Hydrogen Peroxide to Clean Carpet

I have spent most of the morning trying to get my hallway and some of the stairs clean from my little boy who had diarrhea, leaving a trail for me to know right where it happened.

I tried my Little Green Bissell Machine, a baking soda paste (which helped make it not so stinky!), but there were still pretty bad dark spots on my light carpet. I googled and found that hydrogen peroxide can clean stains out of carpet. I poured a little on the dark spots and let it sit for a few minutes. I did use paper towels to blot up some of the wetness and then used my little green machine do the rest. It worked on most of it. There are two of the darkest spots that are a lot lighter in color, and according to some websites if I wait they will continue to lighten up. I will wait it out and tonight may repeat the process on those two spots. I am pleased with the results, so if you have a problem give this a try.

Some tips:

Try a test area on your carpet first before pouring the hydrogen peroxide on the stain. Just in case it may bleach your carpet. It didn't affect mine and other blogs and web pages that suggested this method had success too without bleaching.

You can just use clean towels to pick up the extra wetness, place the towel over the area and apply pressure until the wetness of the carpet is satisfactory to you. You do not need to use a Bissell or other carpet cleaning machine. I just did because I have one and it was already out.

You may need to repeat the process. Some areas once was enough and some areas I had to do twice.

The Food Nanny

I watched the Food Nanny on BYUtv on Saturday and I really liked an idea she presented on planning dinners. She suggested having a theme night each night of the week. For example:

Monday - Italian Night
Tuesday - Traditional Foods or Crock Pot Night
Wednesday - Mexican Night
Thursday - Fish or Meatless night
Friday - Date Night/Pizza Night
Saturday- Grill Night
Sunday - Comfort Foods

I have been in a dinner rut lately, and I think this will help with meal planning. The Food Nanny plans meals two weeks at a time, to eliminate trips to the grocery store.

Another thing about having theme nights is to help your kids know what to expect for dinner and it supposed to help encourage the picky eaters to eat. They will know what kind of food to expect for dinner.

Safeway

If you are looking for more Betty Crocker fruit snack $.50 buy 2 coupons, check out KingSoopers.com and go to the printable coupons. It looks like coupon.com has reached the limit, they still have the Nature Valley Granola Bars $.40 coupon (also have one at KingSoopers.com)

I went to Safeway on Saturday and was happy with the deals I got: (May post picture later, I just can't find the right cable to download the picture)

8 boxes of Quaker Oatmeal Squares (16 0z) $1.00 each (except used 1 coupon $1.00 off)

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks 4 boxes $2.00 ($.50 each) did get a catalina for $2.50 off my next shopping trip. (I am going back for more Monday and Tuesday.)

Nature Valley Granola Bars 5 boxes $4.50 ($.90 each)

Honey Nut Cheerios 3 boxes $1.17 each

Rosarita Refried Beans 2 cans $.29 each

Barilla Pasta one box (free) coupon for $.55 off one box only doubles to sale price $.88)

Mott's Apple Juice $.99

Weekly Deals

I started using Shortcuts.com again to load coupons on my shopper card. It was great I used two coupons yesterday at King Soopers and got a 4-pack of Fiber one yogurt for $1.00 and a 24.9 oz box of Lucky Charms for $2.44. I was hoping the $.55 Lucky Charms coupon would have doubled, but it didn't. If you do load coupons on your card expect that it will only count as the value and not double.

I planning a Safeway trip on Saturday to get Mott's Apple Juice $.99 (I am a little annoyed there is a limit of 2.) Cheetos, more cereal Quaker Squares, Honey Nut Cheerios, and Betty Crocker fruit snacks. Check out the coupon list to find coupons to match. I did load some coupons on my card, but since King Soopers didn't double I wish I hadn't loaded the Betty Crocker fruit snacks buy 2 get $.50 off. The same coupon is on the coupon printer on the left and my Safeway doubles, so if I bring in the paper coupon (you can print two coupons) it will be $1.00 off 2.

If you like to load coupons on to your shopping card let me know. How do you keep organized on what coupons are stored on the card?

Ouch Pouch Give away

Visit the Sproutz Blog to enter their latest giveaway! You can win two ouch pouches, perfect for mini first aid kits for your car, purse, or even give it to your kids for their school back pack!

Safeway

The in store Pop-tarts coupon: $1.00 for 8 ct, limit 2 ($1.99 each without coupon)you can stack with the mc save a $1.00 buy 3 and I got 3 boxes of pop tarts for $1.00 each.

We were out, and I only buy Pop Tarts when I can get the 8ct for $1.00 or less - which means I have happy kids this week :)

Nabisco Cookie Facebook Coupon

I am one of the 500,000. I printed the "free" Nabisco cookie coupon on facebook this morning.The coupon expires March 4 and you have to buy a gallon of milk and a package of Nabisco cookies to get your "free" cookie. I don't know how great of a deal this is, unless you buy Nabisco cookies regularly. I am going to try to stack a coupon with it that gives you $1.00 off when you buy two cookies, but I think it will really depend on the cashier I get if I can use it or not.

I did pick up my Peanut Butter at Albertson's. For my family a year supply is 18lbs, so I picked up 15 to complete my supply for the year. Watching the news lately makes me more eager to have my food storage up to par :) If you are just starting, get your 72 hour kits together first and then work on getting a 3 months supply of food--food that your family eats and your can rotate before it spoils. By grocery shopping this way you stock up on the sales and your basement becomes your own little mini mart. Visit providentliving.org for more info on storing a three month supply of food.

King Soopers and Albertsons

I am not sure what sale I am most excited about:

Skippy Peanut Butter 16.3 oz for $1.00 (no limits this time!)

or the 2 gallons of milk and 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal I got at King Soopers for $5.23 today. It even gets better as I got a $3.00 off my next shopping order for buying the cereal.

I used a $1.00 off coupon on the cereal, but anyone can get 2 gallons of milk and 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal for $6.00 + tax. You should get a catalina for $3.00 of your next shopping trip too. This sale is good until March 2.

Sproutz Giveaway

The Sproutz blog is doing an awesome giveaway! Click on their button on the right to find out more.

Email from Reader about King Sooper deals

This is an email I received from a reader, Brooke. She has some good info. about where to get coupons to use for the current King Soopers sales. Also, checkout the blogs she recommends below.

Hi! I just found your blog through a google search. I've tried to leave a couple of comments, but it never works. Anyway--I also live in Colorado and was excited to find a "bargain blog" based here. I just wanted to let you know some other great bargains I found at King Soopers (City Market where I live).

If you have a Safeway nearby, they have some amazing coupon books with some great coupons to use at King Soopers. (King Soopers will accept competitors' coupons.) There's a coupon for 75 cents off Philadelphia cream cheese and one for $1 off any Nabisco crackers. So...with the "buy 10 and save $5" deal going on, the cream cheese is only 24 cents and the crackers are 70 cents a box. You can pick up a few booklets and buy a few of those items. Plus--there's tons of other coupons in the booklet you may want to use!

Also--I look at a couple blogs based in Idaho and they have some great links for some other coupons to print off and use. There's a 75 cents off goldfish crackers coupon that I used (King Soopers doubles it up to a dollar--so, the crackers become free--actually a 12-cent money-maker). Also, they had a link for a buy one, get one free sobe lifewater that makes 2 of them 25 cents a piece. It's nice to have some cheap filler items to get to your 10 items! :) There was also a link for $1 off 2 capri-suns. That makes the capri-suns 87 cents a box--that's a pretty good deal! There were several other links to coupons for items that go along with this deal.

The two blogs I go to are:
www.thekrazycouponlady.com (click on the "Smith's" link on the left-hand side of the screen to pull up the posts that have the links I just mentioned. Smith's is a Kroger store that has the same "buy 10" deal going on--but, the prices vary a little with King Soopers.)

The other blog I go to is:
www.fabulesslyfrugal.com (Towards the bottom of the home page, there's a coupon for $1 off blue bunny ice-cream. That's on sale for $2.50 this week at King Soopers. So, it's only $1.50 for some yummy ice-cream! Gotta love that!)

Anyway--I hope that info is helpful and you can save a little more money! --Brooke

King Soopers

King Soopers is having a sale buy 10 get $3.00 off. Some of the deals I liked are:

The Gatorade on sale at King Sooper's for $.69 is a good price. Last spring they went on sale for $.50 ea. Wal-mart price seems to be between $.88 and $1.00 depending on what the local store sales are for the week. There was also a coupon $1.00 when you buy 2 Gatorade Jan 10 RP

Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits are $.99 each and there are coupons from the paper Dec 6, Dec 13, Jan 3, Jan 31 SS We like to use these biscuits for an easy personal pizza dinner!

Most of the items I wasn't impressed with the price points, but check the coupon list for more matches before you shop!

Nabisco Back to School Rebate

I mailed in my 2nd Nabisco $20 rebate today. I spent a total of $19.75 for 10 boxes of crackers, 5 Kraft Easy Mac, and 5 boxes of Capri Sun. The total is $.25 less than the rebate!

I bought everything at King Soopers this past week on their buy 10 save $5.00 sale and I had manufacture coupons to go with all the crackers. I used 2 $1.00 coupons from the Sunday paper and 4 $1.00 off when you buy 2 coupons that I received with the rebate form.

King Soopers

I love King Soopers mix and match 10 sale get $5.00 off. There are quite a few great deals on the sale. One of my favorites is Rotel for $.42! This is the only time of the year I know the Rotel price is this low, usually it is on sale for $1.00. I remember one time paying $1.99 for it when I needed a can for dinner!

Also, there were coupons in the Sunday paper for $1.00 off one box of nabisco crackers....be sure to check the coupon list for other matches for the mix and match sale!

Sale is good until Feb 9.

King Soopers

If you are doing the Nabisco $20.00 rebate it is a good week to go to King Soopers and pick up your 5 easy macs for $.38 and 5 boxes of Capri Suns for $1.37. All you need for the rebate is the 10 boxes of crackers, wait for the Superbowl sales; last year crackers were $1.00 a box.

Safeway

I picked up cereal and fruit snacks at Safeway today.

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (10 ct.) buy 4 for $1.00 each
after manufacture coupons I paid: $.50 a box

Honey Nut Cheerios 12.25 oz buy 4 for $1.50 each
after manufacture coupons I paid: $1.00 each

I also got a catalina for $2.50 off my next shopping order!

To get the catalina you have to buy Betty Crocker fruit Shapes, by the foot, Gushers, Roll-ups, or Stickerz: buy 3 get $1.50 off, buy 4 get $2.50, buy 5 or more $3.50

I printed my coupons off the Internet see left side bar. Also check the coupon list for coupons in the Sunday paper.

Safeway Shopping and Coupon Mom

On the Today Show this past week I saw the Coupon Mom do her grocery shopping thing on tv. She walked out of the store with a cart full of groceries paying only $.25. This irritates me, because to me this is not reality shopping! First off I want to write that you never see produce, meats, or dairy in the grocery cart when they end with their phenomenal savings. Also, where do they get the coupons? A newspaper subscription costs money, buying coupons off ebay costs money, but they like to leave that part out of the story because it ruins the theme of $.25 for the cart full of groceries.

I DO CLIP COUPONS and FOR ME it DOES SAVE ME MONEY! I just want the coupon Mom and other grocery gurus out there to be realistic about how much money you save by using coupons and matching them with the store sales.

MY REALITY SHOPPING

Saturday, I shopped at Safeway and combing the store sales, store coupons, and manufacture coupons this is what I got:

Gallon of Milk: $.99
Eggs: $.99
10lbs Potatoes: $2.99

Oranges: $.39/lb ($1.45)
Grapefruit: $.50/lb ($1.43)
String Cheese 12 sticks: $1.49

Nature Valley Granola Bars: 4 boxes $1.oo each
Skippy Peanut Butter: $.99 each
Twinkies 10: $1.89

Nabisco 12 pk: $1.99 (saving the receipt to redeem $20.00 rebate)
Pop Tarts: 3 boxes $1.00 each
Mac and Cheese: 3 boxes $.27 each

total at checkout $25.13

Chocolate Cupcakes

I made chocolate cupcakes for my son's birthday today! I learned there is a difference between natural cocoa and dutch processed cocoa. In the processing of the dutch coca it is treated with an alkali that neutralizes its acid, so it is best to use this cocoa in recipes without baking soda. Go to joysofbaking.com for more information on the dutch processed cocoa.

If you use dutch processed cocoa, you may want to omit baking soda from the recipe. Below is the recipe and picture of the cupcakes I made with dutch processed cupcake! The adjustments are included for high altitude (above 4,000 ft.)

Chocolate Cupcakes using Dutch Processed Cocoa

2 cups (minus 2 TBS) of Sugar
1 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour
3/4 Cups Dutch Processed Cocoa
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. boiling water

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, milk, and oil and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Stir in boiling water--the batter will be thin.

Prepare muffin tins, by placing paper baking cups in each cup. Fill 2/3 full with batter. Recipe makes 24 cupcakes. Bake in a preheated oven 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes. Cool completely and frost with Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" frosting.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" frosting:
1/4 C. butter
1/3 C. Cocoa (dutch processed or natural)
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
3-4 Tbs. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter and mix with cocoa. Add vanilla and then Alternately add sugar and milk until it is a spreadable consistency. Should frost 24 cupcakes with some leftover frosting.

Grocery Saving Tips- What I've learned

What I have learned the past year about saving money at the grocery store.

1. If it's not in your budget it is not on sale.

2. Sales repeat. It's okay to pass up a sale if it is not in your budget.

3. Know the best price for the items you buy most. For me it is things like diapers, wipes, milk, yogurt, crackers, chicken, ground beef, salad dressing, peanut butter, cheese, ice cream, butter, sugar, flour, etc... buy extra when it hits a low price. See the Price Points list on the menu bar for a guide.

4. Its okay to let coupons expire and throw them away. You will likely find the same or similar coupon in the next paper after the coupon expires.

5. Use Internet Coupons, but don't print unless you know you will use it.

6. Research all store ads. Price matching at Wal-mart or Target some weeks make sense--rather than running around to two or three different stores.

7. Meal plan before you go to the store. For me it works best to plan a week at a time. Which means 5 dinners, lunches (sometimes I use leftover dinner), and breakfast.

8. Protect your food. I hate it when a mouse gets in to the 10lb pancake mix or the Costco size chocolate chips. I keep my food storage in plastic containers in my basement to keep the mice out.

9. January is a good month to stock up on cereal. Cereal will go on sale through out the year on a cycle...try to stock up for enough cereal to last until the next sale. I haven't figured the exact weeks between sales, it may be a 12 week sale cycle.

10. Stick to your budget. I started a $150 rule with Costco. Using a list I identify the must haves and the items I can wait until next time to buy and I stick to the budget I set--(most the time-I am not perfect.) :)