Clearing out the pantry

Well I have been doing some big time shopping over the last month and a half and knew that I eventually would need to clear out some old pantry items. Since I stockpile we tend to have a lot and I mean A LOT of everything so this is just the beginning for me. All of our older kiddos love pancakes and we had many, many boxes of the instant mixes in the pantry so it was time to start cooking. With just about an hour or so of work we now have more than 100 pancakes in the freezer. These are perfect for breakfast before the kids head off to school plus they cost just pennies each compared to the ones you can buy in the freezer section of your local market.

Today has been a busy day of work in the kitchen. One of my biggest pet peeves is the crumbs in the bottom of the cereal boxes. I LOVE Raisin Bran but don't love the crumbs so when we get down to less than one bowls worth of the cereal I put it aside to save for a little baking later on. Well, today is later. This morning I baked up a bunch of super yummy Apple Raisin Bran muffins. My husband just loves muffins and I like to bake muffins so we are a match made in Heaven!! These are probably the best muffins I have had in a super long time. Making these didn't require a special trip to the market because we had everything on hand including the left over Raisin Bran cereal. A super yummy treat for next to nothing, just what I like!!

I made a few changes to the recipe to accomodate what we like, here is what I have come up with

Apple Raisin Bran Muffins

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 c. Raisin Bran cereal

1 c. nonfat milk

1/2 c. applesauce

1 egg slightly beaten

1/3 c. brown sugar firmly packed

1/4 c. canola oil

1 medium size apple skinned, cored and cubed

preheat oven to 400F. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cereal & milk in large bowl and let stand for 3 minutes. Stir in egg, applesauce, sugar & oil. Mix until moistened. Add cubes of apple and lightly mix. Bake for 20 minutes give or take or until golden brown. Test with a toothpick.

Nielson Homescan Panel

A couple of months ago I signed up to be a member of the Nielson Homescan Panel. This is a very elite panel made up of people whose opinions help influence manufacturer and retailers on which products to develop and improve. Like I said it is very elite and not everyone who applies will be accepted. Well it looks like I have been accepted!!! I am now on the reserve list and am just waiting for a scanner to become available. As a part of the panel I will be required to scan the barcodes of all grocery related items that I purchase in a weeks time and then transmit that info to the Nielson Company. This should keep me busy because I buy a lot of items in a weeks time. Nielson provides the scanner to me free of charge and the best part is that I will be compensated for the work that I will do!!! They have a points system where you earn your points then cash them in for things like electronics, household items, toys, jewelry, etc. I didn't see gift cards on the list but I am hoping they will be available anyway because I just love gift cards!!! Follow the link below for more information on Nielson Homescan and to apply to be a member. Good Luck!!!

https://www.homescan.com/

So I made my last trip to Shaw's last night to finish out the week's grocery shopping. I must admit that I did go over my $50.00 budget by $8.00 but when an item is priced at it's lowest I just can't pass it up so my 8.5lb ham put me over. No worries though. I'll cook the ham and cube it then freeze it so we will always have a bag full of cubed ham when needed for casseroles. Here is exactly what I bought for $58.00.....

77 cans Campbell soup, Chicken Noodle, Tomato & Chunky varities
10 Barilla whole grain pasta
6 Jennie-O 93% lean ground turkey, 1.25 oz each (these are usually $5.19 per package, I bought 6 for $4.00 total)
2 5lb bags of potatoes
1 3 pound bag of apples
bananas at .38/lb
10 Rice-a-Roni
4 Betty Crocker cake mixes
2 Betty Crocker Frosting
1 pork tender loin bought on Manager's special
4 boxes Eggo Waffles
1 8.5lb Shank Portion Ham

Even though I went over this was still a good week where lots of pantry items were bought!!

I am Loving Campbell's Soup

So I made another trip to the supermarket this morning to take advantage of the super sweet Campbell's Soup catalina sale going on. I get there only to find out that both the store and the warehouse are now out of the Chix Noodle and Tomato so whatever is on the shelf is all that was left, which really wasn't much. I did pick up more but unfortunately I couldn't do all that I wanted to do. So I finished off the week with 76 cans of soup for only $11.00 for a total savings of $176.43!!! We are a soup loving family so this should carry us pretty far into the winter.I'll post a picture after I finish off the last of this weeks shopping. Lets see just how far $50.00 can take me this week.

Another year of gymnastics has officially begun

Last night marked the beginning of another gymnastics season!! While this is Isaac's 3rd year in this program this will be Cassidy's first year. Having completed 3 years of gymnastics already in another program she stepped in very naturally. The funniest moment of the night was watching Cassidy practice her running cartwheels. Having taken 3 years off she was a little out of practice. She did prove though that man can indeed fly without assistance as she became airborn over the mat only to topple and roll the rest of the way. Thankfully no one was injured except maybe her ego!! The funniest part was that she wasn't the only girl to do this!! We all had a great time though and can't wait until next week.

Busy weekend is now behind us

Can I say that it is FINALLY Monday morning again??? I usually love the weekends, of course, but this weekend was just too busy to be truly enjoyable. We all had fun though!! Friday night we decided to take the kids to McDonalds and they spent more than an hour on the playground there which was great for me and John since we could actually catch up on each others day without interruption. We went to a pig roast on Saturday and enjoyed the great company of friends and then went to my in-laws house for dessert. My husbands Aunt & Uncle were visiting for the weekend so we had a wonderful visit with them. Can I mention just how much I LOVE my husband's family!!! Sunday we went hiking at a beautiful preserve, I think John and I loved it more than the kids, they were falling apart at the end.
I did manage to get in a trip or two to the grocery store. Campbell's is having a sweet catalina deal so my plan is to cash in huge on soup this week. Things didn't quite go according to plan as there was a mix up at the store as to how the catalina's would print. I ended up having to buy more than planned which meant spending more out of pocket. But I am heading back today to return some items and start fresh on my plan to get 85 cans of Campbell's soup for $12.00 or less. I'll post some pictures when this weeks shopping is done, is should be a Great week!!!

My First Blog Post!!!

I finally took the plunge and started my own blog. For some reason when I decided to do this I must have thought that I had something pretty good to say. I'm not sure just how true that is now though. It's late and everyone else in the house is sound asleep so I'll keep it short and sweet so I can join them soon. I love my family so much and can't wait to share them with you. I also love my wild couponing adventures and can't wait to share that with you either. I am about as cheap as you can get without being downright ridiculous so if I can walk out of the store with a cart full of groceries without paying a penny then I am going to brag about!! LOL. I hope you have as much fun following us as I hope to have sharing us.