Our Garden

When it comes to being thrifty and eating vegetables, your mind automatically goes to a garden or the farmers market. So this year, I set out to plant a garden. Now we have lived in our home for almost 3 years in October and this is the third attempt at a garden.

Our first garden was just a fly by the seat of our pants type of garden. We tilled up a good portion of the yard and just threw plants willy nilly. It was not very successful. It could have been because we forgot to water it. Yeah.

Anyways, last year I decided to get a little more serious about gardening and decided to read some books about it. My mother-in-law is a fabulous gardener and was kind enough to loan me some books. After much deliberation, we decided to do some square foot gardening. We were given some miscellaneous wood from my parents and built the beautiful boxes that you will see in the upcoming pictures.

I also made some make-shift trellises for the cucumbers and squash to grow up. I think I tried too many plants last year because we did okay, but not great. I think we spent more money on plants then we got vegetables.

This year I decided to go minimalistic. I was only going to plant the things that I knew I couldn't ruin, that gave us something last year and we definitely eat. I set out to Bachmans with the kiddos at Grandma's house helping her plant.

Here is what I got:
5 tomato plants, assorted kinds
3 pepper plants
1 cucumber plants, with 4 individual plants
1 squash plant, with 2 individual plants
1 egg plant plant (is that right?)
Total I spent was: 30.00

Earlier this week I bought a lettuce plant, 2 basil plants (mmmmm, margarita pizza!) and a rosemary plant.

I bribed my sister with dinner and she came over and we all weeded and got the ground good and ready to plant those babies. Isaac towered over us instantly claiming any worms that we dug up. Don't worry, I made him put them back. I know how good those suckers are for the garden.

Here are our lovely boxes that we made last year with all the plants sitting in their new homes. The pots are for carrots and radishes, the kiddos are planting those, we are just out of dirt right now.

Our yummy lettuce on the deck!

Our herb garden. I think something is eating my basil. I will have to look into that!

I am excited to see how this garden goes. I am hoping to get a lot of tomatoes and then convincing my mother-in-law to teach me how to can.

I am also hoping that the baby rabbit that was hiding in our yard will get the picture and never return. Hmmm.

My Goals

My goals for today:

Make black-out Roman Shades for the Boy's room
Get garden soil ready
Plant garden
Purchase fabric for drapes for our room

***I fulfilled all of my goals today! I rock!***

Sound like a busy day? I better get moving!

Funny story, or weird story take your pick. My oldest loves to wake up at unfathomable hours. Like 5:00am-5:30am. Every.Day. It is the most irritating thing. Grrr. He also loves to wake up his brother and they begin to spend their morning screaming at each other while they fight over everything.Well, today Isaac came into our room crying. Now, being a 2 year old it isn't always the easiest to understand him.

We were asking him what was wrong and he just kept saying "Lucas, _____ in my bed." I thought he kept saying spit, because I couldn't imagine Lucas doing anything else. Well I was wrong. Lucas decided to pee in his brothers bed. My 5 year old. I was aghast.

Needless to say, he took a very long time out. When I asked him why he peed in his brothers bed he responded, "I was trying to wake him up." (With innocent eyes.)

Yesterday I had planned on making the shades for the boy's room in hopes that it would keep my oldest asleep just a little bit longer but my sewing machine was having issues and it took me 2 hours to fix the problem. So, at 7:00 am this morning, I set out to make those shades. And I finished them!

I will have pictures up later on today or tomorrow. I am also working on a tutorial for how to make your own Roman Shades with, wait for it........ a table cloth for fabric! How thrifty is that! So stay tuned!

(And keep your fingers crossed that the black-out fabric works!)

Freezer Cooking for the Week

Well, I got a lot more done then I thought I was going to which was positive. I really wanted to stock up on freezer food before the baby comes in August, that way, when he is here I can just relax!

On Thursday we decided to make cookies as a family. It is fun to have children who are old enough to enjoy cooking, although most of the cookie making involved the kids begging me to eat the dough.

I decided that we didn't need to bake up all of the cookie dough so I decided to start my freezer cooking by freezing most of the cookie dough.

I dished them out onto wax paper and let them freeze overnight.

Then threw them into a Ziploc bag. (I have an avid cookie dough eater for a husband so I wonder how long these are going to last!)

Here they are all nice and cooked up.

(I just used the basic cookie dough recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag.)

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to buy three 3lb packages of ground turkey for just $2.99 per package. The last thing I wanted to do was to freeze them in their 3lb state. I am really bad at using meat once it has been frozen. I really wanted to make them into something, that way, I would be more inclinded to use it up.

So yesterday I decided I wouldn't go to bed until I did something with all three of them.

The first thing I did was make up 3 lbs of Money Saving Mom's meatballs.

I got all the indredients together. I used bread crumbs instead of oatmeal.

Mixed the ingredients up, rolled them out, and froze them in individual balls.

Next, I used another package and made up 3 lbs of turkey burgers. I used crushed up crackers, onions, seasoning, and eggs to make them up. I shaped them and froze them.

I took the last package of ground turkey and cooked it up with some onions. I made a serving of Money Saving Mom's Lasagna Casserole and the other 2 lbs of turkey I decided to make up some tacos to freeze. I have alread done burittos but I have been craving tacos like crazy during this pregnancy so I figured I would try my hand at freezing some.

What I decided to do was pre-make the tacos so all I had to do was take them out, heat them up, and throw what ever I wanted on them, like sour cream, tomatoes and lettuce.

I got all the ingredients together and made it like an assembly line. (The paper towels are what I wrapped them in. When you micorwave them, keep them wrapped, it helps keep the tortilla moist.)

First was the paper towel and then tortilla. Next I layered refried beans then cheese then taco meat. I wrapped it all up and stuck them in the freezer. I am eating one for lunch right now and they are great! Much cheaper and healthier for you!

The final product (minus the hamburgers which were still setting in the freezer).

Final Tally:

Chocolate Chip Cookie dough balls

3 lbs of meatballs

3 lbs of turkey burgers

16 tacos

1 Lasagna casserole.

I started at 8 pm and finished up doing the dishes around 10 pm. I was so happy and proud that I stuck to my goal and made up meals with that amazing meat I purchased.

Have you done any freezer cooking?

Rainbow Deals 5/27/2012 - 6/2/2012

This week Rainbow is having a double double day on Saturday! This means, for those of you who don't know, that they are doubling up to 10 coupons in a $25.00 transaction instead of just 5. This is a great time to pick up those items that cost less but have great coupons.

My favorite day!

Just a reminder:

Here are the best deals for this week that I found. There are more deals that you can find walking through the store, but these are the deals that I would buy at the prices that I like.

**Note: I am suggesting coupons but I have not bought these specific coupons. When buying off line, make sure that they are a highly ranked seller. I can not guarantee that you will get these coupons by Saturday, there is a risk in buying them. Also, most of the coupons come in bulks of 10-20 coupons. I suggest buying 5-6 newspaper a week to get the coupons and these use the eBay coupons to stock up on great sale price items.

Ebay only allows the sellers to list like items once so if you click on the link and it has been sold, search that coupon on ebay and more should pop up!

Also, if Rainbow is out of an item, they are very good at writing rain checks so don't hesitate to ask.

They also allow you to call in on Monday or Tuesday to pre-order items if you are buying something in bulk. Just make sure to call and talk to a manager asking them when they need you to supply them with your list.

If you are new to The Coupon Pantry here is a little lingo help!

op = original price

dbl = doubled

BOGO = buy one get one

wyb = when you buy

New to shopping at Rainbow? Check out my all you need to know about couponing at Rainbow post here!

Due to the Holiday on Monday, there are no coupon inserts today.

Here are the best deals that I found:

1. Johnsonville Smoked Dinner Links on sale $3.49
  Use dbl $1.00/1 coupon here
  Making it $1.49 a package

2. Pepsi Next 2 Liters on sale $1.50
  Use dbl $0.55/1 coupon here
  Making it $0.40 per bottle

3. Twizzlers on sale $2.00
  Use dbl $1.00/2 coupon here
  Making it $1.33 per package

4. Roundy's Boneless Skinless Chicken Breats on sale $1.89/lb op $3.49
  Limit 2 pkgs per transaction

5. Post Cereal buy 3 get $5.00 off instantly at register op $3.69
  Use 3 dbl $1.00/1 coupon here (for shredded wheat)
  Buy 3 at $3.69 totaling $11.07 instantly $5.00 off plus subtract $6.00 for coupons
  Making it $0.07 for three boxes or $0.02 per box plus a coupon for free milk

6. Fisher Peanuts on sale $2.00
  Use dbl $1.00/2 coupon here
  Making it $2.00/2 or $1.00 per bottle

7. Fisher Trail Mix on sale $1.00
  Use dbl $1.00/4 coupon here
  Making it $2.00/4 or $0.50 per bag

8. Huggies Wipes $2.00
  Use dbl $0.50/1 coupon here
  Making it $1.00 per package

(If you buy 3 72 ct packs at $1.00 a piece that would make it 216 for $3.00. If you bought the 3 pack they would be $5.99 and for Target brand wipes a 720 pack of wipes is $13.69 (online price) and if you buy 12 packages giving you 864 wipes you would spend $12.00)

9. Wishbone Salad Dressing on sale $1.50
  Use Rainbow in-ad coupon to bring it to $0.98
  Use dbl $0.25/1 coupon here
  Making it $0.48 per bottle
**The coupon says Limit 1 but that is per transaction. Just make sure you cut enough Rainbow in-ad coupons to match the number you want to do and seperate them out among the transactions.

10. Fresh Express Garden Salad $1.29
  Use Rainbow in-ad coupon to get them for $0.88
**Limit 1 per transaction

I hope this helps and happy shopping!

Living the Coupon Pantry Life: Getting Organized

One of the most important things you can do when starting out is making sure that your coupons are in order. There is nothing more frustrating then standing in the aisle with coupons all around you, searching for that one coupon that would make a deal amazing. And then after 10 minutes of searching, you can't find it.

If you get organized so that your coupons are simple and easy to spot, then your shopping trip time will be significantly shortened and your life, that much easier. Here at the Coupon Pantry, we are all about making our life easier!

When I started out couponing, I had the expanding file that most use today. It wasn't bad but it was hard to find certain coupons in a timely manner and staying on top of the expired ones was a struggle. Having all the coupons in one pocket lead to mayhem. I was desperate to find a different way to organize.

After checking out a few other blogs, I discovered the baseball card holder method and I never looked back. I purchased a three ring binder and some plastic baseball card sleeves from Walmart and set out organizing my coupons. The ease of organizing like this is incredible. All you do is flip through the already cut coupons and know instantly whether or not you have the coupon. No more standing and shuffling! I have actually been stopped by people at the grocery store where they ask me how they can go about organizing their coupons the same way.

So how does it really work? Let's take a look. Welcome to my coupon binder!

It starts out with a three ring binder. I would say you want at least an inch or bigger. The more coupons you get, the bigger you want your binder.

The first thing you see when you open it up is a few organizers. This is for my scissors, note pads, envelopes and any groups of coupons that I didn't feel like cutting.

Next are your coupons. I separate mine into different categories. Here are what I find easiest. First if food so I have frozen, fridge, dry goods, cereals, baking, canned goods, snacks and misc (which is normally drinks and gum.) Then I have household stuff which includes, paper products, cleaning, medicine and misc (which is normally pet products, batteries, plastic products, and Glade/Febreeze/Air Effects products.) Last I have my personal care items which are body wash/deodorant, Razors, face/mouth, hair and misc (which is normally baby, feminine products and contact solution.)

Finally, each coupon gets cut and slid into it's individual pocket. Now, when I am walking through the store and I am by the fridge, I just flip to that section and I have all my coupons nice and visible!

How you organize your coupons is personal. Don't feel like the way I do it is the only way to do it. I taught my sister how to coupon and she organizes her coupons completely differently. This is just the easiest way organizing your coupons has been for me.

What Does Doubling Coupons Mean?

This is a very valid question. There is nothing like going through a line, getting all checked out and then realizing that you didn't really understand what the policy was and now you are stuck with two decisions. Either bail on your order or buy it and pay way more then what you were expecting.

Trust me, I have been there. When I first started couponing I was confused by the coupon lingo. I thought "one per purchase" meant that I could only have one of that coupon in a transaction. I did so many small transactions at Target once that the cashier must have thought I was crazy!

I have had some questions asked about what does doubling a coupon really mean. Well, here is how it works at Rainbow.

Once you reach a original amount of $25.00 or more, any coupon that you present the cashier will automatically double. This means, that ones that state "do not double" normally will double (it depends on the cashier). But, there are some coupons out there that don't state "do not double" but won't double.

When looking at coupons on Ebay some of them emphasize that the coupon bar code starts with a "5". Why is this important. Coupons where the bar code starts with a "5" double. Those that do not, won't. This is important to have the cashier check the coupon if it isn't doubling for the statement "do not double." If it says that and doesn't double there is not much you can do. If it doesn't say that and the computer isn't automatically doubling the coupon, normally most cashiers will over ride it so that it doubles.

So what does it look like when you are checking out. It is important to know this because if you haven't quite reached your $25.00, you want to catch it and add something so that your coupons double.

Here is what the bottom of my receipt looks like. The computer screen looks similar at the registers.

The highlighted MC stands for manufacturer coupon.

Then it states what the coupon is good towards, Gillette Wash and then the amount it was $1.00

Underneath where the arrow is states that it was a multiplied coupon and then the amount it was multiplied for $1.00 (lighter highlighted area).

So according to this receipt I used 5 coupons, 4 were $1.00 off and 1 was $0.50 off. They were all doubled making my savings $9.00.

I also used a $1.00 off coupon for the brats which would have been a Rainbow coupon.

I hope this clears up any confusion about what a multiplied coupon is!

Super Savings Wednesday

Good evening couponers! I hope everyone had a great Wednesday. Here things were slow, so I decided to head out to Rainbow to get my weekly shopping done. I suddenly had a realization that crazy boy number 3 is just a few months away and I am pretty sure, while I am adjusting to life with 3, grocery shopping won't be a priority on my list.

Recently, the hubby and I have been moving some of our food storage to a different room and while I was moving the goodies, I decided to do a little inventory, see what I really had. That is when I realized how incredibly low on peanut butter and kids body wash I was (see previous Super Saving Saturday). Another area I was lacking in was the barbecue sauce department, which is why this week, I stocked up.

I need to point out that this is also when I discovered that a lot of my stock is starting to expire and needs to be consumed soon. What an eye opener! One thing I have to say about having a stock pile is rotate, rotate, Rotate!

The ending amount that I spent was about $78.00 on about $210.00 worth of groceries. A savings of 63%. That seems to be what I am averaging lately!

Here's what I got!

The break down:

Transaction 1:

6 boxes of Special K cereal at $3.95 per box, save $10.00 wyb 6

  Used 2 dbl $1.00/3 coupon

  Making it $9.70 for 6 or $1.61 per box

3 multiple packages of Dentyne Ice gum at $2.39

  Used 3 dbl $1.00/1 coupon

  Making it $1.17 for 3 or $0.39 per package

Transaction 2:

1 package of Johnsonville Brats

  Used Rainbow in-ad coupon to bring it down to $6.88

  Used dbl $1.00/1 coupon

  Making it $4.88 per package

2 bottles of Chi-Chi's salsa at 2/$4.00

  Used $0.50/1 coupon

  Making it $2.00 or $1.00 per bottle

3 bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce at $0.99 per bottle

  Used Rainbow in-ad coupon to make one $0.88

  Used dbl $1.00/3 coupon

  Making it $0.86 for 3 or $0.28 per bottle

1 box of Yo-Sicles

  Used Rainbow in-ad coupon to make it $2.48

  Used $1.00/1 coupon

  Making it $0.48 per box

2 packages of Kraft Cheese at 2/$4.00

  Used Rainbow in-ad coupon $1.00/2 

  Making it $3.00 for 2

2 packages of Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs at 2/$3.00

  Used Rainbow in-ad coupon $1.00/2

  Making it $2.00 for 2

1 package of Jennie-O ground turkey clearance to $2.99 for 3 lb package

  Making it $1.00 per lb

Transaction 3:

 same as transaction 2

Transaction 4:

 same as transaction 2 & 3 except

2 packages of Cool Whip at 4/$5.00

  Used Rainbow in-ad coupon to make one $0.99

  Used $0.50/2 coupon

  Making it $1.24 for 2 or $0.62 per tub

Transaction 5:

 same as transaction 2 except no cheese, hot dogs, or ground turkey and

2 packages of Philadelphia cream cheese

  Used Rainbow in-ad coupon (but I can't remember how much off it was)

1 package of Dentyne Ice gum at $2.39

  Used $1.00/1 coupon

  Making it $0.39 per package

***I also picked up grated Parmesan cheese, Hormel pepperoni and broccoli slaw, which I did not have a coupon for and must I say, Yikes! they were pricey!***

Not a bad shopping trip. I planned ahead and knew exactly what I wanted to pick up. I organized all of my coupons into envelopes and set out. I only had an hour to shop which was why I needed to be speedy. Which was good because boy were the lines long!

***Side note: two packages of brats is sufficient for the whole year for our family, I picked up 2 packages for my parents. They were going to spend $12.00 on a package at Sam's Club, I had to intervene!

If you are looking at going grocery shopping this week, feel free to use what I did as a guide. The Kraft cheese is an amazing deal, $1.50 or less for cheese is always a must pick up for me. Although, the Rainbow brand cheese is now and until further notice, $1.79 which is a very reasonable price, similar to Aldi's.

Even though the Rainbow coupons do state, one per family, I did all of my transactions in a row and did not get any complaints from the cashier. It is important to have store coupons for each transaction though, they need it for the store so don't go in and think you can use one for 5 transactions, make sure you have one for each.

Score any deals today or are you stocking up for Saturday?

Also, Monopoly is back! I hope I win something this time!