Best Publix Trip

I went to Publix today and knew that it was going to be a good day. I had a $5 off $25 Rite Aid coupon and $4 in Register Rewards from Walgreens to use before I even got to my other coupons. I also had four Target $1 off produce coupons. I've never seen these before until this week and I was so excited to get some cheap produce.

Here's what my trip looked like.



Here's what my total and savings looked like.



So before tax I spent $30.26 and saved $45.71. I was super excited. I also went to Winn-Dixie to get B1G1 chicken, B1G1 avocados, 10/$10 Powerade and 10/$10 tuna.

Yay for saving money!

Parmesan Basil Tilapia

I love fish, and tilapia is one of my favorites. It has a very mild flavor and you can do so many things with it. I found this recipe at http://pbfingers.com/. My parents are on the low-carb diet right now so I was trying to find a tilapia recipe that was low-carb, but still something I could enjoy as well.

There wasn't really an ingredient list, but it's pretty self explanatory. Spray fillets with cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt. Broil fish until fully cooked (less than 10 minutes). Top fillets with mixture of parmesan cheese and basil (I used dried basil). Place back in oven to broil until cheese becomes slightly brown and crisp.

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I have an addiction.....to oatmeal. I'm obsessed and have been trying to find new ways to use oats. I came across this recipe in http://carrotsncake.com/ and knew that I had to try it. I love sweet potatoes and oats so I knew it had to be a winning combination.
This is a quick and easy recipe, and it made it even quicker because I just so happened to have a sweet potato in the fridge that I had baked a couple of nights ago but ended up not eating.

These are super healthy and not overly sweet, which I like. Plus you're getting your veggies in a cookie!

Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup applesauce
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup mashed sweet potato

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Combine ingredients in a large bowl, blend well.
3. Spray a baking sheet non-stick cooking spray, line with parchment paper.
4. Use tablespoon to portion cookie on baking sheet. Flatten cookie with back of spoon.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes
6. Eat and enjoy!

Makes 24





I love the texture of these cookies. The exterior is a little crunchy while the inside is nice and chewy.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Oatmeal Cookie

In one of my first posts I wrote about overnight oats. Another oatmeal recipe that I've found in the blog world is breakfast oatmeal cookie. It's similar to overnight oats because you mix it up and let it sit overnight.

The one difference with the breakfast cookie is that you use less liquid and substance to mix it up. You want it to be more crumbled than regular thick oatmeal. So far I have used milk, peanut butter/applesauce to bind the cookie together.

With this cookie I used milk and applesauce to bind it together. I also added a packet of splenda, dash of cinnamon, and a few raisins. Once you mix it all up you put the mixture on a plate and flatten it out with the back of your spoon into a big cookie shape.

The next morning you can top it with yogurt, jam, peanut butter, fruit...anything you want really. :)

I forgot to take a picture of it before I put the toppings on. I topped it with Stonyfield fat free plain yogurt, strawberries, and a dash of cinnamon.





Breakfast Oatmeal Cookie:
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1 tbsp nonfat milk
1 spoonful applesauce
1 packet of splenda
dash of cinnamon
few raisins

New Left Foot

I'm beginning to think I need a new left foot. Last summer my left foot started hurting a lot. As most of you know, I exercise and workout frequently. At the time I was doing a lot of jogging on the treadmill. Back then I would go through phases where I got hooked on doing one specific cardio workout. (Now I mix it up and do different things almost every day.)

Anyway, turns out I had a stress fracture in my foot. I had to wear a boot on my leg for 4 weeks and this other shoe thing for another 2 weeks. During those 6 weeks I realized how much I missed working out and exercising. I also realized that I have to take better care of my body and not put too much stress on it. It was a slow process, but I finally got back to working out again. All was well....or so I thought.

During this past Christmas break while I was home from school my foot started hurting again. I immediately thought that I had fractured it again. I went back to the doctor. This time I told him about my scoliosis and how I have one leg longer than the other (yes I know it's weird lol). So he thought that since my right leg was longer I was putting more stress on my left foot on impact. I was fitted for inserts for my tennis shoes to even things out. This seemed to help and I haven't had any problems....until now.

I have been working this summer on an average of 4 days a week (sometimes 5, but very rarely). Last week my foot started hurting again, and it's been pretty bad the past couple of days. I tried working out this morning and didn't get too far. It was just hurting too much. I'm going to give my foot a couple of days of rest and see if it gets any better. It isn't really swollen or anything, so hopefully that's a good sign.

I'm just frustrated and tired of this happening over and over again. I'm hoping and praying that maybe I've just over done it and it needs a few days off. I start my new job next Wednesday, so I want to be pain free and ready to go by then. :)

I'm a slacker...

So I know I said I was going to post more and try my best to keep this up to date. Truth is I just totally forget about posting. I've been busy with wedding planning and job hunting. Brandon and his mom were here last week to do some planning and find a place for the rehearsal dinner (which they found a great place).

I have good news though...I got a job! I got a call yesterday from Columbia Southern University, an online university in Orange Beach. I will be working in Admissions as a Customer Service Rep. I start on August 18 and I can't wait!

In other news, we have our location set for the wedding and reception. It's going to be at a plantation style house. Friends of ours from church live there and have been wanting to do weddings there. I will be the first wedding there and I can't wait. It's going to be fabulous!

To totally change the subject, I had my most successful trip to Publix ever last Saturday. Before tax I spent $34 and saved $38. After tax it was $38. I was super excited. I'm not sure how I will do this week. There isn't much in this week's ad that I need. I will probably be buying more produce than other grocery items. There are only a few BOGO deals and a lot of good produce deals this week. I am excited about the produce though. I think I'll be buying more from Winn-Dixie this week. Their ad seems to be a bit better.

I'm really going to try to post as much as I can in the next 3 weeks before I start my new job. I know after that I'm going to be so busy and tired that I'll be lucky to post every 2 weeks or so. Have a great day!

Publix Trip 7/8/10

I haven't really had any posts yet about couponing and the frugal side of me. It all started around 6 months ago when my mom started to really get into the coupon thing. It's really big down here. She started going to coupon classes and learned a lot about the grocery stores, drug stores, and their coupon policies. She also learned about cutting out coupons from the Sunday paper and printing out coupons online. She was told how to create a coupon book. This is basically a 3 ring binder that you fill with baseball card sheets to put your coupons in. You then buy dividers and label each section. For instance some of the labels are cereal, canned food, hygiene, medications, etc. It really helps having it all organized.

Anyway, after she had learned all of this she told me about it. I was still in college at the time and didn't think I would have much time for it. She got me a binder and dividers and while I was home for Spring Break I put mine together.

Once I started to see how much she was saving it got me hooked. The best grocery store for couponing has is Publix. They let you use 2 coupons on Buy 1 Get 1 Free items. The Publix in Fairhope accepts coupons from Target, Winn Dixie, Walgreens, CVS, and Brunos. You can also combine a Publix coupon with a manufacturer coupon, or a Competitor coupon with a manufacturer coupon on one item. They have really good B1G1 deals every week at Publix. Winn-Dixie usually has good B1G1 deals too. They also have better deals on meat than Publix most of the time.

Since I still don't have a job and have had too much time on my hands (unfortunately), I have been doing most of the grocery shopping to help my parents out. I made the weekly trip to Publix on Thursday.

Here's how I did...



As you can see before tax I spent $34.68 and saved $31.58. I was a little over $3 from saving as much as I spent....so close! I also made a trip to Winn-Dixie where I think I spent around $44 and saved $28..or somewhere around there.

I'm hoping to eventually get to where I save more than what I spend in total. It's going to come in handy once Brandon and I are married and are on a tight budget. :)