Hello Monday!
If you are still in your pajamas, it’s OKAY. So am I!
Laurie sent in some gnome pajamas for me to wear for the Send in the Gnomes fundraiser, how cool was that? How did she even know I like pajamas? I’ll have to break them in before I pack up the pj’s for the road trip to St. Jude this summer.
As far as grocery shopping went, it was a pretty slow week around here due to my splurge and Costco and Winco last week.
Some weeks you buy a ton of food and others you get by with just milk.
Here is what I purchased:
Target $7.18
All I really needed this past week was milk. I was walking by an end cap and spotted Alfredo sauce for a $1 a jar so I grabbed two of them. Has anyone tried this brand? Is it any good?
I have a recipe I’ve been wanting to try and it calls for Alfredo sauce, which is not something I normally buy so hopefully the Market Pantry brand will taste okay.
Vitacost – FREE
I had some Vitacost credit and then shopped through ebates to score a 6% rebate on my purchase.
If you’ve never made a purchase from Vitacost before you can get a $10 credit just for signing up, plus earn a $10 credit each time you refer a friend and they make a purchase. Plus, right now Ebates is offering a 6% rebate on any Vitacost purchase so it’s like double dipping. Pretty cool if you ask me. Also if you are new to Ebates, you can score a $10 gift card for signing up to their website as well.
Mr. Produce Guy – FREE
Thanks to Mr. Produce Guy we had free watermelon coming out of our ears last week. The best part about the reclaimed produce we pick up every week is we never know what is going to be in those boxes. It’s kind of like a treasure hunt.
Only having to go the grocery store for milk this past week was pretty rad. Let’s hope I can have a few more weeks like that to keep my budget in check.
How did YOU do this past week? Did you score any super awesome deals?
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week $7.18
Total Spent This Year $918.05
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $805.57 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil.
Sherle says
My daughter and I went to our local farmers market and scored some free strawberries and since we have bunnies tons of carrot tops, beet greens and even carrots with their tops. We eat the strawberries, beet greens and the carrots and of course share them with the bunnies.
Danielle O says
Awesome tip, Sherle. I’ll have to keep that in mind once the farmers markets start opening around here. I can’t get the grocery stores to give in — but maybe some local growers would be willing to part with their less than perfect produce.
Eric D. Greene says
Those watermelons look so good!
Becky says
I wish our grocer gave away free food. Some of the food they have at regular price looks worse than you freebies.
Lisa in IL says
you know how easy home made alfredo sauce is? super simple – this is the exact recipe I use, basically a white sauce with cheese.
http://www.flouronmyface.com/2011/10/easy-homemade-fettuccini-alfredo-sauce.html
Amanda says
Lisa, I am so excited about trying your alfredo sauce! However, I am wondering if it all needs to be used right away or if the extra can be refrigerated for later use. If so, what is the maximum amount of time you suggest it’s kept? Thanks!
Lisa in IL says
I’m feeding a family of five so there are seldom leftovers! Since it’s a dairy based recipe I wouldn’t keep it more than 3 days in the refrigerator.
Amanda says
Yeah, it’s just my husband and me, and I only cook once or twice a week. I made a pasta/chicken sausage/broccoli dish on Sunday night (one of our favorites!) and actually used Market Pantry Alfredo sauce on it. And we had leftovers last night and will tonight as well. But we only used about half the jar of sauce and the rest went into the fridge until the next time we need it (which probably won’t be for a few weeks). I guess I would definitely want to halve the recipe then. I will definitely try it! Thanks!
Danielle O says
Last night, I came home a little late from dinner with my mum & I saw some boxes next to a recycle bin up our alley. We are moving soon, so I decided to walk up the street & snag them. Turns out there was also a couple of BIKES on the pile!! One mans & one womans! How convenient since we were just discussing getting a couple bikes (& a trailer to drag the kids behind). Just needs a couple new inner tubes & a new chain on one. Otherwise, the frames are in great shape!
THEN, I realized the reason there was so much junk by the recycle bins was the “Great Mukilteo Clean Up”. Following “The Great Mukilteo Garage Sale”, the following Monday, residents are allowed to put WHATEVER they want to get rid of next to their recycle bins & the trash guys’ll take it away for them. Great way to get rid of furniture or renovation project scraps…. Or if you are me, you drive around at 11pm & find some really good stuff!! Besides our bikes, we also landed a HUGE cooler we can’t wait to take to the lake this summer. Also saw a kids kitchen & sandbox but we couldnt’ fit them in our SUV. Lots of couches, chairs, side tables… *sigh* I feel like writing a blog post about how much we in this country WASTE materials & fossil fuels on things we just end up throwing away -_-
Heather says
Okay, I admit it…I have used that Alfredo sauce. For us, very plain jane, so I did add about 2-3 T. butter to melt in it with a little dash of kosher salt, dash of ground pepper and a bit of grated/ground nutmeg and a shake or 2 of powdered garlic (we love garlic!) to make it taste “homemade-ier”! LOL! No one ever knew it was from a jar!
Lisa Brooks says
Yikes! $917 spent so far and you are only going to spend $1200 for the year. Can this be possible???
I can’t wait to find out!
Mavis says
I have no idea! 😉
Lindsey says
If the watermelon is bland or you have too much, try dehydrating thin slices. It tastes like watermelon fruit leather—really, really good. And the bland gets concentrated and no longer tastes bland. Ditto for other melons.