ALDI Deals, Starting 03/12/2014

Here are some of the AWESOME deals this week at ALDI...

• Weds. 03/12 ONLY: Fresh St. Louis Style Spare Ribs $1.99/lb
• Cattlemen's Ranch USDA Choice Flat Cut Corned Beef Brisket $3.49/lb
• Mushrooms 8 oz $0.69 ea
• Baby Carrots 16 oz $0.49 ea
• Little Salad Bar Garden Salad 12 oz $0.99 ea
• Red Potatoes 5 lb bag $1.49 ea
• Cabbage $0.99 ea
• Yellow Onions 3 lb bag $0.79 ea
• Deutsche Kuche Black Forest Ham 3 lb $8.99 ea
• Deutsche Kuche German Breads Assorted Varieties 7.6 oz $1.79 ea
• Deutsche Kuche Bavarian Soft Pretzels 17.57 oz $2.99 ea
• Deutsche Kuche Bavarian Brand Wieners 12 oz $2.99 ea
• Deutsche Kuche Pretzel Dough Sea Salt or Cinnamon Sugar 14.3-16.6 oz $2.49 ea
• Deutsche Kuche Pound Cake Marble, Marzipan, or Lemon 14 oz $1.99 ea
• Combos Cheddar Cheese Pretzel 6.3 oz $1.69 ea
• Reeva Lavender or Shea Butter Dish Detergent 24 oz $1.89 ea
• Easy Home 6 pc Scissor Set $3.99 ea
• Easy Home Stackable File Box $8.99 ea
• Easy Home Carpet Cleaner $59.99 ea
• Easy Home Steam Mop $29.99 ea
• Easy Home Wet/Dry Rechargeable Vac $19.99 ea
• Welby Foam Cushion $5.99 ea
• Huntington Home 18x30" All purpose Mat $6.99 ea
• Huntington Home Plush or Berber Area Rug $19.99 ea

For more information about shopping at ALDI, visit their Homepage!

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 6

Today's challenge involved a quick pick up of the house, and cleaning out the car.  The first was easy, since it was Monday, it was my day to clean the house anyway.  So everything got picked up and straightened up, and cleaned.  Below is the after of the kitchen and bathroom.

The other item, cleaning out the car, was interesting to say the least, since I'm 8 months pregnant.  We're also going to install the car seat we recived over the weekend at my shower, but we haven't got that far yet! 

 Trunk

 Front Seat

Back Seat
I also decluttered 14 pieces of trash out of the car.

Linked to Money Saving Mom!

Tuesday's CVS Trip

Tuesday Joe and I stopped into CVS to roll my ECB's, and we were able to pick up some AWESOME deals.  I broke my purchases up into 3 transactions to make the most of my ECB's and CVS coupons.  Here's what we ended up with...

Transaction #1:

3 Jumbo pks Huggies Diapers $11.99 ea - $3 ea Sale - $2.50/1 MC x 3 +

1 pkg Huggies Wipes $8.29 - $2.30 Sale - $0.50/1 MC - $5/$30 Baby Items CVS Coupon - $10 ECB's wyb $30 = 4/$9.96

+ $1.69 Tax

- $13.74 ECB's used to Pay

- $7.91 paid with gift card

Total OOP: Zero, Earned $10 ECB's

Transaction #2: 

2 pkgs Almay Eye Shadow $7.99 and $7.49 - $3.50 Sale - $5/2 MC - $6 ECB's wyb 2 = 2/$0.98

1 Naturemade Vitamelts $9.49 - $3.50 Sale - $1/1 MC - $4 ECB's = $0.99

+ $0.72 Tax

- $10 ECB's used to Pay

- $2.09 paid with gift card

Total OOP: $0.60, Earned $10 ECB's

Transaction #3: 

2 Motrin PM 40 ct $9.89 ea - $7.42 ea clearance - $3/2 MC = 2/$1.94

2 bottles Clearasil Superfruit Cleanser $7.99 ea - $3.20 CVS Coupon (20% off) - $1/$8 Face Wash CVS Coupon - $1/1 MC x 2 - $5 ECB's wyb 2 - $7.99 MIR = 2 FREE + $3.21 Money-maker!

+ $0.82 Tax

- $10 ECB's used to Pay

Total OOP: $2.54, Earned $5 ECB's and $7.99 MIR

Total OOP: $3.14, Earned $25 ECB's and $7.99 MIR!

Linked to Simply CVS!

Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday: Banana Crumb Bread

There were bananas in the freezer that needed to be used up during our pantry challenge, so I went in search of a new recipe, and found a delicious Banana Crumb Muffin recipe.  However, I didn't want to fool around with making muffins, and crumb topping each one, nor did I follow the recipe perfectly.  So this is my version...

Batter:

1 1/2 c Flour (I use unbleached)

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

2 ripened Bananas

1/4-1/2 c Milk (each batch is different, you just want to thin the batter out a bit)

3/4 c Sugar (I use Raw)

1 Egg

1/3 c melted unsalted Butter

Topping:

1 tbsp cold unsalted Butter

1/3 c packed Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Flour

1/8-1/4 Tsp Cinnamon (depending on your taste)

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Mix bananas, egg, sugar, and butter.  In a separate bowl mix salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour together.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.  Add milk as necessary to thin the batter.

2.)  Pour batter into a greased loaf or muffin pan.

3.) Mix topping ingredients in a bowl and combine with a pastry cutter or 2 knives until everything is evenly crumbly, and the butter is disperse evenly throughout.

4.) Top batter with crumb topping.  Bake in preheated oven until done, about 20 minutes for muffins, or 35-40 minutes for a loaf (although this may vary based on your oven).

5.) Allow the loaf or muffins to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing and eating :)  Store in an airtight container.  Enjoy!

*Makes 1 loaf or about 12 muffins

Linked to One Project at a Time, the Super Saturday Link Party, and Thrifty Thursday!

 

Sunday's ALDI Trip

Sunday Joe and I had a delicious dinner at Texas Road House using a coupon and a gift card.  Afterwards we stopped itno ALDI to pick up a few needed items.  Here's what we ended up with...

1 dozen Eggs $1.79
1 bottle Light Olive Oil $2.99
1 pkg All Natural Bacon $3.89
1-1 lb bag Shredded Mozzarella Cheese $3.49
2 boxes Wheat Thin Crackers $1.25 ea = 2/$2.50
1 canister Quick Oats $2.29
1 box Granola Bars $1.89

Total OOP: $18.84

Menu Plan Monday: 03/10/2014

This week I'm again joining along in the '4 weeks to a more organized home' challenge at Money Saving Mom.  Also, our families had a baby shower for us over the weekend, and I really need to work in the nursery this week to make room for everything we received.  So that is a TOP priority this week.  I hope to post my progress as I go.  I also have my OB appointment on Tuesday, as well as errands to run.  With all that in mind, I kept this week's menu VERY simplistic.  Here's what we're eating this week...

Breakfasts: Waffles or Granola Bars for Joe, Oatmeal for Me

Lunches: Leftovers, Sandwiches (using leftover meats and rolls from the shower)

Dinners:

Sunday -Texas Road House with a coupon and a gift card :)

Monday - Crock-pot Pork Roast with Baked Potatoes

Tuesday - Leftover Pork Sandwiches with Baked Onion Rings

Wednesday - Homemade Pizza

Thursday - Working at Joe's Grandfather's house, so we'll probably eat out with him :)

Friday - Grilled Bacon Cheese Burgers with Baked Tater Tots

Saturday - Leftovers/Sandwiches

Extras: Homemade Butterscotch Chip Cookies

For more AWESOME menu plans, visit Org Junkie!

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 5

Today's challenge was to clean the couch and vacuum underneath.  We actually got rid of our couch a while ago, and just have a futon in our living room now.  It is so much easier to keep clean with the cats.  We just remove the cover, wash, dry, and replace.  No cushions to remove, nothing to vacuum; it's so great!  Anyway, here's the after...

(the towel is because our 1 cat is sick right now, but usually there isn't a towel on our futon, just fyi)
Also, as for the items I decluttered today: more coupons inserts, and some misc notes that were on our end table between the recliners.

Linked to Money Saving Mom!

40 Bags in 40 Days Update #1

I decided to join along in the 40 bags in 40 days challenge to help decrapify the house before baby Rogers arrives in April.  Here's how week #1 went...

Day #1: Freezers, and a quick kitchen clean up - These are the after pictures.  Still overflowing, but I updated my inventory sheets, and I know what's in there and where it is.  Items decluttered: 7

Love a clean and tidy kitchen, even if the lighting is horrible!

Day #2: Under the bed vacuuming, washing the bed linens, and quick pick-up in the bathroom - Decluttered 7 items, including scrap papers, a lotion lid, and a burnt out jar candle.

Day #3: Futon and Recliners in the Living Room, and the End Table - Decluttered 7 items, including coupon paper scraps, and some scrap paper notes from our end table.

Day #4:Baby Shower Day!  So no cleaning for me!  Items Decluttered: Zero!

Weekly Spending Report: 03/02-08/2014

This week I spent a little more oop than I would have liked, but that's how the beginning of the month is.  Everything you've run out of at the end of the previous month needs to be replaced now that you have the money to do so.  I was also able to stock up on some great deals, and earn some gift cards to put towards future purchases.  Here's how the week went down...

• Tuesday's Target Trip: Zero oop - used gift cards to pay, Earned $20 Gift Card
• Tuesday's Walgreen's Trip (no picture, just 3 mailers, 1 pkg Yes to Cucumbers Face Wipes - free with coupon, and 1 Coffee drink for Joe): $3.19 oop
• Wednesday's CVS Trip: $11.06 oop, Earned $25.72 ECB's
• Wednesday's Giant Trip: $25.10
• Wednesday's Pet-Co Trip (no picture, just 2 cans of cat food, used two $1/1 MC): $2.02 oop 
• Thursday's Wal-mart Trip (no picture, just 2-8 lb bags Raw Sugar, 2 pkgs CFL Light Bulbs): $10.55 oop 
• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip (no picture, just 2 newspapers, and a snickers bar for Joe): $2.96 oop
• Earned $5 Amazon Gift Card from Swag Bucks
• Earned $99.99 from Amazon  
• Earned $10 CVS Gift Card from Mypoints

Total OOP (including $19.56 from Sat. March 1st): $74.44 oop
Total Earned: $160.71
Total Remaining for March: $174.72

Linked to Couponaholic! 

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 4

Today's challenge involved a quick clean of the bathroom, and cleaning underneath our bed.  Our one cat was none too happy when she figured out that I was vacuuming her domain (under the bed) today, but she got over it without having too much of a spas attack ;)  And even posed for the after picture.  I also washed all of the bedding since it was the week to do it anyway.  Everything is so nice and fresh, love it!

Items decluttered: 1 old jar candle, 2 old towels, a lotion lid, and 3 pieces of scrap paper.

Linked to Money Saving Mom!