Organic Vegetable and Fruit Eating Organic Lady

Sometimes I think I should have called this blog Organic Vegetable Eating Coupon Momma.

That's right!

The most common complaint I hear from people whenever you mention the word coupons is that there are only coupons for junk food not for anything good.

I will tell you that statement is only about 50% true.

The reason I disagree with that statement is partially because there is alot of junk food and pre-packaged food that you can find coupons for but there also happens to be alot of coupons for Dole salad mixes, fresh bananas, frozen fruits, and frozen vegetables.

Here is an example, If you like to eat fresh strawberries on your Kashi cereal every morning and find that fresh strawberries run you $2.50 to $3.00  a package at any given point in time, think about buying frozen strawberries and letting them defrost in a bowl while you are getting ready for work and pouring the cereal in on top of the strawberries and finding a coupon for rice milk. Voila a simple and healthy breakfast.


You can also find ample amounts of frozen vegetable coupons and defrost the vegetables for fresh salads.

Remember, with couponing your goal is to always "buy what you need when you don't need it." This quote is not mine its from all those previous smart couponers who knew this and were kind enough to pass it along to all of us.

With coupons your goals should be to save money and think outside of the box. It really is a constant game and you must thoroughly learn the rules.


I want you all to know I started this blog for three reasons. 1. To educate you about how to  learn to coupon as a newbie 2. To show you my journey from the beginning. 3. To teach you to enjoy saving money.


This year has been a huge journey.


I have learned that you want my blog to entertain you but many of you are also coming here for real concrete information and advice on how to save you money.


Times really are changing. Gas is getting more expensive which drives up the cost of food and other goods.


Many of you have a hard time keeping a roof over your head let alone have the time or money to worry about putting  food on the table. Ramen noodles get a little old after while.


I get it! You want more information! You want more fun! You want a place to come that's not overwhelming and can really help you.


You wanna know what I'm cooking.


You wanna know If I'm serving healthy meals.


You want more pictures.


Point taken.


There are many changes coming to The Cute Couponer.


We have a new look now and there is a new message to come along with it. I'm going to help you and your family save money and be healthy.


It seems everyday I meet a new person with cancer. It's rampant. Cancer is everywhere. There is a certain amount of truth that it's in the chemicals. It's in the food! It's in the packaging! It's in our homes! It's in our soaps! It's in everything.


I wouldn't be honest with you if I didn't tell you these concerns bother me everyday.


It doesn't matter how much money I save or how many free things I get if they aren't good for me or my family and I have to pay a fortune in medical bills or possibly lose my life.


Please know I realize that you expect more. I take this very seriously.


Now I like my sweets and a few other super yummy recipes but you are going to see many changes around here.


Unfortunately, there is not an ample amount of coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables and that is just reality. Don't let that deter you from couponing.


I have plans for an incredibly large garden this Summer. We plan on freezing many of the things we can't get our hands on during the year or just can't afford the price. It's a great way to save money and meet are needs.


With couponing you will never go hungry but I don't want you to get sick either.


I want you to have money in your pocket and have a healthy body.


Let's do this together.


Over the next several weeks check back often. Many changes are being implemented in my life and in this blog.


I want The Cute Couponer to be a place where you can come and enjoy and feel better when you leave. I want you to have overflowing freezers and cabinets, money in your pocket, and food that's good for you.


Please will you come with me on my journey.


Let me know what your questions are and what you want to see more of.


Organic just means without pesticides it can still have lots of sugar and sugar kills.


Let's talk about it.


Let's change together.


Leave me a comment and let me know your wants and your concerns.


We are going to work on it together.


Here's To Health, Financial Freedom, and Success,


The Cute Couponer

A Valentine's Blessing

                                               

Meet Valentine. Valentine was a Summer surprise a few years ago. We had surprise puppies. Found out her momma was pregnant on a Saturday and out popped Valentine and her bubbie and sissies Sunday. 

I picked her name because I fell in love with her right away. You know how you can look at a being and just know what their name should be, that's how it was with my Vivi Cakes.

Twice over the past two years Valentine has been hospitalized. We lost her sister Snickers, and it broke my heart, to a random vaccine reaction. Valentine was hospitalized along with her other sister Lily and her bubbie had to receive outpatient care.

They all made it but not my baby Snickers. To this day I still cry every time I think of her.


This Valentine's day is very special because my baby Valentine was hit by a car a few weeks ago. Fortunately, the people who hit her came to the door at my mom's house and carried her in. I flew out of work called the Vet hospital and high - tailed it there with determination and faith.


I held my baby on my lap and comforted her and said prayers to God to please save my baby.


By the time I got her in the door I was covered in blood and told the doctor whatever it takes no matter how much it cost I will gladly do it.


Sitting in the waiting room was all too familiar. I was trying to choke back tears and keep from getting the paperwork they gave me to fill out from getting wet. Then through the door came a true blessing. Stephanie the nurse who had taken care of her before came walking in the door from lunch and said hi. She took one look at my face and she knew. All I had to say was go take care of my Valentine she was hit by a car. 


Stephanie flew back and took over the case from the other nurse. I knew God answered prayers. It wasn't too long after the doctor came out and talked to me and said what he needed to do and gave me an estimate and assured me how lucky I was.


Valentine was hit and fell over. Her nose bled from having a clot come up from her lungs. She had a clot in her lung that should disappear in the next few days. They were going to keep her overnight for observation and I could come visit her later that evening. She was going to be sore for awhile but be just fine.


God answered my prayers. I have my special Valentine for many years to come.


My baby is home and with me today for Valentine's Day.


See Valentines don't always have to be a romantic partner or even your own child.


Your special Valentine could be anything or any being.


I'm the happiest doggie mom today and truly blessed by my special Valentines gift.


I wish you and yours a very Happy Valentines Week.


Blessings to you,


The Cute Couponer




P.S. I'm hoping to finally go shopping this week. The stores are for the most part out of everything since the blizzard a week and a half ago and this last weeks falling snow. Check back later this week for the shopping trips and some incredibly delicious recipes!!!

I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Snow Ice Cream

I figure since most of the country is buried in snow it would be fun to take full advantage of playing in it and eating it. Since our snow has been a little bit to wet to build a snowman I decided we would make snow ice cream. 

Here is What You'll Need

Milk
Eggs
Vanilla
Big Bowl
And Lots of pretty white snow (stay away from the yellow kind lol)

Beat 2 eggs in a bowl and add in 2 cups of milk. Add 11/2 cups of sugar and 3 Tablespoons of Vanilla. Now start adding snow by the cupful until you get it just right. This part is totally up to you! I like mine creamy and sweet so less snow. Now I stick mine back in the freezer to gel for an hour so all the flavors mix together and voila...
Snow Ice Cream.

If you are really feeling adventurous try chocolate snow ice cream.

Again gather in a big bowl of snow. I take my mixer and open 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and about 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix it together and then start adding some snow by the cupful. Once you have it the consistency you want it pour in the Hershey's Syrup. I like mine really chocolatey! If you are out of Hershey's or can't get to the store to get any add Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate powder. I find it is easier to dilute the powder in the milk and mix it before you add the snow. It's OK if it has the mini-marshmallows too! Gives it a little kick!

Now we are getting adventurous and this is the recipe I use for lemon snow ice cream.

Grab another big bowl of snow.

Mix up some lemonade about 1/2 cup. Think Countrytime or Crystal Light or Kool-aid.

Add about 1/8 of a cup of powdered sugar. (if you don't have powdered sugar you can substitute granular but it's super sweet)

I use 3 teaspoons of Lemon extract ( do this according to your tastebuds)

And if you want add yellow food coloring and some fresh lemon zest or freshly squeezed lemon juice over it. Yummy!

Now the last type which is my absolute FAVORITE is Strawberry.

Strawberry Snow Ice Cream

I use about 3 cups of frozen strawberries
1 C. Granulated Sugar
2 Tablespoons of Vanilla
11/2 Cups Milk 
A few fresh strawberries if you have them for garnish.

Blend your strawberries if you have a blender. If you don't leave them out to defrost and chop them into bight size pieces. Mix all the ingredients together including snow by the cupful until you get the right mix. Stick it in the freezer for at least and hour and voila... my favorite Strawberry Snow Ice Cream.

Now the ice cream only makes it a few days around my house. I have never tried to freeze it for a month or two. I keep meaning to try it. If somebody has please let me know.


Happy Ice Cream Making,

The Cute Couponer

P.S. Feel free to mix and match the recipes like strawberry and lemon or substitute your favorite fruits like banana, blueberry, raspberry.

I'm Loving My Blog Designer

Today is a great day! Do you know why it's a great day? It's because I get to tell you about my blog designer Janeth! For those of you who have been hanging around for awhile might have noticed my new look. For those of you who are new welcome and I'm loving it!

It's very rare you have a few conversations with someone via e-mail and they turn all your dreams and design ideas for your blog into reality. This is what Janeth is incredibly talented at doing! 


Go check out her blog! It's in Spanish! If you don't speak spanish, that's OK! Just look at all the pretty creations she makes.


Send her an e-mail and tell her I sent you and that you want her to do a fabulous design for you. She can do anything! 


When you finish reading this scroll down on the right side of my blog and click her button. Artemsia's Blog Designs.


Trust me! You will thank me, Janeth, and yourself for it!




Happy Designing,



The Cute Couponer

"Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful"

Not much shopping going on here this week! Nope, no! We've been buried in Snow. Oh Yes, let it snow and snow and snow!

Lots of painting and no shopping.

We are stuck inside. Yes inside for days.

Just as well I have lots of projects to work on at home.


I have lots of pictures to share once the storm is over. I have to find the camera cord. Now I've been stuck inside for 3 days you would've thought I would find that thing by now.

Anyway back to work.

   
Can't Wait To See You Soon,


The Cute Couponer

A Spoonful of Sugar

Hi everyone and Happy Saturday!

I want you to meet my new friend Samantha. She is adorable.Samantha is going to teach you a few fun things this weekend and I can't wait. Please let her know what you think.


P.S. I went shopping at CVS and did the 5 packs of Coke and Xtra laundry detergent deal. I will show you the pictures tomorrow.

Enjoy....

Homemade Dog Treats

As a Stay at home Mom to two young boys (both under 2 years of age), I have spent quite a lot of time making homemade treats and food for them.  But recently, my family grew by two new babies… we recently adopted two Great Pyrenese/Black Lab mix male puppies (Leroy and Jethro… yes I am an NCIS/ Mark Harmon fanatic).  At six months of age,  my four legged boys are over 60 lbs each and growing daily.  So being in the Mommy mindset (and wanting to preserve some of my garden furniture), I went to the local petstore armed with the after Christmas sales and a coupon  with every good intention to  buy my new boys some well deserved doggy treats that would keep them occupied during the day and save my garden furniture at the same time. 

After trying to determine if we would have to mortgage our home in order to purchase the treats (and yes… the Accountant in me did  take out a calculator and determine the per piece cost of each treat… it was more than I pay for milk for my sons but less than I pay for in diapers)… the Shop-a-holic was beat down and the Frugaliesta in me came out.  Why was I about to pay $5.99 for one piece of dehydrated pig skin that my dog would potentially swallow up whole or in two bites… and I needed to buy at a minimum two of them (one for each puppy). 

After looking at the treat very closely… I decided to take a little trip to my local grocery store and have a talk with the butcher before I invested our savings into purchasing treats for the puppies.  Imagine my surprise, when my butcher instead of telling me that it would be a special order directed me to a meat bin where the much desired raw natural pig skin was sold. And I could buy 2 lbs raw for $4.44 in total.  It seems that pig skin is a major ingredient in “cracklins” which in Louisiana is practically a cuisine in itself.   So I set out to make homemade dehydrated pig skin for my pups. 

One note before you make this treat… light several candles and turn the oven fan on as this does smell up the kitchen quite a bit.  I made this using my microwave and oven but you could also use a dehydrator if you have one.  The only other tools needed are a microwave bacon cooker , paper towels,  baking sheet, and a good pair of kitchen shears or a sharp knife.   I wore a pair of latex gloves but this is not required…only strongly recommended.

 Cut the pig skin into strips double the size that you want the final product.  Don’t cut it longer than the bacon cooker.  Along every inch of the strip cut a 1/8^th of an inch slit, this stops the strip from curling up… not that the puppies cared, they ate the curled strips as enthusiastically as they did the uncurled ones.  Put one layer of paper towel on the bacon cooker, then a layer of cut skin… continue this until you have all of the skins on the cooker.  The last layer needs to be a paper towel layer.  For each piece of skin, you will want to cook it in the microwave for one minute.  This part will be trial and error as different microwaves cook at different power levels.  After the initial minute per slice was done, I checked the bottom, middle, and top layers… then I added another minute or two.  (I have now done this several times and I add an average of four to five minutes....but that is based on my microwave).

While you are microwaving, preheat your oven to 200 degrees.  After you finish microwaving, place the strips on a baking sheet or several depending upon how much you bought.  The pieces should be about a  ½ of the raw form by this time.  Put the baking sheets with the strips in your preheated oven for twenty minutes and leave the door open (I propped my door open with mason jar rings and put a dog gate over the kitchen doorway  so my son couldn’t walk in and get burned).  The oven step is necessary to reduce the last of the moisture and to make the treats shelf stable.

After cleanup, I ended up with twenty dog treats the same size as the one in the store for  less than ten dollars.  (I estimated the additional $5.66 for the cost of electricity, gas, clean up supplies, paper towels and gloves… and candles).  The good thing about this is I know exactly what is in the treat that my dogs are eating and they love them.  And for less than what I was going to pay for one day’s treat, I was able to make ten days worth of treats.  I have done this several times now and the treats are not only easy to make but also my dogs love them.  Next, I am going to talk to my butcher about getting pig ears… as dehydrated pig ears are another dog treat that sell in the petstore for over $1.50 to $2 each.  And I know that my puppies love them. 

Samantha Bradley is the owner of “www.aspoonfulosugar”  a blog detailing her transforming journey from Shop-a-holic working Accountant married with no children living off two incomes into a Frugaliesta SAHM with two young adopted sons trying to live off of one income.  The goal of the blog is to be the sugar for others who are going through the hard bitter pill of the current financial market. The blog is focused on frugal living through reduction in expenses by utilizing coupons, strategic shopping, taking advantage of rebates, participating in giveaways and frugal lifestyle changes.

Closing Out 2010

I told you so! I promised! I really did go shopping! Now you only see a handful of blankies here but I bought 12 sets of 2 plus 5 more. Every two cost me $3.00 on clearance at Wal-Mart so only $1.50 a piece. Cha-Ching! Cheaper than a yard of fleece at the Fabric store.They had to be packed quickly for the move. Sorry you didn't get to see them all.

Then I had some fun at Hobby Lobby. If you don't have one I definitely encourage you to stop at one if you ever make it to Oklahoma. Their everyday prices are high but I love their sales and clearance.

                           

I found these adorably cutting boards ( which you can never have too many of) on clearance for $5.00  a piece.


Then I stopped by Ross. If you don't have one or haven't been to it  you should sooooooooo stop by. They clearance out high-end merchandise and irregulars at fairly reasonable prices. My only hint to you is that if you buy curtains or sheets there make sure you open them before you leave and make sure they aren't irregular and that your curtain lengths match. Lots of trial and error! Trust Me! It's worth it.

                          
They were clearancing out the Snuggies for doggies! Hey, Doggies need gifts too! I bought two at $2.99 each but for the life of me I could only find one.


Then I got a little carried away at Walgreens! It all started off with the $3.00 profit I made per bottle on the natural Melatonin sleeping aid. I couldn't tell you what box they are currently packed in but they are around.


So I took the profit and bought all this and paid tax.

                                          

Foil was on sale for 69 cents and straws for 39 cents. It was a great way to spend my profit.


 I also bought all the bleach and made a profit on all the hair things. I should never have a bad hair day again! Lol! It should say manufacturer guarantee!

                                        

Now to finish out the last of the shopping trip you know I wasn't going home without all of these. Now I paid a mere $1.00 a package after Register Rewards. They made fabulous stocking stuffers!

Mom and Grandma loved that I filled their stocking with the arthritis pain reliever too!                                           

Now I can't begin to tell you or show you the insane amount of Christmas Clearance and Fall clearance I bought. It will have to wait until later in the year! It went from the van into the boxes and that's where it's staying until it's time to decorate again for the holidays! 

Sorry Charlie!

Well bare with me for awhile I have to get back to unpacking. 

The boxes just keep coming! I don't know where it all comes from.

As you can see I'm buried in boxes.


Well give me a day or two and I will show you the fabulous finds I have found while clearance shopping for home stuff for my new house!

Check back in this weekend. Remember, it's always a frugal weekend at The Cute Couponer




Happy Clearance Shopping,


The Cute Couponer