Super Savings Saturday 1/8

This was the first week of my Eat from the Pantry Challenge.  For the month of January my weekly grocery budget is $20.  Most of this will go towards dairy & produce.  I will be using the food in my pantry & freezer stockpiles for our meals in January.  I will still be shopping at CVS & Walgreens and   I have a separate budget for these shopping trips.

Here are my deals for the week:

I did all of my grocery shopping at Aldi this week.

Total Out of Pocket = $19.72

Here is what I purchased at CVS this week:

• 3 Kleenes $.88 each (used $.50/3 coupon)
• Starbucks Coffee $6.99 (used $1 coupon)
• Granola Bars 4/$10.00 (used $.75 coupon)
• Excedrin $4.79** (used FREE coupon)

I used $6.99 in Extra Bucks.

Total Out of Pocket = $10.39 & I earned $8 in Extra Bucks

($3 Quarterly Extra Bucks, $1 Starbucks, $4 Granola Bars)


**I forgot to bring my other Excedrin coupons so I will go back tonight to purchase more and earn the $10 Extra Bucks.

I sent my husband to Walgreens this week and his transaction was a complete catastrophe but it worked out in our favor!  We have both tried to figure out what happened but neither one of us has been able to, especially the Register Rewards.

Total Out of Pocket = $9.89 & he brought home $6.00 in Register Rewards!

Total Money Spent on Groceries this Week = $19.72

($.28 under budget)

Total Money Spent this Week = $40.00

Watch Festival of Hope live from Hati on Sunday 1/9/11 starting at 1:30pm Eastern time.

Go here for more information on Samaritan's Purse Eternal Hope for Hati.

Menu Plan Monday 1/3/11

I can't believe it is already 2011 and time for the first menu plan of the year!  Menu planning is one of the biggest ways that I save time and money.  If you haven't tried menu plan now is a great time to start. 

I will also be starting an Eat from the Pantry challenge this week.  For the month of January, I have reduced my weekly grocery budget from $100 a week to $20 a week.  I will be planning meals based on what is in my pantry and freezer and I will spend the $20 on mostly produce & dairy.  I am also going to get back in the habit of baking all of our bread from scratch to help cut our grocery budget.  I will post my weekly shopping results each Saturday.

Here is my first menu plan for 2011: 

Monday:  Easy Crockpot Swedish Meatballs, Egg Noodles, Green Beans



Tuesday:  French Dip Sandwiches, Veggies & Dip, German Potato Casserole



Wednesday:  Dinner at Church



Thursday:  Pesto Turkey & Pasta, Salad, Fococcia Bread



Friday:  Tuna Melts, Salad, Beer Cheese Soup


Saturday:  Slow Cooker Layered Enchilada Dinner, Chips & Salsa, Salad



Sunday Lunch:  Breakfast Casserole, Fruit



Sunday Dinner:  Frozen Pizza, Bacon Spinach Salad



Breakfast Choices for the Week:

• Cereal, Fruit
• Breakfast Cookies, Smoothies
• Breakfast in a Muffin (from the freezer), Fruit
• Pancakes (from the freezer), Sausage Links, Fruit
• Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls, Fruit

Connor with Chef Celina Tio from Food Network's The Next Iron Chef.  In December, we ate at her restaurant Julian here in Kansas City (Brookside area).

Eat From the Pantry Challenge Update

It is the last week of the Eat from the Pantry Challenge and my pantry & freezer are still well stocked. There are a few things I am almost out of or out of, however I will not be running out of tomato soup any time soon. I am not sure how I ended up with so much tomato soup! I have found some really good recipes that use tomato soup. It feels good to use up some of my stockpile and the food that was quickly approaching expiration. When I bring boxed food items home from the grocery store, the first thing I do is write the expiration date on the top of the box with a sharpie. This makes the expiration date clearly visible and it is less likely to expire before being consumed.

Here are a few our new favorite recipes that we have discovered during the Eat from the Pantry Challenge.

• Ground Beef with Rice & Cheese


• Beef Taco Bake


• Amish Casserole


• Rice Cooker Macaroni & Cheese

I have also discovered that my family's favorite Sunday lunch is Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and hot dogs. We had that for lunch almost every Sunday even if I had something else on the Menu Plan!!

Eat From the Pantry Challenge Update

I have to say that so far I have really enjoyed the Eat From the Pantry Challenge. It feels good to use up some of my stockpile and make room for future bargains. It has been a lot easier than I expected and I have even found some new recipes that have become family favorites. I had a lot of tomato soup in my pantry and I have been using it in recipes. I haven't used tomato soup for cooking veryoften for cooking but since I had so much I decided to give it a try and search for recipes. I set a goal of $10 a week for my grocery budget and I have been a little over each week but I think that staying under $15 a week for a family of 3 is very good! I am excited to continue the next 2 weeks and I might even add another week or two in February (my pantry and freezer are VERY well stocked).

Total Money Spent on Groceries so far = $26.65

You can go here to see my list of meals for the month and my current week Menu Plan is here.

Eat From the Pantry Challenge Update

We started our Eat from the Pantry Challenge one week ago and so far I have stuck to our meal plan. I planned all of our meals for the month of Januray using only ingredients I have in my pantry or freezer. You can go here to see my list of meals for the month and here to see my weekly menu plan. I did spend $15 at the grocery store last week (go here to see my shopping trip) which is $5 over budget. Hopefully this week I will be able to stay within the $10 a week budget and only purchase dairy and produce.

This is what it looked like in Kansas City last week (and there is still quite a bit of snow left). We also had temperatures below zero and almost all the area schools were cancelled all week. I chose to stay home all week because I do not like to drive in the snow and it was bitterly cold. It is times like these that I really appreciate my stockpile. It is so nice to not have to worry about going to the grocery store in harsh winter weather.

Eat from the Pantry Challenge: Menu Plan for the Month

I have finished cleaning-out and doing an inventory of my pantry and now I am ready to plan my meals for the month of January. Go here for my Eat from the Pantry Goals. I am starting the Eat from the Pantry Challenge on 01/04/10 and will end on 01/31/10. I have listed 28 entrees below but I am not assigning dates to the meals. I will still do my regular Menu Plan Monday and I will include side dishes there. Here is what we will be eating the month of January:

1. Swiss Cheese Meatloaf







2. Easy Cheesy Dump & Go Crockpot Chicken







3. Tomato Basil Chicken







4. Crockpot Asian Chicken







5. Spaghetti & Meatballs







6. Sloppy Joes on Homemade Buns







7. Meatball Sandwiches on Tomato Basil Bread







8. Mexican Spaghetti







9. Meatball Hashbrown Bake







10. Crockpot Swiss Chicken Casserole







11. Kansas City Crockpot Beanie Weenies







12. Herbed Cornish Game Hens







13. Mustard Crusted Tilapia







14. BBQ Cheeseburger Pizza







15. Egg Salad Sandwiches on Homemade Pita Pockets and Beer Cheese Soup







16. Crockpot Ravioli







17. Tuna Noodle Casserole







18. Sunday Roast Chicken







19. Hearty Wild Rice Casseole







20. Tuna Melts and Herbed Potato Soup







21. Creamy Tortilla Chicken







22. Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings







23. Beef Taco Bake




24. Amish Casserole




25. Ground Beef & Rice with Cheese




26. Best-Ever Meatloaf




27. Seasoned Stove Top Salmon




28. Chicken Mozzarella

Breakfast Choices for the Month:

1. Cereal


2. Instant Oatmeal


3. Quaker Oatmeal Pancakes (mix) from the freezer


4. Pumpkin Waffles (from the freezer)


5. Kashi Waffles (from the freezer)


6. Blueberry Yogurt Smoothies


7. Homemade Pita Pockets with Scrambled Eggs & Cheese


8. Pumpkin Bread (from the freezer), Yogurt


9. Homemade Bagels with Peanutbutter


10. Homemade English Muffins with Pumpkin Butter (from Silver Dollar City)
    

Sunday Lunch:

1. Scrambled Eggs Benedict
2. Hot Dogs and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
3. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
4. Crab Quiche Bake

January Eat From the Pantry Challenge

During the month of January, I will be joining Money Saving Mom & Life as Mom in an Eat from the Pantry Challenge. I have spent the last couple of months purchasing food at rock bottom prices and stocking my pantry & freezer. Since I meal plan Monday - Sunday, I am going to start the challenge on Monday 1/4/10 and go until Sunday 1/31/10. I will still go to the grocery store but my only purchases will be dairy, eggs & produce. I am going to limit my grocery shopping to once a week with a budget of $10.00 a week. We will still plan a few dinners out and my son's birthday is in January so we will probably make a few exceptions for that. I have never done this before so I am a little nervous. Over the next couple of days I am going to take inventory of my pantry and plan all of our meals for the month. Check back this weekend for a detailed list of breakfast, lunch & dinner meals for the month including lots of recipe links. I will still post my usual Menu Plan Monday each week during January.