Couponing 101

Here are a few more tips to remember when going to the store and using coupons:
1. Go online to your stores site and see if the have e-coupons to download to your store loyalty card. If they do, then you are able to use a MFG coupons on top of the e-coupon! In my experience, e-coupons do not double. But, if you have a MFG coupon that doubles then you are in good shape!
2. Don't clip coupons for items your normally wouldn't use or eat. That being said, if there is a coupon for a product or food item that you like but don't purchase often because of the price, I would clip the coupons and wait for it to go on sale! That way you can get it for less than what it would be!
3. Sit on your coupons! Not literally! The Sunday that the coupons come out, the MFG wants you to go use it right away! Then, a week or so later they put that item on sale, but you have already used that coupon. Wait for your item to go on sale and then use the coupon so you know you are getting a better price!

I hope this helps a little bit today!
~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~

Let's talk Turkey!

As Thanksgiving is approaching us (in less than a week!) I decided to purchase a turkey half the size of the one I am fixing on thanksgiving, to do a test run on the recipe! So, I purchased an 11lb turkey! It took a solid week to thaw out!! I took a stick of softened butter and mixed it with 1 T garlic powder, 1 T onion powder, 3/4 T pepper, 1 t paprika, and 1 T herded poultry seasoning. I donned my gloves and loosed the skin from around the breast and legs of the turkey! I then took spoonfuls of the butter mixture and rubbed it into the breast and legs under the skin and then on top of the skin as well. I drizzled about 2 T evoo in the bottom of my roasting pan and placed the bird in! I will use homemade chicken stock for the next part but since I forgot to thaw it out I used 3/4 of a can of low sodium chicken stock and added it to the pan. I placed the lid on and sent her into the 325 degree oven for 1.5 hours. I took the bird out and added more of the butter mixture to it (this time just on top). I replaced the lid and let her cook for another 1.5 hours. I checked the temp and when it was close to 165 degrees I set the timer for 30 minutes. I was on the phone when the timer went off and was not thinking about what was in the oven, even though the smell was overwhelming in the house! Needless to say it cooked for another 30 minutes. I should have taken it out when the timer went off but I was to involved in the conversation I was having though I can't remember who I was talking to. LOL!
Once she finally came out of the oven, this is how she looked!!



She looked a little rough and I did steal a taste before I took the picture...Still Delicious!!

I hope you take a moment to think back on this past year and look at the blessings you have been given! I know I will!


~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~

Couponing 101

I wanted to share with ya'll what I purchased at Kroger a few weeks back when they were having their Mega 10 Event Sale that seemed to last a month!!
There are 4 bottles of Dawn dish detergent. Ever since the oil spill this past summer, I have purchased Dawn, since they donate a portion of sale to help rehabilitate animals that have been affected by oil spills. My family is one of the many animal loving families out there trying to do their part to save wildlife. Kroger had these on a 10 for $10 sale and I purchased 4 (thats all the coupons I had at the time). The coupons value was $.50. Kroger doubles all MFG coupons, everyday, up to $.50. SO, It doubled to a $1 and they were free!!! Wish I could have said the same for the Crest! I only had a $.75 off coupon, which Kroger will not double, so I paid $.25 each for them. Not bad for a box of tooth paste that is normally any where from $2-$3 a box! This is what you can accomplish by using coupons!

I recently had a "Couponing Party" where I taught over 20 ladies how to use coupons! It was a blast and I am getting together another for December! Just to name a couple of pointers while couponing:

1. Make sure you read the coupon. It may say a certain amount off 2 or have a limited size.
2. Ask to see if your store doubles coupons and which days they double. My area Kroger and Publix stores double coupons up to $.50 everyday! I recently found out that there are a couple of stores in my area that will double up to $1 on Saturdays! I will not name the name until I find out for sure! (Don't want to send people to that store with them thinking they can double coupons that they really can't)
3. Make sure you get several papers each week. I usually get 2 papers. On the Sundays that the P&G insert and GM insert are in them I get 4. I have 4 members in my family, so the general rule is 1 for each person of the family. To start out with, I would only get 2 papers. It can become overwhelming at first if you have too many to sort through!

I will be starting some "lessons" on couponing! I hope you tune each to get them!! I will be posting another one tomorrow with some very interesting statistics that you do not want to miss! I was in SHOCK when I read them! Looking forward to READING your replies! And DONT FORGET, I have a new POLL at the bottom of the page for you take!


~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~

Stretching your Chicken!

If you don't consider yourself a good cook, then I have a recipe for you! This is the easiest Chicken recipe I have. It called for 2 main ingredients! Chicken and Catalina dressing! I went to Sams last week and bought a 10 pk of chicken breast! It gave me 10 huge chicken breast which I divided up. I took 4 and added them to a gallon storage freezer bag and added 1/2 a bottle of Catalina dressing. Which by the way, I purchased the salad dressing as part of the mega 1o event that Kroger ran for 3 weeks. I paid no more than $.65 for each bottle. (Couponing rocks) I then got all the air out of the bag and mushed it around making sure that the chicken was well coated! Then I froze it! I took the other 4 and did the same but with Italian dressing, and the remaining 2 I froze plain. The 2 pks of 4 will give us 2 dinners plus 2 lunches for me the next day. The pk of 2 breast will give us 3 meals. I cant stretch that chicken into chicken taco soup, Chicken pot pie, or Chicken salad. I bought the chicken for $1.88 lb, the cheapest around here for breast! I highly recommend buying you meats in bulk and when you get home with them, dividing them into seperate packages for meals! On this trip I also purchased 5 lbs of Jeannie O Ground Turkey 93/7 for $10.99 (cheap and it was the well known, healthy brand), and over 4.5 lbs of ground Beef 90/10. You can also purchase the storage freezer bags cheap too!! I hope you try this out so you can stretch your dinners out!


Catalina Chicken
4 lg chicken breast
1/2 bottle Catalina dressing

Italian Chicken
4 lg chicken breast
1/2 bottle Italian dressing

Enjoy!


~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~