Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ Meal Plan Monday

 

My Frugal Week

I bought a rotisserie chicken on markdown for $3.04 from Walmart. I took all the meat off the bones and had this for several meals this past week. 

I perused the grocery store sale ads online this week and noted Save a Lot (SAL) has their ten pound bags of chicken leg quarters on sale for 59 cents per pound. So, I ventured into SAL for the first time since before the pandemic. 

Someone mentioned this week their grocery store hides sale items and not stock the meat counter. I feel like SAL did this with the chicken leg quarters. They were at the very end of the freezer section, only on the bottom shelf and there was no price on them. It was odd, but I did find them and bought two bags. 

I also bought  a quart of buttermilk, two bags of brussel sprouts, one can of field peas and snaps, and one toilet bowl cleaner. My total came to $19.39. 

I did notice that several of their spices like cumin are still 99 cents, so that beats Walmart's price of $1.28. Beets were 99 cents at SAL, which does not beat Walmart's price of 78 cents. So, as we all know, you need to know your prices in order to save the most money. 

I also went to Food City on Friday and bought ground beef on sale for $1.99 a pound, limit of ten pounds, when you bought $25 worth of store brand groceries. 

Once I had it home, I used my kitchen scale to weigh each pound into ten bags, labeled and vacuumed sealed them, and put them in the freezer. 

Some of the store brand groceries I bought included That's Smart! store brand tea bags in the 100 count box for $1.49. The Great Value brand at Walmart is $2.12 while it was also over $2 for tea at SAL. I can make a gallon of tea using the Food City brand for 15 cents, which is a great price. 

I did find Knorr bouillon cubes on markdown at Food City in the 6 count box for 69 cents. I bought two boxes of beef and two of chicken. 

Recipe of the Week

This recipe came from The Samaritan Center and their class on Saving Money. They gave us samples of this during class and I tasted something sweet in it, so I wonder if the beans or tomatoes had sugar in them? 

Changes I would make to this recipe include the addition of corn or pineapple, petite diced tomatoes instead of stewed, and regular brown rice or cauliflower rice instead of instant brown rice, which would increase the cooking time. I might also substitute other beans for the black ones. I would also substitute the green pepper for a red pepper. 

It was a very simple and good tasting recipe. 

Caribbean Casserole

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 - 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes

1 & 1/2 cups instant brown rice

1 can black beans, undrained

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions: 

Heat oil in large pan over medium heat.

Add onion and green pepper and cook until tender.

Add tomatoes, beans, oregano and garlic powder.

Bring to a boil.

Stir in rice and cover.

Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Photo of the Week

Ten pounds of ground beef, vacuumed sealed and ready for the freezer.

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Chicken Pot Pie, Green Beans & Onions, Spoon Bread. 

Tuesday ~ Chicken with Pineapple, Rice, Salad. 

Wednesday ~ Breakfast for Dinner, Sausage, Toast, Blueberries. 

Thursday ~ Ham, Baked Apples, Carrots & Sweet Potatoes, and both Pine and Blueberries. 

Friday ~ Tyson Spicy Nuggets, Soup Beans, Carrots, and Baked Apples. We liked these and will definitely buy them again since they were only $1.99 for a 16 ounce bag at UGO. They were spicy, but not too hot spicy if that makes sense. I don't do hot spicy as I'm allergic. 

Saturday ~ Chicken Tacos using the 59 cents a pound chicken, Tortillas, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, Cheese, Black Olives, Jalapenos, and Chipotle Ranch. 

Sunday ~ White Chicken Chili - This is a dish I made because I had leftover Taco Chicken and leftover soup beans. I looked at a few recipes on line and added sauteed onions, corn, cumin and chili powder. I also blended some of the soup beans with some of the broth from the taco chicken to make the chili thick and creamy. 

I don't know why I hadn't thought to make this before, but we really liked it. And it was low in calories and high in protein and fiber. We will definitely be making this again. 

What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week

These are the items we have on hand that I can use to make meals this week. Be sure to come back next week to see what sides we serve with these main dishes.

We are serving two meatless meals this week to save money on meat.

- Sausage Quiche

-White Chicken Chili

- Bean & Cheese Burritos or Enchiladas

- Pizza Beans

- Cheesy Potatoes

- Salmon Patties or Baked Pollack

- Dirty Rice

What’s been on the menu in your home?

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

Mortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27