Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Fresh Lettuce, Spinach, Dill, Broccoli, Radishes….Oh MY!
We are enjoying our garden!
Here are some of the fresh veggies we were able to eat and share this week:
Fresh Leafy Garden Lettuce and Spinach, first pick of the week! 
Fresh Garden Dill 
Fresh Garden Broccoli and Radishes 
Another day of picking fresh veggies in the garden. Sink full of fresh garden Veggies - Lettuce, Spinach, Radishes, Broccoli! 
Another batch of Fresh Vegetables from our Garden! Love eating fresh salads! And MORE Coming Soon…..
3 Baby Summer Squash Growing on one of the plants in the Garden! 
Beautiful Flowers Blooming on the Beans! We will miss the pretty flowers but are looking forward to the yummy beans! 
Two Big Tomatoes begging for the sun to shine this week so they can ripen! Hopefully next week you’ll see the ripened version of some of the produce.
Looking forward to seeing what we’ll be picking from the garden in the next few days to eat and share!
Mom’s BIG Mess!
Yes, Mom makes messes too. Last Wednesday while I was cooking dinner for our church Community Group I made the biggest mess my kitchen’s ever seen. I couldn’t blame anyone else either (Jake and the girls were innocent), it was completely my fault. I decided as I was cooking my lasagna sauce to make a quick trip out to the garden and pull a few more pieces of lettuce for dinner that night. While outside I got distracted and did a few “extra” small chores before heading back into the house.
Lasagna Sauce EVERYWHERE! As soon as I stepped into the house I could see the RED in the kitchen! Instead of turning the burner down I turned it up and the sauce exploded everywhere! I had sauce from the floor to ceiling, stove to refrigerator, and on the walls, cabinets, and counter tops. Of course the counter was loaded with stuff, including Wednesday’s mail (some bills will be sent with extra “color” this month). I spent the next hour scrubbing up the red splattered kitchen. Before the mess I was ahead of schedule, we made it to the event just a few minutes late. For a few days I was still finding random spots of red splatter marks. Oh well……guess it was great lesson learned and my kitchen got some good scrubbing in the process.
Save A Lot: Deals for the week of May 18 – 24, 2011
The Save A Lot weekly ad deals are listed below for your convenience. There are a lot of great deals for grilling out, here is a great Blessings Multiplied BBQ Brisket recipe, you could also do this recipe with the spare ribs that are on sale at Save A Lot this week! Sign up for the Smart Shopper Club, by doing so you will get a $5.00 off of $25.00 coupon!
Meats and Seafood
Beef Spare Ribs – $1.99 per lb
Holten Beef Patties (24 oz, 6 patties) – $1.99
Fairgrounds Hot Dogs (12 oz) – $0.69
Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage (14 oz) – $1.99
Use $1/1 coupon from Hillshire Farms
$0.99 each after couponOcean Market (Flounder, Tilapia, Lemon Herb Tilapia, Pollock) (4 oz) – $1.00
Pick 5 for $19.99 promo on going: Pick any 5 specially marked packages of your favorite cuts of fresh, frozen or smoked meats and pay just $19.99 (about $2 per pound).
Fridge and Freezer
Libby’s Steam Bag Vegetables (12 oz) – $0.69
Coburn Farms Dozen Large Eggs – $0.99
Sunny D (48 oz) – $0.99
Use $0.25/1 coupon insert from 5/15 Smart Source (Expires 8/31/11)
$0.74 each with couponReser’s Potato and Macaroni Salads – $2.99
Use $1/1 printable coupon from Coupon Web
$1.99 each with couponFudgsicles or Popsicles – $1.00
Borden Singles or Grilled Cheese Melts (12 oz) – $1.50
McClary’s American Singles – $0.99
World’s Fair Junior Pops – $0.99
Coburn Farms Sour Cream (16 oz) – $1.29
Coburn Farms Dip (16 oz) – $1.39
Coburn Farms Yogurt – $0.50
Household
Wrightware Foam Plates (100 count) – $2.00
Pert Paper Towels – $0.69
First Force Pine Cleaner – $1.00
Produce
Idaho Potatoes (5 lbs) – $1.49
Jumbo Vine Ripe Tomatoes – $0.99 per lb
Jumbo Vidalio Onions – $0.59 per lb
Grocery
Summerset Tagless Ice Tea Bags (100 Count) – $1.19
Kool-Aide (assorted variety) – $0.20 each
Cowboy Billy’s Baked Beans (16 oz) – $0.79
Cowboy Billy’s Pork & Beans (16 oz) – $0.50
Kurtz Dill Pickles (32 oz) – $1.59
Kurtz Yellow Mustard – $0.69
Kurtz Ketchup – $0.89
J Higg’s Butter Round Crackers – $1.69
Port Side Chunk Light Tuna – $0.53
Del Pino’s Canned Pasta – $0.69
Hargis House Beans & Franks – $0.69
O Days Mac & Cheese – $0.39
Maruchan Ramon Noodles – $0.89
Portmann’s Salad Dressing – $1.29
Save-A-Lot Brand Soda – $0.69
Crisp Lemonade – $0.99
Thirst Quench’r Drink Sticks – $1.19
J. Higg’s Cornies Corn Chips – $1.29
J Higg’s Potato Chips – $1.19
J Higg’s Cheezie Puffs – $1.29
Gourmet Onion Rings – $0.99
CK Cheese Balls – $1.29
Remember you can use the $5/$25 printable coupon to sweeten these deals! Plus you can earn up to 5 additional $5 off $25 coupons for sharing the coupon with your friends.
For more information about Save A Lot’s coupon policies go here. If you find additional deals or savings please let me know and I will add them to the list.
Father’s Day Gifts: $25 Off Bosch Cordless Tools (Amazon)
Amazon is offering $25 Off Bosch Cordless Tools now through June 20, 2011. Are you looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift? Many of the Bosch tools are on sale plus you can add the additional $25 savings at checkout. Some items are more than 60% off prior to applying the additional $25! Pictured above is the Bosch PS20-2A 12-Volt Max Lithium-Ion Pocket Driver with 2 Batteries it is normally marked down to 66% off plus take an additional $25 off!
I have “secretly” been looking for a new tool set for Jake, maybe he’ll get one for Father’s Day this year! Shhhhh……don’t tell him! To see the other Bosch tools that qualify for the $25 and more information on the Terms & Conditions please visit the $25 Off Bosch Cordless Tools page on Amazon!
For additional savings use your Amazon Gift Certificates from Swagbucks to get this gift at a lower price or even free!!!
World Market: $10 Off Coupon
World Market has a great printable $10 off coupon your purchase of $30!
- Print your $10 Coupon
- Head to World Market (or find a location near you)
- Purchase $30 or more and use your coupon
- Expires Monday, May 30, 2011
World Market has some great specialty items, spices, teas and coffees. Join their World Market Explorer Rewards Program to receive exclusive savings, gifts, offers and earn free coffee! If you haven’t been to World Market this is a great time to check it out, it’s a neat store. They usually have some coffee samples for you to try in the store while you are shopping.
Teaching Our Children: Joy Of Sharing
Jars of fresh Strawberry Jam / Jelly! One of the best parts about being a parent is teaching our children. When you have opportunities to show them how them demonstrate positive characteristics it helps teach them valuable lessons plus it brings great joy seeing them get excited about sharing with others. The best part is when they initiate the action on their own, that’s when you know they are “getting it”. We have been teaching new words that go along with positive qualities as a family. One of the words we recently discussed with our girls was generosity. The old saying “it is better to give then to receive” is true, but unless it is put into action in your life and with the kids will they truly believe it. Part of our discussion involved finding ways to put the words, like generosity, into practical use. Here are some of the activities we did with the girls to help them understand the Joy of Sharing:
- Picking and giving away produce from our garden to every person on our street. The majority of the families on our street are retired, but they are unable to do a garden of their own this year. Being generous with the neighbors and those in close proximity allowed the girls the opportunity to share and learn more about those who live on our street. They had a lot of fun and told me that they were going to pray for the garden to grow really big so we can do it again. Loved seeing their excitement!
- Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. We had the girls pick out some of their favorite non-perishable food items to put in a bag and had them help carry the items out to our mailbox. These activity provided us an opportunity to explain why we were giving the food away, who the food was going to, and to give praise that we had the extra blessings to share with those in our local community.
- Sharing with Siblings & Friends – as a child (and sometimes as an adult) it can be hard to share. Whether it is a toy, book, food, house or really anything. We have been encouraging the girls to share with each other and friends. For example, many times our neighbors grandkids will come over to our house to play after school. One of the first things I do when the girls get home from school is give them a snack because they each lunch at school at 10:30 in the morning. When their friends come over from the school bus they are hungry too and it is not polite to eat / drink in front of them. Sharing their snacks and giving their friends drinks when they come to play is part of being generous.
- Picking Strawberries & giving away Fresh Strawberry Jam – our family went strawberry picking one weekend. The following week I made jam while the girls were at school. They had a lot of fun giving the jars full of fresh strawberry jam to friends.
One important lesson to be taught is to be generous with the best. Do we hand our friends the half eaten loaf of bread or give them the freshly baked whole loaf? Give them the fresh whole loaf.
CVS: Spent $11 and Got $23 ECB’s Back!
- CVS Shopping Trip
CVS has a few good deals this week. I was happy to stock up on some items including paper towels and sunscreen this week while utilizing a few of my coupons. This week I was able to get the items for $9.90 plus tax ($1.24) making my out of pocket cost $11.14 and received $23 ECB’s to use on my next CVS purchase. Here is what I purchased this week.
- 1 – Finesse Moisturizing Shampoo for $2.50
- 2 – Scott Mega Paper Towels (6 count) for $5.00 each
- 1 – Dial Soap for $1.88
- 1 – Speedstick Stainguard Deodorant for $2.99
- 2 – CVS Vitamins Super B (100 Count) for $7.49 each (on sale for B1G1F)
- 1 – Neutrogena Sun Care Ultra for $9.79
- 1 – Neutrogena Sun Care Spray 30 SPF for $10.79
- 1 – Trident Citrus Twist Gum – $1.29
- 1 – John Frieda Precision Foam Color – $11.99
Here are the coupons I used on the items.
- Used $11.99 John Frieda Precision Foam Color (Free Product Coupon)
- Used $1.00 Scott Paper Towel Manufacturer Coupon
- Used $1.00 Scott Paper Towel Manufacturer Coupon
- Used $1.00 Finesse Manufacturer Coupon
- Used $0.50 Speedstick Manufacturer Coupon
- Used $3.00 off Healthcare Purchase from CVS Kiosk
- Used $3.00 off Beauty Purchase from CVS Kiosk
- Used $1.00 off Trident Gum from CVS Kiosk
- Used $24.77 ECB coupons from prior purchases
I received $23 ECB’s back today:
- $10.00 ECB’s for Neutrogena Sun Care Products
- $5.00 ECB’s for Beauty Club Reward (every $50 you spend you get a $5 ECB)
- $2.00 ECB’s for Scott Paper Towel Products
- $2.00 ECB’s for John Frieda Products
- $2.00 ECB’s for Speed Stick Products
- $1.00 ECB’s for Dial Products
- $1.00 ECB’s for Green Tag Reward (every 4th visit you use your Green Tag you get a $1 ECB)
This week I was able to save over $78 at CVS by purchasing these items and using coupons.
When you shop the CVS sales regularly and have ECB’s that you can roll over toward future purchases the bonus ECB’s start adding up (Green Bag Tags and Beauty Club). As you can see from my shopping trip today you don’t have to purchase a lot to save money when shopping at CVS. Plus you can use the additional ECB’s you receive towards your next purchase. You can pick and chose what is best for your family.
I would love to hear your CVS shopping story for this week! For those of you who shop regularly at CVS please share how you were able to save this week! Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household. In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save shopping at CVS.
Song: “I’m Gonna Sing” by Chris August
I am not a “singer” but I love music. Chris August has some great songs and the chorus “I’m gonna sing, I’m gonna dance, I’m gonna praise You…..” stood out to me because even though I cannot carry a tune God is still honored and pleased by my worship to Him. He knows your heart and loves it when you sing his praises even if that is only during your quiet time alone with Him. Go ahead I give you permission to sing.
Mailbox Goodies: Mobile Headset, Suave, John Frieda, Shampoo, Magazines & More!
Mailbox Goodies One of the best parts about getting the mail is when the mailbox full of goodies, especially when they are free! We got some great coupons for free items, free Mobile Headset, magazines and more stuff in the mail. Most of these deals are no longer available but I will try to keep you posted of some of the new ones coming up.
Here are some items we received in the mail:
- 2 – Free Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo or Styling Product Coupon (up to $3.00 each) – Suave Professionals Quiz (still available)
- Free John Frieda Precision Foam Colour Coupon (up to $12.99) – John Frieda Facebook Page
- Free Mobile Headset (pictured below, had to snatch it back from my husband to take a picture) – 1 Sale A Day
- Free Tampax Products – Being Girl
- Free Head & Shoulders Shampoo Sample – View Points (still available)
- $1.00 Off Cheer Coupon
- $5.00 & $1.00 Zantac Coupons – Zantac (still available)
- Free Zantac 150 Sample – Zantac (still available)
- Free Always Feminine Products plus Coupons – Being Girl
- Free Parent’s Choice Formula – (not sure how we got this one, but occasionally we get baby items in the mail) Although I checked and you can get this one through Parent’s Choice (still available)
- Free Thriving Family Magazine – been receiving for several months
- Free Newsweek Magazine – Rewards Gold (still available)
- Free Forbes Magazine – Rewards Gold (still available)
- Free Forbes Life Travel Magazine – Rewards Gold
- Free Plane & Pilot Magazine – been receiving for several months
- Free Tech Briefs Magazine – been receiving for several years
- Free Landscape Magazine – been receiving for several months
- And more free magazines and local coupons!
Free Mobile Headset! If you are like me it is nice when you get a mailbox with free coupons and samples in it. The bills will come as well but when you get a mailbox full of free items it helps make the day a little more enjoyable. Plus the coupons and samples are a great way to stretch your budget and share with others!
Book: “The Story of the World – The Middle Ages” by Susan Wise Bauer (Volume 2)
“The Story of the World: The Middle Ages” Volume 2 CD Set by Susan Wise Bauer and read by Jim Weiss. This is a 9 CD set on the history of the world from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance. Our girls have listened to Volume 1 of “The Story of the World” and we are moving into the second volume. I am amazed at how much these CD’s capture their attention and the amount of information they pack into each volume. They are thrilled to be starting the next set of CD’s. I am looking forward to learning with them. They have always enjoyed audio books and it makes me happy that they are learning while listening. Kindergarten doesn’t highlight on a lot history so giving them an opportunity to listen to these helps round out their education just a little bit more. They listen to a chapter a day on the way to school, otherwise we listen to the CD’s while we are driving around town. These a little more expensive but when we use our Swagbucks to purchase the CD’s we get it free or only pay a few dollars.!
