Healthy Recipe - Easy Banana-Cinnamon Muffins

Good morning! Yesterday, I whipped up a batch of our favorite Banana-Cinnamon muffins, and I wanted to share the recipe with you. They're healthy, and so tasty, and really don't take that long to make. It's adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe. (You can find the original recipe here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/banana-cinnamon-muffins/479aaf26-88aa-47f2-a5c0-3f4448ecdfd4)

Ingredients
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 mashed very ripe bananas (Just heat them in the microwave on medium for a minute or two if they're not quite soft enough)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)



1. Heat oven to 375°F. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with shortening or spray, or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a small bowl, mash bananas until fairly smooth. In medium bowl, beat 2/3 cup sugar, the oil and eggs with wire whisk. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in remaining muffin ingredients just until moistened. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
3. Bake 17 to 21 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack.


Enjoy!

Free Krispy Kreme Today Only!

So, if you notice my previous post, I went to Kohl's today and did some shopping - saved $60! - and on the way home, was feeling quite hungry.

We passed a Krispy Kreme, and out of nowhere, my husband says: "I think Krispy Kreme is offering free donuts today." I hadn't checked my "Frugal Blogs" today, so I had no idea about it. Anyway, we pulled in and sure enough - one free doughnut per person! How cool is that? I was so excited that my man was in-the-know!

Here's a link to all of the participating stores:
http://www.krispykreme.com/images/kkd-natdoughnutday10-participating-stores.pdf

Feel free to leave a comment if you find some other great Freebies out there this weekend!

Kohl's 3-Day Shopping Pass

For all of you Kohl's fans, here's a 15% off coupon that's good all weekend!


http://f.chtah.com/i/31/1097160769/060310_printversion.htm?om_rid=DY94x6&om_mid=_BMB0V7B8K25KSr&

Enjoy!

Super Saver - Publix 5/29

Good morning everyone! First of all, sorry for my long absence from Blogging. As you all know, I'm a graduate student, so my husband and I took some time early this summer to travel. It's nice to know that saving money really adds up and it's how we were able to afford our wonderful vacation.

So, I have some exciting news - for the first time in my couponing career, I was able to save almost 100% at Publix. My husband was speechless as he watched the total go down. This trip covers an entire week's worth of meals, plus a few other items that were on sale and I know I'll use eventually.

Here's what I bought: (C Stands for Coupon, which I used on the item)

1/2 Gallon of Milk
1/2 Gallon of Orange Juice
2 Edy's Ice Creams (B1G1 & C)
4 Bananas
1 Jar of Newman's Own Sauce (C)
2 Boxes of Triscuits (C)
2 Boxes of Cheez-Itz (B1G1 & C)
4 Boxes of Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs (I actually only paid for half of one, because they were on sale, I used two B1G1 coupons, and a Buy 3 Get one free coupon from Target)
2 Packages of Hillshire Farm Sausage (Sale & C)
2 Packages of Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs (FYI, Regular Beef Hot Dogs are B1G1, but my husband and I are trying to lay off red meat - C)
2 Cans of Busch's Baked Beans (B1G1)
1 Spray Can of Coppertone Sunscreen (Manufacturer C & Store C)
2 Bottles of Lawry's Marinade (B1G1 & C)
2 Bottle of Kraft BBQ Sauce (B1G1)
2 Bags of Publix Salad (B1G1)
1 Dozen Publix Eggs
1 Container of Curry Powder (Sale - My husband loves curry powder. After we checked out he said, "I'm sorry my curry powder pushed you over the edge. You would have saved 100% if it wasn't for me." Ha ha ha. Very sweet, but I'm so pleased with our overall savings.)
1 Bag of Sunchips (C)
1 Bag of Publix Potato Chips
2 Jars of Mount Olive Pickles (B1G1)
1 Container of Cascade (Sale and C)
2 Boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese (B1G1)
1 Container of Breakstone's Sour Cream (Sale)
3/4 lb. Boar's Head Ovengold Turkey (Sale)
2 Ears of Corn (Sale)

Regular Priced Total: $122.82
Price I Paid: $62.78

How did I do it? Well, I took advantage of a lot of Buy 1, Get 1 Free items, and tried to match those up with coupons as much as possible. Just buying items on sale saved me $36.49 right away. I then added $13.05 in regular coupons, and topped that off with $10.50 in store coupons (including a $5 off coupon from Sav-a-Lot, which Publix accepts.)

Total Saved: $60.04

Just to give you an idea of what's on the menu this week:

Today - BBQ at a friend's house. We're bringing brownies, which we bought on sale last week.

Monday - Cookout at our house. We're making hot dogs and sausage (both of which I got for very cheap at Publix. I bought buns at WalMart, since I had to go there anyway.) We're serving it with beans (which were B1G1), and chips & dip. Our friends are bringing other sides and dessert.

Tuesday - Leftovers, served with corn

Wednesday - Chicken and yellow rice (both of which we've had on hand for a while)

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Spaghetti and salad (bought extra sauce and salad at Publix, have other ingredients on hand)

Saturday - Leftovers


I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Super Saver - Publix

I had quite a successful Publix run this morning. I have to admit, I've been off the budget bandwagon for a while. Expenses crop up, eating out seems quite appealing, and eventually you realize that you need to reign things in a bit. So, with a renewed commitment to saving, I headed out - and did great! (Even the cashier was impressed.)

Here's my loot:
















Items I bought:

2 Jars of Hellmann's Mayo
2 Jars of Classico Tomato Sauce
2 Bottles of A1 (Oh how I love A1)
2 Cans of DelMonte Vegetables
2 Cans of Swanson Broth
1 Package of Ronzoni Spaghetti
1 Package of Ronzoni Rotini Pasta
1 Container of Duncan Hines Frosting
2 Packages of Lipton Tea Bags
1 Can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 Can of Pillsbury Garlic Breadsticks
2 Packages of Betty Crocker Muffin Mix
2 Packages of Duncan Hines Cake Mix
2 Packages of Duncan Hines Brownie Mix
1/2 Gallon Container of Orange Juice
1/2 Gallon of Milk
1 Container of Half and Half
1 Tub of Sour Cream
2 Bags of Lay's Chips
3 Packages of Kraft Shredded Cheese
1 Package of Baby Carrots
1 Yellow Onion
1/4 lb. of Tavern Ham
3/4 lb. of Boar's Head Turkey
1/2 lb. Plum Tomatoes
1 lb. of Apples
1 Bag of Idaho Potatoes
1 Package of Baby Spinach
2 Packages of Salad
1 Dozen Eggs
2 Top Round Steaks
1/2 loaf of Chicago Italian Bread
1 Chocolate Frosted Donut (just for me, in celebration of my savings bonanza.)

Regular-Priced Total: $121.09
Price I Paid: $69.91!

So how did I do it this week? As usual, almost all of my items were on sale (if I bought 2, it was generally buy one get one free), so that added up to $42.44 in savings before any coupons were used.

I'd heard that Publix accepts competitor coupons, but I'd only ever used one before. This week, I had a coupon from Harvey's, as well as a $5 off coupon for Sav-a-Lot (which I found in my Entertainment Book, but they often have them online.) And they accepted them both no problem! So, savvy shoppers, be on the lookout for coupons for stores in your area. No need to shop at three different stores if you can combine all of the deals at one.

I also had $3.55 in general coupons that I used.

Total Saved: $51.99!!! Almost as much as I spent. I'm shooting for 100% saved next week, but we'll see how it goes.

Have a wonderful weekend!