Monthly Sam's Run--November

This month's shopping at Sam's Club was a bit of a bummer because I didn't prepare my list as well as I should have and ended up getting to the store and realizing that there was about 5 items that I missed on the list so my in the head total was different from the actual total! Also my total was not helped any by finding boneless/skinless chicken breasts for $1.77/lb!!  That is the cheapest I have seen it for awhile in my area so I got 19 lbs!! They were also out of a couple of things that I needed so I will probably have my hubby swing by there in a couple of weeks to pick them up.

Here is the breakdown of what I spent at Sam's this month:

• 720 ct. Huggies baby wipes $14.93
• 6.10 lbs boneless/skinless chicken tenders $13.24
• 19.09 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts $33.79
• 5 quarts vanilla ice cream $5.12
• 2 bags chips $5.98
• 2-60oz Country Crock $6.44
• 300 ct. Loratadine(Claritin) $11.72
• 5lbs mild cheddar cheese $9.75
• 4.65 lbs beef round roast $13.30
• 5 lbs frozen cut corn $4.98
• 6lbs Ore Ida Hashbrowns $5.38
• 5lbs wide egg noodles $5.88
• 72 ct Kraft american cheese $6.67
• 12 ct. Red Baron mini pizzas $9.98
• 1 gallon Mrs. Butterworth syrup $5.84
• 3.75 lbs Argo baking powder $5.47
• 3 liters Members Mark Olive Oil $14.46
• 72 ct. Totinos pizza rolls $8.98
• 1.25 gallons Mazola Canola Oil $8.12
• 3-44oz Heinz Ketchup $6.23
• 2-40oz Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce $5.42
• 2-32oz Hydrogen Peroxide $1.98
• 36 ct. Kelloggs Poptarts $6.28
• 7 lbs light brown sugar $4.58
• 12 cans low sodium chicken noodle soup $7.88
• 150 loads Downy $9.77

Total with 6% sales tax: $234.47

Weekly Shopping Trip---Savings $218.25

I haven't done any major grocery shopping since the beginning of November so shopping was a necessity this week! I still had several items to work with in my pantry and freezer but things were getting a bit lean.  I did head into the stores last week just long enough to buy some milk!  It felt a little weird not shopping the deals but it felt good to take a break and save the money to pay off debt instead.

After shopping this week at the grocery stores and doing my monthly Sam's run, I am not planning on any major grocery shopping until the first week in December!  I still need to plan out the menus for next couple of weeks but just on the rough figuring I think it will be doable.

The day before grocery shopping, I stopped into Walgreens to grab a gallon of milk at $1.89 for breakfast the next day! I took the last gallon of 2% milk that they had on the shelf. I didn't think to ask if they had any more because that is way cheaper per gallon than what the grocery stores have been lately.

I also had to make a trip to one of the bakery outlets due to only having one loaf of bread in the house!  My family is just picky enough that they don't like my homemade bread for sandwiches so I get bread at the outlets and save the homemade bread for a side with dinner meals!

Here is what I purchased at the Aunt Millie's bakery outlet:

• 2 loaves Early American bread $1.18 (reg. $3.59 each)
• 2 loaves Butter Top sandwich bread $1.78 (reg. $3.19 each )
• 2 loaves Kopplinger's sandwich bread $1.78 (reg. $2.39 each)
• 2 pkgs Aunt Millie's bagels $1.98 (reg. $3.59 each)
• 1 pkg Aunt Millie's deli sub buns 79¢ (reg. $2.99 each)
• 1 pkg Aunt Millie's dinner rolls 79¢ (reg. $3.49 each)
• 5 Texas size cinnamon rolls $1.99 (reg. 99¢ each)
• 3 pkg 8ct Hamburger buns $2.07 (reg. $1.99 each)
• 1 loaf Texas Toast bread $2.09 (reg. 2.99 each)
• 2 pkgs Brown N Serve rolls $1.38 (reg. 1.99 each)

Total OOP: $15.83
Total Savings:  $32.07
Total without outlet prices: $47.90

After looking over my receipt and knowing what bread products that I purchased I am convinced that I was overcharged at the outlet this time around!  The brown N serve rolls were to be free with a $5 purchase and I am sure that the Texas Toast was only to be $1.49!  Hummm...is it worth it to go back for the extra savings??  Probably not, as it would be a hassle and the cost of gas to go back would outweigh the savings of the bread.  The lesson is learned though to take my calculator into the store with me and figure out the total to compare to what they ring up at the register.

Here is what I purchased at the grocery stores this week:

Family Fare:

• 3 family bags breaded chicken tenders $13.77
• 4 bags Freshlike frozen corn $2.17
• 2 pks Danimals smoothies $2.00
• 2 lbs stick margarine $1.58
• 2 lbs I can't believe its not butter $2.34
• 4 bottles Juicy Juice $8.00
• 4 cans Carnation evap. milk $3.00
• 1 box corn starch 89¢
• 4 tubes Pillsbury biscuits $3.10
• 4 tubes Pillsbury cinnamon rolls $4.10
• 4 tubes Pillsbury crescent rolls $4.50
• 2 boxes Post Raisin Bran $3.67
• 1 box Fruit Stickers $1.50
• 2 boxes Cocoa Puffs $2.00
• 1 box Cinnamon Toast Crunch $1.50
• 1 Keebler ready pie graham crust $1.11
• 2 boxes Jiffy Muffin mix $1.50
• 1 box Bakin' Miracle mix $1.79
• 2 containers Breyers Icecream $4.74
• 4 bags Nestle chocolate chips $7.52 
• 2 boxes Nestle hot cocoa $3.00
• 3 boxes 12 ct Poptarts $7.37
• 7.32 lbs ground chuck $14.56
• 1.86 lbs beef stew meat $4.63
• .92lbs beef stir fry meat $3.21
• 2 gallons milk $4.00
• 32 lbs russet potatoes $3.96
• 2 lbs bacon $3.76
• 2-18ct eggs $2.96
• 12.58 lb hen turkey $4.78
• 4-12 pks Dr. Pepper $14.68(with MI 10¢ bottle deposit)

Total OOP: $137.98

Total Savings: $104.66

Total without sales & coupons: $242.64

Meijer: 

• 2.86lbs bananas $1.12
• 2 pkgs smoky links $5.98
• 1.16lbs deli turkey $4.62
• 10.47lbs Butterball turkey $7.69
• 4 cans Swanson beef broth $2.11
• 2 containers sour cream $1.98
• 1 pk. Aunt Millies dinner rolls 74¢
• 4 jars Ragu sauce $1.96 (49¢ each!!!)
• 2-6pk Motts Applesauce $2.34
• 2 jars Motts Applesauce $2.34
• 4 bottles Motts Apple Juice $4.68
• 2 lbs I can't believe its not butter 88¢
• 1 box Pillsbury brownie mix $1.39
• 1 Sara Lee pound cake 84¢
• 1 Sara Lee cheesecake $2.64
• 3 pkgs Pillsbury ready to bake cookies $4.42
• 1 pkg Jimmy Dean sausage patties 99¢
• 1 bag Doritos $2.00
• 3 boxes Kelloggs cereal $5.00
• 2 boxes Keebler graham crackers $4.98
• 2 lbs Tilapia fish $5.98
• 1 bag Nature Valley Nut Clusters $2.14
• 1 McCormick's cream of tarter $2.14
• 1 bag 50/55 shrimp $3.99
• 5 boxes Banquet brown n serve sausage $5.00
• 3-12pks sierra mist $11.91(with MI 10¢ bottle deposit)
• 2-2 liter Pepsi $1.95(with MI 10¢ bottle deposit)

Total OOP: $91.86

Total Savings: $80.04(Meijer promotions $15.00, Non-coupon savings $49.94, Coupon savings $15.10)

Total without sales & coupons: $171.90

Grand Total OOP: $247.56
Grand Total Savings: $218.25
Grand Total without sales & coupons: $464.43

Menu Plan 11/15-11/21

Last week’s menu plans went well!  I actually was able to do everything I planned to do!  We are also still dealing with sickness/flu in the house so it was good having a plan to work with this past week.  Hopefully, everyone(including me!) will be fully recovered soon so that I can start on getting some holiday baking/cooking done!

This week’s meals are clean out the freezer and pantry meals.  We are working at getting a loan in place for us to get a new furnace and air conditioner due to our broken furnace hence no heat! So I am working at seeing how far the items that we have left in the freezer and pantry can stretch this week. Hubby would be pleased if I could make it to at least Wednesday preferably Thursday before I did any kind of grocery shopping just so if we need to put a down payment on the work we can do it.  If meals start looking like a mix and match that is because we are using up the odds and ends.

For this week’s lunches that are for the kids and me!  Unless we are having leftovers, our lunches are served with apple slices or carrot sticks along with fruit juice or water.  Hubby usually takes a dinner leftover along with various snacks for his work lunch so I don’t take the time to plan his lunches.

There was no shopping trip this past week!  I have only been in the store long enough to pick up milk and some hash browns for Sunday morning breakfast.  Since this is actually payday week, hopefully I will make it to the store by the end of the week!  I need to do a big shop, including my monthly Sam’s Club run!

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 300 other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie’s site or look down in my right sidebar for my menu suggestion lists!

Sunday (11-15)

Breakfast: eggs, sausage, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls

Lunch: leftover pizza subs

Dinner: McDonald’s (after church)

Snack: snack basket

Monday (11-16)

Breakfast: cereal and coffee cake

Lunch: leftover burgers and chips

Dinner: chicken stew sandwiches(used leftover chicken), pan fries, and green beans

Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (11-17)

Breakfast:  waffles and sausage

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner:  spaghetti and garlic toast

Snack: snack basket

Wednesday (11-18)

Breakfast:  bagels and cereal

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner:  chicken cordon bleu & sloppy joes, fries and carrot sticks

Snack: snack basket

Thursday (11-19)

Breakfast:  French Toast and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: ??? if I make it to the store it will be: smothered chicken, boiled potatoes, and corn

Snack: snack basket

Friday (11-20)

Breakfast:  cereal and toast

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner:  ?????

Snack: ice cream night

Saturday (11-21)

Breakfast:  Your Choice

Lunch: ????

Dinner:  ?????

Snack: popcorn

Meijer Deals 11/15-11/21

Just a reminder, that I am using a West Michigan sale ad and my Meijer does NOT double coupons! Also check the THREE pages of Mealbox coupons there are several cpns that match items in this week's ad! Please let me know if there is something that I missed and I will take the time to update my deals listing.


PROMOTIONS:

**Turkeys - Grade A Tom, 16.1 lbs and up. $14 OFF with additional $20 purchase. limit 1

**Turkeys - GradeHen, 10-16lbs avg $8.00 off with additional $20 purchase. limit 1
**Save $2.00 on a Butterball® Turkey(cpn at link) when you buy any combination of FIVE 6oz. Stove Top Stuffing Mix(99¢) or 12oz. Heinz Homestyle Gravy(99¢)--here is a coupon for $1/3 jars of gravy!.

GROCERY DEALS:

Aunt Millies Brown & Serve or Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls 12ct pkg $1.29
55/1 cpn

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls $1.67
50/2 cpn 11-08 S
50/2 cpn 10-04 GM
50/2 cpn 10-25 S
50/2 cpn 09-13 GM
50/2 cpn

Doritos 11.5-14.5oz Select Varieties $2.00

Campbell's Select Soup $1.29
$1.50/3 cpn

Pepperidge Farms Stuffing Mix 2/$5
$1/2 cpn

French's French Fried Onions 6oz Original or cheddar $2.49
50/1 cpn

Ore-Ida Steam N' Mash Potatoes $2.49
$1/1 cpn

Sara Lee Cheesecake ~~ 50% off
$1/1 cpn 08-23 RP
$1/1 cpn

Sara Lee Pound Cake ~~ 50% off
$1/1 cpn 08-23 RP
$1/1 cpn

Lindt Excellence Chocolate Singles 1.2-1.4oz 79¢
$1/2 cpn 10-04 S

Nestle Coffee-mate Flavored Creamer 32oz All varieties $2.49
50/1 cpn 11-01 RP

Nestle Toll House Morsels 11-12 oz all varieties $1.99
50/1 cpn 11-01 RP
50/2 cpn

Kelloggs Cereal: Frosted Flakes 17oz, Corn Pops 12.5oz, Raisin Bran 20oz, Rice Krispies 12oz or Apple Jacks 12.2oz $2.00
$1/2 cpn 11-08 RP
$1.50/3 cpn

Dole Pineapple 20oz can Select Varieties 99¢
35/2 cpn 11-08 S

Nabisco Wheat Thins or Triscuits 5.5-10 oz $2.17
$1/1 cpn 11-08 S

Swanson Chicken Broth 14.5oz can 59¢
25/4 cpn 11-08 S

Hellmanns Mayonnaise 22oz easout squeeze bottle or 30oz jar $2.99
50/1 cpn 11-15 RP
$1/1 Mealbox cpn

I Cant Believe Its Not butter! All Varieties $1.69 **stack cpns and 2 Mealbox cpns to get for 69¢ or 82¢ each!
75/2 cpn 11-15 RP
$1/2 cpn 09-13 R1
$1/2 Mealbox cpn
75/1 cpn

Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese 8oz brick Original or 1/3 less fat $1.18
11-15 RP

Lipton Recipe Secret or Cup a Soup 1.7-4.9oz 99¢
60/2 cpn 11-15 RP(cpn for recipe secret)
$1/4 Mealbox cpn

Lipton Tea Pyramid 10-20ct, tea to go 10ct, or bags 22-100ct $2.49
50/1 cpn 11-15 RP(cpn for to go product)
$1/2 Mealbox cpn--pyramid or tea to go

Ragu Pasta Sauce 16-26.3oz jar $1.39
60/2 cpn 11-15 RP
$1/2 Mealbox cpn

Bob Evans Fresh Pork Sausage Links or Patties 12oz pkg All varieties $2.29
25/1 cpn 11-15 S

Land O Lakes Spreadable butter with Canola Oil 1lb pkg or 15oz tub $1.99
50/1 cpn 11-15 S
40/1 cpn 10-18 S


NON-GROCERY DEALS:

Kaytee Nyjer Seed 3lbs ~~ Buy One Get One FREE!

All Liquid Laundry Detergent asstd var 32-50oz $3.49
$1/1 cpn 10-04 RP

Loreal Colour Riche or Infallible Lip Color ~~ Buy One Get One FREE!
$1/1 cpn 11-08 RP

Osteo Bi Flex Supplements ~~ Buy One Get One FREE!
$7/1 cpn 11-08 RP
$5/1 cpn

Sundown Supplements ~~ Buy One Get One FREE!
$1/1 cpn 11-15 RP
$1/1 cpn 10-04 RP

***Please take the time to check out your local ad, which you can find here. IF Meijer is not your store of choice, head over to BeCentsAble's Grocery Gathering! 

This post is linked to:

• Meijer Deals at Coupon Saving Game!
• BecentsAble's Grocery Gathering!

Muddy Buddies aka "Puppy Chow"

Somehow both the box of Chocolate Chex and Rice Chex were open at the same time!  There is only a few people in my house that like Chex cereal in a bowl of milk.  So instead of throwing it out to the birds or just dumping it in the trash, I figured that I would use it up before it went stale and make a sweet treat with the cereal.

I love making Muddy Buddies because it is quick and easy and you can fill your sweet tooth with chocolate!

I poured the Chocolate Chex and Rice Chex cereal into a big mixing bowl and gathered the rest of my ingredients.



I melted 1 cup milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup margarine, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter in a pan. Once melted I removed it from the heat and stirred in 1 tsp. vanilla.  Then I poured the melted mixture on top of my cereal.
Once the cereal was coated with the chocolate/peanut butter mixture, I poured the covered cereal into a ziploc bag that had 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar.



I shook the bag to coat the cereal with the powdered sugar. Once it was fully coated, I added in another 1/2 cup powdered sugar to finish coating it.

Now it is ready to eat!  All total it took me about 10 minutes from start to finish!

With the holidays coming, I am going to be adding this to my list of "go to" appetizers/munchies to have on hand for when guests are visiting!  I love that this recipe is kid friendly as well!  Most of my kids will eat it and most of them know how to fix it without a lot of help from me!

Here is the full recipe:

8-9 cups Chex cereal
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar

Pour cereal into a big mixing bowl. In a separate bowl or pan, melt peanut butter, margarine, and chocolate chips together. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour melted mixture on to the cereal, stir carefully until all the cereal is evenly coated.  Put powdered sugar into a gallon ziploc bag(or even a paper grocery bag), pour coated cereal into the bag, close bag and shake until cereal is coated with powdered sugar. Add in more powdered sugar if needed, and shake the bag again. Open bag and enjoy!

This post is linked to:

• Food On Fridays at Ann Kroeker’s!
• Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge!
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends!
• Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum!