Extreme Couponing

Hey guys!  Did you miss me?  Kidding. 

Anyway, did you see that new show that aired last night on TLC?

 

Extreme Couponing goes into the lives of people who go to extreme lengths to get a deal or shall I say steal.  On the show last night, one families’ grocery total amounted to over one thousand dollars.  They paid $30 for the entire bill.  Yes, thirty dollars on a thousand dollars worth of purchases.  That just amazes me!  How does one go about saving $970 on his or her grocery bill?

I have a lot to learn in that department.  I generally pay little to no mind at the cost of items when grocery shopping.  Well, I take that back, I do compare the different prices for tomatoes, for example, and go with the cheaper variety.  However, I do not go with the store brand mustard just because it is cheaper.

Funny how I happened to catch the show this week.  On this coming Saturday, I am actually invited to a brunch hosted by some ladies who are sharing information on “Maximizing Your Grocery $avings.”       

After watching the show, I can’t wait to learn more.  I wanted to start clipping coupons immediately–if only I could save a fraction of the money the shoppers saved.  Though I do worry I won’t be able to save all that much because most of the shoppers on the program appeared to be purchasing a lot of boxed goods.  I do have some staples that come in boxes like pasta, rice, cereal, but for the most part my shopping time is spent around the perimeters of the store.  I hope I learn some useful tips on Saturday and if so I’ll definitely share with you.

Now for the regularly scheduled program—the food.

Breakfast Smoothie in a Bowl:

~1 frozen banana

~handful frozen strawberries

~cup lowfat milk

~scoop vanilla whey protein powder

~teaspoon blueberry flaxseed meal

All blended in the blender.

~handful vanilla honey granola (on top)

My meat free lunch hit the spot.  I had a salad with greens, a roma tomato, a tablespoon of goat cheese, a few sesame almonds, and 2 tbsp. of light raspberry vinaigrette.

I enjoyed a Chobani Peach Yogurt for some protein and sweetness.

On my way to the gym I had a Cinnamon Roll.  Larabar that is.  My energy bar fueled me through 33 minutes on the elliptical and some strength training that went something like the following with very little resting between sets to keep the heart rate up.

Machine	Weight	Reps/Sets
Pectoralis	35 lbs.	15/3
Triceps	30 lbs.	12/3
Biceps	15 lbs.	10/3
Crunches	Bodyweight	25/1
Torso Twists	Bodyweight	25 per side/1
Hamstring Curl	50 lbs.	12/3
Leg Press	60 lbs.	10/3
Low row	40 lbs.	10/3
Lunges	Bodyweight	25 per leg/2
Wall Squats	Bodyweight	25/1

I ended with a couple minutes of stretching before deciding I was super-hungry.  I called Chris once in the car and we decided to get take-out from Come Back Inn.

I ordered a 9” veggie pizza with onions, bells, mushrooms, olives, and jalapenos.  I ate about 1/3 of it plus I had half of an Italian salad and two of the hub’s mozzarella sticks.  Underneath all of that cheese on the salad is an olive salad which has lots of flavor and some oil to coat the entire salad so no extra dressing is needed. 

 

I still have not satisfied my cupcake craving, but I did come across this several.month.old. cookie in the back of the pantry cabinet to satisfy my need for something sweet.

Big Question of the Night:  How do you pronounce coupon?  Do you say cue-pon or coo-pon?  I say the latter, coo-pon.  My friend from AL says cue-pon.  I’m thinking cue-pon is more of a southern country accent.  If you reply, please let me know where you’re from as well.  Just curious if the phonetics of the word is dependent upon region of the country in which people reside.

Maybe They’re Just Not Meant to Be Healthy

Let’s go back to the first time I attempted homemade cookies from scratch.  I didn’t follow a recipe; I simply pulled out the ingredients I wanted to use and went with it.  And I ended up with Dark Chocolate Cherry Muffin Cookies.

 

I decided to bring Mom some on that day and my mom and sister refuse to cut me some slack about how  “healthy” they tasted.  That was my first attempt and I didn’t think they tasted that bad, but I knew they were too puffy.  In my efforts to make them healthified I used Brummel & Brown Yogurt Spread and too little brown sugar so they were both dry and not very sweet.  Mom and sister described them as “a sponge that could be used to soak up some water” due to the texture and very bland taste.

On Thursday my sister had a question for me.  She said, “If you never make those cookies again, will you be Breelyn’s  godmother?”  I laughed and accepted, but told her I would be making an attempt to fix those cookies.  (On a side note, my two week old niece did arrive home from the hospital Friday.  I am so happy she is home and I’m ready to be a part of her  precious life.)

So on Friday I arrived home from work and got to baking.  I added more Brummel & Brown and more sugar making them less healthified.  And attempt # 2 was a FAILURE again.  They were sweet enough, but still puffy and the texture still dry.  I brought them to my sister’s house anyway more as a joke than for them to be eaten.

This morning after breakfast I started on modifying the recipe for ATTEMPT # 3.  But first, breakfast included nonfat pumpkin spice latte, hold the whip and an eggwhite and turkey bacon sandwich from Starbucks.

After my first bite I took off the turkey bacon; it tasted aweful.

Back to the cookies.  I made several changes today—more sugar, less oats, less cinnamon, less baking soda, additional egg yolk, less salt, no cherries, no nuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate squares.

And today’s attempt was a SUCCESS!  Hub had three of them right off the cooling rack.

The cookies spread out to a flatter “cookie” shape as opposed to muffins and became more chewy than dry.  These tips were helpful in modifying my ingredient list.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings:  16 cookies

Wet Ingredients:

1/4 cup Brummel & Brown Yogurt Spread, melted

1 cup of light brown sugar

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Whisk all dry ingredients in bowl except chocolate chips.  In separate mixing bowl, melt yogurt spread and whisk in sugar.  Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla to sugar mixture and whisk until combined.  Gently stir dry ingredients into wet just until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Use measuring tablespoon to drop 16 mounds onto cookie sheets.  Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for two minutes once removed from oven.  Place cookies on cooling rack to cool thoroughly.

I ate a few of these throughout the day and well, it wasn’t completely healthy, but they sure tasted good. 

Nutrition Info courtesy of 411fit: Cals: 144.40 Carbs: 25.19 g Fat: 4.14 g Protein: 2.38 g Sodium: 140.05 mg

For lunch I popped open a can of chicken breast and added some celery seed, salt, pepper, miracle whip light, grapes defrosted from frozen, and sliced almonds.  I ate it on a whole wheat tortilla with cucumber.

Not the greatest lunch, but it served a purpose.

After lunch I got some laundry and dishes done and also painted my nails this pretty fall purple color called Infinite Love.

 

Now that my nails are grown I like painting them—something I’ve never enjoyed before.

Finally, hub and I ordered pizza and a large Italian salad from Come Back Inn.  The little hole in the wall restaurant sells pizza, po’boys, fried chicken, hot meals, salads, and more.  It is great food at a reasonable price, but the atmosphere isn’t too aesthetically pleasing, so we always order take out.  I’m never disappointed with what I order from there.  Consistency is nice!

Large with Italian Sausage, Onions, Green Peppers, and Black Olives

I’ve eaten at Come Back Inn since I was a kid, but tonight was a first trying their pizza.  My hub and I both enjoyed the crispy, thin crust and sweetened sauce which was not too overwhelming.  Additionally the salad was phenomenal.  I didn’t even want my slice of pizza after trying the salad.  But of course I had a slice.

Lettuce, Olive Salad, Boiled Egg, Tomatoes, Mozzarella Cheese, and Salami

It was delicious, though the masses of cheese could have been less.  I ate about half the salad, but only two strips of the salami.  The surprise addition of olive salad, which is used on their muffalettas, was quite tasty.

All in all, dinner was scrumptious and I think this may be my new pizza place for take-out!

And as for cookies and pizza—maybe they’re just not meant to be healthy! 😉

Question of the Night:  What is your favorite pizza toppings?

Related Articles

• “Vegan Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies” and related posts (ohsheglows.com)
• 7 Healthy Holiday Cookies (lifescript.com)
• The $18,000 Cookie (thehappyhousewife.com)