Giveway -- Monsters Cereal Prize Pack

Remember the Monster cereals from when we were kids?  Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry?  Our house was a strictly healthy cereal home, except when my Grandma would buy a box of Monster cereal for us each year for a treat at Halloween.  Oh how we looked forward to those marshmallows!

My husband still looks forward to these cereals each year!  He is especially fond of Boo Berry (he loves blue food--I don't know why!) and slurps it down like one of the kids.  :)

For more than 40 years, General Mills´ Monster Cereals have provided spoonfuls of spooky traditions in their Count Chocula®, Boo Berry® and Franken Berry® cereals that combine chocolate, blueberry and strawberry flavored cereal with colorful marshmallow shapes.   Each serving of the playful, monster-themed cereal is low in fat with no cholesterol or saturated fat, providing a good source of calcium, whole grain and nine other essential vitamins and minerals.

From September 26-October 31, head to your local Target® checkout aisle and check out the new package look and pick up cereal to fill your favorite breakfast cauldron this year! Also, visit www.grocerysavvy.com, where you watch a fun "Let´s Go Disco" video and download a desktop background of your favorite Monsters character.  You can also print lots of coupons!

Win It:

One lucky reader will win a Monster Cereals prize pack which includes one box each of Count Chocula®, Boo Berry® and Franken Berry® cereal, a special trick-or-treat tote bag (nice and sturdy!) and a $10 Target® gift card to purchase Halloween goodies or more cereal!  Winner will be randomly chosen on October 10th.  To enter, fill in the form below. 

Disclosure: The inofrmation and images, and the prize packs for myself and the winner are courtesy of General Mills and My Blog Spark.

Target Weekly Deals 10/3 - 10/9

If you haven't made your Target trip yet, here's a few deals to look out for.

Note:  Bring your own reusuable bags!  Target will give you a 5¢ credit for each one you use.

Beauty and the Beast  Blu-ray Combo Pack, with bonus Disney Princess CD - $24.99
Use the $10.00 coupon (Disney Movie Rewards members, coupon expires 10/12)

TOTAL (for Blu Ray, DVD, and music CD) = $14.99
Kraft String Cheese (singles) - $.50 each
Use the $1.00 off 2 Kraft String Cheese Target coupon
TOTAL = 2 for FREE!

Market Pantry Bread - $.99
Use the $.50 off Market Pantry bread Target coupon
TOTAL = $.49
 
Lunchables (small ones) - $1.00
Use the Target $1.00 off 2 Lunchables coupon
TOTAL =  Two for $1.00

Motts  6 pack Applesauce,  64 oz Apple juice, or Mott's for Tots juice 
Buy 5 and get a $5.00 Target gift card
Use the $1.00 Mott's Medley Juice Target coupon (print 2 per computer)
TOTAL =  $.75 each, PLUS a $5 Target GC when you buy 5

Reach Dental Floss - $.97
Use the $1.00 Reach product coupon
TOTAL =  FREE!

Glade Tough Odor Solutions - $1.99

Use the $1.00 printable Glad coupon
AND use the $1.00 Glade Tough Odor Target coupon (under Household)
TOTAL = FREE!

Up and Up Food Storage Bags
Use the $.50 Target coupon

New Month = New Coupons

October is here, and so are the new coupons!




*Don't forget you can print each coupon twice;  print the ones you want now and hang onto them because the most popular coupons sometimes reach their print limit quickly and are removed from the sites.

Coupons.com has over 230 coupons up right now (that's about 50 move than usual), and there are some good ones.  If your store doubles manufacturer's coupons, these can save a bunch of money off your grocery bill. Here's a sampling (about 10%) of the coupons available:

$5.00 off Evenflo car seat
$.75 off General Mills cereal
$.50 off Fleishmans yeast
$.50 off Egg Beaters
$.55 off Hormel pepperoni
$1.00 off 2 Nabisco crackers
$1.00 off Nature Valley Granola Thins
$1.00 off Hormel Always Tender Pork product
$1.00 off Nivea
$.55 off DanActive
$1.00 off Oscar Mayer deli meat
$.75 off Voskos Greek yogurt
$3.00 off Huggies Pure and Natural
$1.00 off 8th Continent Soy Milk
$.50 off Cinnabon Nuts
$1.50 off Playtex tampons
$.75 off Muir Glen tomatoes
$2.00 off Purina Beneful
$.50 off Chex Mix
$5.00 off 2 Focus Factor for Kids
$.25 off Woman's Day magazine
$1.00 off Welch's juice


Redplum.com has also reset, and also has more coupons than usual. Here's a sampling of the brands with coupons:

Sherman Williams
Ball (canning jars)
Build-a-Bear
Swiss Miss Pudding
Mrs. T's Pierogies
Hillshire Farms
Centrum
Degree
Sensodyne
L'Oreal
e.p.t
Schick
Starbucks Via

Gooseberry Patch -- Free Recipes, downloads

Gooseberry Patch has a bunch of free recipes on Scribd to view and print. If you're not familiar with Gooseberry Patch, they make collectible country cookbooks, calendars and organizers.


Family Favorite Recipes with Sun Dried Raisins and Dried Fruit (36 pp.)

Macaroni and Cheese (26 pp.)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes (26 pp.)

One of the chocolate chip recipes is for Great Pumpkin Cookies with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting.  Sounds perfect for this time of year!

They also have some cute free downloads which would make nice desktop backgrounds and would be nice for crafts.

5 Points - Disney Movie Rewards

Apply the code T2PW84BG6Y to your Disney Movie Rewards account and you'll get 5 points.

Target Free Sample Site

It seems Target has jumped on the free sample bandwagon, and will be sending out samples like Walmart, Kroger, and Sam's Club does.  Nice!  Gotta love more freebies, right?

If you go to http://samples.target.com (remember to right click it to open it in a new tab), you can get a sample of Glad Odor Shield trash bags and  Tide Acti-Lift detergent.

Free Bottle of Advil

If you are among the first 500,000 people to request it, you'll get a coupon valid for one (1) free package of Advil,  either 24 count Advil® Tablets or 20 count Advil® LIQUI-GELS.

Thanks, Coupon Cravings

Today-- Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

Today (October 4th) is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, one of my favorite saints!  I was fortunate to have visited Assisi when I was in college, and I love the place.  It is so beautiful!

We'll do a few of these activities today:

• Read a history of St. Francis

• Make a bird feeder and hang it in one of our trees -- Spread peanut butter or honey mixed with shortening onto a bagel, pinecone or rice cake. Sprinkle with bird seed and hang for a treat for the birds and squirrels.

• St. Francis Coloring page

• Go through clothes and toys and donate to the poor, like St. Francis 

• Catholic Cuisine has a recipe for a Tonsure cake (it's a bundt cake--you could use your favorite recipe and just bake in a bundt cake pan if you have one)

• Have an Italian dinner. The cuisine of Umbria uses lots of dried fruits and nuts, which my kids aren't always fond of, so we'll probably make Chicken Saltimbocca (chicken breasts topped with sage and thin prosciutto, sauteed in wine) with a side of gnocchi. It's special, it's Italian, it's very yummy, and it's easy!

Crisco "What's for Dinner?" Contest

Visit Crisco Que Hay deCenar?/What's for Dinner and enter the contest to win one of 10 daily $20 Visa gift cards. All first time entrants will receive a Crisco coupon (just in time for holiday baking!).

One grand prize winner will receive the new line of gourmet cookware from and one year of Crisco products, valued at over $1000.

You can enter everyday through December 31st. I really want one of those Visa gift cards

As you stop by to enter the contest, take a peek at the recipes, too--there is a new Crisco recipe posted everyday, and there will be some exclusive recipes from Chef Michelle Bernstein and the Crisco kitchen.

Halloween Costumes -- Online Shopping

My kids have very specific "things"  or people they want to be each Halloween, and I try (when possible) to acquiesce.   Over the years our kids' costumes have included a cowgirl (on a horse), a veterinarian, pirate, bunch of grapes (purple balloons pinned to purple/green clothes with pipecleaner stems on the head), a pink poodle, Sherlock Holmes, and the usual assortment of fairies and princesses.

I'm not the most crafty person, so making costumes isn't my forte (the bunch of grapes is as crafty as I get!).  I know my limits, and shopping for fabric, cutting, sewing, and gluing for hours/days to make four kids costumes just doesn't fit into our busy schedule or sound enjoyable.  I'd much rather just pick up a couple of costumes and be done with it so we can all just have fun rather than stress about "getting everything done"  in time for Halloween.   After all, the kids only wear their costumes for a couple of hours just to get that bag full of candy, right?  :)

Although many stores sell costumes around Halloween, the selection and size choice is rather limited.  Like with most things, shopping online allows for a much broader selection.  I had the opportunity to review a costume from wholesalecostumeclub.com.  I sat my middle daughter (6 years old) down with me to shop online.  She's the girl who has wanted to be a princess or fairy every year.  We were amazed at the hundreds and hundreds of costumes to choose from:  scary costumes, cute costumes, movie-related costumes, historical costumes, animal costumes...  We obviously searched under girl costumes, and then narrowed it down by size.  After browsing through hundreds of costumes and saying "maybe that one" a few times, she saw the one she wanted and there was no turning back.  My little angel chose to be a little angel. I guess she likes costumes with wings... :)

We received the Heaven Sent Child Costume about a week later, and my daughter just HAD to try it on right away.  It came with the dress that has shimmery sleeves, the wings and a headband halo. Awww...  Isn't she cute?

Halloween evenings in Ohio can be cool , so she'll need to wear clothes under the dress to stay warm enough.  I think with a long white T-shirt and warm white tights underneath she should be fine.  As for her arms, I'm thinking about keeping her warmer by making some clouds for her--buying some white fiberfill from the craft store, stretching it out and making a hole in the middle so it can go over her head and onto her shoulders and upper arms. We'll try it out and see.  My little angel is very excited!

Now all my girls have their costumes set.  Three kids down, one boy costume to go...

Disclosure:  I was able to select a costume of my choice from wholesalecostumeclub.com for review purposes.  No monetary compensation was received.  This post was written by me and all opinions expressed are solely my own.

Saturday Only--Free Blockbuster Express Rental

Get a free movie rental for the weekend!  Use the promo code 1FREE at any blockbuster express kiosk  on Saturday (10/2) and you'll get your movie for free. 

*Only the first night is free. You'll be charged for any subsequent nights.

Veggie Tales Deal on New DVD

Buy the new Veggie Tales DVD, "It's a Meaningful Life" for $14.99 and you'll get the Saint Nicholas DVD for free.  Hurry, though, the bonus movie free deal ends 10/5.

To sweeten the deal even more, you can get free shipping if you spend $30 or more and use the code FREESHIP232.

We love Veggie Tales, and we love It's a Wonderful Life, so this looks like a fun one!

Free Historical Thinking Poster

Get a free "Historical Thinking" poster from teachinghistory.com.  I think I'll stick it in my homeschooling drawer.

Free Butter Recipe Brochure

Wisconsin Cheese is offering a free baking with butter recipe holiday brochure.  Browse the recipes online or request a copy be sent to you.

The Smoked Almond Chocolate Shortbread sounds yummy!