Big Office Project

Hi friends,

I've just undertaken the huge task of getting my office organized.  I expect to be busy with it for a couple of weeks as I can only dedicate a limited amount of time and energy to it each day.  I'll be posting about it more regularly over at ProjectTwentySix since I'm sure I'll find many, many things to discard.  Feel free to have a look.

Katie

Grocery Shopping - $42.94

I spent a grand total of $5.77 at Fred Meyer this weekend on a gallon of clearance organic milk, 2 loaves of clearance Vita-Bee bread, and a pink of sour cream.  I thought I was doing great on my goal of spending very little on groceries.

Today I planned to go to Albertson's to use the double coupons and to my local QFC to get their "grand reopening deals" which would only total about $12.00.

Sadly, my coupons were in DH's car - at his office - when I took the girls to appointments near Albertson's.  Happily, DH called and needed some paperwork so after naps the girls and I delivered it and picked up my coupon binder.  We headed to QFC and I debated if it was worth it to take all four girls shopping right before dinner.  I decided yes because we were desperate for cheese and they had Tillamook for $4.99.

I ended up buying all this:

The first thing we saw when we came in were pizzas for $2.99 each!  I had just been looking at the pizza deals at Pizza Hut and Domino's planning for tomorrow night when we hide in our dark house and watch a movie.  At $2.99 we would be paying less than half of the lowest coupon price I found.  This was followed by numerous clearance deals I couldn't pass up so I spent way more than I intended but still stayed within my budget of $60/week.

2 pizzas - clearance $2.99 each
2 dozen eggs - $.99 each
2 one-pound packages of lunchemat - $1.99 each
red and green grapes - $.99/lb
3 four-packs of Dannon vanilla yogurt - clearance $.99 each (my kids LOVE this)
baguette slices - clearance $.39
2 Yoplait Simply - clearance $.49 ($.30/1 MCs) = $.19 each
4 Yoplait Greek - clearance $.99 ($.50/2 MCs) = $.24 each
4 large tubs cottage cheese - clearance $1.50 each
Mountain High yogurt - clearance $1.89 ($.50/1 MC) = $1.39
Bananas - clearance $.39/lb
2# brick cheese - $4.99
Boston Cream Pie - clearance $2.79 also for tomorrow night treat

I was keeping a running total in my mind and realized we were up to $35 or so and I had a $5/$50 coupon for the grand re-opening.  I never imagined I'd use it but I decided to pick up a case of baby wipes (we are out and have been using wet baby washcloths for a few days!).  Then I checked for green salsa because it's a primary ingredient in the Chicken la Viva that my family loves.  It was on sale for 3/$5 so I got 3 of those too.

All told, with my $5 off coupon I spent $37.17 on groceries at QFC. 

I decided I didn't need to go to Albertson's after all.  Nothing in their ad rang my bell and by the time DH got home and we got through dinner it would have taken some guaranteed screamin' deals to get me out of the house a third time today.

Katie

Monday Menu Plan

I spent very little on groceries this weekend, but still plan to use the Albertson's double coupons tomorrow so I'll post about that tomorrow night.

There were a few shifts last week so two dinners are duplicating because I never made them

Lunches this week:
Monday - finger food lunch
Tuesday - chicken nuggets
Wednesday - grilled cheese
Thursday - nachos
Friday -soup
Saturday - Macaroni & Cheese
Sunday - PBJ

Dinners:
Monday - Chicken la Viva
Tuesday - Baked Potato Soup
Wednesday - Pizza
Thursday -French Toast
Friday - Macaronada
Saturday - Hot Dogs & Tater Tots for kids (DH & I on a date)
Sunday - Sour Cream Chicken (company again for dinner)

Katie

Weekly Shopping - $64.74

 I needed some spices for a marinade swap this weekend so I headed to Champion Foods in Issaquah to see if they had what I needed.  Sadly they only had one of the spices I needed, coriander, but they had lots of other great stuff!  Garden of Eatin' Chips for $.50 each, large cans of organic crushed tomatoes $.50 each/case for $5, and Annie's Mac'n'Cheese for $.85/case for $9.  I stopped by Fred Meyer for those other spices I needed and for the $3.99 brick of Tillamook Cheese.  Paying full price for spices kills me so I was happy to find Tumeric and Ginger on sale.  But I paid over $7.00 for Garam Masala!  Ouch!  I also found markdown Campbell's soup for $.59 each and I had two coupons for $.50/2 so I got those for $.34 each.

I couldn't find my Cayenne Pepper when I went to put together my marinades so I dashed down to QFC to pick it up along with freezer bags to use with the 40# of chicken I was anticipating.  I also picked up garlic and onion for the marinades.

One more trip to Fred Meyer because I was on a mommy daughter date to pick up apples from a friend and I could tell DD#1 didn't think picking up apples in the rain was too much fun.  So we dropped in to Fred Meyer to have a look at toys with DD#2's birthday in mind (coming up in 2 weeks) because giving gifts is just the delight of DD#1's heart.  We picked up a few good deals while we were there.  Hunt's Sauce was $.79 each, Progresso Soup was $.99 and we had a $1.00/4 coupon so those were $.74 each, Tater Tots were $2.00 and I had a $1.00/2 coupon so those were $1.50 each, and shampoo was $2.50 each with store coupon and I had a B1G1 manufacturer's coupon so I paid $1.25 each for Herbal Essences which I didn't mind because we're on our last bottle of shampoo.  Eek.

In total I spent $64.74 this week, including the shampoo and freezer bags.

Katie

Monday Menu Plan

I did OK not buying a ton of groceries this week (see tomorrow's post), but the pantry and freezer still grew.  I also was busier than I anticipated last week so I have some dinner repeats

Lunches:
Monday - bagels, orange slices, cottage cheese
Tuesday - Lunch out with Daddy
Wednesday - Nachos
Thursday -Grilled Cheese
Friday - Nuggets
Saturday - Macaroni & Cheese -
Sunday -  PB & J

Dinners:
Monday - Chili
Tuesday - Chicken la Viva!
Wednesday - Mac'n'Cheese Pie
Thursday - Orange chicken/rice
Friday - Small Group Potluck - taking dessert
Saturday - Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy
Sunday - Sour Cream chicken over rice pilaf (company for dinner)

Katie

Monday Menu Plan

My cash flow is really limited due to some bulk food purchases the last couple of months and because of Eve's big birthday party a couple of weeks ago.  I used the credit card (gasp!) and am covering those purchases now so I don't have as much for groceries.  I'm hoping to rely on my pantry this week and keep grocery spending to a minimum.  Wish me luck!

Lunches:
M - French Toast
T -  Chicken Nuggets
W - Grilled Cheese
D - Nachos
F -Mac'n'Cheese Pie
S - Soup & Rolls
S - PB & J

Dinners:
M - Pasta, Beets & Garlic Bread
T - Pork Chops & Rice
W - Chicken la Viva
D - Mini Pizza
F - Fast Food
S - Sour Cream Chicken
S - Smoothies & Popcorn

Katie

Lots of Small Shopping Trips

This week was lots of small shopping trips for various things.

 I spent $20.44 at Haggen.  I was early for a commitment so I decided to pop in and use their baking coupons.  I stock up at this time of year because there are such great baking deals.  Anyway, I found a bunch of canned goods in their markdown bin, too.

Haggen Rundown:
Flour - $1.49 with ad coupon
Chocolate chips - $1.69 each with ad coupon
Brown sugar - $.79 each with ad coupon (I buy a ton of this for oatmeal all winter)
Dozen eggs - $.99 with ad coupon (not pictured)
Gourd - $1.53.  I totally got lured into browsing these for decoration purposes because some were gorgeous!  Then one of my kids dropped this one and it cracked.  Of course I had to buy it and of course it was one that looks just like a pumpkin instead of the pretty more unique ones.  Oh Well!
Cucumbers - $.69 each
Bananas - $.61/3
Whole wheat flour - markdown to $1.79
Cans of corn - markdown to $.35 and $.30
Chicken noodle soup (family size) - markdown to $.99
Refried beans - markdown to $.59
Progresso Soup - markdown to $.99 (not that good a sale but it happens to be my favorite variety)
Can of green beans - markdown to $.45 each
Enchilada sauce - markdown to $.89


I also had a  Safeway raincheck to use for peaches for $.77/lb.  The raincheck was for a whole case, but the store didn't have a case.  They said they'd order a case, but of course they didn't receive it from the warehouse because peaches are out of season.  Instead they sold me everything they had which was only about 6 pounds but I suppose some are better than none.  I spent $12.81 on this.

Can of Corn (Not Pictured) - $.79 (Needed for recipe and purchased before Haggen trip with markdown corn. Rats!)
6-packs yogurt - clearance priced $1.34 each
Fage yogurt - clearance priced $.49 each
vanilla - $1.29 (I'm out)
peaches - $5.11

 I also had an Amazon Fresh order this week.  I almost never use this service because groceries are so much more reasonably priced at the store, but sometimes I can find good enough deals and sometimes it's hard to get to the store with 4 kids.  I had to spend $50, but only bought these groceries for $15.39.  I spent the rest on Christmas gifts because there's a reasonable selection of regular amazon items you can order with Fresh.  In particular I was excited to buy Shrinky-Dinks because one of my kids has been asking for them for over a year. 

Tortilla Chips - $2.09 each
15organic bananas - $5.84 (deals section)
Frosting - $1.15 each (deals section)
Fruit Roll-ups - $1.88 (deals section) Package of 10
Cilantro - $1.19


Next I stopped in at QFC near my house for a few ingredients I needed for a black bean salad.  They are remodeling and as it turns out they had about 100 packages of pasta marked down to $.39 each.  I picked up 20 packages because their expirations aren't until 2014 and it's a year's supply.  Now I have find space in the shelf!  I spent $27.21 here.

Fusili - 5 packages $.39 each
Egg free noodles - 4 packages $.39 each
Rainbow Rotini - 3 packages $.39 each
Ditalini - 3 packages $.39 each
Stars - $.39
Spaghetti - 4 packages $.39 each
Romaine - $1.00 each head
Sour cream - clearance priced $1.19 each
Frozen corn - $1.68 each
Green onions - $.85
Zoi greek yogurt - clearance price $.25 each
Lime - $.34
Garlic - $.84
Yellow onions - $1.15
Corn Tortillas - $2.49
Avocado - 5 for $1.00 each

And finally a stop at Fred Meyer last night because of a toy sale that was ending.  Then they were out of the toy!  I picked up ground turkey ($6.99/3 lbs) I needed for dinner tonight and some candy ($2.98 for the 2 packages) while I was there.

Grand Total:
$20.44 Haggen
$12.81 Safeway
$15.39 Amazon Fresh
$27.21 QFC
$9.97 Fred Meyer
$85.82 

This isn't as bad as it could have been considering all the visits to the store, but cash is really tight right now so I think I need to spend way less all around.  It's just hard to trim on groceries this time of year because it's stock-up season.

Katie

Trying Out Spaghetti Squash

So we tried spaghetti squash the other night.  I decided I wasn't going to fight with the kids about it so I just made them macaroni & cheese and put them to bed.  When DH got home I whipped up our dinner.  I was really excited to try this as it has so many of my favorite ingredients and is much like another family favorite we make with spaghetti.

I baked the spaghetti squash in the oven.  I sauteed onions, garlic, and bell pepper in olive oil.  I added tomatoes and the spaghetti squash (amazingly stringy!) just to warm it a bit.  I served it up with feta and a basil sprinkle.  DH ate his right up; cleaned the plate.  I ate the feta and the tomatoes.  The squash tasted great but I couldn't get over the texture.  Maybe I was expecting to taste too much like that other family favorite.

Recipe fail.  But I'll give spaghetti squash another try in a completely different recipe.

Katie