This Week on the Dining Table for 2 Weeks

 The "You Know You Are Back From Vacation" Edition

We returned on Monday to home.  Oh what a tale I have to tell but not now.  Jet Lag was bad on both ends of a less than stellar cruise and 1.5 days in London.  But more on that later.

I am still in the land of sleep deprivation and this prettier than me representation of me should have drool hanging out of her mouth. lol

I am sorry if I've already forgotten items consumed or muddled the days as this a 2 week report.  I'll do the end of the cruise food eaten next time if I can get my brain working again and spell better. 8-

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned the first week.......

1. Sunday--Chicken Parm, Yellow Squash

2. Monday--Beef Pie

3. Tuesday--Riced Cauliflower, other Veggies and Beef Stir-fry

4. Wednesday--Trivia night at different place so no clue

5. Thursday--Applebee's Salad(late lunch)

6.  Friday--Tempura Shrimp and Zuke, Spinach Soufflé, maybe Cole Slaw

7. Saturday--Chicken in Peanut Sauce, Noodles and Veggies

And here's what actually happened........

1. Sunday--Chicken Parm, Yellow Squash

2. Monday--Beef Pie

3. Tuesday--Leftovers

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Tempura Shrimp and Zuke, Spinach Soufflé

6.  Friday--More Leftovers

7. Saturday--In n' Out Burger for lunch, no dinner

Lots didn't happen as I've been having a gastrointestinal issue all week.  Hubs had to fend for himself mostly. He made the Beef Pie and finished it all as a lefttover as I was not up for food running through my intestinal system most of the week. TMI but true.

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

*   sweet potato I cooked up so I could freeze it.

What got taken out of the freezer and used...

*  1 lb. Ground Beef

*  1 container of Chicken Parm

Last week we spent $0 on grocery shopping

This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $0 for June.  

There are 16 shopping days left in June.

Here is the second week's "food plan".....

*Sunday to Saturday there was no plan. Duh.

And here's what actually happened........

Sunday--I had a small Caesar Salad for lunch, Hubs had his first ever Poutine in the Montreal airport(*cue the hu hu hu" French attitude)during out 6.50 hour layover(after leaving the hotel before breakfast was to be served).

 Then  a less than stellar Air Canada dinner at about 3 am  and then at 5 am they served a flavorless cup of yogurt(which was suppose to be flavored but danged if I could tell other than sugar what the flavor was suppose to be) and a soggy croissant before kicking us off the airplane at Heathrow airport on Monday morning at 6:30 am.  The cruise line arranged for a man in a van to take us to the hotel in the Kensington section of downtown London(which took ages as it was Monday morning rush hour into London).  Not being able to check-in to said hotel until 3pm we checked our bags with the front desk and skiddadled to Westminster Abbey for the verger tour we had booked there and made it just in the nick of time.

Monday-- We checked in to the hotel at 3pm and had a beer each and I had 2 appetizer plated(roasted mixed veggies plus a plate of olives at the hotel bar then fell into bed for hours(jet lag IS real people!)

Tuesday--Hotel breakfast buffet  with lots of different and strange English and ethnic food(there is a reason people refer to London as "Londonistan" lol)

Then Lunch/Dinner at a the Paul cafe near the Tower of London(I had a  Coronation Chicken" sandwich which was dry as dirt on a small tooth breaking Baguette roll with another Coke Zero.

 There was a half pint of Samuel Smith Extra Stout at a pub in the West End before the show we caught Then cabbing it back to the hotel.

Wednesday-another hotel Breakfast buffet forage 

Where I ate a "real meal" because we'd not eat dinner until late on the ship.  I discovered that I LIKE breakfast beans and Cumberland sausage!
then to the cruise ship and the traditional lunch of carrot cake, water and Guinesss.

Then a late dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse on the ship.  Best item on that menu was the grilled pineapple they brought to the table on big skewers like the meats to serve you.  I think I ate mainly pineapple there.  So good!

Thursday-- Breakfast was a Coke Zero and oatmeal.

The rest of the week breakfast was a drink(Coke Zero, Hot Tea often with Lemon and Honey or the English way with cream plus a banana in the cabin on 2 of the mornings.

Lunch in Edinburgh was Irn Bru......

And Haggis, Neeps and Tatties in a pepper cream sauce with flavorless bacon on top(which was not eaten).  More on this meal later on another post.

Dinner on the ship was an appetizer of 2 ravioli(with the tomato scraped off)

And a main of Eggplant Parmagiana(and Hugs took the spaghetti)

There may have been more carrot cake and water with lemon in the pub onboard later that evening but no dessert in this main dining room.

Early excursion that day so I ate one of the bananas for breakfast in the room.

It slipped out of the peel in two pieces.  I learned to do that magic trick as a kid but had no needle with me so it was a magical bananas I guess.

After walking around Belfast, we stopped in a coffee shop(I had water and about 1/4 ofra beetroot salad and Hubs had COFFEE. For lunch bad on the ship Hubs has Penne pasta with Arribbiata sauce which was not spicy at all as it should have been.

 I had pork Asian sliders and Coke Zero and some salad green on the plate.

These were very good.

I decided to push my luck at lunch and had a sliver of cheesecake with peanut butter flavor.  The only problem the ONLY PB flavor was that 1/3 of a miniature Reese's cup on top.  Most of what's pictured stayed on that plate.  

Dinner as the Asian restaurant(we ate there two nights).  Same name and menu as the last ship Kim.
This is Hubs with his dessert -Green Tea Ice Cream and Red Bean and Hazelnut filled triangles.

I had 5 spice Ginger Chocolate Cake

We also had LOTS of Calamari appetizers there because Kim was not there.  I hope a photo of it doesn't give you allergies. lol

The first visit I had Char Siu and was was nothing like that same dish on the other boat.  The second visit I had a lemon pepper chicken entreé which was so good.  So this was Friday dinner not the first visit.  I am so confused on what nights we ate where. lol

This was fish and chips in the pub one night.  I found a guy too Kim who kept me lubricated with Coke Zero.

 One morning Dan bought a breakfast coffee before excursion time using the ship credit on my card so they put my name on his cup. lolz

This was taken in Cork at the Frisky Whisky Bar.  We were there for the top tier Guinness(and Beamish) draught stout they serve in Ireland. The second tier Guinness goes out to the rest of Europe and the Shite stuff in cans goes to America.  Now that I've had the best how can I drink Guinness again here over the pond?  My life is ruined!

We ate one lunch in the buffet on the last day of the cruise.  I was in singing prep mode so I ate little of lunch and waited until after the Karaoke Finals that evening to have a late dinner in the smaller of the two main sit-down dining rooms with one of our favorite waiters serving us.  Got tiny grilled scallops without the fennel cream sauce(Hubs also had this appetizer but he said the sauce had no fennel taste so when he was finished I scraped my scallops onto his saucy plate.  For the entreé I had a lackluster steak(overcooked but asked for Rare)with au jus, pomme frites(french fries)and something green I can't recall.

We ended the night later with a Guinnes toast and  Kim and I's carrot cake tradition.

There was also boat load of fish(with a few chips consumed), a good Rueben Sandwich(with the smallest sliver of dill pickle I've ever seen), some Bulgogi with was drier than a dry county in Tennessee and some really good Pecan Chicken that looked dry but had flavor abounding.

Me with the infamous pickle "spear".  You couldn't  harm a sardine with that pickle *said in my best Billy Connelly accent.

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

*  Not a damned thing as I wasn't home

Last week we spent $0 on grocery shopping

This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $0 for June 

There are 25 shopping days in June

I've earned $0 on Ibotta in June.

I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in June.

I've earned $0 on Coupons dotcom in June.

I've earned $0 on Shopmium in June.

I've earned $0 on Kroger Cash Back in June.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Fetch in June.

I've earned 0 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in June.

I've earned 0 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in June.

That is $0 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $0 of grocery spending so in reality it's $0 in food spending after the 5 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 0% and the monthly savings total for June comes in at 0% so far.  0% spent...Hooray, I win!!

Leftovers going into this week...nothing

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

1. Sunday--me-Asian Green Beans, Hubs- Burritos

2. Monday--No Clue

3. Tuesday--No Clue

4  Wednesday--No Clue

5. Thursday--No Clue

6.  Friday--No Clue

7. Saturday--No Clue

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Beats me.  I am still trying to fight off jet lag from the trip home and have serious brain fog.

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 deals on food at your stores this week? 

Sluggy  

My Shopping Trips and Meal Plan Monday Menu....Rambling Post

Not that this will help anyone directly,l but I just have to post about it since it's the closest to a honest-to-goodness Grocery Deal I've done in ages!  We bought other stuff but I wanted to mention this deal in case stores near you were going to run something like this one in the near future.

Our local independent chain stores--each one is independently owned, but they share an affiliation(shurfine brand markets), so they share the same weekly deals/sales--had a double dip opportunity I just found out about on Sat. morning.  The bad news was their deal was ending that evening. 8-P

This past week they were running a General Mills sale/deal.....buy 12 participating items(most of which were on sale as well and there were coupons in circulation for these items)and get an instant $5 off your bill.  Other chains may run this as a Catalina deal instead of an Instant Discount deal.  Among the included General Mills 'brands' were Green Giant, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Yoplait, etc.

Included in the participating items were the small, boxed Green Giant veggies, which were on sale for $1.25 each.  This chain is also participating in a nationwide Green Giant Catalina through Oct. 3rd--Get a $1 Cat WYB 4 boxes/Get a $2 Cat WYB 6 boxes/Get a $3 Cat WYB 8 boxes or more, making this a great Double Dip Opportunity!

I've got no pic of all the items we bought but here's a shot of some of the frozen vegs...

So I bought.....
8 Green Giant veggies @ $1.25=$10.00
2 Betty Crocker Taters @ $1.25=$2.50
2 Coco Puffs Cereal @ $2.00=$4.00
SubTotal....$16.50

Coupons Used
2 x $.60/3 IP Green Giant Qs(1st identical Q doubles to $1)=$1.60
1 x $1/2 BC Taters IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1/2 GM Cereals IPQ=$1.00
Coupon Total...$3.60

$16.50-$3.60=$12.90
Minus Instant $5 off Bill for buying 12 items $12.90-$5.00=$7.90 OOP
And I received a $3 Catalina for buying the 8 Veggies, so after figuring in that, the 'OOP' is $4.90.

I brought Hubs along and at another register he bought....

8 Green Giant veggies @ $1.25=$10.00
3 Hamburger Helper @ $1.00=$3.00
1 Cheerios Cereal @ $2.00=$2.00
SubTotal....$15.00

Coupons Used
2 x $.60/3 IP Green Giant Qs(1st identical Q doubles to $1)=$1.60
1 x $1/3 Hamburger Helper IPQ=$1.00
1 x $.55 Cheerios IPQ=$.55(didn't double)
Coupon Total...$3.15

$15.00-$3.15=$11.85
Minus Instant $5 off Bill for buying 12 items $11.85-$5.00=$6.85 OOP
And I received a $3 Catalina for buying the 8 Veggies....$6.85-$3.00=$3.85
AND as an unexpected Bonus, Hubs received a $1.50 WYB  Beef/Chicken/Tuna Catalina(for buying 3 Hamburger Helpers)....$3.85-$1.50=$2.35 'OOP'

 $7.90 + $6.85=$14.75 OOP for 24 items(16 veggies, 3 cereals, 5 boxed taters and helpers)& $7.50 in Catalinas to use next trip, since I didn't use Cat from Transaction #1 in Transaction #2, as they were done simultaneously.

 The bad thing is that I have to go to this particular Shurfine affiliated store to use them and I can't use them at the store here in Teeny Tiny Town.
But I drive the 5 miles to go to that affiliated store anyway since they DO take internet coupons!

Other items purchased were 2 gallons of milk, 9 white eggplant, 5lb potatoes, 1 lb. red peppers, 1 lb. broccoli, 1lb. peaches, 6lbs. apples, 1.39lb. bananas, bottle of dipping mustard, 2 packages of Oreos, 9 lbs. of chicken & a pie that was on clearance.
We spent $53.11 combined($14.75 of that was on the GM Cat deal).
Reg. retail of all items was $116.06
Savings of 54.25%


We also went to Weis Markets on Saturday and picked up more groceries......have I mentioned I haven't gone grocery shopping since last month?lol


4 x Perdue bags of chicken tenders(for #2 son on band nights) on sale $4.00=$16.00
3 x Weis shredded cheese on sale 3/$5=$5.00
5 x Weis cream cheese on sale $1=$5.00
1 x 3lb. Jennie-O ground turkey=$5.99
2 x 8 oz. fresh oysters on clearance $3.59=$7.18
1 x iceberg lettuce on sale=$1.50
2 x fresh pears on sale=$.83
3 x fresh limes on sale=$.60
1 x celery on sale=$1.50
3lbs. sweet italian sausage=$6.05
SubTotal....$49.65

Coupons Used
4 x $1/1 Perdue chicken ManuQ=$4.00
1 x $3/1 Instant Discount Q for Sausage=$3.00
Coupon Total....$7.00

$49.61-$7.00=$42.65
Reg. retail $80.53
Savings of 47%

Grand Total spent for all shopping....$95.76
Total value of items....$196.59
Savings of 51.30%


Ok, so I bet you are asking yourself, "self, why did Sluggy buy this particular stuff?".
Glad you asked!! ;-)

To analyze the purchases....
*The Cat deal stuff is obvious--veggies for the freezer, helper & instant potatoes for quick fix nights, 1 cereal for me and the chocolate stuff for #2 son snacks.
Other items bought at Gerrity's Shurfine....
*2 gallons of milk--we were totally out of milk
*2 packages of Oreos--tried to use the free Oreo/milk Q but they wouldn't take it so I bought Oreos anyway for #2 son snacks(they were on sale at least)
*9 white eggplant--great price for this so Eggplant Parmesan is on the menu this evening
*5lb potatoes--cheap price for this
*1 lb. red peppers--ditto, I'll slice and freeze these for use this winter
*1 lb. broccoli--for dinner this week
*1lb. peaches--great price
* 6lbs. apples--ditto
* 1.39lb. bananas--ditto...daughter is on a fresh fruit binge lately
* bottle of dipping mustard--had $1 off coupon so got it for $1.25. #2 son likes this with his chicken tenders
* 9 lbs. of chicken--great price on boneless chicken breast so I stocked up some
* a pie--Hubs wanted this and with the $2 off instant coupon stuck to it, I said ok!lol
*4 bags of Perdue chicken-#2 son is in the midst of Marching Band season so he needs easy meal protein most nights since he isn't here for dinner.  It was $2.99 a bag after coupons so I bought as many as I had coupons for.
*3 Shredded Cheese-on sale for $1.66 bag and I still needed some in the stockpile.
 *5 Cream Cheese--stock up price so I did.lol
*Ground Turkey roll--Daughter needs easy meal protein some nights as well due to her part time job schedule. I divided this roll into burger patties for her.
*Fresh Oysters--50% off on something we hardly ever buy.  At this price, we splurged and had fried oysters for dinner last night. ;-)
* Lettuce-good price, we were out.
*Pears--sale price, daughter wanted
*Limes--sale price, I wanted for my iced tea
*Celery--good price, we were out.  I'll make clam chowder this week, plus use some for raw veggie sticks for snacks.
*3lb. italian sausage--with Instant Meat Dept. Coupon this was $1 a lb....half of any sale price around here so I grabbed it.  Many uses for this item....in spaghetti sauce, in meatloaf, in various other casseroles or just grilled and eaten on a bun.

My Meal Plan Menu so far for this week....
Sunday--fried oysters, fried potatoes, fried crabcakes, sauted yellow squash
Monday--eggplant parmesan, steamed broccoli
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--grilled chicken, potatoes and onions, tbd fresh veggie-all on the grill
Thursday--spaghetti & meatballs, salad
Friday--Game night so Hamburger Helper, assorted  steamed veggies
Saturday--clam chowder and sandwiches or leftovers again

I'm using some of what I bought this week but I'll have chicken, chicken tenders, potatoes, ground turkey, italian sausage, cream cheese and the shredded cheese, along with most of the GM items from the Cat deal left for next week's meals.

Have you found any good Deals lately?

Sluggy

The Return of the Eating Machine....And Other Tales

Yes, #1 son has been home 6 days now.  And my food budget is beginning to feel the strain.

It's barely 1/2 way through the month and I have spent $142.50 on food for May.  While this isn't such a terrible number for 2 weeks and we really haven't been grocery shopping much at all this past week, we are making quite the dent in the freezer/stockpile.  And alot of what I spent the 1st week in May on groceries was in anticipation of #1's return home. 
We've spent $14.32 on food since Monday.  This was on milk and fresh produce.  But I've been making dinners #1 requested like Beef Stroganoff, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Clam Chowder from scratch with BLT's.  Tonight is the Fish Fry and Mother's Day DH made Fried Chicken and tomorrow it's Burgers and Dogs on the grill.  It's been one big Meat Parade around here lately.
Add in that #1 has been raiding the freezer each night for "Fourth Meal" so I wake up to a kitchen full of dirty dishes and pans each morning.
I think next week I tell him the Honeymoon is Over and show him the shelf of Ramen Noodles out in the garage....

So we've been eating down on lots of stuff here.
I might be taking a short trip next week so there won't be any stocking up for another week or so until I get back. 

I still haven't made it up to Rite-Aid this week.
Maybe later today since I need to go to the bank for change for the Flea Market.
Yes, the FM is a go this Sunday.  Sunday's forecast is warmish and partly sunny so I sitting here trying to figure out pricing for my items.  I want to be a tad more organized this year since last Oct.'s FM foray was just NUTS once it opened!  Not a moment for 2 solid hours to catch my breath.  If I can't get everything actually priced with a sticker, I need to get a sheet made up for DH so he isn't so clueless about the prices.
It will also take some of the stress off of me if he can tell people the prices.
After I finish this and rouse 'Sleeping Beauty' aka #1 son, I am off to the living room with marker in hand to go through the stack of boxes of goodies.

Have you done a stockpile sale lately?
How did you do?  And what were your prices??
Help! ;-)

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday March 30th Edition

Last week's menu went as planned except for the CrabCakes. Those poor crabcakes....seems like they will NEVER get made! We ended up last week having leftovers 2 nights but #1 son worked alot and daughter had play rehearsal until 9 every night, so we still have some leftovers. I'll do my best to eat for lunch what I can, but the doggies will have to help me out this week so we can avoid the dreaded FOOD WASTE! Somehow I don't think the dogs will mind having to eat leftovers.lolol
Sunday is Hubby's birthday so I don't have to cook that day.
I've linked to the Crab Cake recipe I use. Being from Virginia Beach originally, I loves me some seafood. I like a light hand when making crab cake batter/filler. You don't want to spend all that money on crab and then not be able to taste it. This recipe is one of the best.

Again this week's menu is mostly Eating from the Pantry/Freezer. Last week, I only needed to buy 3 items to make that menu. This week I only need 4 items for the menu(salad greens, fresh mushrooms, cubed stuffing/breading & eggs).

Here's what is on the Menu at Sluggy's house this week.

MONDAY-Meatloaf, Potato Salad(leftover), Green & Wax Bean Melange
TUESDAY-Quiche & Garden Greens Salad
WEDNESDAY-Roasted Chicken w/Veggies, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce
THURSDAY-Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Spinach Soufle
FRIDAY-Crab Cakes, Fries, Harvard Beets
SATURDAY-Quesadillas(using leftover roasted chicken), Rice, Corn
SUNDAY-Birthday Dinner Out
Desserts for the Week-Apple Pie, Brownies,

My Bargain Meal this week is the Rigatoni w/Sauce & Spinach Souffle.

Rigatoni.... .50¢ box
Sauce....leftover from last week's Lasagna meal $1.50
Meat in Sauce....used 1/3lb. from ground beef chunk for Monday's Meatloaf .56¢
Salad Greens.....$1.99
Dressing.....$1.00
Croutons.... .25¢
Spinach Souffle.... $4.00
$9.80 OR $1.64 a serving(6 Generous Servings)

The largest expenses are the Salad Greens and the Spinach Souffles(2 boxes of Stouffer's side dish). I can't wait until I can plant my own salad greens and not have to pay through the nose for those until next winter! I also have a dilemna on the Spinah Souffles. I was down to ONE STORE locally that carries this particular Stouffer's item. We like this item and it's sooo convenient to buy already made up....but now that 1 store has stopped carrying it. I have made spinach souffle before from scratch(it isn't that difficult) so I'll have to start making it again. I hate not having the option to buy it instead but at the price it had risen too, every frugal bone in my body has been screaming at me to MAKE IT and NOT SPEND THAT MONEY ON CONVENIENCE! Now I have to listen to my frugal bones....lol

Organizing Junkie is the home to Menu Plan Monday. Go see what's on her and many other Home Cooks' Menus for the week at Organizing Junkie's website.

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday March 9th Edition

Since we are in the Limited Food Budget March, I am trying to use from the stockpile and keep new food purchases to a minimum. I have most everything on hand for this meal plan week, except the ground beef, asparagus and molasses(for the beans). Ground Beef, Asparagus, Cantaloupe, Ice Cream & Grapes are on sale this week so I'm putting them on the plan.

We didn't have the Fish meal and the Enchiladas happened on Friday instead of Thursday(scheduling conflict, hubby brought home Taco Bell for the kids), so there are a couple of repeats on this week's meal plan. We are burnt out on chicken after 3 chicken meals last week. No chicken this week.

On the keep the food waste down front, I declared a Cooking Moratorium for last weekend. Mom did NOT cook all weekend. Family was forced to eat Leftovers from the refridgerator. There was much gnashing of teeth over this plan.

But it was a success! We cleared out spaghetti, enchiladas, pot roast, taco salad & chinese takeout. The only leftover not eaten(chicken from BBQ Ckn & Enchiladas)was frozen for later use.

Here's what is on the Menu at Sluggy's house this week.

Monday-Kielbasa w/Onions & Peppers, Potato Salad, Broccoli

Tuesday-Quiche w/veggies, Salad

Wednesday-Fish, Rice, Squash Casserole

Thursday-Boston Baked Beans, Sweet Potato Biscuits w/Smithfield Ham

Friday-Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze, Au Gratin Potatoes, Asparagus

Saturday-Chinese Lunch Buffet Out, Clam Chowder for lite dinner

Sunday-Beef Pie Casserole

Desserts for the Week-Cantaloupe, Grapes, Ice Cream, Choc. & Butterscotch Chip Cookies

I'll be posting a recipe for my Killer Boston Baked Beans in a day or two so check back to my blog on Wed. It's so tasty and filling. Even non-bean people like it.lol

Organizing Junkie is the home to Menu Plan Monday.

Go see what's on her and many other Home Cooks' Menus for the week at Organizing Junkie's website.

Sluggy