu, but it is both a simple and unique twist on classic picnic foods. We’ve got a main dish, side and dessert, all very easy to throw together and equally easy on your pockets!
A healthier version of corn dogs…
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 cup cornflake crumbs (Total cereal may work, and it has a coupon)
1 (16 ounce) package all-beef Ball Park hot dogs
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil.
2.Stir together ketchup and mustard on a plate until mixed. Place cornflake crumbs in a shallow bowl. Roll each hot dog in the ketchup mixture, then roll in cornflake crumbs to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet.
3.Bake in preheated oven until the hot dogs are hot on the inside, and crispy on the outside, about 15 to 20 minutes.
An unusual side dish…
2 cups water
1 cup Hinode brown rice
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
1 tablespoon sugar
1.In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in rice, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, or until done (or use instant brown rice for quicker results).
2.Transfer rice to a serving bowl, and stir in onion, celery, cranberries, salad dressing and sugar. Cover, refrigerate, and serve cold.
And for dessert…
There is a rare coupon covering the three basic s’more ingredients- marshmallow, chocolate and graham crackers.
You can make them over a fire in the usual way. If it a backyard picnic, though, you can also put them together (without the top graham cracker) on a baking sheet and broil them until they are lightly browned and all puffed up, then just slap the top graham cracker on when you pull them out of the oven. Either way is a delectably gooey sweet treat to top off a nice spring picnic! 🙂
For your savings, go to this site: http://www.coupons.com/coupons/Food-Coupons-107/?pid=14505&nid=10&zid=py13
Print the following coupons: Big G Cereals, Ball Park Hot Dogs, S’mores, Hinode Rice
Love these savings!! 🙂
Our family loves spending time outdoors, especially this time of year when the weather is absolutely perfect for it! Eating outdoors is just one of many fun & frugal things to do in the springtime. There are so many things to enjoy outside for free or nearly free when it’s gorgeous out! What are your favorite picnic foods? Do you prefer to picnic at the park, in the woods, in a field, in your own yard, at a playground…what’s your preference?
CVS Coupon Spree
Yesterday was one of my occasional “coupon sprees” at CVS.
My tallies came up pretty dandy! As I’ve stated before, I don’t have the time or patience to “extreme coupon” with two small children, but my savings percentages were in that league. All I did was spend a few minutes scanning the deals online, printing out my matching coupons online, grabbing the coupons I already had clipped that went with the deal, loading my deals from my CVS club emails and folding it all into the CVS flier from the Sunday paper. If you aren’t signed up for the emails, do it! I get special deals almost weekly for 20% or 30% percent off or $5 off of a $30 or other similar discounts on top of coupons, sales and Extra Care Bucks. Annnnyway… on to the details of my awesome score! 🙂
My total (between two transactions) would have been $123.33.
My out of pocket expense was $13.81.
That’s a savings of $109.52, or 88.8%!!! 🙂
I’m not even counting into this equation the fact that I have $5 in Extra Care Bucks to use on my next transaction, so I’m more than pleased. I’m especially pleased because most of the items are things we use alot of, and not just “extras”. See the diapers? Yeah, buddy!!! 😉
Anyone else have a good couponing trip this week?
You Can Change the World One Act of Random Kindness At a Time!
I originally wrote just to share with my friends only seven months after my mom passed away. She diagnosed with lung cancer (as a non-smoker) on October 19, 2006 and passed away December 20, 2006. She was only 44 years old when she died, and her 51st birthday would’ve been this month. In her honor, I’m sharing this, and intending to renew my vow to do little “acts of random kindness”. Feel free to share your own thoughts and feelings on the topic…
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.Going into the movie, I was expecting sheer stupidity & goofiness and maybe a few laughs. I wasn’t disappointed. I giggled & cackled my way through the film. (Any story involving a guy who is told to build an ark in a high class modern neighborhood has gotta be pretty funny!) However, the part that stuck in my mind wasn’t anything that brought snickering to my soul. It was a simple statement that went along with something I’ve been thinking about alot here recently. That statement was this…
Mom, Nana and Me
Do you know what is the most amazing thing about that simple little statement? It’s true! If each & every one of us took it in our hearts to do all those acts of random kindness that we know we should do, but are usually rushing too quickly through life to do- it would change the world in wonderful ways. People would smile more, blood pressure would lower, heart attacks & churning stomachs & bad nerves would be less of an issue and the world would be much less stressful & more happy than we can even imagine.
This past Monday night, our Bible study group leader challenged us to spend this week trying to look for small ways to serve others and show kindness every little chance we get, and observe what sort of difference it makes in our lives & our outlook. Since this was something I’d already been thinking on, and it was reiterated for me in a goofy comedy tonight, I’m taking this on as a seriously fun challenge. I’m going to be looking out for itty-bitty ways to share joy, help others, be kind, and randomly serve those around me.
How about trying this with me? Open a door, carry some groceries, give someone a hug, compliment someone on a job well done, let a car in front of you even if you have been stuck in traffic for an ungodly length of time…just go ahead and do any kindness you can see to be done. Don’t leave it for someone else to do. Don’t think that it isn’t important. Think about the times your life has been positively impacted by a kindness that was fairly insignificant…and pass along that impact!
~Keisha~
July 4, 2007
Has a small act of kindness impacted your life in a big way? What acts of random kindness have you done lately, or had done for you? I’ve had seemingly random or small acts of kindness that were pretty huge to me and sometimes life changing. I plan a follow-up post (or series of posts, even) in the nearby future telling a few of those stories. Share, people, share! I’m all eyes here. 🙂
Loving My Babies Like Mama Loved Me
Penny Pinching Peach 