frugal friday - april

The year is flying by! March's post somehow got lost, too, so here's April's.

• No Spend Days: 8
• Grocery deals: $1.99 NatureSweet Glorys tomatoes, free jar of Kroger pasta sauce
• Wegmans had an Earth Day coupon for a free reusable bag, which I redeemed
• I was checking out at Kroger and a worker said "you can use that coupon" - someone had left a $2 off your next purchase coupon on the machine. She said most people don't check the coupon machine
• Arby's is having a free sandwich month - one free sandwich each week in April with a purchase. I redeemed two sandwiches by buying a juice box ($1.99) while running errands. I don't normally eat meat, but I also don't turn down a free meal
• My dad was getting rid of a few bins of linens/clothing/bedding that were from our childhood, so my brother and I went through them and I brought home an 80s pastel flower Corningware, some potholders, a blanket, some t-shirts/sweatshirts, and some linens I could use at home 
• I took some clothing and shoes and such to Uptown Cheapskate and made $14.00 and they donated the rest to a local thrift shop

• Here are all my birthday month perks that I redeemed!
• A $10 reward from mezeh* (I got a bowl for 72¢!)
• 5¢ off per gallon in addition to the normal 3¢ off at Sheetz - equaling 8¢ off per gallon total
• free slice of birthday cake from Fresh Market
• free vanilla shake from Arby's
• free chicken salad sandwich meal complete with a side of pasta salad, pickle, and a cookie from Chicken Salad Chick
• free Trenta Peach Iced Black Tea from Starbucks,
• free slice of Birthday Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (my dad took me out for a birthday lunch!)
• free McChicken from McDonald's
• free pecan braid from Panera

I'm still decluttering! I don't know how I accumulated this much junk.

• Lot of 8 embroidery hoops, a dog bucket hat, - sold and shipped with recycled shipping materials
• Two metal dog bowls found in the pantry, an insulated Grubhub bag, four unopened rolls of Christmas gift wrap, a makeup brush cleaning device, a 12x12 craft project box - given away
• A tube of Aquaphor lip balm, several gift bags, my Stanley lid, two mini tubes of Carmex - chewed up by Og the wonder-chewy puppy
• A 12-drawer rolling cart - sold on Facebook Marketplace

I've done really well with food waste lately, so hopefully I can keep it up into April

• Eating through the pantry/freezer: hardboiled the last of the eggs for Ogden, the last of some rice from an Indian delivery, a bag of frozen peaches, a vegan tikka masala from Trader Joe's, 
• I had one almost shriveled yellow squash to use up so I made a little casserole for one with minced garlic, basil paste, thyme, garlic powder, s&p, with breadcrumbs and parmesan on top

Here are some birthday offers I received but didn't redeem, for reference:

• $5 off any service at a local nail salon
• Bruster's added a $3 reward to my account
• Coldstone Creamery sent me a buy one get one free reward
• Free shipping on a $50 purchase from LTD Commodities
• IKEA sent me a coupon for $10 off a $10 purchase
• Box Lunch sent me a $5 reward

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recipe // savory stuffed mushrooms

I make a living as a cook and I was tasked with making these stuffed mushrooms for a catering event one evening. They were absolutely delicious. I adapted the recipe for a smaller portion that's easily taken to get togethers!

Savory Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

20-25 medium sized cremini mushrooms, destemmed (save the stems)

2 cups roasted red peppers, finely diced

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

3 tbsp minced garlic

4 cups spinach, finely chopped

1 cup parmesan cheese (I used finely shredded)

1/2 cup feta cheese, big bits crumbled

2 cups breadcrumbs

3 tbsp Lawry's Garlic, Rosemary, & Lemon Rub (or you can sub s&p, garlic powder, rosemary, and lemon zest/lemon pepper)

1/2 cup fresh chives, finely diced, for garnish

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350°

-Begin by removing the stems from the mushrooms. Keep the stems - you'll be finely dicing 1/3 of them and using them in the stuffing

-Bake the mushroom caps for about 10 minutes, remove from oven and cool

-Finely dice the roasted red peppers, onion, mushroom stems

-Mix the vegetables, garlic, and seasoning - sautee these in a pan with olive oil until they start to brown

-Finely chop the spinach and mix into the sauteed mix after the vegetables start to brown to wilt the spinach

-Once the spinach is wilted, remove the mix from heat and cool

-Mix the vegetables and parmesan/feta/bread crumbs together - add olive oil if too dry

-Mold the mix into sizeable balls that fit the mushroom caps

-Stuff the caps with the mix, then bake until the tops of the mix is crisp

-Once removed from the oven, top with fresh chives

Plate them in a shallow serving dish for easy pick up!

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

2024 reading challenge & small book haul

Every year I've pledged on my Goodreads Reading Challenge to read 50 books per year. And every year I have failed. HOWEVER, 2024 is my year to succeed. I dug out my Kindle, ordered some stickers for it, and I'm determined to read as much as I can this year. I have dozens and dozens of books sitting around my apartment and I'm determined to make a dent in them this year!

I met my dad for lunch one day and after we'd parted ways it was raining and gloomy (my favorite weather!) so I stopped by the local Barnes & Noble armed with a partial gift card and grabbed a coffee (tall skinny vanilla latte with oat milk, no whip, at kids' temp) and wandered around waiting for something to catch my eye. The book gods didn't disappoint! I first spotted the book about Secretariat (of whom I am still a huge fan). I grew up not far from Meadow Farm, so he's always had a soft spot in my heart. I find WWII interesting (in that morbid way) and grabbed this bargain book. Lastly, medical controversy has always intrigued me, especially lobotomies, so I can't wait to delve into that one. I rarely pay full price for books, so this was a little treat.

Here's to reading more this year! Be sure to add me on Goodreads!

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

frugal friday - february

The year is flying by! Somehow my Frugal Friday post for January got deleted, so here's starting the year with February. 😑

• Grocery deals: $1.49 blackberries, $2.99 strawberries, $1.44 markdown spring mix, free bag of Cheetos, $3.99 Freschetta pizza, $1.99 bag of Thomas bagels (into the freezer), $1.49 two liter of root beer, 99¢ tube of Colgate toothpaste, $3.99 bag of Totino's pizza rolls, $1.88 markdown bag of butter lettuce, 2 red peppers for 99¢
• I redeemed a free ebook from Amazon First Reads 
• After months of searching, I finally thrifted a push-lever salad spinner for $10!
• While I did order delivery food, I stayed in to watch the Super Bowl via Paramount+'s free trial week
• Over a four-day weekend, I only ordered one meal for delivery
• I picked up a second job that's part time. I really like seeing the number in my high interest savings account go up.

I'm still decluttering!

• A book on Pango - sold and mailed using recycled mailing supplies
• I unsubscribed from a bunch of email lists
• A slow feeder that was just a little too deep for Og, a Clarisonic facial brush - sold on Facebook Marketplace
• My old hair dryer that I had upgraded, four Yeti stickers - given away on Facebook
• The table and six chairs I borrowed for Friendsgiving - passed back to my dad when we met for lunch one weekend
• The 12 belly bands from when I had my two late elderly dogs - mailed to a senior dog sanctuary

I've done really well with food waste lately, so hopefully I can keep it up into February

• I used up a bunch of leftovers from work - cheesy mac, some delicious soup, salad toppings

Frugal Fails:

• Ogden has now chewed through four phone cases since the beginning of December, I'm on number 5 now

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*