Amazon diaper deal, still going!

Back in August, I posted about an Amazon diaper deal. Apparently that deal is still live, so if you have Parents Magazine and perhaps got some Amazon GCs for xmas, great deals to be had. There also is a $10 off coupon out there, I think in one of the parenting magazines, but I can’t remember which one! But it can be stacked on top of the 20% coupons.

Wait, you don’t have any Amazon GCs? Hmmm, I think I know of a certain blogger who will be giving one away as a prize very soon………..

$2 Olay coupon

In the last P&G insert (12/26) there was a $2 Olay body wash/soap coupon. I found a similar coupon in some of the P&G gift sets I purchased recently and it’s in some home mailers and other P&G products that include coupons. So, what to do with it?

Dollar General has the body was on sale for $2 currently, so, free!

Or, in some cases, you can use it to purchase the Olay bar soap to get it for free or with overage. There are small packages of Olay soap at Walmart, Kmart and Target for less than $2. As far as receiving overage, or receiving overage without hassle from a cashier, well that’s ‘your mileage may vary.’

I think I’m just going to use mine at Dollar General and include it on one of my Wednesday morning runs this month.

And, if you have several coupons or are purchasing other P&G items, don’t forget this rebate. Must be postmarked by 1/14/11–but I’ve found P&G to be generous when it comes to purchase dates and issuing rebates. Can’t hurt to try, good luck!

My apologies to the West Coasters……..our winner is……….

My apologies to those of you on the west coast. I realize it’s early out there and I really shouldn’t be ending a contest this early. Tomorrow’s will run for two days so you’ll have plenty of time. But, had to pick a winner, then read some stories, then bedtime…so….

And one of my New Year’s resolutions is to learn how to publish screen shots. I can take them & paste them into word, but can’t get them on here. You’ll just have to take my word for it on the winner………..and today’s winner is……..

Cheri A!

Congrats and email me at kooponemail at yahoo and I’ll get you the prize info.

Stay tuned for another BIG contest tomorrow with multiple prizes.

Eliminating Waste: Recipes & Repurposing-Bread

Last year I talked a bit about how I’m really trying to focus on wasting less food (or anything else, really) to save money. As part of that goal for 2011, I hope to do an ongoing series of posts with ideas and recipes to help us all accomplish this.  Since trash day is tomorrow, I’m cleaning things out and trying to find new uses for things. What I have too much of: bread. I have two half-loaves of regular sandwich bread and a half loaf of Italian bread that I bought on 12/31 to go with our meal. That bread is too stale to be eaten as is. The other bread has some life in it, and as long as we eat sandwiches for lunch every day, won’t go to waste.  But here are some ideas of things to do with bread that is either stale or about to be.

First, I love this Mario Batali meatball recipe. So I cut up 3 cups’ worth of bread crumbs, put them in a vac sealer bag, vac sealed it and tossed them in the freezer. Next time I want to make the meatballs, I’ll already have stale bread ready to go!

Then, I took what was left and cut that up into small bite-sized bits. Tossed with a few Tbsps of olive oil, some olive oil dipping spices, baked at 300 for about 30-40 minutes. Homemade croutons! And they are better than anything else you’d buy. Don’t have the dipping spices? Use garlic, garlic powder, garlic salt, rosemary, salt, pepper, Italian seasonings…be creative and you’ll be surprised at how good they are. I particulary like them not only to dress up a boring salad, but to dress up a boring can of soup on a night we need a quick dinner.

When I was little, my Nan would grab us, the stale bread, and take us down to Cedar Beach on Hamilton Blvd (Allentown, PA) to feed the ducks. I just need to find a duck pond around here and you have a fun, free family activity. We actually have ducks right across the street, but my boys have not yet discovered that the White Clay Creek is right across the street, and I don’t want them to know it’s there, they’re too young and I don’t trust either of them to not wander off and K loves to play in water and can’t swim. Too dangerous, but now I’m rambling……

Most bread stuffing recipes are easy to make. A little celery, some sage, some broth and there you go. Or, cube it and freeze it for when you do want to make stuffing and you won’t have to buy bread cubes.

French Toast! And it’s not just for breakfast anymore!

Grilled cheese-if the bread isn’t too stale, still have a decent sandwich. Same goes for toast.

Pilling a dog-my one dog takes many meds and is hard to pill. I do a small swipe of peanut butter on bread, put the pills on it and squish it into a bread ball and she’ll eat it.

Put a piece in your brown sugar container to absorb moisture. Remove after a few days and it should extend the life of your brown sugar.

Lots of other recipes like bread puddings (yuk, sorry) call for stale bread.

Prepare it for a future recipe: Cube it, vacuum seal it and freeze it for when you need it. The price of one of my vac sealer bags is still less than what it would cost to buy bread for a recipe.

Good luck & let’s eliminate waste to cut down on spending this year.