Coupon Claim Newsletter – Summer Fun and Savings – June 7, 2012

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Yay!!! Summer vacation is finally here! It’s time for backyard barbecues, pool parties, picnics at the park and a plethora of activities to bring family and friends together. Her at Coupon Claim, we hope that your summer is filled with fun times, many great memories and, of course, lots of money saving opportunities!

 

This Week’s Savings from Coupon Claim:

Miss this week’s coupon section in your local paper? You can print the ones of your choosing by going directly to the source. 
Spring Has Sprung Sitewide Savings! Save 3% Off $299 With Coupon Code SPRING3 At Venting Dire Build 
Save 20% at Web.com when you choose tem to build your website.
Save $5 on $50 at Home Depot with the code: THDDAD5
Save 15% at the Pampered Puppy. Use code SMIM15

Freebies:

Get a free sample of Bodycology(r) Wild Poppy Nourishing Cream. Make your skin feel smoother with this free beauty sample! Get your Free sample of Bodycology(r) body cream now! 
Have you ever tried Purex Laundry Detergent? Here’s your chance! Right now you can receive a FREE sample of Purex Triple Action. Free sample of Purex: 

McDonald’s has buy one get one free coupons for their Real Fruit Smoothies, Cherry Berry Chillers or Frappes. Simply enter your name and click print. Make sure to print all the copies you’ll want. These great coupons expire 7/31/2012.
Try free samples of Arm and Hammer’s Sensitive toothpaste. Arm and Hammer’s Sensitive toothpaste formula offers maximum pain relief without a prescription. You must copy and paste the following link into your browser to access these free samples: http://tryahsensitive.com/

Shallow Pocket Tips:

Planning a summer getaway? Perhaps you would like to get away, but don’t want to break the bank to do so. Here are a few tips to help you save money.
Consider a vacation rental home, especially for longer stays. Renting an apartment, condo or house can often be cheaper than a hotel room. In addition, it gives you the opportunity to eat a meal or two “in” rather than eating out 3 times a day.

  • Be flexible. If you don’t need to travel on a specific date, Bing Travel will show you when fares are cheapest to a destination of your choice. Travelocity will search most domestic fares and many international ones over a 330-day search period. If you’re looking to get away but don’t have a particular destination in mind, Airfarewatchdog.com will show you the cheapest flights out of the airport nearest to you. You also can save money if you’re flexible about which airport you fly out of or into.
  • Do your homework. Check out vacation spots online before you go, as many places will have special online deals. Also, look to see what area restaurants offer specials. Many places offer early bird coupons, or kids eat free on certain days of the week.
  • Maximize your money. Getting out the calculator and seeing what you get for your money at one place versus what you’d pay at a competitor will easily tell the tale of value. Don’t be afraid to call up several places and pit them against each other to get a better price!
  • Compare transportation options. Don’t limit your transportation options to just flying or driving. Depending on the distance, day of the week, and time of year, it may be more cost-effective to take a train.

Recipes for the Month:

There are many ways to stretch your food budget. But, perhaps one of the best is by making items that have more than one use. Here are a couple of recipes/ideas that start as one item but easily can be changed into something else later on.
Baked Chicken & Roasted Veggies
3 to 4 lb chicken, cut into 8 parts (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 wings)
Olive oil (Could also use all breast)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup of chicken stock* or white wine for the gravy (optional)

  • Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse chicken pieces in water and pat dry with paper towels. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil. Rub some olive oil over all of the chicken pieces in the roasting pan. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange the pieces skin-side up in the roasting pan so the largest pieces are in the center (the breasts) and there is a little room between pieces so they aren’t crowded in the pan.
  •  Cook for 30 minutes at 400°F. Then lower the heat to 350°F and cook for 10-30 minutes more (approximately 14 to 15 minutes per pound total cooking time) until juices run clear (not pink) when poked with a sharp knife or the internal temperature of the chicken breasts is 165°F and the thighs 170°. If your chicken pieces aren’t browning to your satisfaction, you can put them under the broiler for the last 5 minutes of cooking, until browned sufficiently.
  •  Remove roasting pan from oven. Remove chicken from roasting pan to a serving plate. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
  • Pour the wine/stock and dripping mixture into a small saucepan and heat on medium high to reduce to desired thickness.

*While the chicken pieces are baking, if you bought a whole chicken that was then cut into pieces, you may have the back, the neck, and some gizzard pieces to use for making chicken stock. You can chop up the back a little, put it and the neck and gizzards (not the liver) into a small saucepan, barely cover with water, bring to a simmer, cook while the chicken is cooking. When the chicken in the oven is done cooking, use the stock from simmering the extra pieces to make the gravy.

Roasted veggies—2-3 cups of fresh veggies of your choice. Virtually any veggie works for this, just be sure that veggies are cut into similar size pieces! Toss all veggies with approximately ¼ cup of olive oil plus garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Great summer choices are zucchini, red or yellow bell peppers, onions, carrots, cherry tomatoes and green beans.
***Re-use: chop up any remaining chicken and use in a pasta salad.

 

Pot Roast Recipe
Cook time: 4 hours
3 1/2 lb of beef shoulder or boneless chuck roast (look for a piece that is well marbled with fat for best results) **Coupon Claim tip—shop for meat on Sunday evenings as many stores will have their meats marked down as a result of over ordering for the weekend.
2 Tbsp olive
Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning to taste
2 large yellow onions, thickly sliced, lengthwise (root to tip), about 4 cups sliced onion
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
Potatoes—1 per person, plus one extra
1/2 cup of red wine
1 bay leaf
Several carrots, peeled and cut lengthwise

1. Use a thick-bottomed covered pot (oven-proof if you intend to cook in oven), such as a Dutch oven, just large enough to hold roast and vegetables. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil on medium high heat (hot enough to sear the meat). Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Sprinkle and rub salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning all over the meat. Brown roast in pot, all over, several minutes on each side. Don’t move the roast while a side is browning, or it won’t brown well.
2. When roast is browned, remove from pan and set on a plate. Add the onions to the pan and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, until they begin to brown. Add the garlic and carrots to sit on top of the onions. ****Set the roast on top of the onions, garlic and carrots. Add 1/2 cup of red wine. Add the bay leaf. Cover. Bring to simmer and then adjust the heat down to the lowest heat possible to maintain a low simmer when covered. If cooking in the oven, start the temp at 300°F for 15 minutes, then drop it to 200°F. ****Could also be done in a slow cooker, once at this point.
3. Cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or longer, until meat is tender.
4. After cooking 3 1/2 hours. Note how much liquid has been released by the meat. This comes from slow cooking at a very low temperature. If your pot roast is too dry, make sure the pan you are using has a tight fitting lid and that you are cooking at the lowest possible heat to maintain the low simmering.

Reuse—Save any broth left from cooking the roast, along with any veggies and meat. They can later be used as a soup base. Simply add a box of beef stock, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, and “left-overs” from roast and veggies. If desired add a cup of mixed frozen veggies. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Can be eaten as a soup or served over rice or pasta.

 

When cooking for a family and trying to stay on a budget, you not only want to save money but also enjoy foods that are healthy and tasty as well. In addition, you want some variety so you don’t feel as though you are serving the same ol’ same ol’. Here are 2 recipes that can help you do both. In fact, they each work out to $3 (or less) a serving.
At Coupon Claim, it’s all about saving money. Whether it is by giving you ways to get free stuff, by sharing tips that we have found useful in lowering energy costs, or by providing you with budget friendly recipes, Coupon Claim wants to help you make the most of your household income. That is why we search the Web to find the latest and best deals for saving money. So, if you have any money saving tips, ideas, recipes, jokes or even questions, we would love to for you to share them with us here or at Coupon Claim on Facebook or Twitter. In addition, if you haven’t read our recent posts, be sure to take some to visit the weekly Coupon Claim blog post.
–Mo and Z
CouponClaim.com

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