Summer Harvest

Overall, the Square Foot Garden is doing fantastic, especially considering this is my first year. We have a steady supply of Roma tomatoes, delicious meaty Bush Goliath tomatoes, and crisp green peppers. It has been wonderful to just run outside to pick a warm-from-the-sun red tomato to add to a sandwich or sprinkle over a salad.

My favorite tomato meal has been combining a vine-ripened tomato with fragrant garden-fresh basil, mozzarella and drizzling with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious... and so healthy too!

Despite the fact that I am not a cucumber lover, I did add one plant to the garden. We have picked two huge cukes so far and I've used them for homemade tzatziki sauce to serve over burgers. Yum!! Christopher is my official cucumber helper and he daily runs out to a garden with a ruler to see how large the cukes have grown.

The beans are about done so next year I need to either plant the ever-producing pole variety or do several plantings of the bush green beans.

I chopped some of the green peppers and dried them in the dehydrator for use later in the year. I have two pepper plants but next year I think I'll add more.

About my only total failure was zucchini. I had two plants which both (I think) fell prey to the dreaded squash beetle. I must be the only person on earth who cannot grow zucchini. Too bad ... it's one of my favorite veggies!

I'm Baaaaack!!

After a much needed break from clipping coupons, researching sales and driving around town to find bargains, I am ready to get back to work. CVS has some great sales and ECB deals this week.

Above is "round one" of my CVS shopping. The best deal this week is the bagged Life Savers or Gummi Savers BOGO. There are BOGO coupons available (from the 6/8 Smart Source insert) which makes the bags FREE! But what is even better than free, is being PAID to take the Life Savers out of the store. This week's ad offers $5 ECB's when you purchase $10 of assorted candy, and the Life Savers are part of the deal.

So, purchase 10 bags and hand over 5 BOGO coupons. The candy will be totally free and you'll earn $5 ECB's. The deal limit is three, so you can do this deal three times, or purchase 30 bags at once to receive $15 ECB's.

There have been problems with the coupon beeping so be forewarned. If a cashier questions you and says something like "you can't use this coupon because then you'll get both bags free" you need to be able to respond intelligently. I always say very pleasantly that "Yes, I will get both bags free. However, I am paying for one of the bags with this coupon. CVS will be reimbursed for not only the purchase price for that bag, but also an additional $.08." Others have contacted CVS Customer Care when challenged by a cashier and the official CVS position is that both items in a BOGO sale with a BOGO coupon would be free. Unfortunately, many cashiers and managers have a mistaken understanding of the CVS coupon policy.

Another great deal is the "purchase $20 of selected Procter & Gamble products, receive $10 ECB's." I purchased four Stayfree and used one $2/2 coupon and two BOGO coupons. My total was only $19 so I added one of the Johnson's Baby Products at $3.99 and used a $1 coupon. Total OOP is $9.99 and then earn $10 ECB's.

Also, the Revlon Limited Edition Collection is a money maker. Purchase one of the sale items for $9.99, use a $1 coupon (4/6 Smart Source) and receive $9.99 ECB's. I had one $2 Revlon coupon but I'm not sure where it came from, so there may be other $2 Q's lurking out there.

Band-Aids are free if you have the $1 coupon in the 4/27 Red Plum insert.. Purchase a variety for $2.99, use the Q, and receive $2 ECB's. Our area only had a $.50 coupon but they still make for really cheap bandages!

Also free are the Schick Intuition Razors. On sale for $3.99 and there is a $4 coupon in the 6/29 Smart Source insert.

Oh, and don't forget the free One Touch Mini Glucose Monitor! It's on sale for $19.99 and there is a $20 coupon in today's paper making it a freebie.

The photo above is from my first trip. So far I have made three CVS outings. I still need to max out the Life Saver deal on my husband's card, so I'll be going back later in the week. My totals so far are:

* 40 bags Life Savers candy
* 2 packs Band-Aids
* 1 Revlon Lipstick
* 1 Revlon Eye Shadow
* 2 One Touch Mini Glucose Monitors
* 2 Lumene Face Cleansing Wipes (free with CRT)
* 4 Stayfree
* 1 Johnson & Johnson Baby Wash
* 2 Schick Intuition Razors

Total OOP $8.62 Earned $53.98 in ECB's!!

Fun (and free!!) Sunflower Project

If you're looking for a fun summer project for kids (or kids of all ages, for that matter), visit The Great Sunflower Project .

Sign up online and you'll receive a free packet of sunflower seeds. Plant the seeds in a container or directly in the ground. Then, twice a month you'll time to see how long it takes for your flower to attract 5 bees. The data will help scientists to learn about the current state of bee activity, specifically in home and community gardens.

Hurry, the free seed offer ends June 15!

Broccoli Salad

We harvested another big bunch of broccoli tonight, so I decided to make some frugal broccoli salad! I used free garden broccoli, $.50/lb bacon and sale Vidalia onions, mayo and cheese. Simply delicious! This salad tastes even better the next day. The recipe is originally from Allrecipes.

Bodacious Broccoli Salad

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 heads fresh broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, cheese, bacon and onion.

Prepare the dressing in a small bowl by whisking together the red wine vinegar, sugar, pepper, salt, mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Combine dressing with salad. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes approximately 12 servings.

Free Sierra Mist and Free (or almost) Nail Polish at CVS

CVS had a few great deals this Memorial Day weekend. These particular sales are good only May 25 and 26, so hurry!


FREE SIERRA MIST: Sierra Mist is on sale buy-one-get-one-free. Visit coupons.com to print out a BOGO coupon. You should be able to print two coupons. Pick up 4 bottles, present your two coupons and all four should be free!

FREE NAIL POLISH (after ECB's): All Revlon Nail polish are on sale for $3.99. Purchase the Colorstay variety and use the $2 Revlon Color Product coupon from the 5/18 Smart Source insert for $1.99 OOP. Then, you'll receive $3 ECB's! Limit is 3.


$.16 MUSTARD: French's Mustard is on sale for $.66. Print off a coupon here (or use insert coupons from March 9 Smart Source) and pay only $.16.

Square Foot Garden Update... May 24

It’s been almost a month since I last posted a garden update (shame on me). Since that time the little garden has exploded! We’ve harvested green onions, spinach, radishes, broccoli, herbs, lettuce and a few strawberries. I have enough lettuce for daily salads and the butter lettuce is so tasty I hope I never have to go back to grocery store bagged lettuce again!

The broccoli is just amazing. We’ve harvested several heads and there are tons of new heads forming. Despite having three broccoli lovers in the family, I think I will be blessed to be able to freeze some for later!

I’ve pulled out my old Ronco dehydrator and have dried green onions and lots of parsley. I plan to dry other herbs if they start getting overgrown.

My newest garden project is starting a compost bin. Well, a compost trash can actually. Our homeowner’s association won’t allow compost bins but I turned an old Rubbermade trash can into a bin. I just put it together today and added grass clippings, kitchen peelings and scraps, and shredded newspaper. Hopefully Mother Nature will do her magic and turn the garbage into wonderful, rich soil over time. We’ll find out!

Graduation on a Budget

When every extra dollar goes to pay off debt, extra expenses like planning a graduation puts creativity to the test. My son Mark graduated 8th grade from his Catholic grade school and at our school it’s a big event. An entire week of fun graduation activites are planned for the kids, such as 8th grade vs. teacher volleyball game, trip to Worlds of Fun, bowling and pizza, etc., etc. All these events are covered by the school budget, but not the famous "surprise locker decoration day"!

It’s a tradition for the parents to decorate the kids’ lockers in with their new high school colors to surprise the kids on one of the last days. As I watched other moms and dads decorate their student’s lockers I couldn’t believe the amount of $$ that was spent! Helium balloons, custom high school pennants, candy, stuffed animals, etc. But I could secretly smile because, while my son’s locker may not have been the fanciest, it was for sure the CHEAPEST... and he loved it!

The only real out-of-pocket expense was for the navy foam to create the Lee’s Summit West high school banner. I used a logo printed off their website for decoration, along with odds and ends of paper from my scrapbook stash. I blew up a few balloons from home, and taped on 2008 graduation sunglasses and a homemade visor. The sunglasses, as well as the candy, bear and other goodies inside the locker were purchased using Walgreen’s register rewards. I also "bought" with RR’s a frame that could be autographed by all of Mark’s classmates.

It took a little bit of work and ingenuity, but even a tightwad like me could create a fairly decorative locker!