Hot Cocoa

Today is one of those days, where just looking out the window freezes you to the core.

See...

My honey should be home soon.  He has been out driving in this mess all morning.  Driving and delivering and freezing.  But, I have something ready and waiting.  Something that will warm him through!

 

Hot Cocoa.  He likes his with lots of marshmallows!

 

These are the basic ingredients:
4 cups of instant nonfat dry milk powder
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of powdered non-dairy creamer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 package of instant store-bought chocolate or vanilla pudding mix (French Vanilla pudding mix is amazing in this cocoa.

 

 Pour all of those ingredients into a large bowl.  (Be sure that you manage to make a mess of it all over your secret ingredient, it makes it taste better.)  Then dip into your secret ingredient...instant coffee.  I use this decaf. kind, only for coffee mixes.  If you mix 1 tablespoon of this into your cocoa, something wonderful happens.  Don't worry, it doesn't turn it into a coffee drink.  Just this little bit makes you cocoa taste more like chocolate.  Try it.  I dare ya!

 

 

 

If you want you mix to be a finer, more uniform grain, you can pulse it in a blender.

At this point, you can pour it into a container and wrap it up for a nice gift.

Or,

 

 you can enjoy a nice steamy, creamy cup with your lunch, right away.

Stir 1/3 cup of cocoa mix into 1 cup of hot water.  Top with mini marshmallows.

~Rebecca

New Ads are Here

We have the new ads posted check them out.  They are on the right hand side of the blog.  Click on the name of the store that you want to see the ad and it will take you to it.

Preview the Smartsource newspaper coupons coming out next Sunday here:

http://www.couponmom.com/coupon_preview.php  coupon mom is one of my favorite sites to go  and find help for my savings.  It is good to know what coupons are coming out so that you can plan them in your shopping trip.      ~ Ethel

A Great Cereal Deal at Target!

You get a free $5 gift card when you buy 5 cereals listed:
Selected 9 - 14 oz. General Mills cereal is $2.50
The ad notes that there are other selected breakfast items included in the offer.

I have also found several General Mills coupons online...I will be sure to put a link at the end of this post!

Using a 50 cent Cheerios coupon, you could get 5 boxes of Cheerios for $2 per box. At the end of the transaction you will be rewarded with a $5 gift card for your next shopping trip or transaction.  That would be like getting the cereal for $1 per box.  Splitting your purchases into two transactions in one trip will make that savings immediate!


http://www.everydaysaver.com/bigg 

~Rebecca

Homemade Laundry Soap

I have been making my own laundry soap for 3 or 4 years now.  I have tried many recipes.  I have made liquid, gel and powdered.  This is my absolute favorite recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Bars of Fels-Naptha
1/2 cup Oxy-clean (I often just use the cheaper brand.)
1 cup of powdered Tide or any powdered detergent that is on sale (HM detergent can cause whites to turn gray if you have hard water, which I have, a little bit of Tide solves that problem.)
2 cups of Washing Soda (Not Baking Soda)
2 cups of Borax
Optional:  1 Tbsp of Dawn dish soap
                1 bottle of Downy or Purex Scent Booster
                 A few drops of essential oil

Grate up your two bars of Fels-Naptha with a beat-up old box grater.

Toss your soap slivers into your food processor and add the Tide and Oxy-clean.  Then pulse until...

the little slivers are broken up and mixed with the powders, making it a sand-like texture. If you want to add a grease busting boost, add a tablespoon of your favorite dish soap and pulse more.  If you want more scent, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil and pulse again.

Dump the mixture into a big bowl and add the borax and washing soda.  Sometimes the borax can be clumpy, sifting it helps, but if you don't want to mess with that, just give it a good stir.  Stir it until it is completely mixed in. At this point, you could also stir in the Downy or Purex Scent Booster. It really is fine without it, but if you like your laundry to have a stronger scent, this will do it.

Transfer it into your handy dandy container and toss in a measuring scoop.  For a regular washing machine, you will add 2 Tablespoons into the running water.  For an He machine, you will use 1 Tablespoon.

This is what it looks like with the Downy Scent Boosters mixed in.

 Making homemade laundry soap saves me quite a bit of money.  One recipe lasts about 2 months.  When I can find the ingredients on sale and purchase it with coupons, it is even less expensive!  I like that I am aware of the product and can control the ingredients.  I hope that by making up my own, I am exposing my family to fewer harmful chemicals.  I do know that this recipe has given our sensitive skin no complaints.

Spending less on home care products allows you to have a little more grocery money, which is always a good thing!

~Rebecca

What a wonderful day Comp. shopping

A few of my great deals Comp./coupon shopping today.
  My total product before comp. and coupons was $238.28 minus comp. savings -$53.38 and minus coupon savings -$32.38  a total cost to me $ 152.52.  That is a $85.76 total savings.  Gotta love it.
Wal-mart normal prices are in  ( ) .

A few of my great deals were 3#  Navel Oranges $1.49 Aldi  ($3.98)
Strawberries 16 oz. .99 Aldi ($1.98)
Kraft Miracle Whip 30oz. $2.99 country mart (3.88) coupon $1 off 1 making it $1.99
Hy vee brand frozen vegetables 10-16 oz. .77 (1.38 great value brand)
93% ground beef $2.99#  Greenhills ($4.88#)
pork steak - piggly wiggly $1.39 #  (1.98#)
Kelloggs Scooby Doo, Cinnamon Jacks, Frosted Mini wheats crunch $2.00 (2.98) coupon .70 = $1.30@
 the size on the cereal is 10.8 to 18.3 oz sale at Hy vee.
Scotch Brite Dis. wipes clearance $2.  with a bogo (buy one get one free) coupon $1. each.
Stride gum  14 pc. $.96  used a  $.50 coupon making it .46
ID gum $1.  used a bogo coupon making it .50
This is only a few of my great deals make sure you check you adds.   I may be from a different area so policies may not be the same. Also always check your coupons to match sales.


In this Sundays Paper there are two Monday one day sales ads HyVee and Price Chopper.
Price Chopper has Kellogg's Corn flakes on sale for $1.49 10.5 to 12 oz.  there is also a coupon in this Sundays Red Plum for $1/2 this make the cereal $.99 get your ads and check out the rest of the great deals.

- Ethel