Windowed surprise

I had a GREAT time at the church women's retreat this weekend.  It's the second time I've gone, and I'm already looking forward to next year!  I truly enjoy the opportunity to meet women from church and to get to know others better.  We don't have a huge church, but since my husband and I work with the Hispanic church plant, there are plenty of gals that I don't get the opportunity to meet on a normal Sunday.  There were about 40 women at the retreat, and together we enjoyed some great worship time, a few testimonies, some Bible study, free time (which for me included a walk around the beautiful Bonclarken grounds, tea and chocolate cake with some great conversation, a brief nap and some reading time), lots of chatting and games - which is almost the best part, since my hubby is not quite as much a fan as I am, so we don't play many at home.
Anyway, the official topic of this post is the surprise I stumbled upon when I arrived home on Sunday afternoon:

My dear mom did my dining room curtains and my living room curtains (I helped with the latter set) and these kitchen ones were on her To-Do list forEVER!  Since she's moving, she finally gave up and hired someone to actually make them (since we had already picked out and purchased the fabric), and surprised me by installing them while I was gone (technically, she and hubs were still putting on the finishing touches when I showed up, but who cares).  I was totally used to the no-curtain look, since it's been that way for 2.5 years since we moved in, so it's still a bit odd... but I love them!  Aren't the colors perfect?  Don't worry, the chip clip won't stay there forever, haha :)

Soli Deo Gloria

Another produce delivery!

Today was an AWESOME day!  The sun was shining and though it was chilly, it wasn't deceptively cold, like several days last week.  It was Teacher Appreciation Day at school, so I didn't have to pack a lunch and we got a wonderful, homemade meal and 45 minutes to just chill with co-workers while volunteers supervised lunch/recess with the kids.  I got some cheap Kashi cereal at CVS & Target (went to both places so I could use ECBs/gift card, and actually paid only 6¢ out of pocket for 4 boxes!).  And last but not least, my second Absolute Organics delivery arrived!  Who knew produce could be so exciting?
First thing I did was head to the bathroom scale to weigh myself with the full cooler, and then I reweighed after emptying the cooler.  What you see on the picture below is 13 pounds of fresh, delivered, organic produce!  That's $2.30/lb average, which seems pretty good to me.  Did I mention it was DELIVERED?!?!  :)

 

I'll give you a list, just so you know what you're lookin' at:

• 6 seedless, Gold Nugget oranges
• 7 Braeburn apples
• 2 Haas avocados
• 1 mango
• 1 lg. head of lettuce
• white mushrooms
• 3 averaged-sized broccoli crowns
• 6 bananas

If I've convinced you, just be sure to give them my name when you order so I can get some free produce for referring you!

On another note, here's a picture of my homemade yogurt served over that granola-type cereal I had in the stockpile.  Since mine turned out a bit thinner than I prefer for yogurt, it works great when mixed in with something like this!

Soli Deo Gloria...

Homemade Yogurt!

I am pleased to report that my first-ever yogurt-making experiment went fairly well!  I found the directions here. I read Alyssa's blog regularly, and when I saw this, I decided to try it, just for a challenge.  And, since we do eat a fair amount of yogurt, I figured if it worked I could use it more often to save us some money and to be healthier (there are a fair amount of random ingredients in store-bought yogurt, if you actually read the list).
The directions are really detailed (especially if you click-thru to the more thorough version here), so I felt pretty confident.  Worst-case scenario, I was out a few bucks for the milk and yogurt cup (starter), and would have a damaged ego; best-case scenario I could feel really cool (and save $$, be healthy, cut down on production of plastic yogurt cups, etc... but mostly just feel cool)!
I borrowed a candy thermometer from a friend/co-worker, since I wanted to be sure I was doing it right.  The whole process took me about 8 hours, though most of that was just letting it "incubate" and didn't require much work.  I did discover that my cooler probably isn't the most insulated one ever and when I went to take the yogurt out the temp had dropped, so I added some more boiling water and let it sit for another 1-2 hours instead.  Here are some pics I took:

 

We had some of it for dessert tonight (yeah, I know... it's generally strange for Americans to eat non-frozen yogurt for dessert, but it's normal in Spain and now I'm used to it!) with a little sugar and honey - natural/plain yogurt all by itself is kinda icky if you ask me.  It was pretty good, though if I do it again, I think I'll try to let it incubate longer (and add the extra boiling water sooner to keep the temp up) as it was a bit runnier than I'm used to, and I can only assume it's due to an incubation faux pas. 

Overall, I'm just glad I have an edible result and didn't have to dump it out completely.  I got some free Post Trail Mix Crunch a while back, and I'm thinking this yogurt will probably be a great substitute for milk with that, since the cereal has a granola-y texture.

Making yogurt, Soli Deo Gloria...

Oh, the irony!

I went to Costco yesterday after a short day at work and lunch with a friend, to investigate their organic/natural/healthy options and get an idea of what kind of prices they had. I had no intention of buying anything because I was completely out of grocery money (literally ran out at the checkout at EarthFare on Wednesday... had to put something back and the guy still had to waive about a dollar for me -- oops! how embarrassing! but I digress...). I wandered around for almost an hour I'd guess, jotting down notes of what I was finding - perhaps I'll put them in another post later. Anyway, as I wrapping up, my hubby called to say he was on his way home from work, and requested that I buy him some bags of chips to take to work with him - he was even willing to pay for them with his "allowance"! I used my "allowance" money that I happened to have with me. The total was $10.70 and I bought 1 box of 50 Frito-Lay brand chip bags.

Today, while his car was being inspected, we went to Harris Teeter to get in on some Super Doubles. The pickin's are often slim on these weeks (harder-core couponers than I were already out to get the best deals first-thing Wednesday morning!), but I found most of what I wanted. I ended up with:

• 1 box of Quaker Quick Oats
• 2 bags of Quaker Mini Rice Cakes
• 1 Polaner All-Fruit Spread (Black Cherry - to mix things up) 
• 2 small boxes of Kotex Pantiliners
• 1 pound of Tilapia (2 filets)
• 2 half gallons of Edy's ice cream (Spumoni and Mint Choc. Chip!)
• 1 half gallon of Tropicana OJ
• 2 8 oz bricks of Organic Valley Cream Cheese
• 2 4-packs of Dannon Light & Fit yogurt cups
• 6 Yoplait Whips yogurt cups
• 1 Chobani yogurt cup
• 1 half pint of Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 Blistex chapsticks

A fairly random selection, I know,  but that's what you do when you use coupons.  Get what's on sale, and use it in the upcoming weeks.  Anyway, wanna know the best part?  My total was $10.80.

Now, which purchase is more likely to provide sustenance for a family of two for a week?  See the irony?

Soli Deo Gloria

Organic Coupon Giveaway

One of the only sites I've found that does Earth Fare coupon match-ups is Frugally Farming Family.  I'm still adjusting myself to the "deals" at EF, which don't seem much like deals to me, compared to the amazing ones I've gotten in the last year on so-called conventional foods.  I went ahead and entered their Organic Coupon Giveaway in hopes of some more deals/savings on healthier options for my small family.  Go ahead... if you sneak it in today, you've still got time to possibly get in on the action!

Soli Deo Gloria...

Absolute Organics!

Yeah!  I'm so excited!  My first delivery with Absolute Organics, LLC came today.  Although they came highly recommended from some folks that I used to teach for (that's how I heard about them), I have to admit that I was a little hesitant of exactly what my hard-earned $30 was going to get me.  I'm thrilled to report that I was pleasantly surprised!  I don't have a picture for you, but I'll list off what came:

• 8 "Gold Nugget" oranges (supposedly seedless... wahoo!)
• 9 small-ish Braeburn apples
• 2 heads of Romaine lettuce
• 4 very green bananas
• 1 Haas avocado
• 2 medium-sized yellow onions
• 1 bunch of celery
• 1 large-ish head of cauliflower

Being as I'm not very used to buying organic produce just yet, nor do I know exact weights for the above items, I can't exactly quantify the value.  However, a quick check on Harris Teeter's "Express Lane" shows that the non-organic value of all this is probably somewhere between $20-25.  And the extra $5-10 is TOTALLY worth it, in my opinion, to have ORGANIC produce DELIVERED to my house.  Additionally, some of these items (particularly the celery, cauliflower and probably avocado) I would not have bought on my own, so now I get to be creative with how to use them, thus incorporating more fresh produce into our diet!  When I signed up, they had me select any dislikes from their complete list of produce, so while Chard and Grapefruit could have been on this week's menu, they substituted them for more of other items since I had told them we don't generally eat those.  They'll deliver again in 2 weeks, and I'm already looking forward to seeing what that delivery will be (though there aren't any contracts, so if I needed to cancel, I could just let them know a week in advance and no problem)!
Summary... while $30 is quite a chunk out of my $70-every-two-week grocery budget, especially since I'm trying to go more organic in other areas too, I think I'll be able to make it work.  It will definitely be good for us to eat more fruits/veggies, and will avoid the temptation to purchase all the nasty pesticide-ridden counterparts since I should be able to almost skip the produce section entirely when I go to the store.
Shameless plug... if you live in the Charlotte area and want to try them out, let them know you heard about them from me, and I'll get some free produce after your second box arrives!  Come on... help a girl out!

Soli Deo Gloria...

EFTP/F Challenge Update - week 4

Theoretically, this is the last week of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge.  That being said, I'm still working through my lists!  I don't know if that means I've done "too much" grocery shopping this past month, "too much" stockpiling for the last 9 months, or "not enough" eating this month.  I'm not going to worry about it, though.  I'm just glad that I haven't had to throw anything away (although, I was going to take some salad dressings and condiments to church yesterday morning to offer to anyone who wanted them, as I've got way too many and they are nearing their "best by" dates - but church was canceled due to snow/ice).  So, I'm going to chug along, eating mostly from the pantry and trying to add as little as possible for at least another few weeks.
This week was a typical wacky week for us,  but we did make it through a few items on the meal list and cleared a few things out of the pantry/fridge/freezer.
Monday:  I had a Pampered Chef party, so Isaac ate a can of soup and some bread while I ate Santa Fe Meatloaf or something snazzy like that, that I didn't have to prepare!
Tuesday:  Isaac was studying and I went to Bible Study, and since I got home from the grocery store only 30 mins before I had to leave, he ate a bowl of cereal and I had some yogurt with granola (finished up a box!)
Wednesday:  After going to EarthFare, I made Hot Dog Noodle Casserole.  Felt dirty while eating it, since hot dogs are full of high fructose corn syrup, but it was pretty yummy (not to mention it serves the purpose of getting my hubby to eat broccoli!)
Thursday:  I was more than happy to let Isaac eat leftover Hot Dog Noodle Casserole while I was at my new Zumba class.  Since I only had a few minutes before running back out the door to pick my mom up from the airport, I made a smoothie to drink on the way.  SlimFast Chocolate shake + 1 banana + handful frozen blueberries and strawberries / blender = yumminess!
Friday:  Used a package of Mahatma Yellow Rice (it's been free at the grocery store several times this year, so I've got a bunch) to make Golden Rice Casserole with a few tweaks.  I added a grilled chicken breast, used a leftover 1/2 can of corn that was in the fridge, and some "fresh" green/red/orange bell peppers that I froze a while back.  The saffron in this makes it a hit at our house.
Saturday:  For what is now the 3rd week in a row, I made Fiber One pancakes and scrambled eggs.  Of course, we went all out for the "dessert" pancake... mine included chocolate syrup, strawberry flavored high fructose corn syrup  jelly, and whipped cream!  As opposed to our normal cereal, the pancakes break up the monotony of an otherwise boring day at home, cleaning and studying.  I'm so ready for Isaac's test to be over next weekend so we can plan a few social events!
In the afternoon I made Lentejas a la española!  I'm so excited about this!  I bought the stuff a while back (and hid it from my hubby), but hadn't found the right opportunity to make it until now.  The snow/ice outside made soup a good plan, and the stuck-in-the-house-studying gave me the time.  It was way yummy, and the surprise factor was way fun :)  He posted a good pic here. 
Sunday:  Snow day from church (strange!), but since we had dinner plans with my parents, I spent some time in the afternoon preparing some Heavenly Potatoes and Ham.  I used Russet potatoes instead of Red b/c I had a bag of them that I needed to use.  I put it in an 8x8 and an 8x6 casserole (instead of a 9x13), and will probably freeze one after eating the first tonight with some veggies.

Soli Deo Gloria

First "Real" Purchase at EarthFare

So... I scoped out EarthFare today (5% student/faculty discount on Wed. at my store).  Spent a while just wandering around the store, annotating prices on items that I normally purchase and would be interested in buying organic - mostly produce, canned tomato products, and dairy.  I'm still not sure if I'm ready for the jump - I guess I'm not convinced the sales are that great at EF, and since the regular prices are high... I just don't think I can do it.
I did purchase a few things though, and the checkout lady said I did "really great," so I'll take that as a positive!  Here was my breakdown:

• Blueberry Pomegranate juice (32 oz) - $1.99 after sale + coupon
• Dr. Becker natural soda (6-pk) - $2.50 after sale (this was a treat for me out of my "allowance", not the grocery fund!)
• 1 kiwi - 50¢ after sale (I already ate it!)
  
• 2 bags of salad (10 oz + 12 oz) - $4.50 after sale + coupons
• 5 rolls Marcal Small Steps toilet paper - FREE after coupons

I saved 82¢ with the teacher discount, and paid $9.42 after tax, supposedly saving $7.77, or 45%.  Without the sodas, it would've been more like $6.86 with savings of $6.96... 50%!  I guess I didn't do too shabby after all!
A gallon of organic milk is, in fact, cheaper than at my regular HT or Bi-Lo... but for the 50-60¢ savings, I don't think it's worth almost an entire gallon of gas to get there and back unless I've got another good reason to go like a sale + coupon on something, or needing brown rice - quite a steal at only 89¢/lb (versus $1.85/lb at HT... just got it with a super-doubled coupon for 85¢/lb, but that's a rare occurrence - and Uncle Ben's is not organic).
Thanks for tagging along as I  shop (somewhat) organically :)

Soli Deo Gloria

Marcal Small Steps Giveaway!

Yup... not me.  But Denise Sawyer over at Centsible Sawyer is doing a giveaway.  All you've got to do is type your name and e-address into her form to be entered to win the following (as per her website):

One lucky reader is going to win a TON of Marcal Small Steps products!
Prize Pack will include: Dinner Napkins, 180ct Napkin Drawstring Bag, Upright-80ct Facial Tissues, 144ct Facial,Single Roll Giant Towel, 1,000ct Bath, 4 ct bath 1000 ct, 3 roll Regular towel, *subject to change for substitutions


I haven't tried any of these products yet, but they are on my list for this week.  I'm going to EarthFare tomorrow (hoping for a good freebie coupon - have you signed up yet?  let me know if you did!) to get 5% off my entire purchase as a teacher and to use the coupons to get free Marcal toilet paper.  I'd be thrilled to win though!


Soli Deo Gloria

Fridge/Freezer Findings Update 2

I'll spare you the REALLY long list, and I'm only going to post the changes since the last time I posted an update.  The good news is, it looks like more of a dent in my fridge than on the list!  It's nice to know exactly what I've got, but when I feel like I'm making progress and then only get to mark a few things off the list here, it's kinda sad :(

Freezer findings:

• 4 c. diced ham
• London Broil (from a once-a-month cooking day a while back... may already be freezer burned, so I'll have to do it on a day with an easy back-up plan)
• 6 4 burgers
• 1 pkg guacamole
• 2 servings stuffed salmon
• 2 pouches pepperoni
  
• 2 individual broccoli/cheese portions
• 2 bags grn. beans
• 1 .5 bag broccoli
• 1 bag/1 box corn
• 1 bag mixed veggies w/ cheese sauce
• 1 chicken & pasta steam meal
• 1 bag seasoned rice
• 2 servings salmon
• various mini-loaf sweet breads
• 1 lasagna
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 x 2 chicken breasts
• 2 cups chicken broth
  
• 1 box coconut shrimp
• various shredded cheeses
• 14 rolls
• 4 frozen pizzas
• 16 oz bag blueberries
  

Fridge findings:

• 1.5 tubs sour cream dips
• turkey gravy
• Salad Finishers kit - Ceasar
  
• 3 1 burger buns
• celery sticks
• 1 tube buttermilk biscuits
• 3 Pillsbury pizza crusts
• 3 x 8oz cream cheese
• 2 x 16oz sour cream
• 4 + 6 egg
• leftover mashed potatoes
• leftover turkey
  
• leftover stuffing
• 2 pkgs guacamole
  
• 1 serving Hamburger Helper
• 1 serving cooked pasta 
• Romaine lettuce 

Now, what's even more upsetting is the list of what all is hiding in my pantry!  Not wanting to scare anyone away, I'll simply post a link to the Google spreadsheet I just made.  Although we're 3/4 of the way through the official Eat From the Pantry Challenge, I finally took the plunge and actually made a list of what all is there.  As lame as it sounds that I actually had to take inventory of my pantry, maybe by periodically updating the spreadsheet, I can clear some things out and make way for new!  Anyway, for the not-faint-of-heart, I give you my Pantry Inventory.  Because I have some wonderful extra shelving in my Laundry Room, the "location" column indicates whether the item is in my P(antry) or L(aundry) R(oom), or whether there is some in each location.  Honestly, there are probably still a few things that escaped the list (cereals & lunch snacks definitely didn't make it on, but we rotate through those enough that I didn't think it was worth it, but I'm sure there's other stuff too).  Maybe I'll add to it in the future, but I just couldn't take any more today!  Not to mention that a friend from Spain had called and I wanted to chat with him for a bit before he and my hubby hung up.

Eating through my stockpile, Soli Deo Gloria...

EFTP/F Challenge Update - week 3

What did we eat this week, you ask?  Started off the week with dinner at Bible Study, provided unexpectedly by a single friend who "just felt like cooking" :)  Though it slowed down the fridge-clearing process, I certainly didn't complain about not having to cook!  The rest of the week we ate:

• Leftover Pasta & Bean Soup
  
• Cheeseburgers, White Cheddar & Bacon Mashed Potatoes
• Salmon & Primavera Risotto
• Ceasar Salad (with organic Romaine and a Salad Finishers kit I found in the fridge!)
• Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup (variations: left the onions in the pan the whole time, frozen broccoli, pureed 1/2 so it still had some veggie chunks, no nutmeg b/c I forgot it) and bread
• Fiber One pancakes and 4 scrambled eggs 
• leftover Hamburger Helper for my hubby, and I ate at my babysitting job
• leftover Broc. Chs. soup and leftover pasta w/ sauce
  

I'm still in for week 4!  Honestly, I haven't even had to get very creative yet.  I mean, I've made minor variations to recipes (like adding 1/4c skim milk to the half-and-half in this week's soup b/c I didn't have quite enough), but nothing too unusual.  So far, I've been able to use my stockpile to create recipes I already had, and that should last for at least another week since I still have at least 4 recipes with all the ingredients on hand.  I'll post an updated fridge/freezer list, with the NEW pantry list feature (finally got around to listing off what's there today) in the next few days.  Thanks for tagging along!

Soli Deo Gloria

Yeah for CVS! or how I got them to pay me to wash my dishes.

Okay... so this deal was more about the challenge than about the current need.  That being said, if I weren't on Pantry Challenge, I wouldn't have the time to track it down.  First, the pic.  Then, the monetary breakdown.

The SoyJoy bars were 6 x 12¢ = 72¢.  At $6 each, with a $6 ECB, all I was paying was tax... and since they're food, tax is only 2% around here!  Unfortunately, they were essentially out of most everything but Mango Coconut, so we'll probably be sick of that flavor before long.  I'll just spread them out, mixed in with other lunch-packing snacks.  And yes, there are only 5 in the picture... that's because I already emptied one into our snack bin and recycled the box :)

The Finish/Electrasol tabs is the biggest deal.  In case you can't tell, I got 9 boxes of 20 dishwasher tabs (=180 dishwasher loads).  I had a raincheck from a while ago for 4/$9, spend $20 get $10 ECB.  Hmm... that's $2.25 each, not counting the ECBs!!  When I saw the $2.50/1 coupon that came about recently, I was stoked!  Now... how to track down 5+ of them to make these guys free?  I had 2, and asked around to see if anyone didn't need theirs.  Eventually, I ended up with the other 7 from two of my dear friends/coworkers/fellow-couponers.  So...

• sale price:  $20.25/9
• coupons:  $2.50 x 8 = $20 (they wouldn't let me use the 9th b/c it would've gone over the total value... fair enough)
• paid OOP including tax:  $1.82
• received in ECBs to use later:  $10
• TOTAL COST:  -$8.18 or -91¢ each!

If I didn't have to keep eating for the rest of my life, I just might retire from couponing.  You know, quit while you're ahead and all that.  But lo, I do have to eat, and so does my hubby.  Funny thing is, I already had like 3 of these boxes already in my kitchen.  So that means I get to share most of them with my coupon-sharers, and my pastors' families... even better!
Now... what good deals will they provide me with during the next month to use those $10 ECBs toward?  Hopefully something else I can share!

In other news, I had a very yummy & healthy breakfast this morning.  Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:  the organic milk featured here.

This box of cereal came from my Pantry Makeover that I did earlier this week at EarthFare.  You, too, can bring in a near-empty box of cereal with High Fructose Corn Syrup and replace it for free with this better-for-you product, if you just go here, sign up, print out the coupon and take it to your nearest EarthFare.  Oh yeah, and when you sign up before Jan. 31 (which I know you'll do, because you love me), shoot me an email telling me the email address that you used.  If I can get a few more volunteers, I can get a $25 gift card to EarthFare, which I'd really like!  For what it's worth, I was pleasantly surprised that this actually tasted like Frosted Mini Wheats, instead of like cardboard with sugar on it :)

Soli Deo Gloria

The Cheapest Cheesiest!

Thanks to a Walgreens in-ad coupon and those handy Buy 3 Get One Free (B3G1) coupons from mid-December, I have now purchased 12 boxes of Kraft (is there any other?) Mac & Cheese for a whopping $1.35!  Yes, that's right... if my math serves me, that's less than $0.12/box!  Now, one of the stores I went to only had the "Thick and Creamy" variety, so I guess we'll have to see how they do.  I definitely felt like a college kid in the checkout line :)  Now... how to hide them from my hubby so they last more than a month!!

Soli Deo Gloria

Fridge/Freezer Findings Update

About 2 weeks ago, when I started the whole "Eat from the Pantry Challenge" I posted a preliminary list of what was in my fridge/freezer.  For my own sake more than for yours, I thought I'd post an update :)

Freezer findings:

• 4 c. diced ham
• London Broil (from a once-a-month cooking day a while back... may already be freezer burned, so I'll have to do it on a day with an easy back-up plan)
• 6 burgers
• 4 waffles
• 1 pkg each salsa/guacamole
• 2 servings stuffed salmon
• 2 servings sole
• 2 pouches pepperoni
  
• 2 individual broccoli/cheese portions
• 2 bags grn. beans
• 1 bag broccoli
• 1 bag/1 box corn
• 1 bag mixed veggies w/ cheese sauce
• 1 chicken & pasta steam meal
• 1 bag seasoned rice
• 2 servings salmon
• various mini-loaf sweet breads
• 1 lasagna
• 3 2 lbs. ground beef
• 3 2 x 2 chicken breasts
• 2 cups chicken broth
  
• 1 box coconut shrimp
• various shredded cheeses
• 14 rolls
• 4 frozen pizzas
• 16 oz bag blueberries
  

Fridge findings:

• 1/2 pepperoni pizza (from Costco)
• 2 1.5 tubs sour cream dips
• 1 tub salmon spread
• turkey gravy
• Salad Finishers kit - Ceasar
  
• 3 burger buns
• 2 pancakes
• celery sticks
• carrot sticks
• cucumber (unfortunately, this got soft before I was able to eat most of it and I had to pitch it!)
  
• 21 tubes buttermilk biscuits
• 3 Pillsbury pizza crusts
• 3.5 x 8oz cream cheese
• 2.5 x 16oz sour cream
• 8 4 + 6 eggs (we ate 4, but a friend gave us 1/2 dozen fresh eggs from her chickens!)
• leftover sweet potatoes
  
• leftover mashed potatoes
• leftover turkey
  
• leftover stuffing
• 2 pkgs guacamole
  
• 1 serving Hamburger Helper
• 1 serving cooked pasta 
• Romaine lettuce
  

So... apparently I've done better working through the fridge than the freezer! I guess that's okay, since the fridge stuff is more "urgent" as it's likely to go bad faster.  The red items have been added since I started this... some from the store, others from my Mom's fridge when she moved out of state, and some of my own leftovers.  I still need to make a list of all the stuff in my pantry... ugh.
I guess what's important is that I am making progress, limited though it may be... and I'm saving grocery money too!  Thanks for truckin' along with me!

Soli Deo Gloria

This Week's Grocery Deal!

This is what I went to buy today, and it was a good enough steal deal that I wanted to share :)  I paid $10.11 OOP, and while it is more than the $5 goal I mentioned in my previous post, and I didn't end up getting the cheap lunchmeat (they were out, so I got a raincheck), I still think I did pretty well.  The 24 washcloths are for this year's Operation Christmas Child boxes, and one of the Oust cans is going to Turning Point.  The milk and lettuce are both organic!  According to my receipts, I saved $41.85... a "mere" 4x what I spent :)

Soli Deo Gloria

EFTP/F Challenge Update - week 2

This week worked out pretty well also.  I can at least see the shelves in my refrigerator again and there are some small gaps of free space in my freezer.  Pantry progress is slower, but at least there IS progress!
This week we ate:

• leftover Mexican Chicken Skillet w/ guacamole, cheese, sour cream, salsa (and Tortilla Chips on the side)
  
• Pasta & Beans w/ Bread
  
• Stuffed Sole w/ leftover Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Hamburger Helper w/ Bread
  
• Salmon Turnovers (using Smoked Salmon spread instead of the filling in the recipe) w/ leftover Mashed Potatoes mixed with leftover Hevlua Good White Cheddar Bacon Sour Cream Dip (a yummy experiment!)
• leftover pancakes (2) & frozen waffles (4) w/ syrup, scrambled eggs (4) w/ cheese

Three of the above meals still have leftovers (one of the benefits of cooking for only 2), so we'll be working on those this coming week, interspersed with a few other recipes that I've got up my sleeve using on-hand ingredients.  I think I've still got about 7 ideas, most of which will produce their own leftovers, so we should be good to keep this up for at least another 2 weeks, barring any random occurrences.  I will be heading to the store in a bit to grab some milk, veggies and hopefully cheap lunchmeat, since we're almost out of that and it's almost exclusively what my hubby takes to work, but I'm expecting OOP expenses to be only about $5 -- yeah!

Some of the excess will be going to a special offering at church tomorrow for Haiti.  I also went through my household goods stockpile yesterday and pulled some items to donate to Turning Point via my church's upcoming women's brunch.  It feels good to be able to give when there's a need, and yet still be able to save!  May the Lord be glorified as I Eat From The Pantry!

Soli Deo Gloria...

EFTP/F Challenge Update - week 1

This hasn't been quite as bad/hard as I thought!  Actually, I was doing really well and made it through the week without going to the store... until yesterday.  There were some killer deals (free guacamole, yogurt, cleaner, almost-free cheese) that I just couldn't pass up.  Not to mention the pizza deal... which wasn't that great, but since I had purchased 17 pizzas (on sale, of course) earlier toward the $15 rebate, and then someone had eaten one and thrown away the UPC, I just HAD to B2G1 free to finish it up.  Argh.  Looking back, I probably should've just bought 1 @ $5 and been done with it, but $5 for a frozen pizza just sounds like a lot, even as part of a rebate.  $3.33 sounds so much better.

Anyway, I'm still trying to participate in the challenge... and while my grocery budget was "restocked" on Friday (pay day!), I technically didn't touch a penny of it as I had leftover $$ from the previous 2 weeks.  And since one of the suggestions with the challenge was to do something "useful" with the leftover grocery money (donate/pay down debt), my hubs and I agreed to spend part of it to put towards a space heater for an underemployed family at our church that we knew needed one.  And with the coupon for 15 ECBs that I got from doing a CVS online survey a few weeks back, it worked perfectly.

So, what DID we eat this week out of our stockpile-abundance?

• Barley & Lentil soup (with Split Peas instead of Lentils)
  
• Mexican Chicken Skillet with FlatOut wraps from the freezer instead of tortillas (I just discovered this recipe, but I think I'll call it Homemade Q'doba Burrito)
  
• 1/2 Costco Pepperoni Pizza (since it was fresh, it had to be eaten)
  
• Cranberry Oatmeal cookies (taken to a party Friday night, so that's not ALL we ate!)
• Frozen pizza (after buying 3 at the store, they didn't all fit so we had to eat one right away - plus, we usually eat pizza one weekend night anyway)
• Leftovers of #s 1 & 2 above

There's still a wee bit of leftover soup that one of us will probably take for lunch this week, and we'll be eating some Homemade Naked Burritos one night this week since we're out of FlatOuts/Tortillas but still have the rice/chicken part.
I've currently got a list of about 8 recipes that I know off-hand I can make without heading to the store again, though I'll probably swing by one more time in the next 2 days to grab some more free yogurt, bread (that I forgot yesterday), and $0.50 bag(s) of tortilla chips (with a coupon from today) since we're out and they'd go well with the leftover "naked burritos".
Hope your challenge is going as well (or better) than mine!

Soli Deo Gloria

Eat From the Pantry/Freezer Challenge

Starting back to work today after two weeks off does NOT make being creative with menu items sound like fun. However, my GroceryGame membership has lapsed so instead of paying right away, I figure it's a good time to get to work on "rotating" my stockpile (I have a bit of a hard time distinguishing that from "reducing", but I'll do what I can).
Anyway, tonight's menu item is Barley-Lentil Stew served with rolls. I've made this before (this time last year, when cold weather screamed soup) and it was a success. I still have barley leftover (tightly sealed, of course), and have some celery sticks leftover from a New Year's Eve party. My hubby and I have serious aversions to celery, unless it's buried in something else and hardly noticeable - soup is a great choice!
Tonight I tried it with Split Green Peas instead of lentils, because that's what I had on hand. I can't recall to compare with last year, but it was yummy anyway! After some research, I chose to add them in when the other ingredients had already reached simmer stage so they didn't get overdone... but then they were not quite soft enough, so if I were to do it again, I'd add them in right with the barley and they'd probably be perfect.
I used all water, 3 tomato bouillon cubes and 1 chicken (what I had on hand).
I also left out the rosemary (personal preference).

Since I about froze my hands off in the freezer/fridge, I thought I'd go ahead and share some initial findings of items that are available to work into menus for as long as I can handle this!
Freezer findings:

• 4 c. diced ham
• London Broil (from a once-a-month cooking day a while back... may already be freezer burned, so I'll have to do it on a day with an easy back-up plan)
• 6 burgers
• 4 waffles
• 1 pkg each salsa/guacamole
• 2 servings stuffed salmon
• 2 servings sole
• 2 pouches pepperoni
  
• 2 individual broccoli/cheese portions
• 2 bags grn. beans
• 1 bag broccoli
• 1 bag/1 box corn
• 1 bag mixed veggies w/ cheese sauce
• 1 chicken & pasta steam meal
• 1 bag seasoned rice
• 2 servings salmon
• various mini-loaf sweet breads
• 1 lasagna
• 3 lbs. ground beef
• 3 x 2 chicken breasts
• 1 box coconut shrimp
• various shredded cheeses
• 14 rolls
  

Fridge findings:

• 1/2 pepperoni pizza (from Costco)
• 2 tubs sour cream dips
• 1 tub salmon spread
• turkey gravy
• 3 burger buns
• 2 pancakes
• celery sticks
• carrot sticks
• cucumber
• 2 tubes buttermilk biscuits
• 3 Pillsbury pizza crusts
• 3.5 x 8oz cream cheese
• 2.5 x 16oz sour cream
• 8 eggs

I'll finish this post at a later time... now I've got to go to bed!

Saving on Groceries Video Series

I've been following this gal's blog for a while, and she's given me a bunch of good ideas. She's currently doing a video series called "10 Ways to Slash Your Grocery Bill." Some of the points are very basic, but they're good reminders. Plus, she's from England so her accent is fun to listen to! Check it out here:

God of small things

You all know me and my somewhat obsessive compulsive tendencies, so perhaps it won't come as a surprise to you that I count my silverware as I put it in the drawer when I empty the dishwasher. Not only does this assure that the stacks are equal so they fit neatly and properly in the drawer (6 spoons handle side down, 6 spoons handle side up, etc.), but it also makes sure that they are all accounted for.

Alas, the other day -- horror of all horrors -- I discovered that I only had 11 spoons. After confirming that I had counted the one in the sink, and double-checking obvious locations like the desk and the fridge, I determined the worst -- one of them had accidentally been thrown in the trash, which had just been picked up the day before. Not completely illogical... it's prone to happen when you have more than 20 people eating in a house at any given time (which had happened about a week before, and Isaac -- not a "counter" -- had emptied the dishwasher the one time in between).

The idea was terrible. 12 of everything except spoons... we'd run out of spoons before bowls for breakfast, we wouldn't be able to have a complete setting next time we have 12 people over... argh. And with this set of silverware (which was a gift to me from my bank in Spain when I left) there is no way to replace just one piece. That's why I registered for a set of Oneida that won't be discontinued and can be purchased open stock. It's currently being used along with our fine china in lieu of real SILVERware, the idea being that in the event of losing enough of the current set, the Oneida could move in as everyday-ware. I just hoped it wouldn't be for at least another 10 or 15 years!

Anyway, after I fretted about this for several days, prayed to find it, and determined to use disposable utensils at every group function from now to eternity, Isaac was loading his plate in the dishwasher after dinner one night and I, from a weird angle on the other side of the room, noticed a spoon resting in the bottom of the appliance, completely intact, up against the motor unit piece. We triple counted and -- sure enough! -- we now have 12 spoons again!

Whoever said God only deals with the big issues needs to think again :)