This Week's Sales

Isn't this lake color just stunning!? This is Kalamalka Lake.No wonder it was voted one of the 10 most beautiful lakes in the world!

This Week's Sales

With Thanksgiving just around the corner now is a good time to stock up on turkey! We always like to have a spare one in the freezer as it's nice to have turkey at a non turkey time! :) The smaller ones can make a nice meal with left overs for sandwiches.Mmm turkey sandwiches!

Walmart Sept 30-Oct 6

Grade A or Utility Turkeys(I take it you need to make sure you look to get a grade A if they are all together) .97/lb
Red Path Sugar 4kg $3.27!!!!! Sugar has increased in price dramatically and now this is a good deal! It's normal price is 10kg $11.99, so $1.99/kg. This works out to .82/kg!
Butter 454g $2.97
10lbs Russet potatoes $2.47
Grapes $1.27/lb
Rutabagas .47/lb(I have never cooked these before...are they good?)
3lb bag onions $1.27
Celery .77each
Baguettes $1

Safeway also has Grade A turkeys on for .99/lb, combining this with 10% off day on Tuesday would make your turkey .90/lb! Remember you have to spend a minimum of $35 to get the 10% off.

Superstore Sept 30- Oct 6

The coupon on the front is buy $250 get $25 off.
The 340g bag of cranberries is $1.46
5lbs of carrots $1.96
Broccoli .96 each
Brussels sprouts .76/lb
Sweet Potatoes .46/lb
Cabbage .38/lb
Bok Choy .38/lb
Pineapples $1.96 each
NN Perogies 1kg $1.48!!!
Kraft shredded cheese 340g $5.99(free with the coupon from the Old El Paso taco kits.)

Extra Foods has the coupon for Oct 2-3. Spend $25-$100 and get 10%-15% off

Lakeview Market has coupons inside the Event paper each week. This week they have local Spartan apples for 2lbs .98

Costco Brownies Vs Scratch Brownies

So, I was in Costco this week and saw the brownie mix was on sale. I have friends and family who swear these are better than anything you could make at home and they think cheaper. Well, being a family that learns at home, we decided to give it a whirl!

 

First, I found a recipe that was similar ingredients-wise. The one I chose was America's Test Kitchen brownies as most things ATK are very tasty and don't fail. Then I priced out all the same ingredients. The homemade was costing $5.56 and the Costco $5.49(this is for 4 square pans of brownies, note I substituted chocolate chips in the ATK recipe). So, cost-wise it's very similar.

Then, we had my son time my daughter and I as she made the mix and I made the scratch recipe. The mix took 5 minutes from bag to pan and the scratch took 6 minutes. I baked them both and then the kids did a blind taste test.

The pan on the left is the mix, the one on the right is the ATK brownies.  The verdict??? The mix is tastier!(We also had our neighbors be in on the blind taste test and they too chose the mix!(probably time to go to Costco, huh?)
It is more moist and chocolaty! This usually isn't true when you make a bagged mix, but not this time!

With the ingredients you add it works out to about $1.65/pan of brownies! On sale this week at Costco.

I've Got Lots of Peanut Butter!

I needed to make some squares for a due and I was thinking I really need to use up the peanut butter I got on sale at Costco. So, I went hunting for a yummy square recipe that would use LOTS of peanut butter. This is a recipe my mom used to make at Christmas. She would bake up a storm and freeze it for when we had company. Us kids would raid the freezer whenever possible and so I know these freeze well and taste good frozen!!

 Peanut Butter Bars

1cup crunchy peanut butter(nice!)
2/3 cup butter/marg, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

Icing
(be sure to read the directions before making this)

3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tsp water

1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp marg

Combine peanut butter, butter and vanilla in a large bowl; beat until well blended, beat in sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in flour and salt just until well blended; spread butter in a greased 13X9X2 pan. Bake in moderate oven(this means 350..I always laugh when I read old recipes that assume I know what a moderate oven is! :)  Bake for 20 minutes and then check!! The original recipe wanted 35 minutes and I found this was WAY to long. The center will spring back, the cake will be browned, or a toothpick will come out clean.

Icing....I screwed up on this part as I am not a great direction reader!!! The icing sugar needs to be combined with the water in a small bowl and stirred until smooth: drizzle from a spoon over still warm squares.
Melt the marg and chocolate chips in microwave. Stir until smooth and drizzle over with a spoon. Try to make a nice design...mine was kinda blotchy.
Go ahead and cut up and freeze if you can. What I did was I made a double batch, one to take to the due, one for the family to dive into! Good thing as I screwed up the icing on the first one! It looked bad, but tasted great! Enjoy!
Next time I search everywhere for this recipe, I can find it....along with the "Sue don't do this instructions! "A major advantage to blogging favorite recipes, don't you think???!

Old Town Sales!!! Sept 14-19

This Week's Sales

Marketplace IGA is not one I post about usually as they don't send out flyers in my area and their sales run up to and include Saturdays. Their website is http://www.marketplaceiga.com/  I just noticed these deals!
Sept 4-10
Bananas .49/lb!!!!
Bread .99
Potatoes 15 lbs $4.99
Green Peppers .99/lb
Old Elpaso Taco kits start at $3.78

Superstore Sept 9-15 Coupon is free PC TP 30 jumbos with $150 purchase
Iceberg Lettuce .86
Bnls Blade Roast $2.28/lb
Sugar Snap Peas 2lb $5.98
French Bread $1
Sour Cream 500ml 2/$2.98
Pickles 1L 2/$3
Kraft PB 2kg $4.98 limit 2

Safeway 9-15
Lucerene Icecream 4L 2/$8 limit 4
Oven Joy Bread buy 3 and pay $1.19/loaf
Kraft Shredded Cheese 380g $5.99(this is the one you get the coupon for $6 in the Old El Paso taco kits)
On the back of the flyer there is an interesting Club card deal Buy 4 Kraft products and get 3 Free bread! 3 bread is worth $3.57 so if you were buying the puddings for example and they were $1 each that would be $4 total and so your puddings would cost you .43 for 4 packages. Make sense? I'll check it out.

M&M meats has 2lbs of Chicken Nuggets for $5.99..only valid Sept 9-11

Rexall Drugs Sept 9-11
Campbell's soups are 2/$1 limit 6
Rexall facial tissue .49 limit 4
Dove soap 2X90g Lever Body wash

Walmart Sept 9-15

Potatoes 10lbs $2.97
Onions 3lbs $1.27
Brocolli .97
Ravoil 1.13kg $2
Tacos Old El Paso $3.47(free cheese coupon inside)

The ever shrinking package

I had to blog this as I was utterly surprised. Like me you probably have noticed that the things you buy are in an ever shrinking package. Your 1kg has become 750g and you are paying the same price or even more than before! Well, the other day I was in Costco, I desperately needed chocolate chips. There they were on an end of the aisle sale for $10.79. I looked in my price book and was sad to see that they had gone up, but isn't that the way of groceries these days??? Imagine my surprise when I noticed(once I was home) that it was actually a larger size! Usually this comes in the 2kg size, not it's 2.4kg. That's $4.50/kg! I have lots of peanut butter so peanut butter chocolate chip cookies or granola bars will be made as soon as the heat wave passes!
By the way, these are still on sale at Costco  this week.

I've Got Lots of Crab Apples

Last year I blogged about crab apple roll ups. Again this year my in laws were kind enough to bring us a box of crabs!(Thanks mom and dad! :) I thought I should show the process I use.

Crab Apple Sauce

First, I take my large pot and fill it almost 3/4 full of washed crab apples, I don't core, stem or deblossom them. Add a bit of water, just a bit. I don't add any sugar because they are oh so yummy without any sugar!I put this on the burner on medium and stir occasionally. It takes 15-20minutes to nicely steam them. Then I put them into my applesauce masher(thanks again Mr. Mike!) and using the wooden masher, I mash and mash them!

 This is the yummy result. Immediately a gang gathers with large bowls and spoons. I go back and put another batch on the burner. :)

 I pack them into square containers(square is the best for space conservation! :) and we look forward to warming them up for breakfast or snack on a cold morning!

I've Got Lots of Cauliflower

Even though it was 30 degrees today, I really wanted cream of cauliflower soup! I made it on the burner on the BBQ while hopping from foot to foot as the deck was toasty!

 Cream of Cauliflower and Corn Soup
Start with 4 cups of cauliflower broken into little pieces. In a saucepan heat some butter or margarine and saute an onion, until soft. Add the cauliflower and corn and cook for about 2 minutes.

 I had some yummy corn and decided to slice some in for a little color and a yummy taste! I added two cobs.

 Add 2 tbsp flour and stir and cook for 1 minute.

 Next add 2 cups of chicken or veggie broth. (I cheated and used 2 cups water and a package of seasoning from a Ichiban noodle pack.) Cook for 15 minutes on medium.

 Add a cup of milk or half and half and 3 Tbsp of cream cheese. This is what makes it nice and creamy.

 Cook for another 10 minutes stirring often. Add some pepper. Serve.

 Very yummy soup! The only downside is the picture below....this is all the leftovers, not even enough for another bowl. :(   Enjoy!

I've Got Lots of Spaghetti Squash!

Here's one of my favorite uses for spaghetti squash! If you are not familiar with spaghetti squash you need to find out what you have been missing! My kids like it when I just bake it up and then scrap it out into a bowl. It looks just like yellow spaghetti and tastes oh so good!

 For this recipe I cut the squash in half, took out the seeds, wrapped it in foil and put it in the toaster oven (it's out on the deck as we are trying to keep the heat outside). You can feel free to use your oven if you want. I cook it at about 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. You will know it's done when it is tender when you poke it.

 Meanwhile, cook up 2/3 cup of bulgur or cracked wheat in 2 cups of water until it is softened but still firm, about 10-12 minutes.

 To your cooked squash add your cooked cracked wheat and some feta cheese. Put it back in the oven for 25 minutes.(Or if you'd like to bake this tomorrow you can stop here and pop it in the fridge and do the last oven time the next day.)

 Viola! Done! It's a very filling meal so you may find half of a half is enough per person! Enjoy!

Cheap cheese at Safeway!

Yowsers! Cheap cheese at Safeway! Print this coupon and get 700-750g block of cheese for $5.99! Make sure you play the weight game and get the biggest block possible. Can you handle 3 big blocks of cheese?(remember you can freeze it). Why not wait until Tuesday and buy it then. You are already at $18 of the minimum $35 needed for the 10% off. If you need the chicken breasts one box will put you over. Suddenly,(miss you Yoon Hee!)you are at $44. So, now your cheese will be $5.39!!! Shred it up, throw it in Ziploc and enjoy this fall and winter in your casseroles, wraps and pizzas!