An Egg-cellent Dish

If you have an abundance of eggs in the frig, try whipping up my favorite quiche recipe:



3 eggs

1 C unbleached flour

1 C milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

handful of cheddar cheese (or more...)

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

1- 2 tsp of raisins

1 small onion, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

red pepper section chopped (optional - I use the jar of peppers from the Dollar Tree)

Mix ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 35- 40 minutes. I usually keep a foil over the baking dish for twenty minutes or so, and then take it off for the top to brown the remaining time.

Better than Butter

I forgot to put this post up earlier.  I went to Price Chopper two Fridays ago and found my favorite alternative to butter on sale -- $2.39 for a container.  Sometimes Price Chopper keeps certain items on sale for weeks;  at other stores, Olivio occasionally gets on sale 2/$5 for one week. Better yet, these bonus packs contained 42% more than usual, giving 21.3 ounces per tub.  What I love about Olivio is the ease in spreading it onto my whole wheat bread.  With olive oil as one of its ingredients, it makes an excellent source of ALA Omega 3 fatty acids, and has Vitamin A 10%, Vitamin D 20%, and Vitamin E 10% per serving.  I just thought I would "spread" the news to my wonderful readers.

No Domino's Today

I am so proud of myself today.  I resisted the urge (I have so many of these) to buy something again.  This time it was take-out pizza.  My cell phone keeps handy the numbers of the ones I frequent, depending on what location I am in-- two Pizza Huts in New Hampshire, one in Boston, two shops in Marlborough (one of them is Pizzeria Regina), two in Worcester, and Dean Park and Domino's in Shrewsbury.

A spur of the moment decision for my daughter to gather some friends together before trekking to a library meeting/movie had me suddenly wondering what to serve her guests.  Though my freezer, thanks to Frozen Food Month, was stocked, I couldn't imagine offering Eggos and green beans to the girls.  I rinsed out salad items (lettuce head 99 cents) and pints of strawberries I bought buy-one-get-one free the other day.  I boiled some macaroni (40 cents for half the box) and melted some slabs of butter ($2.49 a pound on sale) and mozzarella ($1.50 a pound after a coupon) into it, fried some hamburgers, set out snacks which I had stock-piled from previous sales -- Skittles,  Twix bars, Fruit Roll-ups, Wheat thins, popcorn, fresh-baked brownies ($1 a box), and a red velvet cake ($3.99 - premade so I did not have to bake it!).

I still felt the spread was not enough, so I ended up peeling three quarters of a bag of Russett potatoes ($1.49) from Price Rite, slicing them with a crinkle cutter into a batch of french fries. Her friends were satisfied and I was overjoyed that I, for once, did not have to depend on take-out for a gathering.  I wish I learned sooner that though time is short and there are other tasks to do in the house, putting together a frugal snack table isn't that difficult if one stocks up sale items and sets out to prepare the food.  This is probably a no-brainer, but after all these years of dialing Domino's, it is a small, pathetic revelation!

Great Trip to Price Rite

Beans for 89 cents a pound, in addition to all of the other usual inexpensive items they offer at Price Rite (like Russet baking potatoes, 5 pounds for $1.49).  My goal during the last trip was to find a decent cake that could beat Price Chopper's round cake of $6.99.  These pre-made cakes generally cost that price at other stores, but sometimes even $7.99-9.99, depending on the radius of the cake. 

Indeed, the perk is that one can have it personalized for free in their bakeries.  But, given my budget, and the fact that cake is not very nutritious, I did not want to spend much money on it.  It had to be wonderful since it was to congratulate my daughter on achieving her black belt, but not the focus of the surprise party table, which offered fruits and eggrolls. 

At Price Rite, I was able to find what I wanted -- a special looking oreo decorated cake, kosher, and delicious.  At $3.99, it was a nice deal, a regular price there actually, and a pleasant surprise for my daughter.  Also available there are coconut topped golden cakes and carrot cake iced with cream cheese.

An Almost Free Gift

I finally was able to indulge in Haagen-Daz without feeling guilty.  A weekly special at Stop and Shop had them for 2 for $6.  Without a coupon, I went ahead and purchased four out of curiosity for a special advertisement given to me with one of my register receipts -- Buy $10 of Haagen-Daz products and get a FREE $20 red Envelope Gift Purchase" in one transaction from 4/1-5/31.  (This offer presumably is still good for anyone till end of May, but perhaps only at Stop and Shop).

I was simply curious, knowing well ahead that one can not get anything really free; that it was most likely a gimmick of some sort and that items offered in exchange for the gift certificate were most likely over-priced.  True to this, when I went to the www.redenvelope.com/icecream website with my thank-you code for a $20 gift certificate, I ended up looking at jewelry and other gift items in the $30-60 range. 

However, the website is also affiliated with Pro-Flowers and other websites.  As I clicked on Pro-Flowers, I did see some packages costing $19.99.  I ended up selecting a pound of fudge, sending it to my mom across the country.  I figured I would have to pay for shipping and handling, but it turned out that by signing up for a special program (which I can cancel anytime within one month), I would get the shipping cost for my order for free through a rebate. 

My gift, which turned out to be a unique and sweet surprise for her, was not free.  I had to pay 53 cents for tax, but it was well worth it, especially since it gave me an excuse to buy my favorite pistachio ice cream pints (so much better than Ben and Jerry's!!).

Going Nuts at Walgreens

I had another fantastic trip at Walgreens today.  Their Blue Diamonds almonds were on sale (last day of sale is this Saturday), buy one at $3.69, get one free. On sale at grocery stores, they might, if one is lucky, be advertised at 2 for $6, so this was a very good deal.  Plus, I had three coupons for $1 off the purchase of 2 (coupons I found at Stop and Shop a few weeks ago).  The cost for 6 cans of these almonds was $8.07, less than $1.35 a can.  Each serving provides 6 g of protein, 35% DV Vitamin E, 20% Magnesium, 8% Calcium, 6% Iron, and 3g of dietary fiber.  A nutritious and delicious deal!



March Madness

I have taken a dilatory approach towards calculating last month's grocery bill tally, mainly because I know I surpassed the limit.  The total for March was $989.22.

In my defense last month was officially "Frozen Food Month," at least according to a grocery store flyer.  One of the specials going on at Stop and Shop was if you purchased $100 worth of frozen foods, you would receive a $25 rewards coupon good for your next shopping trip.  Of course, I always fall for these wonderful deals.  And so, to this day in mid-April, my freezer barely closes.  It is stock-piled with frozen vegetables (on sale for $1 a bag), Eggos (the new ones called "Fiber Plus Antioxidants" -- boasting 35% of your daily fiber), frozen fish sticks (not from minced fish; bought on sale for 50% off), at least two months supply of Lean Cuisine, and for the first week or two of this frozen food frenzy, 6 gallons of frozen yogurt.

The additional amount of spending was due to dining, not fine dining, but a couple trips to Indian cuisine restaurants, a splurge my husband rarely makes, and a few meals in Boston. 

But still, no excuse.  I need to stick to this budget!  Shame on me!