My 1st Time!!

This is my 1st time using coupons at Walmart...........well the 1st time using them since I learned some tricks and watched one episode of extreme couponing....Yes I have only seen one show, but don't worry I am going to watch the new show that airs April the 6th I think it is. Anyone back to my small, but noteworthy haul of my 1st time couponing the right way. Here are the items I used coupons on:

(sorry the photo is a bit off color and just all wrong, but you can see what i got.)

So here is what I got without coupons:

9 lives cat food 3.5lb bag-$3.28

gain dryer sheets 80 count-$3.12

two Scotch brite sponges-0.84 each

Uncle Bens Ready Rice-$1.34

The coupons I had on hand:

9 lives cat food- $1.00 off which means I paid $2.28

Gain dyer sheets- $3.00 off which means I payed 0.12cents for that one box (man I wish I had a few more of those coupons.)

Scotch brite sponges-$1.00 off any two so I paid 0.68cents for both of them.

Uncle Bens Ready Rice-$1.00 off so I paid 0.34cents for that one thing.

So my total price without coupons was $9.42 plus tax

My total with coupons was $3.42

I saved $6.00 in all!!!

I do have one coupon to share with you all because a lovely blogger on here posted it so I will share that one the others where coupons I clipped out of the sunday paper. Here is the link for the scotch brite coupon:
http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotchbrite/images/coupons/emailcoupon_20100903.pdf?WT.mc_ev=clickthrough&WT.tsrc=email&WT.mc_ID=7021110-19791323

Full Plate Plan Recipe!!

I mentioned in my 1st post that I loved cooking and that I am following a Full Plate Plan to help me change my lifestyle. Well I thought I would share a recipe with you all. If you haven't been reading my post (shame shame..just kidding) The Full Plate Plan is all about eating more fiber and they say a great amount is 40grams of fiber a day. The book says you don't have to eat 40grams to begin with but adding more fiber to your lifestyle is a great start. So I was looking around the website, http://www.fullplatedietbeta.org/ , and i saw some recipes. So here is a recipe that I want to try one day (if you make it please let me know what you think.)

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

• 1 14oz box of whole wheat bowtie pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper chopped
• 1 16oz bag frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix
• 1 16oz bag chopped frozen broccoli
• 1 16oz bag frozen spinach
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 13.25oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 25oz jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 14.5oz can Diced Tomatoes with garlic (or just plain diced tomatoes)
• 1 8oz bag morning Star Farms Chick's Strips (or already cooked chicken breast cut in strips)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon McCormick Perfect Savory Pinch all purpose seasoning (no salt)

Cook pasta according to instructions on box (add salt or oil).

In a wok, or large pan, sauté all the vegetables in olive oil on low heat until completely thawed (15-20minutes). Add the spaghetti sauce (use the one cup of water to rinse out the extra sauce in the jar and add to the pan), tomatoes, chicken and seasonings and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and leave the pan uncovered.
Add the pasta to the chicken/vegetable pan and mix over medium heat. Cook another 5 minutes.

This recipe makes 8 servings and 1 serving equals 2 cups. One serving has 10 grams of fiber and 304 calories so this is a nice one meal dinner or a nice lunch.

Luck of the Irish =]

Something I have done recently is started crafting agian. I use to craft all the time. I have a cabint full of yarn, beads, fabric, scrapbook paper, buttons, ribbons and more. I stopped making things for a while and I really don't know why. Late one night I wanted something special to wear for St. Patrick's Day so (when I was awake around 3am) I started messing around with an old necklace that I don't wear anymore. I tore it apart basically. I found some extra chain, jump rings, and a pop tab in my craft cabin. Well I attached chain here, adding a jump ring, and put on a jump ring and some beads and TADA!!!! Thats what I ended up with. I really like it and wore it to my college classes on Wenseday to celebrate St. Patrick's Day early. Well I also wore it agian today on St. Patrick's Day alnog with a plastic clover ring I got from a friend today.(picture below).So I guess I can say it was my Irish Pride that had me start crafting agian. I wonder when the next time I am going to craft something agian??? It might be soon because I have a cute St. Patricks day cupcake topper that I am thinking of turning into something. Well I guess we will see. =]

Blog Hop Day

I am listed on the Thrifty Thursday Blog Hop for today. If you follow me from there or any other blog hop please leave a comment and I will follow you back. I love reading new blogs =]

I will have a St. Patricks Day Post Later on Today!!!

Big Steps on Moving Foward =]

Today was not my best day, but I feel like I made big steps today. =] I am so proud of myself today. I really made big steps on The Full Plate Plan. I looked at label, added up fiber, drank water, and apple juice (no soda today!), and I even walked alittle more than normal today. I only had 20 grams of fiber today, but I felt like I made really good choices for what I did do. Dinner was a real success for me (or at least I think so). I measured out my severing size, counted my fiber, and even drank water before dinner. I didn't have dessert and I am not even hungry. I don't want the normal mid-night snack I would have.

When changing your lifestyle it really is the small things that make you want to push harder and take another step foward. I feel like today I really pushed myself even if others thought I could do better. I really did a good job and now I now I will be reaching higher. So remember if your trying to change your lifestyle it doesn't matter if you don't get everything right as long as your doing and you feel like your moving. As long as you feel like your moving you will start running with it soon! =]

Couponing Beginner Here!!!

So far I have talked about my Full Plate Plan well lets talk about me and Couponing today (3am in the morning today...lol I am a total night owl sometimes.)

So I have been reading blogs, printing online coupons, signing up to get free coupons in the mail, calling name brands (such as weight watchers and saying you want to try there products), and clipping coupons from the papers so far. Right now I have 118 coupons. I am thinking of getting a wallgreens card because i don't have one and wallgreens has some nice sales even before using coupons. I don't know if I have to pay to get a wallgreens card or not....and i don't know if they accept coupons printed offline. So far I used a coupon for canned dog food buy one get one free so I payed 0.68 cents for 2 cans of pedigree canned dog food so that was a good deal to me. considering my puppy gets 3 severings out of one can and 2 cans will last almost a whole week. So thats good.

I have also signed up for a few freebies that I find intresting. Reading blogs helps me find good freebies. Saves alot of time from having to search for them. Well thats all I really have done with the Couponing. I will write more on what deals I get and what happens as Time goes on. =]

Full Plate Plan

I have been on so many diets, tried so many things, and have taken so many diet pills I am really sick of it. =[ The word diet is horrible in the first place. You should be changing your lifestyle and getting better not going on a diet to lose some weight.

About a week ago I was in a thrift store looking around. I noticed they had a sale on books: Fill a bag for a dollar. Well I love a good deal. So I started looking and found 5 or 6 intresting cookbooks, a romantic novel (ladies you know you have on or have read one before.), and some book on jimmy johnson (a friend of mine likes him alot.) Among the cookbooks I found was this one cookbook that i found intresting It had a picture of a plate on it and said The Full Plate...later on I looked at it closer and it said The Full Plate Diet. Well like I said I am not big on the word diet, but I started to read this book because somewhere in there were recipes. Normally I would go strighat to the recipes, but this time i started at page 1.

As I read this book I noticed that I could do this and that it was easy to follow. There were no restrictions or too much counting involoed. The basic concept is to eat 40 grams of fiber a day. Fiber is found in veggies, fruit, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. The book does say that you don't have to start with eating 40 grams a day, but to increase your fiber little by little till you get to that 40 grams a day. The book also says to drink plenty of water atleast 6 glasses a day. This sounds so much better than 8 atleast to me. So thats my new lifestyle that I am working on and doing now.

So far I am doing really well and taking baby steps. I don't drink as much water as I should, but I have been drinking more. Also I have increased my fiber and I am so excited. For example today I had 28 grams of fiber were normally I would of had maybe 8 grams all day.