A New Week - Rebounding from Surving Back to Thriving

Last week was one of those weeks when it was just about all I could do to keep us fed, clothed, transported to all our activities, and maintain some level of acceptable cleanliness around the house.  I came down with a head cold.  It wasn't bad enough to make me want to stay in bed all day, but let's just say that I didn't have the energy to do anything extra. 

We did still manage to eat some good dinners last week, but I didn't take too many photos or sit at the computer to write the anecdotes to accompany the recipes.  This blog is my hobby, after all!  There may be some extra posts this week as we did have a few new yummy things!

We'll see what this week brings!  I'm already a day behind with my menu post for the week as it was nearly an all day chore to get the house picked up and get the laundry back under control yesterday.  If nothing else, last week reaffirmed that the little bit I do every day to keep the house organized does make a big difference. 

We have a bit of an up in the air weekend coming, so my menu is a little sketchy for those days.  I have plenty of things around here to eat, so I know we won't go hungry!

Here's what we'll be eating at our house this week.  As always, we'll round out our meals with salad and fresh fruits from our produce drawer.

SOUP NIGHT MONDAY - Spaghetti Soup, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Frosting
ONE DISH TUESDAY - Chicken Enchiladas, Rice and Beans, Salad (never had this last week as planned; had chicken tacos instead)
SANDWICH WEDNESDAY - Sloppy Joes (from freezer), Corn Casserole (from freezer), Strawberries
KIDS PICK THURSDAY - Basil Chicken Strips, Parmesan Noodles, Broccoli
QUICK BITE FRIDAY - Fish Sandwiches, some side dish yet to be determined
SATURDAY - Kids in the Kitchen (I plan to cook something with the girls for our special Girls' Night; we haven't yet looked through the cookbooks)
SUNDAY BRUNCH - Baked Oatmeal, Ham Slices, Fruit Parfaits (never had this last week as planned; went out to brunch after church)
SUNDAY DINNER - Make you own pizza, salad

Breakfast Choices This Week:
Cereal/Toast
Yogurt
Hard Boiled Eggs/Sausage Links
Waffles

Snack Choices This Week:
Trail Mix (nuts, fruit, M&Ms)
Granola Bars/Cereal Bars
Pretzels/Cheeze Its
Cheese and Crackers/ Peanut Butter and Crackers
Pizza Bagels
Fruit/Veggies with Dip

If you need more menu planning inspiration, please visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com. 


I did a BIG grocery shop on Friday, Feb 17.  I spent around $120 which included my husband's Starbucks coffee for the next several months, toilet paper, wax paper/aluminum foil/parchment paper/various plastic bags, and laundry detergent.  But my mother in law was here and the kids were hungry and ready to have lunch when I got home, so I never took a photo of what I purchased, and quite honestly now I don't even remember all the deals I snagged that day.  I know I put 3 loaves of whole wheat white bread for $0.79, some slider buns for $0.49, and 3 meals worth of boneless pork chops (sliced by the butcher into chops from a boneless pork loin) for $6 into my freezer! 

I did hit the Meijer last Friday morning to take advantage of the 10 for $10 sale.  I picked up quite a bit of $1 produce including spinach, bagged salad, peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, and strawberries.  I also found a good deal on Gogurts for the kids' lunches/snacks at $0.92/box, Sargento Shredded Cheese for under $2/bag, and several boxes of Hamburger Helper for 50 cents and cans of chicken noodle soup for $0.30 to donate to our local food pantry collection for our oldest's Upward basketball team. 

Total Spent: $62.34

Total Saved Using In Store Specials and Coupons: $47.29

Ever had one of those weeks were it was more like surviving than thriving? 

What's on your menu this week?

Weekly Shopping Trip and our Game Day Dinner Menu

Earlier in the week, John and I sat on the couch together to enjoy a bit of tv after putting the girls to bed.  We scrolled through our list of recorded shows and came across this episode of The Pioneer Woman, The Big Game.  I'm fascinated by this woman's life.  Maybe it's her red hair.  Maybe it's my secret desire to live in the middle of nowhere despite the fact that I've always lived in a populated area.  Maybe it's because she loves to make easy food for those she loves.  Whatever the reason, she made some simple game day snacks for her family on the show.  By the end of the half hour, our mouths were watering, and John asked if we could have a similar menu for Sunday's Superbowl game.

We'll be having tortilla chips with Pico de Gallo and Guacamole, chicken wings (traditional hot wings and Asian hot wings with sweet, hot chile sauce), veggies and ranch dip, and Knock You Naked Brownies. 

I needed to pick up almost everything for this menu except the chips and the ranch dip along with the regular old stuff we need to buy every week. The 3 year old and I headed out to do our weekly shopping on Friday after a very busy week on our family calendar.  I was not the most prepared with my list, my coupons, or my thoughts, so it was not the Queen's best work this week.  We have plenty to eat for the week, but I had to do some rearranging on our menu plan and we maybe won't have the variety that I usually aim to include.  And I'll probably have to head back to the store at some point before the end of the week because I don't know if we have enough fruit or sandwich bread to last us for the week. 

We hit Sam's Club, Meijer, and Aldi, all in one morning.  Kind of insane with a 3 year old in tow, I know.   Here's our haul from the morning:

   

                                         

Total Spent: $98.49

Total Saved Using In store specials and coupons: $42.27

I feel like I bought kind of a hodge podge of items this week, but I did pick up some great deals on a few things I know we'll eat in the weeks to come.  I also couldn't remember if we were out of ziploc bags or not, so I threw in 2 boxes at the checkout lane.  Here are a few of the best deals I found this week combining coupons and in store specials keeping our game day menu in mind:
Nabisco Snack Crackers - $1.25/box X 4
Kraft Shredded Cheese -  $1.50 X 4
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts - $1.77/lb
Chicken Bratwurst - $2
Chicken Wings - $5.99
12 Turkey Burgers - $5.99
2 Bottles of Wing Sauce - 1 free, 1 @ $0.80
Nestle Chocolate Chips - $1.69 X 2
Baby Carrots - $ 0.49 (Aldi)
6 Roma tomatoes - $ 0.99 (Aldi)
2 Avocados - $1 each
2 gallons of Mrs. Butterworth's Syrup - $6.38 (yes, I know it contains High Fructose Corn Syrup!  All in moderation. . . .) (Sam's)
6 packages of Eggo Waffles - $6.24 (Sam's)
2 packages of Mission Tortillas - $2.12 each (Sam's)

I had to stop into Kroger on the way home from school to pick up a few more things because when I got home with my haul in the morning and doublechecked my menu and supplies, I had forgotten several important items.  See?  Not really my best day.  Oh well!  Hopefully it's my realness that keeps you reading.  There are many days when I'm just flying by the seat of my pants trying to keep this house running smoothly.  This was one of those days.  I was rushed when we got home and exhausted from having spent 3 hours at the school volunteering after the morning at the 3 stores with the 3 year old, so I forgot to take a picture.  I spent another $27.79 picking up $1 blackberries, milk, caramels, evaporated milk, Nutella, $1 pineapple, apples, juice, green chiles, sweet potato fries, milk, bacon, and sausage.  We were hungry and picked up more things than were on my list. 

So, my weekly goal for shopping is somewhere around $100.  I went over this week's budget by a little more than $25.  But, we'll be enjoying two weekend days of celebrating National Nutella Day and Superbowl Sunday.  Buying specific foods for these special menus certainly put me over my spending limit for the week.   (And maybe going to the store on the way home from school with a hungry 11 year old.  Or maybe not being fully prepared with my list, coupons, and thoughts before heading out the door in the morning.  Oh well!)

What foods did you pick up on your weekly shopping trip for Superbowl Sunday? 

Weekly Shopping Trip

We had a busy week and I didn't make it to the store until Sunday afternoon.  I do not like going grocery shopping on the weekends because it seems to take me longer because the stores are so crowded.  I also cannot find as many manager specials which makes my trips more expensive.  Shopping on the weekend, however, means that I can go to the store without my 3 year old helper.

Kroger had a great buy 10, get $5 off promotion this week and they will still be running this same promotion next week.  I usually use this type of sale to stock up on items at low cost for our pantry/freezer.  I have to use a numbered list, however, because if you don't get exactly 10 items (or a multiple of 10), it's not such a great deal.

I aim to spend about the same each week (under $100).  Some weeks I come home with a lot of items, some weeks not as many.  This seemed to be a week where I had fewer, higher priced items.  I needed honey, popcorn, and yeast which are items not usually on sale.  My pantry is currently stocked with many boxes of cereal, so unless I can get it for under $1, we don't need any more for awhile.  We still have several oranges and apples in the fruit bin and some carrots, celery, and cucumber in the vegetable crisper.  We do eat packaged chips, crackers, and ice cream although I try to keep us healthy and homemade as much as possible.  And yes. . . that's Velveeta Cheese and Shells on the counter.  Even the Queen of the Easy Meal needs a quick, box meal in her pantry as a back up.

Here's what I brought home this week and a few of the best deals I found:

*** 10 pound spiral cut ham @ $1.49/lb
***.18 cent canned tomatoes X 2
***$1 fresh pineapple
***$1 4-pack yogurts X 3
***.75 pasta sauce X 3
***.49 cent hot dog buns
***$2 lunch meat X 2
***Samoa ice cream - YUMMY!

Total Spent: $75.92
Total Saved Using Coupons and In Store Promotions: $60.83 (44%)

I need to pick up some bananas at some point this week.  They were all very, very green or very, very brown.  (Remember, I'm more of an in the middle kind of girl, not the extremes.)  I also saw a couple good deals at Giant Eagle, so if we have time, we may pop in there later this week, too.

What deals did you find on your weekly shopping trip?

Weekly Shopping Trip

After my big produce haul last week, the frig still had quite a few good things left to eat inside of it.  My freezer stash is dwindling slowly thanks to careful meal planning.  Checking the sale ads this week, there were not a ton of instore specials and coupon deals that I had to rush right out and snag but I did want to stock up on some of the Cereal Monster's favorite cereals that were on sale.  We also needed some cheese and deli meats for sandwiches for the weekend and the week.  I also wanted to do a bit of batch cooking for our breakfasts and snacks and picked up the needed ingredients for those items.

With list in hand, cash in wallet, coupons gathered, the three year old with her penny and a snack, we headed off to run our errands on Friday morning.  Here's the haul for the week. 

The 3 year old picked out the orange creamsicle treats despite the
fact that it was freezing outside!  Perfect for our hamburger night!

Here are a few of the best deals I found: 
*Greek Yogurt (Mgr Spec) for .25
*Free Bread with in store promotion on Hormel deli meat, $1.63 meat with sale price & coupon
*Cinnamon Toast Crunch with in store promotion and coupon, $1 X 2
*8 lbs potatoes - $2.50
*Meijer Eggs - .99 x 3
*Meijer Tortillas - $1.33 x 2
*Grapes - .99/lb
*TN Pride Sausage - $1.30 with in store promotion and coupon
*Valentines, socks for Undy Sunday @
church, and snow gloves for 11 year old - $15.76

Total Spent: $85.78

Total Saved using in store promotions and coupons: $89.64

Not too bad.  I did pop into Aldi and pick up 2 bags of mini bagels, foil, chili powder, and baggies which did not get added into this total.

What bargains did you find on your weekly shopping trip?