Menu Plan Monday

I didn't actually make it to the grocery store this weekend. I had planned to, but it turned out to be a pretty busy weekend. My husband picked up milk and bread to get us through. I'm not sure if I will need to head out again mid-week for other stuff or no. Based on the menu I have planned, we should be good except for maybe milk.

On Saturday, I spent my afternoon cleaning out my pantry. I was inspired after entering the giveaway at $5 Dollar Dinners, where I submitted a picture of my pantry, in need of a makeover. I decided, despite not winning, that it really did need a makeover. More to come on this one.

Cleaning out my pantry actually resulted in my "creating" a new dinner - Chicken Pasta Bake - originally titled Clean out the Pantry Chicken Dinner, but after eating it, it will likely become a more routine meal, so I had to give it a nicer name. Recipe to come on this one.

At our house, the focus is on dinners. I tend to only list the main course and any standard side we have with it. We do still have vegetables and/or fruit with each of our dinners, I just don't always call them out.

Sunday
Cereal
Sandwiches
Chicken Pasta Bake

Monday
Leftovers

Tuesday
Stuffed Pepper Bake

Wednesday
Hamburgers/Hot Dogs

Thursday
Chicken Patty Sandwiches

Friday
Popcorn Shrimp

Saturday
Cereal
Sandwiches
Dinner Out

Weekdays breakfast is at daycare for my daughter, the rest of us eat cold cereal, frozen waffles, oatmeal, toast or whatever strikes our fancy. Lunch we pack, usually leftovers for me.

Check out other menu plans for the week at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

CVS Scenarios - week of 8/30

The deals this week are very middle of the road. With some coupons, you can get a good amount of stuff free or slightly better than free.

Here is my plan:

1 - Glade Fragrance Collection Soy Candle
1 - Wet Ones AntiBacterial
1 - Pantene Styler
1 - Sensodyne IsoActive
2 - Absolutely Divine Cookies

-$4 $4/$20 CVS coupon
-$3 Glade Fragrance Collection Mfg coupon (from AllYou)
-$1 Wet Ones CRT
-$.75 Wet Ones Mfg coupon
-$1 Pantene Styler Mfg coupon
-$1 Sensodyne IsoActive IP
-$1 Absolutely Divine Cookie CRT
-$1 Absolutely Divine Cookie CRT

Total $9.71. Earn $6.99, $1.50, $3, and $2 ECBs. You will have earned $3.78 more in ECBs than you spent. Even if you don't have any of the $4/$20 coupons remaining, this is a nearly free scenario.

For more deals and scenarios visit Money Saving Mom, Deal Seeking Mom and the "Cents"ible Sawyer.

CVS $5 Challenge

Transaction #1
1 - Glade Fragrance Collection Soy Candle
-$3 Glade Fragrance Collection Mfg coupon

Total $3.99. Earn $6.99.

Transaction #2
2 - Absolutely Divine Cookies
1 - Aquafresh IsoActive

-$1 Absolutely Divine Cookies CRT
-$1 Absolutely Divine Cookies CRT
-$1 Aquafresh IsoActive IP

Total $6.99. Pay with $6.99 ECB from transaction #1. Earn $3 and $2 ECBs.

Transaction #3
1 - Bounce Dryer Bar
1 - Hershey Candy Bar ($.50 filler)

-$2.50 Bounce Dryer Bar Mfg coupon (VocalPoint mailer)

Total $1.99. Pay with $2 ECB from Transaction #2, adjusted down. Earn $1 ECB.

Total OOP $3.99, with $3 and $1 ECBs to roll. Net cost $0.

For more $5 Scenarios, check out the CVS $5 Challenge at Keeping the Kingdom First.

Kmart Super Doubles are BACK! (for last time?)

From what I was just reading over at Saving Cents with Sense, the Kmart Super Double event this coming week is going to be the last one for the year. I definitely will get organized for this one. I may even try to go to the super center a few towns over.

Kmart has a list of participating lcoations here or you can reference your local ad.

As with the more recent events, limit is 10 coupons per day and your order needs to total $25 before coupons.

For a great list of coupon match-ups, check out the list at My Frugal Adventures.

Samples and Freebies

Requested
Dentaburst Sample
Mary Kay sample of 4 new Eau de Toilette fragrances
Free Hallmark Card
Always Flexi Style liner
Fancy Feast Appetizers for Cats - why not, my cat deserves a treat too!
EOS Lip Balm

Received
Tide Stain Release coupon
Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal sample, coupon for free box and $1.50 coupons to share

Star War's Birthday

We had a busy weekend last weekend at our house. It was my son's birthday and we hosted a Star Wars party. I think that hosting a home party and catering it yourself, including the cake is a great way to save money on a birthday party. Not only that, but it allows me a great creative outlet.

We started with a homemade invitation. This area is my husband's department. He took a picture of my son with a Light Saber and dropped it on a black background. Then, using a really cool "font" he found, he built a movie poster to serve as the invite. The font that he found allowed him to get an authentic movie poster look to his text. We did print a few, but many were sent via e-mail to save us on both printing and postage.

Then, to accessorize the party, we kept it simple. We purchased a few dessert plates and some napkins with a Star Wars theme. The rest of our plates were standard luncheon plates that I had picked up for free during a Kmart Super Double Event. We also picked up two balloons the day of the party, a Mylar Star Wars balloon and a complimentary latex balloon. When we have a summer party, most of it takes place outside, so spending time or money decorating inside certainly doesn't make sense.

When it comes to the menu, we keep it simple and use a lot of seasonal produce that is less expensive. We did burgers and hot dogs on the grill with baked beans, corn on the cob (12 ears for $3), watermelon ($2.98 for a seedless whole melon), and assorted chips. My oops this time was that I had Spinach Salad, Macaroni Salad, and Potato Salad that I somehow overlooked putting out - that was not a great economic oversight. We wound up not eating all of it after the party, causing us to waste food.

But, the highlight of the party for me, is the cake. I have so much fun planning and preparing the cake for the kids' parties. They always are so excited about seeing the cake. It makes me feel good. The Star Wars theme was one that I struggled with for a little while and then decided on a Light Saber. My son upped the ante by asking for dueling light sabers. I agreed and then set to work to figure it out. I wound up creating my own template for the handles, by stacking rectangles in a graphics program. I baked a standard cake and then carved it into two handles using my template. I made my own butter cream frosting and colored it gray for the handles. I wanted to find a black decorator icing to trim the handles, but the local grocery and Walmart did not carry such a thing, so I went with blue. Then, the next challenge was the light portion. I went through a number of iterations in my mind before landing on Rice Krispies Treats covered in fondant. This was a new experience for me. I had never made or used fondant before. I found an easy recipe and some tutorial here. I made the fondant and then colored half red and half blue (you have to have the good and evil in the battle, so I had to do some homework to make sure I had the right colors). I made Rice Krispies treats and with buttered hands, rolled the mixture into two long cylinders. I let them sit out to firm up. Then, I rolled out the fondant and covered the two cylinders. I assembled and here is what I got:

To get a themed cake from a baker would have cost a lot more.

With a little bit of work, you can host a birthday party for family and friends without breaking the bank. For more Frugal ideas, check out Frugal Friday over at Life As Mom.

Make Ahead Dinner

The theme today for the Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life As Mom really threw me for a loop. The theme - what can you make ahead. My challenge - so much of what I make can be made ahead. In fact, I did a post on how as a busy mom, I make getting dinner on the table easier for me, especially during the week.

If you are making something like tacos for dinner, why not chop your vegetables the night before and have it all ready to go. You can even brown your meat or grill your chicken in advance, so that you have the ingredients ready to go.

If you are making lasagne, you can always prep that and freeze it. I typically do this by making two pans at a time - one for that night and one for the freezer.

If you are making a quiche, you can always make it ahead and serve it chilled. In fact, some people prefer it that way.

Even chicken enchiladas can be made ahead of time. Make a double recipe and freeze one for later.

For more make ahead ideas, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap.

CVS Free Item

Looks like CVS is offering another free item this month. Be sure to check your registered e-mail for a coupon for either a free 7.5oz AntiBacterial Soap or a 1.5oz Gold Emblem Nuts. Hurry though, the offer ends on Sunday!

Target Deals - 8/26

I headed out to Target tonight because I needed to pick up a reward Cinderella figurine since my daughter has stayed completely dry, even through nap, for the past two days. Plus, I wanted to take advantage of their Quaker Oatmeal deal. As luck would have it, I found the snack bars first and I decided to do the deal twice so I could get the oatmeal, but also some of the snack items.

I had all kinds of issues though. First, despite shelf tags indicating different pricing, the Quaker deal items seemed to all be ringing up at $2.74. Second, when my cashier was checking me out, she didn't complete my first order before scanning my second and I wound up with an extra box of cereal on my first receipt, that was conveniently duplicated on my second order. I visited customer service to have this corrected. I'm always a little frustrated when I have to visit customer service to have something corrected, but I kept my cool - the folks at the customer service desk are cordial and helpful and I always appreciate good customer service.

Here's what I got:

Transaction #1
2 - Quaker Simple Harvest Bars
1 - Quaker True Delights
1 - Quaker Quakes
1 - Quaker Life Cereal

-$1 Quaker Naturals Mfg coupon
-$1 Quaker Life Cereal Mfg coupon
-$1 Quaker True Delights Mfg coupon
-$.50 Quaker Rice Snacks Mfg coupon

Total (after Customer Service corrected mishap) $7.12 OOP. Earned a $5 Gift Card.

Transaction #2
4 - Quaker Instant Oatmeal (10 + 2 bonus packs)
1 - Quaker Capn' Crunch Cereal

-$5 Gift Card from Transaction #1

Paid $8.30 OOP. Earned a $5 Gift Card.

Transaction #3
1 - Up Handsoap
1 - Cinderella (for my princess)

-$5 Gift Card from Transaction #2

Paid $.14 OOP.

Total OOP $15.56 for 4 boxes of Oatmeal, 2 boxes of cereal, 3 boxes of cereal bars, 1 bag of snacks, 1 soap and 1 princess.

For more deals, check out:
Shopping Superstars

CVS Deals - 8/25

On Tuesday at lunch, I decided to head to the first CVS I visited in hopes that they might still have the Carefree Ultra available. Fortunately, they did so I picked up three, as well as some other deals. I split my transactions so that I wouldn't have too large of an ECB from the Carefree Ultra deal.

Here's what I got:

Transaction #1
2 - Carefree Ultra
1 - Phillips Over the Ear Headset (raincheck)
1 - Pediacare Gentle Vapor Plug (clearance item - my friend recommended it)
2 - Caliber 3x5 Notebooks (raincheck)
2 - Eclipse 12ct Gum

-$4 $4/$20 CVS coupon
-$1 Carefree Ultra Mfg coupon
-$1 Carefree Ultra Mfg coupon
-$1.29 BOGO Eclipse Mfg coupon

Paid with $1.98, $2, $2 and $3 ECBs and $5.90 OOP. Earned $7, $2, and $7.58 ECBs.

Transaction #2
1 - Carefree Ultra

-$1 Carefree Ultra Mfg coupon

Paid with $2 ECBs from transaction #1 and $.91 OOP. Earned $3.79 ECB.

So, I started the day with $8.98 ECBs, added in $6.81 OOP and finished with $18.37 in ECBs. A net "profit" in ECBs of $2.58.

For more deals, check out:
Shopping Superstars

CVS Deals - 8/24

This is a rebuilding week for me at CVS. I didn't post about CVS last week, but I did make one trip on Saturday. I picked up two Purex 3-in-1 Sheets and 1 package of Children's Claritin. I used coupons, but since neither items were ECB deals, I wiped out all but $1 ECB. I can't remember the last time I only had $1 ECB. Fortunately, there are some moneymakers available this week.

I stopped at my normal store first, but they didn't have the Sense & Spray that I wanted to work into my deal, so I decided to head to another store. Of course, they had the Sense & Spray, but didn't have the Carefree Ultra. I decided to go ahead and build a different transaction than planned and to try to get to CVS later in the week.

Here's what I got:


2 - Glade Sense & Spray
2 - Caliber 150ct Filler Paper (raincheck)
2 - Speedstick
2 - Caliber Composition Books
2 - Kotex Lightday 2-20pk packages

-$4 $4/$20 CVS coupon
-$4 Glade Mfg coupon
-$4 Glade Mfg coupon
-$2.49 Speedstick free Mfg coupon
-$.75 Speedstick Mfg coupon
-$1 Kotex Mfg coupon
-$1 Kotex Mfg coupon

Paid with $1 ECB and $3.09 OOP. Earned $3, $2, $2 and $1.98 ECBs. A net "profit" of $4.89 in ECBs.

I'd like to find more of the Sense & Spray. We use them in our basement and it is nice that they only spray when someone is down there, saves us on air freshener that way and allows the basement a fresh smell when someone ventures down.

For more deals, check out:
Shopping Superstars

Cell to Home Line Technology

We are considering getting rid of our land line. We just lost a $25 credit (plus now there is tax on $25 more) that we were receiving, making the phone bill for our home phone more expensive than we would like it to be.

We have tried the Panasonic Link-to-Cell phone. Our experience was a challenge - it didn't seem to get a good Blue Tooth signal and would drop the connection. We were testing it out, figuring we could get a third cell phone that has our home number to connect to the link. I'm not sure if it is a general issue or just an issue with our cell phones and/or the unit we purchased.

We noticed that there are other technologies - XLink and Cell2Tel amongst others.

I'm looking for feedback - have you tried any of these technologies? What do you like/dislike about them? What are the drawbacks of making this conversion?

For Tips and Tricks that work, check out Works For Me Wednesday.

Keeping Track of Gifts

When it comes to showers and birthday parties, I have attended and hosted my share. Through the course of the many events I have shared, I have picked up a number of tips and tricks from the various hostesses. One hostess had the guests write their name and address on the envelopes for thank you cards and then used this for a drawing.

I do think though that my favorite trick, is writing the gift on the back of the card from the guest. This way, when the cards are separated from the gifts - they always are! - you still have a description/listing of what the gift was and can easily match the card to the gift. It saves using an additional piece of paper, which can get lost, to record the guests and gifts. And, it saves the need for the person recording gifts to try to figure out who the guest of honor said the gift was from or how to spell it - after reading the card, simply hand the cards to a friend, have them write down the gift on the back of the card as you open the gift and wallah! Then, when you sit down to do thank you cards, everything is in one place.

For more tips and tricks, check out Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Bumble Bee Tuna Temptations House Party

This weekend, I had the opportunity to host a Bumble Bee Tuna Temptations House Party. It was a great experience.

As a party host, I received a party pack that included a case of Bumble Albacore Tuna Pouches, 4 cans of Bumble Bee Sensations Easy Peel, a $20 Giftcard for party supplies and a bunch of wooden spoons and menu cards to share with my guests.


I decided to make three recipes (four actually, but I ran out of time and never made the Savory Southwest Tuna Cakes).

The first recipe that I made was the Hot Artichoke and Tuna Spread. The dish was easy to prepare, using a food processor the ingredients were all combined. This was a tasty dish, but many guests agreed that they felt that it would have been a little better with some mayonnaise like a traditional Artichoke dip. We served it on crackers.

The second dish that I made was Tuna Deviled Eggs. I started with hard boiled eggs and cut them. The yolks were combined with mayo, mustard, and other standard deviled eggs ingredients, as well as the tuna. Everyone seemed to enjoy this one with comments that were along the lines that it tasted a lot like a traditional tuna fish salad on an egg white.


Lastly, I made some tea sandwiches. This was the most traditional tuna recipe I made and the picture was lousy.

The recipes for these dishes and more are available through My Cookbook on www.bumblebee.com. Right now, there is a $1 coupon available when you sign up. You can search by product and meal occassion. You can save and share your favorite recipes.

I was surprised at the variety of recipes that they feature. I must admit that I pretty much only eat tuna as a tuna salad sandwich. I never would have thought to use it in a recipe (I don't like peas and that made me uninterested in Tuna Noodle Casserole for as long as I can remember). I think that this definitely is a site that I will check out more recipes from, the recipes that I tried had good flavor and were easy to prepare. Tuna pouches and cans are a reasonably inexpensive protein source and a pantry staple at my house, making them a good option for use in more meals.

Do you cook with tuna? What is your favorite recipe?

I Won!

Recently, I've won a couple of giveaways and wanted to take a minute to say Thanks! to the hosts and sponsors.

First, I won two signed copies of the Adventures of Hashbrown Winters by Frank Cole courtesy of Whitney Donohue of Mreow!

Second, from Land's End and Things Moms Like, I won a Land's End Tote Bag and Beach Towel for participating in a Twitter party, that I happened upon while it was in progress.

Free Chicken from Chick-fil-A

First, if you are one of the first 250,000 to join the Chicken Wave, Chick-fil-A will mail you a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A Original Chicken sandwich. You can join the Wave here. (They were only at 11,000 members this morning)

Even if you don't get to join the wave, make sure to head over to Chick-fil-A on Labor Day. From 10:30am to close, they are giving away a free Chick-fil-
A Original Chicken Sandwich to all who come dressed in their favorite sports team gear. My family participated in their Labor Day event last year. It was fun. Surprisingly, we were nearly the only people at the restaurant (I had expected crowds). All four of us were dressed in team gear, so we each got a free entree and shared some waffle fries, a milkshake, and two small drinks. Dinner cost us less than $8 and we played on the playground.

Menu Plan Monday

Wow! What a busy weekend and we are off and running this week. I actually did my grocery shopping on Friday, without having planned a menu for this week, because I had a Birthday Party and a Bumble Bee Tuna Taste Sensations House Party (more to come on both!) on Saturday. They were both a blast. My bill was higher than normal due to the two parties, but thankfully, I had a $20 Gift Card courtesy of Bumble Bee Tuna for party supplies that helped bring the costs back in line.

Since I didn't plan out a menu in advance of shopping, we will be eating from the freezer, pantry and garden this week. Our tomato harvest has recently become very bountiful - in fact, I had to stake up my tomato cages, as they were falling over under the weight of the tomatoes.

Monday is the first day of school for our community. We started a tradition last year (wasn't really a tradition I suppose until we decided to do it again this year), of going out to dinner to celebrate the first day of school. My son will get to choose where we go.

At our house, the focus is on dinners. I tend to only list the main course and any standard side we have with it. We do still have vegetables and/or fruit with each of our dinners, I just don't always call them out.

Sunday
Bagels
Brunch out with family
Leftovers

Monday
Dinner out to celebrate the 1st day of school

Tuesday
BLTs

Wednesday
Breakfast for Dinner

Thursday
Pasta

Friday
Homemade pizza

Saturday
Cereal
Sandwiches
Chicken Sonora Pasta

Weekdays breakfast is at daycare for my daughter, the rest of us eat cold cereal, frozen waffles, oatmeal, toast or whatever strikes our fancy. Lunch we pack, usually leftovers for me.

Check out other menu plans for the week at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to debbielynne! You are the winner of the Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway sponsored by MyBlogSpark and Crayola.

An e-mail has been sent to debbielynne, who has until 11 am on Tuesday to respond or a new winner will be selected.


Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

1
Timestamp: 2009-08-24 03:04:19 UTC

CVS Scenarios - week of 8/23

There are a couple of deals that look good to me this week at CVS. There definitely are some opportunities to pick up a few items through some $/$$ deals, especially with using manufacturer coupons and the CVS $/$$ coupons - $5/$25 printable (details here) or from the pharmacy coupon booklet.

Transaction #1
1 - Carefree Ultra
2 - Caliber Composition Book
4 - Kraft Mac 'n Cheese
2 - Glade Sense and Spray
1 - Hershey Candy Bar

-$4 $4/$20 CVS pharmacy coupon
-$1 Carefree IP
-$1 Kraft B3G1 IP (no longer available)
-$4 Glade Sense and Spray Mfg coupon
-$4 Glade Sense and Spray Mfg coupon

Total $6.27 OOP. Earn $3.79, $1.98, $2 and $3 ECBs (total $10.77)

Transaction #2
2 - Carefree Ultra
1 - Lady's Speed Stick

-$1 $1/2 Carefree Mfg coupon
-$1.50 Speedstick IP (regional)

Total $7.57. Pay with $3.79, $1.98 and $2 ECBs (adjusted down $.20, or add a filler). Earn $7.58 and $1 ECBs.

Transaction #3
Repeat Transaction #2

Total $7.57. Pay with $7.58 ECB from Transaction #2. Earn $7.58 and $1 ECBs.

Total OOP $6.27 and you would have $7.58, $1, $1 and $3 ECBs left to roll. A net "profit" of $6.31.

For more deals and scenarios, check out Money Saving Mom, Deal Seeking Mom and the "Cent"sible Sawyer.

CVS $5 Challenge

Transaction #1
2 - Glade Sense & Spray

-$4 Glade Sense & Spray Mfg coupon
-$4 Glade Sense & Spray Mfg coupon

Total $2 OOP, earn $3 ECBs.

Transaction #2
2 - Carefree Ultra

-$1 Carefree IP
-$1 Carefree IP (hit back button to print second)

Total $5.58. Pay with $3 ECBs and $2.58 OOP. Earn $7.58 ECBs.

Transaction #3
2 - Speedstick
4 - Kraft Mac'n Cheese
1 - Carefree Ultra

-$1.50 Speedstick IP (regional)
-$1.50 Speedstick IP (regional)
-$1 Kraft Mac'n Cheese IP (no longer available)
-$1 Carefree Mfg coupon (I think this came with sample)

Total $7.77. Pay with $7.58 ECB from Transaction #2 and $.19 OOP. Earn $2, $2, and $3.79 ECBs.

Transaction #4 (optional)
2 - Caliber Composition Books (S-T only)

Total $1.98. Pay with $2 ECBs from Transaction #3, adjusted down to $1.98. Earn $1.98 ECBs.

Total OOP $4.77, with $2, $1.98 and $3.79 ECBs remaining. A net "profit" of $3.

For more $5 Scenarios, check out the CVS $5 Challenge at Keeping the Kingdom First.

Samples and Freebies

Requested:
Slow week. I don't know that I requested any samples.

Recieved:

Delivery of free Schwan's item
P&G Brand Sampler - samples and coupons
Mine Magazine

Free Chocolate Friday!

Another Friday, another chance for free chocolate. Did you see the ad within the CVS ad this week - directing you to Real Chocolate for a coupon.

I've reached my household limit, but for those that haven't, here's a chance to get another coupon.

Mars is planning to give away free chocolate every Friday until September 25th. To get your coupon, you need to head over to Real Chocolate starting at 9 am ET on each Friday. Your coupon is good for one single serve chocolate (any M&M'S® Brand, MILKY WAY® Brand, SNICKERS® Brand, 3 MUSKETEERS® Brand, TWIX® Brand and DOVE® Brand product). The coupon will be mailed and take up to 6 weeks to arrive.

There is a limit of 250,000 coupons each Friday. You can only win one coupon each week, but each household is allowed to win up to 4 coupons over the course of the promotion. You can see the full terms and conditions here by clicking on Terms and Conditions.

Even if you are reading this at 5 pm, I suggest you head over and give it a shot. I have found that there is still chocolate available at the end of the day.

Kroger Giftcard Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to the Coupon Mommie! You are the winner of the $30 Kroger Gift Card provided by MyBlogSpark, General Mills and PepsiCo.

An e-mail has been sent and Coupon Mommie has until 8:00 pm on Friday evening to respond, or a new winner will be drawn.



Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

53
Timestamp: 2009-08-21 02:13:16 UTC

Pineapple-Raspberry Punch

When I go to showers, I love to try all of the different punches. It seems that everyone has their own recipe, some with ice cream and some without, but generally usually pretty tasty. Some of the best drinks seem to be the easiest to make.

Pineapple-Raspberry Punch
2 (46 fl oz) cans Pineapple Juice, prepared
1L Lemon Lime Soda (Sprite, 7-up, Sierra Mist)
1 (4oz) pkg sweetened Raspberry Kool-Aid drink mix
1 bag frozen Raspberries

In a large punch bowl, combine pineapple juice, lemon lime soda and drink mix. Stir. Add in frozen raspberries. Serve with ice.

For more recipes, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Cool Food and Drink edition at Life As Mom.

Kmart Deals - 8/16

I went out on Sunday, because my week is so full, I wasn't sure that I would make it out another day. It seems pretty obvious, since it took me this long to post it that I wouldn't have likely made it since then.

Here is what I got:
Noxzema Cleansing Pads $4.50 - $1 - $1 = $2.50 (I thought it was lower price, read wrong shelf tag, probably would have skipped)
3M Hightlighter with Post it Flags $1.29 - $1 - $.29 = FREE (clearance item)
3 - Pert for Men $2.50 - $1.50 - $1 = FREE (all three)
2 - Renuzit Pearl Scents $2.50 - $2 - $.50 = FREE (both)
Arm & Hammer Essentials Refill 2pk $1.79 - $1 - $.79 = FREE
4 - Hunt's Snack Pack $4 - $1 - $1 = $2 (for four - was I the only one that initially read this coupon differently, it took me a while to realize I had to get four packs, not a four pack to get the $1 savings from the printables a few weeks ago).

Total $4.50 (+tax). Saved $26.89 with sales and coupons, $19.58 in just coupons. That amounts to 85% savings (82% with coupons only). Of course, it would have been better if I had realized price of Noxzema and skipped, but I can't complain - I got all of this for under $5!

While I was there, I also checked out some clearance items. I got a pair of shorts and a t-shirt for my daughter, a pair of swimtrunks for my son and a pillowcase for my daughter for only $11.50. I'm happy with that.

For more deals, check out Super Savings Saturday.

Me Too!

My daughter is a real treat sometimes. It doesn't seem to matter what others are doing, she wants to do it too.

The other day, we went shopping. I was trying on some clothes to figure out which slacks I liked the best. She was in the fitting room with me. I told her that when I was done, we would go look at clothes for her and her brother. She indicated that she would try her clothes on too. So, I finished and we worked our way through the store, trying on shoes - she tried on the same pairs as me - even needed a footie. We checked out her section and the boy's section, picking up some things from the clearance racks for next year. As we headed towards the checkouts, I found some additional slacks that I wanted to try on. We headed back to the fitting room. As soon as we were in there, she began to undress and pull down all of the hangars with her stuff. Sure as she said, she was trying on her clothes. She put them on, looked in the mirror and took them off. What a hoot! My 2 year old was trying on clothes.

When it comes to being around her brother, it really brings out the "me too" trait in her. She seems to think that because her brother is almost 6, that she is too. As a parent, it can sometimes be a struggle to let her do some of what he does, while still keeping her safe and treating her like a 2 year old.

When we let him have an occasional "special drink" (soda), she wants one. I'm not going to give soda to a 2 year old, so we offered to let her have apple pop - a homemade mix of apple juice and club soda. She says its spicy - which I think is an interesting interpretation of the carbonation.

When my son brings something to school for a particular themed event, you better believe she needs to bring something too.

When he is swinging by himself on the swingset, she wants to too. Amazingly enough, she figured out on her own how to make herself continue to swing by leaning back and forth - without using her legs.

We went shopping for his birthday and are getting him a new bike. Guess who wants one for her birthday now too. We likely will put the training wheels back on his old bike and let her have that one, and maybe get her a pretty basket to hang on the front handlebars, to make it her's.

When he's riding his scooter, she wants to ride it too. I am happy to say that she will soon get her wish on this one, because I am going to be reviewing the Razor Jr Folding Kiddie Kick Scooter courtesy of All Children's Furniture. (All Children's Furniture - you wonder aloud? I was a little surprised to learn that they sell everything from kids chairs to toys.) I do like that the scooter is styled with three wheels, making it more stable for her than the standard two wheel scooter her brother has. I also was able to select it in pink, which is nice since even though she is a "me too" she is also all girl.

There are of course limitations and boundaries that we try to maintain. Afterall, she is just 2. Her brother is allowed to stay up later some nights (just 1/2 and hour), but she is not allowed, she can when she is older. He likes to take a shower on his own, she is not allowed to do it on her own, but can take one with me. He is allowed to occasionally chew gum, she is not. He is allowed to run out to the mailbox by himself, she needs someone to go with her.

With as much of a "me too" girl she is, I do try to encourage her when she does something uniquely her. She likes to choose her own clothes, and let me tell you, season and temperature play no role in her decision - she chose a warm up suit the day that it reached 90 here and I let her (I was practical and packed a pair of shorts for her to change into).

Letting her safely explore what others are doing and fostering her unique personality, works for me. For more tips and tricks, check out Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway - Last Week!

Tonight's Girl's Night Out Crayola Creativity Cast on Twitter has the theme of Back to School Shopping and Planning Tips. Be sure to join in on the party by going here to RSVP. The fun starts at 9pm Eastern and runs for two hours. Be sure to use the hashtags #gno #crayola when you join in on the fun.

Then, come back here and enter to win the giveaway I am hosting, courtesy of Crayola and MyBlogSpark for one Crayola Creativity Pack.

This is the last of the Crayola Creativitycast and the last of the Crayola Creativity Pack giveaways.

The Crayola Creativity Pack includes the back-to-school list staples like 24-ct. Crayola Crayons, 10-ct, Crayola Markers and 12-ct. Colored Pencils and some of the new, innovative, affordable variations on these classics:
24-ct. Crayola Crayons, the quintessential back-to-school tool that kids love for their vibrant colors, and moms and teachers choose for superior quality and value

• 10-ct. Crayola Markers, with an array of consistent, true colors to complete any task

• 12-ct. Crayola Colored Pencils, which come pre-sharpened with thick, strong lead made to tackle touch projects and art activities

• Crayola Pip-Squeaks Colored Pencils and Glitter Glue, which give children big color in a small size and are perfect for jazzing up art projects with bright, bold, shimmering colors

• Crayola Window Crayons, to help let your little ones transform glass surfaces into instant decorations with bright colors that lay down smoothly, dry quickly, and wipe clean with a damp cloth

• Tadoodles Washable Crayon Buddies, which are colorful little characters that hold a triangular-shaped crayon that twists up when the tip wears down - perfect for little hands!

• Crayola Color Explosion Black Extreme Surprises, which comes complete with a stencil sheet and two Broad Tip Color Explosion clear ink markers that reveal a different surprise design as they´re colored on 18-page tablet

• Crayola Color Switchers, which are dual-ended markers that allow kids to magically change the colors of their drawings with a swoosh of the "color switch" tip

How can you enter?

Leave me a comment sharing your best Back to School Shopping Tip.

For extra entries:
Participate in tonight's GNO party. Leave me a comment letting me know you participated, something you learned or shared and your Twitter ID.

Leave a comment sharing which product in the Creativity Pack you are most excited about.

Follow me on Twitter, tweet about this giveaway using @ABusyMomofTwo and then come back and leave a comment.

Sign up for daily updates or e-mails and leave me a comment letting me know you subscribe.

Add my button to your sidebar or my blog to blog roll. Leave me a comment letting me know you did, with a link to your blog.

Post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back. Leave a comment letting me know you blogged, with a link to your post.

This contest will remain open until August 22nd at 7 pm. I will use a random number generator to select the winner. I will contact the winner by e-mail and they will have 36 hours to respond with their contact information or a new winner will be drawn.

Don't forget to check out my Kroger $30 Giftcard Giveaway here.

Kroger Mega Event & Giveaway

The Mega Savings Event is taking place at the Kroger family of stores from Aug. 16th thru Sept. 2nd (sale dates may vary by region; you can click here:
http://www.thekrogerco.com/ to see a list of participating stores and click through for local ads).
If you are not familiar with this
promotional offer, here is how it works: when you buy 10 participating
brands (see list below) and use your Shopper Card at check out you
instantly save $5 (or $.50/item). And there is no limit on the number of rewards per
transaction! Look for the double yellow tags in-store

Participating brands include: AMP Energy, Aquafina, Betty Crocker Baking
Mixes, Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, Cascadian Farms Cereals and Bars,
Cap'n Crunch, Cheerios, Cheetos, Chex Mix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa
Puffs, Dole Juices and Juice Drinks, Fiber One, Fritos, Gatorade, Golden
Grahams, Green Giant, Hamburger Helper, Life , Lipton Tea, Nature
Valley, Old El Paso, Pepsi family of 2 Liters, Pillsbury, Progresso,
Propel, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Quaker Chewy Bars, Starbucks, Sobe Life
Water, Totino's, Trix, Tropicana, Yoplait and MORE!

I have recieved a $30 Giftcard courtesy of General Mills, PepsiCo and MyBlogSpark. I am in the process of planning my event and you would be surprised at what you can get for $30.

I thought it might be fun to see if I could eat for the day with the sale items.

Breakfast:
1 - Quaker Life Cereal $1.99
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$1 Quaker Life IP (printed this one a while back, don't have link)

2 - Cheerios Cereal $1.99/ea
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$1 $1/2 Cheerios Mfg coupon

1 - Dole 100% Juice $2.49
-$.50 Mega Deal

2 - Yoplait Yogurt $2.49/ea
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.35 Mfg coupon
-$.35 Doubled coupon
-$.35 Mfg coupon
-$.35 Doubled coupon

Breakfast sub-total = $7.04

Lunch:
2 - Progresso Soup $1.69/ea
-$.50 Mega Deal

1 - Stacey's Pita Chips $2.49
-$1 Stacey's IP (link at MommySnacks)
-$.50 Mega Deal

2 - Fiber One Granola Bar $2.49/ea
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.40 Fiber One Mfg coupon
-$.40 Doubled coupon
-$.40 Fiber One Mfg coupon
-$.40 Doubled coupon

2 - Gatorade $1.75/ea
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.50 Mega Deal

Lunch sub-total $7.06

Snacktime
2 - Totino's Pizza Rolls $2.99/ea
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$.55 Totino's Pizza Rolls IP
-$.45 Doubled coupon (if your store doubles fully, you can save another $.10)

1 - 2L Pepsi $1.29/ea
-$.50 Mega Deal

Snacktime sub-total $4.77

Dinner:
1 - Macaroni Grill Dinner Kit $3.49
-$.50 Mega Deal
-$1 Macaroni Grill mfg coupon

2 - Green Giant Canned Vegetables $1.25
-$.50 Mega Deal

1 - Lipton Ready to Drink Tea
-$.50 Mega Deal

Dinner Sub-total $7.98

Total - $26.85. There should be enough left from the $30 gift card to pick up some chicken that you will need for the Macaroni Grill Dinner Kit.

This is just an example of the items that you can get for under $30 during the Mega Deal Event. It seems that the participating items vary by region (or perhaps they just aren't all advertised?) but you can check out Coupon Mommie for a lot of coupon match-ups and Internet printable coupons for the Mega Deal Items. In addition, check at your store for the double yellow tags to confirm what items are included in the Mega Deal event.

Now that I have shown you what you can get for under $30, how would you like a chance to win your own $30 gift card courtesy of PepsiCo, General Mills and MyBlogSpark? They were kind enough to provide me the opportunity to giveaway one $30 Kroger family giftcard to one lucky reader.

In order that you can get it in time to take advantage of the Mega Event, the contest will remain open until Thursday 8/20 at 7 pm. The winner will have 18 hours to reply to an e-mail and provide contact information. If they do not respond, a new winner will be drawn at that time.

How to enter:
For your initial entry, leave a comment letting me know which Kroger family store you shop at and why you like them.

For additional entries:

• Follow me on Twitter (@ABusyMomofTwo) and tweet about the giveaway

• Add my button to your sidebar or my blog to your blogroll. Leave a comment with a link to your blog.

• Sign up to receive my updates through e-mail or RSS feed. Leave me a comment letting me know that you are a subscriber.

• Post about the giveaway on your blog, with a link back to the giveaway. Leave a comment with a link to your post.

Menu Plan Monday

It was a crazy weekend at our house. I did my grocery shopping on Friday and made a stop at both Walmart for some stock up items as well as the grocery for some fresh items. We hosted a fantasy football draft on Saturday and then I had a Pampered Chef Party on Sunday. We also had overnight company on both nights this weekend.

At our house, the focus is on dinners. I tend to only list the main course and any standard side we have with it. We do still have vegetables and/or fruit with each of our dinners, I just don't always call them out.

Sunday
Bagels
Mexican Lasagna (Pampered Chef Party)
Leftovers

Monday
BLTs

Tuesday
Pizza

Wednesday
Breakfast for Dinner

Thursday
Penne Cardinale

Friday
Out

Saturday
Cereal
Hamburgers/Hot Dogs on the Grill
Leftovers

Weekdays breakfast is at daycare for my daughter, the rest of us eat cold cereal, frozen waffles, oatmeal, toast or whatever strikes our fancy. Lunch we pack, usually leftovers for me.

Check out other menu plans for the week at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Crayola Creativitycast - week 4

Did you have a chance to join in on the Crayola Creativitycast last Tuesday night? The topic was Creative Connections. There were some great ideas and tips shared.

With back to school just around the corner, Crayola wants to help you get ready with tips and creative ideas to make the back to school season less stressful and more fun! Starting July 28 and every Tuesday night (9 pm Eastern) through the month of August, Crayola is sponsoring "Girls Night Out" on Twitter - the mommy social gathering featuring colorful and engaging discussions on all things back-to-school. Crayola has teamed up with MomItForward.com, the creator of "Girls Night Out" (GNO), to bring you the "Crayola Creativitycast." The weekly Crayola Creativitycast will feature a new topic each week, to help you better prepare your kids for the best back to school ever. Tweet the night away with other moms, Crayola creativity experts, and noted mommy bloggers, and get great ideas to help you prepare for the best back to school ever for your kids!

This week's theme will be: Back to School Shopping and Planning Tips.

Here's how it works:

Every Sunday through Tuesday, you can RSVP for the party by clicking on the RSVP post on MomItForward.com. There, you can include your Twitter URL in the link list and see the list of others that plan to participat in the GNO party on Twitter. (In the event that Mr. Linky is not showing up in the RSVP post, please leave your Twitter URLs in the comments, this will allow everyone to know who is participating and follow them.)

Visit http://momitforward.com each Monday for more information and a custom Tweet Grid for that week´s event.

On Tuesday nights, starting at 9pm Eastern, tweet using the hashtag #gno and chat away.

GNO participants will have the chance to win great prizes.

In addition to the prizes that will be awarded during the weekly GNO party on Twitter, I will be hosting a weekly giveaway, following the Crayola GNO on Twitter, I will be giving one Crayola Creativity Pack each week for 4 weeks. That's 4 winners over the next month.



In the Creativity Pack you will find things like...
* 24 pack crayons
* 10 ct. crayola markers
* 12 ct. crayola colored pencils
* crayola pip - squeaks colored pencils and glitter glue
* Crayola window crayons
* Tadoodles washable crayon Buddies
* Crayola color explosion black surprises
* Crayola Color Switchers
All from Crayola.com

Come back here after the Crayola Creativitycast to enter the giveaway. The giveaways will follow the theme of the GNO discussions - check back here for more details.

Sound like fun??? Hope to see you Tuesday evening!

CVS Scenarios - week of 8/16

There are more school supply freebies this week. Build your scenarios using the $5/$25 printable and you can make some good deals even better. These transactions all use items that are part of the 3 day sale, so they will only work through Tuesday (although, not all items are only on deal for 3 days).

Transaction #1
1 - CVS Papertowels 8pk
1 - Charmin 20pk
1 - Filler Paper
1 - Composition Books
2 - J&J First Aid to Go

-$5 CVS $5/$25 coupon
-$1 Charmin Mfg coupon
-$1 J&J First Aid Mfg coupon
-$1 J&J First Aid Mfg coupon

Total $17.94, earn $2, $3, $.99, $1.99, and $2 ECBs. (net cost $7.96)

Transaction #2
1 - Phillips Earhook Headphones
1 - Filler Paper
1 - Composition Book

Total $9.97. Pay with ECBs from Transaction #1. Earn $9.97 ECBs.

For more deals and scenarios, check out Money Saving Mom, Deal Seeking Mom and the "Cent"sible Sawyer.

CVS $5 Challenge

Transaction #1
2 - J&J First Aid to Go
2 - Filler Paper
1 - Papermate Pens

-$1 J&J First Aid Mfg coupon
-$1 J&J First Aid Mfg coupon

Total $2.97, earn $2, $1.98 and $.99 ECBs.

Transaction #2
1 - Phillips Earhook Headphones

Total $6.99. Pay with $4.97 ECBs from Transaction #1 and $2.02 OOP. Earn $6.99 ECBs.

Transaction #3
2 - Caliber Composition Books
1 - Caliber Recycled School Box
1 - Papermate Pens

Total $6.96. Pay with ECBs from Transaction #2, adjusted down to $6.96. Earn $6.96 ECBs.

You will have paid $4.99 OOP and will have $6.96 ECBs to use for something or hold for next week.

For more $5 Scenarios, check out the CVS $5 Challenge at Keeping the Kingdom First.

Mary Ingalls On Her Own

Growing up I was a huge Little House on the Prairie fan. I'm not sure which came first for me - the books or the television series. But I do know that I have read all of the books multiple times and have seen all of the episodes a number of times. In fact, I own some of the episodes on DVD. When I was home on maternity leave with my son, I knew what time LHoP was on and I was there watching it.

When my daughter was born, I found on the Bookmobile a My First Little House book. I of course checked it out and read it to her. Over time, we have acquired much of the collection. She really likes A Little House Birthday - Pa sings Pop Goes the Weasel in that one. I usually have to read that page at least twice. She calls them her Laura books.

So, a while back, when I saw a suggested read in a paper (not sure what paper) entitled Mary Ingalls On Her Own by Elizabeth Kimmel Willard, I figured it was a book I should check out. I put a hold on it at the library and it finally came in a few days ago.

I will start by saying, much like the rest of the Little House series, it is a Junior book. So, it was a very quick and easy read. But, it was also a cute and endearing story. In the Little House books, we always see everything from Laura's perspective. This book looks at life from Mary's perspective. At the start of the book, Mary has been blind for two years and is just arriving at the Iowa College for the Blind.

I really enjoyed the quick read. It was interesting to get to know Mary, from Mary's perspective. There is another book in the series, Nellie Oleson meets Laura Ingalls, that I would like to read as well.

Crayola Creativity Pack Winner!

Congratulations sprmama! You are the winner of the Crayola Creativity Pack.

I don't have an e-mail address for sprmama. She has until Sunday, 8/16 at 9:00 am to respond to me via e-mail with contact information, or a new winner will be drawn.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

6
Timestamp: 2009-08-15 00:58:29 UTC

Samples and Freebies

Requested
Nutland Crunch
John Frieda Brilliant Brunette shampoo and conditioner
Somersault Snacks

Received:

Vaseline aloe fresh hydrating sample
Pure Via sample and coupon
Splenda Flavors for Coffee Hazelnut sample and coupon
Vocal Point Bounce Dryer Bar coupons

CVS Deals - 8/9

So, I headed out to CVS, with my Huggies coupons and my $5/$25 coupon in hand on Sunday.

I learned at check out that the coupon from watching the Ready Fill Video/Quiz weren't good until 8/10. No where on the coupon or on the video/website did it say that - I even rewatched the video when I got home to check on it and see if I had missed it. The cashier told me I couldn't use it. The shift manager happened to walk by as I was looking for my $4/$20 coupon from the pharmacy coupon booklet. I stopped her and asked if she knew anything about the Ready Fill $5/$25 coupon. She looked it over and didn't see anything on the coupon that indicated a start date for the offer, so she told the cashier to just enter it as a $5 coupon. I thanked her and she said she was going to go into the office and try to find out what was the deal with the coupon.

Here's what I got:

Transaction #1
1 - Huggies Jumbo Diapers
1 - Huggies Jumbo Pull-ups
1 - Revlon Mineral Mousse Foundation

-$5 $5/$25 coupon
-$3 Huggies Diapers Mfg coupon
-$2 Huggies Pull-ups Mfg coupon
-$1 Revlon Mfg coupon

Paid with $3, $6 and $7.99 ECBs and $1.11 (nothing but tax) OOP. Earned $9.99 and $4 ECBs. So, for a net cost of $3.11 with tax, I had gotten 1 pack of diapers and 1 pack of Pull-ups, plus a "bonus" makeup.

Transaction #2
2 - Caliber 2pocket folders (raincheck)
1 - CVS Spectravite multivitamin 130ct
1 - CVS 500mg C 100ct

-$2 $2/$10 vitamin purchase from pharmacy coupon booklet

Paid with $4 ECBs and $3.43 OOP. Earned $1 ECBs. I'm now good on multivitamins for another 6 mos.

So, in summary, I spent $4.54 OOP and decreased ECBs by $6. So my net cost for this trip was $10.54. Still a pretty good deal when you consider all that I got and that my actual cash OOP was under $5.

For more deals, check out Super Savings Saturday.

Spicy Chicken Roll-ups

Frequently, on weeknights, I feel very crunched for time. I want to make dinner as quickly, or at least with as little time as possible in the kitchen, so that I have more time to spend with my family. I accomplish this in a number of ways. Sometimes, it is a matter of doubling recipes when I make dishes - one to serve and one to freeze. This allows me a quick meal from the freezer, that might need to cook for some time, doesn't require much time in the kitchen. Sometimes, it is a matter of multi-meal cooking - such as when I grill chicken for one night's meal, I grill extra to give me a start to the next night's meal. Sometimes, it is prepping everything the night before and just assembling and cooking at dinner time. And sometimes, it is simply preparing a quick and easy meal.

One quick and easy meal I make is Spicy Chicken Roll-ups. The nice thing with this recipe is that you can use canned chicken or chicken that was baked or grilled the night before to really shorten prep time.

Spicy Chicken Roll-ups

1 c cooked chicken breast, diced
1/4c diced tomatoes with peppers and onions (can substitute sauce)
dash crushed rosemary
dash crushed oregano
1 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 package refrigerated crescent rolls
1 c shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400. In small bowl, combine chicken, tomatoes, rosemary, oregano, and Parmesan cheese. Lightly grease baking sheet. Separate crescent rolls. Spread 1 tbsp mixture onto each crescent roll. Start with the short side of triangle and roll toward the long point. Place on baking sheet.

Bake rolls at 400 for 11 - 13 minutes. Remove from oven. Top each roll with mozzarella cheese and place back in over until cheese melts.

You can serve these with a small side of tomato or pasta sauce for dipping.

For more dinner in a hurry ideas, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap Speed Cooking edition over at Life as Mom.

Printable Coupons

My family loves Ronzoni Smart Taste. Go here to print a coupon for $1/2.

It's a Date!

I want my children to feel that they are special and to get plenty of one on one time with me. Being a working mom, this can be a challenge. I sometimes feel like I have so little time at home with them when they are awake. Much of what we do, we do as a family. So, a few years ago, I came up with a solution that works for me - dates.

When my daughter was a baby, I started taking occasional half day vacations from work and picking my son up early from daycare. We have gone to lunch and a movie. We have gone bowling. We have gone to baseball games. We have gone to the park. The destination was never as important as the time together alone.

Now that my daughter is getting bigger, she wants to go on dates too. A few weeks ago, her and I took a road trip together. On the way home, we stopped for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. She thought it was the best - being out to lunch with just Mommy.

I think that it is important to have that one on one time alone with each child. Taking a half day vacation is what works best for me, as there doesn't seem to be time in the evenings and weekends - besides places are less crowded in the middle of the afternoon!

For more tips that work, check out Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway - Week 3

Tonight's Girl's Night Out Crayola Creativity Cast on Twitter has the theme of Creative Connections (building and strengthening relationships and character through creativity). Be sure to join in on the party by going here to RSVP. The fun starts at 9pm Eastern. Be sure to use the hashtags #gno #crayola when you join in on the fun.

Then, come back here and enter to win the giveaway I am hosting, courtesy of Crayola and MyBlogSpark for one Crayola Creativity Pack.

The Crayola Creativity Pack includes the back-to-school list staples like 24-ct. Crayola Crayons, 10-ct, Crayola Markers and 12-ct. Colored Pencils and some of the new, innovative, affordable variations on these classics:
24-ct. Crayola Crayons, the quintessential back-to-school tool that kids love for their vibrant colors, and moms and teachers choose for superior quality and value

• 10-ct. Crayola Markers, with an array of consistent, true colors to complete any task

• 12-ct. Crayola Colored Pencils, which come pre-sharpened with thick, strong lead made to tackle touch projects and art activities

• Crayola Pip-Squeaks Colored Pencils and Glitter Glue, which give children big color in a small size and are perfect for jazzing up art projects with bright, bold, shimmering colors

• Crayola Window Crayons, to help let your little ones transform glass surfaces into instant decorations with bright colors that lay down smoothly, dry quickly, and wipe clean with a damp cloth

• Tadoodles Washable Crayon Buddies, which are colorful little characters that hold a triangular-shaped crayon that twists up when the tip wears down - perfect for little hands!

• Crayola Color Explosion Black Extreme Surprises, which comes complete with a stencil sheet and two Broad Tip Color Explosion clear ink markers that reveal a different surprise design as they´re colored on 18-page tablet

• Crayola Color Switchers, which are dual-ended markers that allow kids to magically change the colors of their drawings with a swoosh of the "color switch" tip

How can you enter?

Leave me a comment sharing about a creative connection in your life.

For extra entries:
Participate in tonight's GNO party. Leave me a comment letting me know you participated, something you learned or shared and your Twitter ID.

Leave a comment sharing which product in the Creatity Pack you are most excited about.

Follow me on Twitter, tweet about this giveaway using @ABusyMomofTwo and then come back and leave a comment.

Sign up for daily updates or e-mails and leave me a comment letting me know you subscribe.

This contest will remain open until August 14th at 7 pm. I will use a random number generator to select the winner. I will contact the winner by e-mail and they will have 36 hours to respond with their contact information or a new winner will be drawn.

Jet Puffed Mallow Bites

I love marshmallows and I love chocolate, so when I was roaming through the aisles at Walmart the other day and happened upon this:



I just knew I had to try them.

Yum! In some ways, they are very similar to miniature versions of the chocolate covered marshmallow eggs you find at Easter, although the marshmallow texture is a little bit more like a marshmallow than the marshmallow cream like filling in the larger treats. One thing I really liked is that with them being miniature, you get a higher chocolate to marshmallow ratio - a definite positive in my book. In addition, the bite size pieces allowed me, with a great deal of willpower, to have just a couple to satisfy my sweet tooth.

I can't find anything about this product on the Kraft Jet-Puffed page, so I'm not sure if these were a limited item or around to stay. Anyone know?

The package was priced at $1 for the bag at Walmart. It has about 2 servings of approximately 24 chocolate covered marshmallows, each with 130 calories and 5 g of fat. The best part is that if I can limit myself to a couple, I can have a quick sweet treat for only a few calories. Based on 24 pieces in a serving, each chocolate covered miniature marshmallow has just under 6 calories - so 4 is under 25 calories. Yum! A quick treat that won't ruin the diet (when I'm actually managing to stay on one) and with approximately 56 pieces in a bag - that makes for 14 snacks of 4 pieces!

Have you tried Mallow Bites? What did you think? Share a comment or post a link.

Menu Plan Monday

I made a quick run to the grocery on Saturday to pick up bread for dinner and the week's groceries. Last week when we watched the Next Food Network Star finale, my husband commented that the meal prepared by Melissa looked good, so I worked it into this week's menu. Otherwise, it is a fairly simple, no recipe required type of week. I need a good panini recipe to try out my new panini press I got from Pampered Chef though. Any thoughts - leave me a comment with a link.

At our house, the focus is on dinners. I tend to only list the main course and any standard side we have with it. We do still have vegetables and/or fruit with each of our dinners, I just don't always call them out.

Sunday
Cereal
Leftovers
4-Step Chicken (from Next Food Network Star)

Monday
Pasta

Tuesday
Fish Fillets/Fries/Cole Slaw

Wednesday
Breakfast for Dinner

Thursday
Paninis - any good recipes?

Friday
Hamburgers/Hot Dogs on the grill

Saturday
Cereal
Sandwiches
TBD

Weekdays breakfast is at daycare for my daughter, the rest of us eat cold cereal, frozen waffles, oatmeal, toast or whatever strikes our fancy. Lunch we pack, usually leftovers for me.

Check out other menu plans for the week at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Crayola Creativitycast - week 3

Did you have a chance to join in on the Crayola Creativitycast last Tuesday night? The topic was Back To School Basics. There were some great ideas and tips shared.

With back to school just around the corner, Crayola wants to help you get ready with tips and creative ideas to make the back to school season less stressful and more fun! Starting July 28 and every Tuesday night (9 pm Eastern) through the month of August, Crayola is sponsoring "Girls Night Out" on Twitter - the mommy social gathering featuring colorful and engaging discussions on all things back-to-school. Crayola has teamed up with MomItForward.com, the creator of "Girls Night Out" (GNO), to bring you the "Crayola Creativitycast." The weekly Crayola Creativitycast will feature a new topic each week, to help you better prepare your kids for the best back to school ever. Tweet the night away with other moms, Crayola creativity experts, and noted mommy bloggers, and get great ideas to help you prepare for the best back to school ever for your kids!

This week's theme will be: Creative Connections (building and strengthening relationships and character through creativity).

Here's how it works:

Every Sunday through Tuesday, you can RSVP for the party by clicking on the RSVP post on MomItForward.com. There, you can include your Twitter URL in the link list and see the list of others that plan to participat in the GNO party on Twitter. (In the event that Mr. Linky is not showing up in the RSVP post, please leave your Twitter URLs in the comments, this will allow everyone to know who is participating and follow them.)

Visit http://momitforward.com each Monday for more information and a custom Tweet Grid for that week´s event.

On Tuesday nights, starting at 9pm Eastern, tweet using the hashtag #gno and chat away.

GNO participants will have the chance to win great prizes.

In addition to the prizes that will be awarded during the weekly GNO party on Twitter, I will be hosting a weekly giveaway, following the Crayola GNO on Twitter, I will be giving one Crayola Creativity Pack each week for 4 weeks. That's 4 winners over the next month.



In the Creativity Pack you will find things like...
* 24 pack crayons
* 10 ct. crayola markers
* 12 ct. crayola colored pencils
* crayola pip - squeaks colored pencils and glitter glue
* Crayola window crayons
* Tadoodles washable crayon Buddies
* Crayola color explosion black surprises
* Crayola Color Switchers
All from Crayola.com

Come back here after the Crayola Creativitycast to enter the giveaway. The giveaways will follow the theme of the GNO discussions - check back here for more details.

Sound like fun??? Hope to see you Tuesday evening!

CVS Scenarios - week of 8/9

It appears that the school deals are over at CVS, but there are still a few deals that definitely make an early in the week trip to CVS worthwhile this week. Did you print the $5/$25 coupon that I posted the other day? It could make your scenarios even better.

Transaction #1
1 - Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mousse Makeup
2 - Huggies Jumbo pack diapers

-$5 $5/$25 CVS coupon
-$1 Revlon Mfg coupon
-$3 Huggies Mfg coupon (from mailer)
-$3 Huggies Mfg coupon (from mailer)

Total $15.99 OOP. Recieve $9.99 and $4 in ECBs (for a net cost of $2!!)

Don't have a baby? Then maybe this is a better transaction for you:

Transaction #1
1 - Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mousse Makeup
1 - Neutrogena Foundation
1 - Neutrogena Eye Quad

-$5 $5/$25 CVS coupon
-$1 Revlon Mfg coupon
-$3 Neutrogena foundation Mfg coupon
-$1.50 Neutrogena makeup mfg coupon

Total $16.47 OOP. Receive $9.99, $2 and $2 ECBs (for a net cost of $2.48!!)

Transaction #2
2 - CVS Spectravite (multi-vitamin) 130ct

-$2 $2/$10 CVS Vitamin coupon from Pharmacy coupon booklet.

Total $4.99. Pay with $4 in ECBs from Transaction #1 and $.99 OOP.

For more deals and scenarios, check out Money Saving Mom, The "Cent"sible Sawyer and Deal Seeking Mom.

CVS $5 Challenge

coming
Just a quick scenario this week, not many deals are under $5 OOP.

Transaction #1
1 - Coppertone Nutrashield
2 - Colgate Toothpaste

-$5 Coppertone Nutrashield IP
-$1 Colgate mfg coupon
-$1 Colgate mfg coupon

Total OOP $4.48, earn $2 ECBs.

For more $5 Scenarios, check out the CVS $5 Challenge.

CVS $5/$25 coupon

It's been awhile since I've seen on-line coupons for CVS. Here are some chances to save at CVS.

Take the ReadyFill Quiz on the CVS website and after you complete the quiz, you can print a coupon for $5/$25 at CVS (no penalty for wrong answers on the quiz). The coupon appears to be good for 2 weeks from print date, or perhaps is good until 8/22 for everyone.

In addition, you can get to a coupons.com application for CVS that includes CVS exclusive brands coupons and more. You will find it on the right hand side of this page, where it says "In Store Coupons".

Have fun saving at CVS!

Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Jamie! You are the winner of the Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway. I have sent an e-mail to Jamie. She has until Sunday morning to reply with contact information or a new winner will be drawn.


Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

8
Timestamp: 2009-08-07 23:12:58 UTC

Be sure to check back again next week for details on participating in Crayola Creativity Cast GNO party and for another opportunity to win a Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway.

CVS Deals - 8/5

2 - 1" vinyl Binder (rain check)
2 - M&M Singles

Paid with $1.98 and $4 ECBs and $.84 OOP. Received a $6 ECB for the binders.

I couldn't pass up on the clearance chocolate - they were only 22cents each.

For more deals, check out:
Super Savings Saturday
CVS Superstars
Shopping Superstars

Free Chocolate Friday!

Another Friday, another chance for free chocolate.

Have you reached your household limit? I reached mine, but for those that haven't, here's a chance to get another coupon.

Mars is planning to give away free chocolate every Friday until September 25th. To get your coupon, you need to head over to Real Chocolate starting at 9 am ET on each Friday. Your coupon is good for one single serve chocolate (any M&M'S® Brand, MILKY WAY® Brand, SNICKERS® Brand, 3 MUSKETEERS® Brand, TWIX® Brand and DOVE® Brand product). The coupon will be mailed and take up to 6 weeks to arrive.

There is a limit of 250,000 coupons each Friday. You can only win one coupon each week, but each household is allowed to win up to 4 coupons over the course of the promotion. You can see the full terms and conditions here by clicking on Terms and Conditions.

Even if you are reading this at 5 pm, I suggest you head over and give it a shot. I have found that there is still chocolate available at the end of the day.

Samples and Freebies

Requested:

Honey Nut Cheerios sample and link or $1 coupon
Oxy Maximum Cleansing Pads
Scope Outlast
Fiber One Honey Clusters Cereal and Oats and Chocolate Bar sample and coupons

Received:
Viva Papertowel sample
Nature Made Triple Flex Liquid Softgel sample
The Full Plate Diet - Advance Reading Copy

Chicken Rustica

I love my crock pot. I don't use it nearly as much as I should. I make a number of recipes that I know would be equally good and a lot easier in the crock pot, but I always seem to forget to try.

I am fortunate that my husband works at home much of the time, allowing me to do crock pot meals during the week. I use the slow cooker primarily to make soups and main dishes. Occassionally, I will make an appetizer for a party in the crock pot as well. I have never been adventurous enough to make a dessert in it - just seems strange to prep a dessert in a slow cooker, although the recipes sound really good.

One of the meals that we do make with some regularity in the crock pot is Chicken Rustica. It has a very nice flavor and we normally serve it over an egg noodle or pasta. I sometimes will substitute prosciutto for the bacon for a more smokey flavor.

Chicken Rustica

1 - 1 1/2# boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in 1" strips
1 tbsp crumbled bacon
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15oz) artichoke hearts, quartered
1 packet dry chicken gravy mix
1/4c dry red wine
2 tbsp Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.

For more inspiration to use your slow cooker, check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap Slow Cooking at Life As Mom.

For the Love of Uniforms

I never realized what a big fan of uniforms I would be. I always was worried that there wouldn't be variety or a way for the kids to express their individuality. Now I realize, that they are so easy! There is no debate over what to wear in the morning - blue pants, white shirt. Maybe you mix in a sweatshirt or sweater for good measure on a winter morning, but otherwise there is no guess work, no debate over what to wear.

Last year when my son started school, I was wishing that there was another option beside the white polo/button down for the boys. When my brothers went to school, they were allowed to wear yellow or light blue, in addition to white. After just a few months, I became grateful that everything was white. I had a powerful cleaning tool that just wouldn't work the same to get all of the stains out of light blue and yellow, BLEACH!. Bleach is my best friend when it comes to doing school uniform shirt laundry. It is amazing how messy a 5 year old can get in a day of school.

I was again reminded of the convenience of uniforms and white shirts, as we were getting clothes ready for the start of school. Our school has a used uniform sale. I grabbed the shirts my son had outgrown, ran them through a load of laundry with bleach and took them to the sale along with some pants to share with other families. While at the sale, I was able to pick up a few shirts and pants for my son. School clothes shopping - done!

That works for me. Check out more back to school tips at Works for Me Wednesday School Themed Edition at We Are THAT Family.

Check out a Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway here.

Crayola Creativity Pack Giveaway

Tonight's Girl's Night Out Crayola Creativity Cast on Twitter has the theme of Back To School Basics. Be sure to join in on the party by going here to RSVP. The fun starts at 9pm Eastern. Be sure to use the hashtags #gno #crayola when you join in on the fun.

Then, come back here and enter to win the giveaway I am hosting, courtesy of Crayola and MyBlogSpark for one Crayola Creativity Pack.

The Crayola Creativity Pack includes the back-to-school list staples like 24-ct. Crayola Crayons, 10-ct, Crayola Markers and 12-ct. Colored Pencils and some of the new, innovative, affordable variations on these classics:
24-ct. Crayola Crayons, the quintessential back-to-school tool that kids love for their vibrant colors, and moms and teachers choose for superior quality and value

• 10-ct. Crayola Markers, with an array of consistent, true colors to complete any task

• 12-ct. Crayola Colored Pencils, which come pre-sharpened with thick, strong lead made to tackle touch projects and art activities

• Crayola Pip-Squeaks Colored Pencils and Glitter Glue, which give children big color in a small size and are perfect for jazzing up art projects with bright, bold, shimmering colors

• Crayola Window Crayons, to help let your little ones transform glass surfaces into instant decorations with bright colors that lay down smoothly, dry quickly, and wipe clean with a damp cloth

• Tadoodles Washable Crayon Buddies, which are colorful little characters that hold a triangular-shaped crayon that twists up when the tip wears down - perfect for little hands!

• Crayola Color Explosion Black Extreme Surprises, which comes complete with a stencil sheet and two Broad Tip Color Explosion clear ink markers that reveal a different surprise design as they´re colored on 18-page tablet

• Crayola Color Switchers, which are dual-ended markers that allow kids to magically change the colors of their drawings with a swoosh of the "color switch" tip

How can you enter?

Leave me a comment sharing how you are preparing for back to school at your house.

For extra entries:
Participate in tonight's GNO party. Leave me a comment letting me know you participated, something you learned or shared and your Twitter ID.

Leave a comment sharing what is your favorite Crayola product and why.

Follow me on Twitter, tweet about this giveaway using @ABusyMomofTwo and then come back and leave a comment.

This contest will remain open until August 7th at 7 pm. I will use a random number generator to select the winner. I will contact the winner by e-mail and they will have 36 hours to respond with their contact information or a new winner will be drawn.

CVS Deals - 8/3

I had hoped to get to CVS on Sunday, but that didn't work out, so I had to stop in on Monday. I did pretty okay. They didn't have quite everything I wanted, so of course, I mixed up my scenarios a little bit.

After my first transaction, I got my coupon for a free item. It was ChapBlock, the store was out of it. The cashier told me I could wait to get my free item or substitute for a toothbrush, chocolate or something else (I think after hearing chocolate, I blocked all other options out). I, of course, chose the chocolate, dark chocolate to be exact.

Transaction #1
1 - ob 40ct
2 - Stayfree 36ct
1 - Soft Soap Serums 15oz
1 - Caliber Scissors
2 - Caliber Wooden Rulers (raincheck)

-$4 $4/$20 CVS coupon
-$1.50 ob mfg coupon
-$1 Stayfree mfg coupon
-$5 Stayfree BOGO coupon
-$2 Softsoap IP

Paid with $10.99 in ECBs and $1.78 OOP. Earned $5, $4, $2.99, $1 and $1 ECBs.

Transaction #2
4 - Pepsi product 12pks
1 - Blink Tears
1 - Highlighter ($.01 deal)
2 - Caliber Protractors
2 - Caliber Glue Sticks
1 - Absolutely Divine Dark Chocolate

-$1.50 Blink Tears IP
-$4 $4/$20 CVS coupon
-$1.99 Absolutely Divine Dark Chocolate Free CRT

Paid with $16.96 in ECBS and $3.67 OOP. Earned $4, $7.99, $3, and $1.98 ECBs.

My net cost for the trip was $2.44, with $5.45 OOP and an increase in ECBs of $3.01. Before coupons and ECBs, the transaction would have cost me $54.39.

Also, it appears that the limit on the Softsoap bodywash, might be higher than the one listed in the ad. For me at least, it didn't indicate limit reached. I might have to make it back before end of day Tuesday to see if there are any left.

For more deals, check out Super Savings Saturday, Shopping Superstars and CVS Superstars.

Special K Protein Shakes

When I exercise, I like to drink the pre-made protein shakes as a recovery drink. Not only does the protein help me build muscle, but since I work out in the morning, the pre-made shakes provide a quick and easy breakfast replacement that I can grab as I run out the door to work.

A while back, I was contacted about trying out the new Special K Protein Shakes. I hadn't tried the Special K Protein Shakes before, so I agreed to give them a try and they sent me a sample.

Let's start with some observations, the Special K Protein Shake is 10oz. Many of the shakes that I normally consume are only 8oz. Despite being 2oz larger, the Special K Protein Shakes are slightly lower in calories (1990 cal) and about the same in total grams of fat (5g). Another thing that I noticed is that in addition to the 10g of protein per serving, the shake is also a source of fiber with 5g per serving. The other protein shakes that I consume do not have fiber (<1g), so this is a nice bonus from my perspective.

The shake that I received was Milk Chocolate flavor. In general, chocolate is my favorite flavor for the protein shakes. The chocolate flavor makes it seem more like a treat to me. The milk chocolate flavor of this shake was enjoyable and comparable to other chocolate flavored protein shakes. The shakes are also available in Strawberry and French Vanilla flavors.

From a consistency perspective, the Special K Protein Shakes are a little thinner consistency than many other shakes I have had. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just different than what I am used to and possibly related to having lower calories in a larger serving.

According to the bottle, 'Special K Protein products are designed to promote a reduced feeling of hunger by increasing daily intake of protein and fiber.' As I said before, I consume my shakes in place of breakfast and the shake did keep me from needing to snack before lunch, but I also don't often snack before lunch.

Have you tried Special K Protein Shakes? What did you think? Leave a comment or link to your blog. Would you like to try them? A coupon for $1 off of a 4-pack is available here.

Redbox Free Rental Code 8/3

It's the first Monday of the month - time for another free movie Monday from Redbox. Use coupon code 27HZ4KT at check out. Expires tonight at 12am central.

Menu Plan Monday

I made a quick run to the grocery on Saturday, since we were out of milk. While there, I picked up the groceries to get us through the week. It actually was an easy week to plan with two community events going on - one with free food and one with food for purchase.

At our house, the focus is on dinners. I tend to only list the main course and any standard side we have with it. We do still have vegetables and/or fruit with each of our dinners, I just don't always call them out.

Sunday
Cereal
Skyline Chili
Pizza

Monday
Popcorn Shrimp

Tuesday
Hamburgers

Wednesday
Chicken Enchilada meal

Thursday
Pizza

Friday
Creamy Basil Chicken Pasta

Saturday
Bagels/cereal
Sandwiches
TBD

Weekdays breakfast is at daycare for my daughter, the rest of us eat cold cereal, frozen waffles, oatmeal, toast or whatever strikes our fancy. Lunch we pack, usually leftovers for me.

Check out other menu plans for the week at Menu Plan Monday at the guest location of The Happy Housewife.

CVS Scenarios - week of 8/2

Wow! What a week at CVS. Not only are there a number of free school supplies, but there are many other things that are cheap or free after coupons and ECBs. Plus, if you were able to pick up one of the Pharmacy coupon booklets, you could use the $4/$20 to make some of the deals even better.

I picked a copuon booklet up yesterday and was impressed with the 'screening' the pharmacist did before giving me the booklet. Since I wasn't filling a prescription, she went to the computer to confirm that I used the CVS pharmacy for prescriptions. Then, she explained how the Autorefill system works. I asked if it worked for any prescription that was written with refills and she explained it only worked with maintenance drugs. She asked if I had any, I told her not at this time.

Here are some proposed scenarios for this week:

Transaction #1
2 - Stayfree 24-48ct
1 - Softsoap Nutri Serums
1 - Blink Tears

-$4 $4/$20 from Pharmacy coupon booklet
-$5 BOGO Stayfree Mfg coupon
-$2 Softsoap IP
-$1.50 Blink Tears IP

Total $12.50 OOP. Earn $5, $4, and $7.99 ECBs ($16.99 total).

Transaction #2
2 - Caliber Glue Sticks
2 - Caliber Notebooks
2 - Caliber 10ct Pencils
2 - Caliber Protractor/Compass
2 - Caliber Scissors
2 - Caliber Rulers
1 - Caliber Bookcover

Total $16.89. Pay with $16.99 ECBs from Transaction #1 adjusted down to $16.89. Earn $1.98, $1.98, $1.98, $3, $4.98, $1.98, and $.99 ECBs ($16.89 total).

Transaction #3
4 - Pepsi Product 12pk
2 - Velveeta Shells and Cheese
2 - 2-pocket Poly Portfolio

-$1.50 $1.50/2 Velveeta IP

Total $17.48. Pay with $16.89 in ECBs and $.59 OOP. Earn $4, $3, and $.98 ECBs ($7.98 total).

For the day, total OOP would be $11.07 and you will have $7.98 left in ECBs. Not bad - all of this for a net cost of $3.09.

To see more deals and scenarios, check out Deal Seeking Mom, Money Saving Mom and the "Cents"ible Sawyer.

CVS $5 Challenge
Transaction #1
2 - Stayfree 24-48ct

-$5 BOGO Stayfree Mfg coupon

Total $5 OOP, earn $5 ECBs.

Transaction #2
1 - Softsoap Nutri Serum
2 - Caliber Glue Sticks

-$2 Softsoap IP

Total $4.97, pay with $5 ECBs from Transaction #1 adjusted down to $4.97. Earn $4 and $1.98 ECBs.

Transaction #3
2 - Caliber 10ct Pencils
2 - Caliber Notebooks
2 - 2-pocket Poly Portfolios
1 - Calbier Ruler

Total $5.97, pay with $5.98 in ECBs from Transaction #2 adjusted down. Earn $5.97 in ECBs.

Total OOP for the 3 transactions is $5 and you will have $5.97 in ECBs to roll for next week or use to pick up some other deal this week.

For more $5 Scenarios, check out the CVS $5 Challenge at Keeping the Kingdom First.