What I Got for $100 This Week

So, here is whats on the menu and what I got for my $100 this week:

.80 lb quick oats (bin)       .79
1 gallon milk                   3.59
1/2 gallon milk                1.99
cheddar cheese                2.03
colby jack cheese            2.94
vegtable juice                  3.79
veg. juice tax                     .10
lean ground beef              2.99
chicken breasts (2.5 lbs)  5.03
Ground turkey                  4.99
pint blackberries                 .99
.79 lb broccoli                  1.18
pint grape tomatos             .99
.35 lb green beans             .35
green onions                     .34
2x avocados                     1.54
english cucumber             1.50
bunch parsley                    .50
org. baby carrots              1.50
org romaine lettuce           1.99
1.49 lb apples                    .73
pkg white mushrooms       1.29

Sprouts Total:                  $41.14


Jack Daniels BBQ sauce   .99
Gerber Fruit puffs             2.00
Gerber Lil' crunchies        2.00
powdered sugar                1.79
brown sugar                      1.79
can pinneapple                  1.25
20 pk frito lay chips          4.99
Taco Sauce                        1.79
2x refried beans                 1.78
pkg taco shells                   1.49
Campbells soup                 1.00
Campbells soup                 1.50
Pillsbury Frosting              1.58
2x dennisons chili              2.50
butternut sq. baby food       .71
apple/ carrot baby food       .71
broccoli/ pear baby food     .98
Barilla marinara sauce       1.00
Honey Bunches of Oats     1.99
18 pk eggs                          2.89
Mex blend cheese              2.79
64 oz OJ                             1.99
Sour Cream                        1.99
Silk Coconut Milk              2.79
8 pk hamburger buns          .98
loaf wheat bread                 .89
Tyson Chicken nuggets    3.99
NY strip steaks                 7.24
2.23 lb bananas                 1.01

(plus 1x coupon @ -.35)

Safeway Total:              $58.05

Grand Total:  $99.19

$.81 to spare!! Woot woot!

Now usually I do not splurge on steaks except they were on sale and my other meals were pretty low cost for this weeks meal plan - plus I had an extra meal left over from last weeks menu so I'm ahead of the game. 

Meals:
Balsamic whiskey steaks, mashed potatos & broccoli
Pinneapple soy shredded chicken sandwiches & home fries (*crockpot meal)
Ground beef tacos & refried beans
Veggie lentil soup
Knock off gourmet veggie pizza (mmmm - love)
Spaghetti with turkey meatballs & salad

Have a good week! Happy meal planning & money saving!!

Under the Weather - Chicken Soup

Unfortunatley last week 3 of us in my house caught that terrible cold/flu combo that has been going around.  Can I say YUCK!!! And of course taking care of 2 sickies caused this mama to get it the worst.  Typical. So in cases like this I am happy to have basics on hand to make my favorite chicken noodle soup.  Its delicious, it makes the house smell amazing, and it costs pennies.  I swapped out a meal from my planner (chicken bundles) and used the chicken I was going to use for that to toss into my soup.  perfect! I'll save the ingredients for the bundles for another night.  Here is my super easy recipe for homemade chicken soup:

Put some olive oil in a pot - not a ton, just enough to allow the onions and garlic to saute.  I'd say 2 tbsp.  but I always eyeball it.
Chop up 1 small to medium onion, and 1 clove of garlic - toss it in

Chop up 2 stalks of celery and 2 peeled carrots - toss them in too

Cook until these veggies are soft.
Add about 3-4 cups of homemade or store bought chicken stock (I freeze my homamade stock thats why the picture shows ice cubes - I throw them in frozen) and about 1-2 cups of water.

This depends how brothy you want your soup to be versus the veggies and chicken and pasta.  I like mine about half and half so I use 3 cups of stock and about 1 1/2 cups of water. 
Let this mix come to a boil.
Add thin spaghetti - eye ball it - again depends how "noodly" you want your soup. 

You can also use little star pasta for chicken & stars, in the store its called stelline.
Let the pasta boil for about 7-8 minutes.  Add chicken and some parsley if you like.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Done! Delicious homemade chicken soup in about 25 minutes thats about a million times better than any store bought brand.  And if you have the basic ingredients on hand very cost effective!

Stay healthy this winter, its a bad strain of viruses going around!

Pantry Staples - Bread Crumbs

I absolutley love when I can get something for free that I use constantly.  My daughter asks me sometimes what I do for my job, I tell her "Mommy makes something out of nothing" - she loves this (and secretly so do I) One thing I use a ton of are bread crumbs, sometimes a lot sometimes a little and I always seem to run out just when I need them because it's something I assume I have a lot of in the cabinet but come to find out in my mid cooking Tyler Florence zone that I have run out. (anyone else ever do that??) Uggghh, instant bad mood...enter wine. ok much better.  Anyways - bread crumbs are one of those items so I started making my own and keeping them in the freezer - yep the freezer.  That way I don't have to toast them or anything, they stay fresh. 
What I do is when the end of the bread loaf is down to the heels (which my family doesn't eat the heels? not sure why...) but I just toss those suckers in the food processor, process til crumbs and done!

You can add italian seasonings if you like the seasoned crumbs.  I just add to an airtight container and place in the freezer.  Lov-ing!!
I will say when you need to use them take them out and let defrost for 5 minutes or so, otherwise they will be in a big clump.  But this method is great for a couple reasons; I can add to the container whenever I have extra bread thats getting to that almost to rough/ stale to eat phase, I can use hamburger buns, bread, hot dog buns - whatever you have, and the best part - totally free since it's something I already have on hand.  Beautiful.

Quick Snacks

One thing that has always eaten up our food budget has been snacks. So in attempts to keep on track with our grocery budget and also keep on track with our eating habits, I started cutting up veggies and keeping them in an airlock container in the fridge. This literally takes minutes to do, and the kids (and us grown ups) can grab them for a quick bite, throw them in a ziplock - get this my 5 year old even asks to bring them for her school snack. Umm yeah - point!!

What I Got for $100 - 1/9/2013

I'm a little behind in posting this, as it is now Sunday and I shopped last Wednesday - but better late than never right!! So I did go a little bit over this week, but that just means I need to make up for it next week :)

Here is what I got and what we're having (had) this week:
cottage cheese 1.99
gallon milk 3.59
gallon milk 3.59
cheddar cheese 1.88
shredded parmesean 3.69
white cheddar cheese 2.07
frozen edamame 2.00
pkg boneless chicken 4.38
1 lb bag carrots .77
5 lb bag potatos 1.50
blueberies 1.25
1 lb broccoli crowns 1.31
1.80 lb cauliflower 1.59
celery bunch .88
bunch cilantro .34
1.3 lbs pears 1.14
2.27 lbs apples 1.11
garlic bulb .34
pint grape tomatos 1.50
english cucumber 1.25
bunch parsley .50
1.19 lbs zuchinni 1.54
2.7 lbs oranges .54
3.19 lbs oranges .64
org. romaine lettuce 1.69
org, kale 1.50
bunch radishes .33
1.75 yellow onions .88

Sprouts Market Total = $43.79

Gerber puffs snacks 2.00
9x gerber baby food 10.00
5 lbs sugar 2.89
2 lbs brown sugar 1.79
2x diced tomatos 1.58
kidney beans .79
pinto beans .79
2x refried beans 2.58
5 lbs flour 1.44
jar beets 1.99
2x progresso soups 2.00
italian seasonings 2.99
2x chili 2.50
large pasta shells 2.79
grands 2.49
fr. chopped spinach 1.99
18 pk eggs 2.59
qt. buttermilk 1.69
64 oz OJ 2.00
Silk Coconut Milk 2.79
sargento shredded 2.49
sour cream 1.88
loaf wheat bread .89
Turkey bacon 1.99
whole chicken 5.05
.45 lb bananas .81

Safeway Total = 61.54

Grand Total = $105.33

With this shopping trip I am making;
Dinners:
Roast Whole Chicken, mashed potatos, steamed broccoli
Cauliflower Mac n' Cheese & Salad
Chicken Bundles (left over from last week after a menu switch up)
Chicken Teryaki bowl w/ broccoli
Vegetarian stuffed shells
Crock Pot Minestrone

Other: Vanilla scones & Baked zuchinni fries

I stock up on salad fixings (kidney beans, beets, etc) to make an easy salad lunch with all the extras (a la Whole Foods salad bar) and it makes a boring salad fabulous. I also pick up cans of chili which the hubs loves for a quick lunch or even to make for a snack. The baked zuchinni are a test recipe so hopefully that works out cause they sound delicious!!

Spending Money for our Next Vacation

We are planning a family trip in a few months to Disneyland for my daughter's 6th birthday. The kids (and us) are really excited and anticipating the trip I am getting organized early on to save myself some time and money later (and as we all know time is money) So I made a couple of spending money jars for the kids to save up money by doing extra chores, extra good behavior or any change they find or are given. I took 2 spaghetti jars from our last lasagne dinner, washed them, printed out some labels with their names on them and stuck them on the counter. I let them decorate them with markers and disney stamps for a little personalization. They LOVE them. They are more eager to put their laundry away, make their beds, etc. which I love - Point for mom! These are so easy, and as well as giving them some spending cash at Disneyland (which we all know is sooo expensive - can we say $15 for a plastic Minnie bracelet!)it is teaching them about money and saving - two things the hubs and I firmly believe in. When we get ready to leave we will discuss how much they saved and how they want to spend it. I love when learning becomes a fun game :)

$100 A Week - What I Got 1/2/2013

In this household we have a strict $100 a week budget for groceries. We need to incorporate into this budget breakfasts, lunches and dinners (I work from home so no take out lunches for me, and my hubs brings his lunch to work). I often get asked "How the heck do you fit everything into $100 a week?" The answer - planning!! I'm not going to say its easy to start, it takes some time, it takes some imagination, but in the end I can feel confident that only $500 a month goes to groceries (I'll explain why $500 not $400 in a minute...) That way if a night comes up where I don't feel like cooking, we're sick, or out doing something it's not a huge deal and/or strain to grab take out or go out to dinner because we've kept on a budget for our everyday groceries. Here is how I plan and what I got (aka what were eating) this week: I plan for 5-6 full dinner meals. Why not 7? Because usually 1-2 nights we do a leftover night because we always have somethng leftover or a DIY night (usually Sundays) when Mommy (aka The House Fairy as my hubs likes to call me) can take a break. I take a look at the ads for the week and plan my meals from there. I usually do 2 stores because I can shop sales and get a lot more for my money. I realize this is a hassle for some, but I have the time to do it so why not! I always shop Sprouts because I think they have a great produce department and they offer double ad sales - every Wednesday you can shop from last weeks ad and the current week's ad. Bunus! And usually I also shop Safeway because their ad starts Wednesday and I noticed if I wait to get sale items there they sell out of things quickly. So after we drop of Miss M at kindergarten, the boy, baby and I head to the grocery store - and yes I do this with a 3 year old and an 8 month old..again PLAN (snacks, toys, iphone downloads needed!) I use a meal/grocery planning sheet I found free on pinterest, and plan my list according to that.
Here is what we are making this week:
Garlic chicken pizza and salad
Ground beef Tacos
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Creamy Chicken Pockets
Homemade chicken Strips & Fries
Cuban Burgers and spicy potato wedges

And here is our grocery list:
20 pk corn tortillas - 1.99
Loaf sliced wheat bread - 1.99
1 lb Quick Oats (bin) - 1.00
1/2 gallon OJ - 3.00
1/2 gallon coconut milk - 3.29
sour cream - 1.99
Colby jack Cheese - 2.59
Honey Maple sliced ham - 3.44
Mozerella Cheese - 2.59
White cheddar - 2.23
Apple Puffs (baby snacks) - 3.29
Jar apple sauce - 2.29
Can chili with beans - 1.99
Chammomile Tea 18 ct - 1.99
1 lb white rice - 1.99
Green Tea 18 ct - 2.99
2x organic baby food - .99 (1.99)
2 liter sparkling water - 1.00
1 qt. Chicken Broth - 1.99
Wolfgang Puck Canned soups 3x - 2.00 (6.00)
2 lbs extra lean ground beef - 5.47
2.5 lbs boneless chicken breasts - 5.09
1 lb bag baby carrots - .99
bag lemons - 1.49
pint blueberries - 1.25
1.31 lbs Broccoli crowns - 1.30
on the vine tomatos 1.46 lb - 3.64
1.62 lbs fuji apples - 1.43
1 garlic bulb - .34
pint grape tomatos - 1.50
4x hass avocados - 1.00
English Cucumber - 1.25
3.58 lbs navel oranges - .72
Organic romaine lettuce - 1.69
1.95 lbs organic pears - 1.93
2.42 lbs bananas - 1.67
.99 lb yellow onions - .50
BV Red Wine - 5.99
2 Gallons of Milk - 5.39
2 Dozen Eggs - 3.39

Total $97.87

I do have to say I double up on things to use through 2 weeks for example last week I bought a bag of potatos and only used half so I can use the rest this week for fries, and last week I bought hamburger buns thinking I would use them but didn't so they will go for the cuban burgers this week, and so on. It all evens out and I keep the balance at about $100 a week give or take (plus $100 a month at Costco for bulk items - which I'll go into another time) Its that simple! Sometimes I use coupons and sometimes I don't I just base my meals and snacks around whats on sale and what I can make myself from scratch (see previous posts) All in all its savings which means money in the bank which means I'm one step closer to my new house :)