FREE Shampoo at CVS!

Jonathan and I both woke up this morning feeling terrible, I still don't feel well but I felt we'll enough to make a quick trip to CVS!
I didn't plan on getting out today at all but when I saw this awesome deal I just couldn't resist eying this deal!

This week they have a P&G deal, when you spend $30 you receive $10 ECBs.
The herbal essence and Aussie shampoo/conditioner are on sale for $2.99 each!
If you have your smart source from 9/16 there is a BOGO FREE coupon for herbal essence that is auto deducting $6.99 when scanned. So when you get 2 bottles of shampoo for $5.98 and use a BOGO Q you will technically be making $1.01. So check out the deal I did to get 10 bottles of shampoo for FREE and receive $10 ECBs!

Now I need to find something to do with all this shampooing just got FOR FREE!


9 Herbal Essences: $4.49 each: $40.41
1 Aussie Shampoo: $4.49
Sale: $2.99 each: $29.90
Minus (4) BOGO FREE HE (auto deducted -$27.96)
Minus $1/1 Aussie Q

2 Candies: $1.19 each: $2.38
Sale: BOGO $.25
2 for $1.44

Minus: $1.50 CVSQ

Total before: $47.28
Total after: $.88 (for the candy)
received: $10 ECB

And I will receive another $5 ECB from the beauty club!

So I will end up getting paid $14.12 for all of this! :)

Dessert on a Dime: Nutty Pumpkin-Pie Pudding.

(Photo from better homes and garden website)

If I haven't recommended for you to sign up for Better Homes and Gardens 100 Days of Holidays daily email then I have failed you, and GO SIGN UP NOW.
They are amazing. You will get an email with holiday ideas (decorating, homemade gifts, recipes...) every day! They are so great.

Well yesterday's email was all about crock pot desserts, and you know how much I love my crock pot so I was super excited.
When I saw the Pumpkin Pie Pudding I decided that I just had to make it. So I did.
It was super easy and cheap and very delicious! :)

You an find the original recipe HERE

Ingredients

15 ounce can pumpkin
5 ounce can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
1/3 cup sugar (I used Splenda)
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1-layer-size yellow cake mix
1 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar

What to do:

- Lightly coat the inside of slow cooker with cooking spray.
- Stir together pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, and 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin pie spice. -- - Spread batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared cooker.
- In a medium bowl stir together cake mix, nuts, and the remaining 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.
- Sprinkle mixture evenly over pumpkin mixture in cooker.
- Melt butter over stove and stir in brown sugar until butter is melted.
- Drizzle melted butter and sugar over mixture in cooker.
- Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 2 1/2 hours.
- Remove crockery liner from cooker, if possible, or turn off cooker. Cool, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

A bit of a warning, it doesn't look pretty AT ALL. But I promise once you taste it you will forget all about how it looks.

What it cost me:

Walnuts: $2.50
Pumpkin: $2.24
Evaporated milk: $.74

Total: $5.48

And it made a lot!
It goes great with ice cream! :)

Dinner on a Dime: Braised Beef Tacos

Dinner on a Dime tonight was SO GOOD!
Braised beef tacos with (semi)-homemade salsa.
I'll be honest, I had my doubts for sure. I'm not a fan of cooking (or eating) London broil, but ti my pleasant surprise it was fantastic and so tender! It was so good in fact that Jonathan made the comment that it tasted like something you would order in a restaurant, and it really did.
Oh, and did I mention that it is a CROCK POT MEAL?!?? It doesn't get easier than that friends! :)

And a lot of the ingredients are things that you probably already have so that makes it even cheaper!

You can find the original recipe HERE

We used: (and by we I mainly mean Jonathan since he is the one that put it to cook this morning)
2 lb London broil
Can Rotel tomatoes w/ chilies
Minced garlic
Cilantro
Garlic powder
Onion powder
beef broth
Taco seasoning
Onion
Lime juice
Tortillas

So I am against cooking meat that has not marinated for at least 30 minutes, but I prefer to let it marinate overnight. So that is what we did. We rubbed the meat with onion powder, garlic powder and taco seasoning then added some broth (about 1/2 cup, water would do) and let it marinate.

What to do:
Put 1/4 can of tomatoes and 1/2 the cilantro at the bottom of the crock then place the meat on top. Rub the minced garlic on the meat then add the remainder of the cilantro and another 1/4 of the tomatoes and a can of broth and cook on low for 6 hrs. When done drain crockpot and remove beef and shred it. (I saved my liquid for my round 2 meal)
About an hour before the meat is finished make your own salsa, with the remainder of the can tomatoes (1/2 the can), 1/4 chopped onion, cilantro, lime juice and S&P.

The salsa is so good! We had some Tortilla chips that we ate along with our tacos and store bought (well I got it free) salsa.

My Cost:
London Broil: $6.78
Rotel Tomatoes: $1
Cilantro: $1
Beef broth: $1
Lime juice: $.20 (approximately how much I used from my new bottle)
Garlic: $.30 (approximately how much I used from my new bottle)

Total: $10.28

That may seem like a lot for a meal but we had a LOT of beef leftover and we have already planned a Round 2 meal for for the leftover beef that will give us meals for 2 more nights and a couple of lunches!

Braised beef Mexican rice bake extra cost:
Corn: $.89
Black beans: $1
Rice: $.20 (approximately how much I will use from my new box)

That brings my grand total to $12.37 for THREE nights worth of meals plus lunch! Now that's not bad! That makes it under $2 per serving!

This really is one of my favorite meals we have had lately, and they have all been good! What I love about this is that it's the amazing-ness of tacos but a bit more flavorful and sophisticated by not using ground beef but keeping the cost low.

So try it out and let me know what you think! :)

My First Winn Dixie trip in a While!!

It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have posted anything....or even gone shopping for that matter. Grad school has officially taken over my life, and if it hadn't been for me not feeling well and staying home today this trip would cease to exist. So thank goodness for the common cold/crap so I could finally go shopping!

I didn't do as we'll as I normally do, but oh we'll I did manage to get the ingredients for 2 of our meals this week. Shredded crockpot beef tacos and Mexican bake with leftover shredded beef, rice, beans, and corn (using leftovers from the first meal. And this will yield more leftovers too!)
I got more items this week that were not on sale/had no coupons for. But sometimes you just gotta do it.

Instant Rice: $2.39
Sale: 2/$4
$2

Beef Broth: 1.49
Sale: $1

Rotel Tomatoes: $1.29
Sale: $1

Corn: $.89

Black beans: $1.49
Sale: $1

Tomato Sauce: $.39

Lime Juice: $1.79

Minced Garlic: $5.49
Sale: $4.99

2 Wholly Guac/Salsa: $2.99 each $5.98
Sale: BOGO FREE (-2.99)
Minus (2) $1.50/1 Q
FREE!

Garlic Bread: $3.19 each: $6.38
Sale: BOGO FREE (-3.19)
Minus: $1/2 Q
$1.10 each: $2.19

London Broil: $9.84
Sale: $6.78

Cilantro: $.99

Bell Pepper: $.89 each: $1.78
Sale: 2/$.88

Minus: $5/$30 Q

Total Before: $40.19
Total After: : $18.90

Still managed to save a little over 50%! :)