Monday, October 27, 2014

This Week on the Dining Table



The "I hate the Post Office" Edition---


When I sell stuff or have a giveaway, I almost always print my own postage labels from home and have my carrier pick-up the packages when they deliver my mail.
I had 2 packages set out for a requested and confirmed pick-up on Saturday and no one ever picked them up.
This often happens on Saturdays since my regular carrier doesn't work that day and the sub is an idiot and never checks for their pick-ups(or just doesn't bother checking because they want to do the bare minimum).

Then on Sunday I get an email that my confirmed pick-up was completed!
WTF?!?
Um, NO....it wasn't!
Scathing email returned to the USPS but I doubt they will even respond and I KNOW nothing will come of it.
Sort of a "no one is held accountable" type thing....just like our government and politicians.  8-(

Enough of that grousing.....
Onward to the meal planning!

What was planned last week--
1.  Grilled Salmon, Butternut Squash & Apples
2.  Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms, leftover Corn Casserole
3.  Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Rice
4.  Hot Dogs on Rolls with Chili or Chili over a Baked Potato, Collard Greens
5.  Grilled Meatloaf leftover, leftover sides
6.  Broccoli Soup, Homemade Bread
7.  Spaghetti, Meatballs and Sauce, leftover sides or Tossed Salad

 
And this is what actually happened--

1.  Grilled Salmon, Butternut Squash & Apples
2.  Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms, leftover Corn Casserole
3.  Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Rice
4.  Hot Dogs on Rolls with Chili or Chili over a Baked Potato, Collard Greens
5.  Grilled Meatloaf leftover, leftover sides
6.  Leftovers
7.  Leftovers of Fend for Yourself Night
 
The plan was kept to except the spaghetti and soup never happened because we had too many leftovers to use up.
    
Last week I made 3 trips to 3 different market and spent $45.81 on $83.10 worth of groceries and did 2 transactions at Rite-Aid where I spent .98¢ total there for the week.
$315.25 spent(including Rite-Aid)for the month so I am over my $300 budget for October.  I  will stay out of the grocery stores until Saturday(Nov.1st)when my November food budget kicks in in order to not rack up any more charges in October.  I WILL be spending a bit at Rite-Aid this week(under $2 cash total OOP probably)to roll my +Up Rewards.  Hey, I am over by $15 already, another $2 isn't going to hurt me much, right? ;-)

Funny thing is when my food budget was $400 a month(when we were feeding 3 or 4 people)I most always went over a bit.
Now that it's $300 a month I still go over a little bit.
Maybe I'm just a rebel and can't quite go with having a limit. lol

Going into this week, in leftovers we have.........stuffed cabbage rolls, cabbage roll filling, collard greens, squash and apples with pecans side dish, the broccoli for making soup and 2lbs. of ground beef I cooked off.
I have flour tortillas and hard corn tortillas here and stuff to make enchilada sauce and cheese plus frozen veggies.
Let's see if I can go without running to the store for anything this week.

Here is the plan for this week.........

1.  Leftovers
2.  Enchiladas with green chilles, Corn
3.  Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
4.  Tacos
5.  Pork Chops, something veggie in the freezer, squash apple pecan side dish
6.  Broccoli Soup, Homemade Bread
7.  Leftovers or a Pizza


What I need to buy this week........not going to go to the store, until Saturday.  I made a list of items I'd like to get at the grocery stores but I'll hold off and redo the list on Friday, and try to cut it down and do the actual shopping on Saturday so the charges go on November's food bill.
I can make this menu without going to the store.
 
   
What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?
Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?
How much did you spend on food so far in October?
 

Sluggy

8 comments:

  1. Your menu, as always, sounds yummy. We don't make a meal plan, but we have been eating more homecooked meals as Hubby is getting around just fine on his 4 wheels. He cooked every night but one last week. And both Saturday and Sunday, when we were out running errands, I asked it he wanted to pick up dinner and his answer was, "No, I will just make something at home." Yeah for Hubby being back in "his" kitchen.

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  2. The appetites at our house seem to be growing! We've been trying to stick to the budget, and finding creative ways to bulk up our food without adding too much cost. We buy a tremendous amount of produce, which is actually pretty expensive. Other than that, no major changes. We continue to find ways to cut back, make at home, etc.

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  3. I was able to eat two nights and two mornings free this weekend, so that has to help. Actually, I brought three apples, three bananas, three milks, and three yogurts to the room to eat during lunch or whenever. Now, they are here. When I sat down to breakfast each morning a the motel breakfast, just could not eat. Oh, the guy downstairs unlocked the food place and gave me more food because I was ill. So, I had two milks and two delicious granola cereal. I could not eat the sausage and biscuits and the scrambled eggs were cold. So, I took food and went to the room and slept all day Saturday. Then at 1 pm checkout on Sunday gave ,me time to sleep after breakfast and try to swallow food. Didn't work. At any rate, I have fruit for the week.

    I just had cottage and cheese, first thing I put in my mouth today, and it is 3 pm. I doubt I will need or want any more groceries I have. Since I only have $1.60 left to my name, I will get along on what I have for the rest of this month.

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  4. I've got to head off to the post office myself today... I wanted to finish a tv show over lunch so it'll be my afternoon break instead.

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  5. sluggy,
    The postmaster will care. Take the email and packages, if you have them to him. He will straighten it out for you. Postmasters and I are friends. Can you imagine if you lived in a neighborhood where packages might disappear and you go the message your packages were being delivered? Also, my regular mailman gets hot when he hears of the incompetence of his replacement. Then, he goes to postmaster.

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  6. We call those nights Mustgo casserole. As in everything mustgo out of the fridge. I am trying to do the rite aid thing and getting a stock pile
    of things I will use. Now it is down hill or maybe up-hill?

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  7. When I moved the last time, my mail forwarding was so badly screwed up that I wrote a letter to the Post Master General ($hit rolls down hill fast in this town.) A few days later I get a response, by email, explaining how the situation has been addressed. The thing that blew me away was that I mailed them a paper letter and they responded by email. If only you could send the package by email.

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  8. I agree with not being able to stay on track with the food budget. But we may have it set too low. Maybe we just like the feeling of failing. LOL

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