Stephanie Couch of Greensboro said she won $250,000 when she stopped to get ingredients to make macaroni and cheese.

The surgical technologist bought the winning 20X The Cash scratch-off ticket Saturday at the Food Lion on Holden Road in Greensboro.

“It was just a normal shopping trip for me,” Couch said. “I needed some groceries and decided to get my favorite game while I was there.”

Couch took the ticket home and didn’t scratch it until Monday morning at breakfast.

“I saw the ‘7’ and the ‘7’ and was like, ‘Oh my God! I just won $250,000,’” Couch said. “I took my glasses off, rubbed my eyes, and looked at the ticket again just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.”

Couch claimed her prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $176,876. She plans to use some of the money to remodel the bathrooms in her home.

Ticket sales from games like 20X The Cash make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.