Wow, it seems like it’s been forever since I’ve posted a menu plan – or any post for that matter! Going back to work full-time after being off for two years has definitely proven to be a challenge. But, we’re making it.

I can tell you that meal planning has been the biggest challenge for me so far. I was soooo exhausted the first couple of weeks that I really didn’t know how I was going to make it. Slowly but surely I am falling into a routine.

I’ve been using my Crock-Pot every chance I get, which has been a tremendous help. I am also planning a couple of mini freezer cooking sessions soon, to give me some quick and easy meal options for those nights that I get out of work late. I will keep you posted on those sessions.

I’ve missed doing these menu plans and I believe that getting back in the habit of doing these will help me stay on track. We’ll see how it goes…

Here is my menu plan for this week:

• Beef & Potato Tacos
• Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad, tossed salad
• Potatoes & Sausage, steamed veggies
• Slow Cooker Hamburger Cabbage Soup
• Healthy pasta
• Birthday dinner (I will let Noodle decide on dinner – her birthday is on 12-12-12!)
• Taco salad

Weekly Menu Plan 12/9-12/15 is a post from: Saving Stace

What I learned from this experience…

I can teach my children. After participating in the October Unprocessed challenge for only one week, my kids were already feeling deprived. How discouraging, that our children feel deprived when forced to eat whole foods. This was a huge eye-opener for me.

I began having my kiddos read food labels with me. Not just to teach them about unhealthy ingredients, but to also show them that there are healthy alternatives to the foods that we eat. Cereal was a huge learning experience for them – and they had a blast trying to find a cereal that didn’t have BHT in it! After they went through the entire aisle of common cereals (seriously, I think they looked at every box!), I showed them some healthy, all-natural alternatives.

It’s become sort of a fun game for them, seeking out healthy foods. I certainly can’t complain about that!

No preservatives! This challenge quickly became an “all-natural” challenge for me. It’s just not feasible for me to make every single ingredient from scratch, so I simply changed the rules to make this a challenge that works for me and my family – which was a large point of this challenge.

Back when I first really started reading labels and paying attention to what I was consuming, I refused to buy anything with high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, etc. I didn’t buy any foods that had unnatural ingredients. While this is a wonderful practice, there are so many more unhealthy ingredients that I hadn’t even considered. A huge one was preservatives. I had obviously heard of preservatives and know what they do, but I had never really taken the time to find out what they are made of.

Needless to say, I no longer buy foods that have unnatural preservatives.

Natural foods are everywhere. I made it one of my goals to seek out natural alternatives at Walmart and Dillons, to show that you don’t have to spend a lot of money at health food stores to eat all-natural foods.

We found common, all-natural items all throughout the store – string cheese, crackers, peanut butter & jelly, chips, cookies, lunch meat, sausage, bread, etc. – and most items cost about the same as the unhealthy alternative!

I lost weight! For the first time ever, I lost 3 pounds in one week without even exercising! I was shocked. I didn’t weight myself again during the month, so I’m not sure if I lost any more weight. What I can tell you for sure is that by focusing on eating more natural foods, it resulted in us eating way less processed sugar. I’m sure that this played a large part of my small weight loss.

I also found that I stopped craving sugar and carbs (I have a serious sugar addiction, no joke). It was truly an amazing experience. I highly recommend this challenge to anyone who struggles with sugar addiction, or anyone who is looking for a simple way to begin the journey of eating better!

If you participated in this challenge, I would absolutely love to hear how it went for you and what you learned from this experience.

What I Learned From the Unprocessed Challenge is a post from: Saving Stace

My kids’ elementary school is currently having a food drive, to help stock our local food pantry. As I was gathering items from my pantry this morning, for my kids to take to school, I was reminded of an article I read last year that shaped the way I view food drives.

Last year I came across this article from Lynn at Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures and it really had an impact on how I choose what foods to donate to food drives. I thought with Thanksgiving right around the corner, this would be a good time to share this article with you all.

I will admit to being one of those people that used to quickly grab a few items from my pantry, with little thought as to who would be receiving the items. I thought that just giving any foods would be “doing my part”. While all donations are fantastic, I never really thought about what it would be like to be on the receiving end of the food donations.

I know that there are many families that would consider any donated food a blessing, but Lynn really made me think about what kind of meal I would want if I couldn’t afford to buy a Thanksgiving dinner on my own.  Or Christmas dinner. Or any time of the year, really.

So, before you start gathering items for food donations, I highly encourage you to read this article. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and really think about what you’re giving. It just might change your perspective.

And remember…you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a difference. If you shop smart, a little bit of money can go a long way. All of the items shown in the photo above totaled less than $9, even with some name brand items thrown in! Don’t be afraid to buy mark-down or clearance items…just be sure to watch those expiration dates.

A Season of Thoughtful Giving is a post from: Saving Stace

Well, it’s our first full week of being off of the Unprocessed Challenge. I can tell you that this challenge has definitely made me start reading labels again. I am really glad that we participated and are now back to an all-natural way of eating. No more artificial ingredients for us! Yay!

I’ll be writing about that experience really soon. For now, we’re going to enjoy lots of new-to-us recipes, as well as some old favorites…

Here’s what our menu looks like this week:

For more yummy recipes, check out these posts.

Weekly Menu Plan {11/5-11/11} is a post from: Saving Stace

I announced recently that I will no longer be doing coupon match-ups. While I will admit that I kinda miss doing it, I cannot express enough just how easy it is to do. Time consuming, yes…but also very simple. By doing your own match-ups, you have the freedom to do them whenever you want and on whatever products you choose.

So, as promised, here are some very simple steps and tools to get you doing your own match-ups:

1. Get your ads and make your list. Most stores have their ads online, but I prefer to use a printed ad, since I can circle the products I am interested in. Printed ads are also nice because if there is a coupon available for a product, you can just jot down the coupon info on the ad. I recommend going through your ad and marking/circling the products that you are interested in. This will not only make it easier when you are ready to search for coupons, but (hopefully) this will keep you from indulging in products that you don’t need. After all, if you’re buying products that you don’t need, you’re not really saving money! 
2. Search for coupons. Use the Coupon Database to search for product coupons. You can search by specific product name, a category (such as “facial tissue”), or by dietary restrictions or preferences (such as “gluten free” or “all natural”). The coupon database will show any products that match your search criteria, as well as where the coupon can be located and what the expiration date is. You can actually click on links that will allow you to print the coupon right from the database! 
3. Do the math. Simply subtract the amount of your coupon from the sale price and you have your match-up price. (Yay!) Don’t forget to double your coupon, if applicable.

See? I told you this would be easy! I’d be happy to answer any questions that you have, so don’t be a stranger.

How To Do YOUR OWN Coupon Match-Ups (In 3 Easy Steps!) is a post from: Saving Stace

As you can see, I’ve started including a juice box in my son’s lunchbox (actually, the girls get one, too). This is because I did something really dumb. If you follow Saving Stace on Facebook, you probably heard me talk about trying raw milk recently.

My son has suffered from moderate to severe asthma, allergies and eczema for the past 4 1/2 years and raw milk is known to help with these symptoms, since it contains more nutrients than pasteurized milk.

So I drove to a local (and by local, I mean about 40 minutes away) farm that sells raw milk and raw milk products (yogurt, cheese, etc.) and picked up some raw milk and raw milk cheese. It’s fabulous and our family is really enjoying it. BUT, while I cut out pasteurized milk products from Little D’s diet at home, I completely forgot that he was buying milk at school for lunch every day. Doh!

Needless to say, I went out and bought some Capri Sun Super V juice boxes to put in his lunches. Whew!

Here was our lunch box menu for last week…

• MONDAY: PB&J sandwich, applesauce, Triscuits
• TUESDAY: PB&Honey sandwich, apple slices, Triscuits
• WEDNESDAY: Turkey & cheese sandwich, Triscuits
• THURSDAY: PB&J sandwich, all-natural potato chips, fruit cup
• FRIDAY: No school

With me working full-time now, our kids have eaten a lot of PB&J and Triscuits. We change up the jelly flavors so they don’t get burned out and luckily they love the Triscuits Thin Crisps.

What’s For Lunch? (10/29-11/2) is a post from: Saving Stace

Here was our lunch box menu for last week…

• MONDAY: Leftover spaghetti (using all-natural pasta and sauce), homemade applesauce, mixed veggies
• TUESDAY: Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza, homemade peach cobbler, corn
• WEDNESDAY: PB&J sandwich, Triscuits, all-natural fruit cup
• THURSDAY: Turkey lunch meat, all-natural string cheese, apple slices, Triscuits
• FRIDAY: PB&J sandwich, baby carrots, tortilla chips

What’s For Lunch? (10/22-10/26) is a post from: Saving Stace

It’s Off To Work I Go…

I am happy to announce that I begin working full-time tomorrow. (Yay!) While I love being a stay-at-home mommy, I feel like it’s time for a change. My children are in school all day and I have been blessed with a wonderful job opportunity that I would be silly not to accept.

What This Means For Saving Stace

When I started this blog, my goal was to write about what I am passionate about – raising three fabulous (but slightly crazy ) kids, my journey in healthy eating and wellness and saving money along the way. I will continue to write about my experiences and I would love for you all to join me in my adventures!

I know that many of you utilize my weekly coupon match-ups. Unfortunately, these store deals are quite time consuming. While I will no longer continue doing match-ups, I will give you the tools to do your own match-ups. This will give you the freedom to look up only the coupons for products that you need.

I will be posting instructions on how to do your own coupon match-ups, later on this afternoon. It’s easy, I promise!

But, for now, I’m going to prepare for my crazy day tomorrow by relaxing and doing nothing at all.

Thanks so much for your continued support of Saving Stace. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. I would love to hear from you!

The Times They Are a-Changin’ is a post from: Saving Stace

What a fabulous week! The weather has been gorgeous and the leaves are changing. I loooove the trees this time of year – orange, red, yellow, green. It’s beautiful!

Well, we finally got out of the PB&J rut that we were in last week. Although, I can’t really call it a rut, since we all love PB&J here and my kids don’t mind having it a few days each week. But we do love to try new things and change things up so that we don’t get burned out.

This week we tried organic yellow baby carrots for the first time. I was kind of bummed when my kids didn’t like them very much, but they are very good sports about trying stuff, so I can’t complain.

Here was our lunch box menu for last week…

• MONDAY: PB&Honey sandwich, mixed fruit, Wheat Thins
• TUESDAY: PB&J sandwich, mixed fruit, Gingerbread Mini Muffin
• WEDNESDAY: Leftover Bacon Fried Rice, mixed fruit, Gingerbread Mini Muffin
• THURSDAY: Ham & Swiss sandwich, apple slices, Triscuits
• FRIDAY: Cheese pizza, baby carrots (orange and yellow!) w/peanut butter, whole apple

What’s For Lunch? (10/15-10/19) is a post from: Saving Stace

Here are my favorite coupon match-ups (and other great deals) at Dillons this week. 

Please keep in mind that this is not a list of every sale item. You will still need to browse the Dillons ad before you head out to the store.

You can learn how to get the most for your money at Dillons by clicking HERE. If you are new to the couponing world, you can familiarize yourself with the coupon lingo by clicking HERE.

BUY 5 NOW & SAVE $5 ON A FUTURE SHOPPING TRIP. Store coupon printed at checkout.
Participating items are marked below with “BUY 5, SAVE $5“ 

PRODUCE

Bartlett Pears – $1.49/lb

Gala, Red or Golden Delicious Apples – $1.49/lb

Wonderful Pistachios (Roasted, Salted, 8 oz) – $2.99
Use $.50/1 coupon from HERE (doubles)
Final price: $1.99 ea

Organic Gala Apples – $1.88/lb

Organic Mini Peeled Carrots (16 oz) – $1.50

MEATS/SEAFOOD

Kroger Value Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – $1.89/lb

Tennessee Pride Country Sausage (Select Varieties, 16 oz) – $2.50
Use $1/1 coupon from HERE
Final price: $1.50 ea

Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage (Select Varieties, 13.5-14 oz) – $2.97
Use $.55/1 coupon from HERE (doubles to $1.00)
Final price: $1.97 ea

Kroger Ground Beef (Fresh, 73% Lean, Sold in a 5 lb Roll for $9.95) - $1.99
For those of you interested, Dillons no longer purchases ground beef with “pink slime”. Yay!

DAIRY/REFRIGERATED

Dillons Milk (Vitamin D, 2%, 1%, 1/2% or Skim, Half Gallon) – $1.50

Kroger Butter (Select Varieties, 16 oz) - $2.49

Dillons 18 ct Large Eggs (Grade AA) – $1.99

FROZEN

Tombstone Pizza (Select Varieties, 16-27.7 oz) – $2.50
There’s a coupon HERE for a FREE Nestle Fun Size bag of candy WYB (4) Tombstone pizzas.

Bertolli Meals (Frozen, Select Varieties, 24 oz) – $5.99
Use $1/1 coupon from the 9/30 RP insert
Final price: $4.99 ea

PACKAGED/CANNED/BAKING

Campbell’s Chunky (18.6-19 oz) or 100% Natural Soup (12-19 oz) – $1.25
Use $.75/2 Campbell’s 100% Natural Soups coupon from HERE (doubles to $1.00)
OR Use $.50/2 Campbell’s 100% Natural Soups coupon from the 9/16 SS insert (doubles)
OR Use $.50/3 Campbell’s Chunky Soup coupon from HERE (doubles)
Final price: $.75-.92 ea

Bob’s Red Mill Flour or Mixes (Select Varieties and Sizes) – 30% OFF

Glutino Gluten-Free Items (Select Varieties and Sizes) – 30% OFF
Use $1/1 coupon from HERE
Final price: varies

Chef Boyardee Pasta (Select Varieties, 7.5-15 oz) – $1.00
Use $.50/4 coupon from the 9/16 SS insert (doubles)
Final price: $.75 ea

Rotel Tomatoes (10 oz) – $1.00
Use $.50/2 coupon from the 9/16 SS insert (doubles)
Final price: $.50 ea

Hunt’s Tomatoes (Select Varieties, 14.5 oz) – $1.00
Use $.40/3 coupon from the 9/16 SS insert (doubles)
Final price: $.73 ea

Betty Crocker SuperMoist Cake Mix (Select Varieties, 15.25-18.25 oz) – $1.25 *BUY 5, SAVE $5

Kroger Value Granulated Sugar (4 lb) – $1.99

Kroger Flour (Selected Varieties, 5 lb) – $1.99

Nestlé Toll House Morsels (Select Varieties, 10-12 oz) – $2.29
Use $.50/2 coupon from HERE (doubles)
Final price: $1.79 ea

Skippy Peanut Butter (Select Varieties, 15-16.3 oz) – $2.50
Use $.50/2 coupon from HERE (doubles)
Final price: $2.00 ea

BREAKFAST/CEREAL

Quaker Instant Oatmeal (Select Varieties, 11.2-15.1 oz) – $2.00
Use $1/2 coupon from the 9/30 Pepsi Moments to Save insert
Final price: $1.50 ea

Cascadian Farm Organic Cereal (Select Varieties, 8.5-17 oz) – $2.99
Use $.85/1 coupon from HERE (doubles to $1.00)
OR Use $.75/1 coupon from HERE (doubles to $1.00)
Final price: $1.99 ea

General Mills Cereal (Select Varieties, 11.8- 18 oz) – $2.50 *BUY 5, SAVE $5
Use $.50/1 Golden Grahams or $.50/1 Cocoa Puffs or $.50/1 Honey Nut Cheerios coupon from HERE (doubles)
OR Use $.75/1 Multi-Grain Cheerios coupon from HERE (doubles to $1.00)
OR Use $1/2 coupon from HERE
Final price: $1.50-2.00 ea

SNACKS/GUM/CANDY

Tostitos Tortilla Chips (Select Varieties, 9-13 oz) – $2.50
Use $1/1 coupon from the 9/30 Pepsi Moments to Save insert
Final price: $1.50 ea

Chips Ahoy Cookies (Select Varieties, 9.5-15.25 oz) – $2.00
Use $.50/1 coupon from the All You Magazine, Sept 2012 (doubles)
Final price: $1.00 ea

Lay’s Stax (5.5-5.75 oz) – $1.00
Use $.55/3 coupon from the 9/30 Pepsi Moments to Save insert (doubles to $1.00)
Final price: $.67 ea

Snickers or M&M’s Candy (Select Varieties, 17.9-22.5 oz Bag) – $5.00
Use $1.50/3 coupon from the 9/16 RP insert
Final price: $4.50 ea

BEVERAGES

Pepsi (Select Varieties, 2 Liter) – $1.00
Use $1/2 Pepsi Next coupon from the 9/30 Pepsi Moments to Save insert
Final price: $.50 ea

HOUSEHOLD/CLEANING/PAPER PRODUCTS

Cascade ActionPacs (Select Varieties, 16-20 ct) – $3.99
Use $1/1 coupon from the 9/30 PG insert
Final price: $2.99 ea

Puffs Facial Tissue (Select Varieties, 224-372 ct) – $4.99
Use $.25/1 coupon from the 9/30 PG insert (doubles)
Final price: $4.49 ea

PERSONAL CARE

Crest Toothpaste (Select Varieties, 4-6.2 oz) – $1.00
Use $.50/1 coupon from the 9/30 PG insert (doubles)
Final price: FREE

*Please note that Dillons eCoupons do NOT double*

Dillons Weekly Deals 10/17-10/23 is a post from: Saving Stace