This week's grocery total

Today has been rather successful in spite of my kids having a cry-fest for much of the morning. They're all needing extra love and cuddles today. But I am dressed, the bed is made, my kitchen is clean, 2 loads of laundry are ready to fold, a load of diapers is washed and in the dryer, and I'm getting ready to start lunch. Now, where did I put my patience, Lord?

So far, our grocery & household total spent for the month is $38.35 plus the $50 monthly dues to Gleaner's yesterday. We're 1/3 of the way through the month and have only spent $88.35 of the $200 maximum, but the $38.35 was actually from last month's budget, so we've really only spent just under $50 out of this month's budget.

Weekly Gleaner's Trip
1 loaf wheat bread
1 small container contact solution
16 oz sour cream
8 oz cottage cheese
1 pkg cheese-filled breadsticks
2 med/lg pkgs frozen veggies
1 frozen chicken burger (for David's lunch today)
small pkg herbed mozzarella cheese
small pkg spreadable cheese
2 bagels
1 box gingerbread mix
1 lg can chicken & hominy soup
1 cucumber
1 red bell pepper
1 bunch red chard
3 lg potatoes
8 cans diet Pepsi & 8 cans regular Pepsi (lunch drinks for David and I)
1 jar strawberry preserves
2 pkgs chicken/tomato bouillon
2 6-packs unsweetened applesauce
1 box soda crackers
2 bags tortilla strips
2 bags organic blue corn tortilla chips
6 bags tea
1 bag chili powder
1 box instant strawberry oatmeal
6 glazed doughnuts (treat with our coffee in the morning)
6 lg sheets paper (using for art to cover the mirror closet doors in the girls' room)
3 small bags Pirate's Booty & 2 small bags Fritos (David's snacks for work)
1 bag shredded coconut
4 rolls toilet paper
from the clothing area: 3 shirts and a jacket for myself! They're all really cute, too :)

Thursday's Tidbits
B: Eggs, toast, and frozen grapes (yum!)
L: I'll have another burger and some spinach and the girls will have the chicken & hominy soup with sour cream and organic blue tortilla chips with a side of applesauce.
D: Chicken & veggie stir fry with brown rice.

Oh how I love a clean kitchen...

The past couple of days I have been trying to keep my kitchen and dining area spotless (inspired by the Flylady). It requires some effort, but I find that if I clean up while I cook and clear the table right after a meal, it gets less overwhelming. Even 5 minutes speed-cleaning in the kitchen can go really far. My kitchen is so clean right now! Which is good because this afternoon I am heading to Gleaner's since I didn't get to go on Monday. I would also like to put all the chicken thighs in my big stock pot and make some chicken stock. I love doing that because then I can take the chicken and separate it into meal-sized portions for the freezer. Then it's ready for when I need to fix something with chicken and don't want it to take extra cooking time.

Today I also tackled my sewing and crocheting bins. I threw away the stuff that was trashed or that nobody would want and then organized everything. Now there are only a few more things to do in our closet before it's completely organized. One of my next projects will be staining the bookshelf in our room. It's still unfinished and I would like it to be the dark color of the rest of our bedroom set. I think it will really finish off the look. I would also like to figure out something to do with my school textbooks/notebooks. It seems a shame to get rid of some of the stuff after I put so much work into it, but I know that most of it will never be used again. That shelf should be for the books that we decide to keep around. So, what have you done with school stuff?

Wolf it Down Wednesday
B: "Spotted Pup" as my mom affectionately called it when we were growing up. I made rice to go with the tacos last night and had a bunch left over. So, I threw some in a pot with milk, butter, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, simmering until the rice and raisins were nice and soft.

L: David took a couple of tacos I put together after dinner last night. The girls had the rest of the top ramen stir fry and some sliced oranges. I fixed up a taco salad from the rest of the taco fillings and some crumbled tortilla chips. I make a habit of taking the tail end of each bag of chips and putting it into a container for taco salad or taco soup, that way they're already crumbled and we don't waste any chips.
D: Tonight we cooked up the burgers that were in the freezer from gleaner's a couple weeks ago. They were goooood. Topped with cheese, mayo, spicy mustard, avocado dip, tomato, spinach, pickles, and sauteed mushrooms (the other 1/2 of the can from Saturday) and onions on a toasted bun. Dorothy liked them so much she had seconds and told me I made the best dinner in the whole world. She also scarfed down the veggies. I had picked up a bunch of red chard at Gleaner's this afternoon and sauteed the chopped stems with some onions in olive oil. When those were tender, I added salt, garlic powder and some water, then steamed them until tender. My taste buds are still happy.

I'll update on my shopping trip tomorrow.

Who says you can't be productive in your jammies?

Today might seem like a lazy day, since we're all still in jammies, but I'm actually getting some stuff done. The kitchen has been cleaned, dishwasher loaded, a load of diapers washed, breakfast made, several diapers changed, and I am currently working on browning some ground turkey for tonight's dinner. Later I will try to get the bulk of my Spanish homework done and maybe sort a box or two that still needs to be unpacked. Oh, and getting dressed might be good, too ;).

Tuesday's Tasties
B: David had oatmeal. The girls had the remaining pancakes as well as some bananas and applesauce. I ate two eggs, some toast, and a banana.
L: David took a dollar to get a sandwich, plus he'll have fruit (they keep fruit at the office for people to snack on). The girls and I will have tuna melts. I'm also going to steam some peas.

D: Soft Tacos. We're using our whole grain tortillas. In the crockpot, I'll cook some black beans with the ground turkey I browned up this morning. This evening, I'll quickly simmer the meat/bean mix with some costco taco seasoning. That stuff is tasty, and a big container of it lasts us a long time! I'll use some salsa fresco I got free with a coupon from Safeway, plus some cheese, tomato, and spinach. We'll top them with sour cream. Yummo!


Budget wise, David's family ended up helping out with dinner last night so we didn't have to dip into our grocery money. I am also only 7 Swagbucks away from another $5 Amazon gift card toward Christmas, which I should be able to get today (plus a bit). Yeah!

Small Grocery Trip Tally

This morning my mom came over to watch the kids while I took a quick trip to Safeway. Thanks, mom! In addition to my WIC checks, I had a few things on my list that we're running low on. Since my husband works for Safeway, we get an additional 10% off of the store brand products, which makes it a bit more affordable to shop there. I also think it's good to support my husband's business whenever I can. Generally, I try to stick to sale items and/or Safeway brand products. Here's what I picked up (linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge):

WIC Checks
2 Gallons 1% milk
1 lb cheddar cheese
1 lb great northern beans
2 dozen eggs
3 cans frozen apple juice
1 bunch bananas
3 roma tomatoes
1 bag yellow onions
36 oz brown rice
1 box quaker oat squares
1 box honey bunches of oats
1 jar peanut butter

Safeway purchases w/grocery budget cash
1 jug Safeway canola oil 2.69 (reg. 4.19)
1 40 oz jug Safeway honey 8.54 (reg. 9.49)
1 box Safeway facial tissue 1.43 (reg. 1.59)
1 jug Safeway dish gel 3.14 (reg. 3.49)
Safeway oxygen pro ("oxyclean") 3.14 (reg. 3.49)
Shout stain remover economy refill jug 6.99
1 lg bag Safeway frozen corn 1.79 (reg. 1.99)
1 lg bag Safeway frozen broccoli 1.79 (reg. 1.99)
1 box Lucerne butter 3.14 (reg. 3.49)
1 value package Safeway chicken thighs 5.60 (reg. 7.30)
total spent: $38.25

The cash I spent today was from last month's grocery/household budget due to the fact that I haven't been able to make it to the bank to make my cash withdrawal for the month. I had $52 remaining from my original $150. I always put our coins in a piggy bank along with pop can money, with which I'd like to start another savings account. The cash goes back in the envelope, so now I have $13 remaining. I will let additional cash build up for larger items like laundry soap or stocking up on good sale meats. So far, I feel like our budget is going really well!

Monday's Munchies
B: Pancakes from the rest of the mix that was in the cupboard. The girls also wanted some sliced oranges.
L: Top Ramen stir fry. I used about 1 C. of a huge bag of frozen stir fry veggies I got at Grocery Outlet for only a few dollars. I added 1/2 c. water and the oriental seasoning packet and simmered the veggies until they were pretty well cooked. Then I crushed the noodles and added them to the mix, stirring and cooking until tender. Lastly, I cracked two eggs into the pan and stirred until the egg was cooked thoroughly. It was enough to feed the girls and I with a bit left over and hardly cost anything to make!
D: David's aunt and uncle are in town for a few days and it looks like the family will be going out to eat tonight. I believe we're going to a Mexican restaurant, so it should be easy enough to keep things affordable. I don't know yet whether his parents will help out with the cost or if we'll pull it from the grocery budget. We'll likely bring snacks and water for the kids so their dinner will be light. Normally going out to eat will not be a part of our budget, but we want to be able to spend time with everyone, so we'll work it out somehow. Family first :).

Sleepy Sunday

I've been trying to keep my eyes open all day yesterday and today because Sir William doesn't sleep well when he has a cold. Poor little bub...

Yesterday was really busy for me. We all spent the morning cleaning the house and then at noon Dorothy, William, and I headed to their cousin's 6th birthday party. When we got home from that, some of David's aunts and uncles stopped by to visit and meet William for a couple of hours. After dinner I headed back out to my sister-in-law's house with William so we could visit some more. It ended up being pretty late by the time I got home, but I arrived to a clean house and candles lit in the bedroom. Of course, then the smoke alarm went off and the girls woke up crying and saying "it's too loud!" David got it to stop, but it was still beeping intermittently, so he took it off the ceiling...

and put it in the garage...

But we could still hear it...

so we put it in the van.

Church was nice this morning, then we had a couple from church over for lunch. It was really fun, and we hope to start having more people over for meals. Here's what was on the menu for the weekend:

Saturday's Spreads
B: Peanut butter oatmeal and milk.
L: David made a cheese pizza for himself and Charlotte. He topped it with half a can of mushrooms and some sliced tomatoes. Dorothy and I had lunch at the birthday party.
D: David warmed up some baked potato soup I had in the freezer from a couple months ago. The girls ate the rest of the pizza and some applesauce. I had a sliced avocado, Triscuits, cheese, and sauteed snap peas with tomatoes.

Sunday's Sustenance
B: Oatmeal again :)
L: Since we were having company over, I wanted to make a nice meal. Before we left for church I threw some chicken breasts in the crock pot on the 4 hour setting with a homemade smoky barbecue sauce. When we got home, I made a spinach salad with tomatoes, avocado, and sunflower seeds. I also heated up a side of mashed sweet potatoes from Gleaner's and baked some drop biscuits from some Bisquick I still have on hand. When that runs out I will be making my own mixes (biscuit, cornbread, etc).
D: I think I'll defrost some sloppy lentils (like sloppy joes, only meatless) I made last month. I'll use buns and corn on the cob that I have in the freezer from Gleaner's.

Now, off to have some home popped popcorn and Pepsi for Superbowl Sunday....

Thankful for Friday!

I didn't get around to writing yesterday since I was feeling under the weather and William cried most of the day. Both he and Charlotte seem to be getting a bit of a croupy cough. Such is life during the winter. It's definitely better since they've stopped going to day care, but being in the church nursery still gets them sometimes. Now that I'm home, though, it's not as stressful (other than less sleep for everyone). I'm thankful to be able to just be with them. William and Charlotte both ended up in our bed for the second part of the night... and to be honest, I love it. It's so sweet to wake up to Charlotte stroking my face saying "nose" or William snuffling around in search of milk. I feed him and kiss his soft little head often when he sleeps next to me, and I find that having him nurse frequently when he's getting croupy keeps him calm and his airways more relaxed, so we avoid the breathing treatments he had to get when he was 3 months old. They seem to be feeling pretty good this morning other than some stuffiness. I plan on doing basic housekeeping things today... wash a load of diapers, wash and fold some clothes, do dishes, and try to clean the bathroom. This afternoon I will be putting in my volunteer hours at Gleaner's for the month. I'm signed up to work the first Friday of each month from 3-5/5:15 in the child care area. David will keep our kids today, so there will be 3 fewer children ;).

On the topic of our budget, I have begun selling some books on cash4books.net. I sold some textbooks for $118 and am also selling 2 more to Powell's for $10, which is better than the $0 the college bookstore was offering me! I'm not quite sure where I will apply the cash we make from books yet. We're trying to pay off debt and build an emergency savings, so perhaps we should split the money between those two things so we can be closer to both our goals. We have very limited shelf space for books, and many boxes of books in the garage. We'll only be keeping the ones we know we'll be wanting around long-term (ones we'll be likely to use often). And those that we can't sell will likely be donated to Gleaner's. This is going to be quite a long process, but my goal is to get through one box of books a week until they've all been gone through.

I did manage to go through the art supplies yesterday. It didn't take long at all since most of it was in bins already. I just needed to add a couple of medium totes; one each for beads & string and magazines & clippings. In addition, I put the excess crayons & watercolors in a small tote. I moved all of the arts supplies to the coat closet shelf, but my painting things, canvases, and larger drawing pads are in under-the-bed totes in our room. I think it will work well that way. Soon I need to make a batch of homemade playdough for the girls since their playdough is pretty dry and hard to work with now. Once that is done, our craft area will be completed. I also need to organize our office supplies, which are going to go in a stand-alone shelf unit that is in the kitchen/dining area. It has a child-locked door and doubles as a counter for our toater and breadmaker. The art supplies used to live there, but I find them easier to access in their new location. I love getting things done!

Thursday's Tidbits
For our meals yesterday...
B: English muffins with peanut butter and honey, plus some kiwi fruit and grape juice from WIC.
L: Spanish rice with sour cream and plain yogurt with blueberries and a sprinkle of sugar for the girls. David took spanih rice as well. I had the rest of the au gratin potatoes and sauteed half of the snap peas with olive oil and garlic.
D: Shepherd's pie.

Friday's Feasts
B: Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins for the girls. I had eggs and the last blueberry bagel.
L: Shepherd's pie
D: Fish fillets I have in the freezer still. They're tilapia, and I think I will bake them with some lemon pepper and dill. We'll also have the tomato, veggie, and orzo side dish.

Today is Birthday Book Day!

I got my birthday gift from David in the mail yesterday. He got me two books I have been wanting: one is A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family and the other one is The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I've already read almost half of the first book since last night, and it's a good read. You don't have to have a huge family to apply the principles, as we only have 3 kids and I'm finding it really helpful. A friend recommended the book to me, and I'm definitely glad I got it. There are some really good tips on organizing and running a household, some of which I am already doing and some of which I would like to start implementing as the kids get older. The second one is a hefty book that addresses any topic you can think of related to living frugally. It's a must-read if you're working on a tight budget.

In the next couple of days, I am tackling the arts and crafts supplies. They need to be sorted, organized, and stored to my satisfaction. Well, they are already in bins of varying sizes, but I'm wanting to pare down and re-sort some things. They will need to be easy enough to get to for regular projects with the kids, but up and away from Charlotte, who loves to destroy and/or eat anything she gets her little hands on. She keeps me on my toes and forces me to be creative with how I organize and store things.

Wolf it Down Wednesday
On the menu for today....
B: Blueberry bagels again, plus some milk and juice.
L: The girls ate toasted cheese sandwiches, applesauce, and green beans. I ate half of the au gratin potatoes and half of the remaining salad. The other half of those will be used tomorrow for my lunch again.
D: We may be eating dinner at church if we go to small group, but if not, I made a batch of this amazing shepherd's pie from some veggies and mashed potatoes I got at gleaner's in the past few weeks. The ground beef was from my mother-in-law, who is super kind and generous. When I go to Costco with her, she always helps us out and shares some of her groceries :). Last time she gave us 5 lbs of ground beef and a huge jug of olive oil, among other things. Anyhow, I put it into two 8x8 pans and froze one for a rainy day. Perfect and sooo yummy!
I forgot that yesterday and today we have eaten those brownies for dessert. It's sure a mood-lifter, especially since I didn't sleep well last night. Chocolate always helps.