Coupon Savings - Ralphs Grocery Store

I bought:

• Horizon Organic Individual Milk - Regular 1.25 each (on markdown for .49 each plus 3 coupons for $1 off two milks) - paid 0.00 because I actually got .03 cents in overage
• Skinny Cow Chocolate Clusters x 4 - Regular .99 each (on sale for .69 each plus a .75 off two which doubled up to 1.00) paid .80 cents for all 4
• Luna Bars x 2 - Regular 1.49 each (on sale for .99 each plus a .50 off each bar coupon)  paid 1.00
• Quaker Rice Cakes x 2 - Regular price 1.99 (on sale for .99 each, plus a .55 of two coupon which doubled up to 1.00)  paid 1.00 for both
• Monster Coffee Energy Drinks x 2 - regular price 2.49 (I had two free coupons so they were both free)  paid 0.00
• Boursin Cheese - regular price 3.99 (on markdown for 1.99 plus there was a 1.00 off coupon on the package) paid .99 cents

Total before store savings and coupons would have been - 26.50 plus crv and tax

I paid - 2.80 cents plus crv and tax

Tips from this shopping trip:

1. pay attention to products while shopping, they often have coupons attached to them
2. do NOT be afraid of markdown, just be selective...Ralphs is known for marking down food close to the expiration date...the cheese for example is good until the 27th but since I plan on using it immediately thats more than fine.  The milk is actually good until Oct. 20th so they most likely just had an over stock.  Mark down food is NOT bad...but you do need to always check expiration dates first
3. dont be afraid to pay twice....I needed my skinny cow chocolate coupons to both double to maximize savings so I paid in two different transactions

Recipe - Green Chile, Ham & Cheese Quesadilla

Despite the fact that this is my second Quesadilla recipe since starting this blog, I don't usually eat them a lot.  I love them but always figured tortillas and cheese were too many calories (or points!) but I discovered they're actually incredibly versitile, cheap to make and fast and easy.

I really like Quesadillas, but just cheese and tortilla can be a bit gummy and bland.  One of my favorite combinations is ham and cheese.  The ham adds a lot of flavor and extra protein without a lot of extra calories.  Today I wanted to kick up the flavor a bit and added some green chiles since I had an open can in the fridge and wanted to use them up.

I topped half of a low carb, high fiber tortilla (2 points) with 1/2 an ounce of mozzarella, then added 1 ounce of lean ham (1 point) and topped it with the remaining 1/2 ounce of mozzarella (2 points total for cheese).  You want to make sure you have cheese on top and bottom of the ham so that the quesadilla doesn't fall apart.

It gets a bit crispy on the outside, gooey from the cheese and sort of sweet and smokey from the ham.  The green chiles also add a nice kick of flavor but no heat.  This is also great with a little jalapeno with the green chiles or substitiuted for them. 

I rounded my breakfast off with a cup of fresh strawberries and it was delicious!

New Blog

Hey All.....just wanted to let everyone know that in order to celbrate new life changes and get a fresh startI recently started a new blog and won't be updating this one anymore.

Hope to see you all there! :)

Happy Life, Happy Wife

Product Review: VitaMuffin VitaTops Pumpkin Spice

First a little apology for going MIA.  I graduated from college in May and have been planning my August wedding which has left me hardly any free time (and unfortunately my weight and diet have both suffered from that).  I'm going to try and make sure to find time to update this because it keeps me motivated!

Now I couldn't resist reviewing this.  I've reviewed the chocolate Vita Tops before and if anyone hasn't tried them they really must.  I typically pick mine up at Target but when I discovered that they had a new Pumpkin spice flavor only available on line I had to splurge and try it.

The Nutritional Breakdown is:

Calories - 100

Fat - 1 gram

Fiber - 8 grams

Carbs - 26 carbs

If you like pumpkin you must try these.  They have a rich pumpkin flavor and are nice and spicy.  They've also got little pumpkin seeds on top which add a nice texture.  This would be so decadent with a smear of light cream cheese or whipped topping, but are just as satisfying on their own.

Fresh Fruit

I just adore fruit.  I get especially excited when the summer months begin to approach because it means watermelon and other melons will be in season!

I spent all morning cutting up fruit.  The cantaloupe and honeydew are absolutely ripe to perfection.

Then because I had melon that didnt fit neatly into that container I decided to make fruit salad.

I really have to say that taking the time to prep fruit (or veggies) is so worth it.  Being able to open the fridge and see containers filled with gorgeous colors really is so appealing.

Yummy Lunch

The end of my senior semester at school is killing me (along with planning my wedding!).  so today I finally took the time to prepare myself a healthy lunch instead of making excuses to let myself eat unhealthy.

I can't wait to eat it later!  The lunch includes leftover roasted chicken breast from dinner last night, some thinly sliced carrots, some sliced strawberries and a medium tangerine.  Yummy!

Muffinless Egg McMuffin

I suppose trying to make a mock Egg McMuffin without any muffin sounds impossible, but let me tell you  it definitely isn't impossible!  All the texture and flavor with a fraction of the calories, fraction of the cost and almost no carbs!

I scrambled 3 egg whites (you could also use whole eggs if you prefer), then topped it with one slice of Kraft 2% Sharp Cheddar sliced cheese and added one MorningStar Farms Vegetarian sausage patty on top.

It was a little bit of heaven on a plate.  The morning-star farms sausage are better than the real thing, the Kraft cheese is Ooey gooey and melty and when you eat them all together you will not miss the bread I promise you!