Value Village Savers Card and 50% off Monday

Do you have the Value Village Savers card? If not you can get one. They are free. All you do is apply here. Print out your application and then take it into your local Value Village for your card. With it you can get 50% off this Monday!

This Week's Sales

This is my Walmart Shop. I needed all my shopping to be done in as few stops as possible so here's what I did.
Oreo cookies $2.49  $1.99(PM Rexall Drugs)Checkout 51 gives me $2 cash back FREE
Unico Tomatoes .88(still on sale this week)Checkout 51 0.50 cash back  .38
Celery, Broccoli bunches, tomatoes and 5lb potatoes all $1 each
Cucumber .77
Lemons .37 each
Limes .33 each
Avocado .49 each(PM Lakeview Market)
All Color Peppers .99/lb(PM Quality Greens)
Lettuce .98(PM Lakeview Market)
Pineapple $2.49
Eggs $2.67
Imitation Crab $2.17(making sushi!)
Apple Cider Vinegar $2.37
Not shown windshield fluid $2
Grand Total $28.32

Sometimes it makes me crazy the $ off coupons Save On and Coopers do. You never know if it's a good deal or not becasue you don't know how much the thing is originally! Today, I had to stop at the library and Coopers is in the same mini mall so I thought I would check out the $5 off coupon on the front of the Save On and Coopers flyers. The deal: 2kg of lean ground beef in a chub for $12-$5 coupon=$7.00  That's 3.50/kg or $1.59/lb!!!!! screaming! There's a limit of 2. It's on until the 17th. Don't forget to get a raincheck if they don't have any.
The chicken wings are at Rutland only.
3kg $11.99 limit of 2 ($3.99/kg or $1.82/lb)
Other deals at Save On
Navel Oranges .59/lb(Coopers' has 10lbs $5.99)
20 lbs of potatoes $4.99
Coopers has WF Bacon for $5.99 B1G1 making them $3 each limit 8
Superstore
broccoli bunches .96
Pkg of 3 romaine hearts 2/$4
NN Olives $2 limit 6
NN Pineapple Juice 1L $1.25 limit 6
NN Pasta 2kg $2.18 limit 2

I had just told my menu planning buddy how I had froze the hamburger I had bougt at Safeway without making any meatballs first! Well, seems I got a second chance! It took about 10 minutes of hands on time to make these 3 trays of meatballs below. My recipe isn't exact. I just added garlic, eggs, breadcrumbs, an onion and salt and pepper.

I put them in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes and then stuck them out on the deck(it's -5) to prefreeze them. After about a half hour I put them in a ziploc and put them in the freezer.

With some avocados I bought earlier in the week I made this yummy guacamole  The recipe is Patti's, a home stay student of my brother's.
Guacamole
2 avocados
1 Large Tomato
2 Limes
1 onion
coarse salt
pepper
cilantro(optional if your family has banned it, I made some just for me with cilantro!)
Patti said the main thing was to add enough lime juice, that's what makes it taste great!
Mix all together and serve with chips, crackers, on burgers, as dip for pizza....or just all by itself! So tasty!

Shrimp Carbonara

This is what it looks like right now.....Lots of snow!

Time to make some yummy food. Did you get the cream cheese with the Checkout 51 offer? Well, looks likes it's still on this week. Want to know what to do with all that cream cheese? Why not make some shrimp carbonara? I found this Kraft recipe when I was menu planning and decided to try it out. Of course I modified it so I will share both recipes.
Shrimp Carbonara
1 package of your favorite noodles(the orginal recipe asked for spaghetti, 220g)
4 slices of bacon
1 lb peeled uncooked deveined large shrimp
1 cup of frozen peas(if this is not your family's favorite you can use peppers)
250g cream cheese(the original recipe asked for herb and garlic light spread)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup parmesan(the original asked for light)
Directions
Cook your noodles according to directions. Meanwhile cook bacon in a large skillet. I used the Safeway bacon(Pantry's Essentials) that was on for $2.50. Once it's done take the bacon out and drain on paper towel. Reserve 1Tbsp of drippings and use them to cook the shrimp. This will take about 5 mins to turn the shrimp pink. Stir in the peas and cook 1 min. Add cream cheese and milk; cook and stir 4 mins or until cream cheese is thickened. (Do not let sauce come to a boil).
Drain noodles and add them and the bacon chopped small to the sauce. Top with parmesan.

This was an easy quick meal that I made after a full day of grocery shopping. It was soooooo good. Not a drop of leftovers, which was sad!

Checkout 51 this Week

I need to find a way to get the pictures from the app as  a picture that I can share here. I have tried screenshots and actually taking pictures of the offers, so forgive the poor quality please. I just really want you to be able to SEE the offers.
Checkout 51 offers start Jan 10 and end Jan 16
3 Bricks of Philly Cream Cheese- buy 3 bricks and get 1X$4(Incl light)
Oreo cookies-300g or larger, any variety $2
Garnier Fructis-any product $2 excludes travel size
Cottonelle Dry Bathroom Tissue-Cottonelle Clean Care, Ultra Comfort, Gentle Care, 6 pack or more $1.50
Mc Cain Regular Fries- 1kg, any cut, Superfries excluded $1
nestle Pure Life-natural spring water, 20x500ml or 24 x 500ml $1
Unico canned tomatoes- 796ml, any variety .50
Eggo Waffles or pancakes- box of 8 or more, any flavour .50
Campbell's Ready to use Broth -900ml, beef, chicken or vegetable and no salt added .50
Ritz Munchables- 200g, includes Pretzel Crackers and Buttery Thins
Quaker Instant Oatmeal- 10 packets or more. any flavour .50
All you need to do is buy ONE(the offer is limited to one) of all or of each of the items above. You can buy them ANYWHERE they are sold. Then you take a picture of your receipt with the app and send it in. When you reach $20 you are eligible to get a check mailed to you. I just got a check for $28 and already you can see my balance is back up at $22! I use it to buy things I would already buy and I often can combine coupons to make the item free or even pay me to buy it! Its a fantastic app,which could work extremely well for those who do not care to use coupons. I am hoping to update this post after I look at the flyers and see what sales and coupons you could combine to get the best deal. Feel free to send me an email or comment if you spot something great!

If you are in Walmart before Friday Jan 11 they have Unico tomatoes on for .88, so you could  get one can for .38!
At Costco 3 bricks of Philly are $8.89-$4=$4.49!!!(great to make the Shrimp Carbonara recipe!)
Oreo cookies Rexall has Christie cookies 280-300g $1.99 Jan 11-13 at Sobey's they are $1.88(thanks Anonymous)FREE!!!!
Mini Eggo Waffles are $1.97 at Walmart. Use the coupon from Smartsource.ca(printable)and get them for .47(thanks Anonymous)

The app is available for the iPhone  iPad and iPod.  Need more details?  Go here.

Peppers!

Saving Money On the First Tuesday of the Month

Suffice to say that when I grocery shop there is a lot going on!
 Let me share a day in my life as a grocery shopper. This morning my sister in law and I got to shopping first thing at 8:30 am. (She was there earlier, I had to drop hubby off at work). We started at Save On Foods as the $l/lb chicken legs wouldn't last!(Just a note that if your store doesn't have any the meat guy said they will give you a rain check!) We picked up the limit, which was 4 each. Next stop, Extra Foods for 10-15% day. 

Extra Foods shop 
It was nice that Extra Foods already adjusted their prices to be competitive with Walmart, Save On, and Safeway. The milk was $4.36,same as Walmart. The Sun Rype apple juice was .88, Safeway's is .89.  The Hunt`s Tomato sauce price was adjusted to match Save On, but they limited it to 3. I had a coupon for buy 2 save .75. The gingerbread train in the back of the photo was .99! It doesn't expire until May of this year. The Unico tomatoes I priced matched Walmart at .88. The teas were 50% off making them $1.49 for a 16 pack. The margarine was $2.64 for the 1.36kg. The grand total was $58.20 after discount. I ended up at customer service as one thing on my list was the chili sauce. We scoured the store and only found small 250ml bottles for .98. When we were done shopping we found a display on our way out that had the 650 ml bottles for $1.98. So, I quickly exchanged them. Emily, the teller at customer service was so awesome! Thanks Emily!

This is the Save On Foods $1/lb chicken legs.  The total for these 4 packages was $12.41. When I got home I used my chicken scissors and separated these into drumsticks and thighs. 

After Extra Foods we headed to do our Safeway shop. The ground beef was a rain check for $1.99/lb for lean ground beef. The 2 boxes of chicken breasts were $26.36 each. The Kellogg's flatbread breakfast sandwiches were on for $2.67 and I had a coupon for $2 off so for .67 I thought I would try them.The Sun Rype apple juice was .89/carton. The IOGO yogurt was 50% off and I had 3/ .75 off coupons. The Bretons crackers were B1G1, so 2 boxes $3.49.
Grand total at Safeway was $87.73 after coupons, $5 off email direct coupon and 10% off. My bill said I saved $116.91 or 55%. This included paper coupons which included the rain check savings and the 10% off as well as manufacturer's coupons for a total of $62.71. Card savings equaled $49.20. Basket savings(the email direct coupon) $5. 


Our teller Ryan was absolutely awesome! First time in a year that we didn't have to go straight to customer service after finding errors on our bills. He handled it all with professionalism and expertise! We were able to share the email direct coupon(the PLU is the same on all of them) with people in the line ahead of us. There were surprised to be saving 10% never mind another $5!
While at Safeway we got some very good news and so we stopped for lunch to celebrate!
After Safeway we stopped at Costco where I picked up bananas, 3lb for $1.69(.56/lb) and the black forest ham that is on sale for 2/ 375g packages for $6.39, which works out to .85/100g. As well as the sour cream, 1L is $3.59.
Last stop was Superstore where I picked up some pot barley,  (price matched Springfield Bulk Foods) and oranges which were $2.98 for a 5lb bag, or .60/lb. Included in this shop was chinese cabbage which was .48/lb and will be used in soup and stir fries.

Once I finally got home(3:00 pm), I got the kids to help unload the huge pile. I got things arranged to photograph and got the fridge and freezer put away. Then I cut apart the chicken legs and broke down  each of the packages of ground beef  into 2 smaller packages. It was nice to get stocked up as November and December I really bought much less than normal due to the inflated prices. I made sure supper was a super easy, fast and incredibly tasty meal that I will share soon. So, there you have it....thanks for listening..

This Week's Sales

Now that the holiday season is done grocery prices tend to be more manageable. I found that the Shoppers Points I cashed in in December really helped me stretch our grocery budget for December.
This week there are some good deals. If you can combine them with price matching and customer appreciation days as well as coupons and Checkout 51, you can start the year saving. Here's some deals I noticed. 
Superstore/Extra Foods Jan 4-10
Seasoned Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts 4Kg $26.28(works out to $2.98/lb)limit 4
NN Canola Oil 3L $4.98
Bunch of Spinach .88(not in the Extra Foods flyer)
Grapefruit 4/$1 !!!!!!
20lb potatoes red or russet $4.88
3lb onions .96
French Bread .97
NN English Muffins $1
Country Harvest Bread 2/$5
NN Pudding 4x99g .88 limit 6
NN Mac and Cheese 12x200g $5.48 limit 6
NN OJ 1L or juice boxes 5x200ml $1 limit 4
NN Tomato paste 156ml 2/$1
Sweet Chili Sauce 650ml $1.98
Bok Choy or Suey Choy .48/lb
NN Pasta 900g .97 limit 4
NN Beans or Chickpeas 5/$4(.80)
NN Granola Bars $1.48

Extra Foods is having the Family Appreciation Jan 7 & 8
If you can wait to shop Monday or Tuesday you could save even more!

Save On Foods Jan 4-10

Chicken Legs Fresh, Back Attached $1/lb limit 4 !!!!
Hunt's Thick and Rich Pasta Sauce 680ml $1(price locked until Jan 31)

Safeway Jan 4-10
10% off day Jan 8
SunRype Apple Juice 1L .89 limit 12
Boneless skinless chicken breasts 4kg $26.36(limit 2)

Walmart Jan3-10
Milk 4L $4.36
Unico canned tomatoes .88
5lb bag of potatoes $1
1lb bag of kiwis $1.47
Mangoes or Avocados .77(avocados are .58 at Lakeview Market so you could price match at Walmart or Superstore if you have the ad from the Jan 3 event, sale ends Jan 6)
Romaine Hearts 3pk $2