Monday, November 5, 2012

Food Spending OCTOBER Week 4+, Meal Planning NOVEMBER Week 1



Another wartime food waste poster.  From everything I've heard about Army food during the 1940's, the word "style" doesn't pop up too often. if. ever.  But yes, leftovers can taste AWESOME!

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If you read last week, you know I planned out being able to stick to my Meal Plan even if we lost power for a few days as a result of Sandy.  Luckily for us, we didn't lose power for very long.  This mostly meant that we didn't have to eat 3 cartons of ice cream in a very short time.lol

And here is what actually got served last week....
 
Sunday--Pot Roast, Carrots, Potatoes, Mushrooms, Onions
Monday--Sloppy Joe on Onion Rolls, Corn
Tuesday--Chinese take-out
Wednesday--Salmon, Kraft Mac&Cheese, Green Beans
Thursday--Beef Stew(used leftover Pot Roast), Bread
Friday-- more Stew or leftover Sloppy Joe or Chinese take-out
Saturday--Cheese Burgers(used up leftover onion rolls), leftover Green Beans
 
The food spending last week was $106.24 for $188.44 reg. retail worth of goods.  I also earned a $5 Cat Q last week.  Most of the spending was buying ahead so I could qualify for the Thanksgiving gift certificate at the local Shursave market.  Only about $15 of what was spent was for immediate needs.

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Going into this week, I have leftover Sloppy Joe(1 serving), so nothing really to incorporate into my new meals.  If I don't eat this for lunch this week, I could mix it into the spaghetti sauce on Friday.  Viola-no waste!

This week's menu....
 
Sunday--Steak on grill, Salad, Roasted Potatoes & Onions
Monday--Rueben Sandwiches
Tuesday--Grilled Pork Chops, Halushki(a cabbage & noodle dish), cinnamon apples
Wednesday--Honey Mustard Chicken, Rice, Broccoli
Thursday--Kielbasi on Rolls, Onions and leftover Sauerkraut, Corn
Friday-- Ravioli with Sauce, Spinach Salad
Saturday--Leftovers

Last week I hit upon a deal on sliced corned beef at Weis.  They had 8oz packs of Freidriech pastrami, roast beef and corned beef, regularly $5.99 pack on sale for $3.99.  Some packs had $2 instant discount Qs on them as they were nearing sell by dates, which made those $3.98 lb. for high end deli meats.  I scarfed up some roast beef to tuck into the freezer and enough corned beef to make Ruebens for dinner.  I already had Swiss cheese, 1000 Island Dressing and Sauerkraut, so I bought a loaf of Jewish rye bread on Sat.  Had I planned on this for a meal?  No, but as soon as I saw that deal the end of last week, I changed things up.   We'll be knoshing in style tonight for dinner! ;-)
 
What do I need to buy to serve this menu?  I bought the bag of salad on Saturday as it was on sale last week....ditto the deli meat for Ruebens.  Left to buy is a head of cabbage, kielbasi rolls, fresh spinach.
Also needed milk, and maybe fruit, though we still have many apples left from last week.

I will be buying a frozen turkey this week, as well as some good buys this week, along with getting items ahead that I'll need for Thanksgiving dinner.  This is the last week for purchases to qualify for the gift certificate at the local Shursave market so besides the $15 I need to spend for this week's meals, I'll be shelling out around $80 more dollars of food items.  Luckily the end of this week the Shursave market is having their semi-annual Meat Sale, so I can stock up on some meats....the ones they don't jack the price up on right before the sale and then lower them. lol  Spending this targeted amount means I get $20 in free food vouchers to spend the following 2 weeks.
 
So what are you cooking at your house this week?


Sluggy

7 comments:

  1. Slugs-I often "hide" sloppy joe leftover sauce into pasta sauce. Funny thing-college boy hates sloppy joes yet loves my pasta the next night-really??! LOL!

    I like the menu plan. Baked chicken tonight, will reappear as planned over chicken a la king over rice tomorrow, making life easier.

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  2. Loving the menu of salmon with macaroni & cheese. Nice mix of high & low, & totally something that would go down in our house too. :-)

    We're doing lots of pasta & leftovers, as we're heading out on vacation & need to use things up before we leave.

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  3. Last Saturday I bought 80 lbs of sweet potatoes from the farm where they are grown. Sweet potatoes at that rate cost 25 cents/lb. They will last until spring if I don't eat too many. Today, I am going to bake an oven full of sweet potatoes and a huge pack of chicken breasts--all in one oven.

    I am cooking a bag of field peas. There is leftover broccoli cole slaw. There are lots of raw apples and bananas to eat raw.

    Wednesday, I will get out several round steaks bought on sale on their "sell by" date. I will brown these in a skillet and cut in quarters and cook like a roast beef with potatoes and carrots, and onions, celery, bell peppers, and celery for flavor.

    On Thursday I may make an Apple Betty (apple crisp) with all the green apples I got on sale a few weeks ago.

    The goal this week is to be prepared for a big Friday when exbf comes to help me with a big project. I don't want to cook, time anything, just microwave. Plus, I want at least to give him something for his lunch/dinner the next day. I pack a Tupperware divided dish for him plus other stuff.

    Not only am I cooking lots so I don't have to cook often, I am cooking in self-defense against a hard day coming. At this rate, I cook from scratch on Monday, Wednesday, and dessert on Thursday.

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  4. Linda above with all the sweet potatoes is Practical Parsimony.

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  5. My hubs made a tater tot casserole on Sunday night because we thought we were attending a potluck, but I had the date wrong. It will last for several lunches and maybe a quick supper during the week.

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  6. like your meal plan!! good for you. We are meatless one day..and Thursday is always soup or potpie or pasta with the leftovers from Mon, Tues and Wed..I rarely have food waste..i can always figure some where to put it!!
    I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

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  7. I'm trying to eat down what is in the freezer. Trust me this would be a lot easier if it were filled with ice cream!
    I'm sure that once we have no food in the freezer I will be complaining about that too. I like to complain.
    The one problem that I now see with our new frig/freezer is that it is a side by side and I don't have enough room in the frig. I'll have to work on it. My MIL said that is the worst thing about the side by sides.
    We usually white trash it and put food in the van. My van always smells like pickles for a week after Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete

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