Harris Teeter Super Doubles 5/29

In case you haven't heard yet, Harris Teeter is running their super doubles right now! Meaning any coupon with a face value of $2 or less is doubled. Yes, you read correctly. A $2 coupon is doubled to $4.

I did pretty well today. I got $119.49 worth of groceries for only $45.79. Not too bad I guess. I didn't have a coupon for everything I bought like boneless skinless chicken breasts and Mahi Mahi for dinner tonight. And obviously not everything I purchased is pictured above. I had to rush to put things away so that I could put David down for a nap and then blog about this.

As you probably know by now, I use Southernsavers.com for all of my couponing needs. Jenny does a great job with explaining how to coupon, where to find coupons, and the best deals of the week.

Here's a run down on my items purchased:

FREE items

• Febreeze Air Effects- $3 - $3
• L'oreal Kids Shampoo- $3.79 - $3.79
• Covergirl Eye Shadow- $3.79 - $3.79
• Jose Ole Chimmichanga- $1.34 - $1.34

Coupon Items

• Pampers Jumbo Pack - $9.99 - $3
• Snack Pack Teddy Grahams - $2 - $.67
• Soft Scrub Gel - $2.69 - $2
• Nestle Dough Tub- $3.97 - $2.50
• Boca Veggie Burger - $1.89 - $1
• Naturally Fresh Ranch Dressing - $3.89 - $3 
• Sargento Shredded Cheese - $1.89 - $.80
• DiGiorno Small Pizza- $3.79 - $2
• DiGiorno Regular Pizza- $5.50 - $4

Non Coupon Items

• Goldfish Crackers - $1.25
• Boneless Skinless Chicken- $1.99/lb
• Mahi Mahi- $6.97/lb. 

Frozen S'mores "Cupcakes"

I actually made these last year but never wrote a blog entry about them. They are easy to make, turn out beautiful and are super good too! I made them for a co-workers birthday and they were eaten up.]

MAKES 12 CUPCAKES | PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES | TOTAL TIME: 2.5 HOURS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 box instant chocolate pudding (3.9 oz)
• 1 container of Cool Whip (8 oz) - thawed in fridge
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips for topping

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Once melted, add the graham cracker crumbs and mix well until combined to make the crust.
2. Spoon the graham cracker crust into the bottom of each cupcake tin. Firmly pack it.
3. Place the milk chocolate chips and whipping cream into a small bowl and microwave for 30 second increments (make sure you stir in between!), until melted and smooth.
4. Spoon the melted chocolate mixture into a zip lock bag and cut off the tip at the corner so that you can pipe the mixture on top of the graham cracker crust.
5. Place about 5 or 6 marshmallows on top of the chocolate.
6. Mix your cold milk and instant pudding for about 2 minutes. Fold in 1/2 of the Cool Whip container. Place into another zip lock bag and pipe it on top and in between the marshmallows.
7. Freeze for about 2 hours.
8. Take them out of the freezer and let them sit for a bit before you attempt to pry them out.
9. Top each "cupcake" with the left over Cool Whip, graham cracker crumbs and mini chocolate chips.
10. Serve right away or put them into a container and place back into the freezer.

Taco Casserole

I decided to try a few new recipes this week for dinner. I'm known for finding a good recipe and repeating it every other week. What can I say? I know what I like and I eat what I like! I came across a recipe via Pinterest for a taco casserole. I edited it a bit to make it my own.

Since the serving size is so large for my small family of 3 (well really family of 2 since baby David won't be eating this), I decided to freeze half and bake half. You can always just half the recipe of you would like.

Start with browning your meat with the onions. Then add your cans of corn, Rotel, tomato sauce and beans.

Alternate layers of meat with the crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Top with shredded cheese, sour cream and/or tomatoes.

Servings: 8-10 | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can of kidney beans (or chili beans, black beans, etc); drained
• 1 can of corn; drained
• 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 pkg Taco Seasoning (1.25 ounce)
• 10 oz can of Rotel
• 3 cups of shredded cheese (Mexican blend, Colby, etc.), divided
• 3 cups tortilla chips, crushed and divided

Garnish: (optional)

• Chopped Tomato
• Shredded Lettuce
• A side of sour cream!

DIRECTIONS

1. Brown your ground beef with the onions, drain.
2. Add can of beans, corn, tomato sauce, Rotel and taco seasoning.
3. Stir until well blended and simmer for 10 minutes. (If the mixture seems a little dry then you can add just a couple teaspoons of water). 
4. Pour 1/2 of meat mixture into baking pan and top with 1/2 of your crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese. Repeat with a second layer.
5. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes. 
6. Top with lettuce and tomatoes. 

Thanks to my mom for my awesome Easter gift! I was able to use my Le Creuset square casserole dish for this meal. You can get one at Chefs Catalog for around $85.

Deal of the week! Nail polish for only 50¢!

If you head to Harris Teeter before next Tuesday (May 28th) make sure you hit up the make-up aisle! You can get Wet 'n Wild Megalast nail polish for only 50¢ after coupon. (On sale for $1.50-$1 coupon).

The coupon is in the RedPlum coupon insert from 5/19. Thankfully, my mom gives me her coupons every week so I was able to get two adorable summer colors. I have on the mint color right now and I am loving it :)

Oh, and there is a sneak peak of my DIY blackout curtains in the background. A post is to come about those!

Crafting deal of the day!

source

If you check Southern Savers regularly like I do, then you already know this and can disregard this post.

But, Craftsy.com is offering a slew of free classes today (5/18). If you don't have much time to enjoy the class today... don't fret! You have unlimited access to the class!

I went with the class titled "Design and Sew an A Line Skirt" by Deborah Moebes.

I can't wait to watch the class and make my first skirt ever. Let me know what class you sign up for and how you liked it.

Chocolate Chocolate Cake - Hershey's

My husband just celebrated his 29th birthday a few days ago. His mom has always made his birthday cake and birthday dinner. This year I told him that I wanted to do both. That was until he said that he wanted gizzards for dinner (ew). So, I changed my request to making just the cake. His mom always makes him a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

This gave me the opportunity to make a cake from scratch for the first time ever! It was a huge success. This cake comes out very moist and not too sweet. I opted to sub the vegetable oil with coconut oil for the first time as well. I was a little nervous to do this but no issue, couldn't even taste the coconut.  The ingredients also call for dark chocolate cocoa. I didn't have this on hand so I just used regular cocoa.

The recipe comes from the Hershey's website.  I know, I know... not so creative of me. Hey, maybe one day I will make up my own recipe :)

Cake Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa (dark or not)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round cake pans or one 13x9 pan.

2. Stir together all the dry ingredients. 

3. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat for two minutes on medium speed.

4. Stir in the boiling water. Don't freak out at this point, the batter will be thin!

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes for the round cake pans and 35-40 minutes for the rectangle pan. 

6. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and setting on wire rack. 

7. Make sure you let the cake cool completely, and then ice.

Icing Ingredients

• 6 tbsp. butter; softened
• 2 2/3 cups of powered sugar
• 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Beat the butter in a medium bowl.

2. Add the powered sugar and coca alternately with the milk. Beat until a smooth consistency (you may have to add a little extra milk).

3. Stir in the vanilla. 

And I want to apologize for the awful picture of the cake. It is more than 1/2 eaten in this shot. Oh well, it was just too good to wait for a picture :)

Fabric for Master Bedroom

My husband and I bought our first home in 2005 and we have yet to decorate our master bedroom. Sad, I know. But, we recently just down sized our bed from a king to a queen. Bad side: I don't have as much room to sleep. Good side: I have an excuse now to buy new bed sheets/comforter and curtains to coordinate!
After shopping online and in every store known to man kind, I just haven't found what I really wanted for our room. I have resorted to making my own curtains and pillows. I looked up tutorial videos on YouTube and it seems pretty easy. I am even going to try sewing black-out fabric onto the curtain panels. We will see how that turns out.
My husband and I FINALLY agreed on a fabric to use. At first I was wanting to go with a shade of green, but there just wasn't anything out there that we both liked that was under $10 a yard (I know, I'm cheap). Luckily Fabric.com is having a sale of 20% off their Premier Prints brand. I like a lot of the different fabric choices from that company. So, this is what we agreed on... drum roll please...

Yaaaaaaay! It's called Suzani Chocolate/Natural by Premier Prints. I can't wait to make my pillows and curtains. And it was on sale for only $5.98/yd!! You know that I will post them as soon as they are done.

**And a quick money saving tip: You can actually buy fabric from fabric.com through Amazon.com. The prices are the same but shipping is only $1 compared to $7 if you order directly off of fabric.com 's website. You're welcome :)**

David's 1st Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated my little boys 1st birthday! I know everyone says it, but the first year really did fly by so fast. I have cherished every moment with him so far.

I decided to go with a whale theme for his party. Unfortunately, there is nothing out there to purchase with whales on it. Apparently it isn't a real popular theme. So, thanks to my friend Bethany's (over at dwellingsbydevore.com) silhouette, I was able to make a banner, cupcake toppers and stickers for the plates and cups.

And I'm sure you have seen this cake all over Pinterest. I thought it was a great idea to do in place of a regular cake and icing for baby. It is just a seedless watermelon cut into the shape of a cake and then topped with other kinds of fruits. I used strawberries, kiwi and mandarins. David's favorite fruit is watermelon so it was a hit!

He obviously loved it...