100 Dollars a Month...

Silpats Are On Sale...

2011-07-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

Did you know Silpats are on sale right now for only $15.45!

This is such a great deal that I seriously want to stop people in the street and tell them about it. It's that exciting!

Want a Silpat? Go HERE!

Onehundreddollarsamonth.com

{ $100 GIVEAWAY } Where In The World Is Mavis...

2011-06-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

Forget the backpack...

I had to breakout the suitcase for this trip!

This week I'm giving away a $100 gift card to Home Depot! I'm moving... Yep. I'm hitting the road... I'm outta here... But don't worry... I'm bringing all my favorite things with me...

Like my laptop... my coupon binder... my nerd glasses... my favorite hat... FREE PANTY LINERS... and you didn't think I'd leave white fatty behind did you?

Come see my new home...

Onehundreddollarsamonth.com

WHERE ARE THE POSTS?

2011-01-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for the rest of my posts... you can find them at onehundreddollarsamonth.com

I'm in the process of moving everything over there.

Monthly Food Purchase ... April 2010

2010-04-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Did you get last Sunday's Paper? Because there is a coupon for $1.00 off ANY Care free product... and guess what's only .99 cents at Target? PANTY LINERS!!! FREE... Wooo Hooo... What are you waiting for... go get some!

Would you believe I only paid .52 cents total for the steak sauce and Wooochester sauce?
And free smelly dog food to boot!

I can't wait to see my niece's face when she opens the box with a year's supply of panty liners this Christmas... because really... what kid wouldn't LOVE to open that in front of everyone!

Ummm.... you can pretty much assume I had a "weak" moment when I saw these in the clearance section at Target... AND I HAD COUPONS! This is EXACTLY why the teenagers keep coming back to our house...

It looks like we will be eating bagels and cream cheese for a looooong time

$5.47
How is that even possible?
Basically... if you have a coupon (double coupon that is) you should never have to pay for cereal, flavored water, soda, baby wipes, pasta, gum, seasonings, yogurt or toiletries...

But if you want REAL FOOD... food with ingredients with ONE word...
like Chicken... or Asparagus...
Well... you'll have to pay for that.
Because there are NO coupons for REAL FOOD...

FREE

FREE... you should never have to pay for benadryl either... I usually go thru 1/2 a box a year (bee stings)... but I ended up bringing home 8 boxes for FREE this month... I'm thinking about opening a mini mart...

See the free baby wipes?
If you are having a baby this year...
guess what you'll be getting in your gift basket?

Oh... and let's not forget the free money making scrubbing bubbles...
my peeps will be getting some of those in their Christmas pallets too...
In fact one lucky gift palleter will receive a year supply of tide...

Oh and cough drops... please email me your favorite flavor...

But I'm greedy and keeping all the free zip lock bags for myself.

But don't worry... everyone is getting a year supply of pasta...

Tons of free peanut butter cups...

Free Kashi & smelly room fresheners at Target...

And free oreos when you become a "fan" on their facebook page...

Rite Aid rules...
If you don't know about Rite Aid...
you should look into it... they have a super cool rebate program...
basically... at the end of the month, you end up with a boat load of free crapola...

Oh Mavis... you are going to H in a hand basket...
just look at all that crap... no wonder the teenagers
keep coming here week after week.

I think the handsome husband's wine was like $44... everything else was free...

I remember paying exactly .06cents for this... Yummm pineapple!

Hey look... apples, apple pears and peppers...

2 Costco pizza's $21.14

Free plus I made a little spare change on this deal...

Tissue and cough drops =Free
Bananas = $2.14

$1.80... and it's ALL CRAP... Healthy Choice my arse!

This is getting pretty ugly...

I'm going backwards since I discovered coupons...

Remember last month when I said I didn't have a dog? Well... I still don't.
I put the dog food in my cart... because for every 6 cans of dog food (I had coupons) I made .71 cents... so basically, the money making dog food = free 1/2 & 1/2, rolls and onions.
Lucky for me a friend is putting together a "dog auction basket"... guess what I'll be donating?

Real Food

The See's chocolate chips and candy were free (gift card), the man beer and chips were for you know who...

I PAID for the granola cereal... but only .29 cents a box...

Well...
that's it folks...
The good, the bad and the VERY ugly.
I fully expect to be driving my rascal scooter around the grocery store sometime soon...
Ummm.... Because I'll be to big TO WALK...

*******

My total food purchases for April was $353.91
Under budget again... (for the last 4 months in a row now)...

Since the whole 3/50 thing did not work out for me last month...
I've decided to do my grocery shopping for the month of May "Dave Ramsey" style.

I'm not one for the whole envelope system... I have way to much self control for that...
But I thought it might be kind of fun to see if I could actually split my grocery money in half this month...

1/2 for CRAP food... 1/2 for REAL food

AND

Since I'm only $106 away from earning my new Le Creuset Saucier Pan... AND I WANT IT NOW... I'm trimming the budget this month and only putting $147 into the Crap food envelope and $147 into the REAL food envelope... and to shame myself into buying more REAL food in the month of May I'm keeping a running tally on the top right of the page. And I expect YOU to hold me accountable!

~Mavis

Weekly dinner round up...

2010-04-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Smelly brussel sprouts (free & from a box in the frozen food section)... with free pasta and home canned tomato sauce...

Pancakes, bacon (from happy pigs) and eggs from our hens...
I don't know about you...but I like ketchup with my eggs...

After I worked all day in the yard... I came inside and the handsome husband asked... What's for dinner?
This is what I came up with.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who serves french fries, rice, graham crackers with peanut butter, cheese and crackers, 1 quesadilla and fruit and veggies for dinner...

If you've never made homemade tortilla's before...
MAKE THESE...
You will never go back to crappy store bought tortillas...
EVER!

They were sooooo good
that I ate my dinner over the sink next to the blue sponge...
and I NEVER eat over the sink (I think it might be a man thing)
but they were so stinkin good that I could not wait to sit down...

Chicken Curry and asparagus...

Soft taco's... with homemade tortillas...again...
this time I was able to sit down at the table and eat them...
3 of them to be exact...

The truth is revealed... coupon clipping questions answered.

2010-04-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

Thyhand asked a bunch of questions in yesterday's monthly food purchase photo update... so I thought I'd answer them in a new post today... just in case you had some of the same questions.

*********

1) How do you keep everything organized once it's home and in your house?

Cabinet space in our kitchen is limited to 2 large cupboards with food... everything else goes in the "food storage" room... or the "mini mart" as the handsome husband likes to call it. However my free shampoo/ toiletries collection was getting rather large so I had to move the "dry goods" to another closet. I fully expect to be on the show Hoarders by the end of the summer.

2) How do you determine how much of a back supply you will keep for yourself? For example, if you already have a year's supply of laundry detergent, do you stop keeping detergent and just donate the rest?

I DO have a years supply of laundry detergent, so... obviously I can stop collecting free detergent for myself. But I'm working on a years supply for Leopard Girl & Little Miss Lawyer Pants for their Christmas Pallets. When I'm done with their year supply I will be donating the rest to a Woman's shelter.

3) Can you tell I am trying to figure out the workings of your thrifty, thrifty mind?:-)

A penny saved is a penny earned. Not using a coupon is like throwing away money.

.72 cents PLUS 1 Free gallon of milk... Keep what you'll eat... donate the rest!

4) When your garden becomes more demanding, will you be able to back off on the deal-hunting or will you shift things into over-drive?

I don't know what I will do during growing season. I will probably have enough free crapola on hand that I can take it easy during the summer months... but I have no idea... I've only been on coupon crack for 2 months and I'm still figuring it all out.

5) On average, how many hours per day would you say that you spend coupon-hunting/clipping and shopping for all your deals?

Right now... 1-2 hours... but each day it gets less and less. THAT MAY SEEM LIKE A LOT... (and maybe it is) but I'd rather spend 1 -2 hours a day looking/ clipping/ shopping for free food than sitting on my bum watching mindless reality tv or shopping at the mall or getting my nails done or doing something else equally lame. Here's an example... yesterday we went to Albertson's and bought $83 worth of food for $1.30. Would you rather get up, go to work, pay taxes and earn $83 or would you rather take 15 minutes and clip a few coupons and pay only $1.30 for $83 worth of food? Hmmmm

6) This is not a question, but someone should hire you as their personal shopper.

I don't think it would be fun doing this for someone else... I'm weird that way...

Yesterday's Freebies

7) You should win some kind of award (also not a question) or teach some kind of coupon class or start a coupon clipping blog or something to get the word out on your coupon-using-self.

I have offered to teach a few people (friends) about the whole coupon clipping game... but the funny things is...no one seems to have the time... to save money...

*******

There is ONE QUESTION I was waiting for someone to ask... but no one did...

Did you forget the name of your blog?

No, I have not. When I started this little blog of mine a year ago the goal was to "jump off the processed food chain." And I was doing a pretty good job of it if you ask me... until about 2 months ago... when I discovered THE POWER OF A COUPON...

Where does that leave me?

I have no idea.

But the Farmer's Market opens soon...
and I will be working in the garden for a few hours each day once again...
and I'm just as curious as you ... to see where that leads...
But I do know one thing for sure...
Once you start to use coupons... why would you stop?
Those little pieces of paper = free money
And oddly enough... it's not about the free money... it's about not wasting it.

Why would you pay $3.49 for a bag of Sun Chips...
when you can get them for .19 cents a bag?

Monthly food purchase update...3 of 12

2010-03-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

PLEASE NOTE... I/we did not eat all the food shown below... a great majority (cereal & chimichangas & a few other items) of it was traded or given away... okay... now I feel better.

You may proceed.

$4.77 from the Local Produce Stand

$1.35

$3.84 (the cereal is NOT MINE... the store had a deal... if you bought 3 boxes of cereal you got a FREE gallon of milk... so I paired up with my neighbor Girly Girl and she bought the cereal @ .29cents a box and I got the free milk... I still have 2 more coupons left for a free milk)

FREE...

FREE...
Never before in my life have I bought body wash...
But if they are giving it away for free... then sign me up.
Leopard Girl... I found Arm & Hammer toothpaste for you!

Okay... So I know you are asking yourself :
"What's in the bags Mavis"...

Ummmm... just a few FREE Chimichanga's

Okay... so maybe more like 120 FREE (gross) Chimichangas

I don't even EAT FROZEN CHIMICHANGA'S...
But they were free...
and HOLY CATS.... look at this...
I made $4.00 just for taking 120 Free Chimichangas off the freezer shelf...

*****
But wait... the best part... As I was walking out to put a bunch of chimmies in my car... I saw my neighbor and his son... and TOLD THEM about the FREE chimmies...
and made them pick up 10 free ones too...
Yep... that's what it's all about people...

(feel free to call the hot line 1-800-help-mavis-now)

I spy with my little eye...
2 gallons of milk, organic chicken, organic carrots and 2lbs of snap peas...
$33 buck a roo's
(FYI this was my 1 and only trip to Costco ALL MONTH)

Look... REAL FOOD AGAIN...
from the produce stand...

Every time I have coupon "overage" at Target I pick up these chips...

$7.04
Beer and nuts (after rebate & coupons)

More REAL FOOD....

The handsome husband MADE ME buy my children this crap at intermission at the bagpipe show... BAD HUSBAND... not only that... it was $6

$3.97 for coffee for Mr. Fancy Pants... the napkins and lime were FREE

FREE ...
Safeway had toothpaste on sale for $1 each... and I had $1 off coupons... the ivory & olay faceclothes were free because I took advantage of the p&g esaver coupons from their website.

$2.82 for REAL FOOD...
well... except the crappy tomatoes... those don't count as real food...

Free at Walgreens... plus I made .75 cents

$4.54

.92 cents... and free cabbage leaves from my new boyfriend in the produce department.

Safeway was having a $1 sale on salad dressing...
lucky me... I had $1 off coupons...
the salad mix and veggies were $4.90

I love FREE samples...
Even if it's crappy free samples...

$6.04...
The only thing that I had to pay for was the bread & the half and half...
everything else was FREE
I bet my peeps will be soooo excited to receive Dora The Explorer Band Aids, neosporin and possibly a years supply of gum in their Christmas pallets...

Milk & oranges $2.54

FREE

The air freshener and seasoning packet were free...
I don't remember the price on the organic chicken, veggies & milk...
but I do remember that my new boyfriend in the produce section gave me some free cabbage leaves for the chickens...

.58 cents

The handsome husband came home with a box of 10
free instant Starbucks coffee thingamajigs...
I didn't ask questions...

Free

.29 cents for the envelopes... everything else was free

Free Starbucks coffee for the handsome husband ala birthday gift card

$2.10... GASP... It was 2pm and I was hours away from home
and I needed my daily 2pm caffeinated tea fix...
Anyone who knows me in real life knows that about 1:30pm I start to get nervous... and tell whomever will listen to me that I need to get a tea ... quickly... and I will continue to repeat myself until I get some caffeine... We all have our vices... and in the whole big picture of things... mine is not a big one... although there is that other little well known vice called obsessive coupon clipping...
THAT one... might need some serious attention...

More free crap...
And a free Target coupon booklet from Mrs. Hillbilly
(one of my many enablers)...
I gave her some free make-up in trade...

Ohhh lookey here... if I buy Guinness for the handsome husband I get $5 worth of
FREE cheese...

Beer $15.15 and avocados $2.44

Free crap food

Spuds .26 cents

$11.02
(This was my last time around buying the newspaper... I've figured out a way to get me coupons for FREE now...YIPEE)

Free

I don't remember how much this was...
I remember the noodles & the protein bar were free...

$11.17 for happy bacon and a treat for me...

Holy Stinkin Cow... that's a lot of yogurt...
I paid $1.50 for all of it...and a pack of gum.
Have I ever told you how much I like double coupons?

A 2 year suppply of paper towels and a bunch of t.p $10.30

Albertson's double coupons...
They paid me .93 cents to take it home... FREE!

$1.28 after Rite Aid rebates...

Free Tuna

Have I ever told you HOW MUCH I LOVE refried beans?
A 1 week supply of pinto beans $13.99 Hardy har har...

Hey... REAL FOOD...
$14.41 at the local produce market

The handsome husband wanted cardboard pizza and beer to eat while he watched his man sports on t.v.

And I had a coupon... so I bought it for him...
After Rebate: Pizza $4.45 Beer $21.64

I was able to purchase 4 gallons of milk & 4 boxes of honey bunches of oats for $6.56... because I had 4 of these...

And I knew ahead of time that if I purchased 4 boxes the register would spit out a $3 off your next order coupon... and it did :)

Of course had I known that I would be picking up 86 boxes of FREE cereal just 2 weeks later... The 4 boxes of free honey bunches of oats would not have been that exciting...

Free Dayquil and tissues...will it ever end?

Holy Stinkin Cow...
Now... let me explain... see the 27 cans of juice? How much would you pay for a years supply of juice? Just answer that one simple question before you judge me... What if I told you that the total cost for everything in that picture was $15... But you had to buy it ALL... to get it at that price? Hmmm... I mean some people would pay $15 for the 6 tubes of toothpaste in the photo... some people would be happy to pay $15 for 5 quarts & 1 pint of ice cream... but me? I paid $15 for all of it... and FYI... I AM NOT keeping those gross bagel bites... and the 5 boxes of muffin mix? I plan on using those when I have to feed 125 kids again in a few months... I am out of control... and I know it...

Okay... $5.14... Double coupons & free food rule!
Free paper plates...(like 200 of them & nice ones too!) free turkey (via a rebate), free cat food (NO I don't have a cat), free contact lens solution (no I don't have contacts) free shampoo, free chips, free deodorant, free snickers, free aspirin, free gross lunchables, free noodles, free flavored water & free crackers... so basically I only paid for the produce & coffee in the photo...

20lbs of flour $2.27

I've decided to cut my spending by a 1/4 to only $300 a month in April. There is defiantly a science to all this couponing... and I'm getting VERY close to figuring it all out. AND FYI: the Farmer's Market opens next week... So there is HOPE.

********

So what have I learned about myself this month?

#1 Clearly... If it is FREE... I will put it in my cart. I don't care if it's free dog food or frozen burritos that taste like dog food... I will find someone else who wants/needs it.

#2 I'm having loads of fun...

#3 Soon I will have a 1 year+ supply of food that would make even a Mormon Housewife jealous. (and that's NOT a put down... but rather a HIGH FIVE... because everyone should have a years supply of food... just in case).

#4 I could open a 24hour mini mart if I wanted too...

#5 If this continues I will be doing a "12 days of Christmas" give away on my blog in December... Giving away a 12 month supply of something everyday for 12 days straight... C'mon... you know you want a years supply of toothpaste and body wash...

#6 If the Christmas pallets get any bigger I may just have to upgrade to shipping crates...

#7 This is what I would call a "constructive hobby"... and OBVIOUSLY it's a FREE HOBBY... no fancy gear, clothing or rules to obey... well except the one that says "Thou shalt not pay full price"...

*********

Any thoughts? Concerns?

Leave me a comment or send me a post card...
I'm back in room #203 at the coupon clipping treatment center...
I hear jello salad is on the menu for tonight!
I'm pumped!

Weekly Dinner Update...

2010-03-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

In one of my bartering deals last week I was the happy recipient of a sack of ground elk meat (organic and free range of course)

After browning the meat I place it and 2 quarts of home canned pasta sauce in the crock pot on high and let it simmer all day... then I added some (free) cooked egg noodles... Delish... I suppose this is the poor mans version of Hamburger Helper... or maybe it's the smart man's version of hamburger helper...

Buffalo Stir Fry... YUMM A LICIOUS...
made by the girl who thinks she's a bird...

Buffalo Soft Tacos...
(we actually ate soft taco's twice this week)

Beef & Broccoli... with mushrooms and water chestnuts...

And of course...cereal...
Cinnamon Life in case you were wondering...

Mavis's weekly photo update...

2010-03-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's been another wild and crazy week for Mavis...

I volunteered over at the student store this week...
selling kids junk like tic tacs, pencils...

and $1.00 pens that will break in 30 seconds...

Oh... and then there was that little episode of gathering 86 boxes of FREE cereal...
Every wonder what 86 boxes of FREE cereal look like? Well now you know.

Busy as I was, I have managed to make 1 trade so far...
Wooo Hooo.... Free Cereal = Free Meat

But sadly... it was not all fun and games...
I was distracted with clipping coupons... and accidentally melted by favorite spatula.
So now... I'll have to add 1 large spatula to my list of possible items I will trade free food for.

Hey... my glasses broke... (that would be my spare pair... my favorite glasses broke months ago and I never got around to ordering a new pair) I was able to super glue them back together ... that lasted 3 days... Now... I'm sure a normal person (who is not distracted with coupons & gardening) would of ran out and ordered another pair of glasses... but not me... nope... I waited until they broke a SECOND TIME... and then tried to glue them back together again...

Only to accidentally super glue my fingers together
AND TO THE GLASSES...

So we googled how to remove super glue from your finger...
and the magic computer said to use fingernail polish remover...
but when that didn't work...and knowing I had no intention on paying $10,005 for a quick trip to the ER... I had to call in a professional...

But first I had to wait...
So I checked in on my tomato seedlings...
Hello tomatoes... please grow... so I can eat you...

Finally professionals arrived with paint thinner...
It took about 5 minutes...
All the while the handsome husband was yelling at me to "stop whining and pull your fingers apart"... "here give me your hand"... "your skin will grow back"... "stop acting like such a girl"...

Ahhh husbands... are they sympathetic or what?
I should have reminded him that damaged fingers = no clipping coupons = no free junk food & beer for the handsome husband 'till the skin grows back... that would of shut him up...

Anyway... in the end... the fingers were separated... all skin intact...
just a little clump of super glue left of my fingers...
Yes... it's been a busy week...

How about you?
Anything exciting happen this week?

Here we grow...

2010-03-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the entire morning down at the community garden...
or what "will be the community garden" rather.

Last winter I mailed off my application to be a part of the first ever community garden in my area... and I was accepted... as soon as I read the article in the paper about the garden, I mailed in my money... and got a plot. I think it was one of those "you snooze and you lose" kinda deals...

Anyway...

I am now a proud "renter" of freshly tilled patch of earth.

Which... is kinda strange... for many reasons...including:

#1 I have my own dirt in my very own backyard... and it's FREE.

#2 Believe it or not I'm not super sociable... as in rah rah rah...
I love people and group activities.

#3 I don't like rules... (unless they're my rules)

#4 I despise long boring meetings where nothing gets done and people talk about their medical problems or that their dog ate a mouse and was up all night vomiting...

#5 It's been brought to my attention (more than once) that I can be kinda rude and abrupt and point out the obvious to people... and for this reason I will never become Mrs. America... but at least I know this about myself... and that's saying something ...right?

*****

And now for the positive... and I think also... the real reasons I signed up to do this thing.

#1 I LOVE to grow food...

#2 I think MORE people show learn how to grow food...

#3 I now have an official reason to walk around in jeans that are caked with mud and Wellington boots at 2 pm in the city... and if a snooty high maintenance housewife gives me an OMG you look so weird disapproving look... I can simply smile and say something like "Hi... isn't it a great day to be outside in the garden?... I was just working over the at community gardens this morning... how about you? How's your morning going... what? Oh you just had to fire your landscaper because you are maxed out on your credit cards from all the botox, lattes, and hair extensions?... hmmm that's to bad"

#4 Did I just say that ...out loud?

#5 Forgive me...It must be all the preservatives...
from all that free processed food...

#6 More than anything... I want to set a good example... and show what you can do with a few seeds and a little patch of dirt...and hopefully just 1 person (that's all I'm asking for) will decide it's time that they try and grow some food as well.

Weekly Dinner update...

2010-03-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

Monday Night I ate a pint of peaches for dinner...
Nothing says I'm too lazy to make dinner like opening a jar of canned fruit...
Ahh being an adult does have it's perks.

Tuesday we had pasta, green beans and rolls...

Wednesday night I made pulled pork (from the depths of the freezer)
rolls and baked potatoes...

Thursday night we had stir fry and pork fried rice...

Friday was $1 frozen pizza night...

Saturday was "Hey... what's left in the cooler from the road trip" night...

Sunday night was soft taco night... I think we are finally coming to the end of all those free tortillas from January...

Yep... it's a regular thrill a minute around here at dinner time...

How about you...

Did you eat anything good last week?

Alert the Media... The Handsome Husband Cooks Dinner...

2010-03-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

The handsome husband is thankful that asparagus is in season...
and that I've been buying it for him lately...
I personally am not a fan of the green stalks...
BUT...
I have discovered something new that I DO like...
Only I forgot what it's called...
It's a cross between broccoli and asparagus...
which is kinda funny...
because I don't like broccoli... or asparagus...

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light magazine and wanted to try it...
Notice how I said try it ... not make it... (it looked too complicated)
So I had the handsome husband make it for me for my Birthday dinner...
...Amazing I know...
The man cooks like twice a year...

And Oh My was it good...
If only I could get that man to cook more often...

*****

I highly suggest you enlarge the recipe photo (or check the magazine out from the library) and make this dish yourself... or get your better half to make it for you...

YUMM A LISH!

Planning ahead...

2010-03-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

Today is rather gloomy outside...
imagine that... Seattle... gloomy...

So I have declared it a "Pajama Day"

Today I will stay inside... in my pajama's...
and plot out my garden...
I will draw out an official 2010 garden map...

I will lounge around in my pajama's and dream about eating fresh vegetables...
all you can eat bowls of salsa...
and grilled vegetables...

Yep... today is a pajama day!

The Coupon Crack Report...

2010-03-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

I think it's been like 3 days since I've talked about coupons...
and in case you are wondering... YES... I am still clipping...
but you'll be happy to know that my current addiction of the month is getting better...
as in... it's becoming less time consuming... and less expensive.
I have found a way to get more coupons...
for FREE... which means... I won't be shelling out big bucks for my weekly newspaper fix any longer...

The only problem is...
every once in a while a highly valuable coupon gets clipped by the person who gave me the free coupon packet... like this one for instance... it was for $1 off any Tide product... now... I don't buy tide... it's to expensive... but when there is a $1 off coupon for ANY TIDE PRODUCT... that means 1 free package of tide from the travel section... (The travel section Tide costs .97 cents... the coupon is for $1.00 which means free tide for me)
Bummer...

She even took the $1 off coupon for any Revlon tool...
I could of picked up a free pair of tweezers or fingernail clippers with that one...

But clever as she was... she did not clip the pasta coupon...
This .75 cent coupon combined with a "doubler" = free pasta for Mavis

She took the tortilla coupon...

But not the toothpaste... Again... this coupon combined with a doubler will score me (or someone on my Christmas list) a free tube of toothpaste...

So what did Mavis buy with her coupons today?

All this...

For a whopping .58 cents

Ohhh... and I pocketed a dime...
Someone who shall remain nameless...
left it laying around...
and I found it...
and dropped it in the piggy bank.

So yep... that's my exciting post for the day...

*****

And another thing...

Mr. H...
I will keep the free seeds safe in the frig until April Fools Day.
...next to the free cheese of course.

This has been Mavis...
reporting live...
from the coupon clipping floor.

Mavis and the Tomatoes... Part 1

2010-03-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

And so it begins...

I have a "thing" for transplanting tomato seedlings...

Each year when I do this...
it feels like...
We are getting close...
close to homemade salsa... and tomato and cucumber salads...
and popping yummy sun kissed pear tomatoes in our mouths...
...and eating them like candy...

Yep... the tomatoes are coming...
...in about 110 days...

Mark your calendars!

How to Make A Baby Bib...

2010-03-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's rocket science I tell ya...

I borrowed an ugly bib that someone bought from Target for my neighbor Girly Girl...

She received some "ordinary" baby bibs as a shower gift... and she is re gifting them...
So I asked if I could borrow one to create a pattern...
...because c'mon... you know I'm not going to pay $10 for a paper pattern...

Nope... instead I will use this free paper bag that came in the Sunday paper a few weeks back instead...

Plus anyway...
who would want a bib that came from Target when you can have a handmade one instead...

Who wants a bib that's lined with plastic...

Or came from a factory...

In China...

I mean really... who cares about wiping the plastic bib clean...

When you can just toss it in the wash instead...

Handmade is WAY better...

And unique...

A one of a kind...

And when your friend who is always trying to copy you ....
asks...

"Oh... where did you get that?"

You can say...
"my favorite sister made it for me"

And when your copy cat friend asks if your favorite sister will make one for her you can tell her
"No"...

"My favorite sister is kinda cranky that way...
she only makes one of a kind gifts"...

"You know.... ones that aren't made in China...
with little plastic hang tags..."

Moral of the story:

BE ORIGINAL...

make a gift...

instead of giving a crappy plastic one that came off a shelf at Target.

Weekly Dinner update...ummm not so much...

2010-03-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy week here at Mavis's house...
I only ended up with about 1/2 of my dinner pictures so here are a few other random ones of things that went on this week...

The handsome husband left his change unattended...
translation: I stole it... and put it in the piggy bank (Ciao Baby)

Have I shown you this photo yet?

I love it!!!
It's like a forest...of moss... for all the little bugs that I can't see...

So long Panera...
It was fun while it lasted...

Our house was invaded by peeps again this weekend...
I made them homemade waffles for breakfast...

And gave the left over fruit to the chickens...

I planted the rest of my spring peas this weekend...
Now I just have to wait 70 days..
and then it will be stir fry city around here...

I turned a few of my garden beds over...
This year's garden is going to be the best ever...
With straw, grass clippings, leaves and donations from the chickens...
I'm thinking I'll be able to grow a large amount of vegetables this summer.

The handsome husband granted me my birthday wish...
He fixed the garden gate for me...
With a new latch and everything...
Wooo Hooo... a real gate...

Would you get a look at these?
I'm glad I planted one garden bed of peas a little earlier this year...
Yumm a licious!

The kale is looking nice...

And so are my Walla Walla Onions...

And the cabbage too...

It's projects like these (fixing garden gates)...
that I'm thankful things like this fall under the "Husband Category"...
You know... the same one that includes lifting heavy things, digging holes, driving Mavis around... cleaning out the garage, unclogging toilets, cleaning the gutters...

When you think about it... it kinda offsets the little things like snoring... not knowing where the dishes are in the house... and never having to wash laundry.

Life is sooo much easier when the roles are clearly defined...

Who on earth would pay $3 for some cute white plastic garden markers when you can use old sour cream tubs? Along with the peas... I planted 1/2 a garden box full of beets... I was never a fan of the beet (pickled beets yes...any other way no) until this past fall...when we roasted beets... now... I like them... and want to plant lot's of them... plus the chickens really liked all the beet greens I gave them last summer... so there's a little something for everyone...

Oh and looky here...
It's time for me to get busy transplanting all those tomato seedlings in a few days...
So I washed out a bunch of recycled 3" planting containers...

Then I ate a burrito...
with REFRIED BEANS...
Ahhh... I love my homemade refried beans...

And just in case you were wondering what I picked up for free this weekend...
EVERYTHING ON THE TABLE... plus I made $4.14 with all my coupons and rebates and what not... I can pretty much guarantee that every person on my Christmas list will be receiving a year supply of beauty/toiletry products this year...Ahhh coupons... you gotta love 'em.

Mavis's weekly photo update...

2010-03-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

This week I dropped off 3 bags of food to the food bank...

I went dumpster diving...
looking for coupons...
...and I found them...
LOT'S of THEM!!!

I received goodies in the mail...
some free breathe right strips and a rebate check for $18...

I picked up a "few" yogurts... for a whopping $1.50

I went to a birthday party...
...mine...
It was at PANERA of course...
Little Miss Lawyer Pants and Leopard Girl treated me to lunch...

I had my favorite tomato soup and chicken cesar sandwich...

Leopard Girl had mac and cheese... and salad

Little Miss Lawyer Pants had soup in a bread bowl, and a salad...

But apparently she didn't get enough to eat because she tried to eat Leopard Girls food when she wasn't looking...

They let me take home their uneaten bread... I told them it was for the chickens...
I lied... I ate the bread...and the apple...all by myself...

*****

I bet you are wondering what kind of gifts I received on my big day... Well... we have a rule this year... basically you cannot buy a gift... it has to be either free or recycled...

Little Miss Lawyer pants gave me a coupon for a free pair of underwear...
it came in her mail the other day... what a nice gift...who doesn't love free underwear?

Also... they each gave me the coupons from their Sunday paper's...
I was especially excited when I noticed that they included DOUBLE COUPONS...

And... if that wasn't enough...
they surprised me with a big bag
(double bag actually wooo hoo)
of aluminum cans...
with a big red ribbon and everything...
How exciting is that?
Ahhh yes.... it's good to be Mavis...

Oh... and later that day... when I checked the mail... it was like I had hit the jack pot...
3 free diapers (for that baby I don't have) Benifiber, triple flex... and free cream of wheat...
I mean really... does it get any better than this?

Wait... actually it does...
I found this on my front porch...
A free melon...
From Mrs Hillbilly...

Yes, it's been a lovely week...
How about you...
What's the most exciting thing that has happened to you this past week?

A new Challange for Mavis...

2010-03-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

I read about the 3/50 project in the newspaper awhile back...
and have been giving it a lot of thought lately...

Basically the idea of the project is to shop at 3 small stores in your community that are locally owned (small business owner) and to spend $50 a month at each store.

1. It helps small business
2. More money stays in the community
3. It's a feel good thing

*****

Could I do it?
Notice how I said 25% of my budget?
That would still leave me with $300 of possible "fun"
ie: coupon crack money.

*****
After 2 months of meager jumping off the processed food chain results...
I need to do something drastic about my horrible... processed ..."but it was on sale" ways...

So in true Mavis fashion...
I'm ready to dive right in ...
Without looking back...

I'M READY TO TAKE ACTION!

Store #1 Mom & Pop Health Food Store

The Mom and Pop health food store is about the size of my family room. The selection is not huge (there are exactly 2 aisles)...no produce (none this time of year anyway)... they mostly sell dried goods, granola, flour, raw milk, ghee, a few organic meat products and vitamins... it's the kind of store I wish I shopped in all the time... but I don't... because I'm a coupon aholic.

Store #2 Local Produce Market

The local produce market sells things like... well... local produce (when in season/otherwise imported) jams from Stonewall Kitchen, and fancy foodstuffs like funky $20 pasta...and a few gift items as well. If I was Ina Garten... this is where I would shop for food.

Store #3 MIA

Missing in action... I couldn't come up with another store. Mainly because I hardly buy anything... I mean... I buy food and crap like that ... but I don't buy much in the way of clothing or "needless" things... So here's the deal... if I survive this month I will add a Store #3 to the list... (well kinda)... if I had to pick another place to spend my food dollars it would be at the farmer's market... but that's not open yet... so we will wait and see how this little experiment pans out.

*****
FYI
Both of these stores are run by their owners...
Kinda like what a store used to be like...in the old days... you know... like on Walton's Mountain... only without Mr. Ike Godsey running the store in his pressed white apron alongside his snooty pa tooty wife Cora Beth (he should of never married her) trying to be helpful (everyone knows she was really just there for the daily gossip from the Baldwin sisters anyway)...

*****
Soooo....

What do you think would happen if I spent 25% of my grocery budget locally this month?

Do you think it could help to curb my processed ways?

Do you think I'll learn anything from this little experiment?

Do you think this is a dumb idea... or a step in the right direction? As usual... I'll photograph everything... and post about it at the end of the month.

Cheerio!

...or rather...Bran Flakes!

(I don't think they sell cheerio's at the health food store)

Weekly Dinner update... week 8 of 52

2010-03-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Monday night we had pulled pork (I found it at the bottom of the freezer) organic rice, home canned green beans and biscuits.

Tuesday it was oatmeal with banana's a raisins...

Wednesday was waffle night with yummy peach butter
and home canned peaches...

Thursday night was stir fry and pork fried rice...

Friday was yellow garlic soup...

Saturday the handsome husband demanded hot dogs and french fries...

On Sunday we had guacamole and chips...

...and then some sort of garlic cheese spinach sausage from the depths of the freezer, mashed potatoes and home canned green beans. If I have any hope of eating all the canned goods by July 1st I better get crackin...

One thing is for sure... this year I plan on making 52 jars of canned salsa. One jar for each week of the year. We are all out... and unless I can get it for free...I guess we will have to go with out until the tomatoes are ripe :(

Monthly Food Purchase Update #2 of 12

2010-03-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

Grab a chair people...
this is going to take awhile...

*****

It's really quite mind boggling how inexpensive it is to eat in America...
Well... when you're eating corn syrup that is...

But what exactly are we eating?

February 1st double coupons $21.46

Chocolate binge...$3.22...The flavored water was free...

Maybe instead of trying to buy junk food for ultra cheap...
I could strike up a bargain with myself...
(because that's what (coupon) addicts do)
I could tell myself...Yes Mavis... you can bring junk food into the house...
as long as you can get it absolutely free...

And by making myself stick to this 1 simple rule...

FREE junk food or NO junk food...

I will able to:

#1 Still get my coupon fix...

#2 Lessen the junk food that comes in our front door

What do you think? Huh Huh?...is it a deal?

PLUS... if I get it for free I don't have to show you the picture...
because I didn't BUY it...right?
(I'll still show you the pictures... it's too much fun not to)

Hmmm...

Stop the presses...

3 out of 5...

Local Organic chicken, fair trade coffee, and local whipping cream...
there may be hope for me yet...
and if labels are to be believed... the cucumbers and crappy romaine lettuce were grown in the USA...somewhere... Is lettuce suppose to be that pale?

Have you ever wondered why all the "organic" people are always so skinny?

It's because they can't afford to buy a lot of food!

Holy Crackers... I cannot believe I paid that much for chicken...

But don't get too excited... because the very next day I scored some baby goldfish crackers for .25cents a bag... and YES... that's a packaged seasoning mix for General Taos Spicy Chicken...

If you could buy sour cream for .29 cents a lb...how many would you buy?

I bought four...

I now have enough laundry detergent to last me until July...
and FYI... that candy was for someone else... who does not live here...

Laundry detergent $1.71....

Paper plates for the handsome husbands lunch...
I pack the handsome husbands lunch everyday... I have tried and tried many things over the years... like a lunch box, a thermos and of course plastic re-usable containers... but nothing ever seems to make it back home... so I usually make up a plate of food for him, wrap it in saran wrap and send him on his way each day...I figure it's the lesser of 2 evils... if I don't pack him a lunch... then he would just go out and buy his lunch...and we all know how expensive that can be...

The tortillas were free, avocados & red peppers were .50 cents each, mayo 1.24, crasins 1.50 each, pistachios 2.99, lime .79cents (rip off!) and 5 local pears for $1.00

Did you see the .06 credit for reusing my bags? A few more of those and I might just have enough for a gelato... in PARMA, Italy

$4.30 @ Ben & Jerry's...
If you are going to be near a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream store and want a free cone... I highly suggest you go to their website and sign up for their "chunk mail". You will get a coupon for 1 free ice cream cone... but if you bring 2 kids to the ice cream store and only have 1 coupon... be prepared to pay $4.30 for the second cone.

$4.79 will buy you 10 slices of bacon from a "happy pig"...

I found this at the local health food store...

Okay... so I bought 6 Super Bowl Sunday newspapers...
for $9.00... It's like one of the biggest coupon inserts of the year...
Some people buy lattes... I buy the newspaper...
Please don't hate me for killing trees...
I'll recycle it into paper mache birthday pinatas...

Milk $2.79, FREE chocolate milk, Cream Cheese .49 cents each, salad mix .35 cents each...

But lookey here... a $2.00 off coupon if I take their survey...
which I did... as soon as I got home...

Cheese Nips FREE, Ritz cracker .50cents each,
cinnamon rolls $1.31 each, gum .25 cents each.

AND... $4.00 off my next trip at the grocery store...

OKAY...
Do you remember how I said I would REALLY start trying...
after February 7th?

I meant what I said...
I decided to check out the above books from the library...
again...
I read See You In A Hundred Years and Plenty last year around this time...
these books and several others like it were what inspired me to grow crazy amounts of vegetables in the backyard... and I think it's time I read them again...
I picked up Diet For a Small Planet on a whim... so that will be a new read.

The thing I think is soooo terribly interesting about the whole eating cheap processed junk food thing is... that when you can buy it for next to nothing... it seems like such a bargain... like you'd be crazy NOT TO BUY IT...BECAUSE IT'S SOOO CHEAP...

But the strange this is... is that I don't really even eat the junk food... (except the chocolate of course)... it's the handsome husband (mostly)... and the monkeys...

Maybe also... it has something to do with the fact that I can't walk outside and pick anything from the garden either...

And another thing... two years ago we were spending an average of $814 a month on food...even last year we spent about $632 a month on food... Holy Crackers... what the heck was I buying with all that money? If I can get our monthly food/liquor/toiletries bill down to under $400 a month this year...I will be VERY pleased... and If I can bring less crap food into the house I'll be even happier...

********

Okay, here's what I bought after Feb. 7th...

2lbs of carrots .99 cents

5 cups of instant oatmeal... .55 cents
But we picked up a bunch of cans on the side of the road on the way home...
So maybe in the end the oatmeal was close to free?
And anyway... it wasn't really about buying oatmeal for cheap...
it was our very own half-time show... Mavis style.

Would you believe that after I receive my Rite Aid rebates I will have paid only $1.24 for all of the above items? I can hardly believe it myself. I have a sneaking suspicion that filling all those Christmas "health & Beauty" gift baskets is going to be a piece of cake!

1-800-HELP-MAVIS-NOW...

Here is a more civilized purchase $3.34
water chestnuts (for stir fry) olives (for pasta salad) and CANDY...
actually... I also picked up two boxes of Kotex for FREE as well... but thought it would be weird if I was taking pictures of feminine hygiene products... then later I was kicking myself for not including them in the picture...because really...who cares? But apparently I was too lazy to go dig them out of one lucky recipients Christmas gift basket...re-arrange the the photo shoot and take a picture. So I do apologize for that...nobodies perfect.

$9.71 for all that (it would of been $2 less but I grabbed the WRONG box of tea) ...FYI...I'm not keeping the cereal... I AM SO SICK of seeing cereal in my cart... BUT IT WAS FREE... and I'm sure someone down at the food bank will be happy to get it.

$ 1.30... and NO I don't have a cat...

Honestly... coupon clipping should be an Olympic sport.

$1.72... free Day Quil & Band Aids...yipee!

.57 cents...and NO... I don't have a baby either...

I'm out of control...

$4.93...free cookie mix for the food bank...
clearly I need to do ALL my non perishable shopping with double coupons...
to make up for the full price I'm paying for fruit & veggies.

$20
The girl who thinks she's a bird had some peeps over for dinner
and they wanted to make stir fry...
and they wanted egg rolls & weird rice crackers too...
and because I am a super cool mom I bought it all for them...
WITHOUT ANY COUPONS...
I nearly fainted when the cashier told me my total.
FYI... I have NO IDEA how the pear jelly bellys ended up in my cart and later in my mouth...

Some people pay big bucks for art work...
but not me...

The last thing I want to hang on my wall is something that was mass produced in China by someone who doesn't care that they're making 10,005 pieces of the same thing...
Nope... I'd rather pay the artist personally for their work...

Via Ben & Jerry's $22.05

$1.13
Free light bulbs at Target (for my brother's gift basket)
and fancy hair gel (that smells like a girl) for the handsome husband.

A years supply of make up for $2.08

The cashier at Albertson's thought she rang up my order wrong because the total came to over $1.00 (as in the total was to high). The dish soap was on "sale" for $2.50 each... but I had 3 $1 off double coupons so I ended up with 3 bottles of dish soap for $1.58

About every 10th transaction or so the register will spit out a coupon for $2 or $3 off your next order... which is awesome. Since when I shop I usually do about 6 transactions (you can only use 3 double coupons at a time) Somehow this transaction came out to .30cents!

Okay... are you ready for this one?
I had a coupon for every single item on this table (of course). See the Olay body wash? When you bought 3 of them in the same transaction, you receieved a $5 Target gift card. Also, if you buy 3 there is a $15 rebate you can send in for from the Olay company. And to make this deal even sweeter... If you buy 1 Venus Razor you get the body wash for free (with a coupon) and if you buy 2 razors you can get another $5 target gift card as well. Confused?

2 Venus Razors @ $6.99 each
3 Olay body washes @ $5.50 each
= $32.92 with tax

- $4.00 razor coupons
- $1.00 body wash coupon
-$11.00 buy 2 razors get 2 free body wash coupons
- $10 Target gift cards for buying 3 body wash & 2 razors
- $15.00 mail in rebate for buying 3 body washes
-----------------------------------------------
-$8.08

They paid me $8.08 to take this stuff (razors & body wash) off their hands

Actually, I ended up with only a $4.27 profit because I picked up the other stuff too...
(all of which I had coupons for)

It's crazy I tell ya! Not only do I end up with a bunch of free crap, I made a little green too!

1. I get free stuff
2. I get to give away free stuff (via gift baskets & the woman's shelter)
3. I get to make money on free stuff (think Parma, Italy)
4. Does it get any better than this?
5. I think I should make myself a leotard costume with a big red cape with a big C for coupons!

12 packages of FREE TUNA...

Not only was the tuna FREE...
but the register spit out a $2 off your next order if you take a survey coupon (which I did)... I was so excited I nearly peed my pants...

Then... I found ANOTHER coupon for more free tuna...PLUS FREE IVORY SOAP... so I used the $2 off coupon (for taking the survey) and bought some milk for .79cents.

But wait.... it gets even better... then I found 6 coupons for $1 off right guard deoderent.. and I noticed it on sale for $1 at Safeway... so I picked up 6 free deoderents too... I only bought the banana's so the manager wouldn't throw me out of the store...

Okay... and not to brag or anything... but these were FREE too!

Actually my total came to $3.60... with $4 off my next purchase...
so really... I made .40 cents for taking it off their hands...
(I did this same transaction several times)

And I figured since they were giving it away for free...
I might as well stock up on some free laundry detergent for the Christmas gift baskets...
I may need to rethink the whole "gift basket idea"... perhaps "gift pallet" would be a better idea.

I picked this up at the last minute for our trip...
I think I paid around $8 or so...

I took this picture while I was standing in line at Rite Aid
(you know... to mix it up a little)
After my coupons and a $5 rebate I paid .71 cents for 4 boxes of sandwhich bags and a bottle of free shampoo...

More Organic Chicken... $18 and change...

$2.68 at Rite Aid... not bad...
Don't even think about rolling your eyes over the candy...
it's for the Easter Egg hunt...

There were a couple of other purchases I forgot to take pictures of... like the one where I bought 8 avocados and 4 red peppers...

and another time I bought sugar snap peas and sprouts...
and beer for the handsome husband...
Also included is all the newspapers and milk...

*****
Believe it or not I'm actually trying...
I think I just lost focus there for a few weeks because of the whole new and exciting coupon addiction... which I have Mrs. H to blame for 100%...

And a few things to keep in mind: our freezer is stocked with free range organic buffalo & and organic angus beef, and our cupboards are full of home canned goodness too... and we still have about 1/2 a freezer full of fruit & veggies. Still that doesn't offset all those stinkin crackers (even if they were free or less than .50cents a box)

One things for sure...

We now have a year supply of the following items: laundry detergent, dish soap, deoderent, shampoo, hair gel, body wash (which I've never even bought before in my life...but it was free) razors, and basically a 6 month supply of crackers & candy.

******
Be sure to check back...
I have a new & exciting challenge for myself...
I think it will help!

A lazy day for Mavis...

2010-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is a big coupon day so I thought I'd rest up and gather my strength for the upcoming shopping extravaganza.

Did I ever tell you we have a crust snob in our house?
I won't divulge who it is...
but don't worry... it didn't go to waste...

I chopped it up for the chickens...

And hey, remember the french fry experiment?
Well... it's still going on.
I'm convinced that Mc Yucks adds a mold growing agent to their fries.

If found this recipe in the latest addition of Cooking Light...
and really...really want to make it.
I can't find any broccoli rabb the regular stores...
which means if I really want to make it
I'm going to have to pay like $10,005 for some at Whole Paycheck...

Oh and lookey here...
I am soooo stinkin excited about this...

The peas are growing!!!

Yumm a licious...

And in other earth shattering garden news...

The kale, onions and lettuce are coming along nicely in my state of the art greenhouse...

The girl who thinks shes a bird took the chickens on a field trip today...

And brought the camera along too...

Yes, spring is in the air...

Which means it's time to get planting!

The seed of the day was chives...

I even started some in a pot...

I plan on bringing it to my Mother's Easter Party...

Personally, I think a pot of chives is way better than some silly tulips...

Because everybody knows... that chives are a happy food...
I mean... you could eat some potted tulips...
but it's not quite the same...

Garlic is a happy food too...

And so is rosemary...

Here's the latest view from the garden gate...

And here is Gladys...
she is hoping I can find some free cracked corn for her and the girls...
word in the coop is... she is expecting some visitors...
Hmmm... what does that mean?

What did Mavis do today?

2010-02-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

With all my coupons organized...
I finally had some extra time on my hands...
You know... for things like...
cleaning out my closet & preparing a home cooked meal.

I found this at the bottom of the sock pile...
When and why did I buy this?

Here's a tip...
If ever in a foreign country... let's say France...
When you ask a total stranger to take your photo in front of a famous monument...
Be sure and tell them to get the WHOLE MONUMENT
in the photo... that way... when you go to Costco to have your pictures printed...
you won't be disappointed that they cut off the top of the Eiffel Stinkin Tower.

I found a penny on the handsome husbands side of the closet...
Shhh... don't tell him...cause it's mine now...

Awwww... don't you love children's artwork?
Monkey boy made this self portrait for me a few years back.
I LOVE IT
Although in real life his head is not shaped like a potato...
nor does he sport a yellow mohawk on one side of his head.

Do rats eat socks?
I wonder if the rats are back?
The last two we had did not make it back to their families...
so maybe now they are coming back for revenge.

Then Monkey boy asked me to take him to Target so he could pick something up...
Lucky for me... I brought along my snazzy new coupon purse and scored EVERYTHING ON THE TABLE... for FREE... and it's a good thing too... because I am down to like $6 until March first. Speaking of staying on budget... I wanted to make this soup I had seen earlier today so I headed down to the Hillbilly's to do some trading.

Mrs. Hillbilly wanted to trade me some paper popcorn holders and parmesan cheese for a bottle of body wash... But I didn't think that was a very good trade. After all... we eat our popcorn out of a bowl... not paper popcorn holders from the $1 section at Target...

She tried to reason with me...
she said look... "We re-use them... see the tape on the bottom? You can use these over and over again... so really Mavis... these are in fact a good trade."

Then I noticed 2 loaves of bread on her counter... and asked Mrs. Hillbilly if she was going to eat all of it...
then she offered me a slice of her cheesecake (for the handsome husband) and a half loaf of bread. Have I told you how much I love Mrs. Hillbilly... I mean really ... the woman puts up with quite a lot... I do in fact realize that being my friend is not a walk in the park...

Then she offered to put the bread in a ziplock bag
my eyes got big with the possibility of a FREE ziplock bag...
I hope she didn't notice how excited I was about the free bag...

So then we were up to free popcorn holders, a slice of cheesecake, 1/2 loaf of bread and parmesan cheese... now HER SIDE of the bargain was looking a little on the heavy side... Then I surprised her with "Hey, is that a chinet plate the cheesecake is on? Do you like chinet plates? Would you like me to pick you up a (free) package at Albertson's on Sunday when I use my double coupons?"

"Yes, that would be a great trade Mavis... oh and here are some more coupons for you... my MIL (thanks K) dropped these off for you."

******

Part 2 of Mavis's exciting day...

So... remember that soup I told you about? I saw it on JJ's blog this morning...
and it sounded divine...

So I followed the directions to a "T"...

And somehow... somehow... my soup turned out YELLOW...
...what's up with that?
I felt like Bridget Jones when she was making her birthday dinner for her friends and Mr. Darcy shows up and they end up with BLUE soup for dinner...
Why is my soup yellow??????

FYI... it tasted great...
I have no idea what I did wrong...
and I hope I don't die because I ate semi-raw egg garlic yellow soup...
So if you don't hear back from me on Sunday...
Call the paramedics...

*****

However, just to be extra cautious...
I will leave the following note on my nightstand

What came in Mavis's mail box this morning?

2010-02-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

It was like Christmas I tell you!

Not only did I get 1 not 2 but 3 surprises in my mailbox today...

Item #1
A COUPON for a FREE bottle of Excedrin...
Wooo Hooo
I know just who's gift basket I'm putting that in!

Item #2
A FREE Stayfree pantyliner...
(I'll have to double check my "wish list" and see who wrote down
that they like Stayfree products)

Item #3
A rebate check for $6.00...
Italy here I come!
I had to hold back the tears on that one...
I didn't want to smudge the ink making my rebate check invalid you know...

Ahhh yes... it was a "good mail day"...

So what came in your mailbox today?

Anything better than a free bottle of aspirin, a pantyliner and 6 bucks?

Weekly dinner update 7 of 52...

2010-02-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

Monday Night was baked potato night... We stayed at a hotel with a kitchen on our snowboarding trip...so OF COURSE I brought food along to prepare so we wouldn't have to go out to eat (ie: pay super crazy prices for food/sending me into shock thus saving a trip to the ER)...I happened to bring along some large baking potatoes...(and sour cream) and when we were loading up the car to leave... a potato rolled out of the bag and onto the garage floor... "Oh C'mon... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU... potatoes? Who brings POTATOES with them on vacation?" The handsome husband was not amused. I personally... thought it was a Kodak moment... even the girl who thinks shes a bird said "Why does Dad always freak out like that? I like baked potatoes"

Tuesday night we ate cheese quesidillas...

Wednesday night the handsome husband made chicken stir fry...
Kung Pow (Po?) Chicken... and fried rice.
I just recently discovered they sell sugar snap peas & bean sprouts at the store (I can't wait for fresh ones from the backyard)

Thursday night was tuna melt with red pepper & carrot slices...
simple & delicious...

Friday night we ate Chicken fajitas... I got the idea from Tori's picture... and I had all 4 of the ingredients on hand... well actually... I had to trade Mrs. Hillbilly for an onion... I traded her a new (free) razor for 1 onion. Now... if only I could find someone in the neighborhood who likes body wash... I'd be set.

For Saturday nights dinner I pulled out the remaining chicken wings (from the chicken bbq last summer) from the freezer and yet another package of frozen sausages from the worst party ever... I don't like chicken wings (I have a thing about eating meat off the bone) and I wasn't in the mood for smelly sausages... so I just had a biscuit... with jam... and 1 piece of asparagus... (the handsome husband MADE me try it) and HH if you are reading this... I STILL DON'T LIKE ASPARAGUS!

Sunday we had ....surprise surprise... soft tacos... with a tortilla full of guacamole... and it was goooood! We only have 3 avocados left to last us til March 1st... (I only have $10 for food dollars for the rest of the month) I hope I make it.

How to make Guinness Beef Stew... and Irish Soda Bread

2010-02-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

Cast of characters: 2lbs of stew meat (normally I'd use beef but we are out of organic beef stew meat so I used some of our organic buffalo meat instead) 2 giant potatoes, 2 carrots (they must of missed the photo shoot due to a scheduling conflict, 1 large onion 3-4 cloves of garlic, flour, 1 can of Guinness beer, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Place 1 cup of flour in a large bowl...

Add 1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of freshly ground pepper

And combine

Chop onion and set aside

Cut beef into bite sized chunks

Place 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven and heat on medium (this one has been VERY loved and desperately needs to be scrubbed... I'll have to put that on the handsome husbands "to do" list... as scrubbing gunk off of pans falls under the "only husband's do this task" category).

Dredge (is that what it's called?) the beef with/in the flour mixture... be sure and shake off any excess flour

And brown beef on all sides

Kinda like this

and set aside

Then wipe out your dutch oven...
add a few more tablespoons of olive oil and saute the onions

Add the minced garlic

Smells yummy!

Cut your potatoes and carrots into man sized chunks
and set aside

Pour the Guinness into your dutch oven

Add the meat and vegetables

Add 6 cups of water (maybe 8)

Bring to a boil

And place in the oven for about 2-3 hours at 300 degrees

When it's ready...
don't forget to serve it up with a nice hunk of
Irish Soda Bread and some butter...

Delish!

Irish Soda Bread
(adapted from The Irish Spirit)

2 1/2 cups of All purpose flour
2 tea baking soda
1 tea baking powder
1/2 tea salt
2 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg
----------------
Sift together the dry ingredients
make a well... pour in the wet ingredients
and mix with a wooden spoon
until it forms a soft dough
*you may need to add a little more flour (BUT NOT MUCH)
With floured hands shape into 2 round loaves and place on parchment paper
sprinkle the tops with a little oatmeal if you'd like and be sure and make an X on the center of each loaf (to ward off the evil spirits) and bake for 25-30 minutes at 325 degrees
DO NOT OVER BAKE...
(check with a toothpick inserted into the center at the 25 minute mark)
remove from oven and cool on a rack...
serve with yummy butter or jam

Mavis goes snowboarding...

2010-02-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE family vacations?

I'm not sure what I like more...
planning the vacation or actually going on vacation...

The monkeys wanted to learn how to snowboard...
because you know... all the cool kids are doing it.
So what's a parent to do?

I mean really...
The whole point of a family vacation is to do things as a family right?

I had high hopes of making some sort of video or taking a bunch of action photo's of our day... but when it takes you over 2 hours (with instruction) to figure out how to actually stand (balance?) on a snowboard... the thought of taking a video is a weeeee bit overwhelming...

It's amazing to me how quick the kids took to it...
In no time at all they were zipping down the mountain with great speed...
The handsome husband did very well too...

As for me and snowboarding?
Well... ummm... I tried it...
Once...
Yep... once is good enough for me...

I'd rather stick to ice skating instead...
But hey...I tried.

Weekly Dinner update... week 6 of 52

2010-02-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Monday night... was baked potato night... and what goes better with a baked potato than salad and biscuits with strawberry jam?

Tuesday Night... Guinness Beef Stew and Irish Soda Bread...
Both of which were homemade by me!

Wednesday night... Cesar Salad and Ritz crackers with tuna... yumm!

Thursday night... I ate beans and rice... It's not pretty to look at but... it sure was delish... Whenever I eat beans and rice I feel like I should be living in a yurt in Mongolia... I know... I'm weird that way. The peeps had burritos... I think we still have about 62 flour tortillas in the freezer... so we'll pretty much be eating soft taco's once a week for the next 2 months... or more

Friday night the girl who thinks she's a bird had a bunch of her peeps over and we made stir fry together. We all sat around and talked about the Holocaust and then Charlie the Unicorn during dinner... and then one of the girls starting singing a Japanese rap song... Have I ever told you how much I LOVE teenagers?

Saturday it was fend for yourself night... It was going to be left over Chinese food night but someone ate all the chicken stir fry and fried rice for breakfast... I ate beans & rice (of course)

Sunday we had pot roast over at my parents house...
the roasted vegetables were my favorite...

******
Not a very exciting week dinner wise... I guess I was extremely busy clipping coupons, picking up cans and other crazy stuff. BUT... I'm having a great time... and that's what counts. Hopefully I can get around to opening a cookbook sometime soon and make something exciting.

...and now a word from our sponsor...

2010-02-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

What with all the couponing, gardening, and can collecting...

Mavis is exhausted...

and taking the day off...

and will not be posting today...

so please enjoy this picture of a giant banana slug instead...

....this has been a word from her sponsor (coupons anonymous)

Weekly Dinner Update... week 5 of 52

2010-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Monday night it was chicken soft tacos... or actually according to the handsome husband... chicken burritos... "because a taco is open on the top"... I have no idea what he is talking about... I just smile and try to look like I'm listening to his jibberish...

Tuesday night I made beef enchilada's...with lot's of cheese... with an avocado on the side of course...

Wednesday night the handsome husband and the girl who thinks she's a bird made chicken stir fry together... Monkey boy and I don't make stir fry...because for some reason it's "their job"... they're the only ones allowed to make it...and I have no idea why... but why question it?

Thursday night we had pasta (with home canned tomato sauce) and bread from PANERA... this time I didn't burn it...

Friday Night we had avocado, bacon, onion and cheese sandwiches...
Yummm a licious!

Saturday Night... Salad with canned beets & avocado and a giant baked potato...
with a ton of sour cream...

Super Bowl Sunday we went to the Hillbilly's for Dinner...
I have no idea what I ate... but I had a great time :)

******

Enough about me...
what did you eat last week that was exciting?

A day in the life of Mavis...

2010-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hello morning...
I had a power breakfast of tea and a giant oatmeal cookie (packed with dried cherries, crasins, dates and chocolate chips)...

Today is going to be a good day...

Because it's "coupon day"...

OMG! A free can...and it's already crushed...a double bonus!

and another...

Apparently someone didn't finish their Pepsi...

And this guy stuck his cigarette end (I didn't want to say butt) in his coke can...
but he WAS NICE ENOUGH to crush it for me...

Clearly... I should be institutionalized...

Back at home... I figured out that they (the store) paid me $3.56 to take this stuff home...
4 FREE items... and $3.56

I thought I'd give you a little "peek" into 3 of my Christmas Gift baskets...
....and it's only FEBRUARY!!!!!
I cannot express how excited I get each week when I look thru the Sunday papers and notice a "free" (for the effort) item...
I bet by the time December rolls around these puppies will be overflowing... maybe if I'm lucky... they will each hold a years supply of free health/beauty products... for 3 lucky recipients.
Ohhhh I can't wait!

Then I made a cup of hot cocoa...

And made cream cheese frosting for the carrot cake I brought over to the Hillbilly's super bowl party...

But first I googled Parma, Italy...
you know... the place we are going next summer...
with CAN money...
The handsome husband still does not believe that I can collect/find enough money to pay for a family trip to Italy... and honestly... after all these years...
he should really know better...

after all...I LOVE a good challenge...

Why can't I ever find dresses like this at the Goodwill?
This would be the PERFECT June Cleaver dress...

I also vacuumed the cooties from under my cabinets...
And then it was time to get going...
over to the Hillbilly's house...
for the super bowl...

See the ranch dip in the center? That was a freebie...
A lady at one of the school dinners was going to throw away the unopened package of ranch dip... so I took it home...

And because I'm one classy lady...
I brought this too...

I bought this little conversation starter at Leopard Girl's yard sale 3 years ago for $1.00...
And quite frankly... it's one of the best purchases I've ever made...

When we got to the Hillbilly's super bowl party...
Mrs Hillbilly's mom showed me the chili pepper dish she had made...
The handsome husband said it was super good...

Then Mrs. Hillbilly proceeded to tell me what a great neighbor she has been...
she has been saving her aluminium cans for me...
Is she a great neighbor or what?
(Actually she is probably doing this so I will stay out of her recycling bin)...

In fact she is such a great neighbor that her and her mother found a whole case of empty Miller Light Beer cans down at the park the other day...and brought them home ...for me...
What a bunch of budding environmentalists thoose two are...

As thoughtful as that was...
I pointed out that if she crushed them as she collected them...
she could fit more cans in the bin...

Did you enter to win a *free* pair of docker pants during the super bowl?
I did... and so did Mrs Hillbilly... and her mother...and even though they were giving away 2990 free pairs of pants... we wanted more chances to win... so we signed all the men up too...

Then I signed up Mrs. Hillbilly for some more free samples I found online...

...and some more...

And then I saw this...

I got soooo excited that I spilled my tea...
I told the ladies to gather around... that they could buy 5 cups of instant oatmeal for 10 cents.... 10 CENTS...at Target... they didn't belive me....

So off we went (during half time of course)
I don't know about you...
but this (a quick trip to Target) is WAY more entertaining than someone
lip syncing a song at half time...

WE FOUND IT!!!!!
SCORE!!!

But sadly... even with our .05 cent bag credit...
we had to pay .55cents out of pocket...
(apparently the coupon lady's Target sells them for less)

So we recovered our money via can collecting on the way home...

Mrs Hillbilly's Mom was such a good sport...
We were cracking up the entire time...
It was so much fun ...
I nearly peeed my pants...

"Is that a can? It looks like a can... QUICK>>> PULL OVER"

Wooo Hooo...
these cans are so big... it's like getting 4 cans for picking up 2...

Ahhh yes...
A day in the life of Mavis...
more fun than you can shake a stick at.

Chicken Love...

2010-02-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

The handsome husband picked me up a truck load of dirt this morning...

To fill the 2 new garden boxes he built me a few weeks ago...

The chickens were hoping the new batch of dirt was filled with grubs and worms... so when they saw it they came running...

I offered free wheelbarrow rides...

Do you wheel your chickens around the backyard in a wheelbarrow?

I do...

The girl who thinks she's a bird said...
"CHICKENS RULE! Can we get some more?"

I think they're pretty cool too...

Have I told you lately how much I LOVE being a chicken momma?

It's amazing to me how gentle and sweet chickens are... Before we ordered our birds last summer I read a book about raising chickens... and it said "The more you interact with them, the friendlier they become."

Umm... I'd have to agree...

A lovely day for garden work...

2010-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

The garlic is coming up like crazy...

It was so nice outside today that I re-stained the top of the potting bench...

The Shasta daisy's are coming up nicely... these typically grow about 4 ft tall by the end of summer...

It looks like the raspberries are making a comeback this year too...
Hopefully I will get enough to make a batch of jam this year...

The girls free ranged a little today...

I spy with my little eye... rhubarb...
I bought 2 or 3 plants last year at the farmers market...
and now... they are coming back... how cool is that?

I also finished weeding the strawberry patch...
Two garden boxes is plenty for us...

So I gathered up the pulled plants and dead brown leaves...

And I used them as mulch at the base of a very tall pine tree...
The thing with strawberries is...once you have them... you cannot
get ride of them... I wonder if they will start to grow here too...

Oh... and the highlight of my day (besides scoring a free cream of wheat cereal sample)
was planting some peas. YEP...I sure did... you got the memo right? Winter is over? I usually plant my peas on St. Patrick's day... but just for fun I planted 1 packet (left over from last year) today. It's been around 50 degrees during the day around here lately... It's probably too early to plant...

But I thought I'd give creepy gnome guy something to look forward to
and plant them anyway...

Then I placed a fabric cover over the garden bed...
and went inside and took a nap...

This has been Mavis... reporting live... from the garden gate.

How to make the best baby shower gift ever!

2010-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Okay... so maybe not the best gift ever... but the best BURP CLOTHS EVER!!

Step #1 cut out 4 pieces of fabric... 10" by 16"

I used some Amy Butler fabric...

Step #2 Buy some of this fabric... I don't know what's it called...
but it's the softest stuff in the entire world...

Step #3 Can you say Yumm a licious?

Step #4 Put right sides together, cut, pin and sew...

Leaving maybe a 1/4" seam allowance...

Leave about a 3" opening...

See how there is a little extra fabric around the edges?

Chop it off...

Then turn it right side out...

Can you tell how soft this fabric is?

ooooohhh ahhhh

Once you have it turned out... iron it ...

and sew the opening closed...

With this...

It's clear thread... and it cost's $8 for 1 stinkin spool... I'm not sure if I got ripped off or if that's what it really costs... I bought it down at the quilt store in town...

Then... you know how cloth diapers have that border on the sides?
Do that...
(are my directions awesome or what?)
I'm guessing about 4" from the side... maybe 3" ...who knows...

Do you see/understand what I'm talking about?

Anyway...
Holy Crackers...
here is what they look like when they are all finished...
Can you say Yumm a licious?

Mavis's weekly photo update...

2010-02-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

I use to think I was a little coo coo for chopping up veggie scraps for the chickens... then I found out that Mr. H does it too... now I don't think I'm so weird.

9 jars and 1 acorn squash... that's what I'm hoping to use up this week from the canned food isle in my pantry...

I'm beginning to think there is something unnatural about my latest breakfast/lunch combo... beans, rice and avocado... It's the second thing I think about when I wake up each morning...(the first is coupons).

I planted some kale seeds... and I don't care if it's too early... I'm telling you it's not. Winter is over... and that's all I have to say about that!

Also... in other news... me and my new BFF...
(the sewing machine) are finishing up a forgotten project...
I'm so excited to get back into sewing that I have another project lined up too...

and... would you believe it? I found a website that shows you where to find coupons for ORGANIC PRODUCTS...( Here Here Here and Here) Yipee Ya Whoooo.

And lastly... I'm in need of a few idea's on how to use up 4 lbs of sour cream...
I couldn't resist the .29cent price tag... and just so you know...
I had coupons for 4 more tubs...
but I resisted...
will power...
it's all about will power baby!

Cherry Brownie Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream...

2010-02-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

3 words....

Yumm a licious!

Step #1 Make a batch of your favorite brownies...

Step #2 Find a jar of canned cherries

Step #3 Drain Jar of canned cherries... save the juice for popcicles of course!

Step #4 Whip up a batch of your favorite chocolate ice cream...

Step #5 Add cherries and brownie chunks to chocolate ice cream and freeze for a few hours...

Step #6 Hide in your bathroom (I prefer the bathtub) and eat ice cream while your kids are doing their homework...

Holy Stinkin Cow this is good!

And FYI> Junk Food...as long as YOU MAKE IT... you can eat it!

Weekly Dinner Update... Week 4 of 52

2010-02-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

Monday night we had cheese quesadilla's and a yummy cheese/bean dip...

and homemade Vanilla Bean ice cream with warmed peach butter sauce...

Tuesday night was left over night... basically... grab a plate and eat what you want. I of course choose beans and rice...other choices included vegetables, chili, rice and left over homemade mac & cheese...I think the canned peaches were an after thought...as in.. here... put these on your plate... canned peaches and cauliflower go so well together...

Wednesday was Ham (left over from Christmas... I froze it) with apple butter, mashed potatoes and corn... I was planning on making thyhand's ham casserole but I didn't make the time...

Thursday night was pasta, stuffed peppers with cheese & french bread from PANERA that I managed to slightly burn... It appears that everyone thinks I should take cooking lessons... I can't imagine way...

Friday was French toast...
it's my secret way of getting the Handsome Husband to eat eggs...

Saturday night we ate baked chicken, rice and carrots...

Sunday we ate giant burritos... I stuffed mine with chicken, homemade refried beans, rice, cheese, salsa and 1/2 an avocado...

My new favorite thing is avocado's...
I LOVE THEM...
they are my new bff...

In fact...
I think I'll go make myself an avocado sandwich right now...

Monthly Food Purchase Update #1 of 12...

2010-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Okay...as promised... here's the good ... the bad... and the ugly...

********
One thing to note: I LOVE double coupons...Per store rules... "a limit of 3 double coupons can only be used in 1 transaction"... I use 3 coupons... put the stuff in my car... and walk back in and use another 3... yada yada yada... I just didn't want you to think that I go to the grocery store every stinkin day of my life :)... it's more like twice a week....okay...maybe three... (I'm working on that)

*****

Enough Laundry Detergent to wash 192 loads $21.66

FYI: I'm looking forward to growing my own soap this summer...Mr. H sent me some soapwort seeds...and with a bit of luck I'll be bottling my own laundry detergent soon.

Craisins $5.98 (Yes, I had coupons)

8 Avocados

$4 ... on sale...

I cannot NOT buy these Nut Clusters at .50 cents a bag...
(I won't eat them... but the handsome husband will)

Yep, $5.18 for the stupid nut clusters and cushy t.p.

Okay... So YES... everything in this photo is a processed food... with the exception of the toilet paper... and those are turkey hot dogs by the way... still horrible... but at least they are turkey...

BUT... and this is a GIANT but.... I only spent $4.54 on the above items... because I had a whole purse full of double coupons.... I simply cannot pass up *free/almost free* food.... even if it is processed. With the double coupons all 4 packs of the yogurts were free, the cocoa puffs were .39cents for 3 boxes, free nut clusters and free crackers, free v-8... well, you get the idea...

Okay, I needed parchment paper...
garlic (I didn't grow enough last year) curry (in the bulk food section of course), cheddar, and fancy smancy chips (which I had coupons for)

All that was $14.42... just in case you didn't see it circled...

Okay... now here's the chicken.... remember when I said I wanted to eat only non processed happy healthy meat (well up until the part where they get butchered)... remember that? Well have you seen the price of an organic chicken in the meat section? It's like $15... holy crap... so I sorta did an in between thing here... I didn't buy the evil Tyson hormone loaded miserable chicken... maybe next time I'll be able to suck it up and pay for the organic free range chicken.

I bought from this company instead... on sale... note to self: think about raising my own meat birds... and most importantly ...where can I hide them (from my husband) until harvest time?

3 whole chickens on sale for $9.89

Okay... so now we have the stuff I bought at Costco... and if you're asking yourself: Mavis... I had no idea you drank Guinness... I DON'T... that would be for my Irish husband... because apparently it's never to early to start celebrating St. Patrick's Day...

Basically, Costco is Evil...

I picked up 12 yogurts and a tub of salad dressing for the low low price of .50cents...total...

See... look at that! I LOVE DOUBLE COUPONS!

I spent $1.17 on (4) 2liter bottles of 7-up...
I had a double coupon and couldn't resist...

Now if you are talking to your computer screen and saying: Wow Mavis... what happened to "jumping off the processed food chain?" This is all processed food... Well, you are absolutely right... (I have no response... I just wanted to let you know I can hear you talking to your computer screen).

Deodorant was on sale for .99cents woohoo...

4 deodorants, orange juice and cough drops (I LOVE cough drops) $6.44

Double coupons again...

Look... I only paid a quarter!

Ohhh... buy 1 get 1 free on cinnamon toothpaste...

$6.52 for 6 tubes of toothpaste & 4 toothbrushes...
I should turn pro!

Fruit for the pancake breakfast... and crappy lettuce and crappy rolls because the girl who thinks shes a bird threw them in the cart...

I need to stay away from Costco...

Bananas, butter, baking powder, muffin cups and apples for the pancake breakfast

I wonder why there are no coupons for fruits & vegetables?

We have a Milk Man who delivers 2 gallons of milk a week... And even though it's more expensive than the grocery store (almost double) $41.60 a month...
I'd like to think that it helps me save money in the long run by not having to "run to the store for milk" all the time (ha ha ha)...and I like that it's from a local dairy...with cows I've actually seen (driven past) before... and that I know where the milk is coming from... unlike the big giant milk corporations where you have tens of thousands of gallons of cows milk being shipped into some giant mysterious vat and being bottled up and shipped all over the USA...

I did a very bad thing here... in a moment of weakness... I bought 5 boxes of cake mix. liners & 1 frosting because I was too lazy to whip up 5 batches of cupcakes from scratch... Yep... I took the easy way out. Shame on me.

See that $10.23 ...down the drain...

2 newspapers & 2lbs of cheddar cheese
(Had I of known of my impending windfall of free cheese I would have not bought it)

$6.99...

Valentines Day is just around the corner...
personally, I think it's a dumb holiday...
but the candy sure is pretty...

Now you tell me...what intelligent person would go out and spend $4 on a paper card (that will end up in the trash) or worse yet... CUT FLOWERS...that die... and cost bookoo bucks? Luckily I have the handsome husband trained... I receive No card... and No cut flowers...and I like it that way... Personally, I would find a 25lb bag of pinto beans more romantic than a card, flowers or candy...
but I'm a little soft in the head...

Luckily my Mom always gives me 2 See's Candy gift cards at Christmas...
It works out great... because each year the girl who thinks shes a bird gets to pick out a bunch of free candy to give away to her friends... It's a sweet deal :)
The gift card total was $32.20...
So I only had to pay $ 2.25 for all that loot...

*free salad dressing, *free yogurt and 2 lbs of cheese

For $3.96... not bad...
(again...had I known I'd be eating cheese with every meal for a month... I would have not bought yet another block of cheese)

Corn flakes were .34 cents each, giant hershey bar .29 cents, conditioner $1.08 and another 2lbs of cheddar cheese for $3.99... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? More Cheese?

All for $6.03

I had read about Ghee and thought I would give it a try...
and at $6.59 for 7oz... I was not impressed... to me it tasted like melted butter that had been place in a jar and left to sit in the frig... I tried to like it... I really did... but with it's steep price tag I was not impressed. The honey however... was well worth it's $13.50 a quart price tag. I usually buy honey at the farmers market from a lady who keeps bee's in town... but there is no farmer's market in January...so I had to pick it up (the same honey) at the local health food store.

$20.09... ouch...

Brocolli $1.12, Cauliflower $2.43, black beans $.95 Bananas $1.39 and 2 packs of cough drops @ $.50 cents each...See... not only do I have an unhealthy obbsession with prom dresses... I have an unhealthy obsession with cough drops... they are my drug of choice... On a good day I pop about 3-4... on a bad day... maybe a 1/2 a bag...

Do you see what I see? If I reuse my bags... I get a 5 cent credit at the grocery store... I'll have to remember that one... I wonder how much money I can save in an entire year by reusing bags...

Free candles...yipee! Look for these in an upcoming gift basket!

2lbs of butter and cantaloupe $5.19

3lb Organic Rice $7.39

$32.44 (with coupons & rebates) of corn syrup crap...
I posted about this purchase here.

$6.99 for another boatload of crap...

.76cents...

.70 cents...

$7.60 for 15 bags of cheese and 6lbs of butter...

F R E E... plus I made .12 cents profit on this deal...

$4.34
This deal for coffee came just in time... The handsome husband had been using the "free samples" I swiped from a hotel back in November... When I asked him how the coffee tasted he said "It tastes cheap" Then I told him I only paid $1.50 a can for it... then he quickly decided "It's fine... I can drink it"
(I think coupon fever might be catching on)

The problem with buying to much cereal for ultra cheap...
is that you have to buy more milk... $8.99 for (3) 1/2 gallons at Costco...

I'm beginning to come to the rationalization that just because you have a coupon...
does not mean you have to USE IT....

Normally I buy the Handsome Husband real half & half for his coffee...
but when partially hydrogenated soybean oil is FREE (coffee creamer) it's hard not to put it in your cart! .65 cents for tissues and creamer...

Finally... something healthy...

AND it was on sale... 15lbs. of oatmeal...$5.00

$1.66

5lbs of clemintines (with a coupon) $2.49, 6 red peppers $3 and a loaf of bread
from Panera (gift card)

*****

This "self analyzing your food purchases" thing was interesting...
Had I not taken pictures of all the crap I bought... I would of never guessed that I brought all this processed food into our house...

On a scale of 1 to 10...
10 being eating twigs and berries
1 being eating 100% processed food...

I think maybe I scored a 2+... which is okay...
because that only means there is a HUGE room for improvment.

Although I was saving money on what I had bought... after seeing the photo's all talleyed up at the end of the month, I came to the conclusion that this was not the direction I wanted to be heading in... The whole point of this little experiment was/is to be buying less processed foods... more organic...more "whole (one ingredient) foods"...so I can learn to cook "real food" and to not be snacking/heating something up from a can... or a box... and also (and this is the BIG ONE) to spend less money each month doing so.

I'm looking forward to continuing this project for the rest of the year. I wonder how our eating habits will change over the course of the next 11 months...

So... what would you score my January Food Shopping on a scale of 1 to 10?

Any idea's/suggestions for improvement...?

Saturday Noon update...

2010-01-30T12:09:00.000-08:00

I called over to Girly Girl's house this morning to borrow her sewing machine...again

She called back and asked if I wanted her mother's old sewing machine...

Really?

Free?

I felt bad I was taking it for free (kinda...well okay...not really)...

So when her husband brought it down...

I gave him some free fruit snacks and free cough syrup...

Was that a great trade or what?

Sewing machine = 2 boxes of fruit snacks & 2 Bottles of cough syrup

Saturday interrupted....

2010-01-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

It's raining today...

so I have decided to stay in bed in my flannel pj's...
to prepare for tomorrow big double coupon adventure...

Every time I come back from the store the Handsome Husband asks me...
"Have they kicked you out of there yet?"

How rude!

And the winner is...

2010-01-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

And the winner of the Mavis Meets Ed Hume Giveaway is....

Congratulations!

Mavis Meets Ed Hume... and a GIVEAWAY...

2010-01-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

After printing my $2 off coupon...
I headed out to the Home & Garden Show to meet Ed...

But first... I had to stand in this very long line...

A friend of mine was a vendor at the show... so I baked him a batch of cookies earlier that morning... then the lady who was taking tickets had the NERVE TO TELL ME... "There is NO outside food allowed"... I looked at her (after she scanned my ticket) and said in true Mavis fashion... "Well, you'll just have to make an exception... because these are HOMEMADE"... and I quickly walked right in... (without looking back of course)...

I love gnomes... have I told you that before?
We are very big on gnomes in this house...
Maybe it's because the Handsome Husband is Irish...
Although he doesn't wear a pointed hat or sport a beard...
the belly though... he's working on that one...

He doesn't grow mushrooms either...
but I wish he grew these ones...

Okay... this is cute...

But $44... are you on CRACK?
Who would pay $44 for twigs?

And why on earth are they trying to sell clip on bows
for your shoes at a home and garden show?

Now this.... this could come in handy...
Maybe I could talk the Handsome Husband into this fine piece of machinery... I could tell him that I want to become a professional giant pumpkin farmer... Yahhh... he'd LOVE THAT!

Okay... Finally... Here's Ed... Mr. Ed Hume has now entered rock star status in my book...
He was sooo cool... and personable... Or maybe he was just trying to be nice to the young stalker lady in the front row who showed up 15 minutes before anybody else...
Yep, I think that's more like it...
BUT....
being Mavis has it's benefits.... like...

Getting your favorite Seed Grower to autograph a few seed packets for you...
That's right... I got Ed to sign a few packets...

1 carrot
and
1 tomato...

and if you're thinking ... Mavis that is so weird...
Why did you go and do that?

I'll tell you why...

Because I thought of you ...

See... I received 2 copies of the book Carrots love Tomato's for Christmas...

it's a great book about companion planting...

The thing is...
I don't need 2 copies of this book...

So I'm giving away my extra copy of the book along with Ed's autographed seeds...

Yep... 1 lucky reader is going to win!

All you have to do....
is answer 1 question...

Which do you like better...

Carrots...
or
Tomato's?

You cannot pick both.

I will disqualify you if you do... because I'm really mean that way.

Pick 1... carrots or tomato's...

then leave your answer in the comment section below.

A winner will be picked tomorrow afternoon.

Good Luck!

Mavis's Weekly Photo Update...

2010-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

I think the first step in the 12 step program is admitting that you have a problem.
I have a problem... and it's called coupons... thank goodness I have "must do" activities scribbled onto my calendar... otherwise I would spend every waking moment at this point searching for "free" stuff via double coupons. Luckily... my obsessive compulsive disorder (self diagnosed of course) comes in cycles... I get bored rather quickly... and then I move on to the next "new thing". Only... how does one get tired of saving money? I'm afraid this habit might be here to stay... I mean it's already been a whole week... and I'm still clipping coupons like a crazy woman...

Here's something else I don't understand... I thought chickens were suppose to stop laying in winter... but these girls have been laying all winter long...

Ooooo lookey here... you know what this is don't you?
Wood Stain...

For the garden boxes...
It's time to spruce them up...

And look... the chives are back in town...

Oh, and look at this... 2 brand spankin new garden boxes...
That handsome husband of mine is acting awfully suspicious lately... not only did he get up early last Saturday and buy me some wood for my new raised garden beds... but he BUILT THEM TOO... This is shocking behavior from a man who wants nothing to do with a garden... another thing to note: he was spotted near the Eglu this weekend... starring at the chickens (smack in the middle of a televised football game) ... What the heck is going on with this man? Suspicious behavior indeed...

Well... there you have it... my weekly update...
and a view... from the garden gate.

10 things that make me happy...

2010-01-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

The inspiration for this post came from none other than MamaJJ...

#1 Formal Wear...

Not that I ever *technically* have an occasion to wear it... but why wait for a party when you can choose to BE THE PARTY instead... and anyway... who ever said buying nails at Home Depot in a prom dress can't be fun?

#2 Monkeys...

I love my monkeys (and the Handsome Husband of course)... and after spending the last 2 weeks/ 5 hours a day at dress rehearsals with them and 125 of their classmates... I love them even more... I really think kids are cool and extremely interesting to say the least... and that even includes the ones from the "mean girls club"...The way I see it...kids need boundaries...and if you show/teach them very early on what you expect of them... and that you will under no circumstance put up with any rude or disrespectful behavior...we will get along just fine... and having the ability to say "No"... with a smile...is key. After all... your job is to be the parent... and not their best friend.

#3 Vacations...

#4 Blogging..

and all the cool peeps I have meet along the way...

#5 Flannel Pajama's

#6 My garden...

I had no idea that when I started my garden boxes last spring... how much JOY it would bring to me... I love dirt,planting seeds,collecting compost, I don't even mind the slugs that much... granted I pour salt on them hoping their little slug friends will see what will happen to them if they slither their way over to nibble on my vegetables...

#7 My Pressure Canner...

I take it EVERYWHERE...
to the beach...

bowling...

even to the Mexican Grocery to buy pinata candy
... Yep... me and my pressure canner are a good team indeed...

#8 PANERA...

Need I say more?

#9 Chickens...

Basically... I've come to the conclusion... that if you don't like chickens...
you're weird. They lay eggs...they give you compost for the garden... they want nothing from you (just food) and they give you sooo much in return...

#10 FREE STUFF...

Besides eating dinner *free* at the school for 9 nights (as in the kids & I ate for free and then brought the handsome husband home a plate of *FREE* food)

I also came home with 11 *FREE* roasting pans... & a giant wad of tin foil...

Some crazy lady at one of the dinners asked me if I wanted her to crumble up the empty pans and throw them in the trash... I PRACTICALLY SHOUTED "NO... we (meaning I) are going to recycle them..." then she said "Oh yeah... what a great idea"... Of course it is you big dummy! (I didn't say that... but I thought it)

And in case you were wondering how much all that foil weighs...
Almost 3 1/2 lbs... hot diggety dog... that translates to about $2.25 at the recyclers...

Also... I picked up a bunch of *FREE* food at the grocery store via double coupons this month...

Oh... and look at these...

40 Free Tortilla's from Taco Night down at the school that nobody wanted to take home... I plan on making a lot of cheese quesadilla's this week.

Yep that about sums it up!

How about you...what makes YOU happy?
(Well, besides me of course)

$7 a day... are you kidding me?

2010-01-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

Clearly this man has never shopped for food before in his life...
(click on the above link & watch the video)

Are you kidding me?

He is trying to feed himself on $7 a day for an entire work week. 5 days = $35) ... Last year he didn't even make it the entire 5 days. I can't imagine why....

Weekly Dinner Update... Week 3 of 52

2010-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Monday night we had homemade chicken soup, baked potato and popovers...
I added lemon curd to mine...

Tuesday night we were at the school and ate a yummy dinner of Pad Thai.
One of the kids parents owns a Thai restaurant and donated enough food for a small army... it was my favorite meal out of the whole two weeks.

Wednesday night at the school we ate pasta with garlic bread and salad.

Thursday night they were serving soft tacos at the school... the taco meat looked gross so we just ate the free homemade cookies and ate beans and rice when we got home...

Friday night...the last night of the play... someone had donated pizzas and cesar salad... and there was like 11 pizza's left over so we brought one of the extras home... and also a bucket full of salad... which was pretty cool since after spending 5 hours a day for the last two weeks volunteering down at the school I planned on spending my entire Saturday in bed... and I saw the free food as an added bonus... (as in I wouldn't have to leave my bedroom to make the people who live in this house breakfast or lunch the next day).

Saturday we ate yummy buffalo soft taco's with homemade refried beans.
Camille's refried beans are my new best friend... I made a second batch this week and I just can't get enough of them...

Sunday... after picking up 15 bags of free cheese on a hot coupon deal... I decided to make a batch of homemade mac & cheese...Yummm...

I suspect next weeks menu will include A LOT OF CHEESE...

Does anyone have any (cheesy dinner) suggestions?