Today was the last day of house sitting meaning that it was a travel day. I know from past experience that these days are always stressful and a pain when it comes to this challenge. In addition to moving all my stuff back to my home base, I had to pick up the people I was house sitting for from the airport and take my parents to another airport for a vacation they were taking. It was going to be a full day with a lot of driving.

I had actually managed to get most of the preparation work done yesterday and was feeling pretty good that I wouldn’t be rushing about. I decided to get ahead of the game and go and fill up the car with gas before my morning smoothie. That would allow me to have about 2 hours before I needed to begin moving everything to get all the last minute things done. I headed to the gas station and I had just finished filling up the tank when I heard the voice of an older lady (in her early 80s I later found out) asking people walking by for help.

Her car had stopped and she had just barely managed to pull it into the gas station (the car was actually half on the sidewalk) and she wanted to know if anyone could fix her car for her. Since my car knowledge ranks right up there with my cooking knowledge, any help I would give was likely to do more damage than good in this situation, but I couldn’t believe that everyone was simply ignoring her. I walked over and asked her what the problem was.

The car had simply stopped running and she didn’t know what to do. It was obvious that she was in a bit of a panic. Then she said, “you can fix it for me, can’t you?” at which point I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

We lifted up the hood and it appeared that the car had overheated (there was antifreeze all over), but since I know little about cars, I wasn’t about to test my theory. I started asking questions to see what she wanted to do and if there was a way that we could resolve the problem. This was difficult because she thought I could fix the car (and she was still in a bit of a panic) that her focus wasn’t all there. After a bit I managed to get out of her that she did have AAA (although she had no idea where her AAA card was).

We spent half an hour looking through her purse, glove compartment and finally car before we found it under the passenger’s seat. I called AAA for her and explained the problem and they said that a truck should be there within an hour to help. Although I knew I really needed to get back, it was obvious that she was still uneasy about the whole situation and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone, so we sat and chatted until the AAA truck arrived.

The AAA man determined that it was the radiator that overheated and filled the car with the proper fluids. As I went to leave, the old lady thanked me and insisted on giving me a small kiss on the cheek for the help I had given. While it did make the rest of the day rather hectic getting everything done on time and I missed my usual morning smoothie, it was well worth it.

Fried Cheese Egg

By the time I arrived back, I didn’t have a lot of time. I simply threw an egg in the frying pan and then topped it with cheese – amazingly, despite the looks, it tasted pretty good (although at that point I was hungry enough that practically anything would have tasted good)

The rest of the afternoon I was on the road taking my stuff back to my home base, picking up the people I was house sitting for at San Francisco airport, dropping them off, getting my parents on the other side of the valley, taking them to San Jose airport and then finally home. I did have my trusty peanut butter sandwich and carrot sticks to tide me over and I also went through my last package of M&M’s pretzels.

Egg Fried Rice

By the end of the day, I was exhausted and in no mood to cook anything. I simply took the last of the veggie rice I had leftover and added an egg to make egg fried rice:

I’m just glad that there doesn’t look like there will be anymore traveling (always subject to change) before the end of the 100 days…

This is the current list of food I still have
This is the current list of what I have purchased:

Goal: 100 days eating on $1 a day
Current Money Spent: $53.67
Money Left to Spend: $46.33 ($6.17 must be spent at CVS, $1.50 must be spent at Safeway)
Retail Value of Everything Purchased: $1424.08

I will be wearing the same orange Tshirt as in this photo. I will be inside, but if there are more than a few people that show up, we may move to the outside area. If you know that you will be coming, please let me know by email or comment. I hope that it works out that I can meet with at least a few of you.

Today was basically an organization day and it didn’t begin on the right foot. Knowing that I would be leaving the house sitting job tomorrow, I needed to start packing up all of my stuff, cleaning up the house and bathroom, doing laundry and making sure everything was in order when the owners returned. The late hours and not enough sleep caught up to me and I ended up waking much later in the morning than I anticipated which threw my planned organizational schedule completely off. I was hoping to get an early start on it, but didn’t end up beginning until afternoon since I also had more computer work that anticipated to take care of. This meant that I basically spent the entire day running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

I did make myself a morning smoothie (this time with some cherry plums that I gathered on the morning walk), but since I did so while also cleaning the kitchen, I forgot to take photos of it. In my continuing effort to reduce as much of the food that I have on hand as possible, I also had a bowl of the Apple Cinnamon Cheerios at the same time to finish off the box (one less thing to pack).

Grilled Bacon Cheese Sandwich

Since I now have plenty of cheese (thank you to all that commented that I should freeze some of it since I had no idea that it would likely mold quickly if I didn’t), a grilled cheese sandwich seemed like a quick and convenient meal to make that could be done around the cleaning and organizing. In an attempt to make my bacon last as long as possible, I opted to place only one strip on the sandwich. The sandwich was wonderful (I had a side bowl of cantaloupe as well), but scrimping on the bacon was a mistake.

Roasted Stuffed Green Pepper

For dinner, I decided to use up the remaining green peppers that I had and went for a stuffed pepper challenge. I boiled the bell peepers for 5 minutes to soften them up a bit, then added a bit of cheese in the bottom:

I had quite a bit of the veggie bacon chicken rice medley left over, so I then spooned this into the peppers to fill them:

Then topped the pepper with cheese:

Once done, I placed a bit of vegetable oil on the outside so they wouldn’t stick and then placed them in the oven for 20 minutes. This is what they looked like when they came out:

I was actually pretty apprehensive trying this as I was sure that I would manage to make a disaster out of it, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they tuned out. I probably could have seasoned the rice medley filling a bit more and added a bit more cheese on the inside, but overall it was quite good and I will definitely make it again given the chance.

This is the current list of food I still have
This is the current list of what I have purchased:

Goal: 100 days eating on $1 a day
Current Money Spent: $53.67
Money Left to Spend: $46.33 ($6.17 must be spent at CVS, $1.50 must be spent at Safeway)
Retail Value of Everything Purchased: $1424.08

The house sitting gig is coming to an end in a few days. Even though I have a pretty big cushion with my spending and would like to do another major grocery shopping run, I have been resisting. Moving the food from place to place is a real pain and I would like to avoid as much of that hassle as possible. It will also give me a chance to use up some of the stuff that I do have so that I have to transport even less. Constantly moving from place to place really is not conductive for this type of challenge.

Plum Smoothie

I did need to get some more plums since I had run out, so I picked up a few on my morning walk with Lila:

These ended up making a wonderful plum smoothie as they were perfectly ripe:

Cheese & Tomato Omelet

With all the cheese I now have, it was time to make an omelet. Unfortunately, the baggie omelet that was so much fun to make was deemed “toxic” by my sister so I am no longer allowed to make omelets that way. With my sad first attempt at flipping omelets, there were a lot of reader suggestions on how I could do it better. I began reading through them in hopes of finding an easy way to create a nice omelet despite my lack of flipping skills.

I decided to try the Julia Child method of making omelets (mine including cheese, tomato, bacon and chicken):

Of course, I was my typical lazy self and decided to do it from what I remembered when I had seen the video a couple of weeks ago instead of watching it again. That ensured that I forgot the critical step of having the pan hot and ready to go when placing in the omelet. Instead, my pan was still warming up when the omelet mixture hit the pan:

While it eventually heated and I cooked the omelet, the resulting flip out of the pan didn’t go so well:

While it didn’t come out looking good, it tasted wonderful (maybe could have used another slice of bacon). Any other suggestions on flipping omelets?

Cream Cheese Sandwich

I went for a cream cheese tomato celery sandwich with celery & peanut butter on the side to use up the rest of the celery I had and try to make a small dent into all the cream cheese I still have.

Veggie Bacon Chicken Rice Medley

Still attempting to use up what I already had on hand, I cooked up the rest of the bacon I had (4 strips), then fried veggies (onion, red pepper, green beans and garlic) in the oil.

Once done, I added a small amount of chicken breast and one strip of bacon:

I then added the leftover rice I still had:

I had assumed that cooking the veggies and rice in the bacon oil would give it a strong bacon flavor, but was a bit surprised that the taste wasn’t nearly as strong as I had expected. I guess because I had only cooked up 4 pieces and then only added one may have been the issue (Note to self: always opt for abundance when it comes to bacon). Still, it was a tasty meal and one I would like to try again with adjustments.

This is the current list of food I still have
This is the current list of what I have purchased:

Goal: 100 days eating on $1 a day
Current Money Spent: $53.67
Money Left to Spend: $46.33 ($6.17 must be spent at CVS, $1.50 must be spent at Safeway)
Retail Value of Everything Purchased: $1424.08

Pampers Wipes 64-80 ct – $1.99
**$2.00 off 1 Pampers Wipes coupon from 6/6 Proctor & Gamble Sunday newspaper coupon insert (Expires 7/31!)
Final price: FREE!

Prego Pasta Sauce – $.99 each
**$1.00 off 2 prego printable coupon here
Final price: $0.49 each or FREE if you wait until Sunday!

Land O Lakes Spreadable Butter – $0.99
**$0.50 off 1 Land O Lakes Butter coupon from 7/18 Smart Source Sunday newspaper coupon insert
Final price: $0.49

Maxwell House – $1.99
**$1.00 off 1 Maxwell House coupon from 5/16 Smart Source Sunday newspaper coupon insert
Final price: $0.99

Huggies or Pampers Jumbo Diapers -$7.99
**$3.00 off 1 Huggies Printable coupon here
**$2.00 off 1 Pampers coupon from 7/4 Proctor & Gamble Sunday newspaper coupon insert
Final Price: As low as $4.99

It is bad enough that people have decided that it is OK to refer to me as “The Coupon Man” (I think my sister is telling everyone she knows to do it as part of her duty under SARBSS because she knows that it will get a reaction out of me) The irony is also not lost on me that this label is for someone that dislikes couponing as much as I do. One would assume it really couldn’t get any worse, but then Lea in the comments decided that a coupon man poem was in order:

HE IS NO STRANGER TO THE PAPERS
AND THE LOCALS KNOW HIS FAME
THEY SPEAK OF HIM IN WHISPERS
BUT THEY NEVER USE HIS NAME

Chorus:
THEY CALL HIM THE COUPON MAN,
THE STRONG, COURAGEOUS COUPON MAN
A GREAT BIG MOUNTAIN OF A MAN.

HE NEVER GOES INTO THE STORE
EXCEPT WHEN HE’S EQUIPPED
HE RECKONS THERE’S A TIME TO SHOP
AND COUPONS TO BE CLIPPED

Chorus

THEY KNOW THAT WHEN IT COMES TO COUPONING
HE’S BETTER THAN THE BEST.
STILL, HIS SISTER’S ALWAY FOOL
ENOUGH TO PUT HIM TO THE TEST.

Chorus

TO EVERY LAD WHO COMES TO HIM
TO LEARN THE SECRET OF HIS ART
HE TELLS THEM THERE’S ONE LESSON
WATCH WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR CART

Chorus

THERE IS A MORAL TO HIS EXPLOITS
HIS CHARITY HAS JUST BEGUN
COLLECT YOUR COUPONS WISELY
AND HAVE A LOT OF FUN

Chorus

While I do appreciate the attention (because the more attention this challenge gets, the more people will see that they can help out their local community food bank without spending a lot of money), I know what it ultimately means the next time I see my friends. Even worse, it’s no longer a stretch to assume that in the very near future the word “crazy” will be inserted between “The” and “Coupon Man” which is definitely something I would rather avoid if at all possible…

During my travels I did come across a Safeway where there were some more $1.00 off 1 peelies for the Kraft cheese so I decided to get myself 5 packs for this challenge (I would have bought more and donated them to the local food bank, but the shelves weren’t fully stocked and I wanted to leave some for others to take advantage of). I ended up buying a package each of Parmesan, Mexican 4 Cheese, Monterey Jack, Mexican Cheddar Jack and Mild Cheddar. I also purchased a tomato so that the transaction came out positive and ended up spending $0.07 for everything:

I have the distinct feeling that I will be eating a lot of cheese over the next couple of weeks…

Plum Smoothie

As always, the smoothie (this time plums, a banana, a bit of ice and milk) is a great way to begin the day. Definitely give it a try if you haven’t – you’ll be hooked in no time.

Bacon Lettuce & Tomato Sandwich

Because the previous bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich I made was so good, I couldn’t resist making myself another one (and no scrimping on the bacon again, either). Good stuff!

Garlic Chicken Bacon Cheese Pasta

Going on the assumption that if you cook something that has garlic, bacon and cheese as part of the recipe, it is likely to taste pretty darn good, I decided to use the last of the penne rigate pasta and cook up the last chicken breast I had. Once the chicken breast was cooked, I threw onions, green pepper and garlic into the pan:

I then added about a quarter of the cooked chicken breast and some bacon to the mix:

Once the pasta was done, I added that along with a handful if the shredded Mexican 4 Cheese I had just purchased:

And in the end I was correct. It’s pretty difficult to go wrong when garlic, bacon and cheese are part of the recipe — mmm, mmm, good:

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

I love this dessert. I simply took frozen bananas and added a spoonful of peanut butter to the blender (nothing else needed) and out comes heaven:

This is the current list of food I still have
This is the current list of what I have purchased:

Goal: 100 days eating on $1 a day
Current Money Spent: $53.67
Money Left to Spend: $46.33 ($6.17 must be spent at CVS, $1.50 must be spent at Safeway)
Retail Value of Everything Purchased: $1424.08

Pilot Easy Touch Pens – $0.99
**$1.00 off 1 Pilot Pen printable coupon here
Final Price: Free!

Barilla Pasta – $1.00 (with in store ad coupon)
**$1.00 off 2 Barilla Whole Grain Pasta here
Final Price: $0.50

Twizzlers, 11-16 oz. – 2 for $3.00
Buy 2, Receive $2.00 Register Rewards
Pay: $3.00, Receive $2.00 Register Rewards
Final Price: $0.50 each

3M Command Hooks or Hanging Strips -$1.50
** Use two (2) $1.00 off 1 Command Hooks printable coupon here
Final Price: $0.50 each

Austin Crackers, Keebler Cookies or Cheez-its – $1.00 each
Buy 5, Earn $2.00 Register Rewards
Pay: $5.00, Receive $2.00 Register Rewards
Final Price: $0.60 each

I went to see my dad to do some paperwork for a nonprofit organization that we are launching together (completely different than this project — like I don’t have enough to do these days…but I digress) which meant that I was in an area with grocery stores that I don’t normally visit. I had been checking stores where I have been house sitting to see if I could find any of the elusive $1.00 off 1 peelie coupons that others have reported finding for Kraft cheese making it free.

It did actually look like those peelie coupons existed, but many had taken advantage of the peelies before I could get to the stores in my area (the Kraft cheese sections in many of the stores had been decimated) and so I hadn’t actually seen any. But luck finally looked upon me and I found a store that still had a fully stocked Kraft cheese section with packages that had the peelie coupon still on them (it’s bright yellow in case you want to search for them at your store):

I ended up buying 15 packages (being sure to leave plenty for other people that wanted to take advantage of the promo as well) which I decided to donate to the local food banks (which I hope I don’t regret). I will be doing quite a bit of driving for various functions I have over the next few days and now that I know what I am looking for, I’m hoping to find more for the food banks and also get some for me as part of this challenge as well.

Cantaloupe Banana Smoothie

I thought I would change things up a bit and try a cantaloupe banana smoothie:

I was actually a bit disappointed with it as it ended up being too sweet tasting for me. I think I have grown used to a bit of tartness in the smoothies that I actually find refreshing in the morning. It really didn’t taste all that bad, but if I have a choice I think I will opt for another type of smoothie in the future.

Cream Cheese Tomato Sandwich

Michelle left a comment that sounded like it would be worth a try (simplicity and a change of pace being a key component of the attraction)

I had one other idea for you. One of my favorite sandwiches is sliced tomatoes on toast smeared with cream cheese. A good way to use up the cream cheese too.

I ended up adding celery leaves along with the cream cheese and tomatoes to the whole wheat toast:

I then added a small bowl of cantaloupe to go along with it:

Good stuff and I can see why Michelle has this on her list of favorites. I’ll have no problem making this again and have added it to my favorite list as well.

Because I had been gone most of the day, I ended up spending most of the night in front of the computer snacking instead of having a proper dinner. It consisted of celery and peanut butter, carrots, cantaloupe, toast, M&M’s pretzels, plums and cherry plums — basically naything that I could just grab and munch on back in front of the comput3r. I’ve been trying to not do this (I have a very bad habit snacking at the computer) and have done pretty well during this challenge at not doing it much (when I do, it is in the afternoons), but I definitely failed this evening…

This is the current list of food I still have
This is the current list of what I have purchased:

Goal: 100 days eating on $1 a day
Current Money Spent: $53.60
Money Left to Spend: $46.40 ($6.17 must be spent at CVS, $1.50 must be spent at Safeway)
Retail Value of Everything Purchased: $1406.23

U by Kotex Liners, Pads or Tampons – $4.99
Buy 1, Receive $4.99 Extra Bucks
**$1.00 off 1 U by Kotex Product, one box printable coupon here
Pay $3.99, Earn $4.99 Extra Bucks
Final Price: $1.00 Money Maker!

Photo Book 6×8 – $7.99
Buy 1, Receive $7.99 Extra Bucks: Limit 1
Final Price: Free!

Dove Bar Soap 2 pk – $3.00
Buy 1, Receive $2.00 Extra Bucks: Limit 1 free
Pay $3.00, Earn $2.00 Extra Bucks
Final Price: $1.00

Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent – 2 for $7.00
Buy 2, Receive $2.00 Extra Bucks: Limit 2
**$3.00 off 2 Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent coupon from 6/13 Smart Source Sunday newspaper coupon insert
Pay $4.00, Earn $2.00 Extra Bucks
Final Price: $2.00 ($1.00 each)

Pampers Boxed Diapers – $21.99
Buy One, Receive $10.00 Extra Bucks: Limit 1
**$2.00 off 1 Pampers Diapers coupon from 7/4 Proctor & Gamble Sunday newspaper coupon insert
**$2.00 off 1 Pampers Cruisers coupon 6/20 Red Plum Sunday newspaper coupon insert
**$3.00 off 1 Pampers coupon Homemailers from Vocalpoint or Pampers Village
Pay $18.99, Earn $10.00 Extra Bucks
Final Price: As low as $8.99

Month Long Deals

Bausch & Lomb Biotrue Multi-purpose solution, 2 oz. – $2.99
Buy 1, Receive $2.99 Extra Bucks: Limit 2
**$2.00 off 1 Biotrue Multi-Purpose Contact Solution, 2 oz or larger online Internet coupon here
Pay $0.99, Earn $2.99 Extra Bucks
Final Price: Better than FREE! $2.00 Money Maker!

CVS Pantiliners 22ct. – $0.50
Buy 2, Receive $1.00 Extra Bucks: Limit 3 free (must buy separately in 3 transactions to receive the $1.00 each time)
Pay $1.00, Earn $1.00 Extra Bucks
Final Price: 2 FREE!

Bengay – $5.99 (Select varieties)
Buy 1, Receive $2.00 Extra Bucks: Limit 1
**$3.00 off 1 Bengay Pain Relief Massage (if included) printable coupon here
**$2.00 off Bengay products coupon from 05/16 or 06/20 Red Plum Sunday newspaper coupon insert
**$2.00 off 1 Bengay Product coupon from 5/16 Red Plum Sunday newspaper coupon insert
Pay $2.99, Earn $2.00 Extra Bucks
Final Price: As low as $0.99

OB & Carefree products – $3.99 and up (Select varieties)
Buy 1, Receive $2.00 Extra Bucks: Limit 1
**$1.00 off Carefree products printable here
**$1.00 off 2 Carefree 34ct. or larger coupon from 6/27 Red Plum Sunday newspaper coupon insert
**$1.50 off 1 OB Product coupon from 6/27 Red Plum Sunday newspaper coupon insert
Pay $2.49, Earn $2.00 Extra Bucks
Final Price: As low as $0.49 each