Awesome Day at Stop-and-Shop

Thanks to The Wandering Peanut, I scored some great deals today at Stop-n-Shop!! I'm actually still basking in the glow of saving so much money :)

We didn't need much this week, since we're heading back to Seattle for 5 days. But, it happened to be a great time to stock up on some staples. What should have cost me $99, cost me $57 (it will be $53 once I get my Windex rebate). That's almost half-off!! And, it's either all natural and organic products, or great deals on canned food to donate.

My purchases for our home included:
2 bottles of salad dressing for $1
All natural frozen corn: FREE
12 organic chicken breasts for $10 (plus a $3 coupon off my next purchase)
5 big cans of organic tomatoes for $9
Bags of frozen organic potatoes, raspberries, blueberries, edamame, and corn for $10.
10 organic chicken drumsticks for $3

Enchiladas

Matt and I have a new favorite enchilada recipe, but I'm nervous to share it. It's delicious and simple, but it's about as Mexican as Taco Bell. But still, who am I withhold this yumminess?

http://www.bigoven.com/167211-Creamy-Chicken-Enchiladas-recipe.html

Depending on where you live, your experience of finding green enchilada sauce will remind you of Indiana Jones finding the Holy Grail. Long Island happens to be one of these places. It took me weeks to find a can. It was hiding in an all-organic store. 15oz cost me $4.49. (You will need about 25oz). Yes, you can make your own. If you have or know of a good recipe, let me know... I'm trying this one next week:
http://www.recipezaar.com/El-Charro-Cafe-Green-Enchilada-Sauce-55478

Coconut Cookies

I had a hankering for coconut the other night... lucky for me, I found some in the pantry and made these. They were SO good!! The recipe says it makes 3 dozen, but unless you make miniature cookies, I don't see that happening... I got about 15 cookies out of this.

Chewy Coconut Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then mix in the coconut.
3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto an un greased cookie sheet. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly toasted. Cool on wire racks.

What-Did-I-Make Wednesday

When I first starting cooking (really cooking meals for Matt and I), I always searched for the easiest recipe. And, I was thrilled if it actually was an all-inclusive meal... I could not handle more than one thing at a time! Yes, there were many nights of burned dishes and choice words... But, I'd always throw together a mixed green salad for the illusion of working hard in the kitchen:)

One of my favorite newbie resources was used Real Simple's "Fake It- Don't Make It" recipes. While I've moved-on from these, one recipe has stuck around our home. It's the Shepherd's Pie. It's a warm, hearty meal and perfect for a day like today when we have a foot of snow on the ground. And, since we have tons of potatoes just hanging around, I've decided to make it tonight.

Easy Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
8 ounces frozen mixed vegetables (such as carrots, peas, and corn), thawed
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded Cheddar (optional, but we always add cheese...)
1 16-ounce package refrigerated or frozen and thawed mashed potatoes (I never used these, but chose to make my own)

Method:
1. Heat oven to 400° F.
2. Place the beef in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until no trace of pink remains, about 5 minutes.
3. Spoon off and discard any fat. Stir in the ketchup and Worcestershire. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
4. Spoon the beef mixture into a baking dish. Mix the cheese (if using) with the potatoes in a medium bowl.
4. Spread the potatoes over the beef and bake until heated through, 10 minutes.
5. Divide among individual plates.

This Week at CVS

I mentioned before that I'm starting to really love shopping at CVS. Why? Because they have the greatest Customer Loyalty program and I'm racking up free items :) When you purchase certain items with your member's card, you get an ECB (Earned Cash Back... it's literally like a gift certificate for a future CVS purchase). Here's what I purchased today:

Gillette Shampoo
Cost: $5.99 (used a $2 coupon) --> $3.99
Earned ECB: $3.00

Natural Dentist Healthy Gums Rinse
Cost: $6.99 (used a $2 coupon) --> $4.99
Earned ECB: $4.00
I purchased two of these (and used two coupons) so that I could actually get money back with a $10 mail-in-rebate. Thanks, BeCentsAble!

** I also had $3 worth of ECBs (gift certificate to CVS) that I used during my purchase.

Total without coupons: $19.97
Total with coupons: $10.97
Earned ECB's: $11
MIR Check:$10

If you consider ECB's like cash (I do because I use them on things we actually need...), we paid nothing for these 3 items and actually made $10! So, in a small, small way- it's like I was paid to shop :)

Booo!

I read somewhere that an easy way to save money was to cut dryer sheets in half. Sure, you're only saving cents/load, but essentially, you'd be getting your dryer sheets for half-off... not bad.

I tried it tonight.

It didn't work.

All of our clothes are full of static and they aren't as soft.

So, save yourself the time and energy- splurge on a full dryer sheet :)