What I look forward to Wednesday...

It maybe a little strange that I get so excited about Wednesday but there are a few things I look forward to every week on Wednesday. First is Dirty Work Wednesday and the second is double coupon day at Farm Fresh, I know polar opposites but hey that's me. Our local radio station Z104 does a segment called Dirty Work where they have people call or email in with a problem they can't handle and need the morning crew to help out with. This particular morning a man called in and said he ran into his wife at the grocery store unexpected and she acted strange. He noticed a phone number written on her hand and jokingly asked if she was picking up men at the grocery store, she replied no it's a old girlfriend I ran into. Well the poor hubby of 6 years remembered the number and wanted the morning crew of Z104 (Nick, Tricia and Shaggy) to assist to him in getting into the bottom of it. So Nick had this great idea to call both of them and see what happens when they both answer and have a conversation together. They both answer roughly at the same time and are kind of confused on how they both called each other, but remain on the phone. As the conversation continues the number turns out to be a guy named Justin and it was clear there was more going on than just friends. The poor hubby pipes in and now the wife is busted and Justin says "Out" and hangs up and the wife is confused as to what just happened. I know it might seem odd I look forward to this segment of the show every week but if there is one thing I can't stand it would be a liar, second would be a cheater. There are a lot of selfish people in the world today who get by in life lying and cheating and seem to think its okay to run around hurting good people.

On a lighter note it's HUMP DAY!!! Mike Mike Mike Mike... Sorry as if you aren't already tired of that commercial as it is. I still laugh at the camel. (HAHA) So it's double coupon day up to $1.00 and I can't wait to show off my coupon skills today. I will say I took a break from couponing earlier this year. At first it was fun, I was even doing friendly competitions with friends to see who could save the most money, but then Bloom went out of business. Crushed! That was my store where I saved the most money. I seriously got over $200.00 of groceries for $9.00. Food Lion bought them out and I haven't had much luck with them. I do fairly well at Farm Fresh and Harris Teeter so I reckon I will start back up with them. Wish me luck, I will post my results this afternoon. So come back for an update!

UPDATE: My total before coupons was $56.52. I had $24.10 in coupons. So I got 30 items for $32.42. So I basically paid $1.08 per item. And I even got Johnsonville Italian Sausage, 3 cans of pumpkin and zucchini for the recipe below none of which I had a coupon for. SCORE!!!!!

What's for Dinner: Baked Ziti

This ain't your momma's old school BAKED ZITI. It's October, my Red Sox are in the ALCS and looking good so tonight I plan to spice things up with a little spinach, pumpkin and squash.

1 box of Ziti or any kind of pasta you want.

1 can of 100% Pumpkin
1 or 2 yellow squash or acorn squash

2 tablespoons of flour

1 tablespoon of garlic

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1/4 teaspoon of ginger or if you want you can use nutmeg or all spice. I just like ginger better.

Pinch of cayenne pepper, more if you like spice

1 can of evaporvated milk.

Ground Italian Sausage or cut Sausage links (for vegetarians omit completely)

1 package of frozen spinach or fresh if you have it on hand. (I prefer fresh)

1 cup of Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese

***SAVE 1/2 Cup of Pasta Water

Preheat Oven to 425.

Prepare Pasta according to box, Cook Sausage and zucchini/squash, once the sausage is cooked and browned and zucchini is cooked add fresh spinach. Combine the pumpkin, flour, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne and ginger, 1/2 cup of pasta water, then slowly add milk to smooth. Poor Pumpkin sauce over drained cooked pasta, add cooked sausage mixture. Spread half the pasta mixture into a baking dish (9x11 or 9x13), top with spinach then cover with remaining pasta mixture, top with cheese and put in oven for 20 minutes or until cheese has melted and is bubbly.

Sausage, Zucchini, Spinach mixture

 Pumpkin Sauce and Noodles

Delicious Baked Ziti with a twist!