Costco Coupons (Today - 9/1/13)

Now, you may remember that Miss MoneyPenny mentioned last summer that you would be able to use your smartphone at Costco instead of cutting out those pesky coupons and leaving them at home when you went shopping.  That time has arrived!!  Whoohoo!!  Grab your phone and download this free app and you will be in business.  All you have to do is show it at checkout. 

For those of us that are considered "family" and do not receive the coupons in the mail, we will no longer be able to pick up the coupon books at the warehouse, so this is how we are going roll.  Couldn't be easier.

There are several good coupons that you can use through Sunday, the 1st.  I do wonder if they are really all that special or that I just feel so good after the cortisone shot to the hip.  No wonder athletes love their steroids!! 

Anyway, if you haven't yet got hold of one of those Electrolux Ergorapido Stick Vacs, now is your chance because there is a coupon for $20 off.  Costco normally sells these at the best price but the coupon makes it a steal.  Miss MoneyPenny gave it her seal of approval in 2012 and Good Housekeeping gave it their VIP Award for 2013.  I don't know what took them so long.  This vac is the only thing for hard floors, although I've been known to drag it across the bedroom carpet for a quick pick up.

Here are my suggestions:

Best Foods Mayonnaise - $2 (think lunchboxes)
Glad 13-gal Garbage Bags - $3
Shout - $2.50
Tide - $2.50
Gain - $4.50
Huggies - $6
Colgate Toothpaste - $4
Dove Bar Soap 16ct - $3
Brita Pitcher/Filters - $8
Sonicare Brushheads - $10
Electrolux Ergorapido Stick Vac - $20

Don't forget - if you need a set of tires ($70 coupon) or a new smartphone, Costco is the place.

QFC Grocery Basket 8/28

You know for sure that you are a true NorthWest girl when you are happy to see the rain.  And didn't we all sleep better last night in the cool air with the rain on the roof??

The above picture is my other begonia and isn't she a beauty??  I decided to do bulbs this year instead of starts and I think I got better results.  These bulbs came from Costco and I will be buying them again next spring.  You can't beat the price.

My grocery shopping this summer has been minimal due to my big producing garden and friends who share and trade.  Which reminds me - I need to take care of my boy, Mr. CutiePie, for remembering me with some delicious King Salmon that he won the derby with.  On Sunday, Mr. SuperGenius brought me over some of his garlic and some yummy blueberry jam that his mom made.  I sent him home with potatoes.  It doesn't get any better than this.

QFC has a decent ad for the holiday weekend.  Didn't it show up early this year??  Anyway, here are what I consider to be interesting:

4 Day Sale (Fri - Mon):

Peaches - $ .99/lb (for freezer or jam)
Darigold Butter - $2/lb (freezes well)

Regular ad:

Dave's Killer Bread - $3.99/loaf
Tully's Coffee - $5.99/12oz
Kroger Sour Cream - $1/16oz
Tillamook Ice Cream - 3/$10 56oz
Fresh Wild King Salmon - $12.99/lb
Fresh Wild Dover Sole - $5.99/lb
USDA Choice Ribeye - $5.99/lb
Driscoll's Strawberries - $2.50/16oz
Green Onions/Radishes - $ .50/bunch
Hermiston Whole Watermelon - $ .39/b
Medium Hass Avocados - $ .99/ea
Tomatoes on the Vine - $ .99/lb

I took some snaps of my haul from the garden this morning so you can see what I mean when I say that the garden is producing like gangbusters. 

This is a broiler pan of green beans ready to roast in the oven.  I've been picking beans since the middle of July which is really early for them.  The more you pick, the more they grow.

Where can you get beautiful lettuce like this?? and so many varieties.  I've been experimenting with summer slow bolt varieties this year and have been quite happy with them.  I get my seeds from Territorial and am giving them the Famous MoneyPenny Seal of Approval for being the best seeds for our climate.

I pick a colander full of strawberries about every couple of days.  So far I've just been hogging them down but I might just get ambitious and make some freezer jam.  I will thank myself this winter.

Summer CatchUp

My sister, Miss SmartyPants, and I have decided that 2013 is going to go down as a crap year healthwise.  Both of us have had issues all year that have seriously gotten in the way of our everyday activities and plans.  I've been dealing all summer with a blown-out hip and I now know why old people walk funny.  It's not because they think it looks cool.  Who knew??  They are in pain!!

I had no idea that I had a bad hip.  I had been going to the chiropractor and physical therapist for pain in my lower back from a big gardening push.  I just kept getting worse and my hip started to bother so I asked for x-rays.  Why don't doctors want to do x-rays??  I spent a fortune on therapy that just made me worse. 

Anyway, lo and behold, the pictures told the story.  After consulting Dr. Watters, I got signed up for a new hip.  That was so not on my wave length!!  I have opted to wait until November when I am 65 to have the surgery.  I would go broke with just one insurance company but combined with Medicare it should be doable. 

In the meantime I have spent the last six weeks trying every pain medicine out there and throwing up.  I haven't thrown up so much since I was pregnant in 1973, so I decided to have a cortisone shot, and hope for the best.  The  Bradster hauled me down there yesterday for the procedure and I'm really doing much better.  Not wonderful but I can walk (funnily) without a cane.  I'm hoping to hold out until I can give myself a new hip for my birthday.

It is a good thing that I had most of my garden in before everything went to hell because I can barely get it watered and harvested.  Forget weeding.  Here is the before picture:

Doesn't everything look neat and tidy??  Check it out this morning:

Granted it would look better if Chris could get over here and mow but he is so busy with everybody else's big paying yards that he only gets it done every couple of weeks.  Even though my garden isn't beautiful this year it has been a great producer.  Between the garden and friends who share I don't need much from the store - milk, eggs, bread.

My new strawberry patch has been crazy its first year.  I wonder what they do in the store to make strawberries tasteless.  Mine are a party in my mouth - just bursting with sweetness and flavor.

If you are getting overwhelmed with produce from your garden and have given as much away as your friends will take, try roasting your catch.  I fill a big pan with everything (my last pan consisted of onions, zucchini, crooked neck, tomatoes, green beans) add olive oil, salt and pepper, pepper flakes, and roast it at 400 until done.  I then add the roasted veggies to two servings of cooked pasta and a couple tablespoons of pesto.  It ends up being this big bowl of fabulousness that you eat on for several days and not feel too guilty.  Add a squirt of lemon and some parmesan and I'm in heaven.