What a week!

I have had one crazy busy week! And can I just say that it totally sucks to have to drive half an hour each way to take and then pick up your husband from work? Our car is *still* in and out of the shop, and we have no public transportation, so I am stuck having to do that when I need a car for the day. Which happened 3 times this week. I do have my April totals, and my budget for May, which I will be putting up this weekend! I think I may actually have a spare minute!

Meal Plan 4/26 - 5/02

Monday: Maple/soy glazed pork roast, steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes

Tuesday: Roast chicken, wild rice, roasted asparagus

Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas, beans, rice

Thursday: Chili dogs, oven fries, cole slaw

Friday: Chili Mac, salad

Saturday: Buffalo chicken breast, baked potatoes, green beans

Sunday: Soup/sandwich night, or baked potato bar (depending on what leftovers we have!)

Check out more menu ideas at Orgjunkie.com!

Friday's Food 4/23

Breakfast: Ate at the boy's school...they had their annual art gallery breakfast!

Lunch: Turkey sandwiches and apple slices

Dinner: Spaghetti, garlic bread, green salad

Snacks: Carrot sticks, chips and salsa, kids took granola bars to school

Some coupons to print...

There are some great, high value coupons out to print right now on Coupons.com!

$2.00 off Heinz 57 10 oz or larger

$2.00 off Lea and Perrins Worstershire sauce 10 oz or larger

$1.50 off TGIF snacks

$2.00 off any Pure and Natural product

$ .75 off any Heinz worcestershire sauce


You will have to scroll through to find all the coupons, but you should be able to print each coupon twice. Print them now before they're gone!

Thursday's food 4/22

Breakfast: Cereal, bananas

Lunch: Vegetable soup, turkey sandwiches, grapes

Dinner: Tacos, beans, rice

Snacks: Carrot sticks, grapes, granola bars (kids also took granola bars to school)

Where I've been...

We were in Chicago, picking Boy One up at O'Hare! My globetrotting son is home from 9 days in Italy, with my brother. He had a fabulous time...got to see Rome, the Coliseum, Vatican City, the Capuchin Catacombs, Pompeii, Sorrento, the Isle of Capri...I am so thankful for my brother! He is taking each of my 4 kids ANYWHERE in the world they want to go. Sammy was up first, and chose Italy and the ruins. Not only was it a trip of a lifetime, but my brother lives across the country and I love that they got to spend all this one on one time to get to know each other and bond! I'm so glad he had such a fabulous time, but I'm so happy to have to him home!

April Week Three Shopping...Orchard Market

I'm done with my shopping at Orchard Market for the week. I will be heading to Meijer tomorrow to finish the week, and will update again after that!

Orchard Market:

1 box Act II popcorn $.99
- $ .40 off coupon from the 2/28 Smartsource insert

1 bottle Kikkoman teriyaki sauce $ .1.59
- $1.00 off coupon

7 Lunchables $1.00 each
- (7) $1.00 off coupons from the 3/21 Smartsource insert

2 Fast Fixin's chicken nuggets $1.00 each
- (2) $1.00 off coupons from All You magazine

1 Sara Lee deli ham marked down to $1.99
- $1.00 off coupon from the 3/21 Redplum insert

1.89 lbs grapes $1.87 ($ .99 a lb)

3 Aunt Millie's hamburger/hotdog buns $ .88 each
- (3) $ .55 off coupons from the 4/18 Redplum insert

Total Spent: $5.53 (saved $37.46...87%!)




Total Spent for April: $96.21
April budget left: $52.29

See more shopping trips at Frugal Follies!

Monday's Food 4/19

Breakfast: Oatmeal and apple slices

Lunch: Buffalo chicken wraps, grapes

Dinner: White chicken chili

Snacks: carrot sticks, broccoli, raisins, chex mix...kids took homemade granola bars and fruit snacks to school

Meal Plan 4/19 - 4/25

Monday: White Chicken Chili

Tuesday: Salisbury Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans

Wednesday: We will be in Chicago, picking up our son from the airport (YAY!!!)

Thursday: Tacos, beans, rice

Friday: Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit


Get more inspiration and meal plans at Orgjunkie.com!

Sunday's Food 4/18

Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice

Lunch: tuna sandwiches, mandarin oranges (a favourite here!), carrot sticks

Dinner: buffalo chicken wraps (made with shredded chicken breast...no frying!), oven fries, broccoli

Snacks: fruit snacks, chex mix, olives (2 of my kids would eat a can each, if I let them!), cheese

Orchard Market deals 4/19 - 4/25

I don't normally write up store deals, but there are some awesome deals at Orchard Market this week! I know this will really only help out a few people since it's such a local store...there's only two stores, and they're both in my town.

Coupon deals:

Oscar Mayer Lunchables (basic 4.5 oz) 10/$10 (they'll each ring up at $1, you don't have to buy 10!)

use the $1.00 off any Lunchables coupon from the 3/21 Smartsource coupon insert

FREE after coupon

Fast Fixin's Chicken 8-10 oz patties, nuggets, strips, or popcorn 10/$10

use the $1.00 off coupon from All You magazine, both the January or March 2010 issues
OR
sign up here and get 5 $1 off coupons! (you can only sign up once per household)

FREE after coupon

Marcal Small Steps 4 pk toilet tissue or single roll paper towel $ .99

use the $1.00 off coupon from the March issue of Ladie's Home Journal, or the April issues of Redbook or Family Circle

FREE after coupon

Act II Microwave Popcorn 3 pack $ .99

use the $ .40 off coupon from the 2/28 Smartsource insert

$ .59 cents after coupon

Wednesday and Thursday ONLY

Aunt Millie's Hamburger or Hotdog buns $ .88 cents

use the $ .55 cent off coupon from the 4/18 Redplum insert

$ .33 after coupon

Saturday's Food 4/18

Brunch: Pancakes, sausage, blueberries

Dinner: Hamburgers, potato salad, cole slaw, peas

Snacks: goldfish crackers, garlic flavoured triscuts with cheese melted on top (yum!), canned peaches

Kitchen timesavers and how I package my meat

Yes, I know. That sounds vaguely naughty. *insert beavis and butthead giggle*

I have a couple of tricks I use in the kitchen, and until recently, thought a lot of people did the same thing! I realize now, not many do, so I thought I'd share a couple of my shortcuts! It's a little bit of dabbling in Once a Month cooking, but on a much, much smaller scale. I buy my meat in family size packages, since it's usually cheaper per lb, and I have a lot of mouths to feed. When I get home from the store, I split it up. (I love my foodsaver!) Steaks and chops get bagged up with a marinade and frozen. I take some of the ground beef and package it up as is, so I can use it for burgers or meatloaf. (If I really get inspired, I'll actually mix up the meatloaf, and freeze it raw so it just needs to go in the oven on cooking day!) The rest of the ground beef I brown all at once. I take some out and seperate into dinner sized portions and freeze plain. The rest I taco season, and again, freeze in dinner sized portions. This saves in two ways...not only do I only have a greasy pan to wash once (and I really, really hate doing dishes!), but I also have the meat already cooked so it saves time when I go to make dinner!

I do the same with chicken breasts. I freeze some as is, for when I'm serving chicken breast as is. I also cook a bunch up to cube or shred. It's so nice to have already-cooked cubed/shredded chicken for casseroles, quesadillas, salads, etc!

Introducing my family!

I know that I always like to see the faces behind the blogs, so I figure it's about time I got some pictures of my babies on here! Plus, I actually have updated pictures from our trip to Chicago.



Girl One and Boy One:



I love this picture because number one, it's a nice picture of both of them, number two, I got them both to sit still, and number three, and probably the most important, they're not fighting and actually look like they love each other!

Girl One is 12 and in the 7th grade. She's my social butterfly, and the one who is into non-stop activities. So far this year, she's done a Girls On The Run thing, dance, basketball cheerleading, band, and is now in track. We don't see much of her, lol. She's very sweet and kind, and (so far) is really good about telling us everything! I'm the mom that hears all the naughty 7th grade stuff she and her friends do, while she makes me *promise* I won't tell the other moms. It's nice being "in the loop" and hope she continues feeling comfortable enough to tell me things!

Boy One is 10 and in the 4th grade. He's my scientific, curious one. He is full of non-stop questions about how and why things work. He's incredibly smart, and according to his teacher, he has her googling answers to questions all day long because he thinks of questions she's never gotten before! He also loves to explore, spending hours out in the woods, and bringing me home things I don't necessarily want in my house. Once when he was four, he actually brought me home a dead squirrel that had been run over and lying in the street for days. I don't know why. I do know he spent about 3 hours washing his hands. He's also the one that is in Italy right now with my brother, exploring all the ruins!



Boy Two and Girl Two:



I used this picture, even though they're both being goofy, because that is them in their natural state, lol. (That's my brother with them.)

Boy Two is 7 and in the 1st grade. He is my odd, er...I mean unique, child. He has an imagination like no other. He does and says the funniest things, and keeps us laughing. Once when he was two, I was taking a nap on the couch...I was hugely pregnant with Girl Two, and was sleeping on my side, facing the back of the couch. I woke up to find out that while I was sleeping, he'd decided to take a paper flower Girl One had made at school and GLUED it to my butt. I guess he thought it needed decoration? He's also incredibly kind, and is completely gullible, much to the delight of the older two. (They once had him completely freaked out that we monkey ghost living in our house) He is always happy and lets everything roll off his back, and is always moving. He's the poor one that got hit with allergies and ADHD, and is the only one that's had to have his tonsils and adenoids out, plus ear tubes. It never seems to bother him though.

Girl Two is 4 and will be starting kindergarten in the fall. She is most definately the baby of the family, and has each and every one of us wrapped around her little finger. She's the entertainer, and is always singing for us, or putting on "shows". She's also a bright little one and knows how to read and write all our names, can count to twenty, AND count to 10 in Spanish. She thinks it's Chinese though, go figure. She's my lovey one, always wanting to cuddle and give kisses. I'm encouraging that as long as she'll put up with it!


Here's one last picture of all of us at Shedd Aquarium. I realize I don't have a picture of my husband on here...he was always behind the camera! I'll have to remedy that, soon.

Friday's Food 4/16

Breakfast: Eggs, toast, juice

Lunch: PB&J, apple slices

Dinner: Burritos, rice, beans

Snacks: mandarin oranges, carrot sticks, chex mix...kids took chex mix to school

It's Friday, which means

it's Mega Swagbucks Day! If you're new to Swagbucks, you can join here! It's free, it's easy, and the points accumulate fast! If you aren't familiar with it, you can read about it here.



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April Week Two shopping Part Two

Orchard Market is having a one day only meat sale, so I went this morning and stocked up!

(3) 2.5 lb bags of boneless, skinless chicken breast $3.67 each
2 packages hotdogs $ .77 each
1 4.67 lb pork sirloin roast $4.47 ($ .97 a lb)
1 3.99 lb pork tenderloin $5.07 ($1.27 a lb)
7.44 lbs ground beef $13.17 ($1.77 a lb)
1 2 litre bottle diet coke $1.00 (+ .10 deposit)



Total spent: $36.36


Total spent for April: $90.68
April budget left: $57.82

For more great shopping trips, check out Southern Savers, I Heart Publix, Money Saving Mom,The Thrifty Mama, and The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Thursday's food 4/15

Breakfast: Cereal, orange juice

Lunch: Leftover meatloaf and green beans

Dinner: Lemon butter chicken with mushrooms over angel hair pasta and broccoli

Snacks: Carrot sticks, peanut butter crackers...kids took goldfish crackers and chex mix to school

Wednesday's food 4/14

Breakfast: Eggs, toast, orange juice

Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, apple slices

Dinner: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans

Snacks: Cheese and crackers, mandarin oranges, carrot sticks

April Week Two shopping Part One

I am skipping Meijer this week, even though they're having one of their buy ten get the eleventh free sales. My local store is having a meat stock up sale tomorrow, for one day only. I went this morning for a few things, and will update again tomorrow after I hit the meat sale. No pictures this week, because my son has my camera in Italy!

Orchard Market:
1 jar Italian seasoning $ .99
2 lbs coffee $4.99
6 bags Kraft shredded cheese $1.25 each
8 packages Azteca tortillas $ .50 each! (these are dated tomorrow so they were on super markdown...I normally make my own tortillas, but this was a great deal...I just threw them in the freezer!)
1 package american cheese slices $1.29
1 lb fresh mushrooms $1.50
1 lb potato salad $ .98
1 lb mustard potato salad $ .98

Total spent: $22.23 (Total saved: $29.47)

Total spent for April: $54.32
April budget left: $94.18

To see more great shopping trips, check out Money Saving Mom, Southern Savers, Saving A Bundle, I Heart Publix, The Frugal Freeloader,The Thrifty Mama, and The Grocery Cart Challenge!