Walgreens Deals

*waves*

So its been awhile since my last post but I'm hoping to get back into sharing great tips for living well, without breaking the budget.  and I've got a great post to get back into the swing of things.

Yesterday I went to Walgreens and managed to get everything you see below for a whopping 1.94 including tax (and two packages of cookies even managed to not make it into the photo!)

I got:

• 5 bags of chex mix
• 1 bottle of Purex Laundrey Detergent
• 1 bottle of Herbal Essence Shampoo
• 1 bottle of Herbal Essence Conditioner
• 1 box of Biore blackhead strips
• 1 bottle of Biore face clearing scrub
• 1 box of Puff tissues
• 2 individual packages of madelline cookies (not pictures)

Check Mix was 3/$3 but if you bought 5 you got a $3 Catalina back.  I also had 5 coupons for .50 cents off each bag so I paid 2.50 and got 3.00 back!

The Purex was on sale 1.99 plus I had a coupon for 1.00 off so I paid .99

The Herbal Essence shampoo and condition was on sale for 2/$6 and you got 2$ Register Regwards when you bought two.  i had two free product coupons from facebook so I paid 0.00 and got 2.00 back!

The Biore strips and facial scrub were on sale for 5.99 each and you got a 5.00 register reward when you bought two.  I had a buy one box of strips get a cleanser free coupon so I paid 5.99 and got 5.00 back.

The box of puffs was on sale for 1.00 and I had .75 off one box so it was .25 cents.

The cookies were not pictures and were on clearance for .25 cents each and I used them as a filler so that I could do mulptiple transactions.  By doing multiple transactions I was able to roll over my register rewards and in the end I spent 4.94 cents but I have a $3 Register Reward left so everything above cost me just 1.94 cents out of pocket!  Score!

Food Find - Crunchy Carob Rise Bar

I love the convenience and portability of protein bars for times when hunger strikes and there is nothing you can or want to eat.

What I don't like however if the chalky taste a lot of them have from the added protein.

Then a few days ago I stumbled across this protein bar at Sprouts and it was amazing.

So far the only flavor I tried was the Crunchy Carob but my mom and I both loved it!  If you've never tried carob you're definitely missing out.  It reminds you of chocolate but is nuttier and less sweet (and contains no caffeine!)

This bar was sort of chewy and dense.  It reminded me of these delicious carob energy nuggets that Whole Foods sells (which are a bit pricey) .

These bars are free of: Gluten, Preservatives, GMOs, Soy, Peanuts + Kosher

They're also pretty light on ingredients.... Almonds, Agave Carob, Powder Whey Protein Isolate, Crisp Rice.

The nutritional Stats are as follows....

Calories - 260

Fat - 15 grams

Carbs - 22 grams

Fiber - 5 grams

Protein - 17 grams

Coconut Banana Mini Muffins

Whenever I see a pile of ripe bananas the first thing I think of is banana bread.  It’s sort of funny really because it’s not something I eat a lot, but I have some vivid memories of my mom’s homemade banana bread growing up.

But now that I’ve given up gluten and am trying to cut back on my sugar, I wasn’t sure what to do with the pile of over ripe bananas on my counter.  Until I realized there was no reason I could still have banana bread.  There were lots of recipes online but they all had ingredients I didn’t have.  So  in typical Janel fashion I went into the kitchen, took out a pile of ingredients and set them all out on my kitchen island.  I then proceeded to create this recipe 100% from scratch.

I ended up making mini muffins instead of a loaf just because it was hot and I wanted to cook them in my toaster oven.

I expected the measurements to possibly need some tweaking since I didn’t base it off anything, but amazingly they came out perfect the first time.  My grandma who doesn’t like gluten free or low sugar foods ate 5 of these mini muffins.  In fact my husband, who usually wont try my creations, even though they were yummy!

You don't need to be gluten free to try these amazing little muffins.  They're lower in carbs than traditional muffins would be, they're free of refined sugar, high in fiber, and full of delicious flavor.  Seriously, you've got to try these yummy little muffins!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almond meal

2 TBS ground flax meal

3 TBS unsweetened, finely flaked coconut

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1 TBS coconut oil, melted

15 drops liquid stevia

1.  In a medium bowl combine banana, liquid stevia, egg and melted coconut.  Mix very well.

2.  In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredient to wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

3.  Spoon into a mini muffin pan.  These are going to have a tendency to stick so I suggest coating the pan well, or using mini muffin liners.  Either will work.

4.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18minutes until browned on top.  These taste better just a tad over done as opposed to under done.

5.  Let cool and enjoy!

Green Power Smoothie

I love fruits and vegetables, but sometimes it can be hard to get a lot of them in early in the morning - especially thr vegetables!

I'd seen green smoothies around the internet before but had always been a bit turned off.  Spinach in my fruit smoothie... I thought are you crazy?! 

I did think it was crazy too.  Until I tried it for myself and realized it's genius!  I tinkered around with it and the following is my favorite version.  It's sweet, fruity, tangy, creamy, filling, delicious and you absolutely cannot taste the spinach.  I promise!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

2 cups spinach

1/2 small banana, frozen

1/3 cup strawberries, frozen

1/3 cup pineapple, frozen

3-4 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in your blender.  I like to put my liquid on the bottom, then the spinach and all the frozen fruit and ice on top.

As a side note, if you don't have a high power blender like a vitamix or a ninja you may need to blend it a few seperate times.  I put my ninja on and blend it for about 2 minutes straight and it is the creamiest smoothie in the world.  If your blender isn't that strong though, you may want to blend it and then rest it a minute before blending it again so you don't burn out your motor.

Then just pour in a tall glass and enjoy!

Microwave Muffin

This recipe is for a super simple muffin made in the microwave.

It can be made in just one minute, is single serving, low carb, gluten free, packed with protein and delicious.  Seriously...what more could you want?

I didn't invent the idea.  It's been all over the internet for years, largely in low-carb communities actually.  However the original is higher in fat and calories because it uses the entire egg and real butter and it uses splenda.  so I made it a little bit healthier, but still delicious and easy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flax meal

1 TBS cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. coconut oil, melted

2 egg whites

5 drops liquid stevia (not pictured, oops)

1. First melt the coconut oil for a few seconds in a standard size coffee cup.  It helps later so you don't get any clumps of oil in your muffin.
2. Add in the cinnamon, flax and baking powder and liquid stevia directly the same coffee cup.
3. In a seperate bowl crack both eggs and seperate leaving just the whites.  Then add them to the coffee cup and stir very well.

* If you don't have liquid splenda you can add in your favorite sweetner.  I've not personally tested it out but I think maple syrup or honey would be delicious in this recipe.  It's pretty adaptable.



Now you're going to microwave the muffin for about a minute.  sometiems you may need an extra 5-10 seconds just to make sure its completely done.  You won't need to grease the cup at all because the fat content in the coconut oil and flax will allow the muffin to slide right out of the cup once it's cooked.

The muffin is actually pretty fun looking right out of the cup.  All tall and puffy and just begging you to dig in.

The best thing about this muffin is how versitile it is.  I like to let it cool a little and slice it into pretty little rounds.  You can eat it plain or top it with nut butter. All fruit spread or one of my favorites ligth cream cheese.  no matter what you put on it though you're guaranteed to enjoy it!

Shopping Trip - Target

This was a shopping trip from last week that i never got around to sharing, but the deals are all still good (if you happen to have any of the same coupons).

One Touch Ultra Mini Meters x 2 -

• Original Price 19.99....Sale Price 9.99
• I used two manufacturers coupons each for 10.00 off one making them both FREE plus .01 cents overage on each one

Banana Boat Travel Size sunscreen -

• Priced at .97 cents
• I had a Target coupon for 1.00 off any banana boat sunscreen (no size restrictions) so this was FREE!

Coppertone Water Babies Travel Sized Sunscreen -

• Priced at .97 cents
• I had a Target coupon for 1.00 off any coppertone suncreen (no size restriction) so this was FREE!

Johnson & Johnson Travel Size First Aid Kit -

• Priced at 1.02
• I used one manufaturers coupon good for 1.00 off any johnson and johnson first aid product so this was .02 cents!

Calidad tortilla Chips -

• Original price was 1.89...sale price was 1.50
• I had a manufactuers coupon (the kind that print at the register) for 1.00 off these chips so they were only .50 cents!

Merona Women's Shirt -

• Original price was 12.99....clearance was 4.48
• I had one Target coupon for 3.00 off any Merona apparel item so this shirt was only 1.48 cents!

Aquafresh Extreme Clean Travel Sized Toothpaste -

• priced at .97 cents
• I had a target coupon for 1.50 off any aquash extreme clean (no size restriction).  normally target coupons automatically adjust down if the purchase price is less than the coupon, but for some reason this coupon beeped and the cashier had to manullay enter it and he took off the full 1.50 so this toothpaste was FREE plus .53 cents overage.  (*note that normally you will never get any kind of overage off target coupons)

So my grand total for everything picture was a whopping 1.45 cents plus tax!

Plus I have a Target Red Card so I get an additional 5% off all my Target purchases which makes all my couponing there just a tad bit sweeter. :)

Just a heads up...on May 23 you can get a free Slurpee at 7-11. 

Very fun freebie if you've got kids (or just love slurpees).  You've got to love that they're coming out with some that are going to have less sugar too.  Awesome!

This May, 7-Eleven will officially launch Slurpee Lite, a new sugar-free category of Slurpee. Slurpee Lite is a great alternative for those watching their waistlines with 50% fewer calories than an 8 oz. Wild Cherry flavored Slurpee drink. The launch of Slurpee Lite marks the first sugar-free Slurpee drink to be available at participating 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

Flavored by Fanta, Slurpee Lite will make its debut in May with Slurpee Lite Fanta Sugar-Free Mango. Typically, limited-release Slurpee flavors are kept top-secret until they become available in the stores, but now Slurpee fans can mark their calendars so they can be first in line when each featured flavor hits 7-Eleven stores. The additional Slurpee flavors coming this summer: Fanta Watermelon Lime in June; Slurpee Lite Fanta Sugar-Free Strawberry Banana and Fanta Lemon Crème in July; and Slurpee Lite Fanta Sugar-Free Cherry Limeade and Fanta Orange Xplosion in August.

To celebrate the launch of Slurpee Lite and kick-off summer , 7-Eleven is inviting everyone in for free 7.11 oz. Slurpee on May 23, aka SlurpFREE Day, from 11:00AM to 7:00PM.