Shoprite and a dinner

It feels so weird when I go the store and do not use a single coupon! This was yesterday:
4.8 lb London Broil ($1.99/lb), $9.71
4 cans Shoprite beans, $0.50 each wyb 4, $2.00
5 cans College Inn chicken broth, $0.40 each wyb 5, $2
Minus $0.05 reusable bag credit = $13.66

We already have plenty of meat in the fridge/freezer, but we haven't actually had beef all year so far. A key component of this grocery challenge is keeping Ryan on board, and like most guys, he loves his red meat. Sometimes London Broil goes on sale a little cheaper than this, but it's a pretty good price. Last night I made beef and broccoli stir fry with about a quarter of the meat. I'll be making a huge batch of pot roast tomorrow with the rest. No, it's not a traditional roast cut, but it will cook up tender and pull apart after a day in the crockpot.

I will submit my receipt from this trip toward a beer rebate (Budweiser $10 Family Fiesta). Beer rebates are awesome. I can never find the forms myself (probably because I hardly ever go to the liquor store), but I trade for them on Hot Coupon World or buy them off Ebay. One good thing about NJ is that it's a NBPR (no beer purchase required) state. So basically, you get ahold of a form, buy whatever they require, and send in the form and your receipt. They mail you a check. No beer purchase required in NJ! It's pretty much free money.

An example form (not the Family Fiesta, but I'll be doing this one too!):
So for this one, I will probably buy Ryan $10 worth of Doritos, since he really likes those and there's never coupons. It usually runs about $1.42 ($1 plus a stamp) to "trade" with someone for a form, then a $0.42 stamp for me to submit the actual rebate. So voila, 5ish bags of Doritos for $1.84. Or in the case of the Shoprite trip above, 4.8 lbs of meat for $1.84.

The chicken broth was a really good price, and although my first experience making my own broth worked out well last week, I'm sure for convenience's sake it will be worth having some canned stuff. Making my own broth is a good activity for when I have extra time and am feeling domestic, but you can't just whip up a quick batch the day of a meal.

Sunday night's dinner: Chicken Piccata, couscous, and green beans with almonds.
I used my homemade chicken broth for the Piccata sauce. We got the recipe from Ryan's grandma and it's my favorite chicken recipe ever. Then again, I really like capers (an acquired taste), but they're optional. I'll post the recipe some time when I'm feeling more like it.

Cost breakdown for 4 servings:
Green beans: $0.25 (box of Green Giant from Pathmark triples)
Couscous: $1 (Near East brand, sale at Shoprite a while back)
Chicken: $2.75 (cut from Acme bone-in)
Egg, butter: free (WAG GC)
Chicken broth: $0.25 (homemade)
Capers, lemon juice, spices: $0.50
Total: $4.75, or $1.19 per person! Nom nom nom!

Total spent so far: $117.80
Remaining on Acme GC: $35.22
Pending rebates: $33.90
"So it's really like": $48.68 spent this year

Rite Aid, CVS, Shoprite, Dinner

The Whipps bars from Rite Aid: on sale 2/$1 through Saturday, used 6 $1/2 MQ = just paid $0.42 tax. I even resurrected the four we ate last night for this picture:


I was irritated at CVS because they were out of everything I had planned on buying. So instead of earning ECBs, I burnt some. We needed something yummy to drink to get us to the Pepsi deal that starts Sunday.
On Ryan's card:
13 boxes CVS candy canes (cherry flavor) on 90% clearance, so $0.09 apiece = $1.17
2 packs CVS sparkling flavored water at $3.97 apiece = $7.94
1 cent tax (the amount paid for by ECB is not taxed)
Used $8.97 ECB
Out of pocket: $0.15
Earned $4 ECB for sparkling water

Shoprite: Most stuff was on sale.

6 boxes pasta, $0.54 each
3 Lysol wipes, $1.49 each minus 3 $1 MQ
4 cans Shoprite beans, $0.50 each
5 lbs. russet potatoes, $1.49
24 oz. frozen corn, $1.39
24 oz. frozen peas, $1.39
Red pepper, $0.87
1.3 lbs. ground turkey ($1.99/lb), $2.59
Perdue chicken nuggets, $1.99 minus $1 MQ
3.6 lbs. broccoli crowns ($0.99/lb), 3.56
Clearance bruschetta bread, $0.74
Total after $0.31 tax and $0.10 reusable bag credit = $19.94

I hate that I had to pay full price for frozen veggies, but the free Green Giant steamers I got all have sauce (they were the only ones I could find), and I need plain veggies for the meals I have planned for the next few days. As you can see, we REALLY like broccoli, and that's as cheap as it gets in the grocery store.

Tonight's dinner: turkey chili

Contents:
Ground turkey from Shoprite = $2.59 (today)
Onion from last year's garden = FREE
Pureed Muir Glen tomatoes = FREE (Superfresh two weeks ago)
2 cans beans, 1 kidney and 1 white = $1 (today)
1 cup corn = $0.35 (today)
Various spices = $0.02 (most from CVS)
Serve with tortilla chips = $0.20 (1/4 of salty snack rebate cost/postage)
Total: $4.16, Serves 5-6

We pretty much always make at least 4 servings of whatever we're cooking, then take leftovers to work the next day. If we're lucky we'll even have another lunch portion left after that.

Spent this year: $80.12
Pending rebates: $25.74
Acme GC balance: $41.79
"So it's really like I've only spent": $12.59

Aww...actually dipping into my real money now!