Mommin' It Up!

April 12, 2010

Time for a Granny Skirt

Yesterday Kate and I were strolling through Old Navy (I wanted to try on some shorts, which are ok this year – I checked with Lindsay), when I wandered past the swimming suits. Thinking trying one on might not be quite so painful this year, I grabbed a tankini off the rack.

I was wrong. The pain was excruciating.

Upon further reflection, though, I’ve decided Old Navy wasn’t the best place for a 30-year-old mom to find a suit. They are made for skinny teenagers who don’t mind the flimsy fabric, not those of us who are looking for shape wear we can get wet.

The fact of the matter is, though, that I do want to get a new suit before it’s pool season, but I don’t want to risk Andy putting me on suicide watch the way he did last night. So I figure I need to do some research (and some cardio) before going through it again.

I looked through the Lands End website last night (which btw, you can sort options by body shape, anxiety zones and level of control – now this is more like it), and saw some cute ones, and apparently Spanx has a new swimwear line (I wonder if the suits have a pee hole?) – here’s a cute one.

So what’s your plan for swimwear this year? Because at this point, I’m planning to stay on land.

April 10, 2010April 9, 2010

Nobody Likes a Braggart

Unless of course, said Braggart is Yours Truly, bragging about what she bought with coupons this week, right? Then everyone really likes a Braggart!

I had lots of fun couponing this week! Today I popped into my local CVS and got some sweet clearance deals, including a 6-pack of Gatorade for $1.75 and some of Bobby’s fave Neutrogena for Men face lotion for $1.62. WHAT UP!?? Here was my biggest trip, at the beginning of the week:

Three Pantene @ $2.99 each = $8.97

4 Soy Joy bars clearance at 65 cents each = $2.60

Complete contact solution $8.99

Skintimate shave gel $3.99

Colgate Total $2.99

Total = $27.54

coupons:

– $5 CVS $5/$25 email coupon

– $2 any Pantene (mailer from Vocalpoint)

– $3 off 2 Pantene manu coupon

-$.65 B2G1 Soy Joy manu coupon

-$.75 Colgate manu coupon

I paid with 10 ECBs, paid $7 & change cash (including tax) and got back 3 ECB for Pantene, 2 ECB for Soy Joy, 2 for Colgate, 3 for Skintimate and $8.99 for the Complete! So I went home with 18.99 ECB! Woohoo!

Ok, now on to Rite Aid, which is really becoming near and dear to my heart! This week’s deal has a bit of a back story, and since I know my mom all you faithful readers love a good back story, HERE GOES!

Three weeks or so ago, I asked my sister-in-law Sarah what I could get her from the drugstores. Sarah’s dad has been undergoing treatment for leukemia and Sarah was busy helping with her dad’s care, not to mention being a wife to my (very hairy – just had to throw that in there) brother and homeschooling mom to 4 kiddos ages 7-12. So I told her I wanted to get as much of their family’s household crap that I could while her dad was in treatment, to help them out. SO. Anyhoo.

She said one thing they really needed a good deal on (besides my toilet paper-snob brother’s fave toilet paper – Charmin Ultra STRONG, not Soft, but STRONG) was Zyrtec allergy meds, because she and my nephew both take it. My son also takes it so I knew it was really hard to find good deals on the stuff. I considered myself up for QUITE a challenge.

So I started going through the drugstore ads and coupon blogs and looking for printable coupons and all that jazz, and before long I found that Rite Aid just “happened” to have Zyrtec on a rebate of Johnson & Johnson products, buy $50 get back $25. And they also just “happened” to have Rite Aid Zyrtec coupons on their Video Values site. And it just so “happened” that you could print a $4 off coupon off of Zyrtec’s site. And Rite Aid also “happens” to have an Allergy Rewards program which Zyrtec qualifies for! So I got them a ton of Zyrtec! I spent a good bit out of pocket, but got alot and with both rebates, actually made about $8 once my rebates come! Now THAT is a God thing, in my opinion. I was thinking I’d be hard-pressed to find a good Zyrtec deal, and I actually made a profit! Woohoo!

So all that to say, (Cortney, it’s all about the journey!) that this week Rite Aid has their generic Rite Aid brand Zyrtec on sale buy one get one free. And it just “happens” to qualify for another rebate this month, buy $50 get $25. And they just “happened” to email me $5 off coupons for this stuff last week!! So here is what I got this week!

I did two transactions. First:

Two Rite Aid Cetirizine 30 count, BOGO Free, so $17.99 for two

Zyrtec children’s liquid $9.99 (for my son)

total = $27.98

I used a $5/$20 Rite Aid video values coupon, two $5 off Rite Aid cetrizine coupons, and a $2 off Rite Aid children’s Zyrtec coupon (got both of those coupons in my email, thanks Rite Aid!)

total = $10.98 plus tax

Next transaction:

Two Rite Aid Cetirizine 60 count BOGO free, so $22.99 for two

Sunglasses for hubby, clearance $5.49

total = $28.48

I used a $5/$20 Rite Aid video values coupon, and two $5 off Rite Aid Cetirizine coupons.

Total = $13.48 plus tax

So my total spent on allergy meds before coupons was $50.97, so I’ll get back a $25 Rite Aid gift card, when I only spent $24.46 (including the sunglasses!) out of pocket!

Woohoo! God is good, and my sis-in-law and nephew should now have enough Zyrtec to last the both of them all summer!

April 9, 2010April 9, 2010

Bakin’ It Up

Since I received my Frigidaire Professional range (I feel ridiculous even saying that – I should really be working on mastering Kate’s Easy Bake Oven instead), I’ve discovered that I really love baking stuff.

Who knew??

My friend Gina told me once that she thought it was harder to be good at baking than to be good at cooking, because baking requires things to be exact. I think that may be the reason I like to bake – I can follow directions and add precisely the right amount of flour to a mixture… it’s the “flair” – a dash of this, a dash of that – required for amazing cooking that I lack!

Anyway, I have been baking a lot on the weekends, and my new oven makes it very easy. Everything cooks perfectly even in the right amount of time. I love it. And look how much I could (theoretically) cook at once, thanks to the “Fit More” oven!

I’ve made banana bread, Tollhouse cookies, Williams Sonoma chocolate crinkle cookies (YUM)…

I’ve even started to keep thing like eggs and butter on hand, and I replaced the 3/4 can of baking powder that said “best if used by June 2006.”

My favorite thing so far, though, is the chocolate cake I made. From scratch. It didn’t even come out of a box. One night I asked the Twitterverse what I should bake, and a couple people responded immediately saying I should try the recipe on the back of Hershey’s cocoa.

It was amazing. Try it – you’ll like it!

Hershey’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
* 2 cups sugar
* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup boiling water
* ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.

ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

I even made my own icing. Can you believe it?

So now that I’m on a roll (and have 3 dozen eggs in my refrigerator because I never got around to hard-boiling them for egg-dyeing purposes), I need more ideas.

What’s your favorite thing to bake? Leave a comment with a link and/or a recipe so we can all get inspired!

I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Range/Microwave to facilitate my review.