Cup Cakes & Couponing

Thanks to Fabulesslyfrugal for posting the Family Fun Rainbow Cup Cakes. Another cupcake to add to my every growing list of unique and fun cupcakes.  I made these for the boys the Sunday night. They were a little time consuming due to the mixing of the colors, then trying to layer them evenly in the 16 cup cake liners. The boys were impressed and wanted them for breakfast of course.

 Ingredients

• White cake mix (we used an 18-1/4-ounce box) - I used a yellow cake mix - what I had on hand
• Food coloring (red, blue, green, and yellow)
• Baking cups
• Whipped cream (optional) 

Instructions
Prepare your favorite white cake mix, then divide the batter evenly among six small bowls. Following the chart below, dye each bowl of batter a rainbow color.

RAINBOW COLOR	DROPS OF FOOD COLORING
Purple	9 red and 6 blue drops
Blue	12 drops
Green	12 drops
Yellow	12 drops
Orange	12 yellow and 4 red drops
Red	18 drops

1. Line 16 muffin pan wells with baking cups. Evenly distribute the purple batter among the cups, then the blue, and so on, following the order shown. As you go, gently spread each layer of batter with the back of a spoon to cover the color underneath.
2. Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe directions. Before serving, remove the paper wrapping, and if you like, top each cupcake with a whipped-cream cloud.

I was disappointed that Albertson's was out of Post Honey Bunches of Oat's Raisin Medley thinking I'ld lost out on the "FREE" Post Cereal. It turned out that they could be used on other Honey Bunches of Oat's flavors so I got my "FREE" Cereals after all and paid only for the candy bars ($.96 for 2), Pretty Awesome Deal. Now we with my other good cereal deals we 3 months worth of cereal, will donate some to the Food Bank in April when we do our Scouting for Food Drive.

Couponing Adventures

I had the pleasure of taking a Free Couponing Class from a fellow Cub Scout Mom in January. I've bought the 4 Sunday Papers - Clipped, Printed and organized to the best of my ability. My first coupon buys were at Albertson's during a week long coupon doublers. It will definately get you excited to try for more deals. I've also purchased some items at Target and Smith's.

This was my first Albertson's Couponing Shopping Trip:
Retail Cost - $80.21
I Piad - $22.94

My Total For the 2 Trips That week
Retail: $155.25
I paid: $44.05

I tried Couponing at Smith's Last week and although I saved about 45% I could have saved more, I made several newbie mistakes from which I learned from and this is result this week.

7 Boxes of Cereal, 29 Packages Banquet Sausage Links,

24 Boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks and 10 Totino's Party Pizza's 

 Total Retail - $190.35 - I paid $31.46 for 70 items

Here's How I did it.

Transaction #1
6 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, $1.99 each
4 Banquet Brown n Serve Sausage, 6.4-7 oz $0.88
Used 2 Betty Crocker Snack e-Coupons on my Smiths Card
Used 3 $0.50/2 Fruit Snacks printable
Used 1 Daytona $3 Catalina from last week

OOP: $6.96
Received 1 Daytona $3 Catalina and 1 General Mills $3 Catalina
-
Transaction #2
6 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, $1.99 each
4 Banquet Brown n Serve Sausage, 6.4-7 oz $0.88
Used 1 Betty Crocker Snack e-Coupon on my Smiths Card
Used 3 $0.50/2 Fruit Snacks printable
Used 1 Daytona $3 Catalina & 1 General Mills $3 Catalina

OOP: $4.96
Received 1 Daytona $3 Catalina and 1 General Mills $3 Catalina
-
Transaction #3
1 Cinnamom Toast Crunch - $2.29 each
1 Trix - $2.29 each
1 Reeses Puff - $2.29 each
7 Banquet Brown n Serve Sausage, 6.4-7 oz $0.88
Used 2 e-Coupons (Trix & Reeses Puff)on my Smiths Card
Used 1 $1.50/3 GM Cereals Catalina
Used 1 Daytona $3 Catalina & 1 General Mills $3 Catalina

OOP: $1.43
Received 1 Daytona $3 Catalina
-
Transaction#4
6 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, $1.99 each
4 Banquet Brown n Serve Sausage, 6.4-7 oz $0.88
Used 3 $0.50/2 Fruit Snacks printable
Used 1 Daytona $3 Catalina

OOP: $7.96
Received 1 Daytona $3 Catalina and 1 General Mills $3 Catalina
-
Transaction#5
6 Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, $1.99 each
4 Banquet Brown n Serve Sausage, 6.4-7 oz $0.88
Used 3 $0.50/2 Fruit Snacks printable
Used 1 Daytona $3 Catalina & 1 General Mills $3 Catalina

OOP: $4.96
Received 1 Daytona $3 Catalina and 1 General Mills $3 Catalina
-
Transaction #6
2 Boxes Cinnamom Toast Crunch - $2.29 each
2 Box Reeses Puff - $2.29 each
6 Banquet Brown n Serve Sausage, 6.4-7 oz $0.88
Used 2 e-Coupons (Reeses Puff) on my Smiths Card
Used 2 $1/2 GM Cereals Catalina
Used 1 Daytona $3 Catalina & 1 General Mills $3 Catalina

OOP: $2.34
Received 1 Daytona $3 Catalina
-
Transaction #6
10 Totino's Party Pizza - $1.25 each
Used 1 e-Coupon on my Smiths Card
Used 2 $1/2 Totino's Pizza's
Used 2 $1.25/4 Totino's Pizza's
Used 1 Daytona $3 Catalina

OOP: $2.85
Received 1 Daytona $3 Catalina

Total OOP: $31.46

I'm following several blogs to find these great deals, plus I print coupons from several different sites.

The Blogs I follow

http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/

http://dixiecouponchicks.blogspot.com/

On them you'll find links to where to find coupons to print. And where all the good deals are.