Always Popular Seafood Dip

This dip is so popular among our friends, and it's so easy to make. I thought I should share the recipe.

1 pkg cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat or neufchatl), softened
1 Tablespoon milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. chives or a sliced green onion

Mix these ingredients together. Add more milk if you want it to be a little thinner. Spread on a plate or in a shallow dish.

1 jar shrimp sauce
1 can tiny shrimp, drained
1 can crab meat, drained

Pour sauce over cream cheese mixture, then add crab and shrimp. Cover and chill to eat later.

Anatomy of a Grocery Trip

This is a sample of my grocery trip from this morning.

1 dozen large eggs-regularly $1.29, on sale for .99
Hefty Easy Grip cups, needed for rebate-regularly $2.39, on sale for $1.50

• $2.00 off Hefty product WYB 2 Toasteds crackers.

Brownberry Bread-regularly $3.49, on sale for 1.98 (what? need to go back and get more)
Kraft Cheese, 10 various 8 oz packages-regularly $2.49 each, on sale 3/$5

• $5.00 off, used 5 $1/2 coupons

2 Old Wisconsin Turkey meat sticks-regularly $12.99, on sale 9.99
2 Jell-O Pudding-regularly .89, on sale 2/$1
Honey Graham Crackers-regularly $3.29, on sale 2.47
2 Pilsbury Sugar Cookies-regularly (I don't know, don't buy), on sale 2/$5

• $1.50 off 2 coupon

2 Keebler Club Sticks-regularly $2.99, on sale 1.97

• $1 off 2 coupon

2 cream cheese-regularly (not sure) 1.19 each
1 garden veggie FF cream cheese-1.89

• $1 off 3 coupon

Geisha Crab Meat $2.19
Geisha Shrimp $2.19 (these weren't on sale, but I needed for a party dip)
Shrimp sauce $1.19
2 Mission Multigrain tortillas $2.79 (not on sale, but the only kind we use)
2 Toasteds-regularly $2.99, 1.79 each
2 Popcorn seasonings, needed for rebate-2.59 each
2 chicken broth-regularly $1.09, .59 each
8 Del Monte (various, in fruit juice) regularly $1.39 each, 1.18 each

• $1 off 8 Del Monte coupon

Applesauce-not on sale $2.29 each
2 prunes (kids love them)-$1.99 each

• $1 off 2 Sunsweet coupon

Hilshire Farms Turkey-$3.29

• .35 off 1 coupon
• $1.00 off lunchmeat WYB 2 Toasted crackers

Clementines-regularly $7.99, on sale 5.99
Milk, gallon-$2.59
Whole spiral ham $1.88/lb (don't know regular price, but this is low) $17.90 (2,99/lb @Hyvee, so $28.46)

=============================
Total before sales and coupons=$153.61
Total before coupons=$121.58
Total after coupons=$107.53

30% savings, also $10 worth of rebates from the cups and popcorn.

A lot of these products are not ones we normally buy, but we are making snacks for a party this weekend and taking items for Thanksgiving dinner. The cheese, being on sale and with the coupons about to expire, can be frozen and saved for later. The canned fruit is another item that I am stockpiling for later.

I know that a lot of people use store brands, and I am willing to do that for many products. Fastco makes good cheese, but if I can get Kraft cheaper, I will. There are some products that I spend more money for because they are a healthier option. The Del Monte fruit is a good example, as many canned fruits are in heavy syrup (or light syrup with artificial sweeteners). This brand is packaged in 100% fruit juice, so is a better choice for us. I also have a limited choice of breads, because I don't buy bread made with HFCS, and I prefer multi-grain.

Good Morning, Freebies!

Free calendar from Oriental Trading Company.

Free Child Safety Kit.

Free Golf Tee sample.

Free Crown Royal labels (must be 21 to enter site). They'll let you customize a label, you can order up to 5 for free.

Free Thanksgiving Travel Activity Book download for kids.

Free bookmarks with Historical Figures. (there were at least 15 different ones, and some books to teach about money, all free)

Free sample of Seattle's Best Coffee.

Enjoy!

New Printable Coupons

These just came into my inbox from Home Solutions News. This is another good reason to sign up for newsletters from your favorite products. Highlights (for me) include:

• Electrasol Tabs (OK, they call it Finish now) $1 off and 50 cents off coupons
• Jet Dry
• Airwick products
• $1.50 Woolite and Spray & Wash coupons
• French's Fried Onions coupons (you have to make the green bean casserole.)
  

There are several tabs of coupons, so be sure to click through them all. If you register with them, they often send out booklets of some of these same coupons through the mail.

Another great site to get a coupon booklet sent is Home Made Simple. They have all Proctor and Gamble products, like my favorite, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Check out some new printable coupons from Kellogg's.

Also All You magazine has some really high point exclusive printable coupons up. Print fast, these often have limits.

Toys R Us Deal of the Day DS Package!

I know a lot of people planning to get a Nintendo DS for children this year. The Deal of the Day for Friday at Toys R Us looks like a great package. Remember, sign up to get on the Toys R Us emails so that you can be alerted to the deals. I don't know how long the deals of the day will go on with them, and I only post the really interesting (to me) ones. This is in store only, and I think you have to print the coupon.

Nintendo DS Package Deal of the Day