Menu Planning Monday, 6/1/09

We are getting bored with our basic breakfasts, so this week I also included some breakfast recipes.

Breakfast
Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal
Blueberry Granola Breakfast Bake
Banana Peanut Butter Smoothies

Dinner

Monday--Homemade Chicken Quesadillas (this is a repeat because we didn't get to make it last week when it was on the menu)
Tuesday--BLTs with Panera’s Creamy Potato Soup
Wednesday--Crockpot Chicken Chili
Thursday--Cheeseburger Calzones
Friday--Grilled Ham & Cheese & veggies
Saturday--Sunny Side Up Salad with No Knead Bread
Sunday--Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Lunches will be leftovers or SmartOnes frozen meals for me or sandwiches for my husband.

Snacks will be yogurt with granola & fruit, fruit smoothies, cereal, fruit

To see the groceries we bought this week, go here.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 5/31/09

Tomorrow we are starting our No Spending Month, so when I shopped this weekend, I tried to shop like normal and avoid stocking up in anticipation of our limited budget for the next month.

Food4Less:

1 pkg. chicken breasts (2+ lbs. @ 1.99/lb) = 4.18
1 bag lima beans = 1.00
1 bag frozen carrots = 1.00
1 bag frozen mixed veggies = 1.00
1 box Velveeta shells = 1.88 - 1.00 Q = .88
1 avocado = .68
1-12 pk. Scott toilet paper = 5.98

Total = 15.70

Jewel-Osco:

14 lbs. of bananas @ .33/lb = 4.63 (I froze these for smoothies)
2 boxes Toasted Oats @ 1.99/ea - 2-1.00 Qs = .99/ea = 1.98
2 boxes Pop-Tarts @ 1.88/ea - 1.00 Q = 1.38/ea = 2.76
2 boxes Rice Crispie Treats = 1.88/ea = 3.76
2 boxes Cocoa Crispies = 1.88/ea - 2-1.00 Qs = .88/ea = 1.76
1 box Eggo Waffles = 1.88 - .75 Q = 1.11
1 pkg Chips Deluxe cookies = 1.88

Total = 18.44

Dominick's:

2 brownie mixes @ 1.00/ ea = 2.00
12 Large eggs = 1.00
2 gallons milk @ 1.69/ea = 3.38
1-12 oz. pkg bacon = 1.99
2.15 lbs. fuji apples @ 1.25/lb = 2.69
1 pkg strawberries = 2.49 -2.49 Q (from Dominick's site) = FREE
1-3 lb bag potatoes = 2.99
1 baby watermelon = 3.99 - 1.00Q (from Dominick's site) = 2.99

Total = 17.45

Mitsuwa Marketplace:

1 box tofu = 1.40
dashi = 2.29
yaki soba noodle = .59

Total = 4.49

Meijer:

1 bag spinach = 1.99
1 box green tea = 2.59
1 box floss = 2.97
1 box garbage bags = 2.99
1 bag Meijer rice = 1.50

Total = 12.78

Grand Total = 68.85

To see what we will cook this week, go here.

Feed a Family of 4 for $4--Crockpot Breakfast

I found this recipe on a frugal discussion board I frequent, http://www.frugalmom.net/forums/. The recipe was originally for the slow cooker, but I cook it in the oven. It is great for breakfast or dinner, though we tend to have it for dinner.

Crockpot Breakfast
16 oz bag of frozen hashbrowns .50 (I found a 32 oz bag for $1)
½ lb. cooked bacon or ham (diced)1.25 (I buy the ham at 2.49/lb)
½ onion .20
½ green pepper .45
¾ c. shredded cheese .38 (I bought a 2 cup bag for $1)
6 eggs .29 (I bought 72 for $3.48)
1/2 c. milk .06
Salt & pepper to taste
3.13

Layer frozen hasbrowns on the bottom of crockpot, then bacon (or ham), then onion, green pepper & cheese. Beat eggs, milk salt and pepper. Pour over the crockpot mixture, cover and turn on low. Cook for 10-12 hours.

However, I usually place this as directed above in a casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, until the top is nicely browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (You may need to add a little bit more milk to cover the casserole before it goes in the oven--no more than 1/4 cup.)

This will feed 4 to 6 people. Serve with fruit on the side.

This recipe is linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge and $5 Dinners.

Food Waste Wednesday 5/28/09 (Late Edition)

I cleaned out the refrigerator and found a little bit of green leaf lettuce, about one inch left of our homemade yogurt and 1/2 a container of sour cream.


Drat that sour cream! I always end up buying a carton for a recipe, only using half and wasting the rest. I just don't like sour cream by itself; I only seem to use it in recipes. Maybe I can find a recipe for homemade sour cream so I can control the amount I make and don't waste it. Anyone have a good sour cream recipe?

The No Spend Month Challenge for June

As I mentioned earlier, we are officially without a paycheck for 12 weeks. (My paycheck will start again when I return to work after my leave of absence in August.)

We do have savings, but as I want to quit my job by next May, we don’t want to dip too far into that.

I was perusing frugal blogs, when I discovered the No Spend Month. The idea is that beyond basic, fixed bills, you allot yourself a certain amount to spend for the month for food, eating out, gas, tolls, entertainment, etc.

I talked this over with my husband who is also eager to save money but not to set ourselves up for failure. We have decided to allow ourselves $500 for the month. This will actually be quite a challenge for us as I routinely struggle to keep our groceries under $300 a month. Also, my son’s birthday is this month, so we will need to be creative. In addition, we are planning two trips to visit my mom (who lives three hours away), so we will have gas and tolls to contend with.

I will start this challenge on June 1st and end it on June 30th. I will let you know, week by week, how we are faring. Wish us luck!!!

If you would like to join us, tell us about your experience in the comments section.

UPDATE:
June 1st - 6th spending
June 7th -12th spending
June 13th -18th spending
June 19th - June 24th spending
June 25th - 28th spending & lessons learned

This post was shared at Life as Mom.

Evaluating the Budget with the Frugal Zealot in Mind

Last week I wrote about Amy Daczczyn (a.k.a. The Frugal Zealot) and the numerous recent interviews that I found with her on the web. What I found most inspiring was the following recent quote from her:

"Most people think they're thrifty, but they're probably not...They do some things, ... and because they clip coupons, in their mind they're thrifty. But it's not in a holistic way through their whole budget" (qtd. in Gardner).

Ouch! That is me to a tee. So, I decided to look at my budget as I thought Amy Daczczyn might. Here are the problem areas I see:

Eating out
We spend about $100-200 monthly for this unnecessary expenditure.

Blockbuster
We are on a $17.99 a month plan that gives us three movies at a time, unlimited store exchanges, and two free store movie rentals a month. It is a great plan, but we have not used it to its full capacity since last summer when I was pregnant. Now we watch about 2 movies a month. Renting two a month from Blockbuster would save us roughly $10.

DS’s preschool
We spend $790 a month on this. My son attends a bilingual school as my husband speaks Japanese as his first language. It is important to both of us that our kids learn Japanese, which is why we are suffering through this expense. (It takes quite a toll on our budget.) But I want to believe in the long run it is worth it. Every time DS speaks to his Japanese grandmother (who speaks no English) on the phone, he is able to say a little more to her.

Groceries
Until recently we have been spending $350 to $400 a month. I am trying to whittle us down to $280. Honestly, though, we still buy many items that aren’t essentials such as soda, ice cream, Nutella, chocolate chips, potato chips, etc.

Cable TV
We used to have the most basic cable that you could get only for the reception (we wouldn’t see a picture otherwise), but after I had my daughter and had to sit down to breastfeed her more times a day than I could count, we upgraded to the next basic package (which only includes about 6 cable channels). We could do without this now that my daughter is older, but I love the Food Network and get so many recipe ideas from there.

If we were willing to do without all of these extras, we could save $990 to 1090 a month. Wow.

However, I am not willing to give up my son’s preschool or our basic cable (yet). If I gave up eating out, our Blockbuster subscription and I could successfully reduce our grocery budget we could still save $170 to $270 a month.

Try it. Look at your budget and see what else you can shave. Even when you feel like you have whittled it down, there is still another place you can cut. (Obviously we have several more places to cut!)

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 5/24/09 (late edition)

We had a very minimal (for us) budget to work with this week. We were also out of town, so I was shopping at stores I don't typically frequent, but we did okay.

Harding's Market

2 Liter Pepsi = 1.00
Cottage cheese = 1.99
Bacon = 2.50
Total = 5.49

Meijer

1 loaf bread = 2.00
2 cans broth = .88/ea = 1.76
1 gallon milk = 1.99
2 lbs. strawberries = 2.99
1-28 oz. can tomatoes = 1.49
3/4 lb. ham lunchmeat = 3.08
1 bag lima beans = 2.19
1 bunch green onions = .50
1 bag of apricots = 1.98
5 peaches =1.82
Total = 19.80

Grand Total = 25.29 + 12.89 for my CVS trip = 38.18

To see the meals we will make this week, go here.

TOTAL FOR MAY = 310.02
(My goal was to bring our regular grocery bill of approximately $350 down to $280 this month. True, I am $30 over my goal of $280, but I am still considering this month a success because we spent $30 out of the grocery money to make a homemade sushi meal at home instead of going out for Mother's Day and I had to spend $22 to bring snacks for my son's preschool.

CVS Shopping Trip, 5/25/09

Finally, after weeks of less than stellar sales, CVS had good sales. The problem was that I was out of town and was only able to get to the store this afternoon after many of the sale items were gone. I did have $12 ECBs that were expiring tomorrow, so I used them all up.

Skor Candy Bar = .89 - .89 Q = FREE (the coupon printed out when I scanned my card at the store)
Colgate Total = 2.99 - 1.00 Q = 1.99 (earned $2 ECBs)
Playtex Sport Tampons = 3.99 - 1.00 Q = 2.99 (earned $3 ECBs)
Speed Stick Deodorant = 3.99 (earned $3.99 ECBs)
Huggies Mega Pack Diapers = 14.99

I used up my 12 ECBs and paid $12.89 out of pocket.
I earned $8.99 in new ECBs.

Overall, I saved $19.59 on this trip or 60%. Not too bad considering we will use all of these items and I was in desparate need of diapers for my daughter.

Menu Planning Monday, 5/25/09

(A few of these recipes are repeats from last week because we ended up going out of town for a few days and because our grocery budget is very limited this week.)


Monday--Omelet for Two
Tuesday--Meatloaf from the freezer (made about 2 months ago), mashed potatoes, & frozen veggies
Wednesday--Gingered Pork Tenderloin with frozen veggies
Thursday--Chicken Quesadilla
Friday--Cinnamon French Toast, bacon & blueberry/banana smoothies
Saturday--Salisbury steak frozen meal & frozen veggies
Sunday--Barbecued Smoked Sausage & Lima Beans

For lunches we will have sandwiches and leftovers.
Breakfasts will be oatmeal, toast, or eggs

To see the groceries we bought for this week, go here.

Feed a Family of 4 for $4--Homemade Bread & Split Pea Soup

I have been inspired by at Erin at $5 Dinners to try to evaluate my own recipes and see what they cost. So, while I will continue to post recipes that I (and my family) enjoy, I thought I would also specifically designate those recipes that can feed 4 for $4 or under. This is the first one I will post.

The recipes for this meal were on my menu plan for the week of 5/11. They turned out to provide a rustic, hearty, very inexpensive dish.

I have not made homemade bread for several years because I always end up making dense, heavy bread, but I decided to try again with this no knead version. I got annoyed when the bread stuck to my kitchen towel even though I had floured it heavily, and I couldn’t get all the flour off of the loaf before I put it in the oven, so in my mind I had labeled this yet one more bread failure.

But when we tried it, it was very good, as was the soup.

Here is the price break down for our meal that will feed four for $3.56. (There was plenty of bread left over for another meal. We actually ate it on the side with two other meals)

Parker’s Split Pea Soup = 2.46
½ cup onions = .20
1 garlic clove = .05
1/16 c. olive oil = .30
¼ tsp oregano = .10
2 carrots = .20
1 red potato = .30
½ lb split peas = .33 (we prefer the yellow over the green)
1 can chicken stock = .98
3 cups water = 0

No Knead Bread = 1.10
4 cups flour = .60
¼ tsp yeast = .25
¼ tsp salt = .05
Olive oil = .20
Water = 0

This recipe is also linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge, Life as Mom and $5 Dinners.

This Is Why I Love Gymboree

I mentioned earlier that Gymboree is currently having their Memorial Day Sale. I went today to see what they had, and I was very happy! Here are some of the deals I snagged for my kids:

For my daughter, I bought the pink corduroy dress for $8.57 (retailed at $34.50) and the plaid jumper dress for $7.89 (retailed for $32.50). For each I paid only 25% of retail price.


For my son, I got even better deals! The orange shirt retails at $16.50, but I paid $2.42 (only 15% of retail), and the brown corduroy pants were only $3.64, even though they retail for $26.50. (I paid 14% of retail.)

I bought these items at such a good price by buying clothes off season, taking advantage of the 20% off Memorial Day Sale and using a 20% off coupon from Parents magazine and using my Gymboree visa (which gave me another 5% off).

I know many people think Gymboree is too expensive, but there are ways to make it affordable. (Plus the clothes are durable and cute!) If you haven't done so yet, take a look at my post, How I Dress My Kids for Free.

To further sweeten this deal, I earned Gymbucks, and I plan to resell these clothes on eBay after my kids outgrow them.

What the Experts Are Saying, Part III

I mentioned earlier that when my husband and I were first married, we needed to live on an extremely tight budget.

During that time, I found and devoured The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it. Some of the information is outdated now such as her bottom line prices for groceries during the time she was writing (1990-1996) and her insistence that a computer and internet is not needed for most families. However, there is still valuable information in there. What is most inspiring is that she and her husband lived a very frugal life and were able to pay cash for their purchases and buy a gorgeous home, all while raising 6 kids.

She retired from writing her newsletter in 1996 and very little was written about her after that until the economy came crashing down. Now that we are in a recession, people have rediscovered her work, and she is giving numerous interviews.

Gayle at The Grocery Cart Challenge posted a link to a recent article with Amy Dacyczyn. This inspired me to look for other articles about her on the web. I found the following, including a video interview. (It was great to see and hear her as before this I had only read her work. I was not following her in the 1990s when she was on the cover of various magazines including Parade and appeared on the Phil Donahue program.)

Mlive.com Ann Arbor Business Review

wcsh.6.com--Amy Dacyczyn (This is the video interview)

Food Waste Wednesday, 5/20/09

We had a good week, food waste wise.

There was about 3/4 of a cup of gravy leftover from a salisbury steak meal we had. My husband wanted to save it for leftovers but then forgot about it. (I never eat gravy. Not one of my favorites!)

1 cup leftover of a blueberry/banana smoothie that I drank and put in the refrigerator for later, but then didn't drink.

About 1.5 tablespoons of leftover breakfast mueseli that I saved for part of my son's snack, but it got lost in the back of the refrigerator.

Another Gymboree Sale!

Gymboree has started their Memorial Day Sale early. If you purchase online, all items already reflect the 20% discount. If you buy in the store, 20% will be taken off your entire order.

Remember, with this sale you can use other coupons. Parents magazine had a 20% off coupon last month that expires May 31st. You can also always buy the coupons off eBay. This could give you up to 40% off for this sale, plus it is Gymbucks earning time! (And if you buy online, any order over $100 has free shipping.)

Even if you don't have a little one at home, you may want to take advantage of some of these sales as Gymboree clothing is a great baby shower gift!

Monthly Goals Update

I have three months left for my leave of absence. It is time to check in and see how I am doing on the goals I have set for myself to achieve by the end of August.

Only use up 50% of our savings while on leave. We are just now having to dip into savings, so I can’t monitor this one yet.

Get grocery bill down to at least $300/month. Last month I spent $350 on groceries, so I didn’t achieve this yet. I have budgeted in $280 for groceries this month, which I have already spent, so I am not sure this one will happen this month.

Create a list of 50-90 meals we enjoy and organize the recipes for them. I have a stack of the recipes and a binder that I bought for them. Now I need to organize them. This goal is about 30% completed.

Grow my eBay business, Lake Michigan Treasures to 2700-2800 items. I started the month at 2500 items; I am now at 2560, so I have completed 30% of my goal to have at least 2700 items.

Declutter the house!! I cleaned and decluttered the kitchen, bathroom and kids’ room. The dining room/living room is next.

Sell $300 to $500 worth of household items on eBay that we no longer use. Thus far I have sold $146, so I am almost 50% of the way to this goal.

Lose 25 to 30 pounds. I have lost four pounds. I am, therefore, 16% of the way to completing this goal.

Get a dishwasher. Done.

Get a full night’s sleep. Getting closer to this one. A few nights a week we get to sleep from 10 pm to 4 am. The baby is 6 months old, so hopefully it will continue to get better.

If I can accomplish these goals before August, it should help our lives run more smoothly when I am back at work. I tend to blow money more easily when working because I don’t have time and I am stressed. If I can keep that impulse under control with careful planning now, hopefully I can fulfill my goal of being a stay at home mom in 2010.

Great Kraft coupons

Coupons.com has reset their coupons, and they now include some great $1.00 off or more coupons for various Kraft products. Click on the coupon link at my sidebar or click on the link here to get some great savings! (There are some good coupons for the upcoming barbecue season, too!)

Menu Planning Monday, 5/19/09

Monday--Crockpot Breakfast (for dinner)
Tuesday--Meatloaf (made last month & frozen in the freezer), mashed potatoes, veggie
Wednesday--Moosewood's Persian Split Pea & Barley Soup
Thursday--Crab-Corn Chowder & chicken breasts
Friday--Chicken Quesadillas
Saturday--Frozen salisbury steak, rice & veggie
Sunday--Barbecued Smoked Sausage & Lima Beans

We will have smoothies, toast, oatmeal and cereal for breakfasts.
Lunches will be sandwiches & leftovers

To see the groceries we purchased for this week's recipes, go here.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 5/18/09 (Early Edition)

Dave Ramsey always talks about Murphy coming to one’s house and living in a spare bedroom. This month is the month Murphy took up residence at our home.

First, a motorcycle hit the side of our minivan (minus the motorcycle rider who had already fallen off; thankfully everyone was okay, but the van didn’t fare so well) while my husband was stopped at a light,

then my identity was stolen on one of my accounts and $1000 was charged before I found out the next day (there will be a post coming on that soon),

and now, when I am almost out of grocery money, I find out it is DS’s week to bring groceries to school. (Twice a year each kid has to bring roughly 11 pounds of fruit, 3 pounds of vegetables, crackers, cheese sticks, and their favorite snack.) I have marked all the items I had to purchase for DS’s preschool with **.

Tony’s Finer Foods



**Sociable Crackers @ 3.59
**Cheese spread @ 1.69 (DS wanted to bring cheese dip and crackers for his snack. His aunt makes this for holidays, and he wanted to do it exactly like she does, which meant buying the Sociable crackers even though they weren’t on sale.)
1.83 lbs apples @ .79/lb = 1.45
**2 cantaloupe @ .69 each = 1.38
1 cantaloupe = .69
1 avocado = .99
2 packages strawberries @ 1.50/ea = 3.00
**1 package strawberries = 1.50
1 lb. carrots = .79
1 package frozen peas = .99
1 package frozen carrots = .99
1 package frozen mixed veggies = .99
Total = 18.94

Jewel-Osco



**1 gallon milk = 1.99
1 box Toasted Oats cereal = .88
1-8 oz. bag shredded cheese = .88
1 bag chocolate chips = 2.50
**8 oz. cream cheese = .88
**2 cucumbers @ 1.00/ea = 2.00
1 cucumber = 1.00
**1 red pepper = 1.00
1 can chicken broth = .99
Total = 12.39

Food4Less



**1-4 lb bag oranges = 2.00
**2—3 lb bags apples @ 2.50/ea = 5.00
1 salisbury steak meal = 1.68
1 bag frozen fries = 1.00
1 bag frozen carrots = 1.00
1 package yeast = 2.15
1 carton ice cream = 2.50
1 container cottage cheese = 1.00
1 can chicken broth = .98
1 lb deli ham = 2.60
2 gallons milk @ 1.78/ea = 3.56
Total = 24.16

Grand Total = 55.49 (of that, $21.03 was for DS’s preschool and $34.46 was for us)

To see the meals we plan to make this week, go here.

This post is linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Homemade Chicken Quesadillas

I love going out to eat at Mexican restaurants. My tastes aren’t fancy; I am happy with a chicken quesadilla.

A chicken quesadilla seems like a relatively simple thing to make at home, and we tried, many times, but I just couldn’t get it to taste like a restaurant quesadilla, so we would go out for Mexican once every month or two so I could get my fix.

I was watching a cooking show, I believe it was Rick Bayless on PBS, when he mentioned Chihuahua cheese. Bingo. That is the secret!!

I can honestly say that I cannot remember the last time we have gone out for Mexican because I am now so content with these quesadillas we make at home. (Sometimes I think they taste better than the restaurant!)

Homemade Chicken Quesadillas
I begin by marinating one chicken breast in mirin. (Mirin is a Japanese sweet cooking seasoning. I don’t think it is essential, but I think it makes the chicken moister, and it gives it a nice brown glaze because mirin has alcohol in it.)

Cook the chicken breast in a skillet with a little bit of cooking spray or oil. When it is cooked through, cut it into small cubes. (I dice these fairly small; then the chicken can be stretched to fill three quesadillas.)


Steam some frozen mixed veggies. I use the combination of carrots, peas, green beans and corn. After the veggies are cooked, mix them together with the chicken.

Set one tortilla on a pan over medium to medium low heat. Top it with shredded Chihuahua cheese and the mixed veggie/chicken combo.
If you like, add a little more cheese on top of that and then top with one more tortilla. Cook until golden brown on each side.

So simple, cheap and tasty!! We serve it with lettuce, tomato and avocado on the side. (See first picture for our end result!)

This recipe is linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge, $5 Dinners and Life as Mom.

Food Waste Wednesday (Late Edition)

I cleared out the refrigerator and only found this 1/4 of an avocado we hadn't finished. Then, when I went to make dinner last night, I took our green pepper out of the bag and discovered the stem was all white with mold fuzz. My husband told me to just cut it off and use it anyway, but then on the side there was a huge white patch. So, the waste this week was 1/4 an avocado and one green pepper.

That is actually not to bad for us, but I can't be too proud yet considering last week's waste.

This trying to avoid food waste has certainly been eye opening. If you don't keep track of it yourself, I encourage you to. You can post your results at thefrugalgirl.com on her Food Waste Friday post.

Spring Cleaning Update--The Kids' Room

We had actually done a deep cleaning on this room about 3 months ago when we put up the crib. So, I just had to do a quick wipe down of the chair rail, baseboards and door frames along with sweeping and regular dusting.

The big job was clearing out the clutter and putting stuff away. (Not something we are very good at, but we are definitely working on it now that the kitchen and bathroom are also clean and decluttered.) Here are the before and after pictures side by side:

And the inside of their wardrobe before and after:

The house is about halfway down now, and it is starting to feel much better. Thanks to simplemom.net for having this spring cleaning party!

Gymboree's Circle of Friends Sale is 5/14 - 5/18

For those of you who followed my posts on Gymboree, their Circle of Friends sale is beginning this Thursday, 5/14. This is a great sale! The sale is for 30% off your purchase, and this includes both full price and sale items (though I would recommend you only buy sale items for maximum savings). And, if you have a Gymboree Visa, you will automatically get another 5% off.

This sale is available both online and in-store, but the sales in the store tend to be better, in my experience. If you haven't finished buying your kids' summer clothes, you should be able to find some of the early summer lines that came out around January and February at a great price now when combined with this sale.

You can sign up at gymboree.com to get an e-mail from them with the code beginning on Thursday.

Spring Cleaning Update--Bathroom

Well, the bathroom was not as dramatic as the kitchen (see my post here for that one), but it is nice to have it done. The only thing I couldn't get totally clean was our old-style heater. All the nooks and crannies are filled with dust, but I can't get a rag in every section to clean it. Any suggestions?

Here is the medicine cabinet BEFORE:

and AFTER:

(Ah, the joys of renting. Don't you love the groovy wallpaper?)

And the rest of the bathroom BEFORE:

And AFTER:

I cleaned everything and did a thorough deep clean. The biggest improvement was taking all of our kids' tub toys and putting them in a basket under the sink. That cleared quite a bit of shower clutter.

Menu Planning Monday, 5/11/09

Monday--Lynn's Panera-Style Broccoli Cheese Soup & Bacon Wrapped Scallops
Tuesday--One Pot Stuffed Pepper Dinner
Wednesday--Creamy Chicken & Rice (Slow Cooker)
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--Parker's Split Pea Soup & No-Knead Bread
Saturday--Polish Sausage & Hamburgers on the grill
Sunday--Deluxe Scrambled Eggs & Blueberry-Strawberry Smoothies

For breakfast we will have oatmeal, eggs, toast or breakfast mueseli.
For lunch we will have leftovers or sandwiches.

To see the groceries that we bought for the week, go here.

Grocery Shopping Sunday, 5/10/09

Ah hem, let's just say it is time to live off the freezer stockpile and be creative because it is now only the 10th day of the month, and I have already used roughly 77% of the grocery money. (I typically spend $360 or so per month for groceries, but I am challenging myself to try to get my grocery bill down to $280. It is proving to be quite a challenge for me!
Food4Less:



5 doz. Eggs = 3.48
2 pkgs. Mex. Blend cheese @ 1.00/ea = 2.00
2 pkgs Mozzarella cheese @ 1.00/ea = 2.00
2 lbs. frozen mixed veggies = 2.00
2 Dannon yogurt @ .55/ea = 1.10
1.47 lbs. pears @ .98/lb = 1.44
2 pkgs cinnamon bread @ 1.88/ea = 3.76
1 container coffee = 5.48
1 baby green beans = .58
4 ears corn = .98
Total = 23.33

Tony's Finer Foods:


1 box wild rice blend = 1.69
1 bag Nestle chocolate chips = 2.99
1 can evaporated milk = 1.29
1 – 5 lb. bag red potatoes = 2.00
1.10 lb. leaf lettuce @ 1.49/lb = 1.64
2 pkgs. Strawberries @ 1.50/ea = 3.00
.31 lbs. red pepper @ 1.99/lb = .62
2.14 lbs. bananas @ .69/lb = 1.48
.43 lbs. plum tomatoes @ .98/lb = .42
1.99 lb. green peppers @ .98/lb = 1.95
1 cantaloupe = 1.50
2 loaves bread @ .99/ea = 1.98
1 bag sub rolls = 3.79
3 cannoli = 1.98
1-8 pk. DanActive = 1.99
2 gallons milk @ 1.99/ea = 3.98
½ lb. mozzarella cheese = 1.70
½ lb. hard salami = 2.27
½ lb ham = 1.68
Total = 38.80

Ed's Way:


Lay's Classic Chips = 1.29
8 pk hot dog buns = 1.49
1 cucumber = .50
1 pkg. broccoli = .19
Total = 3.55

Mitsuwa Market:


1-5 lb bag sticky rice = 5.49
1 block tamago (seasoned egg) = 7.99
1 pkg masago = 3.12
1 pkg tuna = 4.80
1 avacado = 1.09
1 pkg seaweed = 1.89
1 pkg soba noodles = 4.99
2 pkgs chikuwa @ 1.49/ea = 2.98

Total = 34.07
(The plan is to make homemade sushi tonight for Mother's Day instead of going to our favorite sushi restaurant that runs us $60 per visit.)

Petco:
1-7 lb. bag cat food = 9.99
Total = 9.99

Grand Total = 109.74

Total left for groceries for the month = 63.65.

To see the meals we will cook for the week, go here.

Breakfast Mueseli

I originally got this recipe from the TLC show Honey, We're Killing the Kids. I have since lost the original and altered it to make it less sweet.

Mix 1-2/3 cups old fashioned oats,

1-1/3 cups milk, and

1/3 cup maple syrup

in a bowl and refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, add your garnish. We like chopped walnuts and raisins, though today my husband and son had it with blueberries and strawberries.

The recipe serves 3 to 4 and is a great way to have a healthy, cold meal on summer mornings.

I shared this post at the Grocery Cart Challenge, 5 Dollar Dinners & Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays.

Spring Cleaning Update--Kitchen

Well, it took me about 4 days with most of my work time concentrated over the weekend, but the kitchen is finally clean. I am enjoying the clutter-free look! I can honestly say it has never been this clean. Our big challenge now is to keep it looking like this as it is not our natural inclination. :)

Here are the before and after pictures:

Next up is the livingroom, but that will have to wait until next week because we are going out of town for Mother's Day this weekend.