Loving Local: North Scituate Farmers Market

There were actually many South Shore area Farmers Markets to choose from for Wednesday.  North Quincy and Hingham, for example.  I decided to make a little drive into Scituate.  I recently read an article in the Boston Globe about it.  (If you want to read it, CLICK HERE).  Plus, I had zero idea what to do with my kids today. Exploring seemed like a good option. 

The market takes place every Wednesday from 3pm - 7pm in in North Scituate Village (on Gannett Rd. near the train tracks).  I had money in my pocket and let each kid pick out something.  My 4 year-old will eat any fruit given to him.  My almost 3 year-old has a fear of anything grown from the ground. 

Farmers Markets run rain or shine!  God bless them!

Although on the smaller side, E.L. Silvia Farms out of Dighton, MA had a huge stand of produce. 

Overall, I thought the prices weren't too outrageous (you can click on the picture above and it will get bigger - you'll see the prices per pound on the sign).  Yellow Squash and Zucchini were both $2 a pound (They are $1.49 a pound at Stop & Shop).  I ran to Stop & Shop after to pick up some Crisco - and looked at the squash.  It was kind of blah looking - especially after seeing the practically perfect (and huge) selection by E.L. Silvia.

So what did we end up getting?  A zucchini for $3.10 and a watermelon for $3.57.  Mini watermelons at Stop & Shop and The Fresh Market are $3.99 - so I feel like I evened out with my .50 extra per pound for the zucchini.  One of the benefits of doing this blogathon is that I've been seeing some of what other people talk about - for instance, I bought this huge zucchini and I honestly have zero idea what to do with it.  My kids aren't just going to eat pieces of zucchini.  But thanks to Tinky at In Our Grandmother's Kitchen, who has been updating her blog everyday with bloggers submissions, I saw a post that involved Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies!  Kate over at Village Veggies whipped up some great looking cookies - cookies even my kids would probably eat (and not realize that they are eating zucchini). 

This picture does not do these cupcakes justice (I'm not a good photographer)!  As we were leaving, I realized that my kids were overall really good the whole day.  Given the three days of rain we had, I asked them in they wanted some cupcakes. They of course said "yes".  Jenna Cakes was there with delicious array of cupcakes . She has flavors for any taste.  My childrens' taste is simple:  chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.  And a few M&Ms don't hurt either.  For just $2 a pop - sometimes it's just good to treat yourself (or others) to pure deliciousness.

So if you find yourself in our around North Scituate on Wednesdays, check out the Farmers market at the MBTA parking lot!  Find the Scituate Farmers Market on Facebook for more information on vendors and events.  Today's plan?  The Cohasset Farmers Market.  Located on the common from 2:30-6:30 every Thursday.

Loving Local: The Home Garden

Going forward with Tinky's Loving Local Blogathon, today I'll talk a little about the home garden in Massachusetts.  Or more specifically, my home garden.  August 22-28th is Massachusetts Farmers Market Week.  Over 70 blogs are participating to grow awareness to locally grown food and Mass Farmers Markets.  Farmers Markets are few and far between on Sundays (especially compared to other days of the week) - so I'm focusing on something even more local than MA farms today - my own backyard.

Welcome to My Garden!

**For any future home gardeners out there - a garden is not a garden if you don't have a garden gnome!**

This is my 3rd year "gardening".  My first year consisted of me buying about 8 plants at Lowe's and just shoving them in some dirt.  Last year, I put some more care and consideration in what I was doing by prepping the soil some.  This year, I decided to start everything from seed (including marigolds).  My tomatoes have done the best this year (I planted Romas and Cherries).  My squash and cucumbers got infected with some disease and before I knew it, all the plants were dead.  I planted jalapenos (which are doing great) and green bell peppers (which aren't).  

Roma Tomatoes

I actually never really paid attention to different varieties of tomatoes until last year.  I had a recipe that called for Roma tomatoes.  I don't think I ever even bought Roma tomatoes before then.  But come to find out, they are less juicy than "regular" tomatoes.  I've been buying them ever since.  That inspired me to grow some.  

Jalapenos

When I was plotting out my seed purchase this year, my husband chimes in that he wants jalapenos.  I thought I was setting myself up for disaster - but they are actually doing pretty well.  We have picked about 12 so far.  

Cherry Tomatoes/Cluster Gardening

Cherry tomatoes are great.  They are relatively easy and taste great.  Another benefit to them is that my kids will go out there and pick the red ones - and just eat them!  It's not that easy to get them to eat produce when it comes out of plastic container.  I planted about 8 cherry tomato plants relatively close to each other after reading some stuff on "cluster gardening".  it kind of looks like I have one big cherry tomato bush.  I thought they would kill each other being so close (root battle or something like that) but that didn't happen.  

Composting

I've been composting for about a year and a half now.  I started with just one old garbage can and drilled holes in it.  This spring, I changed over to a 3 bin system.  I used some old wire fencing that was left in our yard when we bought the place 2 1/2 years ago and some long wooden stakes that my husband cut for me with scrap wood from the basement to make circular containers.  It's a relatively easy process and doesn't smell or attract animals like some may believe.  Pretty much, I just dump our produce scraps/lawn waste/leaves in bin #1.  I'll cover it with some dirt or other compost.  Once a month, I shovel what is in bin #1 to bin #2.  And the bin #2 goes into bin #3.  After three months, the stuff in bin #3 is pretty much all decomposed and ready to be placed in the garden.  

So why do I compost?  Looking into making my garden more fruitful and vibrant last year, I realized that fertilizer and such is expensive (but I'm cheap - that's why I have a "bargain" blog).  As a kid & teenager, my father would compost. I always thought it was "gross" and "nasty" - but I had a little background in the process because of him.  So since I didn't want to shell out money for "good dirt" - I started composting.  It hasn't cost me a single penny, but I have to say, the soil in my garden is a heck of a lot better than it was when I plopped those plants into it 3 summers ago.  It's just going to keep getting better.  I'm also saving a lot of room in my garbage bags by not throwing produce scraps away (watermelon rinds take up a LOT of room!).  This in turn is saving me money on garbage bags (yes, I really am that cheap). 

I have to say though, gardening can be very time consuming.  But if you like doing it, it's worth it!  Although I'm not a very good gardener (yet!), I have learned a lot about the processes by talking to neighbors & family and also by reading books and internet articles.  I only have about 1/7th of an acre of land - but even with that little lot, we're able to produce some great vegetables for our family to enjoy!        

Be sure to come back later in the week as I check out other Farmers Markets around the South Shore!

Loving Local: Weymouth Farmer's Market

Today is August 22nd - also known as the start of Massachusetts Farmers Market Week.  Tinky over at  In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens  organized a week-long blogathon from today until the 28th.  Over 70 blogs are participating in this event.  You can get the complete list and get more info by visiting the Loving Local website.  I'm hoping to post most of the week about a local Farmers' Market and what deals to be had and how their prices relate to big chain grocery stores.

My first stop this week was at the Weymouth Farmers Market.  This takes place every Saturday from 9 am - 1 pm in the Town Hall parking lot located on Middle St.

It was a festive time.  There were about a handful of local farmers on hand selling fresh produce.  They had one fisherman selling sea delights - but at 11:45, were already sold out of pretty much everything except salmon and some haddock (or other fish.  No lobster or clams were available).  There were quite a few craft tables - some just individual merchants and others set up from local shops in town.  Looking through booths, I have to say that a lot of the handmade items were very reasonably priced and made me think of Christmas.  It's definitely something to check out if you have that "hard-to-shop-for" individual in your family.  There was a bakery there - which we sort of "skipped".  My son was excited about blueberries - I didn't want to jeopardize that for cookies!  Sorry Mr. Baker guy!

One thing that I thought made the Weymouth Farmers Market unique is that they have "Village Celebration Days" once a month.  We happened to hit Weymouth Landing this weekend.  This is great (and FREE!) for merchants in each of Weymouth's 4 neighborhoods to set up a booth to help promote their business. Nowadays, we are so focused on "big chains" and we tend to forget about the small business owners out there in our very own neighborhoods.  We got to see and talk to some merchants from the Landing to include some restaurants, a florist, a bank (who gave us free rulers and coloring books!), a propane company, driving school, etc.

They even had this handy dandy map out there to show you where all the featured merchants were located.  This is a fabulous way to promote neighborhood pride!

Although one of the farmers said that business was "so-so" today - there seemed to be a nice crowd out and about.

So what did we end up with?  I took just my 4 year-old to have some bonding time.  I have two boys aged 2 & 4.  The two of them together out in public is insanity.  When it's just one of them out and about with me, they both actually act very good.  Only children are very underrated.

Well my son wanted blueberries.  That container was full to the brim (about 12 oz. of blueberries) before my son devoured some.  It cost me $4.50. 12 oz. of blueberries at Stop & Shop this week would cost me $3 (because they are on a REALLY god sale this week).  If they weren't on sale, the same 12 oz. would be about $6.  So although $4.50 may seem expensive, you're paying around the same (if not more, if not on sale) at the grocery store.  My son also picked out a pint of yellow cherry tomatoes.  This container was $3.  I don't think I've ever seen yellow tomatoes at chain grocery stores.  Pints of grape tomatoes are usually about $2.50 at Stop & Shop.  I dig yellow tomatoes because they are different.  They aren't as sweet as their red counterparts.  My son likes them too - just because he thinks them being yellow is "cool".  Whatever works to get him to eat vegetables.

So overall, I spent $7.50.  These days, I usually spend about $30 on produce a week at the grocery store.  I'm planning on hitting up other Farmers' Markets this week so I need to spread out the money and love.  Check back on me as I start to venture into other items and talk about how the prices relate to grocery store prices.  I'll be checking out other South Shore farmers markets this week - including Quincy, Scituate, Cohasset, Hingham, and North Easton.

If you haven't been to a MA Farmers' Market, check out your local ones by visiting their website MASS Farmers Markets.  You can also make a donation to by clicking THIS LINK.

Heading To Stop & Shop This Week (So Yeah, their healthy deals)

How did I become a Stop & Shop regular shopper?  It's odd.  I swore I would never do it, and here I am shopping there every week.  

On unrelated news, I hit Lifetime at Weight Watchers this past week (thanks to a little glitch in the computer).  So I have to keep trucking with this healthy eating crap I've gotten myself into.  I do this best with Stop & Shop.  Here's some healthy sale stuff.

-  Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast - $1.79/lbs 

-  Blueberries, Blackberries or Raspberries - $1.50 ea

-  Tomatoes on the Vine - $1.77/lbs (these were .88/lbs at the KamMan not too long ago!)

-  Kellogg's Cereal - 3/$5 (MUST BUY 3).  There are coupons out there for this from the paper.  Mini-Wheats $1/2 coupon at Coupons.com

-  Jif Peanut Butter - .99 with in-ad coupon

-  Pepsi 12 packs - 5/$12 (I'm a diet soda junkie.  Prefer Coke brands, but Pepsi works too).  

-  Shady Brook Farms Ground Turkey - $2.89 for 20 oz.  This is the 93% Fat Free kind!  Great price!

-  Quilted Northern Toilet Paper 12 pack - 2/$10 (this is a pretty decent price)

-  Bird's Eye Steamfresh Vegetables - $1.67 ea.

-  Stonyfield Yogurt - .75 ea (.50/3 Printable HERE)

-  Daisy Sour Cream - $1.50 ea ($1/2 MFC from paper)

-  Kozy Shack Pudding - $2.50 (.55/1 MFC from paper DOUBLES)

-  YoPlait Yo-Plus - $2 (Coupon HERE)  Also coupons in paper.

-  YoPlait Yogurts - .50 (Buy 6, Get 1 Free coupons in paper, .40/6 MFC at Coupons.com DOUBLES)

-  Ragu Pasta Sauce (look for light/sugar free kind for 1 point per serving!)  - $1.67 ea ($1.25/3 from paper)

-  Hunt's Diced Tomatoes - $1 ($1/4 MFC from paper)

A Tale Of Two Pork Chops (That Cost .15 Cents)

I dig meat with coupon peelies on them.  Do you know what this means?  If meat at the super market is about to expire, the butcher slaps a coupon on it.  Lately, I've been going to a Stop & Shop in a kind of trendy town (this would be Hingham - please don't stalk me).  I've been making some serious meat bank here with peelies.  I won't buy all skanky looking meat, but if it looks good and is a good deal, I'll snatch it up.  When I get home, I'll divide the meat if I see fit, or I'll just throw the packages in the freezer.

Well this is going to be a LONG post, so I'll try to keep it simple.  See how I made 8 meals with .72 lbs. of pork that I got at Stop & Shop for .15 cents!  That's less than 2 cents per portion for the meat!

On July 17th, I found this pack of pork at Stop & Shop with a $2 peelie on it.  If you look closely at the label, you'll see it was $2.15.  So with $2 off, this was .15 cents.  It didn't look all skanky at the time and it doesn't appear to be all skanky now when I defrosted it.  When I got home, I just threw it in my freezer.  I threw it in my refrigerator to thaw 2 nights ago and now watch how I made 8 individual healthy meals with it (6 adult, 2 kid).

I cut up my .72 oz. of pork.  Each bowl has 4 oz. in it.  The "choppette" on the scale is 2.7 oz.  I'm going to make Fried Rice with one bowl and Lo Mein with the other.  I'm just going to bake the "choppette" for the kids.

Fried Rice is a cooking!  I have rice going in the pot, I scrambled an egg to the left, and started cooking the pork (I put my recipe at the bottom of this post).  I have my "choppette" ready to go in the toaster oven.

The recipe for Fried Rice called for carrots and peas.  I didn't have any carrots.  I put a 1/2 cup of corn in it's place.  I also wanted to show that if you get those "Steamfresh" veggies that "steam" in the microwave - you don't necessarily have to do that.  You can cook with the vegetables in those bags just like normal frozen vegetables.  There is no added flavoring to most of the basic Steamfresh line.  Just a fancy bag.

After I cooked the pork (with seasonings) with scallions, peas, corn and scrambled egg, you add the rice and some soy sauce (and I add pepper).  Fry it in the wok for a few minutes.  Here are 3 equal servings of Fried Rice with only 4 oz. of pork.  Let's move on to my "kids' meals"....

The pork is done.  I cut it in pieces, threw some rice with it and BBQ sauce.  2 kids meals using 2.7 oz. of pork.  Moving on to Lo Mein....

Measure out 4 oz. of dry pasta on my WW scale and by using my Fasta Pasta (one of the best inventions ever).  

In the wok, I cooked up the pork with 1 tsp. of olive oil and some red pepper.  Threw in some garlic, scallions, green peppers, bean sprouts and cooked it some while my pasta is cooking in the microwave.  

When my pasta is done, I throw it in the wok with some soy sauce (I used Reduced Sodium just because).  Cook it for a few minutes and then.....

You have 3 equal servings of Pork Lo Mein with only 4 oz. of pork!  

So that my friends, is how I took a lonely package of 2 pork chops that was sitting in Stop & Shop all pitiful.  At .15 cents, no one wanted those two pork chops, but I did.  

Here's the basic recipes and points values for these two easy recipes.  You can substitute or add things depending on what you have in the house.  Just remember that if you add something, you might have to recalculate the points value.  

Pork Fried Rice (Very Big portion)

POINTS® Value:    7 Servings:  3 Level of Difficulty:  Easy Course: main meals

Ingredients

	1 cup(s) Carolina Long Grain Rice, uncooked
	3 oz cooked lean boneless pork chop
	1 item(s) egg
	2 tsp olive oil    1 tbsp soy sauce Minced garlic.  Some say 1 tsp. but I like a lot so I used about 1 tbsp About 1 tsp grated ginger root (optional, but it does add some great flavor)
	1/2 cup(s) frozen green peas
	1/2 cup(s) Green Giant Niblets Corn, Frozen
	1/3 cup(s) scallion(s) 1.  Cook rice according to however you like to cook rice. 2.  In bowl, take pork and add ginger, garlic, 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tbsp of soy sauce 3.  Take the egg and beat it with a fork. 4.  Scramble egg in small skillet. 5.  In wok, cook pork mixture for about 3 minutes.  Add scallions.  Then add scrambled egg, peas and corn.  Cook until it looks good.  Add cooked rice in wok.  Mix up a lot.  Add more soy sauce depending on your tastes.  I also added some pepper. -  This recipe could also be 6 servings and used as a side.  1/3 of this recipe is a very filling meal in itself. Pork Lo Mein POINTS® Value:    4 Servings:  3 Level of Difficulty:  Easy Course: main meals Ingredients 4 oz uncooked whole-wheat spaghetti    3 oz cooked center loin pork, lean and fat    1 tsp olive oil    1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes    2 tsp minced garlic    1/4 cup(s) scallion(s)    1 cup(s) bean sprouts    1 cup(s) frozen pepper strips    1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce 1.  Cook pasta according to directions. 2.  In wok or large skillet, heat oil.  Add garlic, pepper flakes and pork.  Cook for a few minutes. 3.  Add bean sprouts, scallions and pepper strips.  You could also add other vegetables too - cole slaw mix (cabbage), mushrooms, regular onions, etc. 4.  Cook until vegetables look cooked. 5.  Drain spaghetti and add to wok.  Stir and add Soy Sauce depending on your taste.  Cook for a few minutes.

Weight Watchers Goal Achieved (& How I Save Money at the Grocery Store doing it)

**WARNING!  A VERY LONG POST!**  I started my Weight Watchers journey December 29th, 2009.  24 pounds gone and 30 weeks later, I can say that I hit my goal!  I'll be the first to admit that eating healthier does cost a little more than not consciously watching the waistline (no duh, huh?) - but I still do manage to save quite a bit of money shopping with a new "healthier" lifestyle.  I figured I'd outline some tips in case anyone is interested.

-  Frozen vegetables.  I stock up on these suckers.  Why do I love them?  Frozen vegetables are easy to cook with.  They have virtually zero prep work involved.  And shocker - a LOT of frozen vegetables are actually cheaper than fresh vegetables.  My favorite is the Shaw's/Stop & Shop Pepper Strips.  A 16 oz (1 lbs) bag is either $1.25 or $1.50 regular price.  $1.50 for a pound of sliced peppers (red & yellow included) is a great price.  I also hit up the Bird's Eye/Green Giant sales.

-  One thing that I've really been able to eliminate from my diet is processed foods.  I used to (and honestly, probably still do...) love Rice-A-Roni and the Betty Crocker Au Grutain potatoes.  Sales combined with coupons make this crap dirt cheap.  But I just don't do it anymore.  I personally think it's actually cheaper to buy rice in bulk and fresh potatoes and make a side from scratch.  What can I say?  My inner June Cleaver has finally emerged after 4+ years of homemaking.

-  I've changed our meat consumption.  I used to always buy 80/20 ground beef and not think anything of it.  Now, I won't buy any less than 90/10.  That goes for ground turkey as well - which has the same fat equivalents (and point values) of ground beef (I really don't like ground turkey though - so I hardly ever buy it).  90/10 & 93/7 beef will go on sale for $3.99, but it is typically about $4.29-$4.49/lbs.  80/20 will sometimes go for $1.99/lbs, but usually sits around $2.49-$2.99.  I used to always cook with 1 lbs of ground beef in recipes.  Now, I usually cook with 8 oz.  I have learned to make some simple substitutions for things.  For example, if I'm making tacos, instead of using the 1 lbs of ground meat like the "basic" recipe says to do, I only use 8 oz of beef and throw in 8 - 12 oz of frozen corn.  Same amount of "bulk" but less calories and fat.  And you can grab frozen corn cheap with sales and coupons.   My husband and kids don't complain about this.  Even though I may be spending $4 per pound of ground beef now instead of $2, I'm finding ways to only use 1/2 a pound to feed what 1 pound used to feed us.

-  If you aren't (or don't want to) eat certain crap - just don't cut the coupons for it.  I used to cut coupons for every product that I knew would produce a killer deal if a sale were to come along (Hi Bagel Bites!  I know you miss me!).  Now, if I know I'll get in "trouble" with certain products, I just skip cutting it.  I really don't have problems with cookies/cakes/sweets - but my weaknesses are things like potato chips and Cheez-Its.  Seriously - Cheez-Its can kill me.  So I just don't buy them.  My kids don't miss them and my husband never ate them anyways.

-  I actually spend time prepping produce now.  We buy a lot of fruit now.  My older son loves it.  My younger son hates it.  My husband doesn't care either way.  I usually devote a half hour to hour prepping fruit every week.  It's mostly grapes, strawberries, blueberries and of course watermelon. I got rid of all of our nasty old GladWare and Ziploc containers and bought about 15 2-cup Ziploc Twist & Loc containers (using coupons matched with sales, of course!).  I think they are the small ones.  A 2 cup container is a perfect size for fruit and single portion leftovers.  Besides some single serve things I buy for my husband's lunch (and yeah, I'll cheat on those things), we really don't buy that many packaged snacks.  Of course we have the occasional bag of Goldfish, or a "free" bag of cookies thanks to Facebook promos - but overall, there aren't that many "snacks" in the cupboard anymore.  Oh, unless you count the 6 dozen Fiber One bars in there...(which by the way, I've convinced my kids are "candy bars"...it keeps them regular.)

-  I still LOVE using coupons and scoring great deals.  I used to gage my savings "success" on if I saved more than I spent (as per the grocery store receipt).  I hardly ever save as much I spend.  Usually it's stuff like if I spend $100, I would have saved $60-$70.  This, I attribute to a few things.  Sometimes these days, I'm too lazy to go to BJ's or Roxie's for deli meat (the husband digs it).  Grocery store prices are outrageous, but I still buy it.  Usually it doesn't go on sale for that much.  It's crap like Turkey Breast goes from $7.99/lbs to $7.49/lbs.  Big Whoop.  I buy things that aren't on sale - but I think are a good deal anyways.  Weight Watchers yogurt (I've turned into "one of those" people who drink smoothies on a pretty daily basis), frozen vegetables, High Fiber wraps, Weight Watchers Cream Cheese, Romaine Lettuce, other produce, etc. etc.

-  There are a lot of "healthy" coupons out there.  I still clip a bunch of coupons for food.  I think the general theory is that all coupons are for crap food.  Not the case.  Some good ones that are out there now or that you can get pretty frequently are:  $1/1 Hood Cottage Cheese, $1/1 Hood Sour Cream, $1/1 Activias and Fiber One yogurts, the Free Yoplait yogurts are always good since my husband eats that, Dole Fruit Cups, cereal, pasta, pasta sauces, peanut butter (unless it's your weakness...), Ice Cream coupons (yes, it can be healthy if eaten in moderation), Hot Dogs (okay - not healthy but I love hot dogs - reduced fat ones), tuna fish, $1/1 mission tortillas, salad dressings, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables, Pepperidge Farms Deli Flats, $1/1 Mt. Olive products (I'm a banana pepper junkie), Soups, Fiber One products, Mustard/Ketchup. There's others - and honestly, only you can be the judge of what is "healthy" and what is not.  If you can buy Bagel Bites and only eat 2 at a time - more power to you.  That could be a "healthy" purchase.  I cannot do that.

-  If you are trying to make a sacrifice to eat healthier, then you do have to cut yourself some slack with the savings.  Depending on how you are trying to be "healthier" - low fat, low cal, all organic, all natural, low sodium, low sugar, etc.   All restrictive diets will mean extra money spent at the grocery store - it's not like Shaw's has national Diabetic Week where every low sugar item is on sale!  That would be pretty cool though.

-  Don't kid yourself that "healthy" things don't go on sale - they do.  A lot of products have reduced fat/reduced calorie/"healthier" versions.  If you see Tropicana OJ on sale at the store - chances are Trop50 (a lower sugar/calorie version) is included in that sale.  Edy's Ice Cream is on sale?  Sure the picture is just of the Chocolate Chip carton - but the Frozen Yogurt and Light varieties are almost always included.  Baked Beans - some varieties have a lot more sugar (calories) than others.  Some have a lot more fiber.  Activia Yogurt.  One of my favorites (for my smoothies, or course...I'm not a big "yogurt" person).  They have their regular version, which seems "healthy" - but it's 2 WW points.  They actually have a "light" version that is only 1 point.    Tuna Fish.  There is that crap that is packed in oil (which I accidentally bought 2 weeks ago and is full of oily nasty) vs. the stuff that is packed in water.  V8 Splash (on sale at Stop & Shop this week for $2 a bottle).  The "normal" stuff is just like all juices - about 120 calories per serving.  But they have a Diet V8 Splash which is only 10 calories a serving.  Mayonaise.  Regular, Light and Fat Free are usually all on sale together - even if just the regular is pictured in the circular. I could go on and on.  But I won't.  The one exception to this "rule" of mine that I have found are Thomas English Muffins.  They have a great variety that's called Better Start or something like that.  Each muffin is 100 calories and packs in 8 grams of fiber (1 WW point).  They have "light" and other more wholesome varieties too.  These usually aren't included in the BOGO sales.  Sometimes - but not always.

-  My psychotic self has memorized a lot of the WW point formulas.  Which has helped me a lot in the grocery store for unexpected WW deals/finds.  One day, I just sat and studied the points tracker in the back of the weekly journal (yeah, I'm that weird).  I'm also pretty good at remembering the key numbers to a lot of my favorite foods (calories/fat grams/fiber grams).  I'd say it's relatively easy for me to pick up a product I've never seen before, look at the nutrition label and mentally calculate how many points a serving is. This has helped me A LOT.  For instance, just last night I went to Stop & Shop.  Ronzoni came out with this new pasta variety called Garden Delights.  It was $2 a box, but the boxes had .50/1 MFCs on them (which doubled to $1 off a box).  So quickly looking at the box and seeing 190 cals, 1 gram fat, 4 grams of fiber - I knew that the 2 oz serving was 3 points.  I grabbed 2 boxes to try (why not, at $1 a box?!) .  Want $1.50 off a box (a .75/1 that will double)?  CLICK HERE FOR IT!  WOOOHOOO!  Then - I was going to buy 6 jars of Ragu Tomato Sauce to have in the house.  They were 3 for $5 (so $10 for 6 jars).  I had 2 $1.25/3 MFCs.  6 jars for $7.50.  Not outstanding - but we had none and I wanted to stock up.   Looking at all the varieties, I discovered a "Ragu Light". Upon looking at the label, had only 50 cals, 0 fat, and 3 grams of fiber per 1/2 cup (that's actually a LOT of tomato sauce).  0 points for an entire 1/2 cup of tomato sauce?!  Awesome!  

So there you have some of my tips.  Most of it seems like common sense - but all I know is that before I actually got my butt at Weight Watchers, I couldn't lose the 25 pounds that crept up on me in the past 10 years.  This stuff was not common sense to me just 8 months ago.   But now, it's kind of turned more into a way of life.  Do you have any tips to save money at the grocery store while staying healthy?  I'd love to hear them!