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!

4th of July

We had a great time with family over this 4th of July weekend. Ryan had to work on Friday and Saturday, so Mattie and I spent the weekend with my mom and dad. On Sunday, we went to visit my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a terrific time swimming in the pool and eating some amazing food. I made this fabulous Blueberry Dump Cake --I don't love blueberries, but man did this cake turn out fabulously! It recieved rave reviews and I only had a little to bring home to Ryan. Happy fourth of July!

Meal plan Monday

This week is a little awkward as I will really only cook a couple of days. We will be having birthday dinner with my sister on Thursday night and Wednesday night, I have church, so tonight and tomorrow night are really the only days I will be cooking.

Today, we were both off work, so we ran around town and had a fun "family day". I ordered a Boston Butt from a fundraiser, so tonight, I put it in a pot and mixed it with BBQ sauce and some cajun seasoning--it was yummy! Along with the butt, I made some baked beans in the crock pot and some fresh corn on the cob. Mattie loved it and enjoyed her chocolate pudding as a reward for eating so good!

Here's my plan for the week:

Monday: Boston butt, baked beans, corn on the cob, apples
Tuesday: Veggie night
Wednesday: Church night
Thursday: sister's birthday
Friday: dinner out
Saturday: pizza

Have a great week!

Meal Plan Monday

Well last week didn't go exactly as planned--Ryan had to work late a couple of nights, etc. so we ended up eating some ready-made meals from the freezer. This week I am committed to sticking with my plan! Ryan and I talked today about how we need to add more fruits and veggies to our diet so we've decided that one night a week, we will have "veggie night". I am super excited about this and hope that we can committ ourselves to it! Here's what we'll be having this week:

Sunday: Hot Turkey and Cheese sandwiches

Monday: BBQ pork/mac&cheese
1 pork picnic roast (on sale at Publix)
1 bottle BBQ sauce (on sale at Publix, but already have several bottles in stockpile)
1/2 cup water

Place roast and water in crock pot and cook on low for 8-9 hours; add BBQ sauce last hour. Serve on toasted buns.

Tuesday: Veggie night
Ranch potatoes
Fresh corn on the cob
Peas
Salad

Wednesday: dinner at mom and dad's

Thursday: Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled
2 bunches broccoli, chopped and cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1 c sour cream
6 oz shredded swiss cheese
6 oz shredded monterey jack cheese
8 oz shredded italian blend cheese
Italian bread crumbs

In a large bowl, combine chicken, broccoli,, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, sour cream and cheeses. Place in casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.

Friday: Ryan has to work, so we will have dinner with mom and dad

Saturday: Grandmother's birthday!

Weekly totals

I set out on what I thought was going to be a "promising" grocery trip today--I had my coupons and shopping list ready and I was excited to save some money! Well, when I got to Publix, the free milk I was going to get was gone! How does a grocery store run out of milk?? Then I hurried over to the health and beauty aisle to pick up some free razors and shaving cream and guess what?? Gone! Ugh, I was so frustrated. But I just sucked it up and gathered the rest of my groceries and I did a good job of sticking to my list. All in all it wasn't a bad trip--$110.41 worth of groceries for $61.37, a savings of 45%. I wasn't too disappointed because I have a bunch of stuff in my stockpile to ensure that I won't have to do a "big" shopping trip in July, especially since we will be at the beach for a week soon.

A few highlights of today's trip include:

4 blocks of Cracker Barrell cheese
On sale 2/$6
Used 4 $1/1 coupons
Final price: $2 each
I was excited to find these because we love this cheese and it's great to have on hand for company!

2 Eggo waffles
$1.99/each
Used $1/2 manu coupon
$1/2 Publix coupon (found in today's paper--had to use up the manu coupon before it expires this week)

2 boxes of Ritz crackers
BOGO $3.39
Used $1/2 coupon

Tons of produce for our new "eat healthy" initiative in our house!

Till next time...!

Please pray...

Hey everyone, please pray for Brennen Lyons. I don't know this little boy or family personally, but I saw a post on facebook from a high school friend regarding him. He was diagnosed with leukemia this week. I can only imagine what this family, especially this mother, must be going thru and it just breaks my heart. I pray that we all have a child like faith as He has called us to have and that we choose to believe that He and He alone will cure this little boy. I do know that regardless, He will be glorified thru this situation. FOr more information, please visit his website at www.caringbridge.org/brennenlyons.

"My heart need not be troubled nor be afraid" (John 14:26-27)

Meal plan Monday

After a week of cereal and many fast food dinners because of work committments, I'm back in the kitchen this week and plan to do a little home cookin'. My three big recipes this week are brand new, so I'll report back next week with a mini review. By the way, last weekend we cooked out with friends and I brought
orgjunkies twice baked potato casserole. It was awesome and recieved rave reviews!

Here's my plan for the week:

Monday: Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled
2 bunches broccoli, chopped and cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1 c sour cream
6 oz shredded swiss cheese
6 oz shredded monterey jack cheese
8 oz shredded italian blend cheese
Italian bread crumbs

In a large bowl, combine chicken, broccoli,, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, sour cream and cheeses. Place in casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.

Tuesday: Parmesan-Garlic chicken
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1 envelope italian salad dressing mix
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400. Mix cheese, salad dressing mix and garlic powder. Moisten chicken with water; coat with cheese mixture. Place in shallow baking dish. Bake 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Chicken Enchiladas
1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled
16-18 flour tortillas
1 jar of salsa
2 C whipping cream
3 C shredded cheese

Mix chicken and salsa together. Coat bottom of greased 9x13 inch baking dish with a little cream. Fill and roll tortillas with chicken and salsa mixture and cheese, layering side by side closely in baking dish. Pour whipping cream all over. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 10 minutes more.

Friday: work party

Saturday: date night!

Good day at Publix!

Ok, so I've been couponing over a year and it still confounds me that people can get their totals down so low. I usually save in the 50% range, which is great, but for someone who has been doing it for so long now and who understands how the system works, I would hope that I could be one of those "look at me! I spend $.75 for $300 worth of groceries!" Not so much--today I went to Publix and spent $14 for $35 worth of groceries. Not bad, but I hope some of you out in "blogland" can re-inspire me or show me how you do it. I didn't realize until I got up to the register that my Cabot coupons were for $1/2, I thought they were $1/1--oh well, we can always use cheese! Here's the breakdown:

3 Eggo waffles
BOGO at Publix this week
$1/Target coupon
$1/2 manu coupon *blinkie*
Final price: Free

4 International Delight coffee creamer $1.99
2 BOGO *blinkie*
4 $.55 coupons/yellow advantage flyer
Final price: $.45 each

3 Cabot cheese $2.00
$1/2 yellow advantage flyer
Final price: $5.00

1 Cascade dishwasher detergerent $4.99
No coupon

Total savings: $21.00 or 60%

A day at the movies...

So we decided to take Mattie to the movies today--her very first one! We were a little (a lot!) nervous, and a little excited. Well, it turned out to be a bust! She sat thru many, MANY previews and about 15 minutes of the movie before we finally decided to suck it up and forget about the $30+ dollars it cost us to go to this glorious "first" with our child. Oh well!