A rocket ship and little wooden spaceman…he fits into his little seat to blast off and explore the universe!

a crayon roll made with green cord and Eric Carle ‘Brown Bear Children’

I didn’t get an update on how they were received, but I hope little N-Man loves them!

K…hope you haven’t all lost hope…peace out!

I went to two grocery stores today and did two transactions at each. I got $272.71 worth of groceries for…….

$21.61

Which included:

28 jugs of Ocean Spray cranberry juice (free, safeway)

12 jugs of light Ocean Spray cranberry juice (free, safeway)

1 box of Quaker granola bars (.96, safeway)

2 jars of Peanut Butter (free, safeway)

5 boxes of Capri Suns (10 in each) (less than $0.65 each box, safeway)

12 bags of Kraft shredded cheese (2 cups each) (less than $0.28 each, albertsons)

3 boxes of Glucerna cereal (free, 1 safeway, 2 albertsons)

1 6-pack of Glucerna shakes (.99, albertsons)

1 gallon of water (.79, albertsons)

2 boxes Planters Big Nut Bars (.67 each, albertsons)

4 boxes of South Beach cereal bars (.67 each, albertsons)

2 boxes Nabisco 100 cal packs (.67 each, albertsons)

1 2-liter Diet Dr. Pepper (free, albertsons)

2 6-packs Jello Pudding (1.57 each..bah, albertsons)

1 18-count box of Always pads (free, albertsons)

4 packs Carl Budding lunch meat (less than $0.38 each, albertsons)

2 cans of Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner (less than $0.65 each, safeway)

1 overpriced box of bakery cookies for my husband (2.99, safeway)

PLUS: Safeway gave me $2.50 off my next order (for the Glucerna) and Albertsons gave me $3.00 off my next order for the cheese (I figured that into the cost of each bag)! So I did take those off my total. If I would have had more thinking and planning time (sans kiddos) I could have done a bit better (by a few bucks) but I’m not complaining!!!

Here’s a pic..minus the cookiesand bathroom cleaner:

Slow Cook, Down home, Pork chops

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 6 lean boneless pork chops (1 in. thick)
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. Combine 1st four ingredients in a shallow dish.

2. Dredge chops in flour mixture and set aside.

3. Combine what is left of the flour mixture w/ the chicken broth and pour into your crock pot.

4. Pour oil into a large skillet and cook the chops in hot oil until browned on both sides.

5. Place chops in crock pot and cook covered on High for about 2 to 5 hours or until tender.

6. Serve w/ hot rice and/or mashed potatoes. 

++If the gravy becomes too thick just add a little water. If you accidentally add too much water then add a little more flour.

Season w/ salt and pepper too your taste.

On friday I decided to try my hand at shopping at WAGS (that’s what the savvy coupon ladies call it..haha) This is what I bought:

2 rolls of Bouty paper towels

2 boxes of Starbucks Truffles

1 bag of Halls Fruit Breezers

1 bag of Hall Defense

TOTAL: $19.77

I paid: $5.65……….Not too shabby.

On Saturday I went back…I got:

2 boxes FiberOne cereal

1 box HoneyNut Cheerios

2 cans Progresso Chicken Noodle

2  cans Progresso Pot Roast

2 cans Progresso Beef & Veggie

2 rolls Bounty paper towel

1 Debrox Earwax removal Kit (Sol has gunky ears and I’m so afraid to use a swab on him)

2 Gillette Embrace razors 

1 pack of Extreme3 disposable razors

2 boxes Starbucks chocolate truffles

TOTAL: $86.11

I paid $$27.49 (plus I got $13.00 in register rewards to use on a future purchase this month)

I went back today (haha) I got:

2 boxes L’Oreal Natural Match haircolor

3 boxes Kleenex tissue with aloe

2 cans Oust air freshener

1 bottle Lysol 4-in-1 Bathroom cleaner

1 bottle Lysol Kitchen cleaner

1 bottle Garner Fructis curl spray

TOTAL: $44.10

I paid: $4.27 

**PLUS! a few of my items were part of the mail-in rebates, which total $6.59 (5.99 +10% bonus for getting my rebate on a WAGS giftcard) so actually Walgreens is PAYING me $2.32 to take this!!!

Bottonline: Over these 3 transactions I managed to buy $149.98 worth of products for $30.82!!! And it’s all stuff we actually use and would normally purchase!

Total Savings: $119.16

Now where are those Starbucks truffles…?

1 can of ground coffee
3 bottles of flavored coffeemate creamer (from the refridgerated section)
1 jar of Skippy peanut butter
2.5 pounds of bananas
1 Jello no-bake cheesecake
1 premade pie crust
2 cans of Purina dog food

I paid……$6.20!

How you ask? Well here were the coupons I had:

3 $1 off any coffemate (printed off the coffeemate website)
3 doubles (up to $1) coupons from albertsons…used these with the coffeemate coupons
1 Buy 3 coffemates get a can of ground coffee free (albertsons coupon)
1 Buy Skippy get up to $1.50 in bananas FREE
1 Buy Jello Chesecake get crust FREE
2 Get one can of Purina dog food FREE

There were also instore ‘members deals’ for the peanut butter, the cheesecake and the coffeemate. So I walked out of there getting completely FREE: Coffee, 3 bottles of Coffeemate, Bananas, Pie crust, and 2 cans of dog food!!!