Thoughtful Thursday ~ Random Ramblings!!

O Grunacery promotional bevearge cup design. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SHAMROCK SHAKES make me Happy, Happy, Happy…. Jack!!! (As does Duck Dynasty – LOL)  Are you a fan of Shamrock Shakes?  My first ever job was Mickey D’s  – yep, BEST job ever – fresh hot fries dipped in ketchup and mayonnaise mixed – still my downfall!!   BUT –  Shamrock Shake season was my favorite (as opposed to McRib season… BLECH)!!  Now if I could just find someone to mix my shamrock shake with a chocolate shake for me….  Or a boss like the one I learned everything from… where are you Paula Matla???

 

So about that DUCK DYNASTY… are you a fan??  I know some of you will say it ranks right up there with my Honey-Boo Boo but seriously – I can NOT get enough!!!  What is it about these shows?  Is it just me??  I like HOARDERS too…  and I cry over every single episode of INTERVENTION!

 

My favorite Rite-aid girl ~ let’s call her Kristi (LOL – she doesn’t read this – FOR SHAME) but she and I discuss these crazy shows whenever I see her….  anyhow… I go to Rite-aid and ask my girl, “where is the POISE”, and she looks at me like “WHY – what is the problem down there…”??? (ACTUALLY, I believe she burst out laughing and SAID just that) LOL – I find myself quickly reminding her that it is a MONEYMAKER this week and if I really had a problem, I wouldn’t be asking her cuz that would be a secret….  Anyhow I then felt the need to explain what the cooling wipes really were – again – they are not for THERE!  AND I have had this discussion with many people who are questioning my stocking up of POISE lately…I am not sure the moneymakers of late are even worth it because I find myself OVERKILLING the details…  LOL!!  What other products make you this crazy??

 

FREEZING CHEESE??  I have had so many discussions about CHEESE over the past couple of days that my head is spinning…  LOL… yet another fund raiser of course BUT this ‘coveted’ cheese sale instigated the discussion of whether you can FREEZE cheese….??  The great big inter-webs advise you can pretty much freeze anything… me personally – NOPE on the whole cream cheese or block cheese front!  Although I am fine with freezing shredded cheese or any cheese I will use for cooking…  OPINIONS?? 

~ On a side note KUDOS to Kutter’s Cheese – a local business doing right for the local youth organizations!  They offer an amazing fundraiser program which allows your group – in this case, the boy scouts – to sell awesome products at less than you can buy them for in the grocery store!!  YEAH Local, YEAH Dairy, YEAH Farmers!!!

 

This brings up the HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL point currently a hot topic amongst the Boy Scout organization…  GAYS IN SCOUTING….  REALLY??  This is the CRAP that bogs development down…  OMG – I don’t care if you are Straight, Gay, Black, White, Fat, Skinny or 6-eyed…  Are you volunteering to help our youth?  As long as you are NOT a molester – bring it on!!!  Am I right??  (Sounds like a controversial topic for WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY)

 

Finally, I can hardly stand the excitement… Guess what next week brings us… You got it….  DOLLAR DOUBLER WEEK (at TOPS)!!  Get ready!!  I know what I will be doing with my day off tomorrow…  PLANNING and SCHEMING and PLANNING some more!!!  I mean there are multiple BONUS Gas Point deals, tons of B1G1 Free and paired with Doublers….  Anyone got some $$ I can borrow??!!!!

 

So, these are my THOUGHTS of late… what do you think??  Opinions, rants… feel free to share!  Let’s Chat!!!

 

$26 worth of goods FREE and CVS paid me $6 to take it out!!

Super Cool HIT at CVS yesterday…

I found these SENSITIVE  Schick Hydro’s with a $1.50 PEELIE coupon on them, they were $3.99 – $1.50 Peelie = $2.49 and I got a $4 ECB (monthly deal) for each…  That is a $6 profit!!  I also grabbed the FREE Sensitive Colgate! 

That is over $26 worth of goods all FREE and a $6 Money Maker!

Thank goodness for this ‘cuz I really did not have a good visit at CVS…. I actually “stormed” out…. GASP!!!

LOL – Then I sat in my car and thought… what the hell am I doing??  I am not going to experience Road Rage over Free toothpaste…  SERIOUSLY – although everything I got was indeed the “SENSITIVE” variety…!!! 

Tomorrow’s a new day…LOL!!

Tasty Tuesday ~ EASY Vegetable Beef Soup

 EASY Vegetable Beef Soup

 The perfect option to make with leftovers from a Pot Roast Dinner!

 

 Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked, shredded or diced, beef (I always make my Pot Roast by rubbing with horseradish and cooking in bouillon, onion and garlic and ALWAYS intentionally make enough for planned left overs)
• 8 cups water (If your meat is not very seasoned from the pot roast, then you may want to add some onion, garlic, celery…whatever you prefer)
• 6 teaspoons beef bouillon
• 2 cups veggies (you can chop fresh, use canned or frozen…  I prefer the frozen stew blend with carrots, peas, beans and corn)
• 1 can stewed or even diced tomatoes (Again, whatever you prefer…  sometimes I chop fresh tomato)  
• 1 cup ‘tomato’ sauce (Honestly I use my spaghetti sauce which you already know is Ragu, Prego or Rinaldi… why mess with a good thing???)
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt and Pepper – to taste

 

Directions:

1.       Put water in soup pot and add bouillon and any other seasoning you prefer, heat on medium

2.       Add beef, vegetables, tomato and sauce….

3.       Turn up heat, continue stirring and bring soup to a boil

4.       Once rolling, add red pepper and any salt and pepper to taste

5.       Turn heat down to very low, allowing soup to simmer as long as you can… a few hours is best, but make sure you can stir it often – or at this point throw it in a crockpot (fix it and forget it) until dinner – which will be as soon as your family smells this aroma!  Then they will eat 2 full bowls a piece and devour an entire loaf of cheesy garlic bread (or quick dumplings which are pictured)!

I have learned, just the same as making sure I make a big enough pot roast so we have leftovers,  I actually have to double this soup recipe as well (which means an even bigger pot roast to begin with) so we can thicken the soup to stew stage and serve over rice, or thicken even more and make a beef pot pie!  Enjoy!!

Monday Match-up ~ +$21.72 Money Maker!!

 Rite-aid ROCKS!!!!

 

16 Items, retail (SALE) value of over $40…

was a $1.72 MONEYMAKER but then…. 

I hit the first $100 in the BONUS UP program and got the beautiful $20 BONUS UP reward!!    

WhooHoo… I am UP – AHEAD – LOVIN’ the DEAL –  $21.72 for stopping at RA today!!!

Here is what I got and how I did it….

 2 – Poise Panty Freshener, Feminine Wash – $2.99 (I got what they had….)
-$3/1 Poise Feminine Wellness Product, exp. 3/23/13 (SS 02/10/13 R)
Get $2.99 UP Reward (Limit 2)
= $3.00 Money Maker  x 2 = +$6.00

 

8 – Nivea Single Pack Lip Balm – 2/$3
-$3/2 Nivea Lip Care Product, exp. 3/5/13 (RP 02/10/13)
= (2) FREE after coupon!  X 4 = 8 FREE!! (Counted towards BONUS UPS)

 

4 – Secret Antiperspirant (2.6 oz.) – 2/$5
$1.00 Secret Deodorant, exp. 2/28/13 (P&G 01/27/13 R)
Get $2 UP Reward wyb 2 (Limit 2)

= $.50 ea. after coupons and UP Reward! X 4  = $2.00  (Counted towards BONUS UPS)

 

 2 – Robitussin – starts at $6.49 w/ gold (20% off) =  $5.19

– $3 in-ad Q

AND – $1/1 Robitussin Product, exp. 4/13/13 (RP 02/10/13 R)

= $1.19 each after coupons and UP reward! X 2 = $2.38  (Counted towards BONUS UPS)

Sunday Funday and a MEAL PLAN

 

  

A chicken salad made from chicken used for soup stock, celery, cucumber, apples, fresh dill, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aghhh Sunday already??  Where did the weekend go??  What happened to the vacation days?  Every Monday should be a day off… for me, not the kids – LOL!!

I did post ALL OF THE BEST DEALS for this coming week– check it out: 

TOPS Deals this week (CLICK HERE)

Rite-Aid Deals this week (CLICK HERE)

CVS Deals this week (CLICK HERE)

I plan on running to do most of my shopping since I really need the eggs that are on sale at Tops and want the FREEBIES at Rite-aid!  I will certainly share my shopping details with you tomorrow on MONDAY MATCHUPS.

I also made an amazing Pot Roast Meal and turned it into EASY Vegetable Beef Soup last week and both were absolutely delicious!  I will share the soup recipe on TASTY TUESDAY. 

I forgot about a meeting planned for tonight, so the turkey Dinner plan once again got put on hold…  see “flexability” is totally do-able!  So I surveyed my food/freezer stash and contemplated the meal planning… I am basing a couple meals on the fact that ‘petite croissants’ are B1G1 FREE this week and a huge “Real Deal” household favorite is chicken salad on croissants so I prepped a package of chicken by trimming and cooking it up, then divided the meat into two bags for meals this week.  Take a look:

WEEKLY MEAL PLAN ~

SUNDAY:  Chicken Salad on Croissants with a Fruit Plate

(I make chicken salad with ginger and grapes so it is a little sweet – a fruit plate or mixed fruit salad goes so well with it and kiwi, cuties and pomegranates are on sale this week; along with the croissants)

Baseball Camp and Cheer Meeting

 

MONDAY:   Beef Stew over Rice (This the leftover soup thickened up – YUMMY)

~ NO Night Activities – YEAH, I can do more laundry – whoohooo

 

TUESDAY:  Ham and Cheese Croissants, Veggie w/dip and Chips

(Sahlen’s lunch meat ham is on sale this week and baby carrots are too)

~ Boy Scout Meeting

 

WEDNESDAY:  PIZZA NIGHT (moved from Friday since kids are staying with Grandma on Friday!!) – Easy, Peasy for Daddy and the kids…  DiGiorno in the Freezer

(What an awesome deal that was on those frozen pizzas…am I right??)

~ Mama works, Night

 

THURSDAY:  BBQ Chicken Speedies

~ K leaves for Snowmobiling weekend, Kids have Fun Night at School (PLEASE Gramma??!!) and I have an evening Work Meeting

 

FRIDAY:  Pizza Night  NO-ONE home and I can eat cereal…yeah!!

 SATURDAY:  Kid’s I will have Take Out Chinese while the Daddy is gone… we LOVE it, he doesn’t…

 

SUNDAY:  LOL- giving the Turkey Dinner idea a brake since we had so much chicken already this week – Making another big pot of “Sauce” and Lasagna Roll-ups… I can taste it now!! 

So – What ‘chu up to?  Are you going shopping??  AND what are you planning to eat this week?? 

Let’s CHAT!!!!

 

 

 

Best TOPS deals ~ week of 2/24/13 ~ w/BONUS Gas Point Deals!

 

Quaker (Photo credit: amber.kennedy)

Prep for Tops – Visit their website at TOPS Click to Card Coupons HERE  , Make sure you load the Click to Card Coupons!

 

The BONUS deals are AWESOME this week… Check out the options I planned HERE:

 

The SNACK ATTACK – https://ourrealdeal.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/tops-week-of-22413-bonus-gas-point-deal-1-the-snack-attack/

 

BABY DEAL – (a Money Maker!!) – https://ourrealdeal.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/tops-bonus-gas-point-deal-2-baby-items-and-a-money-maker/

 

Third BONUS Gas Point Deal – Quaker Products

• Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cereal – $2.50
• Quaker Chewy Bars – $2.50
• Quaker Oats, 42 oz. – $3.00
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal – $3.00
• Quaker Soft Baked and Granola Cookies – $2.00
• Quaker Cap’n Crunch or Life Cereal – B1G1 FREE (@$3.99???, about $2.00 each WYB 2)

 

$1/2 Quaker Product, exp. 2/28/13 (ALL YOU Jan ’13)
$1/2 Quaker Product, exp. 6/30/13 (ALL YOU Feb ’13)

Buy 6, I choose Granola Bars, @ $2.50 each = $15.00

(2) $1/2 Coupons = $2 off

 = $13.00 Out of Pocket

Get 200 BONUS Gas Points, $6 Value

= $7.00 for 6 boxes, or only $1.17 per box!!!

Other GREAT Deals this week – Just the best deals, in my HUMBLE opinion:

 

Fruits and Veggies –

 

Pomegranates – B1G1 Free / $2.99

-.50 coupon (SS 1/13/13)  Doubled??

= $1.99 for 2, or only $1.00 each

 

Cuties, 2lb. bag – $2.97

.50 coupon (SS 2/24/13) Doubled??

= $1.97 / bag!

 

Bananas – .39/lb.

 

Peeled Baby Carrots – .99

 

Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetables – .99

 

Meats –

 

$.99 Meat Sale – Check out the Options… whole roasters, smoked picnic

 

Butterball Turkey Bacon – 2/$3          

-$0.55/1 Butterball Turkey Bacon, exp. 2/28/13 (SS 01/06/13 #3 R)
OR – $1/2 Butterball Turkey Bacon, exp. 2/28/13 (SS 01/06/13 #3)
-$0.55/1 Butterball Turkey Bacon or Breakfast Sausage (ALL YOU Feb ’13)

 = as low as $0.40

 

Brown N Serv Sausage – $1 (tried to buy these last week and they were $2.99 – OMG)

 

Breads, Grains, Cereals / Favorite Carbs –

 

Thomas’ Bagels – B1G1 Free (Save $4.69/2)

-$1 Click to Card coupon = $3.69/2 or only $1.85 each

 

Petite Croissants – B1G1  (perfect timing for the chicken salad this week!!)

 

Kellogg’s Cereal – Buy 4 and Get $4 off  (does anyone NEED cereal??  LOL –   Although there are lots of options if you do!!)

$1 off Juice and (2) Kellogg’s Krave Cereal printable
$0.50/1 Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats Cereal printable
$0.50/1 Kellogg’s Froot Loops Cereal printable
$1/3 Select Kellogg’s Cereals printable
$1/3 Kellogg’s Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Krave, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Crunchy Nut or Frosted Flakes Cereal printable
-$1/2 Kellogg’s Cinnamon Jacks Cereal, exp. 3/24/13 (RP 02/10/13 R)
-$1/2 Kellogg’s Scooby-Doo Cereal, exp. 3/24/13 (RP 02/10/13 R)
= ??  Will update tomorrow….

 

The Dairy Isle –

 

Tops Sour Cream – .99

 

Medium Eggs – $1 (Great Deal!!)

 

Yoplait Yogurt – 20/$10, .50 each

$0.40/6 Yoplait Yogurt printable
$1/10 Yoplait Yogurt Cups, exp. 3/2/13 (SS 01/06/13 #2 R)
$0.40/6 Yoplait Cups, exp. 4/20/13 (SS 02/24/13 R)
 = $2.20 for 6 or only .37 each… 

Other Deals –

 

Campbell’s Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soups – $0.75

$0.40/3 Campbell’s Condensed Soup printable
$1/5 Campbell’s Condensed Soups printable
$0.40/4 Condensed Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup, exp. 1/31/13 (SS 12/02/12 R)
$1/10 Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup, exp. 4/15/13 (SS 02/10/13 R)
$0.40/4 Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup, exp. 4/15/13 (SS 02/10/13 R)
= as low as $0.49 ea. wyb 3

 

Lipton Sides – $1 (Buy 2)

.50/2 coupon (1/27 RP)

= 2/$1.00, or only .50 each

 

TOPS, BONUS Gas Point Deal #2… Baby Items and a Money Maker!!

 

diaper sausages (Photo credit: rocketlass)

Here is an other BONUS Gas Point Deal from TOPS… This one is on baby items but I’ll tell you even though my kids are 12, 10 and 6 we still use and LOVE the Pampers Wipes for Travel clothes… LOVE them!!!  And getting them for .50/container is amazing!!  Check out these deals!!

 

The first Deal Idea is a MONEY MAKER…. Whoohooooo!!!!

 

Gas Point Deal  #2 – Buy 5 items and earn 200 BONUS Gas Points

 

• ·         Huggies – $19.99 / $2.00 Printable
• ·         Pediasure – $9.99  /  $3.00, $2.25  or $1.50 Printable (and SmartSource and Coupon Network)
• ·         Similac Ready to Feed – $6.49
• ·         Pampers – $8.99  /  $1.50 Printable
• ·         Pampers Wipes – $2.50  /  .50 Printable
• ·         Gerber Lil Crunchies – $2.00
• ·         Beech Nut Stage 1 Cereal – $1.67  /  $1.00 or $.75 Printable

 

BONUS Gas Point Deal  Idea  –  For the Baby on cereal

Buy (3) Beech Nut Cereal @ $1.67 each  = $5.01

– (3) .75 printable DOUBLED = $4.50 off

Buy (2) Wipes @ $2.50 each  = $5.00

– (2) .50 printable DOUBLED = $2.00 off

= $3.61 out of pocket

Earn 200 BONUS points, valued at $6.00

= +$2.39 – MONEY MAKER !!!

 

BONUS Gas Point Deal  Idea  – For the Baby/Kid, Wipes stock up!

Buy 5 Pampers Wipes @ $2.50 each = $12.50

-(4) $.50 /1 Pampers Wipes (printable DOUBLED from coupons.com – print 2 per computer) = $4.00 off

= $8.50 Out of Pocket

Earn 200 BONUS points, valued at $6.00

= $2.50 for 5 wipes, or only .50 each!

 

More to come… Stay tuned!!!

 

 

 

 

Finally Friday, on Saturday…. a weekly wrap-up!

 

  

Drinks (Photo credit: foilman)

It’s “FINALLY FRIDAY” ~ WhoooHooo…   AND I forgot to schedule this to post yesterday so it is coming out LATE… sorry!!

 

What a week of shopping and planning and FREE full tank of gas getting… whoohooo… CLICK HERE if you missed the write up.  BONUS – I am already back up to $2.00, the deals have been AMAZING!!  How about you – shopping??  Great Deals??  Free Gas??  DO TELL!!!!

 

I also fed “the masses” pretty darn well this week… I shared my SUPER EASY Roast Chicken and Potatoes HERE…  

 

As usual, lots of ongoing activity in the “Real Deal” household… still working the Girl Scout Magazine Sale so if you want to renew (or BUY) your ALL YOU – or any other magazine, please visit our site and do so securely through the Girl Scouts!!  Thank you for your Donation!!

 GIRL SCOUT MAGAZINE SALE:  http://girlscouts.qsp.com/store/Index.aspx

 

I also got down right personal this week with my controversially titled post:  What’s Up Wednesday ~ Has Ritalin replaced the good ‘ole butt-beating??  I am so touched by the outpouring of LOVE and SUPPORT I received about this post… THANK YOU!!!!  Good Lord, it helps to talk about it!!!

 

 

Okay – on to planning next week, some of the Match-ups are already done…  wholley Moses, I am on fire…. ~

Coupons to expect this Sunday:  1 Lonely insert this week… I think this means locals can buy the Daily News weekend edition on Saturday…??  Yes??   MAKE SURE the insert is in there!!!!

TOPS:  Here is the first of many deals:  Click HERE for “The Snack Attack”

CVS:   Click HERE for next week’s deals

Rite-aid:   Click HERE for next week’s deals

 

News on Next week:  I made the MOST AMAZING Vegetable Beef Soup and I plan on sharing that with you, of course there will be more shopping and deal doing… and we’ll see what controversy we can discuss sometime as well…  LOL!!  Have a GREAT weekend!!

Tops (week of 2/24/13) BONUS Gas Point Deal #1 ~ THE SNACK ATTACK

Doritos (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 It is looking like there will be quite a few BONUS Gas Point deal options next week at Tops… and I will share them with you as I see them…

Gas Point Deal  #1 – Buy 6 items and earn 200 BONUS Gas Points / THE SNACK ATTACK!!

• ·         Dorito’s @ 2/$6 – Load Click to Card – $3/2 = $2/3 or $1.50 each
• ·         Pepsi 8 pack Slim Cans @ 2/$7 – Load Click to Card – $3/2 = 2/$4 or $2.00 each
• ·         Fritos, Cheetos, Ruffles @ 2/$6 – Load Click to Card – $3/2 = $2/3 or only $1.50 each
• ·         Pepsi 24 pack Cubes @ 2/$11 – Load Click to Card – $1/2 = $2/10 or $5 each
• ·         Lipton or Brisk 12 pack or Pure Leaf 6 pack @ 2/$9 – Load Click to Card – $1/2 = 2/$8 or $4.00 each
• ·         Starbucks 4 pack @ 2/$8 – Load Click to Card – $1/2 = $2/7 or $3.50 each 

~ No coupons unless we get a secret PepsiCo Insert this weekend… But here is a Snacky-Snack Deal on the Super Cheap, just make sure you load the “Click to Card” Coupons before you go and unfortunately you will only be able to do this once!!

Deal:

Buy 2 Doritos @ $1.50 each = $3.00

2 (8) Pack Slim Cans @ $2.00 each = $4.00

2 Cheetos, Fritos or Ruffles @ $1.50 each = $3.00

All 6 = $10.00 Out of Pocket

200 BONUS Gas Points valued at $6.00

= all 6 for only $4.00 –  a REAL DEAL  @ only $.66 each!!

  

 

 

CVS Deals ~ week of 3/24/13

A number of different Mentos flavors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A couple FREEBIES at CVS this week…  more Poise and a Thermacare Patch!  Then there is super cheap Aveeno…   and Mentos and Colgate for less than .50 each!!   Well worth a quick trip!!

 

Poise wash, towelettes, and fresheners  -$3.99

– $3/1 Poise Feminine Wellness Product, exp. 3/23/13 (SS 02/10/13 R)

Get $1 ECB (limit 1).  

= FREE!

 

Thermacare Lower Back Heat Wrap 1ct. – $3.49
Get $3.49 ECB (limit 1)
= FREE!!

 

Aveeno Skin, Hair, Facial or Sun Care, excludes men’s, baby, moisturizing bars or eczema 2ct. or lotion under 3oz. – Products priced at $4.49 – $11.99
– $2/2 Aveeno, excludes cleansing bars, trial sizes and 2.5 oz body lotions 02/24/2013 SS Insert (exp 03/31/2013)
Get $10 ECB wyb 3 (limit 1)
= as low as $.16 each wyb 3

 

Mentos Gum 15ct. – $.99
Get $1 ECB wyb 2 (limit 1)
=  $.49 each wyb 2

 

Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief Toothpaste or Toothbrush – $4.99
– $0.50/1 or $1/2 Colgate Toothpaste, 4 oz+ 02/24/2013 SS Insert (exp 03/16/2013)
Get $4 ECB (limit 2)
= as low as $.49!