The Walgreens Game

Over a year ago, when I first started up my original blog, I was figuring out the best coupon deals available.  In the last several months, Walgreens has opened 2 stores here in Anchorage and I figured that I would start working the Walgreens Game that seems ever so popular on many frugal websites. 
This is my first attempt, but I think that so far I am doing ok.  I have made two trips this week, here is how I did.  My second trip was purely to score more RR (Rebate Rewards) and to pick up some milk.

Trip 1
Herbal Essences, sale $3.49, coupon $1.00, final $2.49  (earned RR $2)
Venus Razor, sale $7.99, coupon $2.00, final $5.99  (earned RR $4)
Dentek floss picks, sale $2.00, coupon $1.00, final $1.00  (earned RR $2)
Chapstick, $3.49, sale $2.99, final $2.99  (earned RR $3)
Oral-B toothbrush, $3.79, sale $3.00, coupon $1.00, final $2.00  (earned RR $3)
Halls Refresh sale $1.39, coupon .75c, final .64c  (earned RR $1)


Total oop = $15.11
Earned RR = $15.00

Trip 2
Fat Free Milk, $2.99
Dentek floss picks, sale $2.00, coupon $1.00, final $1.00  (earned RR $2)
Oral-B Toothbrush, $3.79, sale $3.00, final $3.00  (earned RR $3)
Hersheys chocolate, sale 2 for $1.00

Used RR = $6.00
Total oop = $1.99
Earned RR = $5.00

So...not to bad for my first attempts at the Walgreens Game, we'll see how well I can keep it up  :-)   For more frugal shopping tips, check out the Saving Money Blogs List in the left column. 

Gourmet Grape Jelly

I posted a while back how I had been on the lookout for grape juice for jelly, right HERE, well I ended up making blueberry jelly and being very content with that, that is until this that weekend...
I was picking up strawberries and such in the produce section and lo & behold I spotted 100% pure grape juice!  Just my lucky day :-) 

Grape Jelly
3 Cups Grape Juice - pure juice no additives
4 1/2 C Granular Sugar
1 Pkg. Pectin

Combine grape juice and pectin in a medium/large pot, whisk until combined, bring up to a strong boil.  Then, add in all of the sugar at once stirring well, bring back up to a rapid boil and let cook 1 minute,don't forget to stir!

Ladle into sanitized jars and water bath can them for 10 minutes.  This recipe makes 6, 1/2 pint jars. 

I purchased the juice in the Syrah & Chardonnay varieties, but this would work well with any pure grape juice that you can find.  Good luck!

Lumpia

I purchased a pack of Lumpia wrappers a week ago and figured out that it was time to try them out.  I've never used them before but I have had Lumpia several years ago, it was the inspiration for the filling that I made.
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DeeDee's Lumpia
1 1/2 Lbs. Hamburger
2 Medium Potatoes
1/4 C Onion - diced
1 Tbsp. Garlic - minced
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Pepper
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
Place hamburger in large saute pan, add in onion, & garlic. Break up hamburger finely and cook through.  Meanwhile, peel & dice two medium potatoes, add into hamburger, season with sale & pepper.  Cook until potatoes are done, finish with soy sauce, & remove from heat. 
Place a small amount of filling on Lumpia wrapper.  Wrap up and use a small amount of water to seal the end.  Fry a couple at a time until golden brown, drain & serve hot.

The end result was a dozen Lumpia.  They were really tasty!

...around

Just some going-ons in our neck of the woods.

It took a while, but the dogs are starting to adjust to our new schedule.  For the longest time, they were programmed to know that if I let them out of there kennels in the morning, then that meant that I wasn't working for the day.  Now, since Kyle works at 9am and I don't go in til 10am, I take care of the dogs in the morning.  They are so excited when I let them out in the morning because they figure that I am home for the day, and then they watch me get ready for work, and as soon as I slide on my shoes in unison they stand up and head into there kennels.  I feel so bad!  Here I am giving Lucy a pep talk and reassuring her that we will be back, man oh man how we love our little dogs. 

And, as I was getting ready for work Monday morning, this was the scene that greeted me outside my bedroom window.  "It's Bbbaaaccckkk!" Agh, I guess its the right time of year for our first termination dust, aka snow, but hopefully we will make it to the weekend before any of it hits at street level. 

Are you ready for winter?

Berry hunt

Kyle and I, along with his sister & parents, spent Saturday afternoon hunting for berries at Arctic Valley.  It is a ski resort that is popular with hikers during the summer and berry pickers in the fall.  This was our first time berry picking at Arctic Valley, next year we will have to harvest earlier in the season as by the time we arrived the pickings were slim.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we enjoyed ourselves.   

Awesome Thrift Store find

I was browsing one of the local thrift stores, "cause you never know what you may find", and I couldn't believe what I did find!

Yep, it is a copper saute pan with utensils and a wall rack to hang it from, I am still ecstatic. Its marked Paul Revere on the bottom, dated 1976, and thanks to my handy IPhone I was able to look up info on it before I made my purchase.  Now I just need to find a spot to hang it in my kitchen, hmm.......

Sweet & Sour Chicken

This is one of my all time favorite meals.  I spent some time in China and South Korea and have always loved the asian cuisine.  Sweet & Sour Chicken is definetely sweeter here in the U.S. than you will find in China.  Here is my version of the dish.

Sweet & Sour Chicken
6 Chicken breasts - cut into 1 in. cubes
8 oz. can Pineapple pieces (drain & reserve juice)
2 Green bell peppers, cut into 1 in. chunks
1 small can Water chestnuts sliced
1/4 C Cornstarch
1 1/2 C Water - cold
3/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C White Wine Vinegar
1/4 C Ketchup
1/4 C Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 Egg - whisked up
Vegetable oil for frying

In a large sauce pan saute peppers, & water chestnuts, in a little oil, just until the peppers soften up.  Combine 1st amount of cornstarch to cold water, pineapple juice, brown sugar, vinegar, & ketchup, add into peppers.  Stir constantly so starch doesn't stick to bottom of pan, bring up to a simmer until it starts to thicken.  Let cook 2 minutes, & remove from heat. 

In a medium bowl combine 2nd amount of cornstarch, ginger, salt, pepper, & egg.  Add in cubed chicken and stir until well coated. 

Heat up frying oil, once hot, add in chicken pieces in batches.  Don't overcrowd the pot.  Cook chicken until lightly golden and floating.  Remove chicken pieces and let drain.

Once all of the chicken has been cooked, heat up the pepper sauce and add in pineapple pieces and chicken.  Stir until combined and heat until warm.  Plate up and top with toasted sesame seeds. 

*I omitted the peppers in my dish as we didn't have any on hand when I made it over the weekend, it still tastes fantastic!

Some inspiration

Saw this video online and loved it, I hope you enjoy it too!

Semi-homemade pizza

I've been wanting to make a homemade pizza using some of the fresh veggies we recently picked, but being short on time I figured I would try out the pre-made Boboli pizza crusts. These are actually quite expensive and its just the dough. After some thinking, I ended up purchasing a frozen cheese pizza, it has the dough, sauce, & cheese, and the only thing missing were the toppings. It turned out to be cheaper than buying just the pre-made crust. I topped this pizza with cauliflower, broccoli, and a drizzle of ranch sauce. Bake per directions on the box.
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U-Pick Farm

Its just about frost time here in Alaska. Kyle and I, along with my mother & father in-law, took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out to the valley to pick some vegetables.

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This is always the best time of year for harvesting vegetables as there is a great amount of variety. The view out in the Butte is beautiful, and only a short drive from Anchorage, makes it well worth the time involved versus running to the grocery store.

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We weren't the only ones to visit that day as the farm was running out of buckets and knives to supply to the visitors. Kyle, my hunter gatherer, climbing around in the broccoli forest to find me the perfect broccoli, ain't he sweet!a:-)

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I have been dying to get some fresh rhubarb before it is gone for the year and thankfully the farm still had a dozen or so plants left to harvest. My grandmother made a mean Rhubarb Custard Pie, and the recipe has been patiently been sitting on my kitchen counter just waiting to be made. And, something that still amazes me, the farm actually grows artichokes. In the middle of gosh darn Alaska, something that I thought didn't grow in cold weather and here are rows and rows of artichoke plants.

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Here is our score for our days work. Zucchini, cabbage, rhubarb, cauliflower, broccoli, baby red potatoes, and mustard greens. Considering that all of this produce came in under $1 per pound, I don't feel so bad spending the gas to get out there to harvest it and support the local growers at the same time.

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Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce

Here's a quick mealtime idea. Its not an official recipe but I'll notate approximations for the mushroom sauce. I came up with this years back when we were looking for a quick homemade sauce for pork chops.

I prefer to use thin sliced boneless pork chops as they cook up quicker than the traditional pork chop, and you can feed more people without having to buy additional pounds of meat.
Sprinkle both sides of the chops with salt & pepper, saute in a pan with a bit of vegetable oil. Once you brown one side, flip chops to the other side and let cook 5 min. on medium heat. After 5 min. remove pork chops from pan, then to the hot pan toss in 1 small can of drained mushroom pieces, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 C sour cream. Let cook on medium heat 5 min. stirring constantly, this will thicken the sauce, finish with a bit of chopped parsley and salt & pepper to taste. Viola, pork chops with mushroom sauce!
The above recipe should make enough sauce for 4-5 pork chops.

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If you have leftover sauce, you can use it in fajitas. Cook up some pork or chicken, peppers, onions and put into tortillas, top with some warmed up mushroom sauce, roll up and enjoy.

A bite of kindness

Today, as I was making a batch of my mom's tasty Chocolate Chip cookies, I thought that the guy who was actively working on replacing my water heater might enjoy a couple of fresh warm cookies too!
I managed to arrange it so that the cookies had just finished baking as he was getting ready to leave and I handed him a napkin with several warm fragrant cookies as he was heading out the door. The huge smile on his face was enough to know that those cookies were well appreciated, he commented on how good they smelled and I knew then that even the smallest sign of appreciation can have a huge impact. It's in those small moments of gratitude that we see the human in humanity and the kindness that can be shared by all.

Do you take the time to show appreciation to those around you?

Here is the recipe for my mom's Chocolate Chip cookies, with a bit of modifications of my own.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C Shortening

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1/4 C Granular Sugar

1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/4 tsp. Water

1 Egg

1 C + 2 Tbsp. All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 C Chocolate Chips (I prefer bittersweet but semisweet also works well)

1/3 C Pecan or Walnut pieces (I break them up in my hands) *optional*

Mix shortening, sugars, vanilla & water, beat until creamy. Add in egg and mix well. In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, & salt, once mixed add into shortening mixture. Stir well. Add in chocolate chips & nuts.

Bake 375 degrees on ungreased cookie sheets for 10 minutes.

Thoughtful change

After some thoughtful discussion, I have decided to change in my kitchen work station for a computer and desk. I am not completely leaving the culinary world, sheesh!...I still cook plenty at home and for friends, but jointly we agreed that it would be best for our household if I were to go to a more reliable job field.

Its not that I am burned out, but the food service industry is highly unreliable. I have been with the current restaurant for 3 years. Even with being hired full time, during the off winter season its hard to even make 6 hour work days let alone 10 hour supervisor shifts. And to be honest, getting up at 4am really sucks! There are other downsides of the food service industry that weren't imaginable until I worked in it. A fair amount of the kitchen staff is made of up people looking for a second chance, yep they marked that little box about criminal record on their application, and honestly a majority of the employees have addictions that spill into work and I really don't tolerate excessive absences or the employees with the long lists of made of excuses of why they can't make it on time or need to leave early every day. I earned a reputation at the restaurant, sadly not appropriate the nickname that was given for me, because I didn't tolerate the b/s. So, at a particularly low point of my working at the restaurant, I had a heart to heart talk with Kyle.

He always finds ways to amaze me, he will sit quietly and allow me to get out all of my frustrations and fears, and in return comforts me and supports me in any decision that I choose. Did I waste the last 6 years on a career that I am no longer pursuing? I haven't yet answered that myself and maybe it will never be resolved.

What I do know is that I am a bit giddy about my new job. I will get to sleep in til 7am, share rides with Kyle, take a real lunch break, I actually get to sit at my job, and the benefits are better than I have had in any restaurant.

And the best perk is that I work for the same organization that Kyle works fora:-)
Wish me luck!

Catching up

This week has been hectic at home. We have been without the internet since Sunday, our water heater died Monday, and our little Pug Winston has Kennel Cough.
On the upside, our internet was fixed today, Winston visited the vet today and he is on a couple of meds so hopefully he will feel better soon, and a new water heater is being installed tomorrow. Everything just takes time, and I need to remember to be a bit patient as resolutions can't always happen when I want, though sometimes it hard to remember that when you have to spend 2 hours heating up water for a bath and you've been up since 3am with a sick dog!
My posts are a bit backed up at the moment and there will be quite a list of new posts within the next couple of days. Stay tuned...