Meal Plan Monday April 20th Edition

I'm a day behind blogging here so excuse my tardiness on the Menu.

The Meal Plan for last week went well. Crab Cakes were enjoyed by all FINALLY! The Mystery Meal turned out to be LAMB I marinated and grilled out, leftover asparagus from Easter dinner and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I picked up the lamb for cheap in an after Easter sale at the grocery store. I never see lamb on sale here, so I jumped on that deal. Sunday we grilled out burgers and dogs since the weather was so nice instead of having Calzones. Calzones will happen Next week....maybe.....if ricotta is on sale.

I'll be posting later in the week about a new treatment for French Toast I made last friday AND my recipe for Lena's Chicken & Zuchinni so check back. My BEEF PIE recipe link is below.

We have very little in the way of leftovers generated from last week's meals....only a tiny bit of chili, beets & a hot dog.

Food Waste this week was about a cup of mixed veggies in a cheese sauce. It was a leftover from 2 weeks ago that got pushed to the back of the shelf in the fridge. This is something I don't feed to the dogs so out it went since the sauce made it not so good for composting.
Speaking of composting....Hubby threw out some veggie scraps instead of composting them. He caught heck from me for that!lol

Still eating mostly from the pantry stockpile/freezer this week, except wednesday's main course is being bought on wed.-frozen pizzas. (It's a sale and the last day for the sale.) Since I have no room in the freezer for those big unwieldy boxes, they will be eaten that night for dinner.lol Outside of some fresh produce I need to pick up, everything is on hand here for the weekly menu.

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

MONDAY-Lena's Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zuchinni, Rice
TUESDAY-Pot Roast, Carrots, Onions, Beets, Potatoes
WEDNESDAY-Pizza, Salad
THURSDAY-Beef Stroganoff(leftover pot roast), Rice, Tuscan Veggies
FRIDAY-Bourbon Bacon Scallops, Cheese Polenta(grits), Spinach
SATURDAY-Cheese Ravioli, Salad
SUNDAY-Beef Pie

DESSERTS FOR THE WEEK-Brownie, Brownies & more Brownies, Strawberries

My Bargain Meal this week is the Beef Pie. Replace the dough topping with Cornbread. That makes it a 'lighter' twist on the Shepherd's Pie idea. I also don't use potatoes in mine. The cornbread is enough carbohydrate and you get plenty of veggie with the onion, carrot & green beans, so the potatoes aren't needed to balance the dish. I'll be making both beef and turkey versions on Sunday, as daughter is not eating red meat any longer. Go see the recipe HERE


Ingredients....
1lb. Ground Beef...$1.69(gotten on sale)
1/2 lb.Carrots......$.50
1/2 lb.Green Beans....$.75
1 med. Onion.....$.25
2 cans Tomato Soup...$1.08(Target .54 ea.)
2 boxes Cornbread Mix...$1.00(on sale .50 ea. last week)
2 Eggs.....$.00(free eggs last week)
2/3 cup Milk.....$.30
1 bouillion cube...$.08

Ingredients Total...$5.56

Serving Cost....$.93 each for 6 Generous Servings.

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

KMart conquered....Results-87% Savings

So Here is what I hauled home from Kmart today. My location had Triple Coupons up to .74¢ and Double Coupons from .75¢ to $4. I didn't use any under .75¢ Qs & I am pretty thin on the $4 Qs right now. The ones I do have are for very high priced items, that even when doubled would have cost more than I wanted to spend. Of course, this is NOT a Super KMart, so there are only 2 aisles of food products, a small cleaning supplies & a small paper products aisle. The toiletries and over-the-counter meds dept. is pretty large. Being KMart however, the regular shelf price of items is quite high compared to other stores. Most items, having high reg. prices, even with coupons doubled aren't free, unless that item happens to be on sale the week of the Double Coupons Promotion.

As I am full up with most toiletries, cleaning supplies & paper products, I was only looking to acquire items that were free with coupons or close to free. I did go over a buck on razors and mayo and spend most of my OOP $ on Doggy Treats. The puppies are fairly low on snacks and with 3 doggies, you have to keep them happy. ;-)


I'll list what I got and how much it cost with the photos......

8x Goodlife Cat Treats $2.00/Q$1+dbl$1=FREE (Q from 3/8 paper)

4x Friskies Party Mix $1.69/Q$1+dbl$.69=FREE (Q from 3/1 paper)

(These are to add to the SPCA Donation.)

1x Bic Comfort 3 Razors $5.29/Q$2+dbl$2=$1.29 (Q from 4/19 paper)
1x Bic Soleil Razors $5.29/Q$2+dbl$2=$1.29 (Q from 4/19 paper)

4x Dry Idea $3.49/Q$2+dbl$1.49=FREE (IP Q)

3x Hall's Cough Drops $1.34/Q$1+dbl$.34=FREE (Q from 3/29 paper)

4x Bliss/Clusters $2.99/Q$1+dbl$1=$3.96($.99 ea.) (Q from 3/1 paper)

4x Vaseline Lotion $2.50/Q$1.25+dbl$1.25=FREE (Q from 3/1 paper)

2x Herbal Essence $3.00/Q$1+dbl$1=$1.98($.99 ea.) (Q from 3/15 paper)

5x Better Than Ears Dog Treats $2.67/Q$1+dbl$1=$3.35($.67 ea.) (Q from 2/22 paper)

1x Carvers Dog Treats $3.49/Q$1.50+dbl$1.50=$.49 (Q from 2/8 paper)

1x Denta Stix Dog Treat $4.29/Q$2.50+dbl$1.79=FREE (Q from 4/19 paper)

2x Ziploc Bags $2.50/Q$1/2+dbl$1=$3.00($1.50 ea.)*needed these badly (Q from 1/11 paper)

2x Vitamin Water $1.00/Q.50¢+dbl.50¢=FREE (IP Q)

4x Sobe Water $1.00/QBOGO=$2.00(.50¢ ea.) (IP Q)

4x Good Bites $2.99/Q$1+dbl$1=$3.96(.99¢ ea.) (Q from 4/5 paper)

4x Mini Jumbones $2.99/Q$1+dbl$1=$3.96(.99¢ ea.) (Q from 4/5 paper)

4x MarrowBones $2.99/Q$1+dbl$1=$3.96(.99¢ ea.) (Q from 3/8 paper)

2x PopTarts $2.50/Q$1+dbl$1=$.98(.49¢ ea.) (Peelies)

8x Lg. Salad Dressings $2.67/Q$1.50+dbl$1.17=FREE (Q from 3/29 paper)

1x Mayo $3.49/Q$2=$1.49 (KMart CAT Q)

1x Marshmallows $1.29/Q$1+dbl$.29=FREE (Peelie)

1x Post Cereal $2.79/Q$1+dbl$1=.79¢ (Q from 4/5? paper)

4x Kelloggs Cereal $2.50/Q$1+dbl$1=$2.00(.50¢ ea.) (Q from 4/5 paper)

SubTotal $34.50

Done in 2 Transactions...Used 2x $5/$50 Kmart Coupons

-$10.00

$24.50

Plus Sales Tax +$4.75

Grand Total OOP $29.25

Plus-I have a $5 KMart GiftCard coming for the 4 Cereals I bought. ($3 of that Gift Card is pure profit.)

Coupons Used $164.61

Value of Items w/sale prices $189.11

Savings of.......87%!

The Cereal GiftCard has to be mailed away for. Be sure and get a MIR form from the Customer Service Desk before you leave the store.

For every 3 Kraft Dressings or Miracle Whips or Mayos you buy, the register generates a CAT for $2 off Dressing/Miracle Whip or Mayo. I bought 4 dressings per order and got the Cat, so on my second order I used that CAT Q to get a Mayo for $1.49. A pretty good price & I was almost out anyway. That order(with the 2nd 4 dressings generated another $2 off CAT so I'll go back sometime this week and get another cheap Mayo.

Sweet!

One of the Kellogg's Cereal boxes had a $1 off Marshmallows Peelie. Luckily my Kmart had marshmallows in the junk food aisle, so I got a bag of those free too.

The second transaction also generated a Free GiftCard on a new/transferred Rx at the Pharmacy so if I go back this week, I'll have the daughter's script refilled at Kmart and use the $10 GC + another $5/$50 IF I can find $50 worth of stuff that is free or real cheap w/Qs.

That's my report in from KMart in PA.

Happy Hunting everyone!

Sluggy

KMart has been conquered!

Like General McArthur said....."I have returned."
Returned from KMart, that is.
Loaded down with bags from the Super Double Coupon Sale.

I'll try to get pics and the rundown of what I brought home later today.
But first, I need to feed the family.
Oh, and unload the car too.
Somebody want to come help me with that second item on my To Do List?lol

Later 'Gators....
Sluggy-firing up the grill

GREEN & THRIFTY THURSDAY...Eating Locally & A Cool Video!

It's GREEN & THRIFTY THURSDAY so here's today's GREEN TIP.

What is better for the planet than eating locally?
Ok, some foods can't be grown where you live and must be shipped to your locale. Illinois weather is not conducive to the growing of cocoa beans & banana plantation won't thrive in Connecticut's environment to name a few examples where eating locally wouldn't apply.
But why must apples be shipped from California to sell in New York, when New York grows perfectly good apples already? Heck, some companies in the food industry are such massive behemoth corporations that foods regularly get shipped to their warehouses or distribution centers halfway across the country, just to be repacked and shipped right back for consumption in the home state where they were grown.
I find that crazy and just W-R-O-N-G!
That Florida tomato may be consumed in Florida but what's the point in taking that tomato for a crosscountry road trip before you get to sink your teeth into it?

It may be good for the business, but it's certainly bad for the environment & YOU.
Think of all those petrochemicals used & carbon monoxide generated by transporting that tomato & his little tomato buddies thousands of miles!

Additionally, it's not doing anything for the taste of that tomato. Tomato/Tomahto may no longer be as 'fresh' after it's travels AND the company has to grown a type of tomato for it's longevity rather than it's TASTE.
If you've ever eaten a store bought tomato you KNOW what I am talking about!

So here's to eating locally! Eat what is grown closer to home if given the chance. To make sure it's not well-traveled, buy your food from smaller suppliers right in your community(like local farm markets, farm stands, food co-ops, etc.). With the weather warming up, it will be possible for most parts of the country to eat more locally obtained foods.

An online friend sent me the video above. Her step-nephew and some friends call themselves the Organic Gangsters (The Real OG's). They created it to enter the "My Co-op Rocks" Video Contest. Now, I'm not phishing for votes for them, but give it a view. I thought it was quite good! And it has a GREAT message to impart.
Word.

Sluggy

The Moral of this Story

The Moral of this story is.....

Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover.

How many times have we been guilty of this?

Her performance & the audience reaction made a marvelous piece of 'art' on Sat. night

You rock Susan Boyle!

Rock.

On.

If you haven't seen the clip, check it out HERE.

And here's an interview I enjoyed from British TV with my now favorite crazy spinster cat lady HERE.

Sluggy