Menu - 4th week of January 2011

Grocery Budget for the week $150

How it was spent...

Fred Meyer - $96.84 ($20.66 saved w/ coupons)

Safeway - $11 ($14.94 saved w/coupons)

Rite Aid - $0 (sales combined w/Rite Aids +Up Rewards!)

Walgreens - $9

Farm Eggs - $17.50

Monday:

B: Egg, Bacon, Toast, Bananas

L: Leftovers (Corn Tacos), Grapes, Carrot Sticks

S: Apples w/Peanut Butter

D: Lentil Stew, Toast

To Do: Boil Eggs

Tuesday:

B: Cold Cereal, Bananas, Hardboiled Egg

L: PB&J, Oranges, Carrot Sticks, Yogurt

S: Pretzels, Cheese, Apples

D: Dinner @ a Friends!

Wednesday:

B: Oatmeal w/Raisins, Egg

L: Leftovers, Grapes, Salad

S: Apples w/Yogurt Dip, Walnuts

D: Eggplant Parmigiana, Cauliflower

Thursday:

B: Egg, Bacon, Hashbrowns, Bananas

L: Leftovers, Oranges, Cucumbers

S: Blueberry Granola w/Yogurt

D: Broccoli Beef over quinoa

Friday:

B: Steel Cut Oats, Yogurt, Oranges

L: Salad w/chicken, potato wedges

S: Sliced Cucumbers, Celery, Carrots w/Hummus

D: Homemade Pizza, Salad, Broccoli

Saturday:

B: Bisquits and Gravy, Applesauce

L: Farmer’s Market Soup w/Cheese Quesidillas

S: Cold Cereal w/ Bananas

D: Chilli w/Cornbread

Sunday:

B: Oatmeal Pancakes, Egg, Pineapple, Orange Juice

L: Leftover Soup w/ Cheese Sandwiches

S: Yogurt w/Grapes, Almonds

D: Pot Roast, Potatoes, Green Beans, Broccoli

Menu Week #3 January 2011

Monday:

B: Pancakes, Applesauce, Egg

L: Leftover soup, cheese n' tortillas

S: Pretzels, yogurt and oranges

D: Spaghetti, Corn, Salad and French Bread

TO DO: Pick up eggs at 10am

Tuesday:

B: Cold Cereal, Bananas, Hardboiled Egg

L: Leftover Pork Roast, Potato, Oranges and Apples

S: Veggies and yogurt dip

D: Tuna Noodle Casserole, Peas, Salad, Apple Pie (Heinzes coming for dinner!!)

Wednesday:

B: Egg, Toast, Bacon, Bananas

L: Leftover Spaghetti, Corn, Oranges

S: Granola and Yogurt

D: Chicken Enchilladas, Corn, Cornbread

Thursday:

B: Oatmeal, Pears, Hardboiled Egg

L: Leftover Tuna Noodle Casserole, Oranges and Apple Slices

S: Beans and Rice w/corn and peas

D: Chicken Stir Fry over rice

Friday:

B: Cold Cereal, Bananas, Hardboiled Egg

L: PB&J, Yogurt, Apples

S: Oranges , cheese

D: Homemade Pizza, salad, broccoli

Saturday:

B: Egg, Toast, Bacon, Banana

L: Split Pea Soup w/Sandwiches

S: Apples and peanut butter

D: Broccoli Beef over Rice

Sunday:

B: Pancakes, Yogurt, Banana

L: Leftovers

D: Roast Chicken, Potatoes, Green Beans, Corn

Menu - 2nd week of January

We're to the point that we literally only *need* to purchase fresh fruits and veggies this week being that I've been shopping the sales and buying in bulk, we still have four dozen farm eggs and nine gallons of milk from the farm. I'm still keeping our $150 weekly food budget, but will continue to build our emergency pantry and buy only non-neededs if they are on a good sale (and I hopefully have coupons). We are working up to the point of purchasing a chest freezer (deep freeze) to give us much needed storage space for our monthly milk runs and purchasing quality, local meat in bulk.

Weekly Food Bill $150

(any remaining balance will go toward a deep freeze - $198 at Home Depot and we're watching craigslist closely!)

Rite Aid $15.00

Fred Meyers $80

Walgreens $10.00

Monthly Costco $200 (larger bill this month, but being this is the month they had good coupons, it behooves us to spend more now to save later)

Actually Spent $172.52

Monday:

B: eggs, bacon, toast, bananas, oranges

L: PB&J, yogurt, apples, carrot sticks

S: pretzals w/cheese

D: Shrimp stir fry over quinoa

Tuesday:

B: hot wheat cereal, hardboiled eggs, bananas

L: Tortillas w/cheese, oranges, carrots n' celery w/dip

S: almonds, pear slices, cheese sticks

D: Dinner at a friend's house!

Wednesday:

B: homemade cinnamon rolls, yogurt, applesauce

L: salad w/leftover chicken, feta, craisins & homemade potato wedges

S: crackers and cheese

D: Roast chicken, carrots-zucchini-squash, cuscous, salad

Thursday:

B: steel cut oats, yogurt, banana

L: Salad w/hardboiled egg, cheese, toms and toast, oranges

S: apple slices w/peanut butter

D: Beans n' Rice Casserole, Corn, Salad

Friday:

B: eggs, bacon, bananas, oranges

L: PB&J, yogurt, apples, salad

S: celery, raisins, peanut butter

D: homemade pizza, salad, broccoli

Saturday:

B: whole wheat pancakes, sausage, pineapple or canteloupe

L: farmer's market soup

S: oranges and cheese sticks

D: Chilli and baked Potatoes

Sunday:

B: eggs, bacon, toast, bananas, oranges

L: leftovers, yogurt, apples, salad

S: cucumbers, carrots, celery w/dip

D: Pork Roast, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Spinach

New Years Resolutions

Yes, I'm behind, but we've been fighting another round of sickies here :P Better late than never though!

My word this year is INTENTIONAL...as in be intentional in all that I do. Last year, my word was balance. The perfect word for the insane year we had. I struggled greatly trying to balance teaching, repairing my marriage, mom-ing, work at home and finding time to be me.

So, this year its "intentional"

1 Timothy 4:15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.

~Quiet time with God 5 mornings a week

~Family devotion time 4 nights a week

~More time with family and friends

~Stick to our set budget

~No internet use before noon for mom

~make intentional/healthy choices regarding food and exercise

Waste Not!

Leftovers are annoying at my house. Generally, we only have enough of anything for a single serving, so even for lunches I'm heating up multiple leftovers for the 3-6 of us eating lunch. In order to avoid this {stupid} annoyance I've started making just a bit more of certain components so that I have *usable* leftovers.

My favorite Waste Not recipe this week was Potato Soup!

Made from remaining mashed potatoes (skin on) this soup was so easy and the whole family loved it!

1 small onion finely diced, saute'd in butter

2 cups mashed potatoes (we leave the skin on our mashies)

2-3 cups of whole milk

1/3 cup dried lentils (soaked or pre-cooked - will become 1 cup)

garlic, salt and pepper to taste

top with grated cheddar cheese

A Method to the Madness

Couponers... calling any couponer out there... How do you organize!?

I *think* I've finally figured this system out, but I'm still hoping that this will become a quicker process. Sunday afternoon I sat down at the table for a good hour with my process....

1. clip the coupons of products we *normally* buy and file them in my little accordian file folder WHILE taking notes on what products are sale priced where

2. Then I take on the task of menu planning based on what's on sale and what we already have on hand.

3. After menu planning and deciding what sale products we'll be using I hit the online printable coupons looking for any online coupons that c0-incide with the sale products I was planning on buying.

4. Then the organizing...each store gets its own envelope with the list on the back and the coupons tucked neatly inside. The ready to shop envelopes are then tucked neatly inside my organizer. This makes it far more feasible to shop multiple stores as I can simply leave all my organized coupons and lists in the diaper bag in case we drive by one of the stores I was hoping to shop at during the week!

What's your process?