Fr ee shampoo at CVS

Remember the full-sized Pantene sample available through Vocalpoint a few weeks ago? It came with (3) $2/1 coupons. That particular kind of shampoo is part of the Pantene deal at CVS this week ($2.99 for 1, get $1 ECB). After coupons/ECB, the shampoo is free and you can do this deal 3 times.

Giveaway

I have a great new giveaway!

Recently Yoplait yoghurt and My Blog Spark sent my family a gift pack containing a coupon four a free four-pack of Yoplait Yoplus yoghurt, an insulated lunch bag, a lunch container with utensils to go with the bag, and a pedometer. If you work outside the home, or have children in school, the lunch kit makes it very easy to take a healthy, nutritious lunch from home rather than buying lunch out.

My Blog Spark and Yoplait have generously offered to send one of my readers an identical gift pack. To win, leave a comment telling me if you have ever tried Yoplus yoghurt and how it compares to other yoghurts. (We tried the strawberry and absolutely loved it.) One winner will be chosen at random Monday, March 29th.

Pet Freebies: Beneful and Halo

Pet Freebies: Beneful and Halo
I don't have a dog (my cats would never tolerate one!), but if you do have one, you can sign up to get a free sample of dog treats and 2 free cans of dog food! Thanks to Common Sense with Money for this find.

Just a note---Smartsource.com and Coupons.com have already reset their coupons for the month.

Awesome General Mills Deal at Cub Foods

If you live near a Cub Foods, there's an awesome deal starting today on General Mills products. Select items are 4/$8 but when you buy 4 you get $4 taken off at the register, so it comes out to 4/$4. Even better, there are coupons available for some of these items.

Participating items include: Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios (there were printables available last month), Cinnamon Chex (printables are available on Smartsource.com, Coupons.com and last Sunday's Smartsource insert---$0.75/1), Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Kix, Reese's Puffs (printables are available on Smartsource.com and Coupons.com---$0.55/1), Chocolate Chex, Cocoa Puffs Combos and all varieties of Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks.

Some Cub Foods will double coupons. If yours does, you could buy the Cinnamon Chex and the Reese's Puffs, and after the sale/coupons you get them free. If yours does not double, they still come out to $0.25-$0.40 a box. Not a bad deal!!

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Pillsbury sweet rolls gift pack is Anita. You should have received an e-mail from me; if not, please leave a comment and I will resend it! Congratulations !

New High Value Land O’Frost Lunchmeat Coupon

New High Value Land O’Frost Lunchmeat Coupon

Thanks to Common Sense with Money for this coupon find----$2/1 Land o'Frost lunchmeat. The one-pound packages happen to be on sale this week at Meijer for $3 each---with the coupon, that's only $1!!

Sugar Cookies (Great-Grandma's recipe)

3 cups flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
3 eggs
1 t vanilla or almond flavoring

Sift dry ingredients. Add shortening. Mix with fork. Add unbeaten eggs and flavoring. Roll and cut. (Note: You may need to chill the dough before you attempt to roll it---the recipe does not specify this, but the dough is a bit soft.)

375 degrees for 8 minutes

Giveaway

My family loves fresh, warm sweet rolls, but my past attempts to make them have met mostly with failure. Usually what I do is buy a couple of tubes of the refrigerated cinnamon rolls, pop them in the oven and watch the children devour them!

When My Blog Spark contacted me and asked if they could send my family a coupon for a free tube of Pillsbury orange sweet rolls, I was more than happy to say yes. We love the Pillsbury brand (they taste great and I love collecting those Box Tops that they have on the Grands rolls and biscuits). I had seen the orange variety but never bought them, and decided this would be a good opportunity to try them. It turns out, they are wonderful!

My Blog Spark and Pillsbury have offered to send one lucky reader a fun gift pack including a coupon for a free tube of Pillsbury sweet rolls, and a cute little photo album. To enter, leave a comment telling me what is your favorite childhood breakfast memory. For instance, I remember when we would visit my grandparents on their farm in Indiana, my grandpa would prepare these huge, homemade pancakes! They were so good.

The giveaway will end on Monday, 2/22/2010. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, or a new winner will be chosen.

I did not receive compensation for this giveaway. Pillsbury and My Blog Spark did provide my family with an identical gift pack to the one being offered: a photo album and a coupon for the free product.

Free breakfast sausage at Meijer

If you live near a Meijer, the Johnsonville breakfast sausage (patties or links) are on sale for $2 each. Use a $1/1 Meijer mealbox coupon and a $0.55/1 newspaper insert coupon (which will double to $1) to get them for free.

Free Cat’s Pride Litter Product Coupon

Free Cat’s Pride Litter Product Coupon

Thanks to Common Sense with Money for this find!! You can sign up with Catster and receive in the mail a coupon for a free Cat's Pride litter. I've never tried that particular litter, but my overgrown kittens do go through it rather quickly so this will be great!

Early this morning, my 92-year-old grandmother died. I thought it appropriate to write a few words about the person she was before dementia took her away from us.

Grandma was born in 1917 to a railroad worker and the busiest homemaker that ever lived on this planet!! She had one brother, ten years younger (who also suffers from some kind of dementia). She was a highly intelligent woman and an accomplished (amateur) musician, playing piano, organ and saxophone. In 1937 she married my grandfather, and they were married until his death 5 years ago.

They lived on a farm in northern Indiana. That place is where my siblings and I spent some of the most fun times we had as a child. Grandpa would give us tractor rides, we would hunt through the barns for Grandma's barn cats and their kittens, or explore the house---my grandparents kept everything. They had my mother's and her siblings' old toys, their prom dresses from the 1960s, and some clothes of Grandma's probably from the 1930s.

Grandma wasn't the stereotypical grandmother---her house was always a mess (much like my own), she didn't smother you with hugs (but it was clear from her actions that she loved us), and she was never in the kitchen cooking yummy treats (she hated to cook and was terrible at it, but she would always keep packages of cookies or bags of candy around to treat us with). However, she was a very kind person and we loved visiting her and Grandpa.

They were total opposites. Grandma was a quiet person who loved music and books; Grandpa was as ornery as the day is long (in a good way). Still, they made their marriage work for over 60 years. Marriage vows were taken seriously by that generation.

We did not realize the extent of her decline until my grandfather fell ill and could no longer care for them both. After his death, my mother and her siblings appropriately decided it would be in Grandma's best interest to move away from the farm up in Indiana (none of our family lives close to there anymore) and closer to us, into a retirement home for seniors. It soon became obvious that something more was wrong than mere forgetfulness caused by old age.

Within a couple of years, it became necessary that she move to the assisted living part of the retirement home. She declined to the point where she often did not recognize the children she had raised, or her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She stopped writing in her diaries, a lifelong habit she had learned from her own mother. When she suffered a serious fall, it was time to move to a nursing home. Her decline was very rapid after that.

Grandma died peacefully in her sleep, February 1rst. She will be missed by all who knew her, and most definitely my children will be missing their Great-Grandma.

Giveaway winner

Congratulations to Miller Racing Family for winning the Old El Paso gift pack giveaway. You should have received an e-mail telling you where to send your contact information. I will need this by 02/01/10. If you did not receive the e-mail, please leave a comment on the blog.

Cheeseburger Pie

This is a good, quick main dish and it doesn't cost a lot. This quantity is for one pie (4-6 servings)

Ingredients:
1 prepared pie crust (you can make your own; I use Pillsbury)
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
salt and pepper, to taste

Topping: 1 egg, 1/3 cup milk, 1 cup grated cheese

Mix the beef/turkey with the tomato sauce and bread crumbs. Spoon into pie crust. Mix together the topping ingredients and spread over the pie. Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes.


The nice thing about this dish is, most of the ingredients are on sale this week at Kroger or Meijer. The cheese and ground beef is on sale at Kroger; if you choose to use ground turkey Meijer is selling the one-pound rolls this week for $1 each. I got my pie crust from Kroger back when they had that great deal before the holidays---I bought several boxes and froze them. Those of my children that tried this dish really liked it; the others made themselves Easy Mac (also bought on sale this week!).

Game Day Gift Pack Giveaway!!

Well---the big Game Day is almost here!! My teenaged son and I are so excited to be cheering on the New Orleans Saints in their first ever Superbowl appearance in just a couple of weeks! (Of course, the Colts are a pretty awesome team too!!)

Just in time for the Superbowl, My Blog Spark and Old El Paso sent my family a really cool gift pack to help us in our game day celebration. It has 2 cans of Old El Paso chiles, a football-shaped ceramic serving platter, football-themed napkins, football-shaped disposable plates, and a football-shaped table runner. I plan to use the Old El Paso chiles to make enchiladas. We mix them with shredded chicken and cheese, roll them in tortillas, add sauce and bake. The chiles give a nice flavor to the enchiladas.

My Blog Spark and Old El Paso generously have offered to send one of my readers an identical gift pack. To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me what is your favorite dish made with Old El Paso chiles. This giveaway will end at midnight on Friday, 01/29/10 and the winner will be drawn at random.


The gift pack was provided to me free of charge by My Blog Spark and Old El Paso. I did not receive any compensation for this giveaway.

Lentil-Beef Chili

This is a good way to stretch ground beef if you do not have enough to go around---but this is still a really, really good chili and I think it tastes better than just beef chili.

Brown 1 pound (or less, if your family is smaller and you do not want leftovers) ground beef with a chopped up onion. Diced garlic is good also. Drain this, then add a can or two of chopped tomatoes, a packet of chili seasoning, and enough water to make it the consistency that you like. Let this simmer while you cook the lentils. Put a cup of dried brown lentils in a pot, cover with plenty of water, and bring to the boil. Boil them until tender (about 30 minutes---there is no need to presoak the lentils). When they are done, drain them and add them to the chili. Let this simmer for a bit to blend the flavors.

Serve in bowls. You can top with any of the following---oyster crackers, shredded cheddar, sour cream. It tastes even better if you refrigerate overnight and serve the next day.

La Victoria Salsa---Free at Kroger w/coupons/sale

If you still have the $4 off 2 La Victoria printables that were available a while back, now would be a good time to use them. The 16-oz salsas are part of the Buy 10, get $5 off sale at Kroger. When you buy 10 items the salsas come out to $1.49 each. The cashier will have to adjust the coupon down to $3 (unless your Kroger is nicer than mine and gives you overage).

Kroger sale!!

If you plan to take advantage of the Buy 10 participating items, Get $5 off your order sale at Kroger, there is a really good deal if you still have any of the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter $1/1 coupons. (I had five laying around and was hoping for a sale!) This product is part of the sale and the price comes to $0.99 when you buy 10 items...but with the coupon, it is FREE!!!! I did not see it listed in the Kroger ad but it is on signs in the stores and also those sale brochures at the front of the store.

We Found Out What's Wrong

Our pediatrician's office called yesterday evening with the results of my nine-year-old's blood tests. Unfortunately, they did find something---but it isn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

It seems that within the past month, my daughter had strep. She never had any symptoms of it, so she was not treated (nor tested). Untreated strep, however, can do bad things to the body---really bad things. It can spread to different organs in your body and cause serious issues. Luckily, hopefully, we caught this before it had a chance to really spread and she is being treated for it.

The ironic thing is, I knew strep can do this and every time the children have any of the symptoms (sore throat, headache, stomache ache, fever), I have them tested. She had no symptoms at all of it this time (her sister, however, did have strep in December). It's rather frightening to think one could have a potentially serious disease and not know it until AFTER it starts causing problems!

Our doctor will recheck her for the joint pain, but likely she will be fine. I praise God that we found out what the issue is and that it's treatable. Some of the other things they were testing her for (such as leukemia) I couldn't bear to even consider! I want to thank everyone who was praying for her---words can't even express how much I appreciate those prayers!

Huge Tylenol Recall

Huge Tylenol Recall
Check this post at Common Sense with Money. I would check your cupboards for any of these items!

We had a doctor's appointment for my 9-year-old Friday to try to figure out why she has the joint pain. The doctor said it could be a lot of things, ranging from growing pains, to juvenile arthritis, to some other things. We had to go have some blood tests so now I guess we wait to see if anything shows up in them. She said it could even be some kind of virus she is having a hard time getting rid of. My kids have been passing different things back and forth between them basically since late November! The current thing is a flu-like illness some of them have.

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for her. I really, really appreciate it!

Meijer: Free Breakstone Cottage Cheese

Meijer: Free Breakstone Cottage Cheese

If you live near a Meijer, here is a great deal and you don't even need any coupons! Buy 5 of the Breakstone's cottage cheese doubles for $1 each and get a catalina for $5! Thanks to Common Sense with Money for this find. I plan to go later today after my daughter's doctor appointment and hope they are not sold out of these!

If you are a member of Kraft First Taste, check your account. You may have a coupon for a free frozen pizza. Some people are getting free coupons and some are getting $1.25/1 coupons. If you aren't a member, you can register at kraftfirsttaste.com.

Prayer request

I would really appreciate the prayers of everyone. I am going to have to take my nine-year-old daughter to the doctor to be checked out. She keeps getting some pretty serious joint pain and a kind of weird-looking rash on her hands right around the knuckles. I am rather worried and hope it isn't anything serious but the pain in her ankles was so bad last night she was crying pretty hard.

Bible in 90 Days challenge

I am trying to catch up to everyone else in the Bible in 90 Days challenge! I didn't start until January 6th because of illness in our family but I intend to read enough extra that I catch up at least by the end!

I was rather sad when I finished Genesis because the very last part---the story of Joseph---is my absolute favourite in the entire Bible. I was sad to leave it behind (I may just have to go back and re-read it!). My study Bible has a little challenge that looks like fun: List all the similarities you can find between Joseph and Jesus. It says that there are over sixty of them! One thing I learned that I never really took note of before, even though I have read Joseph's story many times---after Joseph's father died, Joseph had his body embalmed, and the same was done for Joseph after he died. They apparently were mummified according to the Egyptian tradition. Genesis even lists the number of days of mourning and it matches up perfectly with what we know the Egyptians to have practiced. This is further proof that Genesis was written by someone quite familiar with the practices of the time (namely, Moses, who was raised in that culture) and not hundreds or thousands of years later. The detail in the Bible is pretty incredible.

Exodus was interesting---I had read parts of it but not the entire thing in order, all the way through. What really struck me was how much the Israelites complained---even after seeing first-hand all of God's miracles, all of his provision---still they complained. It's a good reminder to try to always be thankful for what God has provided and not to focus on what we DON'T have.

FREE MILK and a chance to WIN FREE MILK for a year!

FREE MILK and a chance to WIN FREE MILK for a year!

Here's a pretty good deal! You can enter to win free milk for a year. If you don't win, but you're one of the first 125,000 to enter, you can print out a coupon for a free 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk WYB 2 gallons of white milk.

Deals at Cub Foods and Meijer

If you plan to shop at Cub Foods or Meijer this week, there are some nice deals to be found. Cub Foods has Pillsbury flour on sale for $0.99, limit 5. They also have select General Mills cereals and Nature Valley granola bars at $2 each, and when you buy 10 you get $4 off your order instantly at checkout. There are printables available for the granola bars, and some Cubs do double coupons. I like to have granola bars on hand for after-school snacks. They come home from school acting as if they haven't eaten all day, and granola bars at least are a fairly healthy snack.

Meijer has one of their 10 for $10, get the 11th free promotions going on. There is a catalina promotion: Buy 3 Betty Crocker frostings (which are part of the 10/$10 promo) or cake mixes, get a $2 cat ONYO. (Note: Cake mixes include the boxed mixes, not the warm delights bowl mixes). There is also a Unilever promotion: Buy $10 worth of selected products, get a $3 catalina ONYO. It includes Skippy peanut butter, which is on sale for $1.69. There is a $1/2 Meijer mealbox coupon. Dannon yoghurts are also $0.40 this week and you can use $1/10 from the Sunday paper last week or $1/6 Light and Fit (coupons.com) paired with $1/4 mealbox coupons. I got 12 yoghurts for free using these coupons.

Don't forget about the Bible in 90 Days challenge!! Because of illness and other stressful happenings I started it late and am playing catch-up but this is going to be an awesome, amazing experience to actually read the entire Bible through in just 90 days.

You don't need to have one of the special Bibles to take part in this. I counted the number of pages in my preferred version and figured out I need to read 22 pages a day to accomplish this. It's very do-able and I would encourage anyone who hasn't yet decided to take part to go ahead and do it!

Meijer catalina deal on Yoplait yoghurt

There's a pretty awesome deal at Meijer right now on Yoplait yoghurt. They are priced at 10 for $4, and when you buy 20 you get a $2 catalina. There are also printables available---$1/8 and $0.50/6 (which would double to $1). Use 1 of the $1/8 and 2 of the $0.50/6 and you get some really cheap yoghurt!

Starkist coupon

Thanks to Hip2Save for this find! Go to Save-A-Lot.com and click on the coupon tab in the upper right corner. You can print out a Buy 2, Get 1 free solid white tuna can coupon. This is a manufacturer's coupon, not a store coupon, and it does not have a store logo on it, so you could use it anywhere you find a good price.

There's a $1/1 Trix cereal coupon on Pillsbury.com which would pair nicely with the Meijer General Mills cereal sale. Although Trix is not on sale for $2.50 (as are some of the cereal brands), Meijer's regular price for the smaller sized Trix is $2.39. After the coupon/$4 off WYB 4 promo, it comes out to $0.39/box.