Sunday Grocery Run #2 for January

 

We made a grocery store run to Sam's Club in Chattanooga today. My daughter wanted to go to the used book store and Sam's is right down the road, so I took advantage of the opportunity. 

The mozzarella cheese that I wrote about increasing in price in this post actually went down $1.00 from $12.98 to $11.98.  Nice to know that some items are actually going down in price. 

                           

Here is the list of what I bought today:

2 bags tortillas - $4.26

1 bag tortilla chips - $3.78

5 pounds onions - $3.98

2 pounds Romaine - $2.98

2 pounds shredded lettuce - $1.97

3 pounds Coleslaw - $2.26

5 pounds shredded Cheddar Cheese - $12.98

5 pounds Mozzarella Cheese - $11.98

3 pounds Pepperoni - $7.98

4.5 pounds Hamburger - $13.53

15 pounds baking Potatoes - $7.98

5 pounds carrots - $2.98

101 ounces EVOO - $15.98

1 Roasted Chicken - $5.99

Total: $ 98.63

The 15 pound bag of potatoes is actually a bag of baking potatoes. I'll have to count them later and see how many I actually have in the bag.

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

Saturday Night Dinner

Tonight’s dinner is a meatless meal. We are having loaded baked potatoes. This was one Amy Dacyczyn’s (author of the Tightwad Gazette) meatless meals she fed to her family of six.  She would top them with chopped, steamed broccoli, cheese sauce and a sprinkle of bacon bits. Ours were topped with choice of butter, sour cream, broccoli, block olives and/or cheddar cheese. 

Last night's dinner of Pork Roast, Potatoes, and Carrots was a winner. Although I didn't take any pictures or even make a post last night, I wanted to mention how nice is was to come home to a home cooked dinner. I am definitely going to be using the slow cooker more often to help save money. 

Having said that, here is an updated copy of the dinner menu I posted on January 2, 2012. Those dinners I've made have been scratched through and the other dinners are in no particular order. 

1.       Chicken Enchiladas, Mexican Rice

2.      Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli

3.      Loaded Nachos

4.      Grilled Chicken Salads

5.      Pork Roast, Potatoes, Carrots

6.      Baked Potato Bar, Steamed Broccoli

7.      Tacos with all the Fixings

8.     Salmon Patties, Green Beans with Onions, Mashed Potatoes

9.      Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican Rice

10.  Veggie Burgers, Tator Tots, Stir-Fry Vegetables

11.   Homemade Chili

12.  Macaroni & Cheese, Stir Fry Vegetables 

13.  Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

14.  Potato Sausage Chowder

 There are several items I have run out of this week, like onions, and a trip to the grocery store is in order soon, but it's nice to know that I have enough food on hand to make all of these meals and more. Bob Waldroup, president of the Oklahoma Food Coop, says in his article on Eight Steps to Family Food Security, that it is important to keep some of your family’s savings in the form of food, and I agree with this wholeheartedly.

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

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WFD ~ Thursday & Planning Ahead

My daughter loves Grilled Chicken Salad, and orders this dish regularly when we go out to eat. 

She wanted to go out to eat today at the Ocoee Dam Deli & Diner and have a grilled chicken salad. The last time we ate there I know we spent around $30. 

Two grilled chicken salads at $8 each, two Iced Teas at $2.00, and a Fried Pickle Appetizer and Tip and you can see how it quickly adds up to $30. 

I told her I would make her one at home that was just as good if not better than their salad. So, I took the chicken tenders I was marinating from this morning and grilled them and made two salads for dinner. 

She loved her salad and said it was better than the one from the deli. So part of my new plan is to wow her with food she loves at home. 

I can remember Amy Dacyczyn talking about kicking it up a notch when one of her children complained about something, so that is what I'm going to do here as well. 

The chicken and salad for this dinner cost me $5.06, and even when I add the extra items like cheese, black olives, croutons, and our homemade iced tea the price would come out at under $10 for this meal. That sure beats paying $30 at a restaurant for the same meal to me. 

After washing the dinner dishes and cleaning up the kitchen I decided, since I am working tomorrow, to go ahead and get dinner ready for tomorrow night, or at least as much as I could get ready tonight. 

I went ahead and peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots, and gathered up all the other ingredients I will need. 

In the morning, all I will have to do is pull it out of the refrigerator and put it all in the crock pot. Dinner will then be ready when we get home from school tomorrow afternoon.

After getting dinner for tomorrow ready, I went ahead and made our lunches for tomorrow as well. 

Planning ahead and making sure all of our meals come from home this week has certainly saved me a lot of money this week. 

I'm tired now, so I'm going to post this to my blog, take a shower, and call it a night. 

I hope you all have a pleasant evening tonight. :)

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

Thursday Grocery Store Run #1 for January

 I went to IGA for milk this morning after dropping off my daughter at school. They had chicken tenders on sale for $1.49 a pound, so I bought two packages. That was a good sale, and rather than freeze them, and go with a meal from my menu plan, I decided to cook them now while they were fresh and unfrozen. They are marinating right now, and I will cook them for dinner tonight. They also had boneless pork roasts on sale for $1.79 a pound. I went ahead and bought some carrots, and I'll put those in the Crock pot tomorrow morning along with some potatoes for Friday night dinner. I'm planning ahead here, as I was very tired again after work yesterday and realize that I am going to have to come up with a new plan. I'm thinking my Crock pot is going to become my new best friend. 

Here is what I bought:

Carrots - 2 pounds - $1.49

Pork Roast - $3.33

1/2 gallon skim milk - $1.79

2 packages chicken tenders - $1.39 and $1.67

1 package fried chicken from the deli markdown section - $3.49

Total: $13.16


Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

Disclosure: The FTC requires bloggers to disclose any type of advertising revenue received from our blog. As such, please note we make money from in-text affiliate links like Amazon as well as the banner ads on our blog. The main goal of our blog is to educate you on saving money. Thank you!

After Christmas Clearance

 I decided to check the after Christmas clearance section while I was at Walmart today. I hadn't planned on buying anything, but we did use up all of our Christmas wrapping paper this year. When I saw these rolls marked 75% off I took one to the price check machine and it scanned at 86 cents. So, I went back and bought ten rolls in all, which cost me $8.60. 

The paper was originally priced at $3.99 each, so these would have cost $39.90 at full retail. While I was checking out, the lady behind me asked how much they were, and after I told her she said they were only 50% off yesterday, so it was a case of my being in the right place at the right time.  I will store them under my bed where they will be out of the way until next Christmas.

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
Professor Penny Pincher 
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 and beyond.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"