Sunday Night Meals

I made out my entire February menu last week prior to my shopping trip. I do not have a set weekly plan but will pick and choose off the monthly list. Sunday nights are especially hectic here. I am at church when DH comes in from work. He comes to church afterward. We get home between 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm so I need a quick meal that does not require a bunch of cleanup. I usually turn to my crockpot.

This one was purchased used at a yard sale. It still works great and is the perfect size for a meal for the two of us.

On the menu for Sunday nights this month is:

Chicken Tortilla Soup - We are having this tonight. I cooked black beans yesterday. Those get tossed in with some canned tomatoes, two boneless chicken breasts, and some salsa. I serve it with cheddar cheese (from the large bag purchased at Sam's) and tortilla chips. I have leftover chips but I usually bake some tortillas that I cut in strips.

Chili and Cornbread - I make my own chili seasoning mix and add in some onions and bell pepper to the ground deer meat while it is cooking. I do use the Jiffy mix to make my cornbread as this is what DH likes.

Hot Ham Sandwiches & Barbecue Chips - I got the recipe for the ham from The Homespun Heart. We eat this on homemade rolls. This month we are having chips with the meal since I purchased these as part of the Pepsi promotion.

Cheesy Chicken Chowder - This is a new recipe and I have yet to try it out. DH often feels like a guinea pig since I test so many recipes on home.

I will be sharing the rest of our menu in the coming weeks. It feels great to have a set list of meals so I am not digging randomly in the freezer for something to cook. Shopping for the month is also better for my budget. I tried to use what I had on hand as well to help my budget. I live much too far out in the country to make random trips to the grocery store or a take out place.

Baby Shower

This time last week I was running around trying to get everything finished for my cousin's baby shower. This is her first baby and the first in our family in 17 years. My cousin has always been like a little sister to me so I wanted everything to be special. Here are a few of the photos from the shower.

I borrowed some baby clothes from the mother-to-be to decorate with. The teddy bears were a last minute addition and I used them throughout the church social hall.

A diaper castle was the centerpiece for the gift table. I was not thrilled with how it turned out, but I think it looks cute and fit the baby theme.

I did a large sheet cake iced (pepto) pink and then topped with white chocolate baby shoes. Everyone was amazed with the chocolate shoes. I guess molding candy is not really in around here.

Grocery Shopping

I talked dh into going shopping with me today. I had only intended to buy the items that had coupons which were expiring Saturday. Since I had him with me and had half of my February shopping money and my shopping list made out, I did the February shopping too. I bought some cheese, bananas, and Worcestershire sauce earlier in the week for $4 so I had $11 left plus my $200 February money. Here is what I ended up with today.

First stop was a regional grocery store where I bought two boxes of Ritz crackers and two bottles of Worcestershire sauce for $2.09. That was the last of my Worcestershire sauce coupons.

Next was Dollar General to use up the last two of my Pounce coupons that were expiring Saturday. I was happy to hear that Pounce was continuing their perks program so the codes from these will help get my closer to a nice reward. The total was 64 cents, which I just took out of grocery rather than pet.

Next stop was Rite Aid where I picked up the Fructis shampoo that is FAR this week. I used a coupon on this. I paid $2.20 but will get back $2.99! We also stopped by CVS. Most of the monthly free items were gone, but we picked up three of the nutra-trim and one nasogel. Total was $1.51 and $18.50 in EB. I got back $19.96 in EB to use later so am really only out 5 cents.

Last stop was Wal-Mart. I got dental floss, rice cakes, avocados, nectarines, salsa, flour, canned veggies, coffee creamers, pasta, canned chicken, dried beans, rice, seasonings ice cream, yogurt, cheese tortillas, frozen stir fry mix, frozen corn, reduced sub rolls and pita bread, moonpies, toaster strudel, soap, rice mixes, and a few other odds and ends for $66 oop. Not everything is pictures as the frozen and refrigerated items were put away. Oh, the flowers were leftover from a shower so they are not included.

We did stop for lunch from a fast food dollar menu since we were both hungry and dh was leaving as soon as we got home. That was $6.10.

Even adding that in I have $134 left in my February budget. The best thing is that I have everything needed for the February meals except for some fresh items. It would be great to have money leftover at the end of the month!

Pay It Forward

I am going to be the recipient of a pay it forward from Tammy at Play for a Moment. To pay it forward I will make a handmade gift for each of the first three people who post a comment to this post. You must be willing to post on your blog and pay it forward to three more people.

The rules state I have 365 to make and send the gifts. I assure you I will not wait that long.

Join in! Let me send a surprise your way and let's keep this pay it forward moving!!

Shopping Trip

I went shopping today with $16 in my budget. I had $1 left from last week and $15 this week. I was able to get much more since I had a bunch of extra bucks to use up at CVS today. I discovered late last night that they were about to expire.

At CVS I bought 4-12 packs of Pepsi, 3 bags of chips, SoyJoy bars, four movie theater boxes of candy (for movie nights at home), and 3 greeting cards. After the extra bucks I paid a penny! I received $21 in extra bucks and will send in for the Pepsi coupon rebate.

At Walgreens I bought 3 packages of gum and 2 bags chocolate covered macadamia nuts for $2.17 OOP. I am stocking up on gum for DH and the macadamia nuts were a cheap splurge.

Walmart - squeeze bottles (for use with candy molds), 3 EZ grip Johnson's soaps (free after coupon), Bird's Eye Steamfresh meal for two (free after coupon), 1lb elbow macaroni, cheddar cheese soup, coffee creamer (forgot coupon at home - ugh!), and Dixie coffee cups with lids for taking coffee from home to work for a total of $10.86 OOP.

The last stop was a local grocery store for Worcestershire sauce. Cost after coupon $0.04 - tax only!

My total for today was $13.08. I am not going back into town so there will be no more shopping for this week, which means I am under budget!! Unfortunately dh put everything away before I could get any pictures. He was being really helpful so who am I to complain.

Menu Plan Monday

I did not use a couple of my meal ideas from last week so I am throwing those back into rotation for this week. Here are my planned meals:

Pizzas
Pancakes and bacon
Crockpot chicken tortilla soup
Sloppy joes
Stew beef rolls
Turkey, stuffing, green beans
Chili and cornbread
Herb crusted salmon, salad, rolls
Steak Dijon, asparagus, and macaroni and cheese
French dip sandwiches
C.O.R.N - with all this cooking we will need a clean out refrigerator night!

Stretching Leftovers

I try to save all the leftovers I can. Most end up in small containers in my refrigerator freezer compartment. Every couple of weeks I dig around in there and see what I have to work with for a meal or two. A few weeks ago I cooked tacos and had leftover taco meat. I also cooked 2 pounds of black beans and froze in 2 cup portions. I did the same with a pound bag of brown rice. I figure it takes just as much gas and time to cook the entire bag as it does one serving.

Earlier this week I pulled out all three items. I mixed the rice and leftover taco seasoned meat together, added the black beans, and some thawed frozen corn with lettuce, tomatoes, and ranch dressing for the taco salads. I did not use all of the rice/meat mixture or the black beans.

So the next day I put both together along with the salsa from an almost empty jar, some taco sauce, and a bit of spicier green salsa plus some shredded cheddar cheese. This was wrapped in whole wheat tortillas and baked in the toaster oven until crispy. I think the mixture was better the second time around.

On their own none of these items would have been enough for more than one serving. Mixed together with some other ingredients on hand I ended up with two extra meals. Be creative with those leftovers. If you only have a single serving of a meal left, pop that in the freezer. You have a homemade frozen dinner for another day.

I apologize for the lack of pictures. We were too busy eating to drag out the camera.