Meal Plan Monday

So, I've decided that with Christmas, Mattie's birthday, etc. coming up over the next few months, I am going to try and reduce my grocery budget by $100 each month--yikes! Luckily, I've done a decent job of stockpiling, so I was able to do a pretty good job of limiting my grocery spending this weekend. Here's our plan for the week...

Sunday: Slow cooker chicken and rice -- this was AMAZING! All of the flavors blended so perfectly together, making a wonderfully easy weekend-night dinner

Monday: Baked Ziti --I have tons of pasta and cheese in my stockpile, so I didn't even have to run to the store for any of these ingredients. By the way--Passionate Penny Pincher is my favorite blog for dinner ideas. She posts many of her recipes around the current Publix ad, which is the best store in the world for great deals!

Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner--pancakes!

Wednesday: church night

Thursday: BBQ pork sandwiches--place a picnic roast in your crockpot before you leave for work. When you get home in the evening, simply shred it from the bone, throw in some BBQ sauce and voila--BBQ pork sandwiches! Easy and SO delicious!

Friday: Pizza night

Saturday: We are going to a birthday party for a great friend of ours

Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday

This week is all about simplicity--I've got a really busy week at work and I need meals that are on the table in under 30 minutes. Mattie started dance class last week, so Monday's are very hectic. My new plan is to make up our Monday dinners on Sunday so all we have to do is pop it in the oven. Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday: Pasta and sausage--I made this tonight and it was FABULOUS! In fact, I'm planning on going back to Publix tomorrow to get more sausage before the current sale ends. Everything on this menu coordinates nicely with the current Publix ad. You can check it out on Passionate Penny Pincher.

Monday: Poppyseed chicken (family favorite)--took some cooked, diced chicken out of the freezer and threw all these ingredients together for an easy meal.

Tuesday: Fajitas--grabbed some fajita meat at Publix a few weeks ago, so I'll add some peppers and onions and voila!

Wednesday: church night--dinner out or with the family

Thursday: Mawmaw's fried chicken

Friday: dinner out

Saturday: burgers on the grill

Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm baaaccckk! Whew--it's been a busy few weeks! After going back to work following a two week hiatus, I have been playing catch up in a major way. I've been cooking, but not to the extent I would like. I am excited to officially get back in the kitchen this week and try some new recipes. Here's my plan for the week:



Monday: Three cheese baked ziti, garlic bread

Tuesday: Chicken and rice, green peas

Wednesday: church night!

Thursday: grilled pork chops, corn on the cob, garlic bread

Friday: dinner out

Have a great week!

Meal Plan Monday

Well, after two weeks "off" from cooking, I'm excited to get back into the kitchen this week! I had the flu two weeks ago and we were on vacation last week, so it will be nice to have a little home cookin' this week. Here's my plan for the week:

Sunday: Ribs (basted in Dreamland sauce-yum!), baked potatoes, salad

Monday: Beef fajitas

Tuesday (veggie night): Potatoes (cube potatoes, drizzle with olive oil, season with Lawry's seasoning salt, bake at 350 for 40 minutes, turning once halfway thru), corn on the cob, salad

Wednesday: Ryan's golf night, Mattie and I will have dinner with my dad

Thursday: Pepper Patch pasta with chicken

Friday: Dinner out

Saturday: Pork chops, vegetables

Friday Finals

Whew! It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Last Monday, I started not feeling well at work and by the time I got home, I literally couldn't function. So I went to the doctor the next day and found out I had the flu! Who gets the flu in the summer time? It was a miserable week and I would not wish that on my worst enemy! Luckily, I started feeling better by Saturday, which is when we left for the beach. We had a wonderful time and Mattie loved the beach and the ocean! She liked the swimming pool ok, but she's so independent, she wanted to float on her on without us trying to help her. That made it a little challenging since she is only two and has not really been swimming too much! On to my grocery shopping for the week--I did a big stockpiling trip yesterday. I spent a little more than usual, but I think this will keep us stocked up for awhile. I saved about 50% with coupons--do I detect a pattern here? The last several weeks, I have always saved right at 50%. I hope that the rest of the month (thru the end of August), I will just be able to shop the sales andmy percentage will be a little higher.

Here's what I got for $74.80 (saved $73.50):

Some highlights include:

4 Crest toothpaste:

On sale 10/$10

I used 4 $.50 coupons, which doubled to $1 so I got 4 tubes for FREE!

Finish Automatic dishwasher starter kit

Found on sale for $4.99 (originally $9.99)

There was a $3 blinkie coupon in front, so I got this for $1.99!

I've been wanting to try it but not for $10--I think I can handle a $1.99 though!

4 Lysol All Purpose Cleaner

BOGO $2.69

Used 4 $1/1 coupons

Final price: $.34/each

Between this and the recent Windex sale, we are good and stocked on household cleaner!

I also stocked up on meat yesterday. I got 1 picnic roast (I put in the crockpot with bbq sauce to make pulled pork sandwiches--delish!), 2 packages of fajita meat, 1 package of bone-in pork chops, and a package of ribs. Add that to the ground beef and chicken breasts already in my freezer and I think we're good to go for awhile!

Friday Finals

Only one week to go until our beach vacation! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. It has been an incredibly busy winter/spring for me at work and I am looking forward to some much anticipated R&R! You will see in my pictures below that my shopping this week has very much been geared towards stuff to take on our vacation. I plan on doing a "big" shopping trip when we get back! Overall, I did pretty well this week-- $66.49 for $128.31 worth of items, for a savings of 52%. I also have $11.50 CVS ECB remaining, which takes my savings total to 61%!

1st Publix trip--7/5/10

Total: $46.86
Savings: $23.36

Percent saved: 50%

2nd Publix trip--7/11/10

Total: $46.42

Savings: $24.36

Percentage saved: 52%

CVS--7/11/10

Total: $33.61

Savings: $16.22

Percentage: 48%

ECB remaining: $10

Breakdown:

3 24 pack waters: $2.77 (3.99)

2 Neutrogena sunscreen: $9.99

Used: 2 $2 Neutrogena coupons printable

$9 ECB

Ziploc giveaway

The first 10,000 people to respond here will recieve a "Back to School" gift pack from Ziploc. It looks like a pretty awesome little prize pack. Good luck!