Grocery shopping Week 2

I went over my $20 budget this week. I'm not too worried about it though, because I was way under last week. There were a couple of things I had to get...toilet paper (for the first time since a fabulous sale in January!) and my husband needed deoderant, which he told me about at the last minute. My husband also went shopping with me, hence the fritos. I was happy to get out of there with just the fritos, I think he's worse than the kids! I have no pictures of the actual shopping, life was too hectic when I got home and stuff had to be put away!

Target:

2 boxes bandaids $3.64 + .10 tax
- (2) $1.00 off Target coupons
- (2) $1.00 off manufacturer coupons

Total: -.26 (yep! they paid ME .26 cents!)

Orchard Market:

2 gallons milk $2.50 each
- (2) $1.00 off store coupon

1 gallon chocolate milk $1.99
- $1.00 off store coupon

1 dozen eggs $1.69
- .75 off store coupon

Charmin Basic 12 big roll pack $4.99
ketchup $1.29
3 lbs apples $1.99
10 lbs russett potatoes $1.99
1 bag salad mix $.88
broccoli $2.21
2.58 lbs bananas $1.52

Total paid: $20.10



Meijer:

Excedrin $4.99
- free coupon!
3 bottles Frank's Redhot $.99 each
- (3) free manufacturer coupons from last week's paper
2 jars Taco Bell salsa $1.85 each
- $1.00 off 2 Meijer mealbox coupon
- $1.00 off manufacturer coupon from All You magazine
1 bottle Kikkoman soy sauce $1.56
- $1.00 manufacturer coupon from Kikkoman game
3 loaves Aunt Millie's bread $9.57
- $6.38 (buy one, get two free sale!)
3 Aunt Millie's hotdog buns $9.57
- $6.38 (buy one, get two free sale)
4 boxes Barilla whole wheat pasta $.89 each
-(2) $1.00 off two manufacturer coupons
2 bags Fritos $1.49 each
1 jar applesauce $1.79
2 sticks Right Guard deoderant $2.29 each
- $.50 off one Meijer coupon
- $2.00 off two manufacturer coupon
1 bag Dino bites frozen chicken nuggets $2.99
2 bottles Dial hand soap $1.00 each
- (2) $1.00 manufacturer coupons
2 packages Oscar Mayer hotdogs $3.00
2 bags Ore Ida tater tots $5.00
- $2.00 instant savings
- $1.00 off two manufacturer coupon

I also used:
$3.00 off a $30 purchase coupon
$1.00 off your next order coupon from a previous purchase
$2.00 off your next order coupon from a previous purchase
$5.00 off a frozen food purchase from a previous purchase

Total spent: $13.52



Total for the week: $33.36

Grocery budget left: $56.32
Total spent for the month: $43.68



You can find more great shopping trips over at The Grocery Cart Challenge, Frugal Follies, and $5 Dollar Dinners!

Daily Menus Tuesday through Friday 3/09-3/12

It's been a crazy week here in our house. The kids all had no school on Tuesday, there were more dentist appointments, we're still down to one car, we finished up wrestling for the boys, we had a school carnival...that's just part of it. I think I need a nap!

Tuesday's Food:

breakfast: bagels/cream cheese, orange juice

lunch: cheese quesadillas and mandarin oranges, husband took leftover stirfry

dinner: salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green beans

snacks: granola bars, carrot sticks, raisins

Wednesday's Food:

breakfast: bagels/cream cheese, bananas

lunch: leftovers from last night's dinner, husband took this as well

dinner: spaghetti with italian sausage, garlic bread, green salad

snacks: kids took pretzels and fruit roll ups for school, apple slices, cheese and crackers

Thursday's Food:

breakfast: cereal, bananas, orange juice

lunch: leftover spaghetti, husband also took to work

dinner: pulled pork sandwiches, oven fries, broccoli

snacks: carrot sticks, mandarin oranges, cinnamon toast, kids took granola bars to school

Friday's Food:

breakfast: eggs and toast

lunch: hash made with leftover pork, potatoes, and carrots, husband took sandwiches

dinner: pot roast with carrots, potatoes, onions, and a salad

snacks: apple slices, bananas, granola bars

Monday's Food 3/08

The kids had another half day today, so they were home for lunch and dinner. Except Girl One, who is 12, and would rather spend all day and night with her friends. They have no school tomorrow, so bonus weekday sleepover! Annnnyways, here's what we ate:

Breakfast: bagels with cream cheese, orange juice

Lunch: Chicken nuggets, oven fries, carrot sticks, apple slices (the last of the apples!) Husband took sandwiches to work.

Dinner: Garlic chicken/asparagus stirfry (I threw in a can of water chestnuts and some carrots, too)

Snacks: peanut butter crackers, raisins, Chex Mix...the boys also each took a fruit rollup to school this morning

This week's menu...3/8-3/14

I'm going into week 2 of my $20 weekly grocery budget experiment. My menu this week will be a little different...I know what we're having tonight through Wednesday. The rest of the week will depend some on what produce deals I can score tomorrow when I go shopping, and what will need to be used up first, so I'm not sure of the order we'll be eating the rest of the meals.

Monday: chicken/asparagus stir fry

Tuesday: Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green beans (cooked with bacon in the bacon grease I saved from this weekend) Save your bacon grease! I keep a jar of it in the fridge, and use to cook green beans, fry eggs in, etc.

Wednesday: Spaghetti with Italian sausage, garlic bread

Rest of the week:

Pot Roast with potatoes, onions, carrots
BBQ chicken drumsticks
Pulled pork sandwiches
Mexican night...either tacos or enchiladas

For more menu plans and inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com!

Sunday's Food 3/07

Breakfast: Oatmeal (we usually add a little butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, almonds, and raisins...yum!)

Lunch: Leftover pork and mashed potatoes from Friday plus steamed carrots. My husband also took this for lunch at work.

Dinner: Baked chicken breast with bacon, cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing, cauliflower/broccoli/carrot blend (frozen), stuffing

Snacks: popcorn, chocolate covered pretzels that Girl One made, apple slices

Saturday's Food 3/06

My husband was off again today, so this fed all six of us today.

Breakfast: Oatmeal pancakes, orange juice

Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Dinner: Bacon and asparagus omelets for most of us, scrambled eggs and bacon for the picky one, toast

Snacks: almonds, frozen blueberries, carrot sticks, pretzels

Betterthanchocolate Roasted Broccoli

Yum, yum, yum. That's all I can say about this. And it's soooo easy to make! If given the choice between this broccoli and cake, I would choose this. Ok, maybe it depends on exactly what kind of cake you're giving me, but seriously. This is good. All you need is:

Broccoli
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Lemon juice
Parmesan cheese

That's it! Preheat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil (makes clean up EASY!).

Cut up broccoli into florets and put in a bowl. (I also cut up some of the stems)



Pour some olive oil over the top, throw in some salt and pepper, and toss to coat. I don't measure anything. You want enough olive oil to coat all the broccoli, but you don't want it drowning. I go fairly light on the salt because the parmesan you add later is also pretty salty, and I also go fairly light on the pepper just because I'm not a huge fan of it. But this is your broccoli, so you can use as much or as little as you want.



Spread the broccoli out on the foil lined pan. You want as much broccoli as possible touching the pan.



Put in oven and roast until the broccoli is browned and fork tender. You want the brown parts, trust me. That's the part that has carmelized and is a little crunchy, and oh so good.



After you've taken it out, sprinkle with lemon juice and parmesan cheese, and toss. Again, to taste. You of course can be all fancy and use fresh lemon and freshly grated parmesan, but all I had on hand was one of those squeezy plastic lemons and canned parmesan. It's all good.




That's it! This broccoli is so good that even my two broccoli hating children will eat it.

Shopping 3/05

I ended up needing milk today, and had to have my husband stop for it since we're down to one vehicle. I normally don't spend more than $1.50 a gallon, thanks to my very local grocery store. They have printable coupons all the time for $1.00 off milk, and they always have milk on sale for $2.50. B didn't have a coupon with him though, so we had to pay the full $2.50. I have no picture today, but I'm pretty sure you all know what a gallon of milk looks like.


Grocery budget left: $89.68
Total spent for the month: $10.32

Friday food 3/05

I finally got my better-than-chocolate roasted broccoli!! I honestly could eat this every day, all day. I took some pictures tonight, and will post my recipe tomorrow. Soooo easy and sooooo good! The kids had a half day again today, and my husband had the day off, so all the meals cover all of us today.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, bagels with cream cheese, orange juice

Lunch: Bean burritos (which I made earlier and had frozen), chips and salsa, apple slices

Dinner: Pork roast with a maple/soy glaze, mashed potatoes, betterthanchocolate roasted broccoli, corn

Snacks: celery with peanut butter, cinnamon toast

I was so excited from my broccoli, I forgot I also made brownies today, so we had those for dessert!

I've also been asked what we drink, and unless I specify, the kids usually drink milk with meals. During the day the kids drink either milk or water. I make a big pitcher of iced tea every few days, so after my morning coffee, I drink that and water. I used to have a HUGE diet coke/pepsi (I wasn't picky!) addiction, but I gave that up a couple of months ago and now only drink it occasionally.

I won! I won!

I won a silicon basting brush a few weeks ago from Kikkoman and it came today. It's so much nicer than I thought it would be! And I played again today and won the spoon rest! I've also gotten buy one get one free soy sauce coupons a couple of times. All you have to do is click on the "I don't have a code" button and they'll email you one immediately. So I know it's kind of lame to be so excited about this, but I NEVER win anything! The game goes through April 30 and you can play every day!

Whoo hoo!! I just played again and won the stainless steel kitchen tongs! They seem to be pretty generous with their prizes! I'm going to end up with a whole Kikkoman kitchen!