Recipe of the Week - Grilled Shrimp Salad

In case you don't know, I try to find a Weight Watcher's recipe every week that corrolates to sales at Shaw's.  It's not necessarily from Weight Watchers, but usually it is.  I'm late this week.  Oops. 


Grilled Shrimp Salad (I modified it) - taken from the Weight Watcher's website.

POINTS® Value: 1

Servings: 4

Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 4 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Works with Simply Filling

Ingredients

1/2 pound(s) shrimp, medium-sized (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined (1/2 lbs of Large Cooked Shrimp @ $5.99 lbs) $3
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 large head(s) lettuce, romaine (Use Fresh Express BOGO Sale - Reg. price is $3.99)
1 medium head(s) lettuce, radicchio
1 spray(s) cooking spray
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, aged variety (in your cabinet?  If not, pick up a small bottle for cheap)
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

My red babbling is Shaw's price babble.  If there is no red verbage after an ingredient, I assume most normal people have that in their cabinets. 

Instructions

Toss the shrimp, oregano, thyme and garlic powder together in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Spray the grill rack or a large grill pan with nonstick spray; heat the grill or set the pan over medium heat. (Note: Never spray nonstick spray directly into a heat source, whether a grill or a stove.)

Lay the shrimp on the grill or in the pan. Cook until pink and firm, about 3 minutes, turning once (this is if you buy uncooked shrimp - you're just heating the $5.99/lbs shrimp up). Transfer to a serving bowl.

Roughly chop the romaine and radicchio (or in our case, open the bag of lettuce); add it to the bowl with the shrimp. Toss with the vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve at once. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

A Pretty Big Shaw's Trip

Total Before Savings:  $132.66
Total Preferred Savings:  $38.59
Total Coupons:  $28.00
Cash OOP:  $66.07
CATs Earned:  $1.50

1 Cottonelle Fresh Wipes - $2.79 ($2/1 MFC) .79
1 Edge Shaving Cream - $2.69 ($1/1 MFC) $1.69
2 Land O'Frost Deli Meat - $3.99 (2 $1/1 MFCs) $2.99 ea
6 Shaw's Yogurts - .59 ea
2 Kraft Shredded Cheese - $2.49 ea ($1/2 MFC) $1.99 ea
2 Breakstone's Sour Cream - .99 ea ($1/2 MFC) .50 ea
1 Super Pretzel - $1.99 (.50/1 MFC) .99 ea
2 OreIda French Fries - $2.99 ea ($1/2 MFC) $2.49 ea
2 Bagel Bites - $1.49 ea (2 $1/1 MFCs from website) .49 ea
1 Shaw's Chili - $1.39
1 Sanititas Tortilla Chips - $1.88
3 Keebler Right Bites - $2.49 (3 $1/1 MFCs) $1.50 ea
2 Goldfish - $1 ea (2 .75/1 MFCs from Pepperidgefarm.com DOUBLE) Money Maker of .50 ea
9 Dole Fruit Cups - $2.29 ea (3 $1/3 MFCs) $1.97 ea
2 Dole Jars - $2.29 ea (2 .75/1 MFCs DOUBLE) .79 ea (each spitted out a .75 CAT)
4 CapriSun Waters - $1.99 ea (2 $1/2 MFCs from KraftSupervalu.com) $1.49 ea
1 Hormel Pork Tenderloin - $4.99 ($1/1 MFC from this week's paper) $3.99 (normally $9.99)
1 Lloyd's Pulled Pork - $5.79 ($2/1 MFC from Hormel Pork package) $3.79
1 Polar Diet Orange Dry Soda - $1.00

Things From This Trip:

-  My husband started working again - so I have to stock up on lunch stuff for him when the price is right.

-  The Dole Jars are spitting out .75 CATs.  The Dole Fruit cups have .75/1 MFCs for them in the wrapper. 

-  The Hormel Pork is a pretty good deal. These packaged meat logs are usually $9.99, but are on sale for $4.99 and there was just a $1/1 MFC in this week's newspaper.

-  If you haven't checked out Wicked Cool Deals yet, you should.  Michelle posted great coupons for the Goldfish and Bagel Bites.  The Goldfish coupon makes them a money maker and the Bagel Bites coupon gets you a 9 pack for .49 cents. 

-  Fruit is so darn expensive at Shaw's!  I guess it's because it's in the dead of winter. 

-  I've reorganized all my coupons once again.  I keep my coupons in a pencil box I picked up at A.C. Moore a long time ago.  But now I alphabetized them - which makes it so much easier if I happen to see something that I want to buy that wasn't on my list but seems like a good deal with the coupon. 

Quicky Stop & Shop and Walmart Runs

Stop & Shop

I went to Stop & Shop on Saturday.  Even though I just bought a huge container of coffee from BJ's, my husband took it to work with him and we were without.  Grabbed a small container until I can get back to BJ's this weekend.

1 Maxwell House 11.5 oz coffee - $2.50
Golden Double Stuff Oreo - $2.88 (Cashier took off full price with my free coupon - $3.69)
1.62 lbs of Grapes - $3.22

Total Before Savings:  $12.23
Stop & Shop Savings:  $3.42
Coupons:  $3.69
Cash OOP:  $4.91

Walmart

1 package of coffee filters - $1.24

Total:  $1.24 (we bought more - but this was the only grocery related item)

Shaw's Healthy Deals - 2/5-2/11

I found my circular!  It was in a folder with all my tax stuff - which is really a great place for it.  If you embarked on some "eat healthier" 2010 goal, how are you doing?  This week can be the start of a craptastic eating freenzy.  First we got the Super Bowl.  This doesn't bother me because I don't watch the Super Bowl and I've never really had a desire to go out and stock up on potato skins, mozzarella sticks or Pub Cheese for the big event.  It's just another day here for us.  Then next week, if you're the recipient of a chocolate heart for Valentine's Day, you have to battle that.  I don't do hearts either.  I get them for my husband and kids the day after Valentine's Day - I've told my husband that if he wants to woo me with food, to just come home with a Big Mac Extra Value meal.  I think he thought this was rather trashy of me to say, but this is me communicating my feelings to him.  Best of luck to all with the next to Sundays!  

So back to Shaw's:

Print off Shaw's coupons at Shaws.com

Get great coupons for Kraft products HERE.  Great deals at Shaw's with these coupons include, Breakstones's Sour Cream, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Velveeta, Planters, Capri Sun, and a few others.

Good, Healthy Deals

Cheerios, Total, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Golden Grahams - $1.99 ($1/2 MFCs at Coupons.com & Betty Crocker)

Fresh Express Salad Blends - BOGO Free

Friendly's Ice Cream - BOGO Free (low-fat & yogurt varieties are included)

Goldfish - $1 (.75/1 MFCs at http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/)

CapriSun - $1.99 ($1/2 at KraftSuperValu) $1.49 ea

Split Chicken Breast - .99 (I'm a food snob and refuse to buy meat on the bone - but this might be a good deal for the un-food snobs)

Land O'Frost Deli Meat - $3.99 ($1/1 lbs from paper)

Weight Watchers Smart Ones - $2.29 (There were a bunch of MFCs for these in the paper a week or two ago.  Plus, if you buy 5 at Shaw's, a coupon will print at the register for a free one at your future trip). 

Dole Fruit Jars - $2.29 (I have .75/1 MFCs I took from a box...so there are a few floating around)

Dole Fruit Cups - $2.29 ($1/3 MFC from paper)

Huggies Boxes  - $19.99 ($3/off with in-ad coupon) $16.99.  This is an MFC so you can't combine it with other coupons.

The back page has a bunch of MFCs for select Kraft products.  Sadly, these are Manufacturer's Coupons so they cannot be combined with other MFCs. 

Go to Wicked Cool Deals for even more great deals at Shaw's this week.

Shaw's Deals this Week...To Come Whenever

I was going to blog about what is looking good at Shaw's this week for the healthy eater (or inspiring healthy eater) - but who knows where my circular has gone.  I did a big cleaning two nights ago and I'm hoping I didn't toss it by accident.  It's okay.   Go over to Wicked Cool Deals to see what Michelle has found for you.  She's really good at matching up internet coupons with sale items so you get stuff for cheap or free.  She also posts deals for Big Y (I think), Price Chopper and Stop & Shop.

Homemade Taco Seasoning - So Easy, So Cheap!

I've been using the following recipe for almost a year now.  Have you ever wanted to whip up a quick batch of Taco Soup or needed Taco Seasoning for something but didn't have it in the house?  I was on a big Salsa Chicken kick last year - and found that I'd start to make it only to find I didn't have one of those precious Old El Paso seasoning packets in the house.  Well, instead of making a trip to the grocery store just for some taco seasoning, you can pretty much just open up your spice cabinet and make your own.  The following recipe equates to 1 package of taco seasoning:  (and to be all legal and all, I grabbed it off Cooks.com by clicking HERE)

TACO SEASONING MIX
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground oregano
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix all ingredients together. Makes 3 tablespoon seasoning mix. Equivalent to a 1 1/4 ounce package of commercial taco seasoning.

If you use taco seasoning a lot, I suggest getting a container at BJ's.  I think it's like 6 bucks.  I was going to grab one a few weeks ago but my BJ's didn't have it in stock.  I checked again last week, and again, not in stock.  Boo. 

Discover Card Users - 5% Cash Back at Grocery Stores in March

If you have a Discover Card and use it - log into your account to sign up for the 5% cash back promo they are doing in March.  You'll get 5% back on purchases (up to $200) at grocery stores and drug stores for the entire month.  So yeah, it's only a max of $10 - but you'll probably spend $200 easily in a month at your grocery store so why not?

Click HERE to see all the details. 

Another $21 down on the Grocery Budget!

Ran to Target yesterday.  Grabbed some impulse groceries:

1 pkg of Cheese Sticks - $3.39
1 pkg of Dum Dums - $2
1 box of Trix - $2.99

Total:  $8.38

Ran to Shaw's this evening.  I told the boys we'd make pizza for dinner but we were out of cheese.  I wanted some of the $1 veggies too.  Sadly, both of my boys fell asleep on the ride home.  Not sure if them going to sleep at 6pm is going to mean a 9 pm wake up - or if they'll just sleep all night.  Hoping for the later.

Total Before Savings:  $22.41
Total Preferred Savings:  $9.56
Coupons:  0!
Cash OOP:  $12.85

4 Sargento Shredded Cheeses - $1.99 ea (got a little carried away, huh?)
1 bag of carrots - .89
2 packs of mushrooms - $1 ea (I have an obsession with cooked, fresh mushrooms these days.  I will never buy canned mushrooms again)
3 pack Tomatoes - $1
Cole Slaw mix - $1 (they were out of the lettuce shreds.  I wanted something shredded.  I don't know why.  I dig shredded things)

I've already spent $126 this month on groceries and it's only the 3rd!  We'll see how the rest of the shortest month of the year pans out.

Big Ol' BJ's Run

Total Before Savings:  $123.37
Coupons Used:  $18.50
Cash OOP:  $105.37

1 Hunts Snack Pack - $7.49 ($1/4 MFC) $6.49
2 dozen Eggs - $3.39
2 Half & Halves - $1.79 ea
2 pack BJ's apple juice - $3.99
1 lbs Black Pepper Deli Turkey - $6.92
1 16-pack Arnold Sandwich Thins - $4.29 ($2/ if you buy 1 lbs meat coupon) $2.29
Maxwell House Coffee - $6.98
Planters Individual Peanut Packs - $7.79 ($2/1 BJ's coupon) $5.79
1 gallon 1% milk - $2.22
1 Dole Fruit Cup Box - $6.99
Wonder Kids 2 pack - $3.19
Boboli 8 pack - $8.99 ($3/1 BJ's coupon) $5.99 (2 are $2.99 at Shaw's - so you get twice as much for the same price at Shaw's with the coupon)

Unilever Rebate (I'm determined to do this, even though there isn't that much stuff that I actually "need")
2 Ragu 3 packs (bigger than normal jars) - $6.99 ea (2 $1.25/3 MFCs) $1.91 per jar
1 Popsicles - $6.49
1 All (110 loads) - $12.99 ($2/1 MFC) $10.99
Solo mini-cups (I'm going to use these to plant seeds) - $8.99 ($1/1 MFC) $7.99
Solo plates - $6.99 ($1/1 MFC) $5.99
Suave Kids 4-pack - $5.99 ($1 instant rebate, 2 $1/2 MFCs) $2.99 or .74 cents per bottle

Total Pre-Coupon:  $55.43
Total Post Coupon:  $45.93
Total Pre-Coupon Needed to reach $100:  $44.57

-  So the Unilever deal is kind of good - if you need/want the stuff.  My goal is to spend around $80 post coupons ($100 pre coupons).  That would give me a $40 BJ's gift card.  If that pans out, I would net a 50% savings on all products.  That All detergent that cost me $10.99 - would be about $5.50.  That big bottle is about 3.4 "normal" bottles that are 32 loads.  That would be like getting those for $1.61 each.  The Suave Kids would be about .37 a bottle.  Ragu, .95 cents per container (a "normal" jar has 3 cups of sauce, these have 5 cups of sauce). 

-  My next course of action.  What to buy to hit my $45?  I do like the Dove Shampoo & Conditioner.  They have bonus packs with the normal bottles.  I'd get those to get more bang for my buck.

2 Dove Shampoos/Conditioner - $6.99 ea ($2.50/2 MFC from paper)
2 Big Skippy Peanut Butters - $7.49 ($1/2 MFC from paper)
Snuggle Dryer Sheets - $5.49 (coupon? - got to look!)
Breyer's Ice Cream - $5.99
Country Crock Butter - Price? 
Lipton Noodle Soup - Price? 

It's definitely a harder deal than most - because there isn't too much to stock up on - you almost have to just buy a variety of things. 


Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop - Good Deal at BJ's

Another good BJ's Healthy Find - Forgot actual numbers, but there is a coupon at the door for $s off 42 packs of Orville Redenbacher's 100 cal (1 WW point) Smart Pop boxes. It comes out to $5.99 for 42 packs (Normal price for 4 packs at Shaw's is $2.99 - or 8 packs for the same price as 42 at BJ's). There is a $1/2 MFC from the newspaper that you could probably use on this.