• No more finagling that giant, unsightly binder while juggling your shopping list and purse.

• No more feeling embarrassed while you clumsily rifle through your purse at the register.

• You’re organized and looking cute!

Powdered Milk is made from part dairy and part soy, and it will taste similar to any skim milk you might use. It’s best used for cooking, although, of course, it’s completely safe and fine to drink. THRIVE Powdered Milk also costs a bit less than Instant Milk, and as a good source of calcium and vitamin A, it’s a great choice for your food storage.

There you have it! Including milk and other dairy products in your food storage will mean greater health and greater variety for meals and recipes, and now that you know how to best use both Instant and Powdered Milk, you’re ready to use them for all your future dairy needs.

Have a quick question about food storage or emergency preparedness? Let me know! You can leave a comment on this post to share your thoughts. If there’s anything that’s causing you just a little confusion, I’d love to help. Believe me: the chances are that someone else is wondering about the exact same thing. I’d love to respond to your question in a future weekly post.

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and instore coupons!
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Celebrate Free Pretzel Day with a Free Original or Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel this Saturday, Feb 20th from 10am to 3pm at Auntie Anne’s. Limit 1 per person.

Celebrate National Pancake Day with a Free Short Stack on Feb 23rd at IHOP. Donations for local charity are welcome.

Click here to print a coupon valid for a Free Fresco Taco.  Coupon valid for 7 days after printing.

Click here to print a coupon valid for a Free small brewed tea or coffee at Borders stores.  Valid thru this Saturday 2/21/10 only.  Requires Borders Rewards Membship, which is free to join.

Try one of new Grilled Sandwiches at Jack In the Box for free on Tuesday, February 23rd.  Requires purchase of a large drink.  One sandwich per person.

Have you ever wondered if you could just make your own bread simply and inexpensively?

I recently came upon a recipe that takes only 5 minutes a day and costs VERY LITTLE to make!

It takes about 5 minutes to make the dough….you leave it on the counter for about 2-1/2 hours and then refrigerate it overnight. The best part is it will keep up to TWO weeks in your fridge. Just take out however much dough you want to cook. This recipe is taken from this book. It’s great!

3 cups lukewarm water
1-1/2 TB granulated yeast (1-1/2 pkgs)
1-1/2 TB kosher salt or other coarse salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured by scooping the flour into the measuring cup and with a knife, scrape the top off the measuring cup

In a 5 quart container, put all the ingredients in and just mix it up with a wooden spoon. Mix it until all the flour is worked into the liquid and it is all moist. Make sure your container is in a 5 qt lidded, but not airtight, bowl. Put the lid on with one corner cracked (to let the gases escape as it rises). Let it sit on your counter for 2-1/2 hours then put it in the refrigerator over night….

Then anytime in the next 2 weeks you can use the dough to make rolls and breads of any shape. I think you can get about 4 loaves of French Bread out of this basic dough.

The book has many other options for mix-ins and toppings.

Details HERE

8. This week at Smith’s Food and Grocery save BIG with the Daytona 500 Promo! For every 10 items you purchase, you will save an additional $3! No limit on these rewards and you can mix and match between dozens of items!

Click HERE for the complete Smith’s Grocery List (through 2/23)

The best deals at Smiths through 2/16 are:

Kroger Value Russet Potatoes, 10 lbs, $2.50
Kroger Cottage Cheese, 16 oz, $1.00
Kroger Dips, 16 oz., $1.00
Kroger Sour Cream, 16 oz ,$1.00
Mountain Dairy Gallon Milk, $2.00
Smiths Eggs, large, dozen, $1.25
Orowheat Breads, 20 oz Soft and Premium $1.50
Sara Lee Bread, 20 oz, 100% Classic Whole Wheat $1.79

Litehouse Products $2.50 (assorted, excludes 20 oz squeeze)
Use: $1 off 1 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 12/13
Final Price: $1.50

Sunkist Wonderful Pistachios $4.44
Use: $1 off 1 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/15
Final Price: $3.44

Azumaya Tofu, 14 oz
Buy one get one Free

Hershey’s Candy Bars .50
Use: Buy one get one free coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/10
Final Price: .25 ea

Kettle Chips $2.00
Use: $1 off 1 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/3
Final Price: $1.00

Contessa Skillet Meals $4.99
Use: $2 off 1 coupon from Redplum coupon insert issued 1/31
Final Price: $2.99

Daytona 500 Promo (Purchase in increments of 10):

Banquet Brown n Serve Sausage, 6.4-7 oz, $1.00
Final Price: .70

Banquet Entrees, 5-11 oz, $1.00
Use: $1 off 10 coupon from the Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/10
Final Price: .60

Breyers Ice Cream, 48 oz, $2.78
Final Price: 2.48

Campbell’s Chunky Soup, 18.6-19 oz, $1.30
Use: $1.50 off 3 coupon found here
Or $1 off 4 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/24
Final Price: .50-.75 each

Chef Boyardee Pasta, 14.25-15 oz can or 7.25-7.5 oz microwave cup, $1.00
Use: $1 off 5 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/10
Final Price: .50 each

Gatorade G2 Sports Drink, 32 oz, .99
Use: $1 off 2 coupon from Redplum coupon insert issued 1/10
Final Price: .19 each

General Mills Cereals, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Wheaties Fuel, $2.29

Use: $1/1 General Mills Cereal (Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch included):

LINK HERE (Internet Explorer) HERE (Firefox), HERE (Internet Explorer) AND HERE (Firefox)

$1/1 Wheaties Fuel Cereal: LINK HERE
Final Price: .99

Hefty Trash Bags, 16-80 ct. $4.99
Use: .55 off coupon from Redplum insert issued 1/3
Final Price: $4.14

Kraft Barbecue Sauce, 18 oz, .99
Final Price: .69

Nabisco Ritz Crackers, 7.5-16 oz, $2.49
Use: $1 off 1 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/24
Final Price: $1.19 each

Purex Laundry Detergent, 24-44 loads, $2.49
Use: .35 off coupon from Redplum coupon insert issued 1/10
PLUS Receive a $4 coupon for your next shopping order when you purchase 2
Final Price: FREE

Reynolds Aluminum Foil, 30-80 square feet (coupon excludes less than 30 sq ft), $2.99
Use: $1.25 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/31
Final Price: 1.44

Windex Multi Surface Cleaner, 26 oz, $2.49
Use: $1 off 1 coupon from Smartsource coupon insert issued 1/10
SC Johnson’s Windex $5 rebate when you purchase 3 items found HERE
Final Price: 3 Windex FREE after Rebate!

Details HERE

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Retail value $270

Link to sign up for Screaming Penny Newsletter


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The following links can be used to access the GrocerySmarts CVS lists in the specified areas. This list is made using the Arizona ad. Some sale prices may differ slightly from area to area, but all coupon information is specific for the areas listed below.

*Feel free to share additional deals you find!

Arizona
*Arizona CVS PREVIEW List* 2/21 – 2/27
Arizona CVS CURRENT List 2/14 – 2/20

California – North
*California North CVS PREVIEW List* 2/21 – 2/27
California North CVS CURRENT List 2/14 – 2/20

California – South
*Californa South CVS PREVIEW List* 2/21 – 2/27
California South CVS CURRENT List 2/14 – 2/20

Idaho
*Idaho CVS PREVIEW List* 2/21 – 2/27
Idaho CVS CURRENT List 2/14 – 2/20

Nevada
*Nevada CVS PREVIEW List* 2/21 – 2/27
Nevada CVS CURRENT List 2/14 – 2/20

Find additional deals and discussion for ad week 2/14-2/20 at THIS LINK.
Find additional deals and discussion for ad week 2/21-2/27 at THIS LINK.

Grocery Shopping:

Plan to do you shopping for freezer cooking on a day OTHER than the day you plan to cook. Cooking for a month at a time is a big job! Shopping for all of that food is a big job! Save yourself the stress by not trying to do this in one day.

Ideally, you should pick up your groceries (be sure to use a list, otherwise you will find you have forgotten important ingredients) a few days before hand – or even the weekend before if you have a chunk of time to do it. Also — try planning your menus around what is on sale. This is one of the ways that freezer cooking will save your grocery budget!

Pre-Prep:

Don’t forget that pre-cutting veggies can save you LOTS of time on your cooking day!
Also any meats that you can cook before assembling your meals do it ahead of time. If you have 5 meals that require a pound of ground beef each — cook 5lbs together! It only takes a couple more minutes to cook 5lbs than it does one pound.

Then Get To Work:

Put on your comfy clothes and apron and SENSIBLE shoes!! Be sure you have hand towels. Ready, Set, Go……

I like to cook my meals in stages. Start with beef meals and then move onto chicken, and lastly vegetarian meals. I crank up the tunes or watch a movie or two while I am working.

It is a lot of work while you are in the process — but just think of all the time you will be saving during the month and how much money you can save by always having something available so you can avoid the expense of the last minute take-out.

My next freezer meal posts will be some of my favorite freezer recipes.

Coupons are a great way to save money on grocery, health and household items. But using coupons successfully does require a little bit of an investment of time and energy in sorting, filing, clipping, and managing them all and then scouring the ads and matching coupons to good sales.

Fortunately, the awesome lists you find here at Pinching Your Pennies do all of the matching work for you!

But if you’re not really into coupons, don’t turn away just yet. Did you know that those same lists can still save you money, even if you don’t want/like/choose to use coupons?

Here’s an example of a trip I did this morning to a local small-scale grocery store in my area, Sunflower Farmers Market.

I bought produce and dairy items without using a single coupon. AND I was able to include some organics, as well!

(2) gal. Meadow Gold whole milk, clearanced to .99 (sell by 2/20)
(1) Silk PureAlmond Milk, on sale 2.50
(6) lbs green seedless grapes, on sale .88/lb
(7) lbs red seedless grapes, on sale .88/lb
(1) bunch broccoli, on sale .88/lb
(1) bunch bananas, .59/lb
(2) organic green leaf lettuce, on sale .99 ea
(4) Rio Red grapefruit, on sale .13 ea
(6) organic roma tomatoes, on sale .99/lb

Total: $23.21

[According to the receipt, I saved $17.57 off normal prices.]

Meats and produce rarely have coupons, but they DO go on sale for great prices occasionally, and the best way to find those deals is to watch the PYP or GrocerySmarts lists for the stores in your areas.

Another great resource is to read through the forum posts here at PYP for your favorite stores. Often you’ll find other members posting details about unadvertised specials or clearance items they’ve spotted around town.

And PYP has many different forums where members share ideas for frugal living, with topics covering a wide range of subjects, no coupons needed!

[For those in Utah in the Murray or Orem areas, you can find the Sunflower Farmers Market list HERE. For those in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, you can find out about a Sunflower Farmers Market near you HERE.]

Click on the banner to print a coupon to get 15% off at The Children’s Place!

Just one of the awesome tools here at PYP…ready-made shopping lists.  We scour grocery ads to find the best deals at many of your favorite stores, and match them with available coupons.   Check the list below and see if you find your favorite store!

Thinking about storage.

There are many options for you to use when you were doing freezer cooking. Some are more economical than others in the long term, while some are more economical in the immediate time frame.

Ziploc bags are probably the easiest to use when you’re just getting started. You can often get them on sale, and they can be used again and again for dishes that are not greasy or do not have meat. Just try to get as much air as humanly possible out of the bag to minimize freezer burn. When using a freezer bag I like to close it completely except leaving enough room for a drinking straw to go in and I use the straw to suck out the air and then quickly finish closing the bag.

You can also use freezer containers. You can buy them from Tupperware a lot of their items come with a warranty or purchase them inexpensively at places such as Wal-Mart or Target. When purchasing freezer containers, buying one of the large economy packs with a variety of sizes and shapes is a good idea. That way you’ll have a container for just about everything.

Some people use aluminum foil. Just be certain that you mark anything wrapped in foil well. Writing with a marker on the foil will usually disappear so writing on marking tape, then applying the tape to the foil is best to make it easy to read.

The Pyrex casseroles are great. You can shop around and find these inexpensively. You’ll probably find the most versatile size is the traditional 9 x 11. Just be sure at the size you get will fit in your freezer and will not be more that what you can use at one time once it is thawed and cooked. Keep in mind that he cannot take it from the freezer to the oven, you will need to defrost first – I learned that the hard way!!!.

I like to use a combination of a couple of items. I love love love my Food Saver!! I love using it to freeze casseroles, vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, and soup. I also like to use recyclable aluminum pans (try getting some from your favorite restaurant) for things like lasagna & meatloaf. I usually put lasagna in the aluminum pan and then in the food saver too.