Extremely Real Couponing

I have always HATED couponing. Along with doing the dishes it is the one thing I dislike doing the most. I would stay up into the wee hours of the night organizing and agonizing over all the the different sales at all the different stores. I would wear myself ragged the entire next day hitting up all the different stores that have the best prices for the things I need on my grocery list. Then checking out would be a drudgery. I would hand the cashier my coupons as beads of sweat would form on my brow; then more sweat would drench my armpits (gross, I know, but it was stressful for me). Then as the total would ring up I would almost faint when all the hard work would total like $13! So eventually I gave up. It just wasn't worth it to me.

This was like a year ago; until I was introduced to www.southernsavers.com. This little gem does all the work for you, well Jenny really does it. It's not the Extreme Couponing way, but in my opinion it's the realistic way. She breaks it down for you so easily and teaches you along the way. I now know that when I walk into the store that whatever I am buying is the best deal possible at the rock bottom price. Its glorious!

Now, I have always been impressed when people pay literally like a $1 for hundreds of dollars of goods, but when you actually look in their cart it's ironically tubes and tubes of toothpaste and two liters of cokes, which is fine, and it's a sure fire way to make sure your teeth don't rot out from the coke, but now you have to go shopping for actual food so your family can eat!

If you follow Jenny's advice you're gonna get what you actually need. It also truly takes out all the guest work and dare I say it, but grocery shopping and saving money can be fun again!

If you're new at this like I am check out her posts on "Getting Started", and then go get started. Go!

Here's how I'm doing so far....

God just didn't make me to do those giant binders of coupons so I took the simple route and just got a small 12 folder accordion file. Than labeled each by the way stores are typically organized. I also have a miscellaneous and restaurant section.

I also try to check her site a couple times a day because it is constantly updated with deals, and most of the time you can print off the coupons directly from her site by clicking on a particular link.

Oh, and one more thing, if you don't the get your local newspaper in the mail make sure you go by a couple of papers every Sunday. I sometimes forget, and I'm kicking myself when I check her site for the deals and realize I don't have the coupon to get the ultimate savings because it was only in the paper.

Your Welcome.

Talk to you soon!

Dad's

Happy Father's Day!

Just wanted to share with you the daddy's in my life. I love them.

Here's Daddy and son enjoying the St. James Art Fair in Louisville.

Simms is being a goofball as usual, which I happen to love, MOST of the time.

That's Matt's dad on the right, whom I lovingly call Paul (shocker since that's his name; he's the best!). He's eating lunch there with his sister whom we lovingly call Aunt Linda (she's also the best!).

Paul is one of the most huggable dads you will ever meet and when he smiles his whole face smiles.

He's always there for us.

I love him so much.

That's my Daddy holding Simms.

He is a sweet and thoughtful man that I am forever thankful for.

He is a great gift.

I've shared this pic before, but it's one of my favorite's of my Grandpa (my Daddy's dad).

I love that old man.

There's father and son working in the garden Matt just built.

This sounds cheesy, but that has been a dream of mine to have a garden right outside our kitchen window! He made my dream come true *tear* *tear*.

Thanks babe!

This picture pretty much sums up our life!

Thanks babe for all you do and all you strive to be; couldn't have asked for a better man for my son to want to walk in your shoes (whether it's Chucks, Toms, or Flip-Flops).

Lots of love!

Drink it up!

Now I LOVE Pdub a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman, and she does not need any help from me to promote her; I don't think she's ever needed any help from anyone promoting her because of her incredible blog that now 4 million some-odd people follow. I'm saying this because she inspired me, as she does almost daily. She inspired me this time to go buy this huge glass drink dispenser that I have always wanted. Ever since I've become a big girl and started having people over for dinner or just to hang out, I have wanted these beautiful things. I know some of you may think that's weird, but it's the truth. I've always wanted it, but could not justify buying them because they're like $50 or more.

Pdub recently posted about the glass drink dispensers that she owns from Pottery Barn. Now I like Pottery Barn a lot; I mean what's not to like, but this is The Pennyless Cook; emphasis on the "pennyless" so I went on a search to find some affordable versions on www.amazon.com. The cheapest I could find was $18, which I could swing, but I wondered if I could find them even cheaper so I decided to wait on buying it.

The other night I had to pick up a couple more things that I forgot at Kroger and behold, like a sign from the LORD were those drink dispensers, not exactly the same, but perfect for what I kind of needed (if you can "kind of need" a drink dispenser, that is).

Plus, they were on sale for, wait for it....

$14.98!

Yep, you heard right, $14.98 I couldn't believe it either; so I got 2!!! Now this sale was with my Kroger Plus Card. If you don't have a Kroger Plus Card I will pray for you because it's like the easiest thing you can ever do to save money at Kroger and plus (no pun intended) you can load digital coupons on it too.

I don't know for sure how much longer this sale will go on so if you "kind of need" these beauties like I did; go get 'em. Now; go! I don't mean to be so bossy, but they only had like 8 left at my Kroger.

Hurry!

Don't you like them? They come with the rod-iron stand too. Perfect for keeping out ice cold fruit water during these hot summer days. That's lemon-lime water on the left and apple water on the right.

I would say see you later, but I won't. So I'll talk to you later, and thanks for always being such a great listener.

Really; thank you!

Wasabi Please

So I just discovered Wasabi Peas. Have you heard of them?

I've been on vacation recently (more on that in a later post) and my vacation, according to myself officially ended last night because I had to go to the grocery. Back to the daily grind; so-to-speak. We got back from our actual "vacation" Friday night, but continued our vacation back at home by eating out some and I (thanks to Matt watching Simms for most of the day, and a gift from my Daddy) got the most luxurious treatment at Physicians Center for Beauty on Saturday morning. But you don't want to hear about that.....oh you do! Well, then let me tell you....

I don't mean to brag, (well, maybe I do just a little) but I got the best massage of my life; a hot stone massage, then a facial which I had never had, then a body scrub which I had never had either, and then a gentle wave treatment which I had never even heard of! It's like 37 seconds of the brightest light ever (except for the light of the Christ Himself) that you stare at, with your eyes closed (if you can stare at something with your eyes closed that is) or you can get, according to Stephanie (the massage therapist) massive migraines. Anyway, this light is supposed to tighten skin, kill bacteria and heal blemishes. Definitely needed the healing of the blemishes part, and it worked!

Ok, now back to my point..... in between the facial and the gentle wave treatment I had time for a snack. I chose to get a salty, spicy mix of healthy nuts and crackers, but it also had, those Wasabi Peas I mentioned. So I ate my snack and sipped on my cucumber water, and got the most delicious flavor from these so-called Wasabi Peas.

I found some at Target last night during my grocery trip, and for a snack this morning I decided to eat a handful. BAD IDEA! The worst idea I have ever had, except for that one time in middle school where I roller bladed down a slide and broke my left arm in two places. Not kidding; that really happened!

These little harmless-looking, dried green peas sent a pain down my throat and through my sinuses that I have never encountered!!! I started jumping around like a possessed bunny rabbit, which didn't do any good by the way.

And I DO know about Wasabi because I eat it with my sushi, but sheesh there should be a warning on the label that says:

EAT WITH CAUTION!

DO NOT EAT BY THE HANDFULS UNLESS MOUTH IS NUMB!

But it didn't say that so I thought it was all good. I seriously thought I might have to take a trip to the hospital for the 15 seconds that my mouth was on fire!

But all in all those little bits of fiery goodness are delicious.....if I eat like one or two at a time.

I think I'm gonna make a mix with them, like with bagel chips and pretzels similar to what they served at the spa. Mmmmm that sounds good......

Here's the little devils!

DO NOT EAT BY THE HANDFULS!

In case you didn't get the memo above....

Eat like this, only two at a time, and that's only if you're tough.

I mean REALLY tough.

Seriously, take an honest assessment of your life and decide if your tough.

I'm telling you I can eat spicy food.

But this is a totally different level.

There is spicy and then there is SPIUUUCY!

You can probably figure out which level the Wasabi Peas are, and if you can't you will when you eat a handful.....

Talk to you soon!

My Miracle in a Bottle

During that infamous Wal-Mart run not only did I get $50, and find an incredibly affordable shampoo for myself, but I also found a shampoo for my husband Matt.

Let me first say, so my husband's man-hood is not completely stripped away from him, that Matt IS manly. He played football for a championship team in highschool. He plays an electric and acoustic guitar. He has started boxing. He even (with our friend Travis' help) ripped a huge tree out of our front yard with his bare hands a few days ago. Well, not really, that story kind of got elaborated, but they both did rip a massive bush out of our front yard with the help of some rope and our Jeep.

Matt is also good-looking, and when he sings I still sometimes melt like butter. I know gag me, but it's true. And he even has dance moves that might surprise you, and actually won my heart at a sorority dance (that's another story though).

Now, with all that said; he does have little moments of what might be considered "unmanly".

For instance, he likes hair-product. He has good-hair and is not ashamed of it.

So because of this we have bought hair products galore to satisfy this head of his.

He also has a dry scalp. I hope he doesn't care that I'm sharing this.....too late now, I guess.

So the last 5 years we have tried a million different top salon men products. From shampoos to scalp treatments; they all leave his hair with too much build-up.

Keeping all that in mind, I noticed when I was shopping, the new natural professional line by Suave. I've always had good results with Suave products myself so I thought, what the heck, my husband's hair isn't too good to try Suave! And it may just need to get over itself if it thinks it is.....

Plus, I'm only out like $3 if the shampoo doesn't work; compared to $20 or more that we tend to spend for a smaller bottle. And bonus, it smells identical to some of those $20 bottles.

Let me introduce you to the product that has minimized his build-up, moisturized his scalp, and saved our marriage.

Drum roll please....

Suave Professional Rosemary + Mint

"SALON PROVEN to invigorate as well as Aveda"

32 FL Oz. (of magic).

Your welcome.

Cookout Time!

It's time to bust out the grill and all the fixin's that embodies cookout season. This is one of my favorite times of the year. Good food with good friends in the sun. How can you not love it? Well, I guess if it's 110 degrees and no water source in sight than that would not be fun, but other than that it's one of the best times of the year!

Usually this is also the time that I pack back on those 10 pounds that I've been losing and then gaining and then losing again at the gym during those cold, winter months. Let's not bring up winter. I know you didn't; I did, but let's just stop talking about it because it can be depressing. Warm months are ahead!

Speaking of warm months; it used to take me forever to figure out something to bring as a side dish to the different cookouts that wasn't your same 'ole potato salad, slaw, or baked beans. Not that there is anything wrong with those. Believe me I still eat it all......hence the 10 pounds that comes and goes!

The perfect side (in my humble opinion) is one of my very favorite pasta salads. It's super simple, and super-duper yum-my as my 3-year-old says!

Tomato, Asparagus Bowtie Pasta Salad

Ingredients

1 16 oz package Bowtie pasta

1 lb fresh asparagus, cut in bite-size pieces

1 bottle Italian vinaigrette (I use Girard's Olde Venice Italian)

1 oz fresh basil, chopped

1 lemon for zesting and juicing

1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 cup fresh, grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Add asparagus to the cooking pasta the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Drain pasta and asparagus. Let cool for 10 minutes or longer in a large serving bowl. Add your tomatoes. Zest your lemon over the pasta, asparagus, and tomatoes.

Whisk 1 cup of Italian vinaigrette, basil, garlic, and juice of one lemon in a small bowl. Pour dressing mixture over the pasta salad and 1/2 cup of cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir well, but gently so not to break the pasta.

Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Before serving, stir in remaining dressing, or about 1/4 cup, cover top of the salad with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.

Then don't wait any longer, dig in!

Here's the choir that will make melodious flavor.

Boil your water.

If you don't know how to do that, no offense, but you may not need to be in the kitchen for the safety of those around you.

Pour in your pasta to boiling water, and then get a steam facial.

It definitely helps with opening up your pours. Now go use a facial exfoliator and finish with a good moisturizer.

You have like 9 minutes before your pasta's ready.

While you're getting the facial, multi-task; stir your pasta so it doesn't stick and it begins the cooking process evenly on each noodle.

Cut your asparagus in even, bite-size pieces.

If you don't like asparagus; I will pray for you.

Pour your asparagus in the pot with the pasta.

Cook the asparagus the last 2-3 minutes of the pasta cooking time.

Don't they look happy swimming in there?

Drain and let cool in your serving bowl.

DO NOT RINSE. I repeat DO NOT RINSE, you want all that starchy-goodness left on the noodles to soak up the dressing. You will make the pasta extremely irritable if you rinse it.

They just don't like it; I'm telling you from experience.

The grape tomatoes are waiting patiently.

Half each one.

Dump in the tomatoes with the pasta and asparagus.

Zest your lemon.

This is one of the stars, Girard's Old Venice Italian dressing.

You can use any basic Italian vinaigrette, but this is my go-to, and plus it is currently on sale at Kroger.

Add lemon juice to 1 cup of dressing.

Chop up fresh garlic.

I usually recommend using the jar because it is cheaper in the long run, but when you incorporate in a dish raw, always try to use fresh. It packs some big flavor, and you can taste the difference.

Plus, it was only a little over a dollar for two heads of fresh garlic.

Add the garlic to the dressing.

Cut the fresh basil; FRESH basil.

Add it to the dressing.

Whisk.

Pour over the salad.

Ohhhh this is gonna be good!

Stir well, but gently so not to break the pasta.

You want it to look purty.

See, purty isn't it?

Shred your Parmesan cheese.

Buy the block.

It's cheaper ounce per ounce, then the pre-shredded, and packs more flavor.

But, I won't kick you out of the kitchen if you buy the shredded.

Me LOVE cheese!

Pour in a 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Oh yeah, and a little salt and pepper.

Go easy on the salt because Parmesan has a salty-bite to it naturally.

Mix gently.

Gently I said!

Then cover and chill for at least an hour or overnight.

Pour on the remaining dressing right before serving, about 1/4 cup.

Also, right before serving, cover the top with the remaining cheese.

Serve with your favorite cookout food.

See that yummy burger, well that photo reminded me what I learned from our friend Bill.....

The key to a perfect burger is not only the meat, but the bun.

His secret: buy your buns from WW Cousins. If you live where there is no WW Cousins then you will truly never have a perfect burger.

And I will pray for you again.

Why does the word "buns" make me laugh.

Ok, I know, it's cuz I'm immature.

But you chuckled too! Didn't you?