Sunday, November 29, 2009

What I bought today at Kmart

Cheap towels.

In bright colors.

I mean REALLY bright.

Lime, purple, red, yellow. They match the new Fiestaware. They match the new wall colors. They are quirky, and useful and they

make
.
me
.
smile

When they wear out, rip, get used to wash the car

I'll
.
go
.
buy
.
new
.
ones

(The bath size are $2.50 each. Hand towels are $2.39. I use Hand towels in the kitchen. They're sturdier and more absorbent than typical kitchen textiles. Check this week's Kmart ad. I think the price is good through tomorrow at least. Maybe all week.)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

WHERE'S the STOCKPILE post?

It's overwhelmed, buried under a sea of painters and ladders, plastic wrap, tarps and burly guys clunking heavy boots across the floors. Also, it's been an amazing time for couponing, so I've been busy chasing down the deals for my subs and clipping my own coupons.

In a nutshell. If you're buying a lot of groceries, you can get a turkey for free from Basha's. (spend $100, get a free turkey). I never spend that much in one trip. Otherwise, their turkeys are 39c/lb, which is still an awesome price.

Fry's has them for 37c/lb. Albertson's and Safeway are also comparably priced. So is Pros Ranch Market.

Check out the Pros Ranch ad. They're Wednesday special is good again next Wednesday because of the holiday. As are the Thursday meat specials. Most of the stores do not print out a new ad on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I presume because they figure people have so much food in the house and are so preoccupied with the holiday that they won't be out shopping the day after. But here's a tip:

Keep an eye for in-store specials (probably listed in a newspaper ad) at the major grocery stores. Last year I picked up orange juice, bacon, eggs, fruit, a few other staples for super-cheap the few days after Thanksgiving from a store flyer posted at the store.

I just looked at Pros Ranch...they have the HONEYSUCKLE turkey for 37c/lb. It's 79c/lb at most of the other stores, so if you like that brand, Pros Ranch is the place to get it.

Gotta go. I'm hoping my equilibrium returns when the smell of paint departs.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The lowdown on produce

Winter is coming and prices aren't as awesome as they were when the harvest first came in a month or so ago. That doesn't mean that prices aren't still pretty awesome. El Rancho Market's produce specials run Wednesday and Thursday. So you can still take advantage today.

This week they have fresh broccoli 33c/lb, Fuji apples 2 lbs/99c, roma tomatoes 33c/lb, potatoes - 10 lb bag for 89c.

All week, they're offering cabbage 20c/lb and cantaloupe 20c/lb.

Food City has bananas 33c/lb, cilantro and green onions 25c/bunch and mangos 33c each. As mentioned on Monday's post - chayote squashes are 20c today.

El Rancho Market wins the chicken wars this week with bonless, skinless chicken breast for $1.39/lb. Next up is Fry's at $1.57/lb. Both are good prices and worth the stockup.

Fresh and Easy has Jennie-Os basted frozen turkeys for 37c/lb. Safeway has boneless round for $1.47/lb. Cube it and slow-cook it for stew. Also, it's a good bet for grinding into hamburger.

Fry's has Kroger sugar 97c/4 lbs. I doubt it's going to get any cheaper without a coupon, so now is the time to stock up for the year. It's limit 4.

Gotta go. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to post later!

Monday, November 9, 2009

The problem with frozen produce is...

...I never seem to get to it because there are so many great deals out there on the fresh stuff.

Hello, my name is Mindy.Likes.To.Coupon and I'm a produce junkie.

Food City has chayote squash 5 for $1 on Thursday. That makes my heart go pitter-pat. How many people get happy over squash?

They also have mangos 33c each all week. Good. Been looking for something new to put in my smoothies. And shhhh...(don't tell anybody) I'm going to swing by on Wednesday to pick up fresh crema in the deli for 99c/lb. That stuff is so good, it should be illegal. I should pair it with the bacon-grease laced potatoes I fed my family yesterday. That way I can get all the guilt over at once.

I'm heading to El Rancho Market today to pick up Donald Duck Orange Juice for 99c (limit 1), Value time Paper Towels for 3/$1 (limit6) and Gamesa Marias Cookies, 4.9 oz roll, 5/$1, first 10.

Don't tell anybody about those cookies, either. They aren't for me. They're for the kids. They like to dunk them in their milk. I figure the milk balances out the empty calories from those delectable dunkable cookies.

I'm also going to get the Abuelita Chocolate tabs I told you about a few posts ago. And something called Klass Atole (4/$1). I bought a few of them last week and my family loved it. It's kind of like blancmange and you sweeten to taste, instead of that oversugared pudding you get in the box. It's great with cooked fruit.

No extra gas will be used in my pursuit of these items. It's on my way. Pretty much. And I drive a Prius, okay?

I know I'm flagged from shopping, but my family makes exceptions for cookies. And pudding.

Oh - and what's cooking at the Stockpile Lady's kitchen?

LEFTOVERS! My son made us pasta last night topped with the tomato sauce I made a week or so ago. The pasta was free with coupons and the tomatoes very cheap at Pros Ranch market. The parmesan cheese wedge that we grated fresh was not cheap, but hey! when coupons make everything else free, why not go for a little luxury?

Speaking of coupons...CouponSense is running a great promo right now. Sign up for a $4 trial month, subscribe to the Arizona Republic through CouponSense (we have great rates and several options for subscriptions) and be refunded for your trial month! So you get to see CouponSense in action for free, get the paper to read, as well as have your weekly coupons delivered right to your door, and get ME, Mindy Likes to Coupon as your very own instructor.

Kinda makes you tingly just thinking about it, huh?

Email me at Mindy.likes.to.coupon at gmail dot com for details and to get signed up. C'mon, you definitely want to get signed up. Yesterday, I purchased frozen vegetables, tissues and fresh pineapples for free.

You heard me. Free.

Well, 6c. I had to pay tax on the tissues.

It was a $10 savings off the already low sale prices. That alone pays for a trial month and then some. And you know, $10 today, $30 tomorrow, $40 the next day, pretty soon, you're talking about a college fund.

And if you're already a subscriber and YOU DO NOT HAVE AN INSTRUCTOR, email me. You can also take advantage of this offer. What a deal!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Don't make this because it's truly horrible for you...

...although it is a great way to get rid of leftover mashed potatoes.

Here's the first part of the problem:

I have at least 20 25 pounds of potatoes in my pantry from various recent sales. They're holding up pretty well because they're in a cool, dry place, but they aren't going to last forever.

Here's the second part of the problem:

My family are not big eaters. I'm the biggest eater here and I'm always on a diet. That's because I'm also the biggest person here. Because I'm always on a diet, I rarely eat potatoes.

Potatoes are great fillers for meals, but my family doesn't really need fillers because they don't eat that much. They like potatoes, but the potatoes fill them up and they can't eat more.

Hence, my problem.

So I made up a bunch of mashed potatoes earlier in the week and have been looking for ways to get rid of them ever since. I made a casserole with them and the family LOVES the casserole, but there's still some left!

Because they aren't big eaters.

This morning, everybody has a hankering for eggs, or, to be more correct, bacon. I mushed up the mashed potatoes and cooked them in the grease left from the bacon and fed them to my family.

You heard me.

I didn't make much of it because with the picky eaters around here, I was afraid they wouldn't like it.

I was wrong.

So I'm making up the rest of the mashed potatoes tomorrow morning in more bacon grease and I'm going to serve it to my family.

Fortunately, it's Saturday. I can go to confession and get pre-forgiven for this impending heart-unhealthy sin.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

A little more stockpiling and what I'm cooking for dinner tonight

Check out Albertson's ad.

They have a 5 for $5 sale going on through Tuesday.

Pineapples - $1
5 lbs Pillsbury flour - $1 (please get unbleached, whole wheat if it's offered!)
Albertson's cereal - $1 - good variety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soooo, what's cooking at the Stockpile Lady's Kitchen tonight?

That whole turkey breast I got for free at Fry's yesterday. Yes, I said free. There's a coupon for a free turkey if you spend $100 in the Albertson's circular this week. Fry's is taking competitor coupons. Hence, free turkey.

But, Mindy, we thought you said you spent under $60.

That's AFTER coupons. The cool thing is Fry's will honor a promo price BEFORE coupons. Since I saved over $300 yesterday, making $100 BEFORE coupons wasn't difficult.

Back to the turkey breast:

My freezers are packed. There just isn't anymore room. That's why I have to cook the turkey breast. When it's defrosted, I'll split it and pressure cook it with onion, garlic and whatever else looks good.

I have leftover mashed potatoes. I'm going to 'remake' them with some free Garlic and Herb Marie Callender's croutons I picked up a while back (soften with balsamic vinegar, mix into thinned down potatoes.) I'll put the potatoes in individual casseroles, place thin slices of turkey breast over that, top the whole thing with chedder and broil for a few minutes.

I think I'll add a layer of frozen broccoli from one of the many free or near-free bags of frozen veggies populating my freezers. I'll put that under the turkey.

It'll be kind of like a turkey, chedder, broccoli sandwich over herbed bread. It'll look great and I'm making it for pennies.

The rest of the turkey I'll refrigerate in the coldest part of my fridge, in the gellee left from the pressure cooking, sit back and try to think of other inventive things to do with it in the days to come. It's almost 9 pounds. The family will be turkey'd out by Thanksgiving.

The good news is, if I can clear some of those frozen veggies, I may be able to finagle some room to foodsaver and freeze some of the turkey before my family is tired of it.

Which is to say...

My family has flagged me from food shopping for a while. They say to eat what we have. I'm forced to agree or put an addition on our house for all the extra food. Therefore, aside from my stockpiling posts, you'll be subjected to running litanies of my daily attempts to eat a dent into our stockpile.

Preferably without me getting fat.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

El Rancho Market - a stockpiler's haven

I meant to put this up earlier, but I lost my ad. Then I found it. Then I lost it. Then I found it. Lost it. Found it. Lost it. And finally...

finally...

found it.

(Oh please great corporate people who run El Rancho Market, take pity on me, your lowly, forgetful novitiate and put up a WEBSITE.)

Until then, I must be satisfied with a single ad, mailed to arrive on Tuesday.

Here goes:

T-bone steak, 3.77/lb, limit 2
Milk is $1.50/gallon
18 ct. Hickman's Large Eggs, $1.50
Betty Crocker Cake Mix - 77c
Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta - 99c

(savvy couponers among you know there are coupons out there for the Ronzoni.)

But the real reason, El Rancho Market holds a place in my stockpiling soul this week? Or at least tomorrow, Thursday? The following specials!

Bananas 4/99c
tomatoes 4/99c
Cilantro 5 bunches/99c
Radishes 6 bunches/99c
Red Globe Grapes 69c/lb
Mexican Squash 3 lb/99c
and...
10 lb bags of chicken leg quarters, 39c/lb or $3.90 for the bag

And piloncillo. That stuff I was so happy to get on sale at Pros Ranch a few weeks ago? Only 33c/lb.

Cool.

Abuelita Chocolate, the 19 oz size is $1.99. Go to the website, here, and register and you can print two coupons worth 75 cents each. That makes the chocolate $1.24. As lovely as Abuelita chocolate is, it's even lovelier at over 1/3 off the sale price.

If you haven't an El Rancho near you, stop in at Food City for their Thursday produce specials:

cukes 20c each
cabbage 25c/lb
FUYU Persimmons!!! - 25c each
Mexican squash - 33c/lb

1 lb bags of carrots are 33c all week.
Brown Onion are 25c/lb all week
Chayote are 25c/lb all week
******
Wanted to point out that hats, gloves and fleece throws are cheap at Walgreen's this week. They also have a bunch of small appliances on sale for $7.99 each. I own and use a few of them regularly, so I'll attest that you'll get your $7.99 worth and beyond out of them.

And always, ALWAYS check out the clearance bin. You never know what will pop up there. The other day I picked up a ton of storage containers for a few dollars.

Pros Ranch had good deals this week, just not good enough for me to drive the distance. Be sure to check out the ad. Also, Fry's Mega-Event, even if you don't coupon, has some great prices. Of course, if you couponed, you might have done like I did today and walked out of the store with two carts full of food for under $60.

You know the drill. Sign up for CouponSense, use my referral number, choose Mindy C****** from the instructor list and you too can hold up a line of disbelieving shoppers while they watch your total drop, drop, drop.

Fry's is taking competitor coupons this week.

I'll be back.