Saturday Grocery Update

I just returned from the store with my weekly groceries. My menu for the upcoming week is:
"Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich" (From Pioneer Woman Cooks)
"Beans and Cornbread" (I'm not making the cornbread from scratch this time)
Tuna Noodle Salad and rolls
Meat loaf and mashed potatoes
Homemade macaroni & cheese and chicken nuggets

I only listed five meals as we may be going out one of these days and another I hope for some leftovers, or otherwise we have the ingredients for homemade pizza. All the meals will be served with vegetables and fruit and whatever else we have on hand. Lunches are anything on hand in the house (sandwiches, mac & cheese, leftovers) and breakfasts are several different choices of what is on hand. Here is my shopping trip today:

4 boxes Rice Krispies $3 x4

1 box Smart Start cereal $3.99

Package Hoagie Rolls $2.59

Flour $2.49

Denta Stix (for the dogs) $3.29

Malt-o-meal brown sugar $3.99

Dried pinto beans, 1 lb. 85 cents

Co-Jack cheese $2.19

Paper plates $2.19

Tropicana OJ 89oz. $3.99

Ovaltine $3.69

Applesauce 99 cents

foil 99 cents

butter $1.88

Cornbread mix 43 cents

chicken nuggets $2.50

brown sugar $1.49

bread and butter pickles $1.89

shell noodles 99 cents

egg noodles 99 cents

sliced chicken for sandwiches $2

lemon pepper 79 cents

tabasco sauce $1.29

honeydew melon $1.29

margarine 99 cents

seasoning salt $1.79

dozen eggs $1.50

celery 99 cents

ketchup 99 cents

onion 96 cents

carrots 88 cents

bologna $1.52

cube steak $4.51

1.70 lb. of apples $1.17

4 oranges $1

gallon whole milk $3.09

gallon 1% milk $2.75

The reason I bought five boxes of cereal is that the store circular had a "Buy 5 get $5 off coupon". I also had two coupons for "buy two boxes of cereal get $2 off milk" and one "$1 off Smart Start cereal". So in the end I paid $6 for five boxes of cereal and we like rice krispies not just for breakfast but also for our granola bar recipes and rice krispie bars. I also had $2 off the dog treats, and $1.50 off the flour. So the grand total was....$67.87! I once again came in under $75! The kids have been going through so much milk lately that I'm sure I'll have to buy another gallon or two by the end of next week but it's still under budget!

Some of what I bought, such as the flour and seasonings added to the total but will used throughout the month (or year) so should bring my totals down a different week. Once again, I bought paper plates. We will be trying to steer clear of them at some point but with three little kiddos at home with me all day it saves my sanity to use paper plates at times. I have been using our real plates more though so hope to reduce our paper plate usage by half for starters. I bought bologna too...I know it isn't great for us but my husband likes it and the kids do too. I hope to start cutting back on processed meats in the near future. I figure I will start to do these cuts slowly so as not to get burned out from the start.

I do find it amazing that by setting a lower budget for groceries I am able to meet that budget. I am saving $25 a week just by paying a little more attention at the grocery store.

Do Cookbooks Make You Drool?

If cookbooks make you drool, this one will have you foaming at the mouth. "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" by Ree Drummond is a work of art and the recipes not only look scrumptious but the majority of them look quite easy and use ingredients that are easy to find and fairly inexpensive. If you don't recognize the name, Ree is the blogger who writes Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. I think that everyone knows about that blog, right?!

I received this book in the mail last week from a trade I did on Paperback Swap (tired of hearing about it? I'll never be!). I spent a good hour pouring over the book and looking at all the pictures. I put it down on my bed stand and kind of forgot about it until this morning. This morning Joe woke up early and decided to go into the playroom to play (which is right outside our bedroom). Since I didn't feel like getting out of bed at that moment I sat up and started looking through the cookbook once again. I ran across the recipe "Egg-In-The-Hole" which wetted my appetite so I decided to get up and make them for breakfast. I've actually made these before (we call them Egg In A Basket) but today they tasted so much better than the ones I've made previously. It could be the extra butter the recipe calls for or the fact that it utilizes my iron skillet.

Speaking of my iron skillet, I love it. I really do. And I love the fact that many of Ree's recipes can be done in an iron skillet. This is a cookbook after my own heart.

Okay, carrying on...since I am writing out my grocery list this morning and running to the grocery store later on, I am going to incorporate a few of these recipes in my menu plan this week. I'll be making "Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich" and "Beans and Cornbread" this week. Her recipes look so good that I hope to make one or two new ones a week until I've made them all.

If you don't have this cookbook, you are really missing out! I feel sorry for you, I really really do. :)

Frugal Friday: Are You A Trash Picker?

I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a trash picker, but I do follow the mantra of "one person's trash is another's treasure". I honestly do not see anything wrong in stopping and picking something up curbside if it interests you. Most cities have the law that once it is placed in the garbage it is fair game to all, so no illegal activities are involved.

Not only is trash picking (also known as dumpster diving) good for the environment by saving an item from the landfill, but it is also frugal. Finding something that you can use for free is as frugal as can be. I have seen bookshelves, desks, toy sets, and more all set out on the curb. Around here many people will put a "free" sign on those items, letting others know that it is okay to take them. I, myself, have gotten rid of a lot just by placing items on the curb with "free" on them. So it is a win-win situation. One of the best places to find really good items in the trash are in college towns right around the time that the students are moving out of their apartments for the summer. Everything imaginable can be found in the garbage then as many students don't want to lug furniture or appliances or odds and ends back home or don't have the room for them. If you live in a college town count yourself lucky!

Another great time to find goodies is if your town has a city-wide cleanup day when you can set out anything and the garbage trucks will take it away. Our town does not do this (I wish they did...we have to pay when we have something big that needs to be thrown out) but a neighboring town does. A rich neighboring town. We were lucky to have found a nice bench for our porch by driving around the day that town was having their clean-up. My mom was even luckier by finding a box of retro toy kitchen items that sold for $100 on ebay and an ugly cat cookie jar that also sold for around that price range on ebay.

One of our best finds was this television:

My husband saw this television ready to go out into the garbage at work. It apparently stopped working but my husband asked his boss if he could take it home. We took it to a repair shop just to see if it could be fixed and we were able to get it fixed for just $75. You can not find a flat screen television anywhere for $75 and it works perfectly now. My husband has been wanting a flat screen tv for quite some time now so he is thrilled and I like the fact that since it is mounted on the wall it saves us a lot of space in the living room, especially compared to the huge ugly console television that was previously in there. (Sorry for the bad photo but my flash kept showing up. You get a round of applause if you can name what older show my husband was watching as I snapped this photo.)

Other finds have been a nightstand that is now in the kid's room. It was sitting at the curb with a desk (which I wish we could have gotten but didn't have the room in the van) and was an ugly yellow color. My hubby painted it a pretty purple with black knobs and it is as cute as can be now. A great space for their clock and to hold books.

I found a wooden bar stool as well. It was lonely on the curb so I brought it home. No sooner than a day later I saw a magazine photo which showed a lonely bar stool as a place to put towels in a small bathroom. This was perfect for us as we have a teeny tiny bathroom with very little counter space. There was no where to place our clean clothes to change into or towel to be used as we stepped out of the shower. Now we have a little stool that is perfect for that and it looks nice when guests arrive with a few towels and washcloths and a bar of soap arranged on it.

Don't be afraid the next time you see something on the curb that attracts your interest...stop and pick it up!

Have you found a treasure in the trash? Please share your find with us!

Making Your Own Convenience Food

I ran across two new recipes this week and we have already tried them out and declared them winners. What I especially like about these recipes are that they both should freeze well and can be pulled out as needed. Essentially, you can make your own convenience foods without the preservatives and other nasty stuff that store bought convenience foods often have.

(No, these are not sitting right on my counter, they are in a glass dish. Some are unwrapped and some already wrapped and ready to be put in the freezer. I cut some of the bars smaller for Joe.)

Chocolate Chip, Coconut & Peanut Granola Bars
2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
2 cups old fashion oats (I accidently used quick cooking oats and it turned out ok)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed coconut
1/4 mini chocolate morsels
1/4 peanuts
Directions:
In a large bowl combine the rice cereal and oatmeal. Grease or line a 9×13 inch pan. (I prefer to line the pan with saran wrap because it makes for easy clean up.)

Mix brown sugar, honey and peanut butter in a small sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until just boiling. Add to cereal mixture along with vanilla extract, cinammon, salt, peanuts, coconut and chocolate chips.

Press into the prepared pan using a spatula, spoon or your hands. Set aside to cool, then cut into bars.

You can tailor these to suit your tastes. Omit an item or add more, such as raisins, walnuts or pecans, small m&ms, dried fruit, or whatever your heart desires. Wrap in saran wrap and stick in freezer to store. These should unthaw in less than 5 minutes on the counter and taste as fresh as the day you made them. great for packed lunches or snacks in the car. (Thanks to Hip2Save for the recipe!)

Whole Wheat Rolls
3.5 cups whole wheat flour

2 pkg. (4.5 teaspoons) yeast

2 cups milk

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs

3-3.5 cups all purpose flour
In a large mixer bowl, combine whole wheat flour and yeast. Heat milk, sugar, butter, and salt together just till warm (115-120 F). Add to dry mixture; add eggs. Beat at low speed until combined, then beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. By hand, stir in as much of the all-purpose flour as necessary to make a soft, but kneadable dough.
Turn out onto a floured counter and knead for 3-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a wet tea towel, and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled.
Punch dough down. Divide into 36 pieces.
To make cloverleaves, divide each piece into 3 pieces, shape each into a ball, and place three balls into each section of a muffin tin.
To make rosettes, roll each piece into a long strand, about 8 inches long. Tie into a loose knot and tuck one end into the top of the roll and one end under the roll.
To make swirls, roll each piece into a long strand, about 8 inches long. Coil the strand into a snail-like shape.
Cover rolls, let them rise for 30-40 minutes, or until doubled, and bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

I made several cloverleafs, rosettes, and swirls today. I baked them all and set half aside to stick in the freezer and pull out when needed. This recipe is very simple to follow and they taste wonderful. (Thanks to The Frugal Girl )

Wholesome Wednesday: Kids and Computers

I don't regard technology as a great thing when it comes to computers, television, cell phones, and video games. Don't get me wrong, I think each of those devices have a time and a place. I enjoy my blogging and e-mail and there are occasional television shows and movies that I like. But I think that it is too easy to become dependant on those things and not know how to function without them.

Remember the Y2K craze where we were afraid that the whole system would shut down if it didn't recognize that it needed to roll over to 2000? Luckily, it didn't come to pass but the fact remains that a small glitch in the computer system could send the whole world into shut down mode. It seems that everything these days depends on computers.

I think that we have gone to the extreme when it comes to technology. Kids seem to either be texting, chatting online, playing video games, or watching television in their down time. I rarely (if ever!) hear a child say they want to spend their free time reading a book or playing a board game. I think that's sad. These days kids need to be entertained, instead of entertaining themselves.

We don't have a video game system. My children (ages 6 and under) are not allowed on the computer. We don't have cable so have very limited channels to choose from, and restrict television as well. I'm not against these things, I just don't feel that certain things are a right fit for our family. In due time my children will learn the basics of computers, as I feel in the job market it is a must to have computer knowledge and skills but I don't feel playing games or being online all day helps to gain those skills.

What it all boils down to for me is health and safety. I, personally, don't feel that it is a healthy lifestyle to be engrossed in technology for the better part of the day. There is a reason that America has the biggest population of obese children than any other country. I also don't feel that it is safe to allow certain technology into our lives without parental supervision. Look at the new craze of "Sexting" where teenagers send provocative pictures of themselves via their cell phones to their boyfriends/friends/possibly even complete strangers. Chatting online with complete strangers has gotten many a teenager (or pre-teen) into dangerous trouble. Porn is everywhere in the internet and a google search of something very innocent can turn up some very nasty sites.

I limit the invasion of technology in our home. I don't think my views will change on this even as my children grow.

What are your family rules when it comes to technology? Do you allow unsupervised internet usage or computers with internet hookup in your children's rooms? Do your children have their own cell phones with unlimited minutes and texting? Do you allow R movies to be viewed by your children? I'm curious to hear what rules other parents put on technology in their home, especially those with older children.

Conquering Clutter

I have had it up to here (holds hand way above head!) with clutter. Today I picked up a billion little army men hidden underneath the sofa and chair, under the table, and under my feet as I walk (ouch!). I picked up play food which should have been upstairs next to the kitchen set, not all over the office room floor. I picked up books that haven't been read but were laying all over. I realize that this house is a mess because of all this stuff.

I've realized this before. As a matter of fact, conquering clutter is an ongoing feat. For me it is a daily challenge and I have to admit that we still have much more than we need. I have a huge bag ready to go to Goodwill that I purged from closets this week and hope to have another bag or two before we drop them off. You have to admit, it feels good to drop a bag or box off at Goodwill and walk away a little lighter. I'm saving the better items for our spring garage sale and am boxing all that up am storing it at the bottom of our closet and the large items have been going in the basement. Am I bad for not donating the really good stuff to Goodwill? I hope not...I have more of an incentive to purge my favorite stuff if I have the prospect of making a little money from it.

It is not just me. Recently, the majority of the blogs that I have read have been saying the same thing. It seems that everyone is a little unhappy and disgruntled with the mass of stuff that invades their homes. Stuff does not make one happy, but stuff can definitely make one very unhappy and very stressed out.

One blog that I have been reading for awhile is Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. This woman and her family are now traveling in an RV across the country. She has a delicious decorating style but what really impresses me most is their lack of stuff. They have the basics that you need and not a whole lot more and their RV looks roomy, inviting, and very much like a home. You can go through some of her old posts to see all the small space living that they have done and how impeccable and organized the spaces were.

This motivates me to clear out what we don't need and only keep what we truly love and want. My new goal is to get rid of at least one thing every day. Set it aside for a garage sale, stick it in the Goodwill bag, or throw it away. Today I threw away two plastic cups from the cupboard that no one seemed to use. Poof! Gone! It's a small step but left a space in the cupboard that is encouraging and it felt good to stop hanging onto something that we may someday use.

Another goal of mine is that for one thing we bring into the house, we need to get rid of one thing. That way we will never get overwhelmed with toys, books, or clothes again.

I have worked on this before and need to step back up and conquer this clutter once and for all. It will make for a much more peaceful home environment if we don't have to take care of items in the home that we don't need or even want.

For those of you just starting clutter control, a great resource is FlyLady. You can sign up for their daily e-mail (I recommend the digest version or else you will be bombarded with all the e-mails) which has suggestions on which zone to clean and what to work on that day. It is really great for the beginner or someone like me who has fallen off the wagon.

I have also gotten back into my cleaning schedule,(I will post more about that in a future post) which does help in staying ahead of the game.

Do you have any clutter cutting tips that have helped you? Please share!

Not Me! Monday

On Saturday when we went shopping we did not stop at Long John Silvers to grab a bite to eat. Seeing as how we weren't extremely hungry we did not decide to just share two meals between the five of us (and it truly did end up being enough food for us all!) only to have the man taking our order look funny at us and look around at ALL of us and then take pity on us and give the kids free soft drinks, wash off tattoos, and more. I did not feel like explaining that we really could afford to buy meals for all of us but knew that most of the food would go to waste had we done that. I did not instead keep quiet and avoid glancing in his direction during our meal.

I did not grab a candy bar at the checkout counter on Saturday and totally blow my Lenten resolution of giving up candy. Nope, not me!

Yesterday when we reached a balmy 35 degrees I did not take three (yes, count them, THREE!) walks around the neighborhood. Once with the kiddos and hubby and the other two times with the dogs. I did not declare the weather as delicious and bask in the sun as I strolled along. I guess I was not missing the warmer weather as much as I thought I was! :)

Happy Not Me! Monday!