Thankful for CVS...

Hey there! I know I've been away for a little while but I've just been enjoying my time off from school with a little retail therapy and a lot of time on the couch (after working out of course)!

As you all know I'm kinda obsessed with Coupons, CVS and Crockpots lately.....I promise it's not because they all start with C but that is kinda weird in itself....hmmm...Well, I have had this Thanksgiving CVS trip planned for like a week now and I'm so excited to come back and share it with you guys.  I think I've really lost it now...I'm embarrassed to admit I even dreamt last night about getting there today and there were people everywhere and they kept getting to all the deals before me and I ended up with like 2 things!  I know....it's really bad right?!?!?

Anyway, so I got there about 5 minutes before they opened this morning with the vision that a lot of people would be there to get all these things for free (Sidenote: I have never been Black Friday shopping so I assumed that if there is a good sale people will be lining the streets to get it...like the people I saw camped outside of our Best Buy this past Monday.....yeah). So I pull up and there were only 2 other cars and they belonged to the workers! I was able to get everything I wanted and got to take my time doing it and honestly I could've gotten more things but I can always check back later this week to see what's left.

The one thing I was most excited to get was a new Crockpot! The CVS in my town is pretty much the smallest one in the area so they don't always have what is advertised but they had this bad boy and it was on sale from $30 to $18.88 and I got $10 back for next time. However, I did split my transactions up so I could use some extrabucks towards it and not have to take money out of the bank....it ended up costing me $.04 out of pocket!!!! :) And yes that wasn't a typo...4 pennies people!

Here is a picture of my haul for you guys to see. They have a great sale running, a lot of the items I got they gave me the amount back in extrabucks so they were free and I had a few coupons and extrabucks already so that helped but still it's a great deal even if you don't have any and could help you get a really good start on couponing there if you are interested.

 Worth $127.73 paid $17.34 with roughly $53 ECB for next purchases! :)

Again, I didn't buy everything I could have, but even though I love CVS, I didn't want to spend that much time of my Thanksgiving morning shopping there. However, if you are interested in this sale I would try to find the time to slip out to your local store and see what is left. Maybe I'm a little coupon paranoid but I've noticed lately if I wait to late in the day to get to my CVS for a deal it won't be there....there must be another "Crazy Couponer" in the area! I guess it's catching. hehe

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, filled with lots of love and family fun and food! We are only attending one Thanksgiving this year compared to the usual 2 or 3 we try to squeeze in. My stomach will appreciate that I'm sure! Toodles!

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. - Colossians 3:15

Easy Cheesy!

Since I'm down to my final week of student teaching I wanted to get a few gifts for my mentor teacher because she has just been amazing through this whole process. I was very fortunate to get such a great example to lead and guide me into my future as an educator. I knew I wanted to get her a few gifts, but I wanted them to be more personal than your average teacher gifts of say bath soaps and candles. As you all know I have a slight....OK more than slight addiction to pinterest, which got some of my creative gift giving juices flowing. I gave her this first gift today and she absolutely loved it!

Now before you scroll down and look at the picture and think "Wow, she loved getting that? What is wrong with this lady??" let me explain the reasoning behind it. My mentor is a 5th grade math teacher and if you were anything like me in school, math can be pretty challenging. There are just so many different ways to solve a problem and sometimes the wording of these problems can get a little ridiculous and complicated. When introducing a new topic to our students my mentor always starts off with the same speech...She'll say, "Okay. You guys know by now that I'm all about the easy way right?" To which they all respond yes and she continues with the lesson showing and explaining the easiest way she knows how to do the work. After all is said and done she always says, "Now wasn't that Easy Cheesy?" She says it a lot throughout the day and I even catch myself saying it from time to time and a few of the kiddos say it when helping a fellow student that may be struggling. When I thought up this idea I couldn't think of a more perfect, silly gift to give her. She really got a kick out of it! I will never look at Easy Cheese without thinking of her now! :)

I just used a bag and tissue paper I already had to put my funny gift in. I found these cute printable tags on pinterest of course and used some cardstock I had lying around the house (I only had colored but I think they would look even better on white).

I started to punch out the tag but couldn't find any curling ribbon to save my life so I ended up just taping it onto the bag. I think you could make these really cute with the right ribbon!

I think all together, since I already had that gift bag and paper, this cost me around $7 or $8 dollars! I bought the Ritz crackers that come in the small packs instead of the usual large packages so she could enjoy a little at a time. It was a really EASY CHEESY gift! ;)

Quick and Easy

Good morning blogger land! I just wanted to pop in with a quick post for you guys....if there are any of you guys out there...I may just be rambling to myself most days...anyway...

So earlier in the week I decided I wanted to try to make healthier Pigs in a Blanket at home. They are one of my favorite things for breakfast at the Donut Shop but I don't even want to think about how many calories they are. So I bought the Original Crescent Pillsbury rolls and some Lil' Smokies but I got the turkey meat kind. I personally love to use ground turkey meat instead of beef whenever I'm cooking. My dad was a diabetic and had heart problems so it was easier for my mom to alter the family meals instead of just his. I guess since I grew up with it I like the taste but for those of you used to beef it may be a lot different for you, but lean turkey meat is so much better for you.  I use the myfitnesspal app on my phone to check the calories, it's become one of my favorite tools to use since I've been trying to eat healthier and lose a few lbs. You can access the program online if you want to check out all the neat features and it's FREE which makes it even better! They ended up being about 116 calories each. The rolls were 100 of it so I might try to see if I can find some that are better. I ended up eating two and that was enough for me, I even got Mr. Man to eat one and he hates PIAB (I know he is weird) and he said he liked them!  They were super easy since you just roll the meat into the crescent and bake for around 12 minutes! May kind of cooking! ;)

Mmm Mmm Good

So I meant to post about this at the end of last week but I've just been busy with student teaching stuff and didn't get around to it. Wow, I only have 7 days left until I will be an official certified teacher. Well, I'm sure it will be a little longer than that since there is bound to be lots of paper work and some money that needs to change hands before then but I can't believe how fast this 3 months has gone by. One of my students today asked me if I really had to leave...I told him I would love to stay if I could but I was only allowed to stay until Thanksgiving . He wanted to know if I would be going to a different classroom and I said no I would be done with student teaching and need to get my own teaching job. He said they would just have to hire me to be his teacher then! Isn't that sooo cute. I sure am going to miss my little darlings :(

Anyway, I tried a new Crockpot recipe that wasn't a soup! Can you believe it? I made BBQ Pork Sandwiches and seeing that there wasn't any leftovers I think Mr. Man was a fan! Only problem is I forgot to take pictures while I was making it so I'll just post the link to the recipe I used. It was another find on kraftfoods.com. I've yet to try a recipe from this site that wasn't easy to follow and really tasty! I did change a few things up however. I couldn't find the pork shoulder listed so I just used boneless pork chops (when I went to shred it it sort of became more of a chopped meat but was still very tasty). I also used more BBQ sauce because I was afraid it might start to burn with such a small amount of liquid. I think I went a little overkill myself but I would use atleast a cup instead of the 1/2 cup called for. I hope you give this a try...it made the house smell sooo good and again was the easiest recipe I've made in the crockpot so far!

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-bbq-pork-sandwiches-107282.aspx

A Whole Lot of Nothing Going On...

So as you can probably tell by the title of this post....I've got nothing. No crafts or coupon tips to post. No funny anecdotal story from student teaching...just a whole lot of nothing. Oh and a nice head cold, which I hope explains the nothing........

Okay I can't leave you guys hanging like that so...

I guess I will report I had my first unsuccessful Crockpot experience yesterday but I'm blaming it on my stuffy brain and not on my lack of ability to successfully double a recipe...well maybe it was the latter, but I will say it still tasted good it just didn't look like the picture below...

I guess I'm just not ready to tackle anything that isn't a soup like consistency yet....just imagine a slightly (ok more than slightly) more liquidish version of this delicious, mouthwatering picture you are looking at. All I know it Mr. Man ate it and didn't complain so I may attempt it again when I am feeling more like myself again....

I'll post the link if you want to give it a shot.

http://mmmcafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/honey-sauced-chicken.html