Friday, June 19, 2009

Weekly Shopping Trip--Savings $56.70

This week's shopping trip goal was to get enough meats and food in the house to be able to make it through the rest of the month without having to do any "heavy duty" shopping. After doing a freezer and pantry inventory, I am 95% sure that I will be able to make it through the rest of June without needing anything more than fresh fruits & veggies, and milk.

I went over my weekly goal of $100 this week by $24.24! However, I still have $31.51 left in my total food budget amount of $525 for the month of June. So I think I am doing good at keeping my weekly totals at a reasonable level.

This week was a "payday week" so I made my monthly Sam's run to get several things that I got 3-4 months ago that the stash had been emptied on.

Here is a breakdown of the items that I purchased at the grocery store. You can read the breakdown of my Sam's run here.

Meijer:
  • 1 gallon milk $1.23 (found a store peelie cpn for $1.50 off 1-gallon milk and 1 pkg Oreo cookies, fun stix or cakesters)
  • 4.01 lbs ground chuck $7.99
  • 5lbs whole wheat flour $3.39
  • 3lbs Crisco $4.69
  • 3 pk Kleenex $5.19
  • 1 pkg. Oral B replacement toothbrush heads $18.39
  • 1 pkg. salad 98¢
  • 2 pks taco shells $2.20
  • 2 pks Keebler cookies $2.50
  • 2 bottles carmel ice cream topping $2.20
  • 1 bottle of taco sauce $1.63
  • 1 box Taco kit $1.98
  • 4 bottles Juicy Juice $9.76
  • 10 lbs sugar $3.50
  • 1 box whoppers $1.50
  • 2 boxes milk duds $3.00
  • 1 cantaloupe $1.34
  • 2 gallons Hawaiian Punch $3.00
  • 2 lbs strawberries $3.34
  • 1 box Oreo cakesters $1.50
  • 1 box Oreo fun stix $1.75
  • 2 cans tomato puree $2.50
  • 1 box Kelloggs cereal 75¢
  • 5lbs red potatoes $2.50
  • 2 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios $3.50
  • 1 box Reeses Puffs $2.25
Total OOP with tax: $93.97
Total Savings: $46.72
Total without sales and coupons: $140.69

Family Fare:
  • 5 dozen eggs $4.40
  • 1.91lbs red grapes $1.89
  • 5 boxes poptarts $8.34
Total OOP: $14.63
Total Savings: $9.98
Total without sales and coupons: $24.61

Save A Lot:
  • 6 cans beef broth $3.78
  • 8 cans cream of chicken soup $4.72
  • 4 bags egg noodles $3.96
  • 1 box onion soup mix 69¢
  • 4pk tomatoes $2.49
Total OOP: $15.64
Total Savings: priceless--I love getting some things I need at SAL!

Grand Total OOP: $124.24
Grand Total Savings: $56.70
Grand Total without sales and coupons: $180.94

Monthly Sam's Run--June

Like last month, this was another month for getting several of those items that I purchased several months ago that I have used up. I am so glad that I have gotten things staggered enough where I am not running out of everything all at once of those items that lasts more than just a month.

Here is what I purchased this month:
  • 24pk/20 oz Gatorade $13.88 (summertime drink)
  • 5# Country Crock margarine $4.42
  • 12 pk/6pk Chocolate donuts $4.18(splurge item because I took all 5 kids with me shopping and they were really helpful and well behaved!)
  • 13.47 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts $26.53
  • 3.36 lbs beef round roast $9.69
  • 12 ct mini pizzas $10.76
  • 60 ct Eggo waffles $7.79
  • 30 lbs french fries $17.28
  • 25 lbs all purpose flour $7.29
  • 140 ct. pizza rolls $8.88
  • 48 ct. string cheese $6.84
  • 2-96 oz apple juice $4.32
  • 5 qt vanilla ice cream $4.77
  • 72 ct. american cheese slices $6.37
  • 24oz shaved deli smoked turkey breast $6.78
  • 6lbs shredded hash browns $4.88
  • 5lbs frozen cut corn $4.88
  • 12 cans tomato soup $8.28
  • 12 cans chicken broth $7.25
  • 12 cans green beans $7.97
  • 2-40 oz crunchy peanut butter $6.83
  • 2-40 oz creamy peanut butter $6.83
  • 3 1/2 lbs beef hot dogs $7.47
  • 20 lbs potatoes $5.76
  • 1.25 gallons canola oil $8.54
  • 8 cans green peas $6.52
  • 48 ct Go-gurt $7.64
  • 3-44 oz Heinz ketchup $6.23
  • 2-48 oz Hershey's chocolate syrup $6.32
  • 36 double rolls Northern TP $18.53 (with tax, figures to 51¢/roll not bad for a TP brand specific family)
  • 600 count paper plates $17.62 (with tax, lasts 4 months!!)
  • 1 prescription $9.00
  • 2 pks bagels $4.36
Total: $284.69

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Blueberries, Blueberries!!!


It is not quite blueberry season in my neck of the woods, we just are starting strawberries!!!

Blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants and just overall great to eat!! As a child, I remember going with my mom and siblings to the blueberry patch every year!! We would go and get what seemed like TONS of blueberries in just a couple of hours. Yes, there was times when I would eat more than what I put in my bucket but hey isn't that what going to the blueberry patch is all about at least for kid anyway!

Once we got our blueberries home, my mom and I would spend time washing some and picking out the bad ones before putting them in freezer bags or 5 qt ice cream pails(which we would put a couple of pieces of paper towel in the bottom to help soak up the moisture).

Once we got some in the freezer to use later on in the year we would set out to start the process of making blueberry jam!! Ohhhh was that yummy!! I miss those days of canning and perserving fruits and veggies with my mom.

We would eat them over ice cream or make baked goods with the blueberries that we picked each year!!

Here are couple of the tried and true recipes that we did with our "in season"/fresh blueberries!

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup blueberries(fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.





Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening(or butter)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups blueberries(fresh or frozen)

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
Mix topping ingredients separately from batter.

Preheat oven to 375°. Mix all cake ingredients together in order given. Pour batter in 13x9 pan Sprinkle topping on batter. Bake 45 to 50 minutes.

This post is linked at:

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Two Delicious Summertime Treats

Been working in the kitchen today, stirring up some delight summertime treats!!

First up is fruit salad! I love this time of year when there is many fruits that are in season fresh to choose from to make a tasty colorful fruit salad!


This one is made up of 1 lb strawberries, 1/2 cantaloupe, and 1 can pineapple tidbits in its own juice.

I just cut up the strawberries and cantaloupe and then drained the juice off the pineapple in a bowl to reserve it and dumped the pineapple in with the strawberries and cantaloupe. Then I took pineapple juice and poured some in on the fruit rather than using sugar to keep the fruit fresh!

Secondly, I made up a layered pudding pie! OH this is sooo easy especially if you just grab an already made graham cracker crust from Aldis for 99 cents!
First I mixed up a box of instant Oreo pudding with a can of evaporated milk. Using evaporated milk makes it rich and creamy and not thin and watery! Then I spread about 3/4 of pudding in the bottom of the crust.

Then I mixed up a box of chocolate fudge pudding with a can of evaporated milk and poured about 3/4 of it on to the Oreo pudding in the crust! Oooopss forgot to take the picture before I started the next step!

Then I took an 8oz container of Cool Whip topping and spread that on top of the pudding layers! Then I had an open bag of mini chocolate chips hanging around in the fridge so I sprinkled some on top of the Cool Whip!! Ahhhh a yummy chocolatey no bake summertime treat!! Easy to whip up if you are in a hurry to a cook out or just looking to have some thing for that sweet tooth!

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Menu Plan Monday 6/14-6/20


Last week's menu plan went pretty smoothly! Initially, I did not have anything planned for Friday and Saturday dinners but I was able to make something from what I had on hand on the grill each of those nights without having to resort to “take out” food for the family.

For this week’s shopping trip, I went over my $100 weekly budget by $7.18! I do not think that is too bad considering that I didn’t use any coupons this week for the items I purchased.

This week’s menus are tried and true family meals! This week is Vacation Bible School at our friends’ church and the kids want to go so we will be doing that every weeknight this week. I will be fixing a double portion of Tuesday’s dinner meal so I can take a meal to my friend who just had a baby three weeks ago. I can’t wait for some baby holdin’!

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.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 400 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 (6-14)

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

Lunch: pizza

Dinner: Cajun & lemon pepper chicken served with egg noodles and corn

Snack: ice cream

Monday (6-15)

Breakfast: cereal and toaster strudel

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: beef gravy served with egg noodles and green peas

Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (6-16)

Breakfast: waffles and sausage

Lunch: deli turkey sandwiches & chips

Dinner: homemade chicken pot pie served with homemade rolls

Snack: snack basket

Wednesday (6-17)

Breakfast: bagels, eggs and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: oven fried chicken served with fries and corn

Snack: snack basket


Thursday (6-18)

Breakfast: French Toast

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner: saucy pork chops served with mashed potatoes and green beans

Snack: snack basket

Friday (6-19)

Breakfast: cereal and donuts

Lunch: pizza rolls

Dinner: chicken club sandwiches served with fries and fresh veggie tray

Snack: ice cream night

Saturday (6-20)

Breakfast: “Cook’s Choice”

Lunch: ???

Dinner: ???-- looking for inspiration

Snack: snack basket or popcorn