This Week on the Dining Table

The "It's Sluggy's Birthday" Edition.....

 

 

Tomorrow actually.
But I give Hubs all week to celebrate me.  ;-)

 

 

On to the Meal Planning.

Here is what was planned last week--

Sunday--Pork Chops(have), Red Apple Kraut(have, Stuffing(have)
Monday--Meatloaf(have), Garlic Mashed Taters(have), Collard Greens(have)
Tuesday--Leftover Pork, Enchiladas, Beef Stew(diner's choice)
Wednesday--local Italian food meal out *
Thursday--Clam/Corn Chowder(have), Cod(have), Roasted Cauliflower(have)
Friday--Leftovers Night
Saturday--?  More Leftovers if we have them

 And here is what actually happened--

 

Sunday--Pork Chops(have), Red Apple Kraut(have, Stuffing(have)
Monday--Meatloaf(have), Garlic Mashed Taters(have), Collard Greens(have)
Tuesday--Leftover Pork, Enchiladas, Beef Stew(diner's choice)
Wednesday--Leftovers again
Thursday--local Italian food meal out-Free Birthday meal
Friday--Leftovers Night
Saturday--Cod(have), Roasted Potatoes & Onions(have), Apple Kraut(have)

Some meals moved around and the chowder got bumped to next week, when I went out into the stockpile and found I had NO cans of clams left....I thought I had 4 left. sigh.  But luckily, they are on sale here this week. 8-)
We spent a lot of nights eating up the leftovers.
  

As for the food spending last week....
There was 1 trip to the grocery store and I spent a grand total of $25.57 on $53.70 worth of groceries at 1 store.  I'll take a 50% savings rate anyday! lol 
I am trying to achieve another $300 or less grocery month for January and I have $102.32 left in the food budget for this month.  Things look promising.....

Leftovers going into this week--Collards(2 helpings), Kraut(4 helpings), Meatloaf(3 helpings).  I have a head of cauliflower and 2 sweet potatoes that need using.

Here is this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Meatloaf(leftover), Collards and/or Kraut(leftover)
Monday--Roasted Turkey(have), Stuffing(have), Roasted Sweet Potatoes(have), Cranberry glop(have)
Tuesday--Clam/Corn Chowder, Roasted Cauliflower(have), Potato crusted Fish(have)
Wednesday--Meal out-free birthday meal for me, Hubs meal comes out of Entertaining Budget
Thursday--Leftover turkey slices, assorted Leftover veggies(or frozen veggies if not enough)
Friday--Quiche(in freezer), Asparagus
Saturday--Turkey Casserole(leftover turkey), Green Beans(have in freezer)

That makes 2 new meals, 4 leftover or planned over meals and 1 meal out.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......Asparagus, Clams.  I have the cornbread stuffing cubes and soups to make the Turkey Casserole dish and quiche in the freezer, as well as many bags of frozen veggies.

Other items on sale that I want to pick up this week?......tomato paste(almost out), cantaloupe, yogurt, white grape juice(for #2 Son), canned chili, milk, green leaf lettuce(for my sandwiches) and BOGO Kielbasa.
Since I have no room in the 2 tiny "over the fridge" freezers for extra buys this week, I think I can come in at around $40 on my food spending.  If I can keep it this low, I might be able to squeak out a $250 spending on food for the month of January!
Now THAT would be amazing to me..... 8-))

 What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

The "Back Home Now & It's Cold as Heck Here!" Edition.......

 

 

This is a Caprese Salad I made a couple of weeks before we went to Ocean City, when we still had fresh tomatoes from our garden.
I can honestly say now.....I am not a fan.  Don't know what all the fuss over it is about.
Do you like this dish?

Here are the meals that were planned last week--sort of--
 

Sunday--pizza out
Monday--steak, fries out
Tuesday--1/2 fish sandwich, 1/2 sweet potato fries, cup of crab soup out
Wednesday--other half of Tuesday's dinner ate in the room
Thursday--turkey sandwich at home
Friday--bratwurst on roll, strawberries at home
Saturday--whatever I can find at the house if Judy doesn't come over, otherwise a roast chicken or eating out

Everything was eaten as planned except Friday I had leftover Broccoli Soup and Strawberries and Saturday was Roast Chicken, Carrots and Potatoes.

As for food spending last week.....there was one trip to the store on Saturday, I spent $48.41 on $65.39 worth of groceries at 1 store.
I had $36.74 left in the food budget so I went over by a bit this month.

I didn't include the little out of pocket spent this month at Rite-Aid yet for October and that will add another $7.97 spent out of the food/toiletries budget.

No food waste while we were gone.

Leftovers going into this week--1 bratwurst, leftover roast chicken with carrots and potatoes.

Here's this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Clam Chowder
Monday--Tacos(I'll probably have a chicken sandwich and a part of a bag of frozen veggies.)
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--Lasagna, Salad
Thursday--leftovers
Friday--London Broil, Asparagus
Saturday--leftovers or something scrounged around the house


I'll be posting my final October food spending post in the next day or two since I won't be going grocery shopping again this month.

What got fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

May Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan Week 2

 

 

Onward to the meal plans!

And here is the meal plan that actually happened last week.....

SUNDAY--Stuffed Shells

MONDAY--Chicken Fajitas

TUESDAY--Leftover Eggplant/Fajitas

WEDNESDAY--Pizza
THURSDAY--Taco Bell, Salad
FRIDAY--Fish, Rice, Veg.(Son can have leftover Shells)
SATURDAY--Leftovers or Burritos

 

3 nights of new meals and 2 nights of leftovers and take-out for #2 Son the nights Hubs was out of town.

I'm happy we stuck with the plan.

The weekly food spending was $93.79 this past week.  A bit high than what I like to be at but there was a good deal of stocking up on things.

Value of food bought was at $168.25 so my savings rate was 44.26% for the week.

************************

In terms of leftovers, I'm going into this week with no leftovers.

This week, it gets crazy around here as the kids return home from school.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, Roasted Corn

MONDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Grilled Asparagus

TUESDAY--Bacon Lettuce & Tomato Sandwiches

WEDNESDAY--Not sure, scrounge what is here Night

THURSDAY--Chinese take-out
FRIDAY--Roast Chicken, Carrots, Potatoes, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce
SATURDAY--Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice

This menu gives us 5 new meals and 1 night of leftovers and 1 night of Take-Out.

This week we have a varied number of diners depending on the night.
 
As for items I need to buy for this week.....lettuce, carrots, potatoes, onions.

We'll be buying milk as usual, along with some fruit and ice cream.
The restaurant supply store has some deals I want to get this week, like 40lb. of chicken breast for $1.45 lb($58 total) and 5lb. of cheese for $7.99.   If I can get my freezer straightened out before the week is over, I'll get the chicken.  My freezer is pretty empty(after I get that whole chicken out of there on Wed.)but it needs tidying up before I put that much chicken back in there!lol  I might attempt a defrosting this week.

If I get the chicken I'll spend upwards of $100 this week, if not, then $40.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

April Food Spending Week 4, Meal Plan May Week 1

No vintage kitchen today folks.  I have depleted my stash of them and have to seek out more.  Maybe next week....

Onward to the meal plans!
And here is the meal plan that actually happened last week.....

SUNDAY--Leftovers 

 MONDAY--Tacos or Taco Salad

TUESDAY--Beef Pie
WEDNESDAY--Eggplant Parmesan, Garlic Bread
THURSDAY--Leftovers
FRIDAY--Chinese Take-Out
SATURDAY--Burgers, Corn
I also made a Carrot Cake and a pan of Fudge with Nuts.
 

We ended up getting Take-Out one night, which wasn't on the plan.   4 nights of new meals and 2 nights of leftovers make for a week I am happy with.

The weekly food spending was $77.53 this past week.

There was my $29.04 trip to Weis I talked about HERE.  Hubs picked up sour cream, a head of lettuce and 2 bags of cheese during the week and spent $5.97.  I went to the local grocer on Saturday and spent $42.52 on Ginger-Ale, 12 packs of soda for #2 Son, Orange Juice, Whipped Cream, 3 lb. of Butter, Pie Shells, Milk, Taco Shells and more bags of Shredded Cheese.  I stocked up on Butter, OJ, Soda, Whipped Cream, Pasta, Napkins, Paper Towels & bags of Cheese. 

The bags of Cheese I bought this past week I used with the Jumbo Pasta Shells and Ricotta Cheese I had bought earlier in the month to make a large quantity of Stuffed Shells on Sunday.  I froze 54 on them and we had the rest for dinner on Sunday.  Figuring costs, each piece comes out to .25¢ counting the pasta sauce too, so approx. $1.00 per serving.

Value of food bought was at $135.53 so my savings rate was 42.80% for the week.

************************

In terms of leftovers, I'm going into this week with leftover Eggplant Parmesan(and 1 helping of Shells from Sunday). 

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Stuffed Shells

MONDAY--Chicken Fajitas

TUESDAY--Leftover Eggplant/Fajitas

WEDNESDAY--Pizza
THURSDAY--Taco Bell, Salad
FRIDAY--Fish, Rice, Veg.(Son can have leftover Shells)
SATURDAY--Hot Dogs, Corn

This menu gives us 5 new meals and 1 night of leftovers and 1 night of Take-Out.

Hubs won't be home for dinner 2 nights so we are doing easy one night and take-out the other night.
 
As for items I need to buy for this week....red bell pepper, mushrooms, hot dog rolls.

We'll be buying milk as usual, along with some fruit.

Stock-up prices this week for me are taco shells($1.25), apple juice(.99¢), bagged salad($1.99),green chiles($1.25).

With what I "need" this week and the stock-ups, I'll be spending around $80.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

March Food Spending Week 1+, Meal Plan March Week 2

I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by. These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's-1970's or earlier.

This week I give you the dream kitchen from 1955.....
Well you'll have to go HERE and watch a short film to see it.  It's a 13 minute film ad selling appliances and new homes from 1955.  It's very cute!  Then we can discuss what you saw.

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)

Last week's meal plan is in the books. Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Leftovers
MONDAY--Tacos or Taco Salad, Corn
TUESDAY--Veal Parmesan, Pasta, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Birthday Meal out-Red Lobster
THURSDAY--Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
FRIDAY--I can't remember what we had...leftovers?....but it wasn't take-out as I had planned
SATURDAY--Hubs got Burger King, he didn't like my plan lol

Friday Hubs picked up Daughter from college for Spring break.  I think we had leftovers.  I know we didn't get Chinese take-out as planned. 

The weekly food spending was $91.43. $20+ of that was stocking up on corned beef briskets at $2.29 lb.  No $100+ shopping trips for me this week!  

It's the 12th day of the month and I've already spent $250.63 my food budget for the month!  I have $49.37 left from my original $300 kitty for food.  I do have $176.80 leftover from Jan. and Feb.'s kitties which I will dip into if I need it, but I'll try my hardest to avoid spending that.


Going into March Week 2+ I have many leftovers.  Mostly it's just one helping of something and not enough for an entire meal plus 1 big dish of the casserole I made last week and now a good sized amount of leftovers from Sunday's dinner.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Roasted Turkey, Stuffing, Potatoes, Green Beans, Cranberry Glop
MONDAY--Leftovers
TUESDAY--Daughter's making dinner
WEDNESDAY--Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potato
THURSDAY--Leftovers
FRIDAY--homemade Pizza, Salad
SATURDAY--Chinese take-out

This menu gives us 4 new meals, 1 take-out(at Daughter's request) and 2 nights of leftovers. 

Items needed to buy for this menu are...cabbage. I've got everything else here already in the freezer or the pantry, except for the unknown meal Daughter is fixing.

I am trying to get Daughter to limit what she cooks to items we already have the ingredients for.  I did buy some red and yellow peppers on Saturday and she wants to make "something" chicken so I am pulling for Fajitas.  We would need to pick up mushrooms and sour cream for that though, but I have the onions, cheese(found more cheddar stashed in the freezer so I am not out yet), spices, tortillas.....oh, and the chicken too. ;-)

My mission this week on leftover nights is to make sure the turkey leftovers get eaten.  I am not a fan of leftover turkey but the others will eat it.

We'll be buying milk as usual.

So far I don't see any stocking up opportunities, except for more corned beef.  

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

February/March Food Spending Week 4 &1, Meal Plan March Week 1

I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by. These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's-1970's or earlier.
This week I give you the "kitchen of tomorrow" from 1945......

This post-war kitchen of the future was thunk up by the Western Pines Co of Oregon.  If you can't make out the copy of the ad, they refer to this as a "Living Center", not a kitchen.  They predict that the mechanical innovations that would free women up from the drudgery of kitchen work would be air conditioning, a quick freeze unit and no splash sink with sliding grill.  They referred to the desk and hutch as a "dish secretary and food budgeteer".  And get a load of the flat screen TV! mounted above the combination "fireplace incinerator heating unit".  Take note of the Venetian blind type separator curtain/blind over the peninsula.  They say this will be "electrically operated" and when closed will separate the cooking area from the dining area.  What crazy thinking for the 1940's!lol

Up til this point, natural wood finishes were not what was done in a kitchen.  Wooden cabinets(more in freestanding furniture or furniture cabinet forms like Hoosier cabinets)were standard, but mostly this furniture sported painted finishes.  
Before the metal built-in cabinetry that was "modern" in the 1930's, wood in the kitchen was standard, but this wood concept and finish, while a return to the previous era was also new in it's form and treatments.
This ad didn't actually show the kitchen prep areas so I don't know how I feel about this kitchen.  I do think all that Ponderosa pine reminds me of wood paneling from my childhood that everyone had in their finished basements.  This ad also reminds me of old camper photos. lol

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)

Last week's meal plan is in the books. Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Hubs/#2 Son had Burger King, I had a big salad with nuts and fruit
MONDAY--Ravioli, Salad
TUESDAY--Pecan Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Cauliflower/Carrot blend
WEDNESDAY--Meatloaf, Green Beans, Smashed Potatoes
THURSDAY--Fish, Rice, Teriyaki Veggie Melange
FRIDAY--homemade Pizza, Salad
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Everything was served as planned.  Since I had a whole chicken to roast, instead of doing my traditional preparation for the Pecan Chicken, I roasted the bird, then sliced off the breast meat and prepared the sauce and put those slices under the broiler with the sauce and nuts for those who wanted their bird sauced.  Me?....I had my bird roasted and plain and Hubs ate the dark meat parts.  #2 Son is the only one who wanted the sauced version so this worked out for everyone.

The weekly food spending was $159.20.  I already speechified about spending $121.53 in ONE shopping trip HERE.  The next day, Saturday, Hubs and I went to the other local grocery store and dropped another $37.67.  That trip was to pick up tomato products, 2 lbs. of fish fillets, OJ, 1/2lb of deli meats and 6 bags of salad greens.  This was the shopping trip I had planned to make last week.

It's the 5th day of the month and I've already spent more than HALF my food budget for the month!  I have $140.80 left from my original $300 kitty for food.  I do have $176.80 leftover from Jan. and Feb.'s kitties which I will dip into if I need it, but I'll try my hardest to avoid spending that.


Going into March Week 1+ I have a few leftovers.  Mostly it's just one helping of something and not enough for an entire meal.  We ate some leftovers on Sunday so there is little left now.  The only exception is leftover chicken from the roasted bird.  I am planning to use that in a casserole type dish this week.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Leftovers
MONDAY--Tacos or Taco Salad, Corn
TUESDAY--Veal Parmesan, Pasta, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Birthday Meal out
THURSDAY--Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY--Breakfast for Dinner

This menu gives us 4 new meals, 1 eating out, 1 take-out(at Daughter's request) and 1 night of leftovers.The veal is Hubs request, the tacos are #2 son's request and I need something easy to fix on Sat.

Items needed to buy for this menu are...veal patties. I've got everything else here already in the freezer or the pantry.  The tacos, parmesan and chicken casserole will use the last of the shredded cheeses.  The tacos will also use up the last of my ground beef stash.
We'll be buying milk as usual.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

January Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan January Week 2

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012.  You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs  HERE.

Check it out.  You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*


I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by.  These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.  

Today's kitchen......

The house design is one of those California style, open concept homes of the 1950's-the early1970's.  The cabinets are enameled metal with those funky colors, which put them squarely in the 1950's to early 1960's timewise.  I like that there is only 1 set of overhead cabinets  and 1 strip of the kitchen is open above the floor units.  The two tone pink and turquoise is a tad much for my eyes tho.lol 
And the unit on the far left looks like it's a washer or dryer?  Laundry facilities in the kitchen were oh, so modern back then and never really continued here in the States, once that era was over.

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)


Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Leftovers-Pizzas, BBQ

MONDAY--Taco Bell

TUESDAY--Ham, Harvard Beets, Mashed Potatoes

WEDNESDAY--Leftovers

THURSDAY--Rigatoni and Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread

FRIDAY--Chinese Take-Out
SATURDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Brussel Sprouts

The leftover ham and barbecue pork, along with some fresh mushrooms I didn't use after Christmas got frozen.  Everyone was tired of eating those two proteins now, so it's either freezer it for later or toss it, and we just don't toss food in this house anymore!

The food spending was high last week.

In all, I spent $109.87 last week at the grocery/drug stores.

I made 8 trips to various stores....3 to Rite-Aid, 2 to Big Lots, 2 to the local Shursave market and 1 trip to Save-a-Lot.   Reg. retail of $276.73(including the Rite-Aid items)so I saved 60.30% last week(mostly due to the Rite-Aid savings)....without R-A items it would have been 34.80% savings.
And besides Rite-Aid, I didn't use a single coupon. ;-)

1 Week in and I've spent 1/3 of my January food budget.

Going into Week 2, we have leftover penne pasta, meat sauce and some odds and ends.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--bucket of KFC *weekend special for $11*

MONDAY--Mac and Cheese, Broccoli

TUESDAY--homemade Chili, Cornbread

WEDNESDAY-- Fish, Wild Rice, Peach Salad

THURSDAY--Leftovers-fried chicken/mac and cheese/chili or ?

FRIDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing
SATURDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, Onions, Ginger Carrots

I plan on using the leftover pasta to make mac and cheese(as there is a lot left), the leftover meat sauce will go into the crockpot chili(a small container of corn that's hanging out in the fridge will go into the cornbread that evening).

Other than the chicken we had Sunday night, there is no other take-out being served here this week.....crossing fingers.

Items needed for this menu.....I have everything needed to make/serve this menu. 
There is, however, a Catalina Deal on Nesquick at Weis this week which I may run, as the stockpile needs refilling.  If I run the deal 4 times I'll net 16 canisters + 4 other items and it will cost me $56.80 for all(with a $5 Cat Q leftover).  My cost will be 40% off reg. retail(not counting the leftover Cat Q).  If I can find some coupons to use, the deal will be better.  At any rate, those 16 canisters should get us through to next year.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

November Food Spending Week 3, Meal Plan Week 4

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
MONDAY--Spaghetti & Homemade Meatballs
TUESDAY--Teriyaki Salmon w/ Veggie Fried Rice
WEDNESDAY--Leftovers
THURSDAY--Kielbasa, Potato Salad, Cabbage
FRIDAY--Chinese Take-Out
SATURDAY--Take-Out Pizza *at behest of Hubs and #2 son

No Breakfast for Dinner night, Chinese take-out instead.  No Squash casserole night because I never got to the Product market last week for said squash, so we had leftovers instead. And I was out voted on Saturday and a pizza was ordered(using a gift card).

Last week was all about many little food shopping trips revolving around....say it with me!....GRAVY!

8 transactions at Weis Markets(aka Evil Empire)and 1 trip to the RSS(aka Restaurant Supply Store)for blue cheese dressing(aka PRECIOUS).

 
Total for all the food shopping last week came to $91.07.

 

That sure sounds like A LOT of $$ to me, but look at what I got for that amount.....

93 cans of gravy

21 cans of soup

1 bag stuffing

4 bags of croutons

6 bags of frozen potato/onion rings

2 bags of salad

2 cans of pineapple

4 bags of cheese

8 containers of sour cream

2 cans of cranberry sauce

5 3-packs of yeast

11 single packs of yeast

2 boxes of broth

1 applesauce cups

2 boxes of pie crust

2 bags of green beans

1 gallon of dressing

1 14-cut cheesecake

1 turkey

The only thing missing is a Partridge in a Pear Tree.....

If I saw it all sitting out together I'd think I did good.  I need my visuals people!lol

My savings percentage was 72.40% last week, as the reg. retail was $329.84 on the groceries I brought home. 

My running total spent for the month is now at $213.52, which leaves me $36.48 to stay within my $250 monthly food budget.  Ok, I "really" have $39.48 since I have $3 in rebates this month to throw into the food kitty....which is how I handle rebate $. 8-)

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Pot Roast, Carrots, Potatoes, Onions w/Gravy
MONDAY--Tilapia, Squash Casserole, Sweet Potato Fries
TUESDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Pasta, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Tacos, Veg.
THURSDAY--Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner
FRIDAY--Chili or Leftovers
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Items needed for this menu.....Yellow Squash, Bell Seasoning, Rutabaga, Sweet Potatoes, Celery and Milk.  I have $20 in store Rewards I have to spend by Saturday or lose them, so I'll get as much of this as I can at the ShurSave store.  

This is the last food shopping Week in the month.  Between the free $20 rewards and the $39 I have left, I think I'll be able to stay under budget for November...yay!

 

Unless of course, I start jonesing for some more Gravy! lol

So have you run out of food budget yet this month?

Or do you have lots of cash left?

Sluggy