Menu Changeup

I made some changed to the menu this week due to an excess of weird buns.  Let me elaborate.

I had my freezer meal swap last night.  I made pulled pork and decided to make buns from scratch instead of buying them.  My friend, Lora, makes these buns and they are awesome!  So a few days ago I made a half batch to eat with our own pulled pork dinner.  They were OK, but a little chewy.  Definitely not golden like I remember Lora's being.  Hm.

So I tried again yesterday afternoon.  I realized that when I had halved the first batch I hadn't halved the eggs.  Whoops!  That would explain the chewiness.  My first batch yesterday was better, but still too flat.  So I tried letting it rise a little longer and Bingo!  I ended up baking about 40 "good" buns so I gave everyone in my swap those plus a couple of the 'flat' ones so they'd hopefully get used.

But I still had about ten of those double egg ones leftover from a couple days ago and another dozen or so from yesterday of both the flat batch and the ends & pieces that I baked up.  I really hate to waste food so I changed the menu.

Today we had pizza bread for lunch.  I used about 8 of those buns cut in half with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella.  When I ran out of mozzarella I finished off with a big of shredded jack I had in the freezer. 

But still there are at least a dozen buns on my counter!  So tomorrow morning I'm making sausage gravy for breakfast and we'll eat it over the buns.  DH loves sausage gravy and it'll make a good send-off breakfast before we take him to the airport for his weekend in LA. 

I'm pretty sick of buns! 

Katie

What's a Finger Food Lunch?

I had a friend ask me about Finger Food Lunch recently.  Basically it's when I don't have lunch planned and I just look through the cabinets and fridge to assemble something.

This week it looked like this:

Bagels are in abundance this week so each girl got to choose her favorite kind (cheesy, plain, or poppyseed) and choose toasted or untoasted.  I had two hard boiled eggs in the fridge so they each got a half.  The younger girls got blueberries and the older girls asked for apple slices.  I cut up one carrot and split it between them all.

Not too exciting, but we've had some fun ones with pickles, olives, almonds, various cheeses, canned mandarin oranges, raisins, etc.  Basically it's whatever I can find!

Katie

Monthly Update

Hi friends,

I'm finally posting our monthly update and progress report for October.

1. We DID save for our emergency fund in October.  Hurrah!  It wasn't too much but we're over 23% of the way toward our goal.  It does sound terribly small, but we are so thankful that it is creeping up at all!  We have had significant expenses this fall related to an 'investment' property and are still trying to cover the cost of the airline tickets purchases in September plus an additional ticket just purchased so DH can attend an out-of-town wedding.  Our goal is to save again - and I'm aiming for 3% even though it's Christmas and there are all these expenses to cover.

2. I've been trying the one load of laundry per day and it's been working about 70% of the time.  The challenge is getting the laundry folded and put away.  One success has been folding a load first thing in the morning while DH and have Bible study together.  He reads and we discuss while I fold.  If he'll continue to tolerate my multi-tasking I think I may have found a winner!

3. I have been posting pretty consistently on ProjectTwentySix.  I think the office reorganization and sorting has been a great motivator.  You can check it out here.

4. I kept my thankful list in October and I'm so glad!  It's such a blessing to remember how loved and cared for we are.  Praise the Lord for his provision!

Thank you to Naomi, Grandma Janet, Ted & Jenny, and Dan & Amy for remembering Eve's birthday and sending her gifts to open on the big day.  Thanks also to John & Vanessa and Mary & Tony whose gifts arrived soon after her birthday.  Thanks to Jennifer who has a kiddo in therapy at the same time I do and was able to give my car a jump when I accidentally left the headlights on.  Thanks to Sarah for coming over for lunch and bringing an amazing butternut squash soup.  Thanks to Kracinda for always offering such encouraging words on this site and over at ProjectTwentySix.  Thanks for a great visit from Mary & Tony and for Mary remembering I was interested in hanging cabinets from Grandma's estate.  Thank you to Tammy and Lauren for their daughters' hand-me-downs.  These are a true gift.  Thank you to Liza for letting me come pick up apples out of your yard and off your tree.  Thanks to Jennifer for bringing me apples and Carly for bringing me pears.  And belated thanks to Renee who brought me canning lids in September, but I found them weeks later and they are numerous!  Hooray!

Goals for November:
1. Save 3% of emergency fund goal
2. Keep laundry caught up
3. Keep posting on ProjectTwentySix
4. FINISH office organization - you can watch progress on www.projecttwentysix.com
5. Keep a thankful list in November

Katie

Albertson's Double Coupons - $6.00 Shopping Trip

I stopped by Albertsons to use the double coupons today.  I have to confess that I really dislike taking all my kids into the grocery store.  They all fit today in the police car cart but tall 6 & 7 year olds don't fit well into the molded plastic seats and the 3 year old, strapped into the cart front next to her 2 year old sister, wants nothing more than to "drive" with her older sisters.  It was also lunchtime so the kids were hungry and I got the usual comments about their number and gender.  Gah! 

These huge boxes of Kix were on sale $3.00 each with a "$1 off next shopping trip" coupon printed with the purchase of 2.  I also used a $1/2 MC that doubled to make these 18 oz. boxes only $1.50 each.

The Uncle Ben's rice was on sale for $1.00 each and I had a $1/2 MC that doubled so I got these for FREE.

The 16 oz. creamer was on sale for $1.50 each with a "$1 off next shopping trip" coupon printed with the purchase of 2.  I also used a $1/2 MC that doubled to make these FREE.

The olives were on sale for $1.50 each with a "$1 off next shopping trip" coupon printed with the purchase of 2.  So it's like $1.00 each.

I also bought a generic jar of cinnamon for $1 because we're low.  I usually buy it at Costco but we're out now and it's worth the dollar to keep the culinary peace at home.

I paid $9.00 out of pocket and have $3.00 off in store coupons for my next visit.  Total cost = $6.

Katie

Monday Menu Plan

These must be the most boring posts for you to read.  Sorry about that!

Lunches:
Monday - Finger Food Lunch
Tuesday - Nachos
Wednesday - Grilled Cheese
Thursday - Bagels & Orange Slices - Packed Lunch
Friday - Hot Dogs
Saturday - Blueberry Pancakes
Sunday - Nuggets

Dinners:
Monday - Hot Dogs
Tuesday - Pulled Pork
Wednesday -Pasta/Red Sauce
Thursday - Chicken Taco Soup
Friday - French Toast
Saturday - Soup & PBJ
Sunday - Sausage/Veggie Soup

Katie

Weekend Grocery Shopping - $45.06

I amazed myself this weekend at QFC.  I was aiming for a $50 grocery bill so I could use my $5/$50 coupon and lower all my grocery prices by 10%.   Would you believe my grocery total was $50.06?!  Yep, so $5 off makes a grand total of $45.06.  Not bad for all this:

Quart Coffeemate Creamer - Markdown to $2.50 ($.55 MC)(10%) = $1.75
Gallon Organic Milk - Markdown to $4.00 (10%) = $3.60
Dole Fruit Juice - Markdown to $.99 ($1.00 MC) = FREE
4 StoveTop Stuffing - Sale price $.79 ($1.00/2 MC)($1.00/2 MC)(10%) = $.26 each
1 StoveTop Stuffing - FREE with  B4G1 MC an employee handed me while I was in line.  I'm almost positive the same employee gave me an identical coupon last year.  He also ran and grabbed me a 5th box while my groceries were being checked.
Oranges - Sale price $.69/lb (10%) = $.62/lb
2 Dozen eggs - Markdown to $2.00 ($.50/1 MC)($.50/1 MC)(10%) = $1.35 each
5 - 2# Tillamook Cheese - Sale price $4.99 (10%) = $4.49 each
8 Yogurt - Markdown to $.25 each, some regular, some Greek (10%) = $.22 or $.23 each
4 YoPlus Parfaits - Markdown to $.50 ($1.00/4 MC)(10%) = $.22 or $.23 each
Bananas - $.69/lb (10%) = $.62/lb
Apples = $.69/lb (10%) = $.62/lb

Overall I thought these deals were Awesome!  Especially the cheese for only $4.49 for each brick.  And I may go back for more apples before the sale ends Tuesday.  $.62/lb is really excellent and I need to make more applesauce to see us through until next summer. 

Albertsons also had double coupons in today's paper so I may use them Tuesday as well when I have an errand near Albertsons.

Katie

Weekly Grocery Shopping - $44.11

I am super late with my grocery shopping post this week.  Busy with politics, I guess.  

Saturday I did my normal shopping at Fred Meyer.  I scored on milk and markdowns.  I spent $18.79 and cancelled our milk delivery for the week which usually runs about $12.

Organic Milk - 2 gallons at $1.40 each on clearance!  One went into the freezer for cooking later.
Regular Milk -  $1.59 on clearance
Chocolate Milk - $1.79 on clearance
Sour Cream - $1.25 on sale and $.40 off FM coupon I got in the mail = $.85
Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns - $.79 on clearance
Whole Wheat English Muffins - $.49 each 6-pack on clearance
Vita-Bee bread - $.99 on clearance  and $.25 off FM coupon I got in the mail = $.74
Tillamook yogurt - $.33 each with coupon in the Sunday paper
Rice Pilaf - $.89 each REGULAR PRICE (This almost never happens on dry goods)
Bacon - $2.99 on sale with $1.00 MC = $1.99
Pillsbury Cookies - $1.29 on clearance.  One of my kids had wanted this for weeks and I told her if I found it on sale after Halloween we could get it.  Just keeping my word.
Bananas - $.64/lb

I also bought a hair product I love for $6.49.  It is a huge splurge for me but I haven't seen it on sale and I have been our for weeks.  I finally decided to buy it with a $2.00 off coupon, but when I went through the checkout my coupon wasn't scanned.  I don't know if it stuck to another coupon or what but I was really disappointed and went to customer service to return it.  =( 


 Safeway
 Next was a trip to Safeway for cereal with kid in tow.  My kids have been desperate for cold cereal and I have been carefully watching prices.  I spent $21.42 and had the distinct pleasure of my 7 year old telling me I was embarrassing her while we were checking out.  It was my first time!  And I told the checker about it which embarrassed my kiddo even more.  Whoo! 

 Cereal was $1.69 if you bought at least 4 boxes. 
These six boxes were $10.14 and my coupons were ($1/3)($.75/1)($.40/1)($.50/1) = $7.49 or $1.25 each
The $.40/1 coupon was for Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and was from the 80's with no expiration date but did have a barcode.  It scanned!  And I said Whoo-hoo!  And that's what embarrassed Eve.  =) 
Wesson oil - $2.99 on sale
Flavored Creamer - $2.79 on sale
Brown Sugar - $1.99 each on sale (qty 2, $.50/1 coupons) = $1.49 each
Tortillas - $1.69 each on sale
Eggs - $1.99 on sale



Albertsons
I went to Albertsons to use the double coupons onTuesday.  I got more cereal.

Cereal was $1.88 each and you had to buy 5.  I had $1/2, $1/2 and $.50/1 manufacturer's coupons.  When I was checking out the checker mistakenly doubled each at $1.00.  I pointed out that one was supposed to be $.50 and he shrugged and said it was OK.  He was a manager who had been called in to help with checking so I decided to take the extra $.50 and be thankful! 

These 5 boxes of cereal were $3.90 or $.78 each

Katie

Menu Plan

I am glued to my computer for election results and feeling guilty.  I decided to post a menu plan so I can feel better about myself and think I was productive. 

Lunches:
Monday - Bagels/Fruit
Tuesday - Nachos
Wednesday - Hot Dogs/Fruit
Thursday - Macaroni & Cheese Pie (Naomi's Birthday Choice)
Friday - PB & J
Saturday - Mini Pizza
Sunday - PB & J

Dinners:
Monday - Bagels
Tuesday - Orange Chicken
Wednesday -French Toast & Bacon
Thursday - Chicken Nuggets & Tater Tots (Naomi's Birthday Choice)
Friday - Bible Study Potluck - I'm providing Chili
Saturday -Chicken La Viva
Sunday - Baked Potato Soup (Company for dinner)