Target Good Deal Alert

Target has had my heart for weeks. First it was the Glade deal, then the free/cheap video games, and now this. Be still my heart, cheap cookies and crackers. Right in time for holiday entertaining!

Select Keebler and Sunshine crackers and cookies are on sale for $2.00 each with a $5.00 Target gift card kick back with the purchase of 5. Here is what you need to do first. Go here and here to print off Keebler coupons. Then find as many other computers as you can to print off more since you can only print two per computer. Then run to Target and buy 5 boxes at a time using your coupons. My first transaction using a combination of the available coupons cost me $6.25 for the first purchase and gave me a $5.00 Target gift card back which I then used for the next 5 and so on.......

In the end the boxes cost me roughly .60 each. For an even sweeter deal I found specially marked Club crackers which are part of a rebate promotion. If you buy 5 boxes of Club, you can submit for a $10.00 check which can be used to purchase toys. There are many other Keebler and Sunshine products that are part of this promotion. Look for the specially marked packages that look like this.

I didn't have any coupons for the Club, but I figured it was still a good deal since I paid $5.00 for 5 boxes after Target gift card. I will get $10.00 back from Keebler which makes for a $5.00 profit! Some people are even reporting that their Targets have peelie coupons for $1.00/1 and $2.00/2 which are making their entire purchase free! So lace up those tennies and run to Target. You are going to need to run to burn off the calories from those Fudge Shoppe cookies. At least I am anyway.

The Coupon Goddess

Say Cheese

Right before Thanksgiving I was contacted by the lovely people who represent Wisconsin cheese. They wanted to know if I would like some samples of their cheese and some ideas on how to serve them. Oh yeah. I looooooove cheese. And good cheese is even better. This isn't that shredded bagged stuff hanging on a peg in the dairy case. No, this is the stuff that you eat with a good cracker and a glass of wine, preferably when the kids are in bed.

Let's take a look at what they sent me.

Were they thoughtful or what? I adore Gruyere and blue cheese rocks my world too. They sent crackers! These people are on the ball. So to celebrate Wisconsin cheese, I thought I'd share a wonderfully frugal recipe you could make using one of the products I received.

The trick to entertaining on the cheap is to use ingredients you already have handy. I know that sounds like such a basic concept, but some people just don't think that way. Looking at what I have on hand, I have a lot of Pillsbury crescent roll dough from a recent Shaw's sale which I must use up by January. I also have a wonderful Harry and David Apple/Vidalia relish that I got on sale last fall. The pecans were a gift from my buddy Donna in TX, so that particular ingredient might not be frugal if you have to buy it, but feel free to substitute any nut you have on hand.

This recipe is inspired by those wonderful brie appetizers that are encased in puff pastry with preserves and nuts. Have you ever tried one of those? Totally addicting. This appetizer is like that but made into bite sized mouthfuls of love. I chose the Wisconsin cheddar because it's universally loved. The beautiful thing about this simple appetizer is that you can use whatever preserve, nut or cheese you have. You can also kick it up a notch by adding some heat to it with chopped jalapenos or hot sauce.

Here is the assembly process.

Cut your crescent roll dough into squares and place a cube of cheddar cheese on each one.

Then put a dollop of your preserves and a sprinkling of chopped nuts on each square.

Gather the dough at the top and pinch tightly, but don't squash it. You want it to look nice. Or if you don't feel like being artistic, feel free to form it into a ball.

Bake in a 350 oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Holy moly are these good!

Put them on a festive plate and serve with a your favorite wine. For some tips on wine pairings, click on the cheese below and let the Cheese Cupid help you out.

The Coupon Goddess

What The Heck Do I Do With This Stuff?

So what do you do with the shelves of Olay, Soft Soap, Nivea, Dove, St. Ives lotions and body washes not to mention chocolate bars, Hershey Kisses, and Dove chocolate that you got for free at Wags, CVS and Rite Aid? Why you make gift baskets of course. Every Christmas I put together spa baskets for people who do nice things for my family and myself on a regular basis.

That nice bus driver that patiently waits while my daughter frantically canvases the bus for her Little Pet Shop creature lost on the bus floor gets a spa basket. The receptionist at my daughter's school who sat with my daughter on the day that I was not at the bus stop at the right time....... spa basket. (major bad day) The lady at the post office who helps me with my customs paper work for my troop's shipment.......spa basket. My spa baskets are a hit every year. With the glut of new products introduced every year, I never give the same gift basket twice.

For all of my non-crafty readers out there, don't fret. I'm nothing like Martha Stewart. Hell, I can't even tie a bow, so if I can do this so can you. All you need to do is go into your pile of goodies that you've accumulated over the last few months. Grab items that fit the spa theme. Then find a basket, tin or box to arrange the goodies. If the person has been extra helpful then I'll put a gift card in as well. Even a $10.00 gift card to Target, Dunkin Donuts, CVS, or Walmart would all be nice additions. Then wrap it up with cellophane and a bow. Now you have a beautiful, thoughtful gift that didn't break the bank. I swear people will beam from your thoughtfulness. Let me show you one of mine as an example.

Above are the items I chose for my first gift. This particular gift is going to someone that really is primarily a support person in my daughter's classroom. Even though she doesn't spend much time with my child, I still wanted to give her a little something to say thank you. If I bought a gift for all 20 people on my list of "people to thank" at full price, I would go broke. Using my freebies like this makes showing my appreciation more affordable and I can thank as many people as I like.

This tin was purchased during the after holidays clearance last year for .10 each. I bought a couple dozen and figured I'd put them to good use at some point. When you shop the holiday clearance sales this year it would be a good idea to think about getting tins like these on the cheap for next year's gift baskets.

I also try to reuse any packing material from packages shipped to me. This crinkly paper fit nicely into my tins and matched well with the colors. Then arrange the products however you think looks nice. I put big stuff in the back and smaller stuff up front.

Then wrap the whole thing in cellophane and tie up with whatever holiday ribbon you bought last year on clearance. Make sure you stock up on ribbon and cellophane this year during the after holiday sales. It is so much more affordable that way.

Doesn't that look nice?

Some people feel funny giving such a personal gift to people they don't know. Not me. Health and beauty aides are expensive. Major budget busters. If someone had given me a gift like this when I was a "non couponer", I would have been delighted. It would have been indulgent in my eyes.

So that's example numero uno of a gift basket I will be giving out this holiday season. I will share some other themes as the holiday draws near. If you have any basket ideas that have worked for you feel free to share them in the comments section. I'd love to be inspired by one of your ideas. :)

The Coupon Goddess

Holding Pattern

I bet you are wondering why you haven't seen any coupon posts in days. Some Coupon Goddess, huh? Well there's a reason for that and since it's our first December together I'll explain why that is the case.

Every year I coupon hard and heavy 11 months out of the year. If you look back over the blog you'll see I rarely take more than a week off from coupon shopping unless I am going on vacation. Other than that, I am pretty consistent with my shopping habits. Some may call it anal. December is a different ballgame. Other than shopping on Black Friday and other holiday gift deals, I cool my jets on actual food shopping. This is by design so that I can fully enjoy the season without feeling over taxed.

So many people complain that they burn out on couponing because it's so much work. Well, if you allow yourself to take a break like I do, then chances are good that you won't burn out as much. After squirreling away so many good deals in the past few months, the only things I really need from the grocery stores are perishables such as milk, fruits and veggies. That's it. That is one of the primary benefits of stockpiling. That's not to say that I totally abandon all coupon tasks. I still order my coupons and keep informed on what is going on out there in retail land. If there is a killer deal that pops up, I don't want to regret not knowing about it.

So for the next few weeks you will see a shift in my blogging. This is the time of year that I do some serious baking and cooking. Blogposts on caloric monstrosities are just about a sure thing. I might throw in a healthy thing here and there, but don't count on it. You will also see posts on my Christmas shipment to the troops which is another big focus of mine right now. I will also be sharing with you some of the gift baskets I'm putting together for the teachers and support personnel at the schools which will hopefully give you some cool ideas of how you can use your stockpile to make nifty gifts. And lastly, I plan on subjecting you to thousands of pictures taken with my new camera. You knew that was coming didn't you?

Have no worries as I will still write about killer deals as I discover them, and take comfort in knowing that I will be back to coupon anarchy come January.

The Coupon Goddess

Cheerios Gift Pack Winner

Congrats to Tina B from PA. She is the Cheerios gift pack winner. To claim your prize please email me at thecoupongoddessblog@yahoo.com with your full name and address. Thanks to all who entered and be sure to enter my reader appreciation giveaway later this week.

The Coupon Goddess

My New Toy

You are never going to believe what I finally got. Really. I can barely believe it myself. Look at the image above. I could never do that with my point and shoot camera. I got a Canon Rebel XSi after months of scheming on what I could do to afford it. Sell my first born? No, he's my sitter. Stop buying Dunkin Donuts coffee through the drive through when I'm in a rush? Hell no. Some things in life can't be sacrificed. It finally took a killer Amazon promotion for me to invest in my big girl camera. And I couldn't be happier. I'm going to share with you a to die for recipe to illustrate how much my new camera rocks the casbah.

I found this recipe on a blog called Cookies and Cups (go there for the recipe) which I found via my blogger friend Janet who writes From Captain's Daughter to Army Mom. It originally hails from Paula Deen who has never created a bad recipe in my opinion. What a round about way to share a recipe, eh?

Some background on this recipe first. When I went to high school in Michigan, our cafeteria made these outrageously good peanut butter bars that I have never seen since. Which I suppose is good for my bottom. When I saw it on Cookies and Cups it took me right back to high school and I knew I had to make them.

Here are the ingredients. I've learned that shooting in natural light is the best way to go, but due to the 4 kid thing I blog when I can and tonight it was in the evening with fake light. Oh well. Still a good picture.

Peanut butter never looked so good. I may play with this camera all night long. If you drive past my house tonight and see bursts of light coming out of the windows it's not cause I'm doing something naughty. I'm just playing with my new toy. That is the CAMERA. What are you people thinking?

With this recipe you want to use your guard for your mixer if you have one. Otherwise you might not want to make this recipe at all. 3 cups of confectioner's sugar gets very messy when mixed.

Once everything was mixed together I realized that these bars would not be as thick as the ones of my childhood memory, so I went back to the mixer and made another batch.



That is soooo much more like it. After spreading it into the pan and smoothing on the chocolate layer I tossed it into the fridge to chill. This is a must do for a minimum of two hours otherwise you will be eating peanut butter glop instead of bars. While I was waiting for it to set, I played with the camera some more. The kids were all playing nicely in another room with the girl's Light Brite toy. Michael decided to get creative with it and I thought I'd share with you his design.

Seriously, only a boy would come up with this. Can you guess what it is? I took the opportunity to see if my Rebel would pick up the glowing lights and it did. I'm in love.

After a couple of hours I cut the bars into squares and had the kids taste test it. It was a huge, ginormous, thumbs up hit. They do indeed taste just like the bars of my childhood. The best part about this recipe is that every item on the ingredient list is most likely in your pantry. Well it was in mine anyway. Yeah I know mine is the size of Walmart. What's your point? :)

The Coupon Goddess

Breakfast and a Show

What do you do with the 2 bags of trail mix that you find in your stockpile that you accidentally let expire? Why you feed them to your pet squirrel of course. This little guy visits us on a regular basis because last year I bought many bags of whole nuts at Home Depot when they were clearanced to .25 a bag. We put out a plate of nuts for the squirrel almost every day and the kids had countless hours of fun watching him eat. Then we ran out of nuts. And then the squirrel started to poop on our deck in rebellion.

To make peace with our highly poop productive friend we put out the expired trail mix this morning. He forgave us and gladly munched on the goodies. We learned that "Fatty" (as Leela named him) does not enjoy mango or papaya. Little food snob.

This also bought us some time to haul out the Christmas decorations while the kids watched him eat his bounty of treats. Now to figure out what to do when we run out of trail mix. Maybe we should have fed him something more constipating. Do squirrels like bananas?

The Coupon Goddess