Saturday, January 30, 2010

shopping day

Russ and I just got back from Costco and again I didn't think about taking a picture (again). Anyway we spent just under $90 and we got:
breakfast sandwiches and coffee for Russ's breakfasts for 2 weeks
apples
plums
popcorn chicken and Panda orange sauce. Russ loves(!) Panda and so we thought we'd try to make it ourselves. Well, mostly ourselves, than go to Panda and spend over $12 each time.
Oreos
Real Fruit fruit roll ups
and chocolate macadamia nuts! Couldn't help ourselves! =)

Meal Plan Update

So I said I was going to be more vigilant about my meal plans and give a report. Okay here goes.
Monday I did really good. I make the greek chicken, green salad and we ate the left over rolls.
I switched Tuesday for Wednesday so that day I did make the quesadillas. Russ wasn't too sold so he ate some soup.
Thursday Russ worked really late so he grabbed a burger. Can't remember what I noshed on.
Friday Russ got paid and we were feeling 'splurgy' so we went to Chili's.
Tonight I have leftover meatballs in the fridge that need to be used. The other meals will wait for next week.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Good deals.


I went to the DI today to pick up some books. I got 4 for a dollar each. There I found a cute shirt for only $4 and I got Disney Scene It for only $2!  That's right. I couldn't believe it. Everything's there. Every single piece, the DVD, everything. I looked through it before I bought, skeptical. Surely something must be missing. Why would so many people walk by this and not want to buy it? I still can't believe it. On Amazon, its over $30! I got everything in this picture for $10 even. I'm happy.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Really? No grocery shopping...at all?

Just 1 day after I made my valiant proclamation that I'm not going to go grocery shopping at all this week, I wavered. Working at a grocery store has many pros but many many cons. So when I went to work today I saw that ground beef in one sale. It's a good deal too. And ground beef is a staple really. I can throw it into the freezer and make next week or next month. Plus, I only have 1 lb of g. beef in the freezer, that I know of. There might be one hiding-goodness knows how easily is it for stuff to get lost in there. So I'm debating. It's not like g. beef will never go one sale again.
There's another good deal. Progresso soup, Hamburger helper, Green Giant frozen veggies,  and something else...anyway it's 10 for $10. And I love soup, and the other stuff can really come in handy you know. And normally I have tons of progresso soup coupons, but it seems I'm currently out. At work I was daydreaming about all the coupons I could pair with this deal and the savings I would earn but then...I don't need any more soup. I have lots and even though they last for eons, it will go on sale again. Or another brand will go on sale. And i'll get that at a good price. Plus I don't need the other stuff. I didn't buy anything. I'm proud of that progress.
Still not sure about that g. beef tho.
thoughts?

Anyway, I made that Greek chicken like I planned. That makes me happy. and considering the chicken was 3.76 which will last 2 meals, the rolls were leftover and the salad we established is mere pennies, I'm quite happy. I think the total comes to around $3.40.
Pretty good. pretty good.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Last Week's Plan

So every week, or almost every week I make a meal plan concerning what to serve for dinner. In the beginning this was more of a guideline and I didn't stick to it word by word. But then I started to have a change of heart/plan and I've been wanting to follow my plan closer. Now I want to give an honest account for what we did have for dinner last week.
Tuesday we had the pot stickers as planned.
Wednesday I planned to make pineapple pork chops but I didn't have any more boneless pork loin chops in the freezer, but I did  have Lime pepper dump pork chops in the freezer. Since I've been wanting to use up the stuff in the freezer, so I made those instead. The recipe wasn't that good. I won't make it again. I did make seasoned rice, but while it was cooking it smelled funny, so I made garlic bread too. The rice turned out fine, so we had a little of each. (I ate the rest of the rice for lunch the next day.) And I served it with corn and tomato slices.
Thursday I didn't plan anything because I thought I'd work late, but I got off earlier than I thought. So I made lasagna, garlic bread and salad. See previous post about that.
Friday: I had taken out a whole roasting chicken from the freezer a few days earlier and it still wasn't thawed all the way which made me too nervous to cook it. So I switched the plan and made Honey glazed dump chicken instead which was delicious. I served it with rolls and broccoli and cheese mix from the freezer.
Saturday's plan depended on the leftovers from friday's dinner. So Russ and I went to Panda Express.

Hopefully I do better this week.

Meal Planning

Ok. I have goal this week and that is to NOT GO GROCERY SHOPPING at all!  I have SO much food in this house. I don't need anything. I often get anxious about not having enough produce in the house but I need to be honest with myself. I have frozen veggies in the freezer, cans in the pantry and fresh in the fridge. I also have fresh fruit and cans of pineapple, pears and peaches. That can for sure last me 1 week. And I have so much protein and frozen meals in the fridge. I don't need anything from the grocery store.
Here's the plan:

Tonight: I had dinner at my dad's
Monday: Greek chicken, green salad
Tuesday: Quesadillas with leftover chicken
Wednesday: I work late. Frozen meal for me. Russ is on his own.
Thursday:  Chicken and Rice Pilaf, peas and carrots
Friday: Teriyaki chicken, rice, Asian veggie medley
Saturday: Fish fillets and tater tots, corn.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Grocery Shopping Day

So I really do plan to take a picture of my groceries but I usually forget until after all of the groceries are put away. Anyway. Today I worked late and didn't plan anything for dinner, but when I did get off work, I was starving and Russ hadn't eaten. I was planning on picking up some groceries anyway so I picked up some stuff at the store for dinner tonight. Lasagna, Garlic bread and salad (which I was going to get stuff for salad anyway.) I went with lasagna because I could microwave it in ten minutes so it'd be quick and Russ and I both agreed to it.  I went to get the Stoffers microwaveable lasagna, you know that little box but it was 7.99! So I said no to that. But then I saw Claim Jumpers lasagna. It was a smaller box, which was actually better for Russ and me because then we'd eat less and save on calories. That was only 3.50. Less than 1/2 the price. I also got the pre-frozen New York Texas Garlic bread that was 2.69 and I had a .50Q. So I grilled two of those for dinner tonight and we'll have more for later dinners. I also bought:

Toaster Strudels 1.66
Toaster Strudels 2.50- .55Q
FiberOne yogurts 2.00-1.00Q
2 healthy choice meals 1.67 ea -1.00Q= 1.17 ea
Soup at Hand Soup 1.50- .50Q
Chicken drumsticks 3.76 (can't remember who many lbs this is, I'm pretty sure it was 1.19/lb)
Romaine lettuce 1.00
2 Roma tomatoes .48
Orange .79
Pear .46
Total: 24.09
Total savings: 14.32

I don't think I did too bad. I did go over budget by just over a dollar, but I did buy dinner that I didn't plan on, and I think we're set grocery wise (except for produce) for the next three weeks.


Here's why I don't think I did too bad. Like I mentioned, I work at a grocery store and I was checking this ladies groceries today. She mentioned to be something about this is what's for dinner tonight.  Here's what she bought:
French bread 1.99
Rotisserie Chicken 7.99
Salad bar 12.51
Total: 23.82

Really? Gayle at the Grocery cart challenge was just taking about paying for convenience when buying packaged salad. At Harmons where I work we do have a great (very overpriced) salad bar that can make a great lunch option every now and then and I mean every now and then. But I would never buy it as a side dish to dinner. Ok, my salad tonight wasn't as fancy. I didn't get all the trimming like she did, but really it's salad. It can only get so fancy. Our salad consisted of: Romaine, tomato, green onion, cucumber, and banana peppers.
The lettuce was 1.00 but I literally used 2 leaves, and there's like what 20? that's .10
The tomato was .12
the green onion was maybe .20
The cucumber: .20
and the peppers were not even .50.
Total:  1.12
And I'm pretty sure I rounded up. Okay and that doesn't include dressing. Add another .50 for dressing and it's still $10.00 cheaper than her salad!! Yes I had to chop up the veggies and tear the lettuce. I did that while the lasagna cooked. How could it have been easier?

AND the chicken. 8.00 for a chicken. I got a roasting chicken the other day for 3.49. Yeah,I'll have to add in the cost of the seasonings, but it's sooo minimal I won't even do that math. Plus it's not like its too hard to cook. I'm going to plop it in my lovely crock pot and go on with my merry way.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I thought I was frugal...

I think of myself as a frugal person. I use coupons (on the stuff I would buy anyway), I shop at more than one store, I shop by what's on sale. All of those rules. But here's the thing: I ran out of chicken. Normally when I run out of something like that- a staple in my kitchen. I run right out and replace it. But this week I didn't. I don't really have any and I mean any room in my deep chest freezer to put more chicken in. I don't know. I mean, if there's so much stuff in my freezer, why don't I eat that? I don't need to go out and buy more when I have SO much already. Am I rambling? I feel like I'm rambling. My point is, I think I don't have any chicken, but when I did go through my freezer I found:
a roasting chicken- I'm going to make a roasted chicken one day, shred up the rest and make quesadillas the next day.
Teriyaki dump chicken and
Chicken and Rice Pilaf- these are freezer meals I made a while back . I didn't really forget they're in there, but for some reason I keep wanting to 'save' them for times when I 'need' them. Well, I need them now. We'll eat these next week.
AND I found another packet of chicken breasts. Haha. So I found enough chicken for five meals! I don't need to go out and buy more chicken for two weeks.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Meal Planning

Boy this week is going to be crazy.
Russ and I were in NV all weekend helping his brother and sister in law move. We got back late last night so I didn't plan anything till today.
Plus- our freezer is packed to the max. And I ran out of chicken last week which is my go-to protein.
So I'm going to have to be a little creative.

Tonight we had: Pot stickers from the Cook This Not That cookbook. It was yummy!
                    (The pot stickers were from the freezer. All this recipe really is btw, is Boil pot stickers for 8 min. Then saute mushrooms- I used shitake- in some oil. The recipe calls for peanut oil, but all I had was canola so that's what I used. Saute them for 2 minutes or so then add the cooked pot stickers. Leave them alone to brown for 2 minutes. Then turn them over and add snow peas. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp rice vinegar. Cook for 1 min more. Can top with sesame seeds and scallions. voila.)

Wednesday:  Pineapple pork chops from slow cooker, seasoned rice, veggie mix from freezer.
Thursday: (i work late, Russ is on his own.)
Friday: Roasted Greek Chicken (from Kraft recipes), corn, carrots, rolls
Saturday:  Quesadillas with leftover chicken from fri

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

dinner tonight

For dinner tonight I made BBQ chicken  sandwiches, and this has got to be my favorite thing to make for dinner. and Russ loves them, so it's a win-win. It's the simplest recipe ever. All you do is put 1 chicken breast in a slow cooker and pour the bbq sauce all over it. I don't measure I just dump it. Let that cook all day and after or 7 hrs or so come back and shred the chicken and pour more sauce over it. Cook that for like 1/2 an hour more or so. butter your hamburger buns and toast them in a frying pan till nice and toasted. This is important because otherwise the bread can become too soggy. Then just top the buns with the shredded chicken. That's it. I served it with corn and some Sun chips. Easy peasy and yummy for a fun casual dinner.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Meal Planning

I make plans every week and honestly, I don't follow them too well. I mix up the days a lot and only make about 50% of the things I plan. So this week, I'm really going to try and follow it all the way!

Sunday: Potstickers and snow peas
Monday: shrimp spinach salad w/ garlic bread
Tuesday: BLT's and chips
Wednesday: BBQ chicken sandwiches and veggie sticks
Thursday: Pineapple chicken kabobs and rice
Friday: Stroganoff and green salad
Saturday: Nachos (the recipe from Cook this not that)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Spending Update

Oy! Spent a lot of money today! Some of it was need; some of it was want.
It's case lot at Harmons this week, which means I stocked up on some stuff.

Harmons:

English Muffins 2.99
2 Chili .99 x2
2 Tuna .59 x2
9 Progresso soup 1.25 ea - 1.10Q -1.10 Q -.25Q -.50Q
Taco bell .79x2
Fage greek yogurt 1.99
Skinny Cow ice cream bars 3.00
Marie Callendars 2.00
Annies Hot and Sour soup 2.50
Baby wipes 1.00
3 Cream of chicken soup 1.00 ea
3 Tangelos 1.85
3 bananas .82
2 roma tomatoes .50
Hot house cucumber 1.00
Mums plant 4.99
2 Nestle Pure life water 24 pk 3.50 x2 -1.00Q
Total: 54.08

Walmart:
Starburst gummies (just for fun) .64
100 Calorie packs cookies 1.98
Crystal light 2.50- 2.00Q
4 Buffalo chicken snacks 1.07 ea
Draino 4.97
Shoe organizer 7.60
hair clips 2.50
Hair dye 4.97 -1.00Q
2 Eyeshadow 4.94 ea
Mascara 5.00
Armband (for my mp3 player when i run) 9.00
2 Red bows .25 ea (leftover xmas decorations)
Total: 53.88

Boy it adds up fast. That's ok. I shouldn't need to go to the store for a while. Well...I shouldn't need to.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Menu update

So, when I wrote out my meal plan for the week, I forgot I got a turkey. Last week I got a free turkey and I almost didn't even pick it up because I'm gonna do with a turkey? That's a lot of turkey for two people and I don't know how to cook a turkey. I could look it up and try to figure it out but I wasn't sure how much it was worth it. But it would be free. Then my friend Darla said she's cook it for me! What a sweetie! So she's cooking up my turkey and then it's up to me to find ways to use it other than sandwiches.
This means...I'll probably need to make some adjustments to my plan to add turkey meals. Haven't decided what that is yet though.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Meal Planning Monday

(It technically is Monday, but I figured I wouldn't have time for this tomorrow, so tonight it is.)
Monday I work late. Russ can fend for himself.
Tuesday: Dinner with mom.
Wednesday: BBQ chx sandwiches, corn, tomato slices
Thursday: Hamburger Helper, zucchini
Friday: Chicken potstickers with snow peas
Saturday: fish sticks, rice, salad