that whole chicken

Fed the five of us, and I have two huge plates of meat and bones. I took the two cup of stock in the crock pot and put it in the freezer for another night. This will be an asset when money is tight and I have to get more creative.

I will take the meat from one plate and put that into tacos.

The bones from both plates will be placed in the crock pot with various spices and be made into more stock for the freezer.

The other plate I will make into a chicken salad.

I have a small bowl of chicken that will be placed into the freezer with the stock.

Folks, a whole chicken can provide so many meals and an economical manner. It takes some planning, but it is very accommodating, and forgiving. If your curious, yes my kids will eat the chicken based tacos. They enjoy having tacos and don't really care if they are ground beef or chicken. It's an easy and filling meal for the five of us.

Tacos

Well, that four pound chicken that my husband put into the crock pot yesterday, fed the five of us. I still have two huge plates of meat plus the frame of the bird. I had two cups of stock in the crock pot last night. I strained the stock and put it in the freezer for another night. I will take the one plate of chicken and bones, pick out all the meat and have chicken tacos tonight for dinner.

I have some lurking soft shells and whole wheat wraps in the fridge. I will add some taco seasoning to the chicken, use some gouda cheese (that's almost gone), a little lettuce, and some lurking taco sauce (remember all those take out packets I put into one container).....well this is a free meal folks!!!

Pantry Offerings

Pantry Offerings

long grain brown rice
flour
jasmine rice

black beans and rice
mayo
brown sugar
crunchy peanut butter
3 healthy nut peanut butter
one salad dressing
vinager

spag sauce
one box pasta salad
hot chocolate
mac and cheese
1 box of  crackers

two colored peppers chopped in the freezer
tea bags
one jar pickles
ketchup
salad dressing opened
water bottles
jelly
lettuce
pita rolls
white junk bread
potatoes
onion
garlic
butter
4 lb half ham
one can tomato sauce
onions
garlic*
pickles*
ketchup*
one pound sour kraut
one pound bag of frozen peas*
Brussels sprouts*
a few fresh green beans*
a few potatoes*
veggie oil*
olive oil
blue cheese dressing
garlic powder*
onion powder*
basil*
beef bouillon
yeast*
baking soda*
baking powder*
honey
a pound of salt*
pancake syrup*
dry non fat milk*
1 noodles and sauce packets
mini wheats Almost gone, generic
1/4 container cream cheese*

1 pounds stick margarine
numerous bagged veggies
pork chops
bologna
brautworst
skinless chicken 2 lb
2 lb hot Italian sausage

2 lb chicken thighs
one lb apple italian sausage

Dinner 4/29

My husband picked me up from work this morning. He put our last whole chicken in the crock pot. I got up this afternoon and made some cous cous (the last of it), a small potato mix with garlic, and some corn. It was awesome.

The potato mix I used some water, a small amount of butter, and reconstituted milk.

dinner 4/28

We will be having french toast with bacon strips (my husband made it last night). I will use the last three eggs, a bit of reconstituted milk, and half a loaf of older junk bread that has been lurking in the fridge. The kids like pancake syrup so that will top the french toast. We have a few slices of bacon left and that will be split up between the five of us.

Things I do to keep my budget and house hold intact...

Times are tough for everyone. The economy is terrible, jobs are at a minimum in my town, and the local hospital is calling people to put them on a "on call" status for at least one shift every week. To get paid for this one shift, you must take vacation time. The monthly obligations keep coming in the mail, the income is still there every two weeks like clock work, but you are trying to maintain a home, family, kids, bills, and all that other stuff you like to do.

So, here's what I do to keep my budget intact.

• I wash laundry on cold, and hang everything up to dry.We have a drying rack in the hall way next to the washing machine, or else I tend to hang things over the back deck to dry. 
• When making a meal I will use as much of it as I can, and take what is left and place all leftovers in the freezer. It is a must to label the contents, so you not standing there in a few weeks looking at it to figure out what it is. HAHAHA. 
• Soup/Stock is an easy meal to make from left over frames of chicken, bones of ham, or beef roast bits. 
• I shop twice a month (correlates with pay day). I get few "snack" items, AKA chips, cookies, etc etc. My husband needs his medicines, as does my daughter, and I pay cash for the co pays and pick up what my insurance doesn't pay. We shop at a discount outlet called Sharp Shopper, or Aldi. 
• I am on the budget plan with the electricity payments. I pay a certain amount every month of the year, and after the 12 months, my bill gets adjusted for usage. 
• We don't run the air conditioner unless it's absolutely needed. We have windows and fans that serve the purpose. My kids tend to run on the cold side. When the winter comes, I try like heck to keep the indoor heating set to 70. It doesn't always work and I find it at 72 with no one admitting to doing it. 
• I cook from scratch a lot. I'm teaching my kids to cook. It's a skill everyone should learn. 
• I live within my means. I watch my income and finances very well. I have a keen eye on the check book and online banking, I pay my bills every month and nothing is late. Everything gets looked at on a two week basis. 
• My kids don't get an allowance. They do chores because they are living here and part of the family. End of discussion. 
• We shop for clothes rarely. That doesn't mean that the kids are going without. Sneakers are bought twice a year. Now, since my oldest is 18, she will be graduating, living at home still. She will be required to buy her own sneakers, and clothing. She has a job working 25-30 hours a week. 
• Over the warmer months, my kids wear flip flops...that cuts down on the usage of sneakers, socks, wear and tear.
• We wash dishes by hand, using little dish soap and keeping the water off when we are not rinsing dishes. We air dry them, and the kids put them away. 
• Coloring hair- My girls love to have a SPA day at home. We will buy hair coloring kits on sale with coupons. They will color each other's hair and paint nails. With coupons, the kits cost 3.50 each. 
• We take short showers every night. I have 10 bars of soap. They are used until they no longer resemble soap bars. After that, they are put into a container until there's enough of them to use in a wash cloth to make suds. 
• Shampoo, my kids have been told on numerous times to use a small amount of shampoo. Between he three of them, none of them have more than a neck length of hair. 
• My kids do have to entertain themselves. They are 18, 16, and soon to be 15. I don't drive to various activities. They are allowed to have friends over. They are allowed to go to go to their friends homes. They are also able to go walk. 
• We do maintain our vehicles. I paid my car off this January. It's a 2008 KIA. My husband has about 1 year left on paying for his car. it's a 2009. We will not be buying any more vehicles. 

Pantry Offerings 4/27

Pantry Offerings as of 4/27


long grain brown rice
flour
jasmine rice
cous cous
black beans and rice
mayo
brown sugar
crunchy peanut butter
3 healthy nut peanut butter
one salad dressing
vinager
2 cans baked beans
spag sauce
one box pasta salad
hot chocolate
mac and cheese
1 box of  crackers
canned soup
two colored peppers chopped in the freezer
tea bags
one jar pickles
ketchup
salad dressing opened
water bottles
jelly
lettuce
pita rolls
white junk bread
potatoes
onion
garlic
butter
4 lb half ham
one can tomato sauce
onions
garlic*
pickles*
ketchup*
one pound sour kraut
one pound bag of frozen peas*
Brussels sprouts*
a few fresh green beans*
a few potatoes*
veggie oil*
olive oil
blue cheese dressing
garlic powder*
onion powder*
basil*
beef bouillon
yeast*
baking soda*
baking powder*
honey
a pound of salt*
pancake syrup*
dry non fat milk*
1 noodles and sauce packets
mini wheats Almost gone, generic
1/4 container cream cheese*
8 eggs
1 pounds stick margarine
numerous bagged veggies
pork chops
bologna
brautworst
skinless chicken 2 lb
2 lb hot Italian sausage
4 lb whole chicken
2 lb chicken thighs
one lb apple italian sausage

Dinner 4/26 and 4/27

Last night, I cooked up some more bratworst in a pan with onion. I served this with some green peas and on a hot dog roll. Choices of ketchup, onion, peppers, or mustard.

Tonight, my husband baked some bacon and we had eggs, bacon and bagels.

Dinner 4/25

It's my daughter's birthday. She requested homemade french fries and brautworst. We also went to Sweet Frog (a yogurt place) with 13 of her friends. We had chocolate cake for dessert.

Pantry Offerings 4/25

Pantry Offerings as of 4/25



one lb of pasta
long grain brown rice
flour
jasmine rice
cous cous
black beans and rice
mayo
brown sugar
crunchy peanut butter
3 healthy nut peanut butter
one salad dressing
vinager
2 cans baked beans
spag sauce
one box pasta salad
hot chocolate
mac and cheese
3 boxes of crackers
canned soup
two colored peppers chopped in the freezer
tea bags
one jar pickles
ketchup
salad dressing opened
water bottles
jelly
lettuce
pita rolls
gold fish bread
white junk bread
potatoes
onion
garlic
butter
whole block cheese
4 lb half ham
tortillas
one can tomato sauce
onions
garlic*
pickles*
ketchup*
one pound sour kraut
one pound bag of frozen peas*
Brussels sprouts*
a few fresh green beans*
a few potatoes*
veggie oil*
olive oil
blue cheese dressing
garlic powder*
onion powder*
basil*
beef bouillon
yeast*
baking soda*
baking powder*
honey
a pound of salt*
pancake syrup*
dry non fat milk*
1 noodles and sauce packets
mini wheats Almost gone, generic
1/4 container cream cheese*
8 eggs
1 pounds stick margarine
numerous bagged veggies
corn dogs
pork chops
bologna
brautworst
bacon
skinless chicken 2 lb
2 lb hot Italian sausage
4 lb whole chicken
2 lb chicken thighs
one lb apple italian sausage

Dinner tonight

We have left over pasta from last night...so that's it!!!!

Take out condiments....

I had a container full of take out condiments. I put all 20, sigh, I know, 20 packets of ketchup in an old ketchup container, filled it half way!!! I took the honey mustard packets and squeezed all the mustard out into a old water bottle, filled it 3/4 of the way. This will be used for sandwiches, marinade, etc etc. I also had enough soy sauce to fill a old water bottle 1/4 of the way.

Using these items will help me keep my grocery budget intact, and also keeps that certain spot in the fridge clean.

Lots of items thawed

Looking into my fridge, my husband has taken a lot of stuff out of the freezer to apparently cook. We have the huge ham that I have to cut up, 14 bratworst links, and the sausage. I put the 2 lb of sausage back into the freezer, wrapped well.

Don't know what I am going to do with the bratworst yet.

ooops

Remember that 2.8 lb of Italian sausage I posted about......well it's completely thawed and not cooked as of yet. Wonder why....yeah no one wanted it for dinner.

So, I browned a lb of it on top of the stove. Got out the trusty crock pot, added a 8 oz can of tomato sauce, some orange and red peppers, a soft tomato, onion, garlic, and it will do it's thing and become spaghetti sauce. All I will have to do later is make some pasta.

What's been cooking??

I worked this weekend, so cooking was out for me. My husband made turkey wraps on Saturday with some deli ends of turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion on some flour shells. It was awesome!!

On Sunday, he had NO PLANS for dinner. So, we ended up ordering expensive take out pizza.

Monday, I was off work. He cooked a 9 lb ham, made some steamed rice, with broccoli and cheese, and made a box of organic mac and cheese. It was awesome!! We have 3/4 left of ham that I need to slice into serving pieces, and chop some, keeping the bone for soup. I will freeze some of the ham for when times are difficult, and keep some ham in the fridge for sandwiches.

Needs vs Wants

We all have them....you know those things you would like to have.....I would like to have a house full of candles and a cleaning lady. HAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA. Not ever going to happen for me.

But I need to get my electric bill paid. That is a continued need every month.

So, how do you decide which is which? It's different for everyone. My needs and my family's needs may be different from another. One may consider them wants, as their need list is actually someone elses' wants.

• My needs are: a warm home, groceries to feed my family, a savings account fully funded, happy children, financial happiness (meaning finally out of debt), the ability to not have to work at 55 (I would enjoy volunteering at the free medical clinic), to have enough in savings to be financially independent  I would like to contribute more money to my 403B (currently have almost 20,000 in it). 

• WANTS: a full self sustaining fruit and veggie garden, a cleaning lady, candles, lots of candles, money to help my kids become independent  pizza, lots of pizza....I would also like to have a home that is paid for. I would love to have an never ending amount of money to go to the grocery store and buy the stuff I would LOVE to have. My husband wants to travel (I may too). 

Using up some lurking items in the freezer

We have a twp lb package of "hot" Italian sausage in the freezer that I bought on mark down for 3.56 total. I took that out of the freezer to have for dinner tonight with some red and orange peppers, sliced onion, and garlic in olive oil. I also have a small package of organic mac and cheese (3 for 1.29), and a small amount of red beans and rice (0.75 cents) that I bought from the bulk section of Sharp Shopper.

I will add probably some Brussel sprouts to go with this. Overall, a meal that uses an odd combo of things, but feeds the five of us without having to stress about what's for dinner, or how are we going to get to the store.

I will use reconstituted milk and stick margarine for the mac and cheese.

Don't give up II

Spending....

What worked for us was to make a list of every bill that was due, including all bank overdrafts, credit card payments, mortgage, groceries, electric, phone, medications, doc visits, EVERYTHING HAS TO BE ON PAPER!!!

I took a look at the money that was coming in. ALL OF IT, including birthday, Christmas, and any other gifts in kind.

I made a list of everything that was being paid and the amount I was going to be able to pay. Some of the bills were not even going to be paid that month, or the next, or the next...incurring more interest and late fees. The mortgage, electric, water, car had to come first. The car needs oil changes, tires, maintenance  and the kids need to eat.

Feeding the kids....this is always a challenge. My kids were told back then that they had to eat what was given to them. My girls will tell you that they still remember and knew that they had to eat what was given to them, or they were going to be hungry. It's a terrible feeling to open the fridge and find that the milk was gone. But they did not go to bed hungry, they had three meals a day.

I shop produce clearance racks, marked down meat racks, discount bread stores, and local discount places such as Sharp Shopper and Aldi. We eat dinner every night. All left overs get placed in the ridge or freezer (depending on the item). We try to work hard not to throw food away. My girls are learning to cook from scratch (a basic skill that helps in maintaining a home).

Don't give up.

So, when living frugally, on one income or two, it's always a challenge when you don't know where to start. Prior to 2006, I was working at Walmart night shift stocking shelves. My husband is schitzophrenic and unable to work. He does however manage well at home keeping a low stress level. Our children are able to adapt, but times were tough back then.

I was working part time night shift and going to nursing school. I earned my LPN certificate. I had HUGE bills, behind on all my credit cards, massive overdrafts, and was so far in debt that I was not sure how to get things in order.

Prior to my employment in the hospital, I would make a list of everything we have to eat, clean with, and manage our home. I would use less amounts of dish soap, laundry soap, shampoo, and bar soap. We would use everything in the pantry, and use up what was in the fridge before I had to go to the store.

We did not have cable then. We did get the mortgage paid, electric and water paid. We did not have a phone at home. We were on my husband's family's cell package. We did not have health insurance then, and getting my husband's medications were always a challenge. His family paid for all his pysch meds.

We did go to marriage counseling, and family therapy. I do believe that is what held our marriage and family together.

Fast forward to 2006. I was working in the local hospital as an LPN. I got our bills managed, but still remained in debt (mostly husband's credit cards). We had lots of hospital and medical bills. I worked a lot of overtime, and took a lot of call. We were able to get a good portion of our bills paid off. My car broke down repeatedly. We did buy a new KIA in 2006.

I went to work during the weekends, and evenings and decided to go to RN school in 2008. I went on a local pell grant to obtain my associates degree. In 2012 I earned m bachelors degree in nursing. I moved up the ladder, earning more money with my various educational degrees, but obtained some student loans.

Here I am now, 2013 with some debt. Not a lot, but enough to remain on the frugal path. I shop twice a month, buy from local discount stores, have cable (love it!!!!!), a paid off car. We have health insurance, steady employment, a savings account, and meals every night.

It takes time to get your finances in order. It's not something that can be fixed over night. When it does get in order, you will feel so much better and feel that life is getting into the positive.

dinner 4/19

Tonight's dinner is egg omelets with sliced cheese, a lurking onion chopped, the rest of yesterday's chopped tomato, and a few slices of deli ends that I chopped small.

this was awesome!!

Dinner 4/18

When I was at the grocery store yesterday, I bought a one pound package of ground beef...the cost 3.69. Holy Crap....for ground beef????

Anyway, I used the very expensive one pound of ground beef and my daughter cooked it and added some taco seasonings. She cut up a lurking tomato, half a head of lettuce, and some gouda cheese. We had this over nachos with some lurking salsa that got finished and placed in the recycling bin.

Pantry/Freezer/fridge offerings mid month

So, here's all the offerings for the rest of the month. I need to stay out of the stores. This includes the 82 dollars I spent today.



one lb of pasta
long grain brown rice
flour
jasmine rice
cous cous
black beans and rice


mayo
brown sugar


crunchy peanut butter
3 healthy nut peanut butter
one salad dressing

vinager

3 cans of baked beans
two canned spag sauce
one box pasta salad
hot chocolate
mac and cheese
3 boxes of crackers
canned soup

four colored peppers
four tomato

tea bags
two butterschotch pudding
one jar pickles
ketchup
salad dressing opened
water bottles
jelly
coke cola
lettuce
meat ends
pita rolls
gold fish bread
white junk bread
two tomatoes
left overs in containers
potatoes
onion
garlic
yogurt
butter
whole block cheese
milk
a frozen ham
tortillas
numerous take out packets


2 cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomato
onions
garlic*
pickles*
ketchup*

one pound sour kraut
one pound bag of frozen peas*

Brussels sprouts*
a few fresh green beans*
a few potatoes*



veggie oil*
olive oil

blue cheese dressing

garlic powder*
onion powder*
basil*
beef bouillon
yeast*
baking soda*
baking powder*

honey
a pound of salt*

pancake syrup*
dry non fat milk*
french fries
1 noodles and sauce packets
3 boxes generic cereal

1/4 container cream cheese*
24 eggs
1 pounds stick margarine

numerous bagged veggies

corn dogs
pork chops
bologna
brautworst
bacon
skinless chicken 2 lb
hot dogs
2.8 lb of hot Italian sausage
4 lb whole chicken
2 lb chicken thighs
two packages of apple italian sausage

Washing laundry

...seems to be a never ending battle here with five people. I wash everything, yes everything in cold water. I buy on sale detergent (usually powder) and use only ONE tablespoon of powder to a load of laundry.

FYI: It's not the soap that gets the clothing clean, it's the agitation in the washing machine that does the work. The soap is an emulsifier. It only loosens up basic stuff.

We do have a dryer, but it's older and we don't use it. I have a drying rack in the hall way that we use to dry clothes. We hang everything up and it takes about two days to dry. Unless its' warm outside, we will hang laundry outside over the deck.

This is one of the ways I save money. wash in cold, hang laundry, use small amounts of laundry soap, and use all the resources I have available, including warm weather and sunshine.

Dinner 4/17

I bought a SMALL piece of beef roast (think like 0.7 lb for 2.00) and placed it in the freezer a while ago. Well, I took it out of the freezer and put it in the crock pot with 6 very large carrots, ten potatoes, a sliced onion, and two cloves of garlic. I added some basil, and about two teaspoons of packaged soy sauce (think take out packets). I found a package of mushroom gravy in the pantry and put that also in the crock pot.

My husband asked for more homemade applesauce to go with dinner. I will make that and finish off the last 6 apples we have lurking. We still have 1/4 pan of banana chocolate muffin/bread to have for tonight.

The BBQ pork from yesterday's meal was fabulous!! There's about one cup left. I will hand this out tonight for those who would rather have that instead of beef chuck roast.

I may make a small salad to go with this. I never did make it yesterday.

looking for a way to use some lurking items??

I had 6 bananas and needed to be used, along with some older Hershey Syrup in the fridge. I made a pan of chocolate banana muffins or bread, depending on how you look at it. I only used three bananas. I will make another pan tomorrow if this one goes over well.

2 cups flour
3 bananas pureed in the blender
2 eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
the last of the Hershey chocolate syrup
1 cup of reconstituted milk
a tsp of salt
a tsp of baking soda
a small amount of veggie oil for the pan

That's it!! This gets mixed and bakes into a pretty beautiful decadent treat for the kids.

I took a piece while it was still warm. I had to try it. I threw the empty bottle of chocolate goodness into the recycling. It saves me money to use what I have to make creative foods to feed my family. It also keeps my budget for groceries intact. I want to repeat that I didn't have to go to the store.

Plus I know everything that is in this bread/muffin and can pronounce them all.   :O)

How to live on one income...and get the bills paid, save some money, and feel good about it.

So tell me, how do you save money, live off of one or even two incomes, and feel good about the choices you have made, when there are some "downer" people??

I cook from scratch a lot. I recycle all plastic, cardboard items, have a compost bin, and I even sell all the metal to the local metal recycling shop in the outside of town. I know this is what some would call radical, but I needed cat food a few weeks ago, and took a walk out back and found that our metal bin was full. My husband, who by the way entertains me a lot and doesn't complain much, helped load the cans into the car. They were in a 33 gallon container bagged up. We drove over to the metal shop, and sold them back to the company for 0.64 cents a pound. We got a total of 3.50 for our efforts, and enough to buy some much needed cat food.

Now, some people would laugh at me. My mother would have said, "Why don't you just buy it with the money in the bank?" I could have bought the cat food with money in the bank, but my account would have overdrawn, since I had not had all my monthly obligations clear my account yet. This was like FREE MONEY or FREE CAT FOOD FOLKS!!! Why wouldn't someone take this FREE resource and use it!!!!

Last year, I grew tomato, cucumbers, beans (big epic fail), raspberries, blueberries and black berries. Not that this was going to sustain us all summer, but it was fun. Again, my husband does not complain, but does entertain me with my hobbies. He told me that I would make sure all of us survived if we ever had some kind of Apocalypse. My kids seem to think we will survive anything by having Mom do her "funny stuff".

I'm not complaining. My bills are paid, I have a full emergency fund of 1,000. I am currently working on a 3 to 6 month living expenses. My goal for that is 5,000. I have 400.00 so far in the bank for that.

For all those "downers"....keep spending all your money...I will keep doing what I can to support my family.

Dinner 4/16

I just put a 2 pound pork roast that I bought or 5.21 at some point in the crock pot with some slivered garlic, onion, and bbq sauce. I had two lurking end of the bottles in the fridge. I combined them and added it to the pork. I will serve this over some lurking onion rolls. I have some brown rice that I will steam to go with dinner. A small salad, and homemade applesauce will round this out.

A small salad for two, such as some colored peppers, lettuce, tomato.

Homemade applesauce because e have a bag of apples going soft. I will cook these down and add some cinnamon to it.

Dinner 4/15

Tonight's dinner is Belgain Waffles. 

Flour, sugar, salt, reconstituted milk, eggs, baking powder, oil....turns into goodness in the waffle iron. 

Been a rough week, kids sick

So, what's been cooking???

My kids have been sick most of the week with the norovirus. My husband had it also, and I had a mild case of it. WE went through a lot of Popsicle, chicken noodle soup, and broth.

Thursday night was the first night that we were able to hold down any real food. My husband made spaghetti with 0.79 cent lb pasta, and clearance jar of four cheese spaghetti sauce. On Friday, we had some left over pasta.

Saturday was my daughter's 18th birthday. We went out to Red hot and Blue in Leesburg. IT was expensive but so fun. Today will be left overs form that.

Dinner 4/10

Dinner tonight was scrambled eggs for three of us. I had a bowl of cereal. My daughter is sick. She has had nothing.

dinner 4/9

My oldest and husband are now sick with diarrhea and vomiting. This is thanks to the norovirus.

My son finished off the last of the chicken noodle soup from yesterday. My Mary has a frozen pizza in the oven. I may just have a tomato sandwich later. I am not that hungry.

It's a frugal day.

I am off work until Friday night. I was working in my yard this morning. I love my flowers and plants. I planted some sunflower seeds (from the massive bag of bird food I bought last year), attempting to grow potatoes (I planted two seed ones today), some garlic, beans, watered my strawberries, and my roses and butterfly bush have taken off. My two lilacs are opening up new baby leaves. It's a great day.

Dinner 4/8

My daughter went to the dentist today. She got gassed, had two fillings and an extraction. Total cost 421 dollars. My son has a terrible norovirus. My oldest daughter is healthy. I have a severe case of allergies. My husband has a sinus infection.

Needless to say, we had canned chicken noodle soup, hot chocolate, and popsicles for dinner.

Dinner 4/7

I cooked a pound of pasta. I made my own spag topping of sorts. I put some olive oil in a pan, sauteed some turkey "Italian" sausage, crumbled it. I added some onion,peppers,  mushroom, one can of diced tomato, two cloves of garlic, and the rest of the crumbed sausage.

When the pasta was done, I topped it with the above, added some parmesean cheese and gave it to the family.

Grocery shopping for April

Three bottles of Suave shampoo 99, 99, 1.99
one bottle conditioner .99
decongestant 4.59 (I had a coupon for 1.00 off)
sinus medication 3.59 (I had a coupon for 1.00 off)
one 5 lb bag of cat food (free with reward bucks)
Crest Fluoride Rinse 3.79 with a 1.00 coupon
three bottles of dawn dish soap (.99 each, with 1.20 off coupon)
two head and shoulders shampoo (I had a 2.00 off coupon, was 5.00 each)

I spent 25.50 at CVS. I had coupons, and some extra rewards to spend. The prices listed are before coupons.
I went to Sharp Shopper and bought a ton of groceries.

Boneless Skinless chicken thighs
two packages of apple italian sausage
one box of cereal
four colored peppers
four tomato
one head lettuce
5 lb bananas
3 lb apples
one lb pasta
18 lb bag of dog food
8 lb bag of cat food
gallon of milk
deli meat ends
lb real butter
loaf of  junk bread
bologna
yogurt
chicken noodle soup
10 lb potatoes
olive oil
hot chocolate
sugar

there's so much stuff I don't remember and I threw away my receipt. I spent a total of 105. 31.

Falling off the wagon

We have completely fallen off the wagon....the frugal wagon that is. On Wednesday, my daughter treated us to Chipolte. Thursday I got paid, worked all night, and ordered pizzas for the family. On Friday, we went to McDonalds. To top it off, Saturday, we had mani cures, pedicures, and lunch at Chick Fil A.

Time to get back on track. I will say though, Saturday was the most fun I've had with my kids in a long time.

Current Pantry List

Going into April with the following items in the pantry, fridge, and freezer. My grocery budget is 300.00 a month to provide for a family of five, a moderate sized dog, and three cats. The items with the asterisk in front have been used previously, bulk purchases, and are considered lurkers. I will work on using up the items I marked. I would like to get through this week without going to the grocery store. I am finishing up my vacation at home, but will return to work on Wednesday night. I may go to the grocery store on Friday morning. I shop at Aldi, Sharp Shopper, and CVS. I work hard to stay out of the mainstream stores. There are higher prices, and too many people to have to hassle with. I go to CVS to get our prescriptions, and pick up loss leaders.

I will be going to the grocery store on Thursday or Friday this week to pick up a list of things. I keep an ongoing list to make sure I don't miss anything that we are currently out of.

2 cans tomato sauce
1 can diced tomato
onions
garlic*
pickles*
ketchup*

one pound sour kraut
one pound bag of frozen peas*

Brussels sprouts*
a few fresh green beans*
a few potatoes*
4 carrots*


veggie oil*
olive oil

blue cheese dressing
Hershey syrup*
garlic powder*
onion powder*
basil*
beef bouillon
yeast*
baking soda*
baking powder*

honey
a pound of salt*
one container of BBQ sauce*
pancake syrup*
dry non fat milk*

1 noodles and sauce packets
1 box generic cereal*

1/4 container cream cheese*
3eggs
1 pounds stick margarine


2.8 lb of hot Italian sausage
0.73 lb boneless chuck steak
2.08 lb pork loin

Dinner 4/2

I took out the last few pieces of thick sliced ham from the freezer. It's about a pounds worth. I am going to use some of our Easter eggs that we hard boiled and make some potato salad. I will use a few potatoes, mayo (lurker in the fridge), an onion, some spices, some paprika, and add to the egg. I am thinking that since we have four apples that need to be used, I will slice these up to go with our meal. We have some squash in the freezer that needs to be used too.

Dinner tonight

Pizza crust


 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
 1 teaspoon salt
 2 tablespoons olive oil
 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

I put everything in my ABM.

I will top the pizza crust with on sale 0.79 cent spaghetti sauce, the small jar of pearl onion, a can of diced tomato with mushroom and garlic. I took the last of the cheese pieces and grated it in my blender. We have four cups of grated pizza cheese for our toppings tonight. I am making one cheese and one veggie.