#ChexPartyMix Holiday Snack #Recipe @PlatefullCoOp

No holiday party would be complete without a delicious party mix to munch on while sharing laughs and fun. Fortunately, Chex makes it easy with over 100 Chex Party Mix recipes, including 50 gluten free recipes, with ingredients available at Publix. Visit http://chexpartymix.com/recipes to see all the recipes.

The recipe I made was the Mexican Hot Chocolate Chex Party Mix with cinnamon, chocolate, marshmallow and coconut, takes only 15 minutes to make and is sure to be a hit. Just measure the cereal, then melt the butter, chocolate chips in a separate bowl, add the sweetened condensed milk. Pour the chocolate sauce on the Chex mix while stirring and heating in the microwave. It is a crispy, sweet delicious snack.

 

Be on the lookout for in-store savings and digital coupons on the www.ReadyPlanSave.com website, and share the following sales info with your fellow Publix shoppers!

In-Store Savings

• Chex Cereal $3.79 on BOGO from 11/20 – 11/26*, no coupon required for savings, available at Publix. *Dates might vary in certain markets.

Printable Coupons

• Visit www.ReadyPlanSave.com to clip and print your coupons. Available while supplies last.
• Save $1 when you buy 2 Chex cereals

 #ChexPartyMix and #paid
@PlatefullCoOp

Disclosure: The information and prize pack have been provided by General Mills through Platefull Co-Op.

Holiday Brownies with #BettyCrockerBakeCenter #Publix

Holiday Baking with Betty!

Baking season is here and the Betty Crocker Bake Center has everything you need to create delicious goodies for your family and friends. Find exclusive savings on essential baking mixes and ingredients from brands such as Betty Crocker, Hershey’s and Ziploc® brand containers, available at Publix. Looking for new baking recipes to delight your guests this season? The Bake Center display will feature four exclusive baking recipes as well as coupons; find the Bake Center at your local Publix.

Save on all your favorite baking products, including:
 
Publix In-Store Savings

• FREE Ziploc® brand container with the purchase of any three (3) Betty Crocker™ Baking Mixes, Hershey’s® Kisses/Baking Chips, or Betty Crocker™ Decorating Items. Look for coupon in the Betty Crocker in-store display at your local Publix. Coupon available while supplies last.
• Betty Crocker Supermoist Cake any flavor on BOGO, available 11/13 – 11/19*
• Betty Crocker Frosting any flavor 2/$3, available 11/13 – 11/19*
• *Dates might vary in certain markets.

Printable Coupons

• Visit www.ReadyPlanSave.com to clip and print your coupons. Available while supplies last.
• Save 75¢ when you buy TWO Betty Crocker® Ready to Spread Frosting, Supreme Brownie Mix, Dessert Bar Mix, SuperMoist® Cake Mix. 

Let the holiday baking fun begin!

Here are the two coupons to get a great deal, and a scenario.

Buy (4) Betty Crocker Cake Mix (BOGO $1.99) + (2) Frosting ($1.50ea) + 2 Ziploc containers (free with coupons) = $6.98 - (.75/2) - $1/2 = $3.73 (thats 46 cents each item)

•  Use (2) FREE Ziploc® brand container with the purchase of any three (3) Betty Crocker™ Baking Mixes, Hershey’s® Kisses/Baking Chips, or Betty Crocker™ Decorating Items Publix Coupon found in store (exp 12/31/14)
• Use (3) $0.75/2 Betty Crocker Ready To Spread Frosting, Supreme Brownie Mix, Dessert Bar Mix, or Supermoist Cake Mix Printable 
• $1/2 Ziploc brand containers (11-16 SS)
•  Also may find the manufacturer tearpad coupon on thePublix display for $1 off Hershey products when you buy Betty Crocker cookies.

It's another great week of sale items for your baking needs. Last week we stocked up on cookie mixes, and this week it will be cake and brownie mixes. These brownies below are super easy to make and the cream cheese frosting is the perfect holiday touch to show of the green and red sprinkles.

 #BettyCrockerBakeCenter and #paid 
 @PlatefullCoOp
 Disclosure: The information and prize pack have been provided by General Mills through Platefull Co-Op.

Happy Halloween

Have fun this Halloween, but please be safe.

I just got my personalized link for http://google.com/+Frugalapolis so follow me there!

Green Bean Casserole with Outback Fried Bloomin Onions

Green Bean Casserole is everyone's favorite #recipe, whether its for a holiday meal or just as a vegetable side dish. I tried a new twist with my green bean casserole this time by making it using our left over Outback Fried Bloomin' Onion we got free from the recent Flugtag "The Onion Flew" promotion. And this isn't the first free Outback Bloomin' Onion we've gotten this summer, since Ryan Newman has Outback for a sponsor they've been giving away free onions every Monday after Ryan comes in the top ten finishes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. It's actually very frugal to prepare since you can always get canned vegetables and soup very cheap with coupons, especially now in the fall.

Here's the Recipe for Green Bean Casserole with Fried Onions:

2 cans green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup of milk
1/4 - 1/3 leftover bloomin fried onion from Outback (Or Frenches Fried Onions like the real recipe)
Sprinkle of black pepper

Instructions: Mix the soup and the milk in a container. Take half of your fried onions and mix with the green beans in a 1 1/2 quart glass pan. Pour the mushroom soup mixture over the beans and sprinkle with black pepper to taste. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Add the remainder of the fried onions on top of the casserole and continue baking a couple more minutes. Serves 4

Disclosure: this is NOT a sponsored post, I just like this recipe.

Happy 4th of July

 

I hope you're all having a wonderful and safe holiday today! We got the day off work and enjoyed the local neighorhood parad with some friends, and then went to a free cookout hosted by Bulluck Law Group. It was my lucky day and I won the final grand prize at the raffle contest - a BBQ dinner for 8 from Luptons! Yummy

Enjoy some fireworks tonight too!

Merry Christmas

We wish all of those celebrating, a very Merry Christmas!

May your day be filled with wonderful company, great gifts, good food, and holiday cheer.

Happy Halloween 2012

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Even though I'm old now and don't seem to have the connections for fun dress up parties, its still fun to see the costumes others come up with. We aren't doing anything special this halloween, just giving out candy to the two kids that will stop by, maybe. DH is excited to put together his new composter and make me some dirt for my new flowers. We got lots of coupons from the Home Depot Zombie Mulch game on facebook and it is so fun to shop there for free! You can earn $5 off your $5.01 purchase, $10 off $10.01 purchase and $15 off $15.01 purchase by playing the game. If you haven't played it, give yourself about an hour to earn $30 in coupons. Claim your points by going to the 'STATS' page and requesting to have it emailed to you.

 

Hope you have a great Halloween!

Happy Birthday America

Happy Birthday America -what a great country we live in! Hopefully, you are able to spend some time with friends and family enjoying the wonderful life we have in the USA.

Celebrate!

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a blessed and happy Easter today. Hopefully you're able to spend some time with loved ones to enjoy this beautiful day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's my frugal valentine day flowers for all of you! I'm not really the type to get real excited about holidays, especially when they've become so commercialized. But everyone does seem to be happier on this cold winter day, so that's a good thing.

 

My dear husband is taking me to the Florida State Fair for our valentine's date. We'll see the circus and the extreme motorsports shows, and try to find some food that isn't going to totally ruin our diets, maybe a gyro or fajita. Oh, and we'll stop by to see Bobo the clown heckler, and the farm animals.

 

Frugal fun.

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you lots of fun and ghoul times on this happy Halloween holiday!

Sales Tax Holidays by State 2011

Save money on back-to-school costs during the annual sales tax holidays. Use this list to see which states are participating, which items are eligible and state-by-state guidelines you need to know before you go shopping. Most states only have a weekend to take advantage of this opportunity, and for many it is this upcoming weekend!

 

Click the state link to see any exclusions - one I know is computer paper is excluded in FL.

 

State	Items and Max Cost (Per Item)	2011 Dates	More Information
Alabama	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	revenue.alabama.gov
	computers – $750
	school supplies – $50
	books – $30
Arkansas	clothing and footwear – $100	Sat + Sun August 6-7	www.dfa.arkansas.gov
	Clothing accessories – $50
	school supplies, art supplies, school instructional material
Connecticut	clothing and footwear – $300	Sun-Sat August 21-27	www.ct.gov
Florida	school supplies – $15	Fri-Sun August 12-14	dor.myflorida.com
	books, clothing $75 (excludes computer paper)
Iowa	clothing – $100	Fri + Sat August 5-6	www.iowaccess.org
Louisiana	all TPP – $2,500	Fri + Sat August 5-6	revenue.louisiana.gov
	hurricane preparedness items – $1,500
Maryland	clothing and footwear – $100	Sun- Sat August 14-20	www.marylandtaxes.com
Missouri	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	dor.mo.gov
	computers – $3,500
	school supplies – $50
New Mexico	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.tax.newmexico.gov
	computers – $1,000
	school supplies – $15
North Carolina	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.dornc.com
	school supples – $100
	instructional material – $300
	computers – $3,500
	other comp. – $250
	sports equip – $50
Oklahoma	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.tax.ok.gov
South Carolina	clothing	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.sctax.org
	school supplies
	computers
	other (Check SC site for explicit items' exemptions)
Tennessee	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	tn.gov
	school supplies – $100
	computers – $1,500
Texas	clothing, backpacks, and school supplies – $100	Fri-Sun August 19-21	www.window.state.tx.us
Virginia	clothing – $100	Fri-Sun August 5-7	www.tax.virginia.gov
	school supplies – $20

chart via

Happy St Patricks Day

Hope you have some fun planned for this festive day of Irish lore. We might get out tonight for a sample for green beer later. For now, its another Irish proverb to help you in your frugal ways.

 

Do not take the thatch from your own roof to buy slates for another man's house.

 

Its great to share your wealth and donate stockpile items to those in need, but its important to make sure you don't sacrifice your security and well being. If you have a long lost relative who is always asking to borrow money or co-sign a loan that you doubt they can repay, its not the best choice to sign up for that. Try to offer them alternatives, or question them to decide if they've researched their choices enough. You could offer to help in other non monetary ways.

 

As far as your own expenses - If you've budgeted and accounted for your expenditures or desires and realize you need to earn extra cash, try to earn it yourself. If you choose to have a garage sale or sell something on craigslist to make some spare change, don't feel like you need to lower your prices just because people may ask. Sure we all like to get a bargain, but if you have a fair price on something - don't get all emotional and sell if for a lower price. If you are selling something to just get rid of it, that's different - but if you want to make some money, just say no. Its actually easier to sell something to a stranger than it is to sell to a friend or relative because there is no emotion involved. Many a people make poor financial decisions when emotions are involved. 

 

Have a Great day!

Happy New Year

Welcome 2011.

Free Shipping Day Friday Dec 17

Well, you procrastinators now have a reason to put off getting that last minute gift, and its called Free Shipping Day! Yes, this Friday December 17th there are over 1400 online merchants that will offer free shipping (over 60% have no minimum limit on order to qualify) and guarantee arrival by Christmas Eve Dec 24th.

 

So If you haven't finished your Christmas shopping, this Friday is a great day to cross everyone else off your list. The online event is organized by FreeShipping.org, a site devoted to free shipping coupon codes. So far 1,408 retailers are on board.

Some sites may allow you to combine the free shipping offer with other coupon codes, while others have some restrictions. Some of the participating merchants are Macy's, Sears, LL Bean, Lands End, Kmart, Sierra Trading Company, Cabelas, Ralph Lauren, Office Max, Sephora, Victoria's Secret, JCPenney, Bath & Body Works, Harry & David, Melissa & Doug, Nike, Levi's, UGG, and the Apple Store.

How Long To Cook A Turkey

How long must you cook a turkey?
Use the time chart in order to determine how long to cook your turkey.  All times are approximate, and are based on a fresh or thawed turkey, taken from the refrigerator at a temperature of 40 °F or lower.
Approximate roasting times for turkey

Ready-to-cook: Approximate cooking time in 325-degree oven.
Stuffed Cooking time
8 to 12 pounds 3 to 3-1/2 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3-1/2 to 4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 4 to 4-1/4 hours
18 to 20 pounds 4-1/4 to 4-3/4 hours
20 to 24 pounds 4-3/4 to 5-1/4 hours
Unstuffed Cooking time
8 to 12 pounds 2-3/4 to 3 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3 to 3-3/4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 3-3/4 to 4-1/4 hours
18 to 20 pounds 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 hours
20 to 24 pounds 4-1/2 to 5 hours

Happy Thanksgiving

It's the start of the crazy days of holidays. Throughout all the chaos, it is my goal to remain centered and enjoy some peace. It is hard when there are so many media fingers waving in our faces to pay attention. So my hope for you is that you can find peace and happiness in this busy holiday season, and you can spend your holiday communicating with those you care about.

Happy Halloween

Wishing you a spooky, eerie, blood curdling fun and safe Halloween. I hope you all have fun costumes and buckets full of candy at the end of the night!

Happy Labor Day

Hope you have the day off, after toiling away all these months. We're enjoying a nice long weekend.

Happy 4th of July

Hope you all have a great 4th of July!

 

I woke up this morning to NOT find my Tampa Tribune on my driveway. I had stopped all my extra copies except for one. But they always screw up the paper on these holiday weekends. The stupid carrier sees the suspension on her list and just rolls on by my house. My DH is on the phone now a few minutes before the circulation office closes and it looks like we won't get a paper. No wonder the circulation of newspapers is down.