Deals

In the weekly ads in the mail came a coupon for a free bottle of coke at Target as they were advertising that the local store was now selling more foods/produce/meats like a neighborhood market..:O)
So I got the free bottle of coke while shopping for a few other things I was told about a few more deals from an employee :O) Score.. they got their containers of mushroom shipment but it was the wrong size too big so they needed to sale/move them asap 46 cents a for 16 oz grabbed 2 :O) then I was also able to grab for 46 cents as well coleslaw mix :O0 perfect for wraps for me...

While I was at Safeway today as well I grabbed another 1/2 gallon of Lactose milk for dd $4.79 regular price 50% off $2.39 found a $1.00 off coupon got it for $1.39 :O) score into the freezer into mason jar it went...

Clearance Deals and What Knot

Stopped by my local Safeway to grab some milk I saw on sale in the weekly flyer $1.59 per gallon since I was out.. While bopping around the isle in the cold area I came across a few deals...

• 2 half gallons of Lactose Free Milk for dd $1.79 each 50 % off I quickly grabbed 2.

Went to Walmart and grabbed a case of quart size mason jars for the milk to be froze in the freezer for use later...$8.60..plus they are reusable so super score LOVE MASON JARS

• 1 half gallon of 2 % milk for me for 88 cents

• 2- 32 oz bags of Asian Stir Fry veggies $8.49 each but was 50 % off
• 8 containers of individual yogurt $69 cents each 50 % off tossed this in the freezer for making shakes later :O)

Other Store deals

44 oz of Arm and Hammer Laundry Soap was $5.99 Buy on get 2nd free plus I had $1.00 off coupon so got 2 for $4.99

Wheathin Crackers $1.88 but they had a coupon for free Ritz snack crackers on them so I bought 3 boxes and got 3 boxes for free crackers :O)

Once A Month Meals Day 3

Ground Turkey was the meat challenge as well as trying to locate the meat on sale....
Well I got super lucky....I was able to pick up 16 lbs of ground turkey plastic tubes for 92 cents each..:O) Yippie......Off to cooking I went...

• 11 Baked Ziti in mini bread loaf pans (2 servings)

• 12 Taco Wontons wraps

• 7 mini bread loaf package of Meatloaf (2 servings)

• Enchilada sauce to freeze for quick meal prep
  

Drawstring Produce Bag

I have been using re-usable grocery bags for months LOVE THEM...The reasons way...

• No Breaking issues- got tired of having to double or triple bag items
  
• Easier to bag and carry
  
• Less plastic bags taking up my house-I do get some for the kitty litter :O)
• Less bags needed I have 6 bags and that is usually all I need :O)

But on a recent trip to the produce to department I grabbed a few plastic-thin bags to get produce and things keep falling out of the bag so yet again I had to double and triple and I remembered seeing crocheted produce bags online.. I figured I could find a pattern and give it a whirl and this is what I got.........



Update: 5-14-2011

After crocheting the first orange bag I decide to create one more with a bowl/hat like style bottom due to I wanted to prevent produce like grapes from falling threw the large bottom holes so by doing the bowl effect and the holes on the top it allows for both :O) very happy with this pattern I created... I will also hold 4 balls of 2.5 oz crochet yarn as well lol.. I didn't have any fruits or veggies to put in it for a picture....

Once A Month Meals Day 2

I have 2 crock pots cooking 4 huge packages of chicken breast to make the following meals...

24 Chicken Cheese Enchiladas
9 (16oz ) containers Chicken Lentil Chili
7 (16 oz ) containers of Chicken Pot Pie
2 more meals of just chicken breasts

Spending June 11

Fry's-Spent $31.94 Saved=$14.15
Fry's-Spent $15.91 Saved= $1.07
Fry's- Spent $33.22 Saved= $1.19
Fry's- Spent $5.45 Saved= $1.60

Trader Joe's Spent $17.91
Smart and Final Spent $12.76
Smart and Final Spent $7.87
Walmart Spent $9.89
Bakery Outlet Spent $4.56
Sprouts Spent $ 24.18
Lee Lee Oriental Market Spent $5.77
Dollar Store Spent $ 24.00


Total Spent $193.46

Update 5-14-11

Walmart Spent $17.88 & $20.89
Trader Joe's Spent 20.23 &12.65
Smart and Final Spent $4.08
Ranch Market Spent $2.37
Basha's Spent $4.44
Fresh and Easy Spent $10.35

Total for this week----$92.89


Update June 20th,11

Safeway Spent $3.97 and $31.11 but got $8.97 back in refund
Walmart Spent $8.60
Safeway Spent $15.90
Sprouts Spent $16.84

Total for this week $ 41.34



Totals $327.69

Once A Month Meals

Well my story starts with a small disaster my full size freezer accidentally was unplugged....Lost my bulk meals/meat supply/ extra freezer items....I figure around $300 or so plus time and lots of energy... What did I do to fix this mess.. Broke out my Dinner meal planner I created 2 weeks ago that listed all the meals we like I got close to 30 I was very surprised....since I usually can't figure out what I what for dinner...

Step 1 Figure out which meals could be made cheap and freeze well plus use what I have in the pantry as well.....

Step 2 First Cooking Session as small due to I did the shopping and the cooking all in day one...( that is was pushing it but had to be done)

• 6 bread loaf size Lasagna
• 6 1 cup portion Chicken Sloppy Joe's
• 30 Southwestern egg rolls
• 11 baggies of shredded chicken for wraps
• 2 meals of chicken breasts
• 3 quarts of Chicken Noodle Soup

1 quart baggie of shredded carrots &1 quart baggie of celery
for another batch of soup later next month....

I went shopping for the above items and still have more planned to make tomorrow just my brain is tired and so am I.....

Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

I am sure you have empty liquid soap container laying around the house but no extra liquid soap to fill them up. I have read on the net about making homemade liquid soap my first thoughts were as follow...Why make it? Will it work the same? How hard is it to make it? Is it worth it?


I read that you use about 1 cup of soap shaving and about 3 cups of water so I filled the bottles with water ( I had 2 empty) twice then poured that into stainless steal.

I had a very small soap sliver of Glycerin left and shredded it with a small hand grater that I had.

I boiled the water then dropped the grater soap slivers into the hot boiling water for 1 min then turned it off to allow to cool.

Allowed to cool to room temp you will notice the difference in both color as well as it is thicker like pudding..

I was able to slowly pour it into the 2 bottles it was VERY THICK and Goopy yet to use it I just added a little more water into the bottle and pushed and it worked Perfectly and the cost was just Time...I will need to check the recipe in the AM and see if I needed to add more water to the bottles.


Update 6-1-11 The Goopy stuff got to be VERY VERY Thick to thick to get out of bottle via the pump so I have emptied it into another container and ALOT more water seems to be alot better...

Crochet Water Bottle Holder

Just whipping up a few water bottle carriers as the summer weather is picking up here in Phoenix...Takes less then 1 hour while watching TV

Meal Ideas

Like most of you the question you ask yourself when you open the frig or the pantry door what do you want? What sounds good to you? Well in my house I have been having more of an issue with I couldn't come up with what sounded good plus a list of meal ideas...to grab my attention when I want to plan dinner... So here is a list I created for me to grab my attention...

I divided it up according to these following categories.

Turkey

• Sloppy Joe
• Burgers
• Tacos
• Burritos
• Chili
• Taco Salad
• Spaghetti
• Lasagna
• Meatloaf
• Sheppard's pie
• Stroganoff
  

Chicken

• Shredded Chicken
• Burritos
• Chicken Wraps
• BBQ Chicken
• Honey Chicken
• Skillet Enchiladas
• Chicken Pot pie
• Panko Chicken
• Chicken Broccoli Casserole
• Chicken Wontons
• Fajitas
• Crockpot Fried Rice
• Stir Fry
• Kona Pizza

Soup

• Chicken Noodle
• Tomato
• Cheddar Broccoli
• Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Misc

• Quesadilla
• Pizza
• Baked Potato
  
• Fish Tacos
• Tuna Casserole
• Rice Bowls
• Pretzels
  

Crescent Dough Pizza

Pillsbury Seamless Dough Sheets for only 99 cents on sale... If I had a coupon it would have been less.....Great Deal
I quickly used parchment to line a large cookie sheet then rolled/stretched out the dough


Weeks ago I precooked shredded chicken in the crockpot for just grab and make a meal...This shredded chicken worked great for this pizza
A friend a work had purchased this jar to eat with chips but he didn't like it so I used it in the recipe as well....

Leftover steamed Broccoli was hiding in my refrig..I had a few days ago cooked up some mixed veggies

Shredded cheese from the frig ...So I quickly layered all the ingredients onto the dough rolled it up nicely then topped it with garlic & oregano and Butter.....



I was able to cut this up and eat 1/2 for dinner and the other 1/2 for lunch the next day for the cost break down listed below...

Precooked shredded chicken-Cost zero already in the house
Spinach Dip- Cost Zero got it from a co-worker
Veggies- Cost Zero already in the house ready to use
Shredded Cheese- Cost Zero already in the house ready to use
Dough Sheet- Cost 99 Cents

Quick Chili

I quickly needed a meal whipped together in under 30 mins to drop into my lunch box for work...I grabbed a can of Rotel Tomatoes however I prefer non-chunky puree so I poured the can into the food processor and gave it a quick spin....

I had some black beans in a container leftover from another meal so I grabbed them from the frig...

Leftover sauce to using in place of some of the tomatoes usually used in a chili recipe.


Cumin-Chili Powder-Cracked Peppercorns

I poured all the ingredients into a pot and simmered it for 30 mins then into a lunch container it went quick meal ready to go.

In a Jar

In my pantry I have lots of Jello and lots of Pudding I decided to give my little mini mason jars a new project to handle... Pudding in a Cup since purchasing these are around $1.00 for 4. The cost to me to have these on hand was very little this time around it was around 45 cents for 5 desserts how did I figure this out you may be asking...Well I had recently got some 1% milk on clearance the other day for .89 Cents made one batch of pudding using a large box which called for 3 cups of milk I figured I could make another batch using the other 45 cents :O) and still have enough for a cup of milk with dinner :O)

Freezer Meals

Recently I have seen an increase desire to have meals made ahead stored in the freezer ready to go. For when that new baby gets here or when someone has surgery and yes even when parents are getting a little older and need a few meals tucked in their freeze so you can rest better knowing they ate…

I have repeatedly typed over and over that same tips and recipes today after yet again doing this I decided we needed a blog where everyone on can share tips and recipes and I can update or link them into the blog to save time for EVERYONE….Plus this will allow everyone one place to locate them as well.

I am not making this perfect since life isn’t and I know I am not but along the way I am trying to help someone else who has the same questions I had just a few years ago find some answers and recipes…

Tips:

Use your slow cooker that can be your best friend in the kitchen..

Create a list of all the meal your family or u like...

Then next to the list above figure out how many times your family or you would eat said meal a week/month. This number will help you create a cooking plan..

Lets say your planning to do a 2 month menu/meal plan= 8 weeks you and your family plans to eat say 1 meatloaf one a week they you will need to make 8 meatloaves for those 2 months.

I prefer 8 x 8 pan size for meal for a few reason I will share since I have a family of 3 adults one being male who thinks he needs 2 pieces of main dish per meal I use 8 x 8 this allows for a total of 4 pieces with no leftovers to not get eaten.

Ziplock baggies work well for most meals as it allows/takes up less space then containers..

Label, Label, Label everything. (Recipe Name and Heating instructions if desired and anything else you need to know... Some people have placed this on index cards to assist with not writing on so they can reuse the bags for the next meal making session.)

Mexican Rice

Refried Beans

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Clearance Veggie Mushrooms

16 oz container of mushroom I was able to grab 3 packages ( ok I could have got more but these are just for me dd doesn't like mushrooms this way) I grabbed them diced very small and sauteed them all up in less then 30 minutes while waiting for dinner to cook in the toaster oven.