Menu Plan Monday - June 30th

Wow, I can't believe a new month is almost upon us! Where did the time go? But I am soooo looking forward to the long holiday weekend :)

Here's our menu for the week. For more meal plan ideas, this week visit Heavenly Homemakers!

Breakfast & Lunch: Items already on hand

Dinner:

Saturday - Crockpot Potato Chowder

Sunday - BBQ Turkey meatballs w/rice & boiled potatoes

Monday - Haluski (cabbage, noodles & bacon)

Tuesday - Vegetarian Black & White Bean Chili

Wednesday - Seven Layer Taco salad

Thursday - Creamed tuna w/homemade white sauce over whole wheat penne

Friday - Carolina BBQ served on whole wheat buns with cole slaw and beans - Happy 4th!

Grocery Totals:

Total oop: $89.77
Total savings: $54.16

For a breakdown of this week's shopping trips, see my Super Savings Saturday - Monday Edition.

Super Savings Saturday - Monday Edition

It's the Monday edition of Super Savings Saturday LOL! I was tremendously busy at work last week, so I didn't finish up my grocery shopping until Sunday. Found the best sale for 93/7 ground beef in quite a while at Harris Teeter - $2.99/lb!

To help keep the grocery budget trim, I pretty much stopped buying ground beef because the 93/7 was so expensive. But it's been a great change! We discovered a host of meatless meals that we love and I've gotten away from the "helper" type meals to more homemade versions. And I ventured outside of my cooking comfort zone of ground beef and boneless, skinless chicken breast, to use meats I wouldn't have even dared to try before like ground turkey, london broil and cubed steak.

Total Spent: $89.77
Total Savings: $54.16

Kroger:

2 Eggland's Best eggs (2.59 - .35/1 Q doubled)
1 Bounty Basic paper towels (sale .99 - .25/1 Q doubled)
3 Lawry's marinades (FREE! sale .99 - .50/1 doubled)
1 Hunt's diced tomatoes
3 Cattlemen's BBQ sauce (sale .99 - .75/1 Q)
2 Westsoy Organic soy milk shelf stable 32 oz (Manager's special 1.29)
5lb bag russet potatoes
1lb Shadybrook 93/7 ground turkey (sale 1.25)

Total oop: $14.69
Total savings: $21.61

Lowes Foods:

6 Old Orchard apple juice (sale 2.00)
2 Huggies Pull Ups (sale 8.99 - 1.50/1 Q)
1 Pepsi 2L (.49 w/greenpoints)
1 White Lily flour (2.75 - .45/1 Q doubled)
1-5lb Domino sugar (sale 2.29 - .30/1 Q doubled)
1 LF cream cheese (sale 1.19)
1lb Carolina Pride low sodium bacon (sale 2.00)
4 Sargento Shredded cheeses (sale 2.00 - 1/2Q)
1 head of lettuce

Total oop: $44.60
Total savings: $23.55

Harris Teeter:

3 gallons HT Organic milk (sale 4.99)
2 HT canned beans (sale .50)
8 jars Beech Nut baby food (sale .45 - 1.50/8 Q)
3 green bell peppers (sale .99)
3 lb 93/7 ground beef (sale 2.99/lb)

Total oop: $30.48
Total savings: $9.00

Honoring My Husband

Over the weekend, Dave & I had a really good talk. Not our usual ramblings about work or the kids, but a really good discussion about our relationship, finances and our long-term goals. I came away from our talk asking myself, do I really make an effort to build up his confidences? Do I provide him with a soft place to land when the world seems to knock him down? Or do my actions and words lend themselves to him feeling not valued and incapable even at home.

So that night during my quiet time, I made a list of things that are of importance to Dave. And thought of ways I could bless him and help build him up. I know the most important thing to Dave is making sure the kids are read to and providing them with opportunities and activities in which they can learn. The education of his children is far more important to him than having the house completely spotless. He also appreciates coming home to a meal that's already prepared and not having to fend for himself - because he would most likely choose something that wasn't very good for him LOL!

Offering praise without criticism and listening to his inputs on matters of the home without getting offended are big on the list as well. Another was just accepting Dave for who he really is. He's not a polo and khakis kind of guy. He likes t-shirts, jean shorts and white socks. He listens to 80s music, enjoys finding curbside treasures and needs help finding his often misplaced keys, belt, shoes, etc. It is who he is, so why not accept it?

Making the list was the easy part. Now comes putting it into practice. And to do it with an attitude of serving and honoring my husband for the glory of God and strengthening our marriage.

Menu Plan Monday - June 23rd

Last week's Amish Baked oatmeal was definitely a sweet treat, maybe a little too sweet even for me, the ultimate sweet tooth. In looking for an alternative, I came across this recipe for Chewy Oatmeal spice bars. The spice bars made for great breakfast bars and snacks. But if anyone has a recipe for baked oatmeal that's not too sweet, please share!

Here's this week menu. Harris Teeter has a great meat sale going on thru Tuesday. Got a london broil regularly priced $13.67 for $5.45! Yesterday was my first time cooking one and it turned out great! Went back and bought another one that's tucked nicely away in the freezer.

Breakfast & Lunch: Items already on hand.

Dinner:

Saturday - Creamed tuna w/homemade white sauce over whole wheat penne & steamed sweet peas

Sunday - London Broil marinated in teriyaki w/brown rice & steamed veggies

Monday - Sunday leftovers

Tuesday - Whole Wheat pasta w/marinara sauce & homemade breadsticks

Wednesday - Dirty Rice (using ground pork sausage)

Thursday - Beef Pepper Steak w/brown rice

Friday - Homemade pizza (using this Easy Pizza Dough recipe)

Grocery Total - Total spent: $93.67

For a breakdown of this week's shopping trips, click here.

Have a great week everyone!

Super Savings Saturday

Well, I did it again - no pictures LOL! Maybe I should write myself a stickie as a reminder :) This week, we started our new $100 a week grocery budget in an effort to build up our dwindling stockpile. And what a great week to start as Harris Teeter had great meat sales going on. With the remaining money from this week, I'm going to go back to HT and get another london broil. The one I bought yesterday was originally $13.67 on sale for $5.45!

Total spent: $93.67
Total savings: $78.21

Lowes Foods:

5 Old Orchard apple juices (sale 2.00)
2 Huggies Pull Ups (sale 8.99-1.50/1 Q)
1 Paws cat food 3lb (sale 2.50)
3 Bounty paper towels (sale 1.75-.25/1 Q doubled)
2 Aunt Jemima syrups (sale 2.09-1/2 Q)
3 Electrasol tabs (sale 3.49-.75/1 Q doubled)
1 LF canned tuna (FREE w/green points)
1 Land O Frost cajun turkey (sale BOGO-.55/1 Q doubled)
4 Smart Balance 50/50 blends (store Q 1.99-.75/1 Q doubled)
4 Birds Eye Steamfresh - 3 brown rice, 1 sweet peas (store Q .99-$2/4 Q)


Total oop: $45.72
Total savings: $44.83

Harris Teeter:

3 gallons Organic Valley milk (5.99-1/1 Q)
Angus cubed steak (sale 2.83)
Angus london broil (sale 5.45)
2 Sargento shredded mozzarella (sale BOGO-1/2 Q)
8 jars Beech Nut baby food (sale .45 ea-1.50/8 Q)
1 Chi chi's salsa (sale BOGO-.55/1 Q doubled)
1 HT cooking spray (sale 2.00)
1 Lysol toilet cleaner (sale BOGO-.50/1 Q doubled)
1 Hunt's ketchup (sale .77)
3 green bell peppers (sale .99)

Total oop: $34.97
Total savings: $29.56

Kroger:

6 Ragu pasta sauces (sale 1.55-1/3 Q)
2 Eggland's Best eggs (2.59-.35/1 Q doubled)
1 Hunt's diced tomatoes
1 Multi grain dinner rolls (manager's special .60)

Total oop: $12.98
Total savings: $3.82

A Little Weekend Fun

Last Saturday, Ashleigh & Clayton came into the kitchen with that all too familiar look on their faces. You know, the "Momma I'm Sooooo Bored" look. So we decided to make our own playdough. The Crockpot Lady has a recipe on her site for making playdough in the crockpot. But since her delicious Tamale Pie had already claimed my crockpot, we used this stove top recipe from The Dollar Stretcher.

I'm not a pro when it comes to making any sort of dough in the kitchen, but this was really easy and took no time at all to become dough-like in the pot. As an added bonus, I discovered another use for cream of tartar besides the one recipe I bought it for LOL!

I floured the counter and let it cool down a bit before kneading.





Once it cooled, I separated the dough and let Ashleigh & Clayton knead. Ashleigh really got into kneading hers, Clayton didn't really care to touch his LOL!



For coloring, we used packets of Celestial Seasoning Go Stix (water flavoring packets) I had on hand. The Wild Cherry packet gave Ashleigh's a nice pink color and delicious smell.

Voila! Homemade playdough! We had lots of fun making shapes and letters with it. I thought it had a much better texture than regular store bought playdough and seemed to clean up alot easier. Plus if Heaven forbid Reedy would have eaten some (he didn't btw) I wouldn't have freaked because I know exactly what's in it.

We'll definitely be making this again and trying different colors. It would also make a great frugal birthday gift for kids!

Frugalicious Father's Day Fun!

Here's a few photos from our fun (and frugalicious!) Father's Day! Sunday afternoon, the kids and I went out on a super, secret mission to gather ingredients for a most delicious banana split for Daddy. Of course with a 5yo, 3yo and 1yo nothing can stay a secret for long. Especially if it involves ice cream!

I have to give credit for this idea to a co-worker who advised me that men appreciate simple things. And not the things that we (their wives) think they need - like polos and cute khaki shorts LOL!

Ashleigh & Clayton helping to assemble Daddy's sundae

The finished product with our Monkey card

Enjoying ice cream with Daddy. The sundae disappeared VERY quickly!

Grocery Budget - Take 2

Another Wednesday, another start to grocery store sales! This week as I mull over deals, I'll be working within the guidelines of our revised grocery budget. As my stockpile dwindled, our $75 grocery budget wasn't cutting the (FREE) mustard, so to speak. The amount of "need" shopping increased, which left little room for stockpiling buys. Plus it seemed like each week I was going back to the store for another $20 in needed items.

After discussing it over with Dave, we decided to increase the weekly grocery budget to $100. About $50 will be devoted to the bare essentials - milk, eggs, juice, diapers, baby food and cat food. $25 for items needed to put meals together during the week as well as fresh fruits and veggies. And the remaining $25 for stockpiling. We're not quite sure how we're going to work the stockpiling portion - if we'll roll the left over to the next week or take out the full amount each week regardless. We'll use the next four weeks to tweak it as we go along and reevaluate the new budget plan in July.

I really wanted to keep the grocery budget low, especially since we're still working on our debt snowball. But let's face it, we've got to eat! Dave encouraged me to keep working at it. And most importantly, to not get caught up in comparing myself to others, whether their budgets are smaller or larger than ours.

Menu Plan Monday - June 16th

Wow, I can't believe it's Monday already! Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day weekend. Ours was fun and relaxing and filled with lots of pizza and ice cream.

Here's our menu for the week. For more meal ideas be sure to visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Breakfast & Lunch: Items already on hand including Amish Baked Oatmeal.

Dinner:

Saturday - Crockpot Tamale Pie

Sunday - Father's Day Dinner Out!

Monday - Veggie Lo Mein

Tuesday - Chicken Salad Sandwiches (adding hard boiled eggs to the recipe) on whole wheat w/organic sweet potato fries

Wednesday - BBQ Turkey Meatballs w/mashed potatoes and steamed veggies

Thursday - Whole Wheat Pasta w/marinara sauce & homemade breadsticks

Friday - Breakfast for Dinner! Homemade waffles, sausage patties & scrambled eggs w/cheddar cheese

Grocery Total: Total Spent: $92.79

For a breakdown of this week's shopping trips click here.

Have a great week everyone!

Super Savings Saturday

My first time joining in on Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday! Please forgive the lack of pictures this week. I didn't think about taking them until AFTER I had put everything away LOL!

I'm beginning to think it's time for us to reevaluate our $75 a week grocery budget. Without a solid food stockpile, I find that I'm spending an additional $20 above our budgeted amount for extra need items during the week. While $90 something a week isn't bad for a family our size (3 adults, 3 kids), I'd still like to keep the grocery budget "trim" if at all possible. I think resuming our stockpiling efforts might help.

But enough about that! My fav deal this week was the 10/$10 Horizon milk sale at Kroger. These are the small shelf stable milk pouches that will be perfect for Ashleigh's lunch box (trying to think ahead LOL!). Using the $1/2 any Horizon Q from the Go Organic for Earth Day booklet, the milk comes out to .50 each! Definitely going back for more before the sale ends.

Total spent: $92.79
Total savings: $57.51

Kroger:

2 Eggland's Best eggs (2.59 - .35/1 Q doubled)
1 KR 16ct hot dog buns (sale 1.99)
3 jars Ragu pasta sauce (sale 1.55 - .50 KR eQ - $1/3 Q)
1 can Del Monte Organic corn (sale 1.19)
1 can Hunt's fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 lb frozen Shadybrook ground turkey 93/7
2 Armour hot dogs (sale .99)
2 Sargento shredded cheddar cheese (sale 2.34 - $1/2 Q)
1 broccoli bunch (sale 1.00)
10 Horizon shelf stable milk (sale 1.00 - $1/2 Q)

Total oop: $26.01
Total savings: $20.21

Lowes Foods:

2 Scott toilet paper 4pk (sale 2.99 - $1/1 Q)
2 Viva paper towels (sale 2.00 - .35/1 Q doubled)
1 Stoneyfield Organic yogurt (3.69 - $1/1 Q)
1 PAWS cat food (sale 2.50)
1 Smart Balance 50/50 blend (store Q 1.99 - .75/1 Q doubled)
6 Old Orchard apple juice (sale 2.00)
1 Pepsi 2Lt (sale 1.00)
1 Jiffy cornbread mix (FREE w/greenpoints)
3lb bag yellow onions (sale 1.13)
2 Nature's Own whole wheat bread (sale 1.89)

Total oop: $35.05
Total savings: $21.10

Harris Teeter:

HT apple juice (sale 1.79) -- previous week purchase
2 gallons Organic Valley milk (5.99 - $1/1 Q)
1 HT baking powder
1 Lysol toilet cleaner (sale BOGO - .50/1 Q doubled)

Total oop: $17.67
Total savings: $6.20

CVS

2 Huggies Pull Ups (sale 7.99 - $1.50/1 Q)

Total oop: $14.06
Total savings: $10.00

(Will receive $2 back through Caregivers Marketplace rebate for Huggies)

Staying the Course

Joining in on Money Saving Mom's Financial Shape in 2008 Monthly Checkup! Last month I wrote about the beginnings of our Total Money Makeover. May was a really good month for us due in large part to our economic stimulus check, which came at the beginning of the month. We sent our entire stimulus check along with regular payment to our current snowball debt - our van loan. And thanks to an extra pay period in May, we were able to send another sizable snowball to the loan at the end of the month.

We're down to about $2400 left on the van loan. And now with the extra $600 each month we will have with Ashleigh no longer attending preschool (she'll be attending a free summer program at her new elementary school), we should have some really serious snow to sling! We're hoping to be done with the van loan in another two to three months.

That was the good news, now the not so good news. The grocery budget continues to be a challenge. I'm finding that each week we're spending an additional $20 above the weekly $75 budgeted amount. I think a combination of things are contributing to this. The increase in food prices, a change in my cooking style (moving to more from scratch cooking with fresh fruits and veggies) and lack of food stockpile. When we started our budget, I partly suspended my stockpile shopping to focus on getting what was needed to pull meals together for the week. I didn't really have much of a food stockpile to begin with - unless you count mayo and mustard LOL! Thankfully, my HBA stockpile is better stocked due in large part to CVS and Walgreens. I still stock up on freebies when I can, but there isn't much room for stockpiling on a grand scale. So maybe I'm feeling the effects of not being adequately stocked. Dave and I have thrown around the idea of increasing the grocery budget, but I so wanted to make this work by spending less.

Between Me & God - Random Musings

I've been doing alot of thinking and reading lately on a variety of subjects. Mostly frugality, simple living, finding joy in one's life. I've come across so many fascinating and inspiring blogs. It's almost like I've stumbled onto a gold mine. Today I was reading about a story of hospitality and friendship (from Et Tu). While reading, a certain phrase really stood out to me - God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called. It was an "Aha!" moment.

For so long, I've prayed and anguished over not being a stay at home mom. It's what I feel called to do. I didn't understand why God would place this yearning on my heart to mother a large family but not see fit for me to serve them at home. Why do I have to live with one foot in both worlds? How would I ever reach my true calling?

But this morning, I realized my calling isn't necessarily some future event in which through God's grace I will become united with later. It's not out there, it's not when the money is right or when I find the right job. My calling is RIGHT NOW! Where I am right now - as a working wife and mother - is where God has called me to be. I'm releasing the guilt I've felt in the past. I'm releasing the anger over not being able to change my situation. I'm going forth embracing my life as it is and praising God all the while.

It's not giving up on a dream or passively letting life happen to me. It's accepting God's current will for my life. Where he wants me TODAY. The balance between work and home at times seems impossible. Some days my body feels weak and my spirit feels weary. I've begun to start my days by asking for God's grace to help me make it through the day. For Him to create in me the right heart, the right mind and the right spirit. And remind Him that in His word it says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (as if He needs reminding - it's really for me LOL!). So Lord today, help me do the impossible!

Menu Plan Monday - June 9th

Last week's falafels turned out better than I expected. I've never had falafels before, so of course I have no idea what they *should* taste like. The cucumber and yogurt sauce was quite refreshing. Overall mixed review from the family. 2 out of 3 babies did not really care for them LOL!

Here's our menu and grocery totals for the week. Scored some FREE Tennessee Pride ground sausage at Lowes this week! For more meal plan ideas visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Breakfast & Lunch: Items already on hand including homemade waffles and Peanut Butter granola & yogurt.

Dinner:

Saturday - Dinner Out! Making a day trip back home and will pick up BBQ from my fav place on the way back.

Sunday - Tuna Noodle Casserole (using green peas instead of broccoli and french fried onions for topping instead of chips) & garden salad

Monday - Brown Rice Black Bean burritos

Tuesday - Dirty Rice w/steamed corn

Wednesday - Taco Style Lentils & Rice served in warmed hard taco shells with diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream and shredded cheese

Thursday - Feta & Vegetable Rotini Pasta salad w/honey wheat bread

Friday - Breakfast for Dinner! Waffles w/fresh berries, sausage patties and scrambled eggs w/cheddar cheese

Grocery Spending: Total Spent: $71.15

Lowes Foods:

7-1lb rolls TN Pride ground sausage (FREE w/overage - sale .99 - .55/1 Q doubled)

8 jars Beech Nut baby food (sale .45 - 1.50/8 Q)

1 Smart Balance 50/50 blend (store Q 1.99 - .75/1Q doubled)

1 Smart Balance oil

1 LF syrup (sale 1.00)

1 Daisy sour cream 16oz (FREE - store Q .99 - .50/1 Q doubled)

1 LF cream of mushroom

2 Nature's Own whole wheat bread (sale 1.89)

1 container sliced mushrooms (sale 2.00)

1 container raspberries (sale BOGO)

2 LF Colas (sale .80)

jumbo red onion

green bell pepper

Total oop: $19.26

Total savings: $33.84

Harris Teeter:

3 gallons Organic Valley milk (5.99 - 1.50/1 Q)

HT apple juice (sale 1.79 ea)

2 Starkist tuna pouches (sale 1.00 ea)

1 Athenos feta cheese crumbles (sale BOGO)

3 HT paper towels (sale 1.00 ea)

2 packaged garden salads (sale .99 ea)

2 boxes Cheerios (sale 2.00 - $1/2 Q)

cucumber (sale .50 ea)

Total oop: $35.67

Total savings: $16.37

Kroger:

1 Beechnut Oatmeal baby cereal (1.39 - $1/1 Q)

2 Egglands Best eggs (2.59 - .35/1 Q doubled)

1 Domino sugar 5lb (sale 2.39 - .30/1 Q doubled)

2 Kraft shredded Mexican cheese 16oz (sale 2.50 - $1/2 Q)

1 Naturally Preferred honey

1 celery bunch

vidalia onions (sale .99/lb)

Total oop: $16.22

Total savings: $13.04

Target:

2 Huggies Pull-Ups (sale 8.99 - $1.50/1 Q)

Total oop: $0 (paid w/gift card)

Total savings: $4.10

An Extra $10

After my wonderful Wednesday morning excitement, it was time to get down to the dirty business. Putting together my official grocery list within the confines of our budget. Because of some extra grocery spending earlier in the week (juice and diapers), I had about $54 to work with. After several revisions of the list and next week's menu, I was still over by about $10. I fretted and fussed. Looked at my coupons, looked at the sales ads and looked again at my list. I then put it all down and decided to just go to bed.

This morning as I was getting ready for work, I was sitting on the edge of the bed examining my grocery list again for any additional savings. I figured out that I could use my gift card from the Target Gillette razor deal to pick up a pack of diapers for nothing out of pocket. And that breakfast for dinner one day next week would be a very frugal meal. Even better if I made the pancakes from scratch instead of buying the frozen Aunt Jemima pancakes that were on sale. It helped but I was still over.

Dave came into the room and sensed my frustration. I told him all about how I couldn't make it work. How I wasn't really buying any extras for stockpiling just the basics for next week and I still couldn't do it. He sat down on the bed and shared this with me. When he was a store manager, if the drawer was short by $10, he would make all 5 of his employees stay and try and find this $10. Even though it was 8pm, they would recount the money, go through the payments and the reports. Sometimes they found $4, other times they didn't find anything at all. Looking back he realized he was paying 5 people $13 an hour just to find $10. And that's exactly what I was doing. I was expending all my energy and efforts over something as small and insignificant as $10.

I'm starting to realize, I beat myself up over the smallest of things. While I'm striving to be a good steward of our money and live in the spirit of cheerful frugality, I need to realize that sometimes it's okay to spend extra. Especially on something essential like FOOD! I'm not always going to have the lowest grocery budget. I will probably never feed my family on $20 a week. And that's okay. What's more important is being thankful that I have the extra to spend.

The Most Wonderful Day of the Week!

Wednesdays are absolutely my most favorite day of the week. Why, you ask? Because that's when the new sales flyers come out for the week! Seriously, it's like Christmas every week for me. Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods and Food Lion all start their new sales on Wednesdays. And even Kroger, whose sales start on Sundays, puts out a special mid-week flyer.

The first order of the day for me on Wednesdays, is checking my inbox for emails from Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods and Food Lion. You can go to their websites and sign-up to have the sales flyers emailed directly to your inbox. Beats waiting for them to arrive in the mail, which is sometimes one to two days after the sales have already begun. And not only can I view the flyers on-line, I can also generate my own shopping lists.

As I go through the ads, I click on the items I know are good deals (freebies and overage items are definite for the lists), needed items and "wishlist" items, which I may or may not get depending on if there's room left in the budget. I'm also thinking of possible meal ideas for the coming week based on the sales. For instance, Harris Teeter has fresh cucumbers on sale for .50 this week and Athenos feta cheese BOGO. Combined with the free whole wheat rotini and Italian dressing I got a few weeks ago, it has the makings of a great pasta salad.

Next, I start matching up items on my lists with any coupons I have. You get the most savings with your coupons when you match them up with items on sale. I browse couponing boards like Hot Coupon World and Savvy Dollar (NC based deals) for deal discussion. I also check out Sue Stock's Taking Stock blog for her Wednesday's deals, which provides a match-up of sales and coupons in our area. You can also find similar match-ups at Coupon Mom (free) and The Grocery Game (fee based).

Once I've made my lists, I gather up my coupons. Some are already clipped and in my binder. Others are whole inserts that I've dated on the front and placed in a basket in our bedroom (for clipping at some other time - usually when everyone is asleep). And then with my cash grocery envelope in hand, I'm off to do my shopping for the week!

One more important note - budget and use cash! Coupons are great tools for saving money. But it is very possible to overspend on good deals. By using a budget, I really have to discern what deals are going to benefit my family the most. Sometimes I have to walk away from deals, which is really hard! But as a couponer, I've come to learn that I don't have to buy EVERY deal and that sales will come around again. I just hope there's room in the budget when they do! And for cash, well as Dave Ramsey says, it hurts when you have to spend cash! Once the cash grocery envelope is empty, the spending stops!