Does breakfast have to be an expensive rush? Not with #BreakfastSavings

 Breakfast can be the hardest meal to fix in a rush and on a budget, but it doesn't have to be thanks to Safeway and this week's promotion.

  I recently took my son to Safeway to pick up a couple breakfast items that will make our mornings smoother. Normally I would coupon match and spend time on Safeway's Just for U sight to rock the savings, this time it was right after homeschool co-op so all I had was the weekly circular. I love the side bar ads (underneath they show the $5 Friday deals that are always winners). This week (February 27- March 5, 2013) is an awesome Buy 4 Save $4 Rise and Shine Savings.  I knew we needed some breakfast stuff for my picky kiddo (he doesn't like eggs, doesn't like pancakes, not a huge milk drinker, etc..)  So with the circular in hand we headed into our local Safeway store 

 Thankfully we found Milk on sale as well as cereal bars, yogurt, cereal, and even some vegetarian bacon.

My awesome little helped loaded all the groceries onto the conveyor belt for the cashier, glad he was there to see exactly what was available and what he got since he is my picky eater. I was also glad he could see the prices and the value of those various items as we shopped the store.  I usually just type in my phone number as soon as the cashier starts my order, but since my guy was with me and I wanted him to see the values I waited until the last minute to put my number in. 

We started with just under $30 in groceries and ended up just under $20, when we got home he made me check for coupons I might have that could have saved us more, I found a couple valued at about $1.50 or so, next time.

Our quick shopping trip sure made this morning's breakfast easier and affordable, two things that make this homeschooling mama a lot happier.

 

With great deals and our pantry organization projects breakfast is now a lot less stressful.

You can check out more pictures from our breakfast journey on Google

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Safeway #cbias #SocialFabric
 

Summer Smoothie Season helped by Awesome Deals at Safeway #JuneDairyMovies

Summer time means fresh fruit and vegetables, but it also means busy days that need fast breakfasts that are filling. How about some smoothies.

My family loves smoothies and I loving be able to make a variety of smoothies that help each person. I am also excited to be using the Safeway just for u personalized savings program to do my shopping. If you haven't signed up for personalized savings yet it is really easy, you can do it online or at your local Safeway or Safeway affiliate store and immediately start saving 10-20 % on average and more.

So with all those savings I love being able to pick up fun things to make smoothies with including Silk Coconut Milk, Silk Almond Milk, regular Milk, Fage Greek Yogurt,  Simply Orange juice, and sometimes even a not so healthy treat like Drumstick ice cream treats. I am still on the edge about making smoothies with greens but as the summer continues I may try it. 


So each morning when the boys want a smoothie I have options.  I love combining the Greek Yogurt , milk alternatives, and  fruit with a splash of orange juice to create a protein filled, low fat smoothie.


I love  creating a variety.
 How about Chocolate Almond milk,yogurt, and Chocolate Peanut Butter. This combination works best to make ahead and freeze or add ice, it is like a peanut butter cup ice cream shake.
My new favorite: Orange and Mango juice, Coconut Milk,Greek Yogurt, and homemade pineapple (it is actually zucchini canned in pineapple juice). Again ice helps but with this variety it is pretty thick.


Cameron enjoyed the "Pineapple smoothie as a morning breakfast during PBS morning shows. 
The next idea was to use the blender drink bottle and take it on the road. Worked out great. I can take my smoothie with me to run errands, head to the park, etc... I even put it in the freezer while we did some stuff around the house and then took it out as we left the house.


And the best part of this smoothie adventure, we scored a voucher for free movie tickets to see Ice Age Continental Drift when it hits theaters and the boys are crazy excited.  Here's the deal, purchase $40 in select Dairy products at Safeway or an affiliate store and received a Catalina voucher with a code to get your tickets during #JuneDairyMovies Month.

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• “I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Safeway #CBias #SocialFabric”

Cheese Please, who knew there was so much to learn

I was invited to learn about cheese and experience the new Murray's Cheese Shop  at the Burlingame Fred Meyer in Portland recently.
I've had a variety of cheeses in my life, but never really understood cheese. I along with other local area bloggers got a lesson in cheese, cheese and whine pairings, all while enjoying the newly renovated Fred Meyer location at Burlingame. The Burlingame Fred Meyer on Barbur Blvd is the oldest standing Fred Meyer location. It was opened in 1950, and today still have the vintage sign out front welcoming customers along Barbur Blvd in Portland, Oregon.

On a Lovely end of May Spring day these flowers added such a nice touch to the tables. Reminds me that I really need to work on my flower garden so I can have fresh arrangements on the table more often.

We had a plate with 5 cheeses , a spot of Hood River Honey Comb, and Quince Paste. Each cheese offered a different flavor, texture, and feel. We started at 12 o'clock on the plate with the La Tur a pasteurized Cow, sheep and goat milk cheese from Piedmont, Italy. Honestly, it felt like cheese cake without the sweetness.  Next at 2 o'clock on the plate was a Sartori Pepper Bellaavitano pasteurized Cow  cheese from Plymouth Wisconsin. This is a grate and crumble cheese meaning it can be grated or crumbled and is an interesting replacement for a basic Parmigiana cheese.  Our third cheese, Tumalo Farms Pondhopper a pasteurized Goat cheese from Bend, Oregon; this cheese was also in the bag of goodies we were sent home with so I enjoyed this semi-hard cheese with a tangy flavor for a few weeks after. Moving around the plate to 8 o'clock is an Aged Manchego, a pasteurized sheep cheese from Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.  This is a "Cheese 101" staple according the experts. I have to agree with the description as a nutty, caramel flavor.  Finally another Oregon cheese, the Rogue Creamery Caveman Blue from Central Point.  I will be totally honest with you, until this tasting I was NOT a fan of blue cheese. We tasted it along and it was very salty but not too funky. Next we added the Honeycomb to a bit of the blue cheese and surprisingly it totally changed the texture and flavor of the cheese..

After the cheese tasting we mingled and talked with several of the employees including Amy Pitzer the Cheese Master. She has an amazing ability to figure out what cheese someone is describing and also gave up some great ideas for sandwiches with some of the cheeses we sampled. She also pointed out the amazing deals during  the Burlingame Grand Opening on what else, cheese. These prices are good through June 16, 2012 and include a Parmigianon Reggiano for $6 off per pound, Buy 1 Get 1 free on Crave Brothers 8 oz. Fresh Mozzarella, BOGO Margaux Mini Brie, save $7 per pound on Cave Aged Gruyere and several others.

We received a wonderful bag of goodies to take home and create with including a cheese cutter, a slate stone with slate chalk to sample cheese and label it, crackers, 2 cheeses, and a salami.  I got home earlier enough that evening to have the boys sample the cheese with some crackers (I'm saving the crackers from the bag for another day). I was surprised that Cameron my picky eater actually enjoyed both of the cheeses.

 The next day I created a simple sandwich for a late breakfast. I used a Whole Wheat Sourdough from Great Harvest Bread, thin slices on the Tumalo Farms,  Pondhopper , baby spinach , grape tomatoes halfed, and a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar.  I love simple sandwiches with lots of flavor.

We also tried adding the Aged Manchego to grilled cheese sandwiches and found the flavor it added to really make a basic grilled cheese a whole lot better.


Thank you to Fred Meyer and the Murray's Cheese Shop for hosting this amazing event and for the gift bag full of cheese, goodies, and a bottle of wine.

A savings program designed for you: just for u

Recently I joined13 other local bloggers for a day hosted by Safeway Regional office to introduce the new Safeway just for u program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I carpooled with another local blogger Tina Kelley the Mad Hatter Mom, actually she drove ….

We were greeted with an amazing breakfast spread and got to meet the other bloggers as well as some of the Safeway executives, some who had been with Safeway for over 40 years.

We were introduced to the just for u savings program and to the local president Steve Frisby who talked about the program and the rollout of the program. Steve has been with Safeway for 41 years and was an amazing host.

I was privileged to hang out with an amazing group of bloggers.

We were treated to an amazing spread for breakfast and  lunch. By the way if you ever see Buffalo Chicken Salad in your Safeway deli you HAVE to sample it, needless to say it was amazing!

After lunch we were given a chance to put what we had learned about the program into practice at the Oregon City Safeway.

We rode over to the Safeway store in a tour bus which gave us a chance to visit some more with the staff and the other bloggers.

After a brief press conference including  local media, we began our shopping with the new program.

I have to say , the carts at this store where perfect for carrying my large “purse” which is actually a Thirty-One gifts All in One organizing tote, perfect for carrying my coupons, planner, netbook, phone, etc…

 

Since I  didn’t know we were going to be shopping, I was totally shopping on the fly; I did manage to save34% using personalized savings, clickable coupons, club card savings, and a couple of clearance finds in the meat section. 

I love the personalized deals, these deals are based on my shopping history and are offers the system knows I can use.  We also found out at least in our  region, we will continue to have  double coupons for paper coupons and those deals can be stacked with club card savings or personalized deals for even greater savings.

Since the event in May, I have been averaging 37-54% in savings every trip with one recent trip my savings were 67%. They say the average customer will save 10-20%, but will a little extra planning greater savings are possible,   especially with the Safeway app on my phone.  I highly recommend going to Safeway.com and setting your account up, better yet visit your local Safeway store and find the just for you station where an associate will help get you signed up and you can even print your savings list.

#safewayjust4u

 

Thank you Safeway for hosting me and fellow bloggers and for blessing my family  with gift cards and Safeway branded goodies.

Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday from orgjunkie.com

Sunday: Shephard's pie (with ground lamb) inspired by the chick n' coop 's recent post

Monday: KFC for Papa's 80th  birthday (recently got coupons in the mail so this is a treat)
Tuesday: chili mac (with short spaghetti noodles from Safeway)
Wednesday: Grilled Salmon with Peach and Pineapple Salsa and Balsamic reduction (another Safeway inspired dinner)
Thursday: Stew (Beef and Vegetable most likely)
Friday: Casserole (probably Tator Tot Cassresole since I still have ground beef in the freezer)

Yes I know it is Sunday but I have a busy week so I figured I would post the menu for the week sooner rather than later.

On a side note this week's menu was inspired by my recent visit to the Safeway Regional office in Clackamas as part of their launch of the just for u program. 4 of the menu items for this week were either purchased or received from Safeway during the Blogger event I attended.  Stay turned for my write up on the Safeway launch.

Some awesome deals I found for you

Social Spark has a new program with deal I get to share with my readers. Here are the ones I thought deserved a spot on the blog today.







Leave a comment if you would like to see more deals like this and I will make it a regular spot