Sometimes the weather is just too hot to eat a hot meal. On days like that I whip up a large batch of this Summertime Pasta Salad. A popular dish with both the kids and adults. You can vary the ingredients in this dish to suit your tastes. Add or subtracting ingredients to make it just to your liking. We like to eat this as a main dish in the summer, but it is also a hit as a side dish or to take along to a summer pot luck barbecue. This is a large recipe making enough to serve our family of 6 for dinner, plus leftovers for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. Multi-Colored Rotini/Corkscrew Pasta (or any pasta you have on hand)
• 1 bottle Italian Dressing (I prefer Wish-Bone brand Red Wine Vinaigrette)
• 1 Large Cucumber, seeded and diced into small bite sized chunks
• 1 Lb. Mozzarella Cheese, diced into small bite sized chunks
• 1 Medium Red Onion, quartered, then sliced into thin pieces
• 1 Can Sliced Black Olives, drained
• 1 Jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts, drained and diced
• 1 Package Sliced Pepperoni, each slice cut in half (or use Hormel mini pepperoni)**
• 1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper, diced

Directions:

read more »

Tags: Pasta Salad, Pasta Salad Recipe, Summer, Summer Cooking, Summer Meals, Summertime Pasta Salad
Posted in Blog, Recipes | 2 Comments »

The month of August kicks off some great shopping and deals! Part of learning how to save the most money is knowing when the best time of year is to purchase items at their rock bottom prices.

Back to School: It is a given that August is the month to stock up on all of your back to school supplies. The sales at office supply stores (Staples, Office Depot, Office Max), national chain stores (Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart) and drug stores (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid) are where the best deal are at. Grab your kids’ school supplies list and look for the best deals. Don’t just buy for the first day of school though, think about what you will need year round as replacements (pencils, glue, crayons, paper, etc) and purchase enough to last the year round. Don’t forget about supplies you may need at home for homework too. Many of the office supply stores have great 1 cent, 5 cent and other super cheap deals with a limit of one deal per person. So take the kids in with you, give them each a buck and teach them some math skills by letting them buy their own back to school supplies!

Tip! – No kids at home that’s ok August is also a great time to fill your home office supply drawer or closet with pencils, pens, glue, staples, paper clips and paper too. I buy not just for my kids but also for my home office too!

Back to school office supply deals to be watching for:

• Backpacks
• Book Covers
• Calculators
• Colored Pencils
• Crayons
• Erasers
• Folders
• Glue
• Lunch boxes & lunch bags
• Markers
• Notebooks
• Page Dividers
• Paper (both note book paper and copy paper)
• Paper Clips
• Pencil Sharpeners
• Pencils
• Pens
• Rubber Bands
• Rulers
• Staples & Staplers

Back to school grocery deals to be watching for: School supply shopping does not end in the office supplies section of the store. Deals are to be had on some great grocery items. Think “School lunches” when you think about the grocery sales as well as convenience foods for breakfast. August also kicks off promotions like the Kellogg’s Fuel for School (watch for coupons and rebates).

• Bread
• Cheese slices
• Cold Cereal
• Condiments such as mustard and mayonnaise
• Deli meat
• Disinfecting wipes (Clorox & Lysol)
• Drink pouches & juice boxes
• Facial Tissue (Kleenex & Puffs)
• Fresh Fish
• Frozen waffles
• Fruit and apple sauce cups
• Hand sanitizer (Purell)
• Jelly
• Juice
• Peanut Butter
• Pudding cups
• Raisins in snack pack mini boxes
• Snacks like cookies, crackers and chips
• Toaster pastries
• Tortillas (think sandwich wraps)

August produce: It is now the peak of the summer produce season and now is the time to get in on some great deals on summer favorites in the produce department, farmers markets or road side produce stands. Stock up now and fill your freezer or if you do home canning take advantage of great deals on the following during the peak of season.

• Apricots
• Basil
• Bell Peppers
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Garlic
• Grapes (red & green)
• Gravenstein Apples
• Green beans
• Hass Avocados
• Hot peppers
• Limes
• Melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew)
• Nectarines
• Okra
• Onion
• Peaches
• Pears (Asian & Bartlett)
• Plums
• Raspberries
• Shelling beans
• Summer squash
• Tomatillo
• Tomatoes
• Valencia Oranges

Other Sales & Clearance Deals:

August is a good time to pick up some items for the house too. Buy now when these items are at their lowest price points or on clearance.

Barbecue & Patio Equipment – As stores get ready for the autumn and winter seasonal items they will be marking down the prices on outdoor gear. This is the time of year to purchase a new grill or stock up on charcoal and lighter fluid for next season.

Bathing Suits & Beach Towels – Again watch for these to go on clearance and buy now for next summer. Look for markdowns in the 70-75% range.

Consumer Electronics - To along with the back to school supplies like crayons and glue it is also a good time to pick up a new computer (laptops more than desk tops as sales are geared towards the college kids). So if you are in the market now is the time to buy. Also look for sales on paper shredders, hand held calculators, keyboards and USB devices.

Home & Garden Centers - As summer projects winding down stores like Home Depot and Lowes Home Improvement will start trying to clear out lumber, home remodeling supplies and other project items.  Garden supplies will start to see the trend on markdowns as well. Look for discounts on hand tools, pots, potting soil, and watering cans. Air conditioners, dehumidifiers, lawn mowers and outdoor furniture are good bets as well. August is also the time of year to buy carpet. While not always the lowest price deals, if you are a gardener, August is the time to begin planning and ordering online or by mail your bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocus, etc.) for autumn planting.

Linens & Towels – Older kids going off to college means sales on twin and full sized bedding as well as linens in bright colors geared towards the younger age group.

Summer Clothing – Check the clearance racks for great markdowns on shorts, tank tops, sundresses and other summer clothing. Don’t forget to check the clearance racks for sunglasses, summer hats and sandals and flip flops as well.

Sunscreen & Insect repellent – You are supposed to wear sunscreen year round however in some parts of the country sunscreen can be hard to find in the winter and when you can find it, it is at full price. So watch for sunscreen to go on clearance as well at this time of year and stock up to last till next season. Watch the expiration dates however, although, most sunscreen has a 1 year expiration date so you should be OK.

Toys – Summer toys such as water guns, bubbles, kiddie pools, pool inflatable’s and other outdoor toys that have not been sold yet will be marked down heavily. Watch for 50-70% off sale prices as retailers try to move stock.

Tags: Air Conditioners, Apple Sauce Cups, Apples, Apricots, Asian Pears, August, August Produce, August Sales Cycles, Avocados, Back To School, Backpacks, Barbecue, Bartlet Pears, Basil, Bathing Suits, BBQ, Beach Towels, Bell Peppers, Blackberries, Blueberries, Book Covers, Bread, Bulbs, Calculator, Calculators, Cantaloupe, Carpet, Cheese Slices, Chips, Cold Cereal, Colored Pencils, Computers, Condiments, Consumer Electronics, Cookies, Copy Paper, Corn, crackers, Crayons, Crocus, Cucumber, CVS, Daffodils, Dehumidifiers, Deli Meat, Disinfecting Wipes, Drink Pouches, Eggplant, Erasers, Facial Tissue, Folders, Fresh Fish, Frozen Waffles, Fruit Cups, Garden, Garden Soil, Gardening, Garlic, Glue, Grapes, Gravenstein Apples, Green Beans, Green Grapes, Hand Sanitizer, Hass Avocados, Home Depot, Honey Dew Melon, Hot Peppers, Jelly, Juice, Juice Boxes, Keyboards, Kmart, Laptop, Lawn Mowers, Limes, Linens, Lowes Home Improvement, Lumer, Lunch Bags, Lunch Boxes, Lunch Meat, Markers, Mayonnaise, Melons, Mustard, Nectarines, Note Book Paper, Notebooks, Office Depot, Office Max, Office Supplies, Okra, Onion, Outdoor Furniture, Page Dividers, Paper Clips, Paper Shredder, Patio Equipement, Patio Sets, Peaches, Peanut Butter, Pears, Pencil Sharpeners, Pencils, Peppers, Plums, Produce, Pudding Cups, Purell, Rasins, Raspberries, Red Grapes, Rite Aid, Rubber Bands, Rulers, Sales Cycles, Sheets, Shelling Beans, Shorts, Staplers, Staples, Summer, Summer Clearance, Summer Clothing, Summer Squash, Sundresses, Sunglasses, Tank Tops, Target, Toaster Pastries, Tomatillos, Tomatoes, Tortillas, Towels, Tulips, USB Devices, Valencia Oranges, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Watering Cans, Watermelon, What To Buy In August
Posted in Articles, Frugal Living, Grocery Shopping | No Comments »

Pin It

If your favorite way to enjoy summer is grilling on the BBQ, don’t fret! You’re not relegated to endless nights of hamburgers and hot dogs because meat prices have gone crazy. In fact, there are all kinds of great deals out there to keep your grocery budget in line while enjoying gourmet delights on the grill.

Shop Early: Most stores have a policy about moving meat products quickly. Many butchers will immediately mark down yesterday’s meat before they start packaging for the day. The savings can be as high as 50 percent off the last marked price. If the meat was already on sale, the daily markdown savings can be as high as 75 percent off full retail!

Shop Late: Those morning markdowns are great, but most butchers would love to sell everything before going home at night. If there’s lots of meat in the case, I will routinely ask for a discount for taking large quantities home where I’ll further cut and wrap it myself. This is particularly true for bulk ground beef, which I’ve picked up for under 99 cents per pound as a reward for wiping out the entire case.

Buy bulk: Most meat departments have a cut/wrap free policy. If you buy the whole pork shoulder or rib roast rack, the store will cut it into the size and cut type you’d like. The savings can be as high as 40 to 60 percent higher than buying the smaller pack of the same item. Pre-marinate and freeze in zip-seal bags for later use.

Use a coupon: If your area stores offer coupons for $5 or $10 off a specific purchase amount, use them for buying meat, spending only up to the value required on the coupon. This gives you an additional 10 to 20 percent off your purchase.

Keep freezer supplies and a good knife on hand: You’d be amazed what you can do with a London broil on sale for $1.99 per pound. A four-pound piece can be easily turned into stir fry or fajita strips and stretch across five meals. Pork rib chops for $1.49 per pound can be braised, stuffed or sauced for a quick dinner. And beef ribs for 79 cents per pound can be served up with coleslaw, corn and watermelon for the perfect summer meal outside. And of course, there’s nothing wrong with the occasional burger or dog!

Any way you grill it, summer is a great time to cook outside, but it doesn’t have to bust your grocery budget.

Tags: Barbeque, BBQ, Bulk Shopping, Grilling, Shopping Tips, Summer, Summer Grilling
Posted in Articles, Cooking & Kitchen Tips, Frugal Living | No Comments »