Latest Grocery Deals

Seeing that it is the end of the month and my food money was almost spent, I wasn't checking the ads this week.  But I got a call from my friend telling me the deals she just picked up at the grocery store.  I couldn't resist.  I counted up the remaining cash in the "Food" envelope. Yes, I'm working with cash only these days and using envelopes too.  I'm a fan of this method, but that's another post.  I still had $30.00 remaining for the month, so off I went to the store.

Here's what I bought.  I'm not much of a coupon shopper but I did use some coupons this time.  Although I didn't bring them with me.  They already had them at the store.  I ended up with

5 packages of Philsbury Grand biscuits

5 boxes of Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes

4 cans Hunts spaghetti sauce

8 packages American Beauty pasta, assorted

2 packages american cheese slices

1 bunch of bananas

The pasta was $.78 each but there was a $1.00 off coupon on the package when you bought 2 bags.  So they came out at $.28 each.  I already have my year supply of pasta but that was too good of a deal to pass up. 

The grand total spent was...$19.59

I just love it when I get some good deals!  And I still have a few bucks to last til the end of the month!

Easy, Easy Cookies

Homemade Oreos

I don't really like Oreo cookies.  So to me this name doesn't do these cookies justice.  They are much better than oreos.  This version is soft and chewy and easy to make.  It's another recipe that I can make anytime because I always have the ingredients on hand.

1 box any flavor cake mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
 

Place cake mix, oil and eggs in mixing bowl.  Mix until well blended.  You can use an electric mixer but a wooden spoon does the trick too.
Drop by rounded teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. (cookie scoops and parchment paper save time and cleanup)
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
Cool 3 minutes on cookie sheet then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
The cookies are puffed and full when they first come out of the oven.  While cooling they will flaten a bit.

These cookies can be eaten right away or made into oreo's by taking 2 equal sized cookies and adding frosting to the middle.  I had some cream cheese frosting left over in my fridge so that's what I used.

Makes about 3 dozen single cookies

New Cook Book

My daughter, Kelli, gave me this cook book for Christmas. 

It's The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drumond.  I was so excited I sat and looked through the whole book on christmas morning.

I've been following The Pioneer Woman's cooking blog for quite some time now.  It's fun and informative.  You ought to check out her blog HERE  I love the pictures and boy can she tell a story.  Anyway, I've been wanting this cookbook and with some hints from her aunts, Kelli got it for me.  There are many pictures, which I love, and not an overabundance of recipes, another thing I love about a cookbook.  I've already tried out a few recipes, but that's another post.

Here's a sampling from the book, PW's Potato Skins.  Yum! 
I think you'll like this cookbook as much as I am enjoying it.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the easiest recipe I have! Without a doubt the easiest cookies ever. Plus I always (almost always) have all the ingredients on hand. Here goes...

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

2 spice flavored cake mixes (any brand will do-in a pinch i've even used one spice and one carrot cake)
1 29 oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie-just plain pumpkin)
1 package chocolate chips (I like milk chocolate but any will do)

Dump dry cake mixes into a bowl.  Add canned pumpkin and stir together until well combined.  Add chocolate chips.   Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  I always use parchment paper and my cookie scoop.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, depending on the size. 

This recipe makes ALOT.  I've halfed the recipe and it works great.  We don't ever have a problem with a whole recipe getting eaten around here.

Snicker Doodles

The first time I had these cookies I was in 7th grade Home Ec class.
I thought they were wonderful.
I had to introduce them to my family.
They loved them too.
We've been making them ever since.

Here's my original recipe from 7th grade. Yes, it's typed on a typewriter. I was pretty proud of that fact. But now I'm dating myself. Kids now days haven't even seen a typewriter before.

Snicker Doodles

cream together:

1 cup shortening (I use half butter)

1 1/2 cups sugar

Add:

2 eggs and beat until light and fluffy

Stir in:

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 3/4 cups flour.

Rolls into balls the size of walnuts

Mix 2 T. cinnamon and 4 T. sugar in a small bowl.

Roll cookie balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 for 8 minutes

I like to use a small cookie scoop. It's quicker and makes the cookies more uniform in size.

I use parchment paper on my cookie sheets. The cookies don't stick and it makes cleanup much easier.
The cookies will be light in color and very soft until cooled. They have a crisp taste but still stay soft.

This recipe has been doubled from the original. It makes about 5 dozen cookies. But I still double it from time to time. I don't ever have a problem with leftover snicker doodles.

Grocery Bargains

I just got back from the grocery store and man, did I get some deals. I love getting bargains at the grocery store. I'll be sharing my shopping deals from time to time here.


Maybe this doesn't look like much. But let me explain.
I spent $56.11 and got:
2 bags tortilla chips
3 tubes toothpaste
8 half pints whiping cream
2 packages onion dip mix
2 cans cranberry sauce
3 Betty Crocker cake mixes
10 pounds of butter
10 8 oz packages cream cheese
1 can cream of celery soup
2 boxes Townhouse Flip crackers
2 boxes Triscut crackers
2 boxes Wheat Thins crackers
some disposable pans and
1 pound crab salad (Harmon's is really yummy)
I only used 2 coupons (I usually don't like using coupons) The first one was a coupon at the store and the second coupon was one I printed at coupons.com. They do have some good coupons there. Check it out here. Anyway, I saved $47.87 off of the store prices and another $4.00 with the 2 coupons and $.15 by bringing my own bags. So once again I spent $56.11 but my savings was $52.02.
You may think this looks like a crazy bunch of stuff to buy. But with the holidays upon us, I know I will be using all of it.

P.S. All these deals were found at Harmon's