Sunday, August 29, 2010

Chicken Parmesan with Tomato-Basil Salad

I made this delicious recipe yesterday and it was absolutely yummy!  I loved the chicken with the tomato basil dressing.  I will definitely make this again.  And you can’t beat the calorie count! =)



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Ingredients

    1 pound (16 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
    1/4 c all purpose flour
    2 egg whites, beaten
    3 oz parmesan cheese, grated
    1 tsp Fines Herbes, dried (mixture of dried chives, parsley and tarragon)
    3 plum tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
    2 tsp basil, shredded
    2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    1 lemon, juiced
    1 dash black pepper
    4 cups mixed greens

Directions

Trim any visible fat from the chicken breasts. Slice into four servings. Place chicken between two sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap. Pound with the bottom of a pan or rolling pin until the meat is 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Prepare a breading station by placing the flour in a flat dish, egg whites in a second dish and cheese in a third dish. Toss the dried herbs in with the cheese. Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip the meat in each dish to coat. Place a non-stick skillet over moderate heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Saute chicken until no longer pink (approximately 5-6 minutes per side). While chicken is cooking, combine the tomato and basil in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the lemon juice and pepper. Slowly whisk in the oil. Pour the mixture over the tomatoes.
Number of servings: 4
Serving size: 3 oz cooked chicken with 1 cup mixed greens and 1/4 cup tomato mixture.
Number of Servings: 4
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user CHEF_MEG.
Number of Servings: 4



It was so yummy and filling!
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Flat Iron Traveling Case

Last weekend I stumbled upon this tutorial showing how to make a case for your flat iron.  I thought this was so cute.  I had been to Steinmart a few weeks ago and saw these for sale but thought I could definitely make it.  So glad I came across that tutorial!  It was super easy and I plan to make it for Christmas gifts.  The only thing that I did differently is that I made mine a few inches longer since I know my iron is pretty long and I didn’t think that they measurements she showed would work.

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This was the first project that I used bias tape so I went and bought some.  All the other materials I already had.  I love it!  I always just stuff my flat iron in between clothes and hope it doesn’t break! 

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Walgreens 8/21

Here are the deals I got at Walgreens last week:
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Just a small trip this time around.
Mott’s Apple Juice  3/$4


Listerine $1.99
Tooth Brush $1.99

Coupons I used:
$1 off Mott’s Apple Juice
$1.50 off of Listerine and Reach Toothbrush
$1.00 RR

Not a bad small trip!
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CVS 8/21

Here is what I got last week at CVS:

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Sense & Spray $5.00 each
Blink Gel Tears $7.99

 

 


Windex 2/$4


Vitamin Water 10/$10

Coupons I used:
$3.00 off Sense & Spray x 3


$1.00 off 2 Windex
$1.00 off Vitamin Water

ECB I received:
$5.00 from Vitamin Water
Not a bad trip!

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Friday, August 20, 2010

Hazelnut Blondie

I was looking through a Family Circle magazine today and found this yummy recipe.



I had most of the ingredients on hand and it was sup easy to make. I didn't have hazelnuts but that is ok since i don't really care for nuts anyway. And I didn't have any white chocolate so I melted chocolate and nutella to make the drizzle.

I can't wait to taste them later-- I made them for girls' night tonight.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Monday, August 16, 2010

Grocery Bag Holders

In my house we use a lot of plastic grocery bags.  We use them in the bathroom trash cans, in the backyard for the dog’s ‘business’ and around the house as other things.  I always forget to bring bags upstairs or outside and since I saw this great tutorial on one of the blogs I read, I decided it’d be a smart idea to just make a couple of these to keep where they are needed.

The first one I did was the red and black one and this one will go in our master bath.  I had a ton of fabric leftover from when I redid the vanity stool in my bathroom so I decided to use that fabric.

Here it is without bags inside it:
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And with bags:
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And here is the one that will go on the back patio.  I actually used outdoor fabric for this one.  I got quite a few fabric scraps from a Craiglister for free and this fabric was in the bag I got!  It’s so pretty!
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I love how they turned out!


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Sunday, August 15, 2010

CVS Deals 8/15/10

Here are the deals I got today at CVS:
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Total Paid OOP:  $16.78 ( but it should have been $10.78 OOP – I’ll explain the difference below)

Breakdown:
Kellogg’s Cereal:  3/$10


ReNuzit:  $0.88 x 3
Head & Shoulders:  $4.99
Purex 3 in 1:  $5.99
Right Guard Deodorant: $4.49 (B1G1F)
Blink Tears:  $14.99  (This is where the discrepancy is,  it’s supposed to be on sale for $7.99 with $7.99 ECBs back --- I didn’t realize the mistake until I got home and started writing this post.  I will go back and fix it tomorrow morning.)

Coupons I used:


$1.00 off 3 Kellogg’s Cereals
$0.55 off 3 ReNuzit’s
$1.00 off of H&S Shampoo
$3.00 off of Purex 3in1
$1.00 of Right Guard Total Defense 5
$1.00 of of Blink Tears
$5.00 ECBs off of $15 order
$4.00 ECB
$9.99 ECB

ECBs Received from this order:
$5.00 from 3 Kellogg’s Cereals
$2.00 from Purex 3in1
$2.00 from H&S Shampoo

Not a bad trip though I am super bummed that I have to go back and fix the Blink Tears deal.  They also didn’t have the Zegerid that was on sale but the cashier said they restock on Thursday so I will be going back for that.

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Doorknob revamp!

So I saw on a blog that I came across that someone had spray painted their ugly brass doorknobs a pretty brushed nickel color.  I really hate the fact that our downstairs doorknobs are all an ugly brass color that is very dingy looking and discolored. (For some reason all of the upstairs doorknobs are silver.)  I had contemplated about just buying new doorknobs since I only have 4 doorknobs that I would want to replace.  But since I saw this post I thought it would a better more inexpensive way to give my doorknobs a new look.

I decided to test the look on my pantry doorknob. 

Here is what my doorknob looks before:
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Ugly huh?!

Here is the contraption I made to hold all my pieces.
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After I washed and sanded the pieces, I sprayed it with primer.
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I had to give the pieces a few coats before they looked like I wanted them to look but I think my DIY revamp came out great! 

Here is my doorknob on the door.
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I plan to do the rest of the doorknobs downstairs next weekend.  I have the half bath, laundry room and coat closet doorknobs left to do. 

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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Randalls Trip 8/13/10

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Total Paid OOP:  $8.72

Breakdown:
Hamburger Helper: 4 at $0.99 each
Triscuits Crackers:  2 for $4.00
Cheerios: $1.79
Nature Valley Sweet & Salty:  $1.49
Nature Valley Nut Clusters:  2 at $1.49 each

Coupons I used:


$1.00 off Cheerios
$1.00 off NV Nut Clusters
$1.00 off NV Nut Clusters
$0.75 off of Triscuits when you buy (wyb) 2
$0.75 off of HH wyb 3
$0.50 off of NV Sweety & Salty (this coupon was doubled for a total savings of $1.00)

I also received a Catalina Coupon for $1.50 off my next order.  So really it’s like I paid $7.22.

I can’t believe that I paid $0.87 for each item today!  Super great deal!!

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My Latest Deals!

So here are my latest deals from my latest project of couponing.  My cousin has gotten me hooked on couponing when she hosted a free online class all about the basics of couponing and how to get started.  I had started using coupons about a year ago but would either forget to get the newspaper or decide it wasn’t really worth it to use coupons (which I now know I just wasn’t using the coupons correctly).  I had always clipped my coupons and try and use them on my next trip to the store.  Then I would realize that even with the coupon the generic store brand would still be cheaper and thus my frustration would set in and I’d stop with the coupons.  Thankfully I now know the ways to use the coupons to my greatest advantage and I am hooked on couponing!  I’ll make a separate post on what I learned, good couponing websites I like, and how I organize my coupons but for now I will show you a couple of my first real trips to get some deals.

 



First Trip to CVS 8/9/10:
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Total paid Out of Pocket (OOP): $14.91
Here is the breakdown:
Schick Hydro:  $8.97
Progresso Soup: $3.19 (B1G1 Free) x 2


CVS Hand Sanitizer: $1.19
Dulcolax: $9.99
Warm Delights: $2.29 (B1G1F)



Coupons that I used in this purchase:
$5.00 off Schick Hydro
$.75 off of Warm Delights
$.50 off of 2/Progresso soup
$3.00 off Dulcolax
$5.00 Extra Care Bucks (ECBs)

ECBs that I received from this purchase:
$4.00 ECB when you buy Schick
$9.99 ECB when you buy Dulcolax

So even though I paid $14.91 on this purchase it’s really like I only paid $0.92 since I received those ECB.  I love those ECBs!  And now I have them to use on my next order!

Oh and I forgot to add that I have a Mail in Rebate (MIR) on the Schick Hydro, so I will be receiving the $8.97 back!

Walgreens Trip 8/9/10:
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Total Paid OOP:  $8.43

Here’s the breakdown:
Lysol Bleach Toilet Cleaner:  $2.99 (B1G1F)
Dial Bodywash:  $3.99
Secret Soothing Effect Deodorant: $2.29
Mentos Gum:  $1.69

Coupons I used:
$.75 off of the Lysol
$1.00 off the Bodywash
$.70 off of the Mentos (Walgreens Coupon)


$.55 off of the Mentos (Manufacturers Coupon)

Register Rewards (RR) that I received:
$3.00 from the Bodywash
$3.00 from the Deodorant (This was a money maker since the deodorant was only $2.29!!)

So really it was like I paid $2.43 for this order since I received the RR to use on a future order.



Total amount of savings for both orders :  $40.43!!

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