What I Saved: I heart clearance items!

Our weekend has been pretty uneventful - and I've loved it!  We spent a lot of time just hanging around the house, catching up on tv, and reading! 

Have I mentioned that I'm currently obsessed with White Collar? 

How can you not love a show that stars Kelly Kapowski?

I started watching the series on Netflix Watch Instantly and I'm hooked!

Also amazing, Matt Bomer is set to play Blaine's brother on Glee (and yes, I squealed like a girl when I found out!).

On to our typical Sunday topic: How much did I save this weekend?

I love the Meal Deal at HT this week!

Total Value: $97.45
OOP: $32.05
Total Saved: 67%

My best purchases include:

Colgate toothpaste at HT (2/$3)
Used $0.75 coupon from today's SS
Total: FREE

Schick Men's Shave get at CVS ($1.99)
Used $0.75 coupon from today's SS
Total: $1.24 plus tax

The best part of today were the clearance items I was able to scoop up at Harris Teeter today!

Glade Carpet Powder - select scents($1.32)
$0.55 coupon (printable)
Total: $0.22

Glade Room Spray - select scents ($1.99)
$0.55 coupon 2/12 SS
Total: $0.89

Carpet Fresh Carpet Powder - select scents ($1.09)
$1 coupon
Total: $0.09

Febreze Candle - select scents ($3.87)
$1 coupon P&G
$1 evic coupon
Total: $1.87

Dove Men's Bar Soap - select scents ($4.09)
$1 off coupon 1/29 RP - expires 2/26
Total: $3.09

I have to admit that I LOVE when I get great clearance deals at Harris Teeter!  I get really excited for some reason.

Question for the night: Any TV shows that you're currently hooked on?  Any great savings this week so far? 

Cold Day, Hot Soup

First, I use the word, "cold," very VERY loosely.  Living at the beach where it typically doesn't drop below 50 degrees I can't really complain...and yet, I still do...anytime it get below 60 that is!

We lead a rough life!

I'm am slowly turning into a Southern Belle...wait, no...a Southern GIRL!  A few things that living down here means though is that there is a limited time when wearing turtleneck sweaters is appropriate and soup is not as widely sold in restaurants as it is in the 'burgh and other Yankee cities!

I've found a few recipes lately that I really like.  Like I said before, I'm really digging my Everyday by Rachel Ray subscription.  Below is another winner from her December 2011 issue that I've modified a little.  It's perfect for a cold (or if you live at the beach, cold-ISH) day!

Cheesy Chicken-Potato Soup (Everyday by Rachel Ray - December 2011 issue) MODIFIED
Serves 4, Prep 5 minutes, Cooks in 20 minutes
Ingredients:
3 tbsp butter
2 cups leeks, chopped (white parts only)
1 1/2 lbs of red potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
1 qt chicken broth
1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (this made it SO easy)
7 oz of shredded cheddar
4 tbsp of sour cream
Red pepper flakes

Prep your potatoes and leeks

In pot, melt butter over medium heat; cook leeks 2 minutes
Add potatoes and cook 5 minutes
Add broth; bring to a boil.  Simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes.

I always use granules instead of buying stock!

Remove one-third of the potatoes, reserve.
Puree remaining soup with 1 cup water (this part was tricky b/c my food processor was not big enough)
Stir in chicken, reserved potatoes, cheese and sour cream and red pepper flakes (to taste)

Serve topped with a little more sour cream, if you'd like

This was pretty easy and came out really well.  It would be really quick for lunch on a winter day.


Can you eat soup in warm weather?  What's your favorite cold weather food?

A Break From the Scissors and A Tasty Dinner

No, I'm not giving up couponing, I just feel like that is ALL I've talked about on this blog recently.  I never intended for this to turn into a coupon blog - there are already so many great ones out there and I don't think I can compete!

So, sorry to all of those I have bored with my % saved and my grocery trips for the past few weeks.  I'll start talking about fun stuff again, I promise!

My wonderful mother got me a subscription to Rachel Ray's Everyday Magazine for Christmas this year!

My Mommy and Me in Vegas a few years ago!

Note to self: You know you're a married woman when you're asking for magazines about food/cooking/etc for Christmas!

I've already gotten my first two subscriptions and I LOVE IT!

I really want to bake cookies every time I read this issue!

Confession time: I am currently seeking treatment for a DINNER RUT.  I was starting to DREAD menu planning for the week.  In my mind I was cooking the same thing over and over!  Darrin didn't seem to mind, although I'm pretty sure he'd eat the same thing every night if I cooked it, just to make me happy!

He's so good to me!

I decided it was time for a change!  So after much blog reading, magazine scouring, and soul searching...okay, maybe that's taking it a bit too far...but anyway, I started feeling pretty adventurous and have started cooking outside of my comfort zone.  And man am I digging it!  This little Italian girl is backing away from pasta and sauce and embracing some new things.

I really like the following recipe and hope you all do to.


Glazed Pork Loin with Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes (Everyday by Rachel Ray - December 2011 issue)
Serves 4, Prep 15 minutes, Cooks in 50 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs pork loin, tied
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp grainy mustard
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 lb brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
thyme
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bear, cut into chunks

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Season the pork all over with salt and pepper and place in the center of a roasting pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the mustard, vinegar and brown sugar and brush over the pork.  Scatter the brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and thyme around the pork.  Sprinkle with oil, any remaining mustard mixture and salt and pepper.  Stir to coat.

Place and oven and roast, tossing the veggies occasionally until they are almost tender - about 30 minutes. (At this point the recipes says if the veggies stick add 2 tbsp of water, but I didn't have that issue).

Stir in the pear and roast until the veggies are tender and the pork is at 150 degrees (about 15 minutes).
Let the roast sit for 5 minutes, then thinly slice and serve with the veggies.

I served with extra mustard for dipping!

If you're looking for something really good and pretty easy, I highly suggest giving this a try.  Lots of veggies and lean pork make it a pretty healthy meal!


What's your favorite pork recipe?  Have you ever been in a "food rut?"

Harris Teeter Super Doubles: The Final Counts

WOW!  Yep, that's all I can say.  This was a great Super Doubles event for me at Harris Teeter.  It's always made even better by the amazing staff at the Harris Teeter I shop at.  They go above and beyond for their customers and it's great!

I've been posting updates throughout the week of how I've been doing.  You can find those here:
Round One
Round Two
Round Three and Four

Here are some final numbers. 

I made five trips to HT, some I have photos of and some I do not.

Trip One

Trip Two

Trip Four

BIG trip!

I've broken down the first few trips and those links are above so I'm only going to talk about my big trip here.

Some of the big things for me are:
4 boxes of Fiber One bars
4 Greek yogurts
3 Coffeemate coffee cream
2 bags of chips
B1G1 Steak
Johnsonville Chicken Sausage
Lite Kolbasa
Blue Bunny ice cream
gud Handsoap (To make it really work out for you, only buy one per transaction.  It ends up a MM if you only do one per transaction but you end up paying about $0.49 if you do two in a transaction).

I forgot batteries for Darrin and since the gud ecoupon reloaded for me I decided and trip off one more coupon and make $1.24 that I applied to the batteries we needed, so that was my fifth (and final trip).

Overall Super Doubles numbers look like this:
Total value: $262.60
OOP: $54.56
Total savings: 80% (which I am really happy about!)

To be totally fair though, I did run to Target for some Lean Cuisine meals and vitamins for Darrin.

My weekly totals therefore look more like this:
Total value: $281.05
OOP: $68.81
Total savings: 76% (which I'm still happy about!)

Any of my Southern friends hit up Super Doubles at HT?  How'd it go for you?  Any other great savings this week?

HT Super Doubles: Round 3 and 4

There are so many amazing deals right now that I am LOVING this HT Super Doubles week!

Yesterday I stopped in to pick up a few quick things.  I was able to get:

Lysol Neutra Air Fabric Spray (3 bottles)
Smithfields bacon (1 package)
Kikkoman soy sauce (1 bottle)

Total value: $23.93
Total spent: $2.93
Savings: 88%

How I did it:
Lysol was on clearance for $2.82
$1 off coupon from SS 2/5
Total: $0.82 each

Smithfield bacon evic speical $2.47
$1 off coupon from SS 1/29
Total: $0.49

Kikkoman soy sauce $1.59
$1 off coupon (printable)
Total: FREE

I also had a REALLY successful trip this afternoon:

Total value: $30.09
Total spent: $3.00
Savings: 90%

Here's what I got:

McCain Sweet Potato fries (2 for $5)
$1 off coupon (printable)
Total: $0.50

Smithfields bacon$2.49 on evic
$1.00 off coupon SS 1/29
Total: $0.49

CrunchMaster crackers ($1.99) - purchased 2
$1 off printable coupon x 2
Total: FREE

Pure Protein bars (2/3.00) - purchased 2
$1 off printable coupon x 2
Total: FREE

Wholly Guacamole ($2.79)
$1 off printable coupon
Total: $0.79

gud Handwash ($4.99)
evic offers
$1 off printable coupon
$0.50 evic coupon
Total: -$1.24 - OVERAGE that I got to use!

MY SUPER DOUBLES RUNNING TOTAL:
Total value: $103.28
Total spent: $9.75
SAVINGS: 91%

My big trip is tomorrow - stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Harris Teeter Super Doubles: Round 2

Another successful night at Harris Teeter! Last night I had some huge savings that you can read about here.

A look at what I got!

Total value: 29.76
OOP: 6.17
Savings: 79%

Here's what I got:

McCain Potatoes (2)
Used 2 $1 off coupons (printable)
Total: $1.00

Mrs. P's Tilapia (2)
Used 2 $1 off coupons (printable)
Total: $1.69

Johnsonville Chicken Sausage (1)
Used 1 $1.50 off coupon
Total: $1.99

Al Fresca Chicken Sausage (1)
Used 1 $1 off coupon and a $3.00 off sticker (printable)
Total: $1.49

Total spent during Super Doubles so far: $6.75
Total saved:  42.51 (86%)

I don't think I'll make another run until Sunday when I typically do the grocery shopping.  I'm looking forward to even more savings when the weekend evic specials come out!

First Super Doubles Trip

I had a really great night at Harris Teeter.  They were already out of a few of the freebies I was hoping for, but I was able to get many of the items I had planned on getting tonight.

Fiber One bars (4 boxes)
$1/2 printable (2)
$.40 off evic coupon (2)
Total $3.20

Smart Balance Milk
$1.50 off
Total FREE

Riccola cough drops (2)
$1/2
Total $0.18

Kikkoman Soy Sauce
$1 off printable
Total FREE

Zone Perfect Bars (2)
$0.55 off
Total $0.58

Total value was $19.50

I should have paid about $4 for all of this BUT because they had an issue with the self scan station I was at I got the Fiber One bars, milk and cough drops FREE!  I purchased the other two items at a different HT so I paid $0.58 before tax!

That's a 97% savings!

I'm really excited, considering I waited until 7:00pm to make my first trip!

Total