• Chocolate & Peanut Butter Banana Bites

    Awhile ago I got some bananas on clearance and had an event coming up so I decided to try a variant of a recipe that I had seen somewhere months ago.  It was pretty easy to do and tasted delicious.  The girls loved putting these together and enjoyed eating the frozen delicious bananas too!

    Chocolate & Peanut Butter Banana Bites

    Bananas cut and ready to be dipped

    1 cup of milk and white chocolate swirls with 1/4 cup of creamy peanut butter

    Melted chocolate and peanut butter is ready to have the bananas dipped into it.

    Once the bananas are dipped into the chocolate and peanut butter put them in a single layer in a pan and put into the freezer until they are completely frozen.  After they are frozen you can transfer them into a ziplock bag.  Pull them out immediately before you serve them (if you keep them out too long they will start to melt).

  • No Eating Turtles…..Well Most of the Time!

    Mint Chocolate Chip Turtle

    Occasionally the girls have fun making little “creatures” with their food.  Recently, they decided to make turtles out of their mint chocolate chip pancakes.  They used peanut butter for the eyes and cheese sticks for the legs.  It is always neat seeing them get creative with their food especially when they eat all their breakfast!  Do your kids get creative with their food?

  • New Coupon: Planters Peanut Butter

    Planters Peanut Butter has a new coupon!  Use $1.50 off 2 Planters Peanut Butter Coupon right now.  The coupon is for a 16 oz jar of Planters Peanut Butter.  With the sales at the stores this week the peanut butter a little over $1.00 each!

    Publix

    Planters Peanut Butter (16 oz) BOGO – $3.69 ($1.84 ea.)
    Use $1.50/2 Planters Coupon
     $1.09 each after coupon

    Walmart

    Planters Peanut Butter (16 oz) – $1.98
    Use $1.50/2 Planters Coupon
     $1.23 each after coupon

    Target

    Planters Peanut Butter (16 oz) – $1.99
    Use $1.50/2 Planters Coupon
    $1.24 each after coupon

    If you don’t need peanut butter right now print out the coupon and hold onto it until the next $1.50 Planters Peanut Butter sale and get the peanut for $0.75 each!  Great time to stock up on peanut butter with this coupon.   These will come in handy with the school and work lunches.

  • CVS: Spent $0.70 and $3 ECB’s Back

    CVS Deals

    I went to CVS today to use up a couple ECB’s that were about to expire.  I was able to get the items pictured above for $0.70 including tax and received $3.00 ECB’s to use on my next CVS purchase.   The CVS didn’t have any of the items I was looking for in stock but they did price match the peanut butter for me and give me a ECB for it.  I was able to stock up on their Halloween clearance snacks and candy.  I have several upcoming events and parties that I have to put goody bags together for so it worked out really well.  I was able to get my free CVS gift card worth $10.00 from a previous shopping trip.  The only coupons I used today were ones from the ECB’s that were expiring today.  I am thankful for an opportunity to get these items at such an amazing  discount so we can share with others (my family will not be eating all this sugar)! 🙂

    You can get great deals even without clipping a lot of coupons.  My receipt shows that as of November 2nd I have saved over $1,700  at CVS this year so you can do it without investing a lot of time into it or being an extreme couponer that empties the shelves.  Over time the savings add up and I have even taken several weeks off here and there while I have been busy or traveling or when our stock pile is full.   All of the items I purchased were on sale or clearance.  The candy was originally $3.99 each, but I was able to get it on clearance even though it is not expiring until late next year.  Here is what I purchased this week.

    • 2 – Skippy Peanut Butter for $5.00  ($2.50 each, they price matched this item and I received $3.00 ECB’s back making the peanut butter $1.00 per jar)
    • 1 – $10 CVS Gift Card for $0.00 FREE! (used a $10.00 Gift Card ECB so this gift card was free)
    • 2 – Butterfinger Fun Size (12.5 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 – Cookies N’ Cream  (10 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 –Milky Way Simply Caramel  (11 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 – Nestle Crunch (11.5 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 – Wonka Nerds  (12 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 1 – Twizzler Strawberry Twists Fun Pack  (22 oz) for $0.99
    • 2 – Whoppers Snack Packs  (9 oz each) for $1.50 (on clearance for $0.75 each)
    • 1 – Nestle 100 Grands (12.5 oz) for $0.99
    • 4 – Halloween Oreo Snack Packs (9 oz each) for $3.00 (on clearance for $0.75 each)

    Here are the coupons I used on the items.

    • Used $10.00 CVS ECB’s Gift Card Reward
    • Used $20.00 CVS ECB’s

    I received $3.00 ECB’s back today:

    • $3.00 ECB’s for Jiffy Products (my local CVS substituted Skippy for me)

    Today I was able to save $69.18 at CVS by purchasing these items and using coupons (over 95% savings).

    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.

  • Family Recipe: Grandma Willa’s Peanut Butter Cookies

    Grandma Willa has a delicious peanut butter cookie recipe.  These are great cookies to make for an after school snack or to take with you on a trip or to a picnic in the park.  The best part is they are easy to make and you probably already have the ingredients in your fridge and pantry to put them together!

    Grandma Willa’s Peanut Butter Cookies:

    • 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
    • 1/4 cup Shortening
    • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
    • 1 Egg, well beaten
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
    • 1 cup sifted Flour

    Cream Peanut Butter and Shortening together.  Add sugar gradually, continue until mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the egg, sifted flour and baking soda.  Mix well.  Drop mixture by teaspoon onto a cookie sheet.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes at 350°.  Yield’s 4 1/2 dozen.

    Photo by Maggie Hoffman

  • Recipe: Grandma Doris’ Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake & Peanut Butter Frosting

    Grandma Doris makes an amazing Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Peanut Butter frosting!  Although it sounds interesting the cake is moist, delicious, and easy to make.  It was one of the first cakes I made as a kid. When Grandma Doris made this cake for dinner and family Holidays there was rarely ever any cake left by the end of the meal.

    Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

    • 1 cup Mayonnaise
    • 1 cup warm Water
    • 1 1/2 cup Sugar
    • 2 cups Flour
    • 2 teaspoon Baking Soda
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
    • 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder

    Mix all ingredients together and bake in 9 x 13 dish at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

    Peanut Butter Frosting

    • 2 cups Powder Sugar
    • 1/2 cup Butter
    • 1/4 cup of Milk
    • 2 tablespoons of Peanut Butter (either smooth or crunchy)

    Mix frosting ingredients together. If necessary add more milk until frosting has a smooth texture.  Spread frosting over the Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake.