This Week on the Dining Table

The "The End of Smoking Season" Edition................

Generally I have to do any meat smoking before the cold weather sets in because my little smoker can't maintain temperatures in the wind and cold.  An unplanned smoking session took place on Sunday as the weather hit 50F and I found some unexpected pork meat deals on Friday(see below)..........so this did happened.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Rigatoni w/Sausage in Sauce
2. Monday--Pecan Chicken, Roasted Carrots and Taters

3. Tuesday--?(We are working the polls until 8+pm)

4. Wednesday--Chicken Parm w/Spaghetti, Salad

5. Thursday--Haluski(Cabbage, Noodles, Onions and Bacon)

6. Friday--No clue yet(maybe soup or chowder and cornbread as it's going to be frigid)
7. Saturday--No clue yet

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Rigatoni w/Sausage in Sauce
2. Monday--Pecan Chicken, Roasted Carrots and Taters

3. Tuesday--A Salad from McDonald's while working the polls

4. Wednesday--Apple Sausage, Sauteed Cabbage w/Onions

5. Thursday--Breakfast for Dinner(Pancakes, Bacon)

6. Friday--Fried Chicken, Au Gratin Taters, Sugar Snap Peas
7. Saturday--Chinese Take-Out

Last week saw 5 nights of home cooked dinners,  0 nights of leftovers/ffy, and 2 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.

What got put into the freezer last week.....

*  1 London Broil
*  Most of the Ground Beef
* 1.5 lb. Pork Tenderloin
*  2 large bags Mini Cheese Raviolis

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* 1 pack Italian Sausage
* 1 pack Apple Sausage
* 1 bag Sugar Snap

Two trips to Weis brought the current weekly spending to $72.92 and my November spending on food to $191.97 for this month.  I didn't plan on spending so much this past week but........I found discount sticker meats(chicken quarters and a pork tenderloin), London Broils were BOGOF(plus I had a $1.50/1 WeisQ), Ground Beef was $1.99 lb.(never that low here)and there were two Pork Butts with $3 off stickers on them.  $44.11 of that $72.92 spent was just meat. (Total should have been $70.32 but 2 items didn't ring up 50% off on clearance and I had to get a cash refund for that which went into my refund envie).
28.5 lbs. of meat for $44.11 ain't bad though.

My savings percentage last week was 41.63%(without Rite-Aid trips)and November's monthly savings total comes in at 38.98%(w/out R-A).

I have 19 more food shopping/spending days in November.

Leftovers going into this week......Fried Chicken, Sugar Snap Peas, Au Gratin Taters, Apple Sausage, Cabbage, Pasta Sauce w/Sausage/Beef but no Pasta for it.
None of the leftovers are enough for a full meal item so Hubs will most likely eat all this for lunches.

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday--Fend For Yourself
2. Monday--BBQ on rolls, Cole Slaw

3. Tuesday--Beef Pie

4. Wednesday--Salmon, Asparagus, Rice

5. Thursday--Teriyaki Beef Stir-Fry

6. Friday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Salad
7. Saturday--Leftovers

As always this menu is subject to change or rearranging depending on what leftovers get eaten or not and what I am feeling like cooking(or not). lolz

What needs buying for this menu?  Salmon, Asparagus, Rolls, Snow Peas, Mushrooms.  Will hit the grocery store/produce market later today for these things.

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 last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy  

A Few Deals I Did Other Than Rite-Aid This Week

Not a lot of big grocery shopping trips this week.
Here are two items/deals I did well on.........

Lindy's Italian Ice(aka Water Ice) were BOGO at Weis(PMITA)Markets this past ad week.
While I had no coupons to use I did send for a .50¢ Checkout51 cash rebate which made both of these $2.99 total.
(They're empty because I take the cups out of the box before stowing in the freezer.)

I did this Mix & Match 6 Items Deal at Weis as well.....

4 x Chi-Chis Salsa on sale $1.99=$7.96
1 x Borden cheese slices on sale=$2.49
1 x TopCare bandaids on sale=$2.29
SubTotal......$12.74

Coupons Used
4 x .55¢/1 Chi-Chi's items IPQ(doubled to $1)=$4.00
1 x .50¢/1 Borden item ManuQ(doubled to $1)=$1.00
1 x $3 off wyb 6 select items=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$8.00

$12.74-$8.00=$4.74 OOP for all 6 items.

I also bought a 4 pack of store made burgers(Swiss and Mushroom)marked down and it had a $3 off Instant Sticker on it AND I had a Weis mailed .50¢ off Ground Beef of at least 1 lb. in weight.  My 1.64 lb. burgers cost me after all discounts $2.74 lb.
I also snagged a 1.31 lb. packaged of ground veal, marked down and with a $3 off Instant Sticker so it cost me $2.39 lb.
I picked up 2 small London Broil to marinated, grill and slice.  These were BOGO.
A gallon of milk, an 8 pack of hot dog buns and a bag of 50% Romaine hearts salad rounded out this shop.

$30.48 OOP with a savings over reg. retail of 52%.

Deals lately on items we use have been "meh" but I keep plodding along and do the best I can.
Any great deals at your stores lately?


Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the June 16th Edition

* Back in late April I bought Right Guard dry spray deodorant on a BOGO offer at Rite-Aid(and used a Q)and sent a mail-in rebate for 1 of the bottle to "Try It Free".

The original post is HERE.
The TMF Offer said they'd deduct the price of any coupon used so I was unsure if I'd get back $7.29, $5.46, $3.64, $3.79, $1.96 or .14¢.
Turns out I got the full $7.29 back..........

So that trip, instead of "spending down" $3.59 in Plenti Points becomes a $3.70 "moneymaker".  I got paid $3.70 to buy all the stuff in that transaction.  8-)

* We like to buy nice/pricey bagels from Panera Bread now and again so I cashed in some c/c points and sent away for this awhile ago and it arrived this week.........

$50 Panera Bread gift card.  This will pay for 7 orders of a Baker's Dozen bagels on Tuesdays(when the dozen bagels are discounted and the only day I will buy them there). 8-)

* I was sent a 15% off any shopping order at Ollies(Good Stuff Cheap!)that was expiring this weekend so I took a trip down the mountain to our local store.  I had found a fabric shower curtain there a few months back for our master bathroom that we had redone last February that I really, really liked and though went well with the color scheme in that room.  We still don't have any kind of curtain on the window in there so I picked up another of the same shower curtain and will turn it into a window curtain. ;-)

I also picked up some other goodies at Ollies--a replacement "good" non-stick pan(which will be used in the Fall once College Boy goes back to school and isn't here ruining my cooking pans), some air fresheners for .58¢ each after 15% off discount, a pantry staples of minced garlic, and some Xmas gifts for cheap(which I can't show or talk about here).
Plus 8 bottles of Dawn dish soap.....

Ollies had the orginal plus a pomegranate scent variety for .89¢ which was .75¢ after my discount so worth stocking up.  I don't mind using that Dollar store variety but I do think Dawn is better(you can use less as it's more concentrated).

* No Take-out this past week, we've been eating home cooked meals as per usual.

* I have begun to pick up items for the kids to cook when we are on our Summer road trip, and incorporating the cost of those into my food budget for the next 4 weeks(4 WEEKS and we are leaving!?! Yikes!)

I found these St. Louis pork ribs with $3 and $2 instant discount stickers on them.  3.83 lbs. of ribs for $1.63 per lb. after sale and sticker.  The kids love ribs and they can either smoke these or just cook them through in the oven or crock pot so easy peasy.

That's about all I got this week besides the usual stuff I do around here that is frugal.

What Frugal Wins did you have this week?

Sluggy