Savings, Savings, Savings!!

Another great summer week of fun and savings!  Here's what I was up to this week:

Made 8 small loaves of french bread.  Also made my sourdough bread starter.

Made chocolate pudding pops by adding 1/2 container of Cool Whip to homemade chocolate pudding.
Also experimented with the recipe to make vanilla (it still needs some work, but wasn't bad for a first try).

Went to the Springs Preserve with some friends using our annual membership, we have gone enough for it to pay for itself.

Used a $50 gift card to Babies R Us I received to get baby formula and swim diapers.  I found reusable ones that were on sale so I got 2 for the price of one package of the disposable ones.

Found 12 packs of mason jars much cheaper at Winco so I bought half pints for $7.98, pint for $6.98, and quart for $8.98 and returned the ones bought a JoAnn's last week.  I have a multitude of intended uses for these: candle jars, sugar scrub jars, food storage, etc.  I had leftover soup and used the half pint freezer safe jars to store the leftovers in the freezer for a quick lunch.

I got my oil changed for free with my service plan on my vehicle.  My dealership is in Henderson, so we took advantage of the trip south to also visit Hobby Lobby and the Henderson Chuck E Cheese (the one closest to our house had some health code issues a few months ago so I am avoiding it).  Austin had earned a trip there at the end of the school year, so I was finally able to take him.

We didn't eat out for dinner all week, but Austin and I ate out for lunch 3 times.  However, it wasn't very expensive with just the 2 of us.  I needed a break from the extra cooking and cleaning that eating at home all day brings.

I was craving guacamole but I didn't realize we ran out of chips, so I made my own by baking sliced corn tortillas and lightly spraying them with oil and a sprinkle of salt.

I cut my bangs, getting a little more confident at doing this!

Took Austin to the free kids workshop at Home Depot last Saturday, they made Lucy's Car from Despicable Me 2.

We went to the Shark Reef with some teacher friends and their kids Saturday night as it was a free teacher weekend.  The kids had a great time!

Went to a church breakfast and pool party for the 4th of July then Ryan's parents treated us to a matinee movie, BBQ, and fireworks.

Went to Children's Place and got some clothes for next summer for the kids on clearance with an additional 20% off.  Went to Kohl's and got 3 shirts and a pair of capris for $26 by using Kohl's cash and a 15% off coupon.

Made baby food carrots and sweet potatoes.

Austin had quite a stash of coins and had been asking when he could get a new toy.  I learned that Coinstar will not charge a fee if you get a gift certificate, so we got a Toys R Us gift certificate worth $40!  He was able to purchase quite a few items with it.

There's a big fire in the Mt. Charleston area north of Las Vegas.  Ryan was able to pick up overtime hours by helping with the ground transport and other operations through his job with the BLM.

Repurposing with Duct Tape!

Don't you love the cute duct tape designs they have now?  There are several designs at Michael's and using a 40% off coupon can get you a great price.  Duct tape is so fast and easy to work with and can enhance any container!

Here are a few things I have done with duct tape:

1.  Repurposing a Clorox/Lysol wipe container:  You can store plastic grocery bags in your pantry or car.  I use one by my sink to store used Bounce dryer sheets.  I use the dryer sheets to scour my dirty dishes and clean sinks and counter tops.

2.  Decorate an upcycled can:  A stripe of duct tape with some ribbon or raffia tied around it can be a cute gift container for cookies or punch holes in the sides and add wire to make a little bucket.

More ideas to come!  Keep checking vivamomvegas or subscribe for notifications!

Last week's savings jackpots!

We had another fun filled summer week!

Austin went to two classes at Michael's arts and crafts, we went to storytime at the library, swam at the YMCA waterpark, and met up with some friends at the park.

Our friends invited us to their daughter's first birthday party.  We had a nice time and got her a cute bath in a bucket gift using an upcycled can.  (see my post titled "Repurposing with duct tape")

We took Austin to Monster's University and went to the AMC matinee before noon to get the cheaper ticket price.

I made baby food pears, peas, peaches, and squash.

We made no butter banana bread and cookies with red, white and blue M&Ms!

I made 10 handmade cards.

There was a 50% off deal for a painting class.  I used the birthday money from my sister to sign up for 2 spots for the price of 1 and brought her with me.  The painting is a Cabo San Lucas beach scene that I can hang in the new bathroom.  We had a fun night together doing this!

We ate out once this week at Panera Bread which was the night Ryan repainted the master bath!

Here is the finished bathtub!! The final touch will be glass sliding doors that are set to arrive this week.

It took us five months to complete but being able to pay cash as we went and using spare time for Ryan to do all the work himself or with some help from friends and family made it all worth it!

Ryan's parents took us out to Olive Garden on his mom's birthday on Saturday.  I ordered her a gift she really wanted from Etsy awhile back and then got her a cute outdoor rug that says "Nana's House" at JoAnn's using a 40% off coupon plus the 15% off teacher discount.

I also purchased a case of quart size canning jars on sale at JoAnn's for 25% off plus my teacher discount.  The sale goes until July 13, so I'm hoping they will get more in stock as I also want pint/half pint sizes too.

I bought a small amount of black swim fabric to sew an insert into a swimsuit that is a little too low cut in the chest.  It is one of those nice "suck-you-in" suits that would cost at least $50 to replace and it's hard to find cute suits that are appropriate for family swimming situations.

We made strawberry yogurt popsicles with some strawberries that were starting to get too ripe.  They were deliciouse: a handful of strawberries, tsp of sugar, and a few scoops of vanilla yogurt pureed then poured into popsicle molds.  YUMMY!!

Austin enjoying his strawberry yogurt pop!

My husband and I were asked to speak in church last Sunday.  Our topic was on the Blessing of Eternal Marriage.  I joined the LDS church in 2003 and met and married Ryan in 2004.  We were married in the San Diego Temple.  I spent a lot of time last week reflecting on our 8 years of marriage and reading various talks on the subject by our church leaders.  It was a great blessing to not only celebrate how far we've come in our marraige together and the effort we've both made to stay strong, but also to note those things which we need to keep working on (like doing Temple work more often).  To share our stories and these blessings with others was so uplifting.  click here for more information about the church

Las Vegas deals and July 4th events!

Food 4 Less deals this week! If you didn't make it to get the sales with coupons last week, you have another chance with some sales going on at Food 4 Less.  If you don't want to drive all the way to their store, take the ad into Walmart to get the price match.

Food 4 Less buy 10, save $5 sale (prices reflect sale when buying 10 mix and match selected items)
Final price is when coupon from coupons.com is used with the sale!  Many items on sale have coupons!  This rarely happens like this, so take advantage while you can! Prices good til July 4th.
*Capri Sun 10 pack $1.48,  98 cents per box with $1 off 2 coupon
*Kraft BBQ sauce 48 cents, $1 off 2 coupon will make you 2 cents
*Kraft salad dressing $1.48, 98 cents with $1 off 2 coupon
*Kraft shredded cheese $1.98, $1.73 with 50 cents off 2 coupon
*Kraft American singles $1.98,  $1.73 with 50 cents off 2 coupon

Other good sales there: Small avocados 6 for 99 cents, 6 lbs watermelon for 99 cents

You can print 2 of each coupon and all the coupons cover 2 items, so you can buy 4 off each of the above 5 items giving you 20 items.  Your grocery bill would be $10.78!!

Winco sales as of 6-27-13: Broccoli crowns 78 cents/lb, 5 lb potatoes 88 cents, 2 lb carrots 88 cents, red grapes 98 cents/lb, Maya's tortillas still 88 cents/12 pack, Pepsi 18 packs still $2.98, Viva Cottage Cheese $1.68, if your family eats hot dogs they are 58 cents and they have turkey franks for 78 cents.  Whole turkeys 88 cents/lb if you need some cheap meat.  I was in today and since I had my 5 year old with me who wanted everything, I bought a few extra items on my list but still spent only about $34.

Upcoming Vegas area events:
*Michael's Arts and Crafts Kids Club, 4th of July Hat, Saturday June 29th every half hour 10 am-noon, $2 
*Junior Naturalist Day at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, 350 E. Galleria, Saturday June 29th 7-9 am, register online cityofhenderson.com/parks  free for ages 6-12.  This is a neat place!
*Station Casinos 4th of July Fireworks Blast, July 4th 9:00 pm, per their website, the fireworks are going off at Green Valley Ranch and Red Rock Resort (Aliante is no longer with Station, so they aren't doing a show)
*Summerlin Council Patriotic Parade, July 4, 9 am, parade route on Hills Center Drive, starting at Hillpointe and heading south to Trailwood Dr
*Fremont Street Experience, free concert with Three Days Grace, July 4 9:00 pm, 3rd Street Stage 

***Fourth of July event update:  I heard about a NW Las Vegas fireworks display going on in the Providence Master planned community (Hualapi/215 area) Knickerbocker Park 10695 Dorrell Lane 6-9:45 pm on July 4.  Music, food trucks, games.  Fireworks will commence at 9:15 pm.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!  

This week's savings jackpots!

I'm just about at full speed now, so last week I was able to start our summer schedule of activities with the kiddos!

Austin loves art and I had considered signing him up for an art camp that would have cost $90 for three half days.  Instead, I spent $20 to sign him up for 10 Michael's Passport to Imagination classes.  I am taking him and his cousin on Mondays and Fridays.  They started this week and had a great time!

We used our Summer Y pass to go to the waterpark 3 times this week.

We went to the Natural History Museum with some friends and used a coupon to get a discount.  The kids had a really fun tim!

We cooked most meals at home and brought snacks and drinks with us on the go.  I brought Golden Spoon yogurt home one night as a treat on their 2 for 1 day.  Austin wanted the same flavor as me, so I got a larger size and took my half in the lid and gave him the bowl.  They had a new flavor this week, banana.  NW locals, if you text "spoon" to 90210 you will get the text alerts for the 2 for 1 days (usually Saturday) and also any other specials.  You can also like them on FB to get news on specials and new flavors.  We really love this place!

I went to a Relief Society BBQ one night, so Ryan got McDonald's for he and Austin.

I made 12 handmade cards of 3 different designs this week.  I will be using my spare time over summer to make all the cards I'll need for the year.

I made no butter banana bread and applesauce cookies.  I took some of the cookies over to our friends who we had dinner with one night.

Ryan's parents watched the kids so we could go to the Temple this week.

Took Austin to a free Lowe's Kids Clinic.  He had a great time and can now do most of the hammering himself!

Ryan finished with all the tiling on the master bath and the walls adjacent to the tile were textured and primed.  He will be painting and grouting this week!

I went through clothes and toys no longer used/needed to send to donation.  I inventoried the donations in case I need to itemize them for taxes.  When I did, I found some items that I can repurpose instead of buying.  I wanted to get a bin for the kid's bathroom and an under-the-sink storage for mine.  I found a basket and old shoe rack no longer used in a closet so these will work for what I need.  I will have Ryan trim the shoe rack a little shorter so it fits under our sink.

We had a little scare with the baby over the weekend.  I was getting a few things at Dollar Tree, they have those smaller carts with the heavy metal posts on the front.  The baby was sitting in the seat of the cart and Austin stepped up on the front of the cart and it flipped over to the ground in a split second.  The baby hit her head on the floor and had a huge bump.  The cart landed on Austin's legs, but he was fine.  I'm so grateful for the shoppers who heard the crash and came to help us.  One brought a bag of frozen vegetables to ice Amilia's head while I calmed her down.  We left the store and headed straight to the ER, where she was checked out and got a CAT scan of the brain.  Everything was normal (thank God).

Extreme Vegas grocery deals and events this week! June 19-25

This week's grocery ads are in and new coupons are up on coupons.com!  If you don't go to this site, I highly recommend it, there is also an app available to view coupons on your phone and then email the ones you clip to print on your computer.  You can print each coupon twice.  Another good coupon source is through grocerysmarts.com using the code g89clf for the Las Vegas area.

***Winco deals as of today, June 19:  There are several sales that when added to the coupons.com coupon will give you extreme low prices!!
*Kraft BBQ sauce 68 cents each, $1 off 2 coupon, final price 18 cents!!  
*Dole canned pineapple 68 cents a can, 75 cents of 2 coupon, final price 30 cents!!
*Koolaid Koolbursts 10 pack $1.78 each, $1 off 2 coupon, final price $1.38!!

Other good prices now at Winco: celery bunch 98 cents, 5 lb potatoes 88 cents, broccoli crown 88 cents/lb, Maya's tortillas 12 packs 88 cents, Fuji apples 78 cents/lb, Red Del apples 88 cents/lb, 18 pack Pepsi/Diet Pepsi cans $2.98.

There is a coupon for $1 off 2 Capri Sun 10 packs and the boxes are $1.98 at Winco right now, so after the coupon, it's still a decent deal if you want to stock up on drinks for car trips or other summer activities.
I purchased 4 off all the coupon items from above which included 8 boxes of juice pouches, plus a case of diet Pepsi and some produce and other items on my list and spent $34.

Smith's sales this week:  green grapes 99 cents/lb, lettuce 99 cents/head, Buy 4/Save $4 mix and match sale includes select Doritos/Lays chips $1.99, Pirate's Booty $1.49, Hillshire smoked sausage $1.99, and Philly cream cheese 99 cents (with $1 off 2 coupon from coupons.com, final price 49 cents!)
There are also special going on "buy 10, get 5 free items", the ad doesn't list all items, but essentially final cost is 67 cents per item, some include Hunts tomato/pasta sauce, Hunts snack pack puddings.  The store usually has a list at the entrance of all the items included in the special, so this week, a trip to Smith's is definately on the agenda!

Fresh and Easy: red and green grapes 88 cents/lb, 2 day sale Sat/Sun Doritos XXL chips $1.88, DiGiorno frozen pizzas $3.99, Coke 2 liters 88 cents.  In-ad coupon $6 off $30 purchase (F&E sells Burt's Bees products which is what I use for the kids, so I get a bottle or two of it to bump my purchase price so I can spend enough to use the coupon).  This Friday, Sunshine salad mix is free with coupon from their weekly email.  Sign up at freshandeasy.com, they also have a great shopping rewards program, you can print your rewards as you earn them as opposed to other grocery rewards that only come quarterly.

Las Vegas area family events this week:
*Free Movie in the Park, Madagascar 3, Centennial Hills amphitheatre, Friday June 21, 7:30 pm  LV ward 6 website
*Lowe's Build and Grow "Monsters University Chest", Saturday, June 22nd 10 am free  Register online/print waiver here
*Michael's Arts and Crafts Kids Club, Silly Shells project, Saturday June 22nd every half hour 10 am-noon, $2 
*Monster's University comes out in theatres this Friday!  AMC theatres offers $6 tickets to all movies before noon.

No butter, low sugar baking tips and recipes

I'm trying to watch it with the fats as my liver adjusts to life without a gallbladder.  I'm feeling pretty good and hoping this surgery was the right decision.  My sister brought over some huge mouth watering chocolate chunk cookies.  I ate one and a few hours later, it went right through me in the wrong way (if you catch my drift).  So in addition to my applesauce chocolate chip cookies, I have two great variations of popular baked goods.

**Tips for lighter baking:
1.  Replace butter and oils in recipes with equal measurement of applesauce or greek yogurt.  I prefer applesauce because it is a long term pantry storage item, less expensive, and adds sweetness to your recipe that allows you to cut sugar without losing flavor.
2.  Whatever the sugar content of the original recipe is, you can cut it in half and still have good taste.
3.  Experiment with other spices like cinnamon to enhance flavor.
4.  Use egg whites or if a recipe calls for 2 eggs, use one whole and the egg white equivalent of the other.
5.  Substitute all or half of the flour for whole wheat flour.

The following recipes have already applied the above suggestions.

Viva Mom's No Butter Banana Bread

The foundation for this recipe dates back to the 1960s.  It was my Grandma Jean's.  By cutting out a stick of butter, 1/2 of the sugar and using skim milk instead of evaporated milk, this bread packs about 140 calories per slice.  I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon to the batter.  A slice of this bread with some Smart Balance light spread is divine!

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup natural applesauce

2 eggs

1/2 cup skim milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 medium sized ripe bananas mashed

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350, mix ingredients in order, pour in sprayed large loaf pan, bake 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the middle.  Cool 5 minutes in pan before turning over on rack.  You can also add some chopped walnuts or chocolate chips if you enjoy that in your bread.

Banana Oat Breakfast Muffins

Found this recipe on Pinterest.  It called for way too much sugar, so I used less.  It also called for greek yogurt.  I used a regular light yogurt (strawberry flavored) to add more flavor and moisture to the muffins.  The recipe yields a dozen, so you can double it if you want more.  I put these in sandwich bags in the freezer and pull them out to thaw in the morning or microwave 15-20 secs for breakfasts on the go.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup yogurt of choice 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 medium sized ripe bananas mashed

2 1/2 cups oats

Preheat oven to 400, spray muffin pan or line with liners.  Mix ingredients in order.  There are two options here depending on your preferences of texture.  You can blend everything in a processor so the oats are smooth or you can stir everything so that the oats stay whole.  I like to hand mix and have the hearty texture of the oats in my muffins.  Bake 15 minutes and allow to completely cool before removing from the tin.

Stay tuned for more light baking recipes and if you come across one you love, please share!!