Getting ahead

Grocery round up Nov 10th

2009-11-10T11:29:00.002-05:00

I went to 2 stores this week. Above is my Giant Eagle purchases. I spent a total of $35.20 there. I got the following.

3 packs hamburger buns
pack hotdog buns
4 Dole fruit cups - 2 for $1.50 each and 2 for $.50 each
english muffins
bread
coffee creamer
2 things yogurt
2 gallons of milk
24 oz bag of chocolate chips
bananas
tomatoes
grapes
apples
carrots
3 25 oz boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios - used the rain check from last week along with coupons, making these just $2 a box - great for such large boxes

In light of running out of several key items and many snack foods, I decided to pull an extra $50 from the budget to make a trip to Wal-mart. There are a few items I can either only get at Wal-Mart, or are so much cheaper there that I can't bear to get them anywhere else. I have been running low on quick lunchbox foods and this week I got a few things specifically for that.
My total at Wal-Mart was $68.17 for food. I got the following.

lemons
garlic
bananas
kiwi
bag of grapefruit
bagels
reduced loaf of bread from the bakery
eggs
popcorn
muenster cheese
1 lb pack of turkey
4 Buddig meat packs
string cheese
summer sausage
2 cans water chestnuts
taco seasoning
2 lunchables
Red Baron pizzas
sunflower seeds
pepperoni
2 packs frozen sausage
rice milk
wheat thins
ritz crackers
crackerfulls? They were free with the ritz
peanut butter crackers
6 pack applesauce
4 frozen OJ
crushed rosemary
pumpkin pie spice
brown sugar
pringles

My total for this week comes to $103.37. I lost track of where I was at at the grocery store and ended up going over a little. I was under budget for toiletries this week, so I pulled from there. Most of what I got at Wal-Mart will last us more than this week. So, it wasn't a great week for us for grocery spending, but hopefully I can get back on track for the next few weeks and keep it under $50 a week.

*This post is linked to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Monday Menus

2009-11-09T08:22:00.003-05:00

We are enjoying an Indian Summer this week and I love it! We are trying to soak up as much sun as possible before the gloom of December and January hit. We spent yesterday outside and it was so nice. Here are our meals for the week, in no particular order.

tacos

chicken sandwiches

sausage rigatoni bake + 1 for the freezer

pizza

hamburgers

hashbrown casserole

My $50 a week grocery budget has been going well, but we are running through much of my stockpile. Not everything, just certain things, like cereal, cheese and snacks and the fresh produce is getting expensive this time of year. I used the last of the milk this morning, so I am off to the store to see what kind of deals I can find.

I was trying to avoid Sams Club for another 2 weeks, but Kevin informed me today that we have about 3 days left on the dog food. I thought we had 1/2 of the 50 pound bag left. There are things that I need from Sams, but it will take all of my weekly budget, unless I put extra in there. Not sure what I will do. Maybe there will be some dog food on sale at the grocery that I can combine coupons with? I knew I couldn't keep up this budget forever, but I was hoping to get through November with it.

100 Ways We Save Money - Part 7

2009-11-06T08:24:00.002-05:00

I am slowly working my way through a series on 100 ways we save money. It has made me more aware of all the little things we do each day that add up to big savings and I hope it gives y'all some ideas. You can read about part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6 by clicking the links.

#36 - I can our own food. When we get great deals on produce, I preserve it to use all year.

#37 - We don't eat a lot of meat. Meat is more of a side dish for us. I have heard so many reports about how Americans eat too much meat and that the actual portion size is about the size of my fist - or 4 oz. When we do eat meat, I will usually only cook 1 lb at a time for 6 people. Keep in mind I have small kids though.

#38 - We pay many of our bills online. I save about $3 a month in postage by doing this - or $36 a year, which is a tank of gas in my husbands car. Well worth it.

#39 - We keep our monthly bills to a minimum. We have combined where we can to reduce the number of bills, but we also don't sign up for lots of bills. Many people consider things like Netflix a given today, but you don't have to sign up for those services. The less money we have committed to someone else each month means more money in our savings account.

#40 - When I run the washing machine or the dishwasher I run full loads. When my husband thinks it is full I can get many more items in. They use the same amount of water, energry and detergents, so I get the most bang for my buck and pack them full.

*This post is linked to Life As Mom's Frugal Fridays.

Bargain Meal of the Week

2009-11-05T14:32:00.003-05:00

Every Thursday I post a bargain meal of the week for $5 Dinners. I use the Giant Eagle ad for NE Ohio. There are some good baking sales going on this week, as the stores gear up for Thanksgiving. But for the meal, we will take advantage of Giant Eagle's low chicken prices. Chicken leg quarters are $.79 a pound, making for a very frugal dinner.

2 lbs chicken leg quarters $1.58
1 lb potatoes $.60
1 lb fresh green beans $1.49
salt & paprika $.10
butter & milk for mashed potatoes $.25
tablespoon of oil $.10

For the chicken legs, sprinkle salt and paprika on them (to taste) and sear in hot oil on the stove. Once the outsides are nice and brown, transfer them to the oven to finish cooking. While this is cooking make your mashed potatoes and green beans. Dinner should be ready in about 30 minutes for a total of $4.12. Yum!

Have you thought about Christmas yet?

2009-11-04T14:09:00.003-05:00

I have. I have thought and thought and thought about it. But have I done anything about it yet? Not really. I have a small handful of gifts bought, but I would say 80% of what I have to do is still left to do. Fortunately we save money all year to pay for Christmas. No credit cards for us. No bills to worry about in January. I hate worrying about bills.

I was supposed to hit some stores this week and see if I could come up with some ideas, maybe actually buy some gifts. But I have been home bound with sick kids, so I have just been doing more thinking. Fortunately I talked to my mom and she has finished buying for my kids. And she got 2 of them things we were planning on getting them. Which is fine, but now I have to think of something else LOL, which isn't fine, because I had a hard time coming up with the other ideas.

I am a planner by nature, so thinking things through really helps, but I am ready to take action and I can't right now. I NEED to get out of this house. But that won't happen until at least tomorrow, so I am going to take advantage of a sick kid one more time. Luke doesn't normally sit still for long enough to snuggle, but boy is he being sweet today. He is feeling a bit better and I thought the fever was gone. But it came back after lunch and he just wants to lay around. Now is my chance! Of course I will probably get sick, but they grow up so fast and I don't want to miss it. I can think some more while I snuggle.

How is everyone else doing on their holiday shopping?

Is pureeing my own pumpkin worth it?

2009-11-03T15:01:00.002-05:00

I have had many people say that it isn't worth it to puree my own pumpkins each year. Yes it can be time consuming, but I think it is worth it. Here is how it went this afternoon.

I got the pumpkin in the oven around 10:30. I pulled it out at 11:30 to let cool. After lunch, around 12:45 I started scooping out the puree. I processed 12 cups of puree. While I had already made a mess of my kitchen, I figured I would make some pumpkin bread while I was at it. When I finished making 2 loaves of bread, 24 mini-muffins for snack and 6 full muffins for the freezer, and had gotten the other 10 cups of puree in the freezer it was 2:00. Combine that with the 20 minutes I spent in hands on time roasting the pumpkin seeds on Friday and for about 2 hours worth of work I have a lot of good foods. 12 cups puree and 2 cups seeds.

Now to buy those same products from the store would cost me $10 or more, as the seeds can be pricey. Then I would have all that packaging to dispose of. We buy a pumpkin or 2 each year regardless of whether I process it. The 12 cups of puree and 2 cups of seeds are just a bonus from 1 medium size pumpkin. I can make homemade muffins, breads, rolls, etc all year from the pumpkins I puree myself. (I have lots left from last year, so I am only processing 1 pumpkin this year.) I am not dependent on the grocery store or the manufacturing plant for this product. That makes me very happy. Yes it can be time consuming to do things yourself, but the satisfaction once done is much greater than how I feel when I come home with something bought at the store.

Grocery round up Nov 2

2009-11-03T09:05:00.002-05:00

Between my husband and I, we hit 3 stores this week. There is a discount grocery store in the town he works. I noticed they had Pomegranates (from the US) on sale 2 for $3. An early treat and boost of antioxidants - just what we need right now.
Friday I hit Acme. I got a red bell pepper, 3 yams, 3 lbs of apples, milk, 2 Goldfish (b1g1), soy sauce, eggs and milk. The total was $12.38
At my main store, I took advantage of some great deals, and didn't take advantage of some great deals. I had to get rain checks for the 25 oz boxes of cereal that were 3 for $10 as well as the B1G1 Honeysuckle turkey tenderloins I was after. That ended up keeping my total pretty low and it allowed me to get some items that weren't essential this week, but would have been come next week, like bread and hotdog buns. I also got some OJ, not on sale, but needed to help the kids get better and stay hydrated.

I have to bring soccer snack next week for Luke's team and luckily the capri suns and teddy grahams were on sale and I had coupons. $4 to bring a snack of individually wrapped and prepared stuff for a soccer team is pretty good in my opinion.

I got apples, grapes, tomatoes, bread, hot dog buns, 2 large boxes of Triscuits, 5 lb flour $1, 2 capri suns, 12 pack of teddy grahams, stuffing, 2 margarines, milk, 2 6 packs yogurt and 2 4 packs yogurt with granola - each $.50, and OJ. Total spent here was $28.31. My total for this week is $43.69, $6.31 under budget. This will be saved to purchase the items I got rainchecks for.

For more grocery round ups, check out Grocery Cart Challenge.

Winter can come now - and leave as quickly as possible

2009-11-02T11:59:00.003-05:00

The leaves are mostly raked.
The garlic is planted.
The wood is chopped.
We got our last hike in of the year. Winter can start now. I just hope it is a quick one. I am already ready for spring. To help us deal with cold weather and illness (hello Swine Flu) I have a menu of comfort foods planned.

Monday - homemade chicken noodle soup with focaccia bread

Tuesday - leftovers

Wednesday - pizza, carrots, applesauce

Thursday - meatloaf, crash potatoes and green beans

Friday - spaghetti, corn on the cob

Saturday - some sort of chicken

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways

2009-11-01T08:39:00.003-05:00

As most people know we are trying to save as much money as we can right now and avoiding all unnecessary purchases. Well, I need a new pan. I have a large (12 inch) saute pan that has high sides and a lid. I use the pan every single day, sometimes several times a day. Well the bottom is peeling horribly and every time I use it, I feel as if I am feeding my family part of this pan. I had thought maybe I would ask for one for Christmas, but didn't really want to wait that long.

Last week, I searched on the Kohl's website for a pan and found a perfect one that I came so close to buying. I had it in my shopping cart and everything. The total was almost $70 - and that was after the sale. But I didn't get it.

Every morning, the neighbor boy comes over to my house for about 30 minutes and then gets on the bus with my kids. I am watching him for free. Last night the family invited us over for a Halloween party. When we got there they gave me a gift card to Kohl's as a thank you for watching their son. Can you guess how much the gift card is for? $70 God is so good.

*this post is linked to Gratituesday's at Heavenly Homemakers.

This kid cracks me up!

2009-10-30T14:16:00.003-04:00

Luke comes up with the craziest things and is always making me laugh. Not only that he seems to always be laughing at something himself. So yesterday when he got off the bus and told me he wanted to show me something I wasn't surprised. I am surprised that I am still laughing about it today.

Let me set the stage. Luke crosses his arms, tries to look very serious, taps his right toe and says in his deepest rapper voice

"Yo, yo
my name is Joe.
I stubbed my toe
on a Cheerio.
Peace (as he throws his hands into the air with the peace sign)."

I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff, but he cracks me up every time and that is definitely a Finer Thing! Sorry about the poor picture quality, I had to whip the camera out as fast as I could to catch him in the act.

Bargain Meal of the Week

2009-10-29T20:59:00.002-04:00

I just finished looking through my Giant Eagle ad for NE Ohio and I have to say it is a very good ad. Too bad I only have $50 a week for groceries because I am going to have to pass up some good stock-up opportunities. Here are some of my favorites.

Honeysuckle turkey tenderloins are B1G1 free. I like to have these as a nice company meal, but I will only buy them when they are B1G1 free.
Gold Medal flour is $2 for a 5 lb bag - there were internet printables available a couple of weeks ago that would make these $1 a bag.
Breyers yogurt packs, the kids yogurt and the 100 calorie packs are $2. There are $.75 coupons that after doubled make these 4 or 6 packs $.50 a pack.

My dinner idea for the week is one of our favorites.

Pasta with Italian sausage and sweet potatoes.

Johnsonville Italian sausage is B1G1 free and if you go by Saturday there are $1 2 coupons. Regularly these are about $4, making them either $1.50 or $2 for this meal.
1 lb yams $.99
San Giorgio pasta is $1 a box, I like to make this dish with rotini
Garlic clove - $.05
1/2 teaspoon of pepper - ? maybe $.01

Total cost for the dinner is $4.05.

Directions

Slice the italian sausage. Brown in a large saute pan, breaking it up as best you can while it cooks. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes while the sausage is cooking. When the sausage is done, remove it with a slotted spoon, leaving a couple of tablespoons of the grease. This provides a great flavor for the sweet potatoes. Steam the sweet potatoes, sitrring to avoid it burning.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking cook the box of pasta per the directions on the box. When the sweet potatoes are tender add a ladle full of the pasta water, the garlic (minced) and the pepper. Then add the pasta and the sausage to the pan with the sweet potatoes and stir well. Sometimes I will add another ladle of pasta water. It is ready to serve at this point, although we sometimes add parmesan cheese to it. I will usually serve this with homemade applesauce or green beans.

For more bargain meal ideas, check out $5 Dinners.

Books on Frugality, Gardening and Food

2009-10-28T21:12:00.004-04:00

This summer I read several very good books that covered the topics of gardening, food and/or frugal living. Not all books cover all topics though. I thought I would recommend them to y'all, as I really enjoyed them. They are mostly non-fiction novels.

The $64 Tomato by William Alexander. I found this book hysterical at times and fascinating that someone to go to the lengths he did for a perfect garden. If you like to garden, I think you will enjoy this book. Oh, and it isn't at all about frugal living.

The Coop by Michael Perry was wonderful. Perry is a great author, I have since read another book by him. The Coop is about a year in his life when him and his wife started a small farm/homestead in an effort to become more self-sufficient. Perry grew up on a farm and the book is filled with frugal living tidbits., that I loved to read about. It isn't often you read about a person's every day life that is chock full of frugality. They also homeschool their daughter, another topic you don't read a lot about.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a great book about eating a more local diet. Barbara Kingsolver and her family vow to eat only foods grown within their county for 1 year. I found it fascinating. This book is full of great recipes and menu ideas, as well as gardening information and a wealth of info on eating locally. It definitely changed the way I think about eating.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. This was the toughest read, as it was very detailed with a lot of information to absorb about the way the United States food system really works. It was fascinating though and a great book to read after reading Kingsolver's book on eating local. This book more than any other changed the way I think about the foods I feed my family.

I learned a lot from each of these books and overall they were very good reads. I don't get a lot of time to read, so when I do pick up a book, I want to learn something from it. If you are interested in these topics, I found the above books wonderful. Now, if y'all have any recommendations for me, I would love to hear them. I am looking for something new along these lines.

Grocery round up Oct 26th

2009-10-26T10:49:00.006-04:00

I hit 2 stores this week. I think in order to keep my budget as low as I want it, that I will have to shop around more. On Friday I needed to pick up some things for a brunch at church, so I got in on the deals at that store. The picture on the left shows what I bought for $25.80.

gallon milk
1/2 OJ
peanuts
2 spaghetti sauce (donation)
loaf bread
sliced cheese
8 oz cheddar
cheese cubes
soy yogurt
3 lb tangerines
6 limes
4 pears
2 packs hotdogs

This morning I went to my regular grocery store and got the following for $25.44.

Breyers ice cream $1
gallon milk
poptarts $.90
2 boxes of teddy grahams
10 dannon yogurts
3 lbs chicken breasts
pack of lunch meat
24 oz bag of chocolate chips $3
4 apples
2 bananas
onion
2 cucumbers
organic carrots
2 tomatoes
hot dog buns

My total for the week is $51.24 - much better than last week. Here is what we are eating for dinner this week.

Sunday - spaghetti, corn and pickles

Monday - leftovers

Tuesday - garlic lime chicken, cous cous, green beans

Wednesday - ham, brown rice, glazed carrots

Thursday - beef stew, mashed potatoes, peas, cranberry sauce

Friday - sausage/apple/sweet potato bake, foccacia bread

Saturday - eating at a Halloween party

* This post is linked to the Grocery Cart Challenge and Money Saving Mom.

Eating Organic on a Budget

2009-10-25T17:15:00.003-04:00

The more I learn about the chemicals in our foods and the way our foods are raised and processed, the more I want to eat organic foods. I want our family to be as healthy as possible and when I look at the research that shows all sorts of strange illnesses and diseases that have come about (or become much more prevalent) since we started mass producing and processing foods, I shudder to think about what I am feeding my kids. Here are some of the ways we try to eat organic on a budget. Keep in mind that we do not eat only organic, but I am constantly striving to increase the amount we do, while not increasing my grocery budget.

Shop the sales. Just like regular foods, organic foods go on sale. Stick with those foods each week and stock up when they are on sale if you can.
Grow your own if you can. Every year our garden gets bigger and I make sure that it stays organic.
Buy in bulk. We have purchased 2 batches of organic meats this way and by purchasing it in bulk, we have gotten it for about the same price as non-organic meat from the grocery store. We found local farms through Eat Wild.
Search for pick your own places near you that use organic methods. We have been able to get massive amounts of organic fruit that I have then preserved for us to eat all year.
Shop Amazon. I know that sounds weird, but they have a large selection of organic products and a few times a year have a pretty good sale on them. You are typically buying a larger quantity, but that brings the price down even more.
Look into joining a coop. I haven't found one near us yet, but I hear of other people that have great success with this.

Taking Inventory

2009-10-23T08:13:00.002-04:00

Because we are trying to keep our grocery bill very low for the next couple of months, I thought it would be a good idea to take an inventory of what I have. I didn't write down everything, I just focused on the meat in my freezer. Keep in mind that in the spring we bought a 1/2 a pig and this summer we bought 60 pounds of grass fed beef from a local farmer.

whole chickens - 2
ground beef - 21 packs, at least 35 pounds
ground sausage - 7
sausage links - 6
brats - 3
bacon - 8
ham - 2
meatballs - 1
ground turkey - 1 large pack
hotdogs - 1
loin roast - 2
pork chops - 1
beef rib steak - 1 small pack
beef for stew - 1
beef roast -1

By doing this inventory, I can see what I have that needs to be used. I won't be spending any money on pork or beef for awhile, but as you can see I am short on chicken. I haven't been able to stock up on chicken for a few months now, just buying exactly what I need for that week. Kevin prefers chicken over anything else, so I need to spend money on chicken over any other type of meat.

Looking at this list I will also make a list of meals that I can make using this meat. This will make my life easier in the the meal planning department, but it will also let me watch for sales on the items I need to complete the meals I come up with. By supplementing with chicken, I should be able to feed my family for two months with the meat I have on hand. What a relief! Taking an inventory really helps me not stress about food so much.

*This post is linked to Life as Mom's Frugal Fridays.

Do you know that saying...

2009-10-22T15:41:00.003-04:00

Cleaning house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling snow while it is still snowing. I came up with another one.

Raking leaves while the wind is still blowing is like shoveling snow while it is still snowing.

I'm not sure why I am bothering with the leaves yet, but I just can't sit back and see them covering my grass. Our leaf pick up isn't for another 2 weeks when it really needs to be happening now. Fortunately the weather has been pretty good so I have been raking every chance I get. But they just keep falling.

And whenever I get a pile going, Ralphie goes and rolls around in it, messing it all up. Its a good thing he is so cute!

Bargain Meal of the Week

2009-10-22T14:59:00.003-04:00

This weeks Giant Eagle ad for NE Ohio looks pretty good! Eggs are $.98 a dozen, which makes me crave breakfast for dinner. Here is a very yummy way to do scrambled eggs and toast.

Ingredients

1 dozen eggs $.98
1/2 pound Jimmy Dean Sausage $1.50
1/2 loaf of bread for toast - $.49

Brown the sausage in a large saute pan until cooked through, crumbling as you go. While this is cooking crack and whisk your eggs. When the sausage is done, just pour the eggs into the pan and stir quickly to incorporate everything together and to get the eggs cooked. The sausage gives it a really nice flavor. Serve with toast. For more bargain meals, check out $5 Dinners.

Total cost for the meal is $2.97. There is plenty of room in the budget for Breyers ice cream for dessert. On sale for $2.50 each, there are $.75 coupons that came out recently. After doubling, you can get a tub of ice cream for $1.

100 Ways We Save Money - Part 6

2009-10-20T07:58:00.003-04:00

I am working through a series on 100 ways we save money. Click on the links to view part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.

#31 - Look for alternative food sources. This can be places to shop or places to forage. I have found that sometimes it really is cheaper to buy food at the drug store, or even milk at the gas station. We have also had great success picking wild blackberries here. Searching for wild blackberries provided many an afternoon snack for us this summer. You can also forage for mushrooms (be careful!), asparagus and salad greens.

#32 - We look for free entertainment. From programs at our library, to concerts downtown and even hiking in the park system. There are so many great things to do in life that really don't require any money.

#33 - Cook multiple things at once and maximize your oven use. I make it a goal of mine to only turn my oven on once a day (I don't always succeed though). I frequently cook breakfast the night before while dinner is cooking, or I will make a homemade snack at that time.

#34 - We keep our heat low. I have heard from many sources that for every degree you turn your heat down you will save 3% off your heating bill. That makes it worth it to me.

#35 - When I hit upon a great sale I buy a lot. For instance I bought 40 boxes of pasta a couple of months ago. Some issues to consider when stocking up like this are expiration dates, storage and whether you will actually use that many of something. We have pasta about twice a week, so 40 boxes is nothing for us.

Grocery round up Oct 19

2009-10-19T11:05:00.005-04:00

I have gotten into a pretty good routine of doing my shopping on Monday mornings after I get the kids on the bus. I like shopping when the stores are less crowded. I have a new budget now. We are going to try to stick to $50 a week for food items only. I don't see this working long term, but if we can do it for a couple of months it would really help. This pay period I had $20 to spend on toiletry items and I had $13.50 leftover, so that went to groceries. There were several great deals on things that rarely go on sale around here, so I took advantage. I will list the prices of everything, because I know I am always curious to see what others pay for each item.

2 tator tots $5 - $1.50c
4 bagel bits - $8 - 2 $1c
4 heinz ketchup - $8 - buying the above products gave me an $8 catalina to use next time
4 pillsbury cookies - $10 - 4 $.55c doubled - this also gave me a $2 catalina to use next time
3 California pizzas for one - $2.50 - $1c
2 large roasting chickens b1g1 - I bought the largest 2 I could find so $13.49 for both
5 steamfresh veggies - $1 each used 3 $.50c and 1 $.35c - I had another $.50c but she missed it, it should have been $.30 for all 5 bags, but instead it was $1.30
8 pack of juicy juice - $2 - $.75c = $.50!
4 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch - $6 - 2 $1c = $1 a box
loaf of bread $1.69
Yo Plus yogurt - $2 - $1c
Minute Maid OJ - $2.50
Wheat Thins - $3.29 - $1c
Sunflower seeds - $1.99
4 Fresh Pet dog foods - $.99 each - used 4 free coupons
2 gallons of milk
1/2 gallon of soy milk $3.49 - $.75c
large bunch of bananas
large bag of grapes
3 tomatoes

My total was $66.55 - $16 more than I had planned, but it worked out pretty well with my toiletry budget being so low this week. I know exactly where I went over too - the 2 impulse purchases - Wheat Thins and sunflower seeds. I do have $10 to spend next week, so that helps too.

At CVS I had to fill a prescription and used a coupon I found on the counter for a $25 GC when you fill a prescription. Yay! I was torn about doing the advil deal (spend $20 and get $10 back), but when I got there and found $2 coupons on each Advil pack, I knew it was worth it. I put $7 on the GC and got $16.99 in ECB to use next time.
I stopped at Walgreens to get toilet paper. I have refused to shop there for the past few months due to their coupons errors, but on a tight budget I can't be picky. These packs for $3.99 each and I had a $2 off 2 packs coupon - making it $6.50 for 18 rolls of TP.

My total for everything for the week is $73.05. I am pretty pleased with that number, but still hope to do better next week.

*this post is linked to Grocery Cart Challenge and Money Saving Mom.

Order is restored

2009-10-17T20:59:00.002-04:00

We have had our final kid's birthday of the year and order has been restored. My kids were basically all born about 2 years apart. But for some months of the year it appears that it is 3 or 1 and I can never get it straight and have to think way to hard. Now, I am back to 11, 9, 7, and 5. Ah, much easier to remember.

Emma turned 9 on Thursday. We had 4 girls over for personal pizzas that the girls topped themselves. Unfortunately I was too busy running around to get any pictures, but they all loved it and everyone wants to do the personal pizzas every time now. There was lots of playing with dolls and they watched a movie Emma had received as one of her presents. I love simple parties like this. Everyone seemed to have a great time. It was a very frugal birthday party. The only thing I had to buy that I didn't already have on hand was a thing of icing. I made a 9x13 pan of chocolate chip cookies and iced them as her cake.

Now it is time to seriously think about Christmas shopping and figure out what I am getting Kevin for his birthday in December.

Bargain Meal of the Week

2009-10-16T20:51:00.002-04:00

Every week I post a Bargain Meal of the Week for $5 Dinners, based on the Giant Eagle ad for NE Ohio. This week they have whole roasting chickens on sale and I have been waiting on this one for awhile. They are B1G1 free, and it will be the base of our meal for this week. These chickens usually run about $10 a piece, so $5 during this sale. The key to making this a bargain meal is that I will get 3 meals out of this chicken. So each meal will use about $1.66 worth of chicken. What a deal!

Lemon Roasted Chicken with potatoes and green beans

1 whole chicken - $1.66
seasonings - $.50
lemon juice - $.10
1 lb of russet potatoes - $.50
1 bag of Steamfresh green beans - free this week after the $.50 coupon doubled

There is even room in the budget for cookies for dessert. Pillsbury all natural cookies are on sale for $2.50 - $.55 coupon doubled, puts dessert at $1.40 and I don't even have to mix the ingredients.

I like to put my chicken in a large roasting pan, with potato chunks around the outside and sprinkle a mixture of rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper over the top and inside of the chicken. I then either squeeze a fresh lemon or pour a tablespoon or 2 of lemon juice over the top of everthing. Delicious!

If I did my math right, the total cost of this meal will be $4.16. That I can handle for such a nice meal.

The Solution for The Great Pumpkin Shortage of 2009

2009-10-16T08:24:00.003-04:00

Did you know there was a pumpkin shortage this year? I am not seeing it here in NE OH, but I am seeing reports of it all over the web. Apparently 1/3 of the pumpkin crop was damaged in cold weather. I see blogs talking about how you need to buy whatever canned pumpkin you see on the shelves as soon as you see it or there won't be any.

Good news! I have the solution. You can make your own pumpkin puree. It is super easy and it freezes great. Since most people are already buying pumpkins for decoration then it is free food. If you have a pressure canner, you can even can your own pumpkin puree. Every year we get pumpkins for Halloween. On October 30th we carve them and on November 1st I cook them into puree. I always get enough from 2 medium pumpkins to supply us with enough pumpkin to last the year. Here are the steps I take to do it.

Cut the pumpkins into large chunks, depending on how big the pumpkin is sometimes quarters, sometimes more.
Place on a baking sheet and bake on 300 for an hour or so - until the pumpkin is fork tender.
Let cool.
Spoon out the pumpkin insides and put into a large mixing bowl. I use a hand held mixer to puree the pumpkin, a couple of cups at a time.
I measure out the puree into 1 cup portions, because that is what I need for most recipes. I can always pull out 2 bags if I need it.

5 simple steps and I have pumpkin to last the year. The pumpkin shortage of 2009 won't be affecting me, how about you?

*This post is linked to Life as Mom.

Going without a washing machine isn't going to last long

2009-10-14T20:03:00.002-04:00

We officially killed our washing machine last night as it almost caught fire. So it has been 1 day and this isn't going to work for me. I did a small load of clothes by hand in the bath tub and that wasn't fun. Not only did they not really get clean, but it really hurt my finger to wring out everything.

My sister thinks I am kidding, but I am seriously going to her house on Friday to do laundry. I just don't see us getting around to getting a new/used machine until next week. I am partially frozen with indecision as to what to do and we really want to wait until after the mediation on Thursday to make a large purchase. But we probably won't hear anything from that until Saturday or Monday, as all communication is going through the mail. In the meantime, we continue to look on Craigslist and put the word out, but nothing so far.

This is an adventure, right?

Just What my Heart Needed Today

2009-10-13T09:16:00.002-04:00

I was getting dressed this morning when Kevin said that Luke had picked up a book on his own and was reading it. When I came downstairs I grabbed the camera and asked him to do it again. He gladly did and after taking this 1 photo to remember the occasion by I sat down and listened to Biscuit Takes a Walk.

Luke turned 7 last week and reading is finally starting to click with him. But up until now we have had to get him to read to us. He has never picked up a book on his own before and been able to read it. I am so thankful for Luke's perseverance in all things. He is one tough kid and I am so proud of him. It makes me realize that many problems just aren't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. My kid is starting to read and I am so happy.

*This post is linked to Heavenly Homemakers Gratituesday.

Yet another need

2009-10-12T16:23:00.003-04:00

The washer repair man came out today, because our washer has not been working well. The belt keeps coming off, the clothes aren't getting clean, and when it spins it doesn't get the water out. That would be because the drum that holds the clothes is no longer attached to the washing machine. $575 to repair it - the guy says most places won't even make this repair because it isn't worth it. Couple that with a dryer that takes over 2 hours to dry a load of clothes (that isn't soaking wet still) and we need a new set.

I wish I could be creative like Gayle at The Grocery Cart Challenge, but I just don't think we have the money - unless we use the money we have saved to replace the furnace or well pump - whichever one breaks first - they are both on their last leg. But then how will we replace those 2 items when we need that done? We only have $1100 saved to go towards those 2 items - which isn't even enough.

The contract negotiations continue to go downhill, although they are trying again with the federal mediator on Thursday. If the teachers strike, we get no pay at all for however long they strike. I just can't take the stress of it all! The huge reason I am desperately trying to hold on to whatever money we can right now.

I am sorry to be so negative around here lately. I am going to list some things I am thankful for, because it could always be worse.

- We have a roof over our heads (a good one at that)
- We have food to eat
- The leaves are beautiful right now