Frugal Bean & Bacon Soup ($.70 per serving)

When we got married, my husband was nearly obsessed with Campbell's Condense Bean & Bacon Soup. Now this isn't a bad thing... but have you seen how expensive canned soups have gotten??!! So I did what any determined wife would do to try to save a buck - I made my own! Only thing better than the taste is how quick it is to throw together!

Note: The bacon's purpose in the soup is mainly for flavor and small bites throughout. So buying the cheaper more fatty packs of bacon is more than sufficient! :-)

Ingredients

4 - 15 oz cans Pork & Beans, drained not rinsed ($1.60 on sale)
4 - cups chicken broth (approx. $.24 homemade or from bouillon cubes)
2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, drained (approx. $.92)
1/2 tsp onion powder (pennies)
8 - strips of bacon (approx. $1.39 on sale)

Cook bacon in a large pot and remove when fully cooked and set aside. Drain all but 3 tbsp of the bacon grease from the pot and add all other ingredients back to the pot. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Use a potato masher to smoosh up some of the beans. Crumble the bacon and add back to the pot and simmer soup for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately with bread for a filling meal!

Makes 6 hearty one cup servings. Only $.70 per serving!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole ($.97 per serving)

So I've seen variations of this casserole all over Pinterest and since Papa Woody and I have a deep love of Chicken Cordon Blue... surely a casserole would be right up our alley! So I had to try it. I adapted it to fit our family's taste and size... And went as frugal as I could!

I love the idea of casseroles as much as I love crock-pots. Something about throwing all your ingredients into a pan and putting it into the oven to cook at convenience makes for a very happy Mama. You can even assemble the night before and keep casseroles in the fridge until the following night's dinner time. Genius!

Adapted from MadeFromPinterest.net

Ingredients

Meats and Cheese
1 lb cooked chicken, pre-cooked weight ($1.58 on sale)
4 oz Deli Ham, about 4 large slices ($.62 on sale)
4 slices Swiss Cheese ($.55)

For Sauce
2 Tbsp Margarine (approx. $.04)
2 Tbsp Flour (penny)
1.5 cups milk (approx. $.30)
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice (approx. $.12)
1/2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard (approx. $.04)
1/2 tsp Salt (penny)
1/4 tsp Paprika (penny)
1/4 tsp Pepper (penny)

For Topping
1 cup Stove top stuffing mix, ground ($.40 on sale) Note: you can also use breadcrumbs!
3 Tbsp Margarine ($.06)
2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (approx. $.13)

Cook up your pound of chicken and shred or rough chop. Lay in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Dice up deli ham and layer on top of that. Then top meat with the slices of swiss cheese.

On stove top over medium-high heat melt the 2 tbsp margarine then whisk in flour. Cook for about 30 seconds whisking constantly. Slowly add milk while whisking to blend out any lumps. Turn heat to high and whisk until the sauce begins to boil and the sauce will be thicker. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, paprika and pepper. Then top the meats and cheese with the sauce mixture.

Melt 3 Tbsp margarine in the microwave. Add in the ground dry stuffing and parmesan cheese and mix well. Use to top the casserole.

Bake casserole at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving to allow it to thicken!

Makes 4 servings at only $.97 per serving!

Magical Meatballs ($.80 per serving)

This is a super tasty recipe that everyone in the family gobbles up and goes back for seconds... and maybe even thirds! It's magical because it's a rare occasion when ALL adults and children love the same meal... unless it's pizza! It can be prepared all at once on the stove top or you can make ahead and dump it in a crockpot - which is my preferred method! Since this recipe calls for only a few simple ingredients that are usually on hand... this is a staple in our hidey hole.

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef meatballs, homemade or frozen store-bought (approx. $4.50)
2 cups brown sugar (approx. $.45)
1/2 cup soy sauce (approx. $.40)
2/3 white vinegar (approx. $.09)
1/4 cornstarch (approx. $.10)
20 oz can pineapple chunks (approx. $.88)

On the stove top, bring the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and cornstarch to a boil while whisking. When it begins to boil add the pineapple (including juice) then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. If you are cooking in the crockpot then add the frozen meatballs and poor the prepared mixture over the top. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4 hours. If you are cooking on stove top with homemade then once the cooked mixture is prepared simply add the meatballs and cook until heated through. Serve over white rice.

Makes 8 servings. Only $.80 per serving!!

**Recipe adapted from Pennies & Pancakes

Couponing week of 6/15/14!

So... I took a few weeks off from blogging and couponing. Papa Woody was off in a far, far away land (far from fairytale) for a nasty length of time and when he finally returned I didn't feel like doing much other than spending time with him. But I think it's time to dive back into routine and get back to clipping some coupons!!

Dollar General

I managed my biggest savings at Dollar General to date today! I didn't have a huge haul but the savings percentage was enough to get me to do a little happy dance! The one day only $5 off $25 store coupons make it worth while to venture out there every once in awhile! :-)

4 - Downy Softener 64 oz (sale price) $2.95 x 4 = $11.80 - 2[$3/2 coupons] = $5.80!!
2 - Gillette Venus Disposables $3.75 x 2 = $7.50 - 2[$3 coupons] = $1.50!!
1 - Dentek Flossers $2.00 - [$1.50 coupon] = $.50!!
1 - Tide Simply Clean Detergent (sale price) $2.95 - [$1 coupon] = $1.95!
1 - Dawn Dish Soap (sale price) $1.00 - [$.25 coupon] = $.75!!

Retail $35.85 plus tax.
Subtotal $10.50 - [$5 off $25 store coupon] = $5.50 or $.61 per item!!!
Savings of 85%!!!

Walmart

I broke down to grab a few good deals at Walmart this week. One of the deals was a freebie that was too intense to wait on!! Menards put their 33 oz bottles of Clorox 2 Stain fighter and color booster on sale for only $.99!!! Since I don't go there regularly I wanted to price match at Walmart (where the regular price is $5.98!) and use the $1 off one coupons that I had found on Coupons.com making them completely FREE!! SWEETNESS!!

4 - Corox 2 Stain/Booster $.99 (price matched!) - 4[$1 coupons] = FREE +$.04 overage!!!
2 - White Cloud Toilet Paper $1.97 x 2 = $3.94 - [BOGO coupon] = $1.97 or $.25 per roll!!
1 - Pepto Bismol $2.97 - [$.50 coupon] = $2.47!!
1 - Dial bar 2pk $.97 - [$1 ibotta rebate] = FREE +$.03 overage!!
2 - Downy Wrinkle Releaser $1.47 x 2 = 2.94 - 2[$1 coupons] = $.94 or $.47 each!

Total retail price $34.74 plus tax.
Total price paid after coupons, rebates and price matching $5.31 plus tax!!
Savings of 85%!!!


Target

Usually I am always going hog wild at Target but this week the only super good deals in my opinion were for dog food so I did some serious stocking up on that! There was an awesome $10 off $40 pet purchase mobile coupon available. Since it was only allowed once per telephone number... I had to drag my poooor husband along to do two transactions using his phone. I'm SO glad that he's finally back home! ROFL!

4 - Kibbles 'n Bits 17.6 lb bags $10.99 x 4 = $43.96 - 4[$1 coupons] - [$10 store coupon] = $29.96 or $7.49 each!
***Earned $10.00 in gift cards with purchase of Kibbles 'n Bits bags!***
3 - Pedigree 20.4 lb bags $11.99 x 3 = $35.97 - 3[$1 coupons][$10 store coupon] = $22.97 or $7.65 each!
3 - Pedigree Marrowbone treats 1.5 lb bag $3.24 x 3 = $9.72 - [$1 coupon] = $8.72 or $2.90 each!
***Earned $15.00 in gift cards with puchase of Pedigree pairs!***

Total retail price $89.65 plus tax.
Total price paid after sales, coupons and gift cards $36.65 plus tax!
Savings of 60%!!!

CVS

My first stop for this week was to CVS where (even though I hadn't been indulging in deals) I had noticed this whole "Gas Card" deal in lieu of ExtraCare Bucks had been going on each week. Many items are included in the deal (Spend $30 and receive $10 gas card) and when I received another $5/$25 coupon via email I figured that I'd check it out! I also took advantage of some free deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrush!

3 - Tide Simply Clean $3.50 (sale) x 3 = $10.50 - 3[$1 coupons] = $7.50 or $2.50 each!
2 - Finish Gel Pack 25 ct $6.89 + $3.44 (BOGO50 sale) = $10.33 - 2[$.75 coupons] = $8.83 or $4.41 each!
2 - Vaseline Lotions $7.29 + $3.64 (BOGO50 sale) = $10.93 - 2[$2 coupons] = $6.93 or $3.46 each!
***Spent $30 and received a $10 gas card***
2 - Dry Idea clear deodorant 2/$6.00 (sale) - 2[$2 coupons] = $2.00 or $1.00 each!
***Receive $2.00 in ECB with purchase of 2 Dry Idea deodorants***
1 - Colgate 360 toothbrush $2.99 (sale) - [$1 coupon] = $1.99!
***Receive $2.00 in ECB with purchase of Colgate 360 toothbrush***
1 - Crest BE toothpaste $2.99 (sale) - [$1 coupon] = $1.99!
1 - Crest Sensi- white toothpaste $2.99 (sale) - [$1 coupon] = $1.99!
***Receive $4.00 in ECB with purchase of 2 Crest specialty toothpaste***
2 - Aveeno Moisture bar $3.49 + $3.49 = $6.98
1 - Aveeno Makeup remover wipes $8.29
***Receive $10.00 in ECB with purchase of ANY 3 Aveeno products***
2 - Charmin single rolls $1.57 x 2 = $3.14 - [$3 CVS Coupon] = $.14 or $.07 each!!

Used a $5 off $25 coupon received via email!!

Total retail price was $94.29 plus tax!
Total price paid after sales, coupons, gas card and ECB's earned and used $13.62 plus tax!!
Savings of 86%!!!