How I Pinch A Penny

Well, I thought we had a ground hive of bees.  They looked like bees. They sounded like bees.  They scared me like a bee.  I even ran away from them like they were bees.  But turns out they are a hive of ground wasps.

Let me back up a minute.  About 45 minutes ago I was outside pulling some overgrown grasses.  It is one of those things I have been meaning to do forever.  It just got away from me. You have things like this in your life, right? It is not just me, right?   I was pulling, shaking excess dirt, pulling, shaking excess dirt.  Going merrily along, patting myself on the back for finally getting to this task when I hear a bee buzz my head.  I shook it off and went to grab more grasses.  Just then several bees were swarming around my head.

I dropped the grasses in my hand and ran to grab my 2 year old who was playing bubbles about 3 feet away.  We ran inside and shut the door.  We can see from our family room window about 40 or so bees swarming around a hole 2 inches in diameter in the ground.

I know bees are wonderful pollinators of all plants.  They are becoming more far and few between.  Have you seen the movie Bee Movie ?  Watch it.  It will explain it so much better than I can!  So I am thinking I am going to save these bees!  I was looking up bee keepers in my area to come and get them and then it dawned on me….These may not be bees.

So I called the wonderful people at my local Cooperative Extension Office.  Being a 4-Her as a youth I knew the mass amounts of agriculture knowledge these people possess and are willing to share with you for FREE!  So I placed a call and the lovely secretary connected me with a Master Gardner who informed me that my bees,were in fact, not bees but biting wasps.  And his wife had been bitten by one earlier in the summer and had some funky infection on her leg.”They are dirty things you know” I was told by Bill, the Master Gardner.

So what does this do with Pinching Pennies!?

It comes down to this: Know your resources.  Instead of calling an exterminator to come and take care of my ground wasps, I called the extension office and spoke with a real live person and got a real live answer for FREE!!  What is the solution you may ask? Solution: A can of Wasp & Hornet Killer  sprayed in the hole after the sun has set.  And that my friends, is how I pinched pennies today.

Congratulations to Michele (BellasMommy) for winning the $125 worth of Coupons!   I know you will put them to good use!

I thought this was fun.  Any one want to do it again?

Michele e-mail me your mailing address at howipinchapenny At GmAil DoT CoM  I will get them right out to you!  Congratulations!!

Attention all sports fans! Come to Chick-fil-A on Labor Day (9/7…TODAY!!!) wearing your team’s logo & get a FREE Original Chix Sandwich!  Yeah FREE!!!!

Please check your local flyer to be sure they are running the same deals as my paper. Need help with the abbreviations? Click HERE to see what the HECK I am talking about!!

Here is my coupon match up list for Giant Food stores. I am using an ad from South Central Pa. As always check your local flyer for participation. Also There are a lot of match ups for Martins. There are some great printable coupons! We also are earning those gas rewards points again! We all love those!

There are no coupons in your paper today due to the holiday.  So don’t be calling your paper demanding your coupons… It wasn’t a mistake.  There are no coupons.  BUT lets go through the Giant Food circular and see what we can match up from all thr coupons you have saved up.

• Pepsi products 5/$10!!!!  wooo hooo!!

• UTZ Potato chips. B1G1F
• 08-09-09 SS .75/1 (use 2)  Select areas…not mine!  
• final price varies

• Gala Apples .99 lb.

• Oscar mayer Beef Franks  B1G1F  $4.49/2
• $1/2 printable found HERE
• 2/$3.49 

• Oscar mayer Bacon B1G1F  $5.99/2
• $1.50/2  08-30-09 SS
• $4.49/2

• Hillshire Deli Ultra Thin Sliced Meat  3/$10
• $.55/1    8-16-09 RP (doubles….use 3 if you have them)
• 3/$6.70

• Juicy Juice 8 Pack  2/$5
• $1/2 Printable found HERE
• 2/$4

• San Giorgio pasta $10/10
•  .75/1  All You Sept.2009  (doubles?)
• buy 2 and pay .25 …if it will double

• Dole Fruit Bowls,  2/$4
• $1/2  08-23-09 SS
• 2/$3

• Kudos Granola bars  $2.29
• $1/2   08-09-09 RP
• 2/$3.58

• Pillsbury Toaster Pastry 2/$4
• $1/1 printable found HERE  (print 2)
• 2/$2

• Luigi’s Italian Ice $1.99
• .50/1 07-26-09 RP  (doubles)
• $.99 each

• Frigo String Cheese  $5.99
• $.40/1  08-09-09 RP  (doubles)
• $5.19 each

• I can’t believe it’s Not Butter Spread  $1.79
• $1.25/1  6/28 RP
• $.54 each

• All Laundry Detergent  2/$6 (MUST buy 2)
• $.40/1 Printable found HERE ( print 2) doubles to $.80
• $5.20/2

I am sure I have missed something here or there to if I did please let me know.  ENJOY!!

Just giving you a heads up…

Attention all sports fans! Come to Chick-fil-A on Labor Day (9/7…TOMORROW!!!) wearing your team’s logo & get a FREE Original Chix Sandwich! Yeah FREE!!!!

This is my interpretation of a Jalepeno Jelly found on Tasty Kitchen by The Pioneer Woman. HERE is the original recipe and link.

I have a bunch of friends who LOVE jalepeno pepper jelly.  Spread it over a brick of cream cheese, serve along side some wheat thins and WHALA! You have a super easy super tasty snack or appetizer.

Start with some jalepeno peppers.  Mine peppers got left on the plant a little too long and they turned red.  I also threw in a Poblano pepper that turned red as well. I have 15 jalepeno and 1 poblano peppers in this recipe.

Get a box of liquid pectin.  You are going to need BOTH pouches for this recipe.

Some recipes have you deseed and  and devein the peppers. I decided not to because I wanted the jelly to have a bit more kick.  I just chopped them up and threw them in the food processor.  If you want a milder jelly cut out the seeds and the membranes.  BUT BE SURE TO USE GLOVES.  Last time I didn’t use gloves my hands were on fire for 3 days!

Give them a whirl until they are a fine paste.

Measure out 6 cups of sugar.  See why I think it needs a bit extra kick?  SO MUCH SUGAR!!  It all balances out.

Measure out 2 cups Apple Cider vinegar.  I think it would be ok to use regular white vinegar in a pinch.

Toss the sugar, pepper pulp and vinegar in a pot.

Bring to a boil but don’t walk away or this will happen!  This was a HUGE pain in the butt to clean up.  Plus it is dangerous to have a pot of boiling sugar over boil onto an open flame.

Once you have a nice boil to to incorporate all the sugar ( and hopefully it doesn’t boil over on you like mine did!) pour BOTH of the liquid pectin pouches into the pot.  Bring back to a full boil and stir for 1 minute.

Fill your jars with the hot jelly and leave them with 1/4″ head space and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Top it with a label and you are read for gift giving season!!

I have an extra set of Coupons from my  8/23 Sunday paper.(Red Plum & Smart Source) I would rather give them to you than keep them in my stash.  The stash is getting pretty big. Just ask my husband. This pack is worth $125.  A great way of starting couponing if you are new or add to your stash.

This is supposed to be a shot of the 8/23/09 date but it is a bit fuzzy.  I am still working on playing with my camera settings.

So how do you win!?  Just leave a comment on this post.  There are a few ways to win.

1. Comment: I WANT THAT!
2. Comment: Follow me on twitter.
3. Comment: RT this on Twitter. (post the link in the comments section) (only 2 RT per day.)
4. Comment: Be a fan on Facebook.
5. Comment: Post this give away on your blog or facebook page.

Each one of these is 1 entry.  You must comment SEPARATELY for each item.  Good luck. I will select the winner September 8.