Fried Mommy Brain

How to Throw Together a Dinner

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:25:09 -0800

Dinner11112009

Matt and I were wracking our brains tonight for dinner. We had some leftover steak pieces. We had egg noodles. We had beef broth. So close to a classic Beef Stroganoff recipe but missing a few key ingredients (like ack, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream). So what do you do when that happens? Wing it, baby.....

I made a roux by melting 1/2 stick of butter in a small saucepan and slowly whisking in 3 to 4T of flour to create a smooth thickening agent. I then added a few pats of cream cheese and stirred until melted.

Then I heated up the canned beef broth in another saucepan and added some splashes of red wine. After slowly whisking in the roux, I added some spices like pepper and garlic. Then I stirred until slightly thickened.

Finally, I added already grilled steak pieces that had been cut very small and thin--and just poured it all over the buttered egg noodles. We served buttered biscuits, lettuce with Italian dressing and warm tomato slices with butter and parm that had been top boiled--all on the side. Not bad, not bad.

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My Last Coupon Post

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:49:04 -0800

Coupon11112009

Today marks 2 months since I began my obsessive couponing which I have shared in length here on this site. Today will also be my last coupon post on this blog as I have begun a coupon specific site elsewhere. If you are still interested in reading about my deals, please leave me a comment or message me for the link.

Now the question is..has it been worth my time? Has it been worth stopping at multiple stores? Well, given that I am now practically matching sales and coupons in my sleep and the stores I frequent are no more than 2 miles from my home, I have to say "yes" before even crunching numbers. After crunching the numbers, I have to say "hell yes!"

Before sales and coupons, my total for the 2 months worth of items I have shown here on this site would have been $727.47. After just in store sales, $527.80. After using coupons? $176.19, baby! That is a savings of $551.28 in just 2 months! I am absolutely blown away by this. Now, with that said, of course I would never have spent the local store's full prices for the items I bought--they are insanely inflated. I would have bought my items at Target or Walmart where things generally run from a few cents to $1 or $2 cheaper depending. I have noticed as I learn the prices of my common purchases, however, that the discount stores are not beating the sale prices at our local stores by very much anymore. And they can't come close to competing on a sale and super double or triples week. The main lesson and key here? Know your prices at all the places you shop.

I actually didn't blog about a few deals I managed--on a few things like DVD rebates and Halloween candy. By not including those in my totals, I probably came pretty close to adjusting the final totals accurately to what they would have been had I shopped exclusively at discount food stores.

My last picture posted here shows what I managed today--$83.34 for $15.04. It includes 6 free boxes of tissues, 100% bottles of Ocean Spray for 88 cents, 6 packs of free popcorn, and 19 cent boxes of Cheez its to name a few. All by just clipping coupons brought to my home and matching them with the deals for this week. I will continue my obsession/hobby/habit but I will now resume to writing strictly about my personal life on this site.

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At It Again

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:18:51 -0800

Coupon11102009

$16.69 for $4.26

Tomorrow marks 2 months since I began my couponing obsession. I will post my total savings once I do up the tally and then, most likely, I will stop posting here about my deals and leave this to be my family/personal life only blog. However, if you are interested in reading in depth about exactly how I am managing to do this, leave me a comment or a message and I'll send you a link to the new blog I created just for couponing deals.

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Taking Advantage of the Quiet....

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:28:04 -0800

Today is a rare day when I sit back and think, "Hmm I could have a couple more kiddos". It's almost 10:30am and it's a day off of school for our girls--teacher conferences. I expected to be woken up with the sun with a raging headache and listen to the girls fight until it was Madi's nap time. I expected to be hoarse and half drunk by noon. But lookie there...10:30am and I am feeling unusually peppy and perky. Jules slept over a friend's house, I stayed in bed until 8am and Alyssa and Madilyn haven't fought once and have, infact, played happily all morning together. I begin to question it and then stop myself...don't question a good thing. Roll with it. Man if each day could be like this, this whole stay at home mom thing would be a piece of cake.

It has been weeks since I posted anything close to a normal blog entry. Look what happens when Matt returns home from deployment--I virtually stop blogging except to share my coupon deals. I do profusely apologize for that. Its not like my family and my life haven't provided me with plenty of things to write about--because they have--I have just found myself avoiding sitting down to write about them all. Blogging is not the only area that has taken a back seat. I haven't dabbled at all in fiction writing either--not even a quick romance scene has left my fingertips. I'm not sure why that is but it worries me that I'd have to send Matt away to play Navy if I ever wanted to try and write for real. He certainly doesn't stand in my way--actually quite the opposite-he is quite supportive. But I find myself just wanting to curl up on the couch with him and I avoid putting on some rocking music to let the words write themselves I think I worry about totally neglecting him. It was one thing to limit my writing to when the girls went to bed while he was gone on deployment. As long as I didn't write during the day, they were cared for. But I get into a mode of not wanting anyone to talk to me or interrupt me when writing so I think I fear totally ignoring Matt if I try to start up again. I did, however, get hit with a possible fiction idea the other week while randomly driving along on an errand. I saw an entire scene just play out in my head and I have become more and more excited about it. I'd love to see if I could do something with it. There are a lot of holes but sometimes those holes fill themselves in once you get rocking and rolling.

In other happenings...this past weekend was our fourth weekend of hosting out of town guests as well as our fourth party--all since Matt arrived home mid August. His family has been in twice, my whole family once and good family friends of ours came in the most recently. As far as parties we tackled a surprise baby shower, a large Chief gathering, Alyssa's 7th birthday sleepover and again most recently, a surprise birthday party for a good friend. I am quite proud of myself that I haven't stressed out (not too much anyway) and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone. Matt and I do truly love to entertain and feel very lucky to have a home and yard that allows us to do so like we have. And man, we make quite the team--we can set up and clean up in record time so that an hour after a huge shin-dig I dare you find evidence that anything even happened. I do admit to one explosion of "losing my cool" (as Matt so tactfully put it) this past weekend but it was very short lived. Although we did panic a little when our one weekend guest became violently ill shortly after arriving and ended up in the ER--food poisoning. Let it be known that he had not eaten here yet, but, rather, had eaten on the road. We had a lot of bonding time with his wife and baby girl (who was such an angel--she had just met us for the first time and yet allowed the girls and I to babysit her without a protest), but we barely saw him at all. We now refer to the whole experience as the "tainted donut incident of 2009" since it appears he became ill after eating at a Dunkin Donuts on the way here.

Sunday, after our out of town guests left, we promptly began cleaning up and decorating for the next event--the surprise party for my friend. That went off beautifully--the only hitch being the guest of honor was an hour later than we had planned so that by the time she arrived, I was threatening Matt's life if he didn't fire up the grill and feed me. Damn it, I had starved myself all day just to be able to pig out at the party. We all had a fantastic time and realized that even if you only get three families together, if those three families each have multiple amounts of children, you get one hell of a party going. It was a great time and I will definitely look back on it fondly. What did I get for my friend as her birthday present? A friend who is among the few that truly got me through deployment? Only the best....the boxset of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. It's just a gift that keeps on giving, baby....

Soccer has started to wind down for us finally. Alyssa played her final games this past Saturday and Jules will finish up this weekend. Our lives have been consummed with the sport and I can only wonder what it'll be like when we add Madi to the mix in a couple of years. I am really happy with how the seasons are ending though--they both played incredibly well. Alyssa is still a speed demon and Jules has shown a jaw dropping amount of improvement. I almost bite my nails down to nubs now at her games--they are so intense and fun to watch. She's even taken over a few times as goalie and man, to watch that girl dive and roll with a ball--very cool. Course she has also ended up with a variety of injuries every week, but hey, if you're not getting banged up once in a while, you're not giving 110%.

I briefly mentioned yesterday about the appointment I had coming up later in the day. I had the ole lovely yearly woman exam. God how I loathe those appts. I suppose we all do though. Damn necessary evil and all that. It was all rather routine and I was in and out in about an hour. Not bad, not bad. The nurse did find it necessary to bring up the "big birthday" I have coming up this month which prompted me to quickly explain we "shall not speak of such things". Before I knew it, I was back in my van pigging out on the BBQ chips and grahmn crackers I had brought with me and was arriving home to dinner waiting for me. Matt proceeded to serve me food for a good three hours until my stomach was do distended, I looked about 6 months along.

It is now 11:30am as I wrap up this entry, and after several phonecalls and breaks to bring down more toys from the closet, the girls are still playing together nicely. I feel like I am in some sort of Twilight Zone....

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Coupon Deals for 11/9/2009

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:40:06 -0800

Couponsale1192009

$27.54 before sales and coupons. $25.33 after sales. After coupons that were tripled and all just clipped from the paper? $5.49. Yep, I went four times this week to the store one mile up the road who is tripling their coupons for a week. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I managed $151.30 worth of groceries and household supplies for $22.20. That's a savings of almost 86%. Later this week will mark 2 months since I have started this obsession. I can't wait to add up my totals!

I did find, however, that today's trip was a bit more difficult. Not because of sale and coupon matching--I have that down to a science now and it's a piece of cake. It wasn't because of Madilyn either because our short stops there has become one of her favorite things to do because, duh, they have shopping carts her size and free balloons and cookies. It was because I am so hungry that I felt weak and sick to my stomach. Why? Fasting. Lovely 12 hour fasting in preps for my every two year cholesterol blood test later today that isn't scheduled until 5:20pm and is in another town. I won't be able to eat again until 7pm. I am beginning to get a headache, feel like my stomach is eating itself and am surprised I haven't actually thrown up yet. But you know what keeps it all in perspective? Knowing that there are people--children--who feel this way every second of their lives. I need to just suck it up and deal for the day.

We had quite the exciting weekend and when I get more than a moment to sit down, I'll compose a catch up post--promise :)

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Too Good Not to Share

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:04:46 -0800

Coupon1162009

I am sure most of you are sick of couponing talk. Where are my stories of Madi's latest antics? Where are my book reviews? Where are my latest "you have GOT to be kidding me!" moments? I realize I have been horrible in posting. As I type this, we are actually gearing up for our fourth weekend of hosting out of state guests in our home. We've been entertaining left and right with weekend guests and parties and any downtime seems to be spent at the soccer field or just trying not to let the house go to crap. I also try to make sure the girls are atleast partially dressed and fed.

However, this deal was just too good to not share. For anyone wondering if couponing can really pay off, I am here to say, hell yeah! I bought all of this pictured above--all $24.74 worth for <drumroll> 68 cents. Yeah you read that right, 68 cents. How? Simply clipping the coupons from the flyer sent to me and printing two more off a company website. It took virtually no time at all and I redeemed them at the store right up the street. So yep, I am addicted and I have made the time in my life to do this, but really..can you blame me? ;)

I will try to resume normal blogging next week. There is just ohhh so much to catch up on.

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Couponing for 11/5/2009

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:35:27 -0800

Coupon1152009

Another successful shopping day! $40 worth before sales. $27.69 after in store sales. After coupons? $5.07

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Couponing for 11/4/2009

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:03:37 -0800

Coupon1142009

Coupon11420092

$70.28 worth of items for a mere $11.68. Most coupons were just clipped from our newspaper and were tripled today at our local store. I just matched them up with sales and bingo! Madi and I actually thoroughly enjoyed ourselves :)

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Coupon Deals for 11/3/2009

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:56:18 -0800

Have I been doing anything else with my time other than couponing? It surely seems that is all I blog about anymore. I do promise you all I have continued to live life and have several things I really do need to write about, but am finding it a tedious task to undertake right now-but blogging about a coupon deal? Easy peezy...so here we go (more interesting life stories to come soon..promise)

Today's errands included a stop at a local drug store chain and or local food store. I just had to hit the food store one more time to take advantage of their super doubles week that ends today. All coupons up to $1.99 are doubled in value. It was my third trip this week so I just got a few things--it was mainly a yogurt stock up trip. I am sure some people are wondering, after seeing how much yogurt I buy, how we can possibly use it all before expiration, but I assure you with the five of us each eating one a day (and sometimes a few of us eat two a day), we fly through these things. It was a major chunk of our food budget, so be able to cut it so drastically has been awesome.

First up: The drug store. They have several nice sales with register rewards that run this week (through Saturday), but I only got two goodies for the hubby today--Gilette body wash and deodorant. They normally run about $5 a piece but this week's sale was 2/$9. However, they let me use not only my BOGO coupon from this past Sunday's paper but also the $1 off Gilette deodorant coupon, also from the newspaper, on top of of it. Final price? Both items for $3 AND it printed off a $2 register rewards to use on my next trip/transaction, so it was almost like paying 50 cents an item. Now that is a pretty kickin deal.

Next I hit the food store. Here is the breakdown:

Snuggle: Normal $6.05 . Sale: $4.99. Coupon for $1.00 off doubled to $2. Final: $2.99

Nyquil 10oz bottle: Normal: $6.50. Sale: $4.99. Coupon for $1.50 off doubled to $3. Final: $1.99

CoffeeMate Creamer 15oz: Normal: $2.19. Coupon for $1.50/2 doubled. Final: 67 cents each bought two.

Yoplait Delights Yogurt 4pack: Normal: $2.59. Coupon for $1 doubled. Final: 59 cents

Dannon Crush Cups 4 pack Yogurt: Normal: $2.49. Coupon for $1 doubled. Final: 49 cents

Activia 5 pack yogurt: Normal: $2.89. Coupon for $1 double. Final: 89 cents (did this twice--had two coupons)

Disney Hannah Montana Yogurt: Normal: $1.99. Coupon for 75 cents doubled. Final: $1.50

Total for the day without sales or coupons: $40.78
Total with just sales: $36.21
*Final Total with sales and coupons: $11.68*

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Anniversary Couponing

nobody@vox.com(Stace) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:41:03 -0700

Yesterday was our 9th wedding anniversary. It was not celebrated at a quiet candle lit dinner at some expensive restaurant. It was not spent in bed the entire day watching favorite movies while snuggling. And it certainly was not spent tipsy on an exotic nude beach (damn!). It was a Wednesday. It was a school day. We have three children. Life has to continue on.

However, we managed to really luck out when Matt's command decided his recent 48 hours of work in a mere three days warranted a day off. A rare gift in the military world. And it just so happened they gave him yesterday off. That worked for us! I got up at the normal ungodly hour during which the sun won't even make an appearance and did the normal pre-school routine. I had to run up to Alyssa's school around 9am, so Matt rolled out of bed and took over care of Madilyn. I came home quickly afterwards because Matt was waiting for me to actually spend some time with him on our special day, but come on, guys. This was Wednesday! It was my couponing day, damn it! I was almost shaking passing by our local stores on the way home knowing they were open and waiting for me to work my couponing magic.

I did manage to force off the urge to food shop and went out with Matt and Madi to a great lunch at Olive Garden. Not exactly a quiet candle lit dinner but it was nice nonetheless. We were going to hit some stores like Pier One just to look around and enjoy the fact we only had one kiddo with us, but we felt our time better spent running home to put Madilyn down for a nap before the older two came home from school. Given my tender readers (tender in both age and family relations), I will spare details and fast forward to when the older two came home from school. Matt decided to grab the rare opportunity for a nap. However, I am not a napper, therefore, I sat there thinking, "Well, then, my ass is going couponing, baby!" So off I went to the store.

How did our day end? Matt handled dinner since I was running Jules back and forth to soccer practice but we did manage to eat alone in the sunroom with a glass of wine. Once the chaotic bedtime routine was completed, we snuggled up to watch some GhostHunters. Unfortunately, I was passed out before the show even ended (pathetic considering it ends at 10pm), and we headed upstairs so I could collapse into bed. These having to function at 6am mornings are kicking my butt.

Moving on to the coupon breakdown:

Our local store is once again super doubling coupons up to $1.99. Take those $1.50 coupons and make them worth $3, baby! This deal is too good to pass up and I can bet I will be there several times this week. However, for now, this is what I managed for my first trip:

Coupon10282009

--Marcal One Step 4 pack Toilet Paper: Regular is $2.99. Coupon for $1 from the newspaper. Final: 99 cents.

--Apple Jacks 12oz box: Regular is $3.99. Sale $1.88. Coupon for $1 off one box from newspaper. Final: FREE

--Uncle Ben's 6oz boxed rice: Regular is $1.44. Sale $1. Coupon for $1/2 any Uncle Ben's from the newspaper. Final: 2 boxes for FREE

--Coffeemate 16oz Creamer: Regular is $2.19. Coupon for $1/1 printed from coupons.com. Final: 19 cents

--Kraft Shredded Cheese 8oz: Regular: $2.79. Sale: Buy 4 for $6. Coupon for $1/2 printed twice from online. Final: 50 cents a bag bought four.

--Townhouse Flipside Crackers: Regular: $3.29. Sale: BOGO. Coupon for $1/2 from the newspaper. Final: 64 cents a box bought two.

--Danimals 6pack Yogurt: Regular: $2.89. Coupon for $1/1. Final: 89 cents

--Ballpark Bun Length 8 pack hotdogs: Regular: $3.37. Sale: 2/$4. Coupon for $1/2 from newspaper. Final: $1 a pack bought two

--Tollhouse 24ct. Ready to Bake Cookies: Regular: $3.00. Coupon for $1/1 from newspaper. Final: $1

--Beyer's Yogurt 4 pack: Regular: $2.49. Sale $2. Coupon for 50 cents/1 from newspaper. Final: $1

--Smart Balance Butter: Regular: $3.29. Coupon for $1/1 printed from smartsource online. Final: $1.29

--Smithfield Bacon: Regular: $5. Sale BOGO. Coupon for 55 cents/1. Final: $1.40

--Arm and Hammer HE Detergent 50 oz: Regular: $5.49. Sale: BOGO. Coupon for $1/2 printed from company's website. Final: $1.74 bought two

--Quilted Northern 12 pack Toliet Paper: Regular: $9.50. Sale: $6.99. Coupon for $1 from newspaper. Final: $4.99

Total without sales or coupons: $73.20
Total with just in store sales: $46.89
*Total with sales AND coupons: $19.52*

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