Frozen Pizza Bagels - Under $3 a dozen!

After last weeks post about coupons my mother said to me, "What are you going to do with all that food?" Well, here is one thing I did with it - made Frozen Pizza Bagels!

For less than $3 for the whole batch I made a dozen pizza bagles. Here is my reciepe and how to freeze them.

6 Plain Bagles
1/2 can spaghetti sauce
1 c. mozarella cheese
2 mushrooms diced
about 15 slices of pepperoni chopped

1. Lay bagel halves on cookie sheet with insides facing up.
2. Coat each one with a generous amount of sauce (some sauce will soak into bagel).
3. Top with cheese and toppings.
4. Lightly press down on the toppings so some sauce touches everything. (The sauce is like the glue of the frozen pizza. If your toppings touch even a little bit of the sauce they are more likely to stay on the pizza when it is frozen.)
5. Place cookie sheet in freezer for an hour or so. Once pizzas are frozen you can take them off the cookie sheet and wrap them however you choose for long term storage. You can place them individually in sandwich bags, wrap in Saran wrap, place in Tupperware etc. Whichever fits you, your budget and your freezer best is what you should do.
6. When ready to cook. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake on cookie sheet for about 10 minutes (approx. time. Make sure you watch them carefully all ovens are different!). You can also place them in the microwave for 2 minutes.


This is a great way to stock up on foods you love and not spend a whole lot of money doing it. These pizzas took me less than 15 minutes to prepare and saved me lots of money! And besides... who doesn't love pizza?!?

Why Coupons Are Awesome!!!

So I have some great friends who are amazing and have inspired me to start using coupons. The picture above is from my first trip trying out the coupon technique the pros use. I have to admit is was a complete success and I couldn't be happier. The above items should have cost me $92.23 (before taxes) but instead I saved $64.02 and all of this food only cost me $28.21 (before taxes). I was grinning form ear to ear as I left the store revelling in my new triumph.

Now, let me tell you how I did it...

How to get coupons: You can get coupons from the paper, blinkies and stands in the aisles of the store, from ads at the front of the store, from signing up for free coupons and freebies from the manufacturers site, or there are a plethora of websites that will direct you to coupons you can print from your computer. Here is one that I like called Money Saving Mom. Collect as many as you can.

Use them with Buy One Get One Free deals: I shop at Publix which frequently has B1G1Free sales. When chips are normally $4 and you can B1G1Free you don't have to buy two to get the deal you can just buy one for just $2. If you also have a coupon for $1 off you end up paying only $1 for the chips that were normally $4 saving you $3! Many stores also double coupons that are 50 cents or less. So a 50 cent coupon is actually $1. Where you can really stock up is when you have more than one coupon. Check your stores B1G1Free deals for the week and plan ahead. If your coupon is for more that the price the remaining money is called overage and is deducted from another item.

Here's a breakdown of some of the stuff that I bought today and the savings.

A-1 Sauce Various Flavors

• Originally $3.79.
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.90
• Coupon $2.00 off
• Total for each $-.10

Oscar Mayer Beef Jumbo Franks

• Originally $3.99
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.99
• Coupon $1.00 off when you buy 2
• Total for each $.99

Kraft Dressings Various Flavors

• Originally $2.99
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.49
• Coupon $1.50 off
• Total for each $-.01

Betty Crocker Turtle Supreme Brownie Mix

• Originally $2.55
• B1G1Free Sale Price $1.28
• Coupon $.50 off when you buy two but was doubled so it was actually $1 off when you buy two
• Total for each $.78 plus there is a coupon on the boxes for 2 free movie tickets with 10 UPC's all I need is 4 more from other participating brands and I get to see Harry Potter 6 for free too!

Lenders Bagels

• Originally $2.09
• B1G1F sale price $1.05
• Coupon $1.00 off when you buy 3
• Total for each $.71

Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread Assorted Flavors

• Originally $1.99
• 4 or $5 sale $1.25 each
• Coupon save $1 when you buy 2
• Total for each $.75

Triscut Assorted Flavors

• Originally $3.19
• B1G1Free sale price $1.60
• Coupon save $1 when you buy 2
• Total for each $1.10

I also got a dollar off of the roast beef from a store coupon and the olives weren't on sale, I just wanted them. :) As you can see the savings are significant and I'm not even a pro yet. A friend of mine bought $180 dollars in groceries the other day and only ended up spending $60 a savings of $120!

Think of what this will mean to your budget as well as your food storage. You never know what is going to happen if you will loose your job, a grocery worker strike or a natural disaster with take out the food supply. Won't it feel good to know that your savvy shopping and the food you have stored up will be there when you need it? Doomsday's aside - I'm just happy that I now have brownies on hand for all those parties and Church activities that I will be asked to bring a treat to!

Grate your Cheese

Could cheese be any more expensive? I love cheese. I think it is one of the greatest foods on the planet. That is why whenever I buy it I eat it as fast as I can, or at least I used to...

I discovered that when I would buy block cheese I had no problem cutting large chunks of it and eating it. My cheese wouldn't even last a week. When it costs anywhere from $7 or more (sometimes much, much more) for a two pound block of cheese it can add up.

The remedy? Buy grated cheese or grate it yourself. Why it works? When cheese is grated you eat less of it. You are less likely to snack on grated cheese. When you cut slices or cubes you are using up a great deal of cheese. With grated cheese it looks like you are using a lot of cheese when you really aren't. It's almost like a mind trick.

What I do is buy a 5 pound bag of fancy grated cheese from Sam's Club for $14. I take it home and fill smaller bags with the grated cheese. I keep one bag in the fridge and put the rest in the freezer. When I need a new bag of cheese I just pull it out of the freezer. It thaws in just a few minutes. I can still snack a little on the grated bits and it is very easy to put on the meals that I cook. I use less and it lasts weeks longer than when I was buying block cheese.

Try it... your waistline and pocketbook will thank you.