Menu Plan Monday

My goodness!  What a week it's been in our house.  I'm sure it mirrors a lot of your weeks as well.  We had a TON of food, snacks, sweets in the house and a few extra mouths to help us eat it.  Now the holiday is over, the leftovers have passed their 3-4 day rule, and it's time to start fresh. 

Monday:  Eggplant parm, broccoli
Tuesday: grilled chicken salad
Wednesday: Turkey soup (from freezer), garlic toast, salad
Thursday: leftovers or something boring like a can of soup
Friday: buffalo stuffed chicken, cauliflower, rice
Saturday: bacon/blue burgers, potatoes, veggie
Sunday: I'll leave this blank in case we go out or something.

Black Friday Shopping

About 7 years ago, I got up at 4:00 and stood in line at Walmart.  It was 30 degrees and sleeting rain.  We waited about 1 1/2 hours and then stampeded in. I did get my TV, although I really did have to get aggressive to keep it, and then we waited in another line for over 2 hours to check out.  I also waited in line at Best Buy for over 2 hours with my sister so she could buy a cheap shower radio.  After that year, I swore that I'd never do that again...my time is more important...blah blah blah. 

This year, I am again tempted.  I'm getting up around 7:00 and heading to the Office Depot.  They will have been open for an hour, and I'm hoping they won't be too swamped.  The reason is the cheap Kodak camera.  My husband is DYING for this camera and I've been price checking all over town:  $60 is awesome deal.  I'm also in charge of buying the cordless phone with extra hand sets for my parents, and I think I'll get it today, assuming it's not too expensive.  I may also grab the CD-Rs for $6 if I see them.

Other than that, if I get a chance to prepare a Rite Aid or CVS stop, I may, but probably not.  I hope to be home in time for breakfast at 9:30!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for my husband, my family, my country, my church, and my new little baby on the way! Also pinnocle and rum cake!!!

I Saved 34% at Bi-Lo

Although I did pay full price for a lot of stuff, I feel like I had a great trip today.  I'm at $250 total for the month, and really only need about $30 worth of "stuff", mostly produce, to finish the month off.  This seems incredible to me that I can get through November spending under $300 for groceries, in fact I spent more last month and there was no big holiday or house guests.  I guess that speaks for planning, couponing, and working the sales!


My biggest "non-coupon" spending went to ingredients for the spiced tea (see Sunday's post) and the walnuts.



So anyway, to my big Bi-Lo trip.

2 2-Liters Pepsi
1 2-Liter diet cherry 7-UP
1 2-Liter Root Beer
1 Peprich Farm stuffing cubes
4 lb bag Dixie Crystal sugar (used $.50/1-paid $1)
2 Kraft Miracle Whip (used 2 $1/1 Face book Qs)
2 Dole Mandarin Oranges (used $.50/2 All You Q)
1 Lipton Instant Decaf Tea
1 6 Qt Tang
2 Nestle Coco Mix (Bogo)
3 bags walnuts
Bread (Bogo)
2 store brand potato chips
2 store brand saltine crackers
2 sparkle big rolls of paper towels (used $1/2)
1 Bounty Napkins (forgot my darn Q but got anyway)
2 Smart Balance Milks (used 2 $2/1)
1 gallon milk (used $1 off wyb Sara Lee Bread peelie)
2 LOL real butter (used $1/2)
1 store brand large sour cream
18 count eggs
1 lb chicken livers
1 head romaine lettuce
1 bag cranberries
1 Bartlett pear
4 bananas

Subtotal:  $98.21
Total: $65.15

I'm going with a savings of 34% which is close, but I'm too lazy to do the math!

Thanksgiving Menu

Well, here's my plan for Thanksgiving.  We'll have 5 adults in the house, and probably enough food to feed 10! I've linked to quite a few recipes, and I want you to know that I have tried and follow each of these to the tee (except the muffins, but I'm assuming they'll be good cause they're from the Fairhope Foodie).  They are all wonderful!




Breakfast: Snickerdoodle Muffins, fruit, bacon


I'm planning on having "dinner" about 3:30 or 4:00, so for lunch, I'm just going to set out snacks for everyone to graze on.  So when dinner comes, we'll be ready to eat.

Snacks: Veggie tray, Liver Pate/Pub Cheese/Garlic toasts and crackers, Chips and dip, relish tray (olives, pickled beets, pickles, roasted red peppers), pigs in a blanket (you gotta love crescent rolls and Lil smokies)


Dinner: Roasted Turkey (I use a herb butter under the skin to give it an awesome flavor), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn casserole, asparagus with holandaise sauce, cranberry orange relish, Waldorf salad (minus the celery and raisins), rolls, apple pie with a dutch topping, Georgia peach cobbler


I'm also planning on making Bacardi Rum Cake to have around the house...it is incredible and easy if you're looking for a rum cake!

And either Thursday or Friday I'll make my famous turkey soup with parsley dumplings.  I discovered this recipe about 5 years ago and LOVE IT!

Menu Plan Monday

Well this week is obviously different than most weeks.  We'll have more mouths to feed (yay) and of course a ton of food in the house (double yay).  I'm all over the Thanksgiving Menu planning, and I'll post that tomorrow.  But I still wanted to put out a menu for everything planned before and after the holiday.

Monday:  Buffalo stuffed chicken, something else!

Tuesday:  I'll be cooking and cleaning all day today, so we'll probably eat cereal, sandwiches, and pizza (in this order)

Wednesday: Snickerdoodle Muffins, sausage, fruit (breakfast)
                    Cesar Salad, Mushroom soup (lunch)
                    Dinner out-I bought a $50/$100 Q at Restaurant.com when it was 80% off

Thursday: see menu tomorrow

Friday: Quiche, fruit (breakfast)
            leftovers (lunch)
            Bacon and blue cheese burgers, roasted cauliflower (dinner)

Saturday: Omelet, fruit, hashbrowns (breakfast)
               leftovers (lunch)
               Either Italian or Mexican: I've got most of the ingredients for either, so we'll
               take a vote!

Sunday: I'm pretty sure hubby and I will be alone this day, so we'll probably just graze
             on the leftovers.  I'll also have made a big pot of my famous turkey soup that I
             make every year (the secret is the dumplings) so we'll have that around as well.

Spiced Tea

This is an old family favorite that us kids used to love during the cold season.  We enjoy it ourselves, but it also makes a nice "teacher gift" in a mug or a cute tin.  The smell (and taste) will put you in a festive mood, I promise!

I had my first mug of this today, and even though it is about 60 degrees here, it still was nice and nostalgic to have a warm mug of spiced tea.

Spiced Tea

2 C Tang
2 C sugar
3/4 C instant tea
1 t Cinnamon
1 t ground cloves

-Mix all ingredients well.  To make all you do is put about 1 T in a mug of hot water.  Some people like it stronger and some a little weaker, so you can make adjustments to your taste.  I use big mugs, so I always use a little more!

Getting the House Ready

Well, I'm thrilled to have some company for Thanksgiving this year.  We live so far away from most of our family that we are often alone or have to do the travelling.  This year we'll have my parents, my grandma, and my husband's cousin.

So last weekend, I organized every cupboard, drawer, and closet.  I also sorted the pantry and my "gift wrapping station" (really just a dresser in a spare room).

This weekend, we did even more.  I LOVE my husband.  He drug out the ladder and vacuumed the beams in our 24 ft tall living room and then did the ceiling fan.  This hasn't been done since we moved in 2 years ago because I've always been afraid to do it myself.  He actually decided today was the day.  Then he did every ceiling fan in the house (there are 7).

What a guy!  Now I just have the regular stuff to do: Vacuum, dust, dishes...that sort of thing.  I can handle that on Monday or Tuesday.  And of course the cooking, I'm all over that.

Great Shopping trip-saved 51% at Ingles

Well, although I was pretty ill and busy this week, on my day off I did hit up Ingles to pick up the things I need on sale.

3 Chex Mix's (2 $.50/1, 1 $1 off)
1 Wheat Thin ($1 off)
1 Jello Instant Pudding
3 No Yolk Noodles (all free with 3 $/50 off)
2 unidentified dollar items-i can't believe I don't know what I bought!
1 Oscar Meyer Bacon (for eating)
1 Carolina Pride Bacon (for cooking)
10 lb bag potatoes ($3)
5 lb bag apples ($3)
4 lb bag oranges ($3)
1 salad (on managers special also with $.75 off)

Total before Q's and sales:   $44.54
Total After:$21.55

Food Lion Trip-saved 76%

Although I was pretty down this week, I did get out on Tuesday (my day off) to catch a few sales...I've been trying to get what I need for Thanksgiving week and Christmas baking ahead of time so I'd get the best deal.  

I went to he Food Lion really because of the buy 4 Kellogg's Cereals and get an instant $5 off your bill.  So I bought 2 Rice Krispies (2/$4 with $1/2 Q) and 2 Strawberry All Bran's (2/$4.27  with $1/2 Q).  This got me 4 boxes of cereal for  about $1.27, and the Rice Krispies had a peelie, buy 2 get a pack of marshmallows free!  Jackpot!

Here's all I got

4 boxes of cereal (really cheap)
1 pack marshmallows (free)
2 Hunt's tomato sauce (FL printable, $1/2)
2 Treasure cove blue cheese ($1/2)
3 lb ground beef

My total before Q's and sales was $44.20, and after everything, I paid $10.99.


                                     

Friday Food Waste

I've been inspired by The Frugal Girl to participate in her Friday food waste movement. What a neat idea to be held accountable for the food we throw away. So this week, I kept track of the food that I tossed.


Well, Since I've been so sick this week, food waste is at an all time minimum! It's my first no waste week, and it's mostly explained by me hardly cooking anything and us scavanging the fridge for anything etable.  But I'll take it, with the holiday coming up, I'm afraid we may have too much next week.

Menu Plan Monday

My husband is the sweetest.  I suggested that he make me something for dinner last Thursday because I would be home late and he really is a good cook when I let him in "my" kitchen.  He defrosted some perch and made a foil packet with pineapple chunks and some citrus/current jam which he cooked on the grill.  He also made mashed sweet potato puree and cut up veggies to go with it.  Never in a million years would I have cooked my fish with pineapple and currant jam...but it was delicious!  So notice who's cooking this Thursday again!!

Monday: fish fillets, roasted veggie cous cous
Tuesday: Grilled chicken, cottage cheese, broccoli

Wednesday: left overs
Thursday: Husband's Choice!!
Friday: Tomato/Basil burgers, home fries
-I'm also feeling like I NEVER stick to my menu Sat/Sun so instead, I'm going to tell you what I made LAST weekend!

Saturday: Feta stuffed chicken with a balsamic glaze, wild rice, cut up cucumber
Sunday: Grilled Porkchops, roasted potatoes/carrots/onions/b. squash/cauliflower (notice the leftover veggies in the cous cous "tomorrow")

Bacardi Rum Cake

I sat down late in October and jotted down my menu for thanksgiving. Then I made a list of ingredients that I could buy ahead of time, so I could watch the sales and get the best prices. This got me to thinking about my family's favorite Thanksgiving Day recipes. I thought I would share a few with you and maybe inspire you to think ahead to the holidays a bit!

About this rum cake recipe...it is fantastic.  I straight up copied it, so I won't go to the trouble of copying it out here...but I HIGHLY recommend it.

It used a yellow box cake along with a few other ingredients to "doctor up" the box (including dark rum).  Then after it's cooked, you soak it in butter mixed with rum.  It is moist, delicious, and addictive.

I often feel that if it doesn't have chocolate, I don't bother with it.  But this cake is the exception (the liquor helps).  It also lasts for an extra long time, I think the butter soak keeps it from getting dry...it doen'st really last that long at my house though!!

What's For Dinner

I made a pot of soup the other day that was really delicious and was made from "stuff" laying around.  I'll list my "recipe" but I don't really expect anyone to follow it exactly.  The idea is, you put in what you have and use up all the bits and pieces from your freezer/fridge/pantry! I served it with a cornbread mix I got for free at Bi-Lo (I threw in a handful of cheddar cheese and it was quite tasty).

1 large carton chicken broth
1 can tomatoes
a few carrots
one onion
a stalk of celery
handful of Lima beans from freezer

half a can of corn
bay leaf
pinch of thyme
1 t salt
1 t McCormick Montreal seasoning (it needed something when it was done)

-Cook all these ingredients together 30-45 minutes, then add

1 can navy beans
12 meatballs from the freezer
handful of WW egg noodles

-simmer another 20 minutes

I could eat soup everyday, and the great thing is that it's pretty healthy if you make it right!!

Friday Food Waste

I've been inspired by The Frugal Girl to participate in her Friday food waste movement. What a neat idea to be held accountable for the food we throw away. So this week, I kept track of the food that I tossed.


That's what I get for bragging!  Last week, I blogged about 3 mushrooms, and that was it.  Then today I actually cleaned the fridge and found quite a few things that should have been tossed last week!  Oh well. 

1) Pozole (pork and hominy soup) I pulled from the freezer and promptly forgot about.

2)Yogurt-I bought a ton of this when it was almost free, and although we ate about 7 packages, the last one was just too much.

3)Buttercream Frosting-I made a bunch of pumpkin cookies for a bake sale and had this left over.  I was going to make a cake or something, but it's just 2 of us and we would have eaten it all.  I'd rather it go in the trash than on my hips!

4)1/2 roll phyllo dough-this kills me, but I just didn't get to my second batch or phyllo rolls in time and this dough is not good when not fresh

5) tiny bit of porkchops/mashed potatoes-WAY OLD!  Gross.

6)1 T cream cheese

7) 1 T blue cheese

Food Lion quick trip-72%

I did a fast run into Food Lion this weekend, basically to get some free toothpaste.



I got:

2 Crest Toothpastes (used 2 $1 off and got them both for free)
3 2-Liters Diet 7-UP
1 2-Liter regular 7-UP (used 2 BOGO Q's)

This means I got $9.46 worth of stuff for $2.62! This is about a 72% savings.

Publix Menu-$50.50

Here's this weeks Publix menu. If you have a family of four, this should give you seven dinners to serve spending only $50.50. I use these prices/coupon matchups to see what's on sale this week and what Q's are available. Of course, your store may not accept every kind of coupon, and you may not HAVE every coupon, but this gives you an idea of what to serve this week.  The crock pot beef roast/french dip combo is one we do at my house all the time.  We also buy a lot of dried pinto beans as a side to any Mexican dish...but in this menu they take center stage in the nachos. (We often eat just pintos in their broth with a little cheese melted on top as a meal.)

If your pantry/freezer is anything like mine, you can do a few meal substitutes to save even more this week!

Chicken patty Sandwich, stuffing and sauteed squash ($7.78)
Shrimp Paella with corn on the cob ($10.72)
Beef Roast, cheesy rice, steamed broccoli ($14.00)
Spaghetti, fruit, rolls($4.35)
French Dip, potato salad ($1.99)
Chili dogs, french fries, veggies ($5.75)
Bean Nachos ($5.91)



Chicken patty Sandwich, stuffing and sauteed squash ($7.78)

• Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dip Bodacious Onion,  free with coupon
• Perdue Breaded Chicken Patties, $2
• French Hamburger Buns, 8 ct, $2.79 (save 4 for french dips)
• Kraft Stove Top Stuffing Mix, 5 or 6 oz, $.99
• 2 lbs Yellow, or Zucchini Squash, $2

Shrimp Paella with corn on the cob ($10.72)

• Vigo Saffron Rice, free with coupon
• 1 lb Large Florida Pink Shrimp, $8.99
• 1 can chicken broth
• 2 Hunt’s Tomatoes, $.40 (only use one)
• 4 Corn on the cob $1.33

Beef Roast, cheesy rice, steamed broccoli ($14.00)

• 4 lb 7-Bone Chuck Roast, $10 (cook in crock pot with pantry spices and a little water or broth-save half for dinner later in the week)
• Hormel Country Crock Side Dishes, $2
• Broccoli, $2

Spaghetti, fruit, rolls($4.35)

• Bertolli Pasta Sauce, $1.25
• Ronzoni Pasta, Selected Varieties, free with coupon
• 1/2 lb Ground Round, $1.85
• Del Monte canned fruit (free if you can use RA video values Q)
• Publix Ready to Bake Rolls, $1.25

French Dip, potato salad ($1.99)

• Left over burger rolls
• left over roast, shredded
• left over broth from crock pot for dipping (you can simmer this with onions or mushrooms if your family likes)
• Publix Southern Style Potato Salad, $1.99

Chili dogs, french fries, veggies ($5.75)

• 1 package National Kosher All Beef Franks, $1.50
• buns, estimated $1.50
• can of hot dog chili, estimated $.75
• Alexia All Natural Potatoes, (french fries if they're included) $1.50
• Birds Eye Voila!, $.50

Bean Nachos ($5.91)

• 1 bag dried pinto beans ($1) (soak overnight, rinse, and then cook a few hours covered in water with salt, bullion, onions...or whatever!)
• Margaritaville Tortilla Chips $1.66
• Sargento Shredded Cheese, $1
• shredded lettuce, estimated $1.25
• tomato chopped, estimated $1
  
  

Chicken Liver Pate

I sat down late in October and jotted down my menu for thanksgiving. Then I made a list of ingredients that I could buy ahead of time, so I could watch the sales and get the best prices. This got me to thinking about my family's favorite Thanksgiving Day recipes. I thought I would share a few with you and maybe inspire you to think ahead to the holidays a bit!

Our Christmas Eve family celebration always consists of everyone bringing their favorite appetizer.  It would not be complete if my dad did not make this!  I'm planning on serving this the day before Thanksgiving along with some cheese spread to keep us full while we play cards.

CHICKEN LIVER PATE
2 sticks butter
1/4 stalk celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 lb chicken livers
1 tsp parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

• Melt butter until bubbly.
• Add celery and onion.
• Saute well, until most of the moisture content is cooked out of the vegetables.
• Add chicken livers and saute until just done.
• Stir in all other ingredients.
• Cook several minutes more.
• Allow to cool.
• Blend on high till smooth.
•  Chill before serving.

Menu Plan Monday

I totally blew the menu plan last week.  After I had made it, I realized I missed a few important details of the week.  I forgot that school was out for election day, so my husband had the day off.  So we went out for lunch instead of having leftovers, which meant that I did not make a meal for dinner.  I also forgot that my husband was going to be out of town on Thursday and Friday, so those two meals were scratched.  I have a history of getting a Domino's Philly cheese Steak pizza when he's gone (I love it/he hates it) but this time, I just had some leftover soup and Doritos.  So, you'll see a lot of repeats from last week!

Monday:  turkey/gravy, Roasted cauliflower/carrots/onions/butternut squash
Tuesday: veggie soup with meatballs, rolls

Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: grilled cheese cut up veggies
Friday: tacos, beans, rice
Saturday: taco salad
Sunday: fish, veggie, rice

The blackberry cordial is finally ready!

Finally, after weeks of waiting my blackberry cordial is finished! I made it in late August and it had to sit for 6 weeks (I turned it once a week).  I broke it open mid October and it was worth the wait. 







I drained and strained the mixture to get out all the blackberries and seeds.

  My husband insisted on saving the blackberries, although I was ready to toss them.  I figured we had used all the "blackberry goodness", he figured we had blackberries that had soaked in vodka and they would be delicious.  I declined to try them, but the guys ate a few.  If they're still in the freezer in a few months, I'm tossing though!

The cordial was very sweet, and pretty strong.  It really did have a strong blackberry flavor to it, too. I enjoyed 2 glasses and then had to drink some water!  I'm planning on trying a shot in some iced tea to see what that tastes like. 

My verdict is...go for it!

Ingles Shopping Trip-I saved 70%!

I had 2 $5/5 Kraft coupons left that were going to expire in 12 days, so I took them to Ingles where assorted Kraft cheese was on sale for $2.  Here's what I did...

2 Kraft cubed CJ
2 Kraft shredded swiss
2 Kraft shredded sharp cheddar
1 Kraft shredded monteray
1 16 oz Breakstone cottage cheese
2 16 oz Breakstone sour creams

Total Before Qx and sale prices: $34.45
Total After/Out of Pocket: $10.54

Publix Shopping Trip

I had a great shopping trip at Publix this week.  I bought VERY few things that were not on sale and I didn't have a Q for.  Doing this, I saved 77% at Publix!

1 Frozen Peprich Farm Dinner Roll (these has a try me free rebate on them)
1 Jenny O Turkey w/gravy meal for 2 (used a $.55 peelie-paid $1.45)
1 Saltine cracker
1 Pringles Xtreme (used a Free Q)
4 Craisins (BOGO)
1 Corn Tortilla
4 Green Giant canned Corn (used 2 $.50/2)
2 Os-Cal tablets (used a Px $5/2, and 2 $3 man Qs-getting $1 overage)
1 Old El Paso taco seasoning (buy 2 get one free Q)
1 OEP refried beans ($.50 Q)
1 OEP taco shells
3 Stonyfield plain yogurts ($.50/3)
1 Rubber Maid Produce Saver (used Px $1 and Man $1-made it $.69)

Total I Paid: $17.46-but I'll get a $3.49 rebate from the rolls
so I'm counting the total as $13.97 paid for $60.34 worth of groceries.

Friday Food Waste

I've been inspired by The Frugal Girl to participate in her Friday food waste movement. What a neat idea to be held accountable for the food we throw away. So this week, I kept track of the food that I tossed.

Hardly any waste this week...I'm proud of myself.  I would take a picture of the 3 button mushrooms that were sliming up a zip loc, but my husband has the camera at the beach.  Not to bad, though!

I do have a fridge FULL of veggies, so I'll have to make sure it all gets used or else next week will look bad, and I'll be mad at myself.  I already made some butternut squash (plus carrots, celery, onion) soup and used up the rest of the cream to make it VERY decadent.  And I've got veggie/meatball soup on the agenda as well, so we should be okay.

Odd shopping trip at Publix

I bought 8 Thai Kitchen noodles (used 8 $.50 off-all doubling to make these free)
1 cauliflower
1 broccoli
1 lb asparagus

Total: $5.89

I was thrilled to have 8 free packages of my new favorite thing, and the prices on these fresh veggies were the best I've seen in a while.  I've got a ton of items in my stockpile, but nothing really compares to fresh veggies!

If you're a couponer, check out this post to do some purging of expired coupons.

Publix Menu-Feed your family for $50.02 this week!

Here's this weeks Publix menu.  If you have a family of four, this should give you seven dinners to serve spending only $50.  I use these prices/coupon matchups to see what's on sale this week and what Q's are available.  This week, I gave you one beef option, one pork option, one vegetarian option, and 4 chicken options.  I guess it's a good week for chicken!  Happy cooking.

Pork Spare Ribs, baked potatoes, steamed veggies ($11.59)
Beef Stew and rolls ($8.96)
Homemade Chicken noodle Soup, rolls and steamed veggies ($5.41)
Chicken and dumplings, roasted veggies ($6.35)
Chicken tossed salad and Progresso soup ($5.12)
Portabella Spaghetti, garlic toast, steamed broccoli ($5.65)
Fried Chicken, Baked Beans, canned corn ($6.94)


Pork Spare Ribs, baked potatoes, steamed veggies ($11.59)
If you're anything like me, you have the ingredients for this linked up recipe, if not, just use a bottle of BBQ sauce instead but follow the cooking directions.

• 3 lb Pork Spareribs, $7.50
• 2 Green Valley Steamers, save one for later $1.40
• Idaho Potatoes, 5 lb bag, $2.69

Beef Stew and rolls (this recipe is similar to the one I make-scale to 4 servings) ($8.96)

• 1 lb Beef  $3.99
• Yellow Onions, 3 lb bag, $1.99 (you won't use them all!)
• Carrots, estimated $1.50
• Beefy mushroom soup-buy 2 Progresso soups using 2 coupons, $.29
• Original Recipe Buns 8 ct $1.19 with target Q (save 4 for chicken soup day)
• (I'm assuming you have the cornstarch and oil)

Chicken Soup, rolls and steamed veggies ($5.41)

• 3 lb Publix Whole chicken, $3.60 (use all for broth but reserve some meat for salad later)
• leftover carrots and onions
• 2 noodles-Barilla $.27 (save one for another meal)
• 1 Eat Smart Veg, $1.66
• dry spices from your pantry

Chicken and dumplings, veggies ($6.35)

• 3 lb Chicken, $3.60
• eggs, estimated $1.25
• 2 C flour, estimated $1.50
• (I'll assume you have the bullion, if you have to buy this hopefully you have the flour or eggs to make up the money)
• extra bag of GV steamers

Chicken tossed salad and soup ($5.12)

• Reserved chicken from soup
• Ocean Spray Craisins, $.13
• Emerald Honey Roasted Peanuts,  $1.60
• Kraft or Seven Seas Salad Dressing,  $.60
• Publix Salad Mix. $2
• 1 Cucumber, $.50
• 2 cans Progresso Soup, Any Varieties, 18 to 19-oz can, $.29

Portabella Spaghetti, garlic toast, steamed broccoli (5.65)

• Noodles from the other day
• New York Texas Toast, estimated $1.40
• Baby Portabella Mushrooms, 8 oz, $1.69
• Eat Smart Broccoli  $1.66
• Francesco Rinaldi ToBe Healthy Pasta Sauce, $.90 (yellow flyer)

Fried Chicken, Baked Beans, canned corn ($6.94)

• 8-pc Fried Chicken Drumsticks & Thighs, $5.99
• Bush’s Best Baked Beans. $.66
• 2 Green Giant Canned corn $.29

Corn Casserole

I sat down late in October and jotted down my menu for thanksgiving. Then I made a list of ingredients that I could buy ahead of time, so I could watch the sales and get the best prices. This got me to thinking about my family's favorite Thanksgiving Day recipes. I thought I would share a few with you and maybe inspire you to think ahead to the holidays a bit!

Here's is a recipe that I have made EVERY TIME we have a turkey!  My husband like to deep fry a turkey for the Superbowl, the Michigan/Michigan State Game, any party we have where more that 10 people are invited...you get the idea.  I always accompany it with this casserole.  I like it because it's delicious (of course) and it also works great in a crock pot so I've been know to make a double batch to put on a buffet for a major party.  A man in my church choir used to bring this to every pot luck we had, and I fell in love!!

Max's Corn Casserole
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn
1 Jiffy corn bread mix
1 stick butter/margarine
1 C sour cream
2 eggs
salt/pepper
8 oz shredded yellow cheese

Mix all but the cheese in a casserole dish or crockpot.  Press the cheese down on the top of the other ingredients.  Bake  in a 350 degree oven for one hour, or cook on low for 6-8 hours in a crockpot.  Presentation is a little better in the casserole dish, but the ease in the crockpot and the fact that it leaves the oven free is worth it for me!

October Budget Review

Here's an overview of how much I had planned on spending on EVERYTHING this month and how it actually worked out. Our retirement and medical premium is taken out already.




Savings Account: planned/actual: $400

Household Expenses: (mortgage, utilities, garbage, Internet...)
                                  planned: $1388 actual: $1336.36
Credit/Loan Payments: (includes gym membership, credit card, student loan, personal loan)
                                 planned: $585.52 actual: $585.52



Cars: (including car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance)
                 planned: $421.5 actual: $423.93
Groceries/Drug Store: planned $300 actual: $334.37
Entertainment: planned: $300 actual: $231.21
Spending Money: planned: $300 actual: $300

Other: including vet bill, charity, home improvement tools: $142.87


Total Expenses: $3754.26
Total Income: $3889.89
Excess: $135.63
I am very pleased we have a bit of money left over this month.  Adding to the 200 from last month, we've got a good start on an unexpected trip.  I just found out my sister is getting married in 2 months 12 hours north of us.  This brought on lots of anxiety for me about money.  I started stressing about money for Christmas, travelling, and all the extra things I'll have to throw at the wedding to make it special like hair, tanning, nails, champagne, wedding present.  Although it'll be a small wedding, I want my sister to feel special!

I sat down and jotted down all the extra things I'd need money for and adjusted our Nov/Dec budgets for it.  Now I feel like I have control and we can do what we need to do.  I will have to skip the savings account in December to make it happen, which I"m not thrilled about, but it's doable.

Menu Plan Monday

It's a new month and I'm heading in to it with a new perspective!  I'm dedicated to having a stress free holiday, and that starts with me planning now.  I'm trying to add 5-10 items I need for Thanksgiving to each weeks shopping list (watching the sales of course) so I'll try not to make too many dinner items that need a lot of things I don't already have on hand.

Monday: Taco Pie, sausage cheese dip/tortilla chips
Tuesday: Grilled Pork chops, roasted cauliflower, cous cous
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Vegetable soup with meatballs, homemade rolls
Friday: Shrimp red Thai curry, rice
Saturday: Tomato/Basil Burgers, pasta salad with lots of veggies, corn on the cob
Sunday:  Lemon/mushroom chicken, roasted potatoes, broccoli salad

I have pretty much everything on hand to make everything, except the curry which I'll have to buy pretty much everything!  I've been craving red curry like mad...so I can't help but dream.  If something gets bumped, it will be that, and I may just get some take out for myself for lunch to feed the craving.