Couponing: Pretzel Crisps

If you coupon, you know that some deals are hot and other deals are still a savings. I opted for "still a savings" on the Pretzel Crisps deal. 

At Publix, these tasty snacks are found in the deli section of the store. I had a $1 off manufacturer coupon and a $1 off a Publix coupon for any deli item.

Here's the breakdown: 

   $3.69 retail price

-  $1 manufacturer coupon

= $2.69

-  $1 Publix deli

= $1.69 out of pocket after $2 in coupons

Homemade vs. Home Fresh: Cheesy Chorizo Orzo

After our first trial of Home Fresh's Cheesy Chorizo Orzo, we decided it was so good we wanted to try it ourselves. 

The recipes provided by Home Fresh are simple to follow and easily repeatable. 

We went shopping for all the ingredients and got in the kitchen. 

It was just as delicious as the first time! 

Couponing: Sea Cuisine

We eat a lot of fish at our house. Most of the time we use fresh ingredients and cook the fish how we want. Other times it is easier to have a meal starter on hand. 

Sea Cuisine is a good option for fish marinated. All that is left is to cook it. 

The Publix app had a digital coupon for $3 off a box of Sea Cuisine. 

Publix also had Sea Cuisine on sale for $6.99. 

Here is the breakdown:

   $6.99 on sale
-  $3 digital coupon
= $3.99 out of pocket

Taco Bake Dinner

I posted a lot about purchasing Old El Paso products. They are frequently on sale, have coupons, and have rebates. I keep them stocked in our kitchen for easy dinners. 

Since I"m a frequent flyer of these products, I was surprised to find boxes of Old El Paso Taco Bake. This sounds like a good idea! 

The box comes with tortillas, sauce, and cheese. The recipe on the box calls for ground beef. I boiled black eyed peas for the protein of choice. Layer the ingredients in a pan and bake in the oven. 

I chopped up some green onion, tomato, and cilantro. I had some Old El Paso green chiles and sour cream. 

 Once the taco bake is is done, top with the veggies and serve!

Next time these products are on sale with coupons and / or rebates, I'm stocking up on these taco bakes!

Couponing: Cereal

We're not big cereal eaters but on occasion it is nice to have some in the house. 

I posted awhile ago about how I got 12 boxes of cereal for free and gave them to a family I know. It was a blessing to them and they ended up sharing it with others (see more here). 

Publix has BOGO on family size General Mills cereal. I grabbed 2 family size boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios for $4.99 per box.

The Publix app has a $1 off digital coupon off of 2 General Mills cereal boxes. 

SavingStar has a $1 rebate for the purchase of 2 boxes of General Mills cereal. 

Here is the breakdown: 

   $4.99 for 2 boxes

-  $1 digital coupon

= $3.99 out of pocket 

-  $1 SavingStar rebate

= $ 2.99 total which is like getting each box for $1.50 (a $3.49 savings!)

Rare Breakfast

Since my husband eats mostly a vegetarian diet, I rarely indulge in meat or eggs. 

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals any time of the day. While he was at an all day soccer tournament, I was inspired to have a big farmhouse breakfast in his absence. 

Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. It wouldn't have been complete without butter and maple syrup.

It was wonderfully tasty!

Summer Sand

This time of year we spend a lot of time at the beach. 

We were fortunate enough to have family visit recently who wanted to spend time on the beach. It was fun watching them enjoy that beach for the first time. We saw it with new eyes. Sometimes in life we need to see things with new eyes. 

Starbucks Dash

I am not a frequent visitor of Starbucks. I go in waves and then disappear for awhile. 

The last dash I did was several months ago (read more here). 

This dash required 2 purchases for 25 bonus stars or 3 purchases for 75 bonus stars. 

Here's the hack: when buying multiple items, order 1 at a time on the Starbucks app. Each order counts as one purchase. 

As a result of this dash, I had enough stars for a free item. I opted for the Double Smoked Bacon, Cheddar and Egg sandwich. 

Is it my imagination or are free things more delicious? 

Florida Summer

Much like the winter up north, the summer in Florida is a good time to "hibernate" in the AC.

We spend much of our summer at the beach wave jumping or enjoying the scenery. 

Recently, there were a ton of shells on the beach. I am not one for shell collecting but I was inspired to get some shells. Who knows if we'll be in Florida forever. It would be a nice keepsake to remember our times here. 

Shells are refreshing to see and can transport your mind in a second. They are budget friendly for decor as well!

Such was the beach recently loaded with shells. 

Eclipse 2017

I can't tell you how I excited I was for the solar eclipse. It is one of those rare occurrences in life that should not be missed. 

I did not attempt to find the eclipse glasses at stores even though that would have been the easiest thing to do. 

I went online and looked for solutions and found one from Nasa. They're the experts right? 

All I needed was a box, foil, white paper, tape, and scissors. 

Once it was assembled, we were ready for eclipse viewing! 

How well did it work? Well, we left our home to meet up with family. Once on the road I remembered we didn't have the pin hole projector! Darn it! We opted for an extra pair of eclipse glasses that they had. 

We still enjoyed the eclipse!

Hello Fresh: Oven Roasted Mediterranean Cauliflower

The last edition of the Hello Fresh vegetable box is the Oven Roasted Mediterranean Cauliflower. 

An amazing blend of roasted cauliflower, tzaziki sauce, bulgar and veggies all in the bag delivered and ready to go.  

Simultaneously cook the bulgar, roast the cauliflower, and tzaziki sauce. 

Combine all the mixtures on a plate and enjoy!

Random Dinner

There are days when I don't have any direction for dinner. 

One night recently, I put together a random group of food and called it dinner. 

Garden salad, avocado, steamed edemame, fried tofu, boiled egg. 

Simple and tasty (and random)!

Hello Fresh: Caramelized Shallot Risotto

The latest edition of the Vegetarian Hello Fresh box is the Caramelized Shallot Risotto. 

The ingredients are shallots, garlic, vegetable stock, zucchini, lemon, balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, and arborio rice. 

Dice the garlic and peel the zucchini. Sauté the garlic and zucchini core in olive oil. 

Slice the shallots and toss in balsamic vinegar and place in the oven to caramelize. 

Bring water and vegetable stock to a boil. 

Add vegetable stock to the rice and allow it to soak up the stock. 

Sauté the zucchini peels with olive oil. 

Toss it all together with shallots, parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon. 

Serve and enjoy! 

Shells

Sometimes you have to walk the beach and pick up shells that appeal. 

Meanwhile, I have a large bowl full of them now!

Just like snowflakes and so many other things in God's creation, there are no 2 shells alike. It is inspiring in a way to know that all things in God's creation are uniquely designed and carefully crafted.

Hello Fresh: Charred Avocado Oriecchiette

After the first delivery of Hello Fresh meals, I opted to try a vegetarian box. 

The first meal we decided to try is the Charred Avocado Oriecchiette. 

The ingredients are simple and fresh: garlic, chives, scallions, tomatoes, pasta, feta, and avocado. 

Chop, slice, and dice the produce. 

Sauté the tomatoes, scallions and garlic in olive oil. Char the avocado in olive oil as well. 

Boil water for the pasta. Toss the sautéed vegetables with the pasta. Slice the avocados and place on top of the pasta dish along with the chives. 

Who knew avocado would be so tasty with pasta? 

Couponing: Flushable Wipes

Time for a delicate topic: potty wipes. Cottonelle flushable wipes were a good buy at Target especially with their Cartwheel app.

The retail price is $2.42 per package at Target.  

The Cartwheel app had a $1 off manufacturer coupon. 

In addition, ibotta had a 50¢ rebate on 1 package. 

Here is the breakdown: 

     $2.42 retail price

-    $1 manufacturer coupon

=   $1.42 out of pocket

-    $0.50 rebate from ibotta

=   $0.92 

That's a $1.50 savings!!!

Avocado Lime Dressing

Cooking has 2 modes for me: routine and experimental. I was in an experimental mood recently and dreamed up a sauce to use on many items. 

I sliced 1 Florida avocado and added 3 cloves of garlic, chopped cilantro and lime juice. I mixed it with the immersible blender. 

The result? Avocado lime dressing!

I pan seared some flounder using pan searing flour after seasoning the fish with nutmeg, turmeric, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper. 

Next, sautéed plantains with garlic in olive oil. 

The finished product: pan seared flounder with avocado lime dressing served with plantains and sliced avocado. 

Couponing: Right Guard Deodorant

Right Guard Xtreme is the bargain this time. 

The price for 1 stick of this deodorant at Publix is $3.48. 

Publix had a digital coupon on their app for $4.99 off the price of 2. 

There was also a rebate on SavingStar worth $4.99 if 2 deodorants were purchased. 

Here is the breakdown: 

    $6.96 for 2 deodorants

-   $4.99 Publix digital coupon

=  $1.97 Out of Pocket for 2 deodorants (like paying 99¢ each)

-   $4.99 SavingStar rebate

= -$3.02 

That's what we call a money maker!

Grilled Cilantro Lime Shrimp with Yuca

I had some Avocado Lime Dressing left over from a previous dinner. Good thing we liked it!

This time, I thought I'd try to incorporate yuca with the dressing. 

I searched online for a recipe and found this one. 

I started the recipe by boiling the yuca and sautéing the onion and pepper. After that, I strayed a bit. I mixed old bay seasoning with adobo seasoning and tossed the shrimp in it. I added this same seasoning to the onion mix. 

Once the yuca was simmering with the onion mix, I grilled the shrimp. 

Tossed it together and added avocado lime dressing on top. 

Served with fried plantains. 

Couponing: Mayonnaise

Hellmann's Organic Mayonnaise is the deal this time thanks to the Target Cartwheel app!

Regularly priced at $3.99 for this small jar of organic mayo, the app had a manufacturer coupon and a store discount. 

First the 15% discount was applied. 

Next, the $1 off coupon was applied.

The final price was $2.39 which is a $1.60 savings. Every little bit counts!

Bread Outlet

In our house, we try to have natural and organic products for many ingredients. Sometimes the prices are outrageous on these items. 

Eureka bread is $5.79 per loaf at Publix. It is pricey to be healthy!

After I found a bread outlet that carries this bread, it has been worth the trip! I pay $1-$1.50 per loaf at the outlet. I load the freezer and limit the number of trips. 

Locate one near you!

Couponing: Paper Goods

It is one of those things you don't want to be caught shorthanded. 

When there is a good sale on paper goods, I stock up!

This time the sale was at Walgreens on both Angel Soft and Scott. 

The Walgreens app had a 50¢ off coupon on Angel Soft toilet paper and a $1 off on Scott paper towels. 

There was also $1 from my Walgreens Balance Rewards deducted from this transaction. 

In the end, I paid 27¢ per roll for the Angel Soft.

Taste of Summer: Watermelon

Nothing says summer like watermelon. 

Such a delicious fruit. Such a pain to slice. 

I decided to seek out an alternative way to cut up a watermelon when I want chunks and not big slices. 

I found a method that involved slicing the sides of the watermelon. Two different series of cuts so there is an inch between on either side. Otherwise, you'll end up with the melon being fully sliced into large rounds.

With a big butcher's knife, I tried it and ended up with good cuts albeit diagonal. 

The next step is to make deep cuts from the top down into the melon. Slices from left to right and from top to bottom. 

Finally, scoop it out with a spoon. There were a a few spots not sliced horizontally because of the slice series having gaps. 

I found this method to be pretty effective overall. I think I found my new way of slicing this watery goodness!