Today was "If it is free it is for me" day! YEAH. My kids and I got really into what we could get for free today.
We go a gallon of Lactaid (lactose free milk) for my DH using milk coupons (you save 9 coupons from this store get 1 free) They expired today! (I found out from the store that they don't really expire so I need to go dig in recycling and find the one that was expired.
We also got free Eggos. Kroger is having a 50% off sale today only on lots of Kellogs products. The eggos are .98 and I had 1.00 coupons. They won't do overage but free eggos are filling my already pretty full freezer. We may need to give some away!
Our meals for today were pretty simple
breakfast- mismash I had cereal, one kid oatmeal another biscuts. DH had a couple biscuits too!
lunch-
picnic with friends for us. DH had leftover chicken salad for lunch. Chicken salad for me and the special treat .90 cent lunchables for kiddos. Carrots for all.
Dinner- Cheeseburgers and beans we picked last week.
snacks-watermelon
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday
It is fun to see my kids getting into the spirit of the challenge. My kids have become very aware of eating out and that that really does make a difference. I am not the bad guy when I say we can't go out, the challenge is!
Wednesdays meals
Breakfast- three berry muffins my daughter made from scratch
lunch- mix of stuff, fried chicken from yesterday, carrots etc.
snack-popcorn, mushrooms
dinner-Chicken salad and biscuits (.20 cents from Meijer)
Our chicken salad recipe is yummy and is a good way to get my kids to easily eat the rainbow and can use up leftovers.
Chicken
grapes
celery
carrots
Chop up all of the above and then add Mayo. I try to go heavy on the veggies. I have also done raisins or peas for a change of pace.
Wednesdays meals
Breakfast- three berry muffins my daughter made from scratch
lunch- mix of stuff, fried chicken from yesterday, carrots etc.
snack-popcorn, mushrooms
dinner-Chicken salad and biscuits (.20 cents from Meijer)
Our chicken salad recipe is yummy and is a good way to get my kids to easily eat the rainbow and can use up leftovers.
Chicken
grapes
celery
carrots
Chop up all of the above and then add Mayo. I try to go heavy on the veggies. I have also done raisins or peas for a change of pace.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday and Tuesday-week 3
Monday
Breakfast-usual assortment-cereal, pancakes, fruit
Lunch-We had friends over and so we kinda ate a little at a time, fruit, popcorn, grilled cheese, salami etc.
Dinner- Speghetti with mushrooms and meat from freezer, salad from neighbor
Tuesday
bfast- mishmash
Lunch- We were out doing our major shopping trip for the week and the kids were really good. We got fried chicken from Biggs (a grocery store) as a special treat and because they give us money back on our gas. (ten cents a gallon!)
Dinner- whole chickens that I bought a Meijer today for .68 cents a pound because they had a "sell by" day today!
Corn from our trip to the upick farm last week.
Monday
Breakfast-usual assortment-cereal, pancakes, fruit
Lunch-We had friends over and so we kinda ate a little at a time, fruit, popcorn, grilled cheese, salami etc.
Dinner- Speghetti with mushrooms and meat from freezer, salad from neighbor
Tuesday
bfast- mishmash
Lunch- We were out doing our major shopping trip for the week and the kids were really good. We got fried chicken from Biggs (a grocery store) as a special treat and because they give us money back on our gas. (ten cents a gallon!)
Dinner- whole chickens that I bought a Meijer today for .68 cents a pound because they had a "sell by" day today!
Corn from our trip to the upick farm last week.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
years ago, my husband went through survival training. They were allowed to use anything that they found. Most of the teams came back several pounds lighter and very hungry. My Husband and his partner came back 10 pounds heavier and not hungry at all.
As I do this challenge, I am reminded of that story. Using the couponing skills I already had, ideals from all of you (Thanks so much) and other things I find (in my stockpile or from others) we have eaten quite well.
I kept my total for the week under budget but find it hard to turn down great deals. For example, I have bought 35 packages of cheese over the past 2 weeks. Clearly, we will not eat that much in the next month. However, it is so much better than paying over $2.00 for the same thing!
Well the week finished up quite well! We had a total of 137.26! YEAH!
Here are the rest of the weeks meals!
Friday breakfast was a mix of cereal and eggos and fruit.
We then went "Pickin'" and got tons for corn and green beans! (TOTAL $20.00)
Lunch was our favorite Skyline (Daddy was off work and it was a great treat!)
I bought a Gift certificate which I used to pay since I got a free T-shirt out of the deal!
Dinner was Corn (we picked YUM) and Brats
Saturday-
Breakfast- Our anniversary
My wonderful daughter woke up early and made us two berry muffins using strawberries we had in the fridge and the blackberries we picked! WOW! I am so happy that I am raising such a nice young lady!
Lunch was packed for the pool (lunchmeat, cheese, crackers, fruit, carrots)
Dinner - The kids went to a babysitter who fed them dinner but were still hungry when they got home so they ate and assortment of stuff.
My DH and I went to Outback using a gift certificate.
I traded a neighbor for some Ramon noodle cabbage salad (I gave her green beans)
Sunday
Some slept late and skipped breakfast. Some had pancakes, others cereal.
Brunch- My parents had us over. I traded them green beans for Sourdough bread!
Dinner- Jumbula- We used the corn from Friday, the .25 cent sausage and the leftover zucchini and squash from the church garden along with some brown rice and canned tomatoes.
WEEK TOTAL 137.26 (not sure if I should include part of the babysitter cost)
As I do this challenge, I am reminded of that story. Using the couponing skills I already had, ideals from all of you (Thanks so much) and other things I find (in my stockpile or from others) we have eaten quite well.
I kept my total for the week under budget but find it hard to turn down great deals. For example, I have bought 35 packages of cheese over the past 2 weeks. Clearly, we will not eat that much in the next month. However, it is so much better than paying over $2.00 for the same thing!
Well the week finished up quite well! We had a total of 137.26! YEAH!
Here are the rest of the weeks meals!
Friday breakfast was a mix of cereal and eggos and fruit.
We then went "Pickin'" and got tons for corn and green beans! (TOTAL $20.00)
Lunch was our favorite Skyline (Daddy was off work and it was a great treat!)
I bought a Gift certificate which I used to pay since I got a free T-shirt out of the deal!
Dinner was Corn (we picked YUM) and Brats
Saturday-
Breakfast- Our anniversary
My wonderful daughter woke up early and made us two berry muffins using strawberries we had in the fridge and the blackberries we picked! WOW! I am so happy that I am raising such a nice young lady!
Lunch was packed for the pool (lunchmeat, cheese, crackers, fruit, carrots)
Dinner - The kids went to a babysitter who fed them dinner but were still hungry when they got home so they ate and assortment of stuff.
My DH and I went to Outback using a gift certificate.
I traded a neighbor for some Ramon noodle cabbage salad (I gave her green beans)
Sunday
Some slept late and skipped breakfast. Some had pancakes, others cereal.
Brunch- My parents had us over. I traded them green beans for Sourdough bread!
Dinner- Jumbula- We used the corn from Friday, the .25 cent sausage and the leftover zucchini and squash from the church garden along with some brown rice and canned tomatoes.
WEEK TOTAL 137.26 (not sure if I should include part of the babysitter cost)
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday and Thursday Week 2
I am getting a little behind in my blogging AHH!
Our breakfasts and lunches are often "catch as Catch can." I don't really mind being a short order cook for those meals but insist that we all eat the same dinner together.
Wednesday
Breakfast-oatmeal and fruit for all but one kids who had cereal!
snack- The showcase near us has free second run movies with a book report (good way to get the kids to read and write over the summer!) We hada B1GF1 free coupon for popcorn! YUMMY!
Lunch- No one was super hungry after popcorn but some hot dogs, turkey, carrots and fruit were all eaten by various members of our family
Dinner- A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. My 10 year old daughter decided to do it all herself. She made rice and chicken and even adapted the recipe for my DH who is lactose intolerant. She made frozen veggies (would have liked to use the fresh ones up but so be it!) and made Zuccinni bread BY HERSELF. Can you tell I am a proud Mom?
Thursday-
Breakfast was an assortment of french toast and cereal
Lunch was a mix of hot dogs, sandwiches etc and some of te frozen veggies from the night before.
Dinner was an edamane dish that was from an ALL YOU recipe a while back but we have tweaked it a bit. It was bacon, chicken, edamane and cabbage with a little garlic and soysauce.
Snack-popcorn
I have to confess that sticking to a budget these two weeks has been tough because of the great sales going on. It is hard to turn down buying lots of cheese for my stockpile when it is only .49 cents for 8 0z!
Our breakfasts and lunches are often "catch as Catch can." I don't really mind being a short order cook for those meals but insist that we all eat the same dinner together.
Wednesday
Breakfast-oatmeal and fruit for all but one kids who had cereal!
snack- The showcase near us has free second run movies with a book report (good way to get the kids to read and write over the summer!) We hada B1GF1 free coupon for popcorn! YUMMY!
Lunch- No one was super hungry after popcorn but some hot dogs, turkey, carrots and fruit were all eaten by various members of our family
Dinner- A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. My 10 year old daughter decided to do it all herself. She made rice and chicken and even adapted the recipe for my DH who is lactose intolerant. She made frozen veggies (would have liked to use the fresh ones up but so be it!) and made Zuccinni bread BY HERSELF. Can you tell I am a proud Mom?
Thursday-
Breakfast was an assortment of french toast and cereal
Lunch was a mix of hot dogs, sandwiches etc and some of te frozen veggies from the night before.
Dinner was an edamane dish that was from an ALL YOU recipe a while back but we have tweaked it a bit. It was bacon, chicken, edamane and cabbage with a little garlic and soysauce.
Snack-popcorn
I have to confess that sticking to a budget these two weeks has been tough because of the great sales going on. It is hard to turn down buying lots of cheese for my stockpile when it is only .49 cents for 8 0z!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Week 2
We finished up week 1 just under budget at 149 for our family of 6. We ate out twice and enjoyed it! There were some amazing sales and I got some great things for our stockpile like shredded cheese for .47 cents.
This week I am shopping light because we had a special boys lunch out on Monday (my Daughter got to do something special with Dad so it seemed fair.) We also took advantage of Family night at a local Steakhouse tonight and all ate for about $33. YUMMY! Saturday is our anniversary so I want to same some $$ in our budget so we can go out on a date.
We have tons of stuff in our stockpile but I am also restocking up on some needed items like Gogurt. I found free tuna with a coupon so I was happy!
Our meals for the past few days are as follows:
Monday
Bfast-Cereal with fruit
lunch- out with boys. DH and hubby had lunch with Grandma and Grandpa
Dinner- Other Grandma and Grandpa had us over so all we had to do was Brownies for dessert
Tuesday
breakfast- oatmeal and fruit
lunch- picnic with friends carrots, fruit, lunchmeat, cheese, crackers
dinner- Out at a great steak place that has a Monday and Tuesday night special. We all ate for about $33! YUMMY
I have already gone to the grocery twice this week at different stores to get some great deals! Some highlights:
Free tuna and "I can't believe it's not butter" at Meijer. Great price on Gogurt and stocked up on some brownie mix and flour!
This week I am shopping light because we had a special boys lunch out on Monday (my Daughter got to do something special with Dad so it seemed fair.) We also took advantage of Family night at a local Steakhouse tonight and all ate for about $33. YUMMY! Saturday is our anniversary so I want to same some $$ in our budget so we can go out on a date.
We have tons of stuff in our stockpile but I am also restocking up on some needed items like Gogurt. I found free tuna with a coupon so I was happy!
Our meals for the past few days are as follows:
Monday
Bfast-Cereal with fruit
lunch- out with boys. DH and hubby had lunch with Grandma and Grandpa
Dinner- Other Grandma and Grandpa had us over so all we had to do was Brownies for dessert
Tuesday
breakfast- oatmeal and fruit
lunch- picnic with friends carrots, fruit, lunchmeat, cheese, crackers
dinner- Out at a great steak place that has a Monday and Tuesday night special. We all ate for about $33! YUMMY
I have already gone to the grocery twice this week at different stores to get some great deals! Some highlights:
Free tuna and "I can't believe it's not butter" at Meijer. Great price on Gogurt and stocked up on some brownie mix and flour!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday, end of week 1
We are doing Ok on our budget but I have to confess I am craving eating out and thankful to this challenge to help me avoid it.
Todays meals are as follows:
Bfast: The kids and DH slept late so we really didn't eat
lunch: My parents (Thanks Mom and Dad) had us over for brunch
snack: The kids were all starving so they had a mix of fruit, leftovers etc.
Dinner: homemade Skyline chili, noodles, cheese, onions and some great salad we got on sale at Meijer!
Here are my totals for the week:
Texas Roadhouse: 11.96
Meijer: 85.87
Skyline Chili: 36.57
Berries: $5
Krogers $9.64
TOTAL: 149.04 (WHEW!)
Now I have to look carefully at next week since we want to do family night out Tuesday and our anniversary is Saturday!
Todays meals are as follows:
Bfast: The kids and DH slept late so we really didn't eat
lunch: My parents (Thanks Mom and Dad) had us over for brunch
snack: The kids were all starving so they had a mix of fruit, leftovers etc.
Dinner: homemade Skyline chili, noodles, cheese, onions and some great salad we got on sale at Meijer!
Here are my totals for the week:
Texas Roadhouse: 11.96
Meijer: 85.87
Skyline Chili: 36.57
Berries: $5
Krogers $9.64
TOTAL: 149.04 (WHEW!)
Now I have to look carefully at next week since we want to do family night out Tuesday and our anniversary is Saturday!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, July 17th
We had a fun day today and I realized that this is really causing me to make some fun and different choices.
Here was our menu for the day:
bfast: (we all had something different) cereal, french toast, pancakes. For the pancakes, we had blackberry syrup from the blackberries we picked!! YUM!
Lunch: My DH had Knorr noodles and a hot dog. The rest of us had cheeseburgers with blackberry smoothies, lettuce, tomatoes
Dinner: shrimp fried rice
snacks: Popcorn, fruit.
Next week will be a bit more of a challenge since we have an anniversary and want to go out for it.
Here was our menu for the day:
bfast: (we all had something different) cereal, french toast, pancakes. For the pancakes, we had blackberry syrup from the blackberries we picked!! YUM!
Lunch: My DH had Knorr noodles and a hot dog. The rest of us had cheeseburgers with blackberry smoothies, lettuce, tomatoes
Dinner: shrimp fried rice
snacks: Popcorn, fruit.
Next week will be a bit more of a challenge since we have an anniversary and want to go out for it.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Day 5
We decided to do something that we have never done before as a family today, go berry picking. I had heard other bloggers talk about what a great savings this is so I thought we would try it. Lots of fun with the kids on a semi-sunny day: priceless. A whole lot of blackberries: $5
Breakfast was French toast and fruit
lunch was sandwiches and carrots/dip
dinner was Skyline (got home later from Berry picking than I intended!)-YUM!!
Breakfast was French toast and fruit
lunch was sandwiches and carrots/dip
dinner was Skyline (got home later from Berry picking than I intended!)-YUM!!
Thursday, July 16
I go to go grocery shopping today and have to say that I did pretty well. My total was about $85 and I got a lit of stuff to mix and match with what is already in my stockpile. I left singing, "I am Woman hear me shop!"
So total for the week is $96. (out of the $150 allotted) I new need to decide do I go to Krogers and buy cheese and some other items for the stockpile or do we save it for a Skyline Chili trip as a family over the weekend?
We had cereal for breakfast, lunch was graciously provided by our local park system and Snappy tomato pizza. They have a great science program on many Thursday mornings and then Snappy Tomato Pizza provides pizza and a local church provides popcorn and lemonade. This wonderful church, Faith Community, also brought some veggies to share from their church garden.
They gave us two huge zucinnis and the biggest yellow squash I have every seen.
So total for the week is $96. (out of the $150 allotted) I new need to decide do I go to Krogers and buy cheese and some other items for the stockpile or do we save it for a Skyline Chili trip as a family over the weekend?
We had cereal for breakfast, lunch was graciously provided by our local park system and Snappy tomato pizza. They have a great science program on many Thursday mornings and then Snappy Tomato Pizza provides pizza and a local church provides popcorn and lemonade. This wonderful church, Faith Community, also brought some veggies to share from their church garden.
They gave us two huge zucinnis and the biggest yellow squash I have every seen.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Day 3
We still haven't gone grocery shopping!
I think we may go tonight but we ate pretty well out of the stockpile but are getting very low on fruits and veggies so it is time to go!
Here was out menu all from our stockpile:
bfast cereal, milk and fried fruit
lunch: hot pockets for some and turkey dogs for others. Carrots for all.
Dinner: Tuna patties and frozen spinach
I think we may go tonight but we ate pretty well out of the stockpile but are getting very low on fruits and veggies so it is time to go!
Here was out menu all from our stockpile:
bfast cereal, milk and fried fruit
lunch: hot pockets for some and turkey dogs for others. Carrots for all.
Dinner: Tuna patties and frozen spinach
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
2nd day Tuesday
Today for breakfast everybody kinda did their own thing...one kid had frozen waffles, another rice and 2 scrambled eggs.
For lunch we had cheese sandwiches, apples and carrots. My daughter and I also had leftover jumbula from last night.
We had dinner out (before I went grocery shopping for the week) Sounds crazy I know but I feel like I wanted to know what we spent out so I didn't go over the $150 tomorrow when I shop. Our grand total for an evening out for 6 of us (MY DH had a business dinner but we took a neighbor) was $11 at a chain (Logans) steakhouse! YEAH. You may be wondering how. They give away free kids meal coupons when your child reads for the summer reading club at our local library! Can't beat free kids meals!
OK I have to go plan my mission (grocery store trip) for tomorrow!
For lunch we had cheese sandwiches, apples and carrots. My daughter and I also had leftover jumbula from last night.
We had dinner out (before I went grocery shopping for the week) Sounds crazy I know but I feel like I wanted to know what we spent out so I didn't go over the $150 tomorrow when I shop. Our grand total for an evening out for 6 of us (MY DH had a business dinner but we took a neighbor) was $11 at a chain (Logans) steakhouse! YEAH. You may be wondering how. They give away free kids meal coupons when your child reads for the summer reading club at our local library! Can't beat free kids meals!
OK I have to go plan my mission (grocery store trip) for tomorrow!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Ta Da
Today is the first day of the All You grocery challenge!
Usually we shop midweek so I am using the stockpile for now. I like to shop mid week because the coupons "pundits" have already posted their good deals for the week and any coupons that I ordered have usually arrived.
However, I will not be grocery shopping until Wens. (Payday) I will be using what is currently in stock at my house.
Although we don't have to live payday to payday, we choose to. OK let me explain. My DH and I hate to be in debt. We like to have the "old fashioned" saving net. We therefor "pay ourselves first" with savings and then use what we have in checking until the next pay day.
So here is what we had today:
Breakfast cereal from our stockpile and milk
Lunch- lean pockets and fruit. - Not usually a big fan of these but they were a special treat at .88 each AQ.
Dinner- Jumbula (sp? ) easy and tasty using free sausage from buying cokes a few weeks back.
Usually we shop midweek so I am using the stockpile for now. I like to shop mid week because the coupons "pundits" have already posted their good deals for the week and any coupons that I ordered have usually arrived.
However, I will not be grocery shopping until Wens. (Payday) I will be using what is currently in stock at my house.
Although we don't have to live payday to payday, we choose to. OK let me explain. My DH and I hate to be in debt. We like to have the "old fashioned" saving net. We therefor "pay ourselves first" with savings and then use what we have in checking until the next pay day.
So here is what we had today:
Breakfast cereal from our stockpile and milk
Lunch- lean pockets and fruit. - Not usually a big fan of these but they were a special treat at .88 each AQ.
Dinner- Jumbula (sp? ) easy and tasty using free sausage from buying cokes a few weeks back.
Monday, July 6, 2009
All you
I never knew that I was a "shopper " before I started couponing now I love the rush I get from getting a really good deal!
I am really excited about using my couponing skills to use in the All You magazine challenge. With the 6 people in my family, I can spend $150 a week.
Stay tuned for all the fun ways I can feed our family healthy and enjoyable meals!
I am really excited about using my couponing skills to use in the All You magazine challenge. With the 6 people in my family, I can spend $150 a week.
Stay tuned for all the fun ways I can feed our family healthy and enjoyable meals!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)