Menu Plan Monday

I've only planned four lunches this week, since I have two different soups on the menu. Both should make enough to have leftovers for a couple of lunches. I have the warm potato salad with smoked sausage on the menu again this week, since I didn't make it last week because we decided to eat out one night. We'll be having meatloaf tonight, thanks to some leftovers from Sunday lunch at my aunt & uncle's house. It's great having family nearby! :-)

I'm so glad I found a great waffle recipe on Money Saving Mom's site last week. They're made with all whole wheat flour, and I used half applesauce and half oil for the fat and they turned out great. Kenton even turned down syrup and chose to eat his plain this morning!

Here's our plan for the coming week:

Breakfasts
scrambled egg on english muffin
cold cereal
Kashi TLC bars
oatmeal
waffles and sausage
carrot bread (I'm still working on a recipe for this. I have a ton of carrots and am looking for a healthful way to use them up. If I come up with a good recipe, I'll share it.)

Lunches
grilled cheese sandwiches, applesauce, chips
brown rice & spinach casserole, salad, fruit
baked potatoes with broccoli & cheese sauce
sausage pizza, salad, fruit

Dinners
meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
potato soup, bread, fruit
black-eyed pea soup, bread, fruit
warm potato salad w/ smoked sausage, steamed broccoli & carrots
vegetable pot pie
nachos with black beans, pepper jack cheese, salsa, and guacamole (We need a junk food fix every now and then!)

For tons of menu planning ideas, take a look at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday site!

A little more Krogering

Since we have extra money to spend this week, Edward ran back to Kroger Saturday for some more apples before the sale price ends on Sunday. He bought 8 apples ($2), gallon of organic milk reduced for quick sale ($2.98), and a bag of spinach ($1.79) for a total of $6.77. That brings our weekly total to $17.89.

While I am obviously thrifty, we almost always buy organic milk and cage-free eggs. No one in our house is a big milk drinker, but we find organic milk to be far more tasty than the conventional stuff. The same is true for eggs--I love them but I think there's a huge taste difference between the two kinds. A coworker buys eggs for $1.25/dozen from a local farmer, which is something I'd like to look into.

We wouldn't normally buy a gallon of milk, organic or otherwise, because we simply don't use that much. However, I plan to do some serious baking today and that will use up quite a bit of it. Since it was about the same price as regular with the markdown, I figured it was a worthwhile purchase.

Weekly shopping at Kroger

We went Krogering today for our big weekly grocery shop. Edward usually does the shopping, sticks to the list exactly, and gets out of the store as quickly as possible. Since I have today off from work I tagged along too and messed up his plans considerably. He'll probably never take me to the grocery again!

Here's what we bought:
4 cans of Chunky soup .59/ea (from the scratch & dent bin) -.50/4 coupon (doubled to 1.00)
mayonnaise 2.99 - .75 coupon (doubled to 1.00)
Frank's red hot sauce 1.69 -.50 coupon (doubled to 1.00)
Kraft ranch dressing 1.98 -1.00 coupon
Milk 2.98
Rotel .87 - .30 coupon (doubled to .60)
pinto beans .29 (scratch & dent)
5 blocks of Kraft cheese 1.99/ea
Ronzoni pasta 1.64
bag of popcorn 2.09
2 bags of Green Giant steamers vegetables 1.49/ea -.50 coupons (doubled to 1.00)
2 pkgs Johnsonville sausage 3.00/ea - .50 coupons (doubled to 1.00)
strawberry preserves 1.99
canned peaches 1.00
eggs 1.59
apples 1.00
grapes 1.62
organic baby greens 1.79 (reduced for quick sale)

We got $5.00 off for buying ten of the "Mega Savings" items, which made our total $31.12. However, in an unexpected surprise, we had a $20 pharmacy reward on our Kroger card from transferring a prescription a while back. It's been several weeks since we've spent more than $20 at a time at Kroger, so it hadn't shown up the last few times we were there and we'd just forgotten about it. That made our total out of pocket expense for a week's worth of groceries $11.12!

Now I have to decide how to deal with this unexpected money left in our budget. I'll probably look to stock up on some things we use regularly like juice, flour, butter, etc. We might also go to Sam's and replenish some spices that are starting to get low. When we cook at home a lot, like we're doing now, we go through those really fast and I haven't been able to beat Sam's prices on most of the ones we use regularly.

Homemade Pizza

Tonight's supper was homemade pizza with a wheat crust, topped with fresh spinach and goat cheese. And it was gooood! We love pizza and it's really easy to make dough in the bread machine and sauce in the crockpot. Pizza's also a great way to use up little bits of leftovers meats or veggies, especially if you make everyone in the family an individual-sized crust and let them top it as they want.

Here's my sauce recipe, adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger.

3 6-ounce cans of tomato paste
15-ounce can of tomato sauce
3 Tbsp olive oil
2-4 cloves of garlic, chopped (I use 2 tsp of the chopped stuff from a jar, and I'm sure 1/2 tsp or so of garlic powder would work, too)
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 c water, or as needed

I use my two-quart crock for this. You'd probably be okay making it in a 4-quart, but it might cook a little faster. Put everything except the water in the slow cooker and stir well. Add just enough water to make a smooth sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. Try the finished sauce and add salt and pepper to taste. When finished the sauce will be very thick and brick red. It's just right for spreading on a pizza crust and also makes a great dipping sauce for breadsticks or cheese sticks. We find it makes enough for 3 or 4 large pizzas, and it freezes well.

You can find more frugal recipes and tips at Frugal Friday.

Kroger deals and steals!

Edward got everything in this picture for 15 cents at Kroger today! They're having "Mega Savings" this week. That means in addition to the weekly sale prices you get an additional $5 off if you buy ten items from a certain selection. Our Kroger doubles coupons up to 50 cents, and everything from 51 cents to 99 cents they raise to $1.

Here's how it all worked:
4 bags of Green Giant Steamers @$1.49/ea - 50 cent coupons doubled = 1.96
Chex Mix 1.99 - .60 Cellfire coupon (not doubled) -.50 coupon doubled = .39
Snapple 1.00 - .75 coupon doubled to 1.00 = 0.00
3 cans Rotel @.87/ea - .30 cent coupons doubled = .81
Fiber One bars 2.49 -.50 Cellfire coupon (not doubled) -.50 coupon doubled = .99
2 bags Quaker Quakes @1.00/ea - 1.00 coupons = 0.00
Total = $4.15 - $5.00 "Mega Savings" = NEGATIVE .85
When the cashier told Edward he had negative .85 cents, he grabbed a couple of 2/$1 candy bars, which brought the grand total up to .15.

We get multiple copies of coupons in a couple of different ways. We subscribe to the Sunday paper and the local Dollar Tree sell copies, too. Usually the ones from there don't have all the coupon inserts though, so it pays to thumb through if there's a particular Q you're looking for. We also ask our non-couponing friends and family to save their inserts for us.

Menu Plan Monday

For our $40/week grocery budget to work, I need to have a plan before we do our shopping. I've found it works best for me to have a list of things that I can choose from, rather than assigning each meal a day of the week. I plan six lunches and dinners, because there always seem to be enough leftovers to cover at least two meals during the week. Here's our plan for the coming week.

Breakfasts
scrambled egg on english muffin
cold cereal and fruit
fiber one bars
oatmeal
peanut butter on toast
carrot-raisin bran bread (my variation on this recipe)

Lunches
vegetable-cheese soup
tuna salad sandwiches, chips, fruit
spicy peanut noodles with broccoli
omelets, biscuits, fruit
baked potatoes with broccoli & cheese sauce and bacon bits
black bean & corn stew over brown rice (my turkey-less take on this recipe)

Dinners
homemade pizza with goat cheese & spinach
salmon, brown rice pilaf, green beans
homemade corn dogs, french fries, fruit
warm potato salad w/ smoked sausage, steamed broccoli & carrots
red beans & rice
homemade spinach-alfredo pizza

Mixed Grain Pancakes

One of our favorite things to eat any time of day is pancakes. It's also one of the few foods that everyone in the family eats well. This recipe came in a booklet with my immersion blender, and it's become one of our favorites. These pancakes are cheap to make, hearty, reasonably healthy, and very tasty. With some fruit and maybe a slice of bacon or piece of sausage, this is one of our favorite meals.

1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp cornmeal
3 Tbsp sunflower seeds or nuts
3 Tbsp rolled oats
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Beat egg, milk, and oil together. (I usually add a splash of vanilla too.) Add dry ingredients and mix well. (I use the immersion blender so the sunflower seeds/nuts get broken up pretty well. You'd probably want to chop them finely if you're mixing by hand.) Heat lightly greased pan over medium heat. Pour batter by 1/4 cup fulls and cook until bubbles form on surface and edges begin to dry. Turn and cook until underside is light golden brown. We've eaten these topped with applesauce, pumpkin butter, cooked apples, sliced bananas and peanut butter, and even plain old maple syrup.

Check out lots more great recipes at Grocery Cart Challenge's Recipe Swap!