Thrifty Thursday

Have you ever had a drawer that you wanted to organizer better, but didn't want to spend $3-$5 on small baskets or trays that may or may not actually fit in your draw? This was a problem that I had with a small drawer in my bathroom. The drawer is rather shallow and is used to hold things like tweezers, toothpaste, finger nail clippers, chap stick, floss, etc. I just couldn't justify myself spending money on trays to organize a draw that contained items that I either got for free or for very cheap (nor did I want to spend the money).

My solution, homemade trays that were created out of re-purposed empty cereal containers. I figured that companies include the cost of packaging in the price that they charge the consumer, so why not get some use out of what I have paid for. Once a particular cereal was empty, I simply cut the end off the box that was unopened. You can use utility scissors or box cutters to make the "tray" whatever height you like and voila, instant drawer organizers. This project cost me nothing since the boxes were left over packaging that I normally would have recycled.

Talk About it Tuesday: Calzones

I would have to say that my favorite weekend food to eat is calzones.  I have been making these for years now, but had previously always used box pizza dough kits.  Since I started making my own pizza dough several months ago, I decided to try making my own calzone dough as well.  Here is how I made these fabulous calzones last weekend for dinner with a recipe I found somewhere on the internet.

Calzone dough recipe:

1 TBS dry yeast (or 1 package)

3 TBS sugar

1 1/2 C warm water

4 to 4 1/2 C flour

1) Dissolve the yeast & sugar in warm water.

2)Add flour to yeast mixture, knead (I did this in my Kitchen Aid mixer for about 5 minutes on speed)

3)Place dough in greased bowl, cover, & allow to rise until doubled in size.

4)Divide dough in fourths (we like big calzones) and roll out.  Fill with desired ingredients (we like using combinations of motzerella cheese, pepporoni, spinach, ground beef, black olives, and mushrooms). 

5)Fold dough over & seal.  Then I like to brush melted butter on top, then sprinkle calzones with garlic salt.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20

Thrifty Thursday: More Steals & Deals - Kroger

I went to Kroger yesterday & made out like a bandit!  I was able to purchase everything in the picture for $20.97 and I received two $4 catalinas to use on my next purchase!  This week Kroger is running a special, buy 10 participating items receive $3 off at checkout instantly (I have heard this sale will last two weeks).  There is also a catalina deal on Purex through March 3rd (buy 2 get $4, buy 3 get $5) and on select Pillsbury items through February 21(buy 4 get $2, buy 5 get $3, buy 6 get $4).  So you can bet your button that I will be back at Kroger before the sale is over to rack up big again & use the catalinas I earned today. 

I live in the DFW area of Texas, so be sure to check your local ad for all prices.  To get a full listing of sale match-ups and available coupons, checkout your local Kroger forum at HotCouponWorld. 

Here is the break down of how I scored big on this trip to Kroger.

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Weight Loss Wednesday

This week for Weight Loss Wednesday, I actually feel like I have been making some progress towards my goal of losing all my "baby weight. " I got on my Wii fit to weigh myself (it tracks your weight & BMI on a graph) & it says that I lost 1 LB!!! Great right? Well, after it says I lost a pound it also pointed out that I weighed myself around mid-day where as last time I weighed myself in the late afternoon & that body weight can fluctuate up to 2 LB depending on the time of day you weigh yourself....so does that mean I could have gained weight? Either way I have felt great all week.

I worked out 4 times since last Wednesday morning. This week my work outs included 3 times at the gym and 1 home work outs. The best part is that I actually felt a little sore in my muscles after some of my workouts, which for me is a good sign that I am really pushing myself. Though I tried really hard to eat well, I still had a few "slips." I had pork BBQ sandwiches on game day (& I don't feel sorry about it because those are my fave & pork BBQ is hard to come by in Texas). Oh well, I ate really well pretty much every other day.

Target Steals & Deals

So I made a quick trip to Target yesterday to check out the clearance section. To my disappointment I only saw clearance clothes in the juniors section, but I did manage to find a few other great deals.

I paid $30.71 for:

• 50 LBS (10 bags) of Gold Medal, unbleached all purpose flour clearance price $0.98/ea
• 2 Buddies soap bars $0.97/ea (used 2 $1 Johnson & Johnson coupons)
• 1 Jumbo pack of Huggies diaper wipes (216 wipes) $5.99 (used $1.50 Target coupon & $1 Huggies coupon)
• 1 case of Pampers cruisers, size 3 (96 diapers) clearance price $25.48, outside box was damaged (used $1 Target coupon & $2 Pampers coupon)
• Also used $5 gift card that I earned a couple weeks ago during a diaper promotion

So this wasn't the best deal in the world, but far better than what I would normally pay. I personally thought the flour was the best deal. The cheapest I was able to get it previously was around last Thanksgiving at $1.50 a bag without coupon or $1.00 a bag if I had a printable coupon. I only picked up 10 - 5LB bags (they had much more) because we are going to be moving soon since my husband is in the military & we have a weight limit on how much we are allowed for the move.   :-(

My CVS Deals this Week

This is what I went to CVS for this week.  I spent at total of $13.38 for everything in the picture.  I spent higher than normal, but I really needed the Excedrin, I really wanted the tanning lotion (I'm going on vacation soon & don't want to scare anyone with my terribly pale skin) and it was late and I didn't feel like trying to ponder the best transaction scenario to get the lowest price.  Here is a breakdown of what I bought and what I paid for it:

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