Exotic Chicken Salad

This is not your ordinary chicken salad, but it's really good. We like it as a side or on toast (for chicken salad sandwiches). I half the following recipe since there is just two of us. Five cups of chicken is about one rotisserie chicken at Sam's ($4.97), so I just chop it up, use half of it, and freeze the other half for next time or to make enchiladas. Brett isn't a fan of fruit and meat, so he likes it better without grapes. I like the grapes though, so try it both ways! Also, I don't think the butter is necessary. You can toast almonds in a toaster oven vs. in butter on the stove.

Ingredients
1 3-1/4 oz package slivered almonds
2 Tbsp butter
salt, to taste
2 cups mayonnaise (1 1/3 cups if you omit grapes from recipe)
1 tsp curry powder
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp lemon juice
5 cups diced chicken
2 cups diced celery
2 to 3, 6-oz cans sliced water chestnuts, chopped
2 lbs red seedless grapes, each halved pole-to-pole

Directions
In a small skillet, cook slivered almonds in butter until lightly brown. Drain on paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Mix mayonnaise with curry powder, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Combine almonds, chicken, celery, water chestnuts, and grapes. Pour mayonnaise mixture over all and combine well. Chill and serve.

Soy Sauce at Walmart

I only go to Walmart a few times a year for grocery items. I usually always shop at Kroger. I find that Kroger is a lot cheaper if you shop the sales and use coupons (and I really don't use that many coupons since I am so into cooking everything homemade/from scratch right now). There are some items at Walmart that are cheaper than Kroger even after sales. One of them is this:

This picture is for a gallon bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce, but the one they have is 1.2L. It is $4.77 which is a really good deal. Unfortunately, they do not have the reduced sodium kind available in that size. The 1.2L reduced sodium soy sauce is about $8 at the BCS Asian Market across the street. I just go ahead and get the 15 oz size at Walmart for $2.58 (low sodium is more expensive). Just thought I'd share that bit of random info with you!

CVS Deals

Buy 1 Schick Hydro Razor, $8.97, get $4 ECBs (Limit 1)
-$4 coupon in today's (6/13) RP
=$4.97 out of pocket, get $4 ECBS = $0.97

**I was in a hurry this morning, and I didn't realize that I was going to have to pay a dollar for this razor. I don't normally get razors where I will have to pay anything, but I know someone who wants this razor, so I got it anyway. It really doesn't matter though because I made four dollars in the below deal!

Buy 1 Gillette or Old Spice Body Wash for $4, get $4 ECBs (Limit 1)
Buy two Gillette or Old Spice Body Washes
=$8 before coupons
Use either:
-B1G1 Gillette Body Wash, exp. 7-31-10 (P&G 06/06/10)
-FREE Old Spice Deodorant wyb Body Wash or Deodorant (P&G 6/6/10)
=$4, get $4 ECBs = free

**This turned out to be a Limit 2 deal, so I paid $4 and got $8 ECBs! I love it when this happens! (I bought two old spice body washes, not gillette, if that makes any difference..? I'm sure it will be all over the blog world in a few hours.)

Before I went to CVS this morning I had $10 ECBs. I bought two old spice body washes, a shick hydro razor, and 3 dove peanut butter bars to get it to $10. I then got $12 ecbs. Therefore, I got "paid" $2 to buy all this! Gotta love CVS!

Go here and here to see all of the other CVS deals.

Kroger Summer of Savings

This summer, Kroger has a spin the wheel game that you can play once a day to win free products! I didn't win anything yesterday, but today I won any Tazo Tea up to $3.99. A coupon was loaded onto my card and will take off the amount at the register. So fun! I'm totally going to play this a lot this summer.

**I went to Kroger today and got my free Starbucks Tazo Tea 20 ct bags. The $3.99 came off at the end of the transaction.

Free Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Sample

Go here to request your free sample of Starbucks' VIA ready brew. I love getting all of these fun, free surprises in my mail box. Yesterday I got a free neti pot and a free movie ticket through fandango!

Lemon Fusilli

My friend Catherine made this for us at one of our home church girl nights. So, so good. It calls for heavy cream, but I've made it both with half and half and fat free half and half, and it tastes the same. I was going to try it with milk (and maybe flour, if needed) tonight, but since fat free half and half was on sale and I had a coupon, I'm going to postpone that substitution, but I'll let you know if it works out.

**Nature's Sweet Cherub tomatoes are on sale at Kroger this week for $2.50. There is also a coupon in the 5/16 SS for $0.55 off one. $1.95 is a really great deal for those little tomatoes. (They are normally $3.99.) This is why I'm making this pasta this week; otherwise, it can be kind of pricey. Enjoy!

Lemon Fusilli
Ina Garten

Ingredients
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
2 cups heavy cream (can use half & half or fat free half & half)
3 lemons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch broccoli
1 pound dried fusilli pasta (or any other twirly pasta that will trap in sauce)
1/2 pound baby arugula (I don't use this - it's good without it)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for 60 seconds. Add the cream, the zest from 2 lemons, the juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli in florets and discard the stem. Cook the florets in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain the broccoli and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta in a colander and place it back into the pot. Immediately add the cream mixture and cook it over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until most of the sauce has been absorbed in the pasta. Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl, add the arugula (optional), Parmesan, tomatoes, and cooked broccoli. Cut the last lemon in half lengthwise, slice it 1/4-inch thick crosswise, and add it to the pasta. Toss well, season to taste, and serve hot.

Walgreens Grocery Deals

I made a trip to Walgreens before heading over to Kroger this afternoon. This week they have Mazola extra virgin olive oil on sale for $3.99 (that's $0.23 an oz - good deal). Too bad there isn't a coupon, or this deal would be a steal. It's still way cheaper than any olive oil at Kroger. (This same size/brand olive oil is $5.79 right now at Kroger.)

I haven't seen Swanson's chicken broth on sale at either CVS or Walgreens in a while. I've never had Butterball, but I'm sure it's way better than Kroger brand. This is cheaper as well. I don't think I've ever seen chicken broth cheaper than $0.50 each.

Free Rolaids/Mylanta at CVS

In today's red plum insert you should have received a $4 off of any 2 Dramamine, Lactaid, Imodium, Pepcid, Rolaids, Mylanta or Tucks. You can use that coupon at CVS this week to get two free Rolaids or Mylanta chewables.

Buy any two of the products listed above, receive $4 ecbs (Limit 1)
Buy two Rolaids or Mylanta for $3.99 (I got two 36 ct Rolaids softchews)
-$4/2 coupon from 6/6 RP
=$4 out of pocket, get back $4 ecbs = free