I Wanted Healthy Muffins

So, again I must say...it's been awhile.  Life has been...well, life has been life.  Living at the beach, April starts the "summer" in my mind, so we've been doing work outside and trying to get our backyard fixed up.  Not an easy task!

We've had some other things going on, but those can be saved for another time!  Now, we must talk MUFFINS!

For those of you who know me, you may know that I am NOT an expert baker.  I consider myself pretty competent in the kitchen and have finally moved away from following a recipe line by line...except when it comes to baking.  I think it's because baking is SO precise and when I'm in the kitchen I like to change things up and try new things.  That said, I have really been wanting to bake recently.

Now, my college BFF is getting married in a few months and we're headed to NOLA in a few weeks for a Bachelorette Party...needless to say, Operation Get Ready for NOLA is in full force and that means lots of healthy eating.  But this weekend I just couldn't take it anymore and decided I had to find something healthy to bake, and BOY DID I!

Healthy Banana Blueberry Oat Muffins
Yields: 12
Weight Watcher Points: 2 each

Ingredients

3 bananas
2 cups of frozen blueberries
1 cup skim milk
1/8 cup Splenda
2 eggs
2 1/2 to 3 cups of quick cook oats (I know, baking is precise but I used three cups and thought it was a bit too much so use discretion!)

Preheat oven to 400

Mash bananas in a mixing bowl

Add the blueberries, skim milk, Splenda and eggs.  Combine well.

Add the oats and mix.  Let stand for about 5 or 6 minutes

Fill tins to the brim and bake for 20-22 minutes (mine was more like 23, but I'm pretty sure there is something wrong with our oven).

Let cool on a wire rack.

Oh My Word, these were good!  A note of caution, these are not very sweet.  If you think that will bother you add 1/4 cup of Spelenda instead of only 1/8.  But honesty, for only 2 Weight Watcher points these were just what the doctor ordered!

They also helped me get over my sadness of some of my new favorite shows being canceled for the 2012 season. Ringer, Secret Circle and ABC's GCBs all bit the dust this May and that news made me very sad, especially because I loved seeing Sarah Michelle Geller back on tv!

So if you decide to try out the muffin recipe, let me know how you liked it.  Also, please feel free to share any healthy baking tips you may have...I'm sure I'll be needing another fix soon!

What I Saved: Time to get ready for Triples!

So just because the posting has stopped, doesn't mean the savings have.  I've been saving about 70% each week. 

With Super Triples starting next week I needed to crack down a little bit more on my couponing.  I didn't really need that much at the store this week but I did get a few good deals that I'm excited about. 

I'm going to be a little lazy today and not do the match-ups for what I got, but I promise I'll post a great Triples list on Tuesday night to make up for it.

This week my totals look like this:

Total value: 96.42
OOP: 26.84
Savings: 72%

I grabbed the buy 7 save $7 Green Giant veggies, free dressing using a rain check and coupon, several boxes of cereal that my husband always begs me for but are never at my $0.50 price (they were each $1.50 this week and that's the lowest I've seen even though it pained me to buy them!), Quaker yogurt granola bars, Pop Tarts, Cheetos, and ketchup!

I also had to get oats, frozen blueberries and bananas for yummy muffins I made this weekend - I'll share the reciepe tomorrow.  It's really good and also really healthy!

So, until then, have a great weekend.  It's time for me to watch the Season Finale of Once Upon a Time!

My Grocery List: 5/2/12

It seems like a pretty slow week for deals at HT and Lowe's Foods, which I'm okay with.  There are a few deals I plan on grabbing though and wanted to share them with you!

Harris Teeter: 5/2-5/8

Item	Cost	Q Value	Doubled	evic	Total	Where to find
Philly Cream Cheese	1.67	1	1		0.67	Catalina
Coffeemate Creamer	1.67	0.55	1.1		0.57	Printable
Multigrain Cheerios	$3.00	$0.75	1.5	0.75	0.75	Printable (NLA) and evic
Triscits	$1.89	$1.00	1		0.89	Printable
Hillshire Farm Gourmet Creations	$1.99	$1.00	1	1.5	-0.51	Printable
Sorrento Sticksters	$3.19	$1.00	1		2.19	Lowe's coupon book
McCormick Taco Seasoning	$0.35		0		0.35	No q
Rice sides	$1.00		0		1	No q
Dannon Greek Yogurt (5)	$5.00		0	1	4	evic only

Lowe's Foods: 5/2-5/8

Item	Cost	Q Value	Doubled	evic	Total	Where to find
Grande Tortilla chips	1.49	0.75	1.5		0	SS 4/15
Febreze Set and Refresh	1.79	0.5	1		0.79	P&G 5/1

I'm really excited about the Set and Refresh at Lowe's and the MM meat at Harris Teeter.  Remember, if your store is sold out, ASK FOR A RAIN CHECK!  Then you get to make your own sale whenever you want before the coupon expires.

What are you planning on getting this weekend?  I'd love to hear about your grocery list!

My Grocery List!

So I know I promised to tell you about the potential new addition to the Overholt house and I promise I will, soon...and NO, it's NOT a baby! 

I wanted to take this time to post my HT grocery list for this week.  For the past few weeks I've been sharing my coupon spreadsheet with some coworkers and figured I should share with my faithful readers (all five of you!!) as well.

These are the deals that I think are either worth grabbing this week or things we need in our house.  This is by no means a list of all the great deals - those can be found on some of the amazing coupon sites that exist!

Item	Cost	Q Value	Doubled	evic	Total	Where to find
HT Cheese (5)	5.5	0	0	0	5.5	None
Honey Bunches of Oats	2	1	1		1	Printable
Barilla Pasta (Whole Grain)	$1.25	$1.00	1	0	0.25	Printable
Frosted Mini Wheats	$2.09	$0.70	1.4		0.69	SS 4/1
La Croix Water	$2.89	$1.00	1		1.89	Printable
Chex Mix	$2.00	$0.50	1	0.5	0.5	Printable
Yoplait Greek Yogurt (2)	$2.00	$0.50	1	0.5	0.5	SS 3/25

Lists of ALL match-ups can be found at either www.southernsavers.com or www.moolasavingmom.com

Anything catch your eye this week?  I'd love to know what you plan on grabbing!

What I Saved: Harris Teeter Super Doubles and a $0.49 CVS trip!

Ugh - so this was not my week for blogging!  I do have a few fun stories from this weekend and a new recipe or two to share, but I'll save that for later!  Although I will say that one involves a potential new addition to the Overholt house!

On to the savings! **DISCLAIMER: This post gets VERY coupon heavy...you have been warned**  Super Doubles were this week at both Harris Teeter and Lowe's Food, so I was pretty busy!  I got up at 5:30 on Wednesday morning to get my first round of SD goodies...and I was the only couponer in the store - I wasn't sure what was going on!! All I know is that I got everything I wanted!

Total value: $78.87
OOP: $10.48
Savings: 87%

That was the only trip I made during the week. I did make a trip on Saturday for the $0.77 Gain and a few other things.

Total value: $69.23
OOP: $10.18
Savings: 85%

Finally, I made two final trips today (I had to visit two stores to get everything I needed!).

Total value: $59.53
OOP: $14.80
Savings: 75%

I also ran to Lowe's Food today to pick up ice cream and coffee using the $1 off Turkey Hill ice cream from last week's paper and thw $1.50 off Seattle's Best coffee from the paper today!

Total value: $17.97
OOP: $4.99
Savings: 72%

Also on the agenda was a Target trip and a CVS trip! Target was good and CVS was GREAT!

Target total value: $6.97
OOP: $1.98
Savings: 72%

CVS total value: $23.49
OOP: $0.49
Savings: 96%

So what were some of my highlights?  Here is the Spreadsheet from some of the great deals I got at HT.

Item	Cost	Q Value	Doubled	evic	Total	Where to find
Emrald Breakfast on the go	$2.50	$1.00	2		0.5	Printable
Alexia Sweet potato	$3.00	$1.00	2		1	Printable
Smart Balance Milk	$3.99	$1.50	3		0.99	SS 4/1
Starbucks	$5.97	$1.50	3		2.97	Printable
Johnsonville Chicken Sausage	$4.99	$1.00	2		2.99	SS 3/25
Vlasic Pickles	$1.74	$0.75	1.5		0.24	SS 4/1
Belvita	$2.99	$1.00	2		0.99	SS 2/26
Gold Peak Tea	1.5	0.75	1.5		0	Printable
McCain Purely Potatoes	2.69	1	2		0.69	SS 4/8 and Lowes book
Kashi Meals	3	1	2		1	Printable
Wolfgang Stock	4.98	1	2	1	1.98	Printable
Carpet Fresh	1.69	2	2	0	-0.31	SS 4/15
Country Crock	2.19	1	2		0.19	Printable
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter	2.29	1.25	2.5		-0.21	Printable
Garnier Shampoo	2.99	1	2	1	-0.01	Printable
Garnier Style Product	2.99	1	2	1	-0.01	Printable

 
 At Target I used a $1 off Target printable for the Glade Air Freshener and a $1/2 Green Works Target coupon and (2) $1 Green Works manufacturers coupon.

Finally, what did I do at CVS?  I had two transactions - which I don't really like doing but had to this time!

Transaction 1:
(1) Blink Eye drops at $8.99
Used 1 $1 off printable coupon
Used $7.50 in ECB's
Total spent: $0.49
Got back $8.99 in ECB

Transaction 2:
(3) American Greeting cards - $0.99 each
(1) Physician's Formula concealer - $5.99
(1) Nail polish -  $1.99
Used (1) $2/3 American Greeting CVS printable
Used $8.99 in ECB's from first transaction
Total spent: $0.00
Got back $10 in ECB

All things considered, this has been a GREAT week for me.

My totals look like this:
Total value: $256.11
OOP: $49.92
Savings: 83%

Any couponing successes this weekend for you?  Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Jalapeno Popper Chicken and What I Saved: The hubs strikes back!

So I've been out of commission a little recently.  We have taken on some projects around the house that are kind of big and we were fighting off some sort of illness last week - it never really took hold but it was a pain all week!

We have been doing a LOT of yard work!

I'm starting to get ready for Harris Teeter's Super Doubles (which start on Wednesday) but I scooped up a few good deals this afternoon...although my savings don't reflect it! And that's thanks to the husband!  He decided he wanted some mixers and soda (none of which as on sale) so that raised my price significantly - although I only went a few dollars over my $50 budget.

My totals value: $90.12
OOP: 41.82
Savings: 54% (probably my lowest since I started couponing!)

None of my deals were that spectacular and everything I did can be found on some of the other amazing coupon sites so I thought I'd take this time to share a really good and easy dinner I made this week.

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

4 ounces cream cheese, slightly softened
1 jalapeno, diced
4 chicken breasts, sliced to stuff
Breadcrumbs
Shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the cream cheese and jalapenos in a bowl

Slice the chicken horizontally leaving one side connected (so the chicken could open like a book)

Stuff each breast with a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture

Mix the breadcrumbs and cheese and coat the chicken breast in the breadcrumb and cheese mixture

Bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees

I severed ours with smashed potatoes and Darrin's Aunt Shirley's green beans which are pretty much the most amazing thing ever!

So again, let me say, sorry for the radio silence, but hopefully the time off has left me fresh and with a lot of new material to blog about!

Did you do anything fun this weekend?  What's your favorite chicken dinner?

What I Saved: I spent nothing OOP at CVS today!

So this was a pretty decent week for savings.  It started out with an amazing Money Maker at HT, which you can check out here if you missed it.

I took advantage of both Saturday Specials and picked up with Glad trash bags and Gain laundry detergent, plus a few other evic items.

My trip today was pretty uneventful.  I took advantage of the Harris Teeter Pharmacy Promotion (which ends on April 3rd, by the way) and had a new prescription filled at the HT Pharmacy and had $20 added to my vic card, that made what I used from my gift card minimal!

Here's what the trip looked like:

I didn't use many coupons:

I grabbed two dozen eggs using the printable available here
I also used (2) $1/2 Kellogg's cereal, stacked with a sale and the $4/4 evic coupon
I had a coupon for a FREE Kraft Fresh Takes so I'm excited to try that out!  I got the coupon in the mail by the way.
I also used a $1 off coupon from the 3/25 SS on a frozen pizza and paid $2.77

It was NOT a coupon heavy trip, but I really didn't need much.

I did pretty well at CVS today though.  Here's what the trip looked like:

I used (3) $7 off coupons for the allergy meds from today's SS
There was a $1 off peelie on the contact solution and that gave me back a $8.99 ECB
I just needed the hairbands!

I have $11 in ECB from my trip last weekend plus another $2.50 printed out this morning from my last quarter spending.  After all the coupons and ECB's I ended up paying nothing but tax OOP - plus I got another $8.99 in ECB's and didn't have the use the $2.50 that printed out today!

My weekend looks like this:
Total value: $143.64
OOP: 10.82
Savings: 92%


I'd love to hear about your savings but I must get ready for Mad Men...and take care of my sick husband (who I think has given me his germs because I'm not feeling so hot myself!).