Lowes Foods Super Doubles 6/5

I never thought I would say this but... I am about coupon'd out! With super doubles last week at Harris Teeter and now super doubles this week at Lowes Foods... it's a lot of work. Especially when you have to tote a 1 yr old with you.

Anyways... back to my good deal today. I spent $17.13 and saved $55.54. That is $72.67 worth of groceries for $17.13!!

If you are unfamiliar with what super doubles means, they double any coupon with a face value of $2 or LESS. Meaning, if you have a $2 coupon then they will double it to $4.

Here's how I did:

FREE items

• Maruchan Yakisoba $.79 - $.79
• Birds Eye Peas $1 - $1
• Land O'Frost mini hams $2 - $2

Everything else

• Milk $3.99 - $3
• Rhodes Rolls $2 - $1
• DiGiorno Pizza- $5 - $4
• Archway Cookies $2.50 - $2
• Hershey's Syrup $2.29 - $1
• Oreo $2.88 - $1.50
• Dove Ice Cream $4.19 - $2

In case you didn't know, if you go to Bi-Lo's Facebook page they have a coupon for $1.50 off milk if you buy 2 packages of Oreo's AND $1.50 off of two packages of Oreo's. So I got the Oreo's on sale and I got the milk for only $1. Not too bad!

How did you do this week?

Deal of the Day! - FREE Grocery Tote

You can get a free grocery tote from York.com today. Just pay $3.99 in shipping. It holds up to 30 lbs of groceries! I'm sure you could also use it for a library bag or whatever else.

You can use one of their existing templates, but I decided to design my own. I found this super cute chevron print and just added my initials in PowerPoint. (sorry the picture is so small, I couldn't figure out how to enlarge it without making it blurry.)

Click here to get the free grocery bag! Search for "grocery bag" in the top right corner, design it and use code MYTOTE at checkout to make it free. You also get 40 FREE prints if you are a new customer.
You can get the template download from here.

Let me know if you design your own bag, I would love to see it :)


Update!: I got my bag in the mail today and love it :) I was surprised to see that it is double sided too. Here is how it looks in person:

Homemade Sandwich Bread

My family doesn't eat a lot of sandwich bread. So, we always end up throwing out or feeding the birds in our yard half a loaf of bread. I decided we needed a change! My mom gave me two loaf pans for Christmas and they have been gathering dust in the cabinet. Thankfully, I found a great recipe online and the reviews were all positive so I thought it was worth a shot.

This is a recipe for white bread made with all purpose flour. I'm sure it would turn out even better with bread flour or wheat flour. But, I just used what I had on hand. You can also make this bread with or without a stand mixer. The crust comes out soft just like a loaf you buy at the store. No need to cut it off!

The recipe below is for 2 loaves of bread. I cut it in half and made just one loaf since we don't eat a lot of bread.

Prep. Time: 2 hrs 20 mins | Bake Time: 35 mins | Yields 2 loaves of bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. active dry yeast (or 2 packets)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 5 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

1. Prep your yeast by pouring the warm water and sugar into a bowl and letting the sugar dissolve. Once the sugar has dissolved, sprinkle the yeast into the bowl and stir until combined. Let this sit for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to proof. You will know your yeast is ready when it starts to form a foam on the surface of the water.
2. Once your yeast has been prepped, add the remaining ingredients. Knead by hand for 10 minutes or let your Kitchen Aid Mixer to the work for you for about 5 minutes. If you are using the Kitchen Aid, I suggest setting it to level 2 or 4. Also, WALK AWAY! Do not look at the dough when it is being kneaded. It will look very dry at first and you will think that you need to add more liquid, DON'T! After the kneading is done, you will be left with a slightly sticky and stretchy dough. 
3. Grease a bowl and form the dough into a ball. Put the ball of dough into the greased bowl and cover with 2 kitchen towels. Let it rise for 1 hour in a warm area.
4. If you are making 2 loaves, this is when you will take the ball of dough out and divide it into 2 pieces. Then knead the dough for a few minutes by folding it over itself to form a slight oval shape. Place the dough into 2 greased loaf pans. Let it rise again for another hour, uncovered this time!
5. Place the loaf pans into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
6. Let your bread sit in the loaf pan for about 5 minutes before removing it. 
7. Let it cool for at least an hour before slicing into it. This will prevent it from crumbling. It is best to let it cool completely. 

Hopefully you enjoy this bread recipe as much as we do! We store the bread in an old bread bag from the grocery store. It keeps it fresh for about 4 days. 

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!