Meal Plan Monday.....November 2nd...Baking Recipes!

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...

We are averaging 5 out of 7 meals going as planned most weeks, it seems, on the menu.  Again, the Tacos and the Ham and Bean Soup didn't happen last week so they once again, carry over to this week.  Such is life with 1 child working and the other one in an active Band program most evenings.  The day falls apart right around 3pm and by 5pm, all bets are off!lolol

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week....

MONDAY--Tacos(freezer/stockpile-except for the lettuce)
TUESDAY--Date Night...Kids will fend for themselves or have leftovers
WEDNESDAY--Brioche French Toast w/Caramelized Bananas, Bacon and Fresh Fruit Salad
THURSDAY--Ham and Bean Soup(freezer), Cornbread
FRIDAY--Rigatoni with Meat Sauce(freezer/stockpile), Salad
SATURDAY--Italian Chicken(freezer),Baked Sweet Potatoes(Root Cellar), Green Beans(freezer)
SUNDAY--Dublin Coddle **A recipe from my friend McVal over at SEW NOT MY DAY!
SNACKS/DESSERTS--Fresh Fruit and the snacks as listed below.

I am taking part in the Tuesday Baking Day tomorrow.  Here is what I'll be making....
Pumpkin Bread(My variation on this recipe)double batch-will freeze half,
Pumpkin Roll(a friend's family recipe),
Scone Nibbles will freeze,
Old Fashioned Bread Pudding,
French Bread (this is similar to the recipe I use),
Brownies(from mix in stockpile)will freeze,
Brioche (This is my 1st time making this.)

I'll post recipes that aren't online on my blog later in the week or follow along on Twitter tomorrow at #BakingDay or check my blog for updates during the day.

Last week I spent $128.05(approx. $89 of that was food). I laid in some baking goods, an extra 3 dozen eggs, cheap chicken and hit a sale on sausage and a whole beef eye round. 

This week's menu shopping list.....weekly milk purchases, fresh produce(potatoes, carrots, lettuce), fresh fruit(bananas, grapes), some lunchmeat.  Shop-Rite had ground beef at rock bottom prices this week, so I might have to take a trip for that as I'm low. 

Food Waste Report....1 slice of bread at the end of the bag that molded up too badly to salvage any of it.  The rest of the loaf was fine. 8-)

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Sluggy

Something to Consider Buying to Use Rite-Aid Gift Certificates

I was just browsing through the Rite-Aid SCR list for November and this one caught my eye.....

Now, I have have $40 in Gift Certificates to use at Rite-Aid(2 x $20 Certs.)meaning I have to actually 'spend' $20 after coupons to use each of these in a transactions. It's hard for me to fathom actually spending that much in a transaction, since I break down my transactions to $20 or $25 BEFORE coupons are added so I can use those $4 or $5 off your $20 or $25 purchase Rite-Aid Qs.

Anyway, these One Planet products carry a SCR all month at Rite-Aid. If you buy 2 you get a $3 SCR and you can do this deal 6 times in November. Depending on what the retail is on these or if they will be on sale one of the weeks in November, this could be a way to spend my Certificates and get some SCR $ back too.
It looks like there is a wide variety of products so I am sure I can find something we can use. Plus they look like they are eco-friendly and the packaging is a bit 'green' as well. I'll have to check the retail on this line the next time I go to Rite-Aid.

Have any of ya'll tried these products or seen them in your store yet?
Let me know if you have tried them, if they are any good.
Do anyone of you have Rite-Aid Gift Certificates/Cards?  Do you have plans on how to spend them?

Just trying to figure out some way to 'roll' these gift certificates. Oh heck, maybe I'll just hang onto them for awhile longer, as they don't expire until Feb. 28, 2010.

Sluggy

October BUDGET RESULTS-Food & Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for OCTOBER 2009.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in October.
These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(4 at home)& 3 dogs. No kids under 13.

AMELIA'S (Discount Outlet)
OOP $32.32
Ads/Sales $37.18
Value $69.50
Savings 53.50%

CARONE'S(local Independent Grocery that doesn't take IP Qs)
OOP $23.42
Qs/Ads $13.13
Value $36.55
Savings  36%

CVS
OOP $1.06
Qs/Ads $80.94
Value $82.00
Savings 98.70%

ENTENMANN'S OUTLET
OOP $16.78
Ads/Sales $31.22
Value $32.00
Savings 47.50%

FARM STAND(I use local retail grocery prices to figure Value)
OOP $26.50
Qs/Ads $00
Value $70.00
Savings 62.15%

FLEA MARKET(items bought from farm vendor-figure Value same as Farm Stand entry)
OOP $17.25
Qs/Ads $00
Value $23.50
Savings 26.60%

KMART(1 round of double coupons this month)
OOP $81.28
Qs/Ads $470.60
Value $551.88
Savings 85.25%

OLLIE'S (local Discount chain Store that doesn't take coupons)
OOP $2.46
Qs/Ads $1.04
Value $3.50
Savings 29.70%

RITE AID
OOP $188.93(before rebates)
Qs/Ads $357.10
Value $546.03
Savings 65.40%(100% after rebates of $229.13 due)

TARGET
OOP $23.35
Qs/Ads $102.36
Value $125.71
Savings 81.50%

WALGREEN'S
OOP $13.76
Qs/Ads $111.95
Value $125.71
Savings 89.05%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $175.73
Qs/Ads $289.56
Value $465.29
Savings 62.24%

I've decided NOT to track CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & go toward Food/Toiletries budget purchases, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECV'D. IN SEPTEMBER

CVS Lamp Rebates....$8.00
Dove Hair Repair...$5.00
Goody Headband...$3.99
Kellogg's Fuel for School...$10.00
Kraft/Super Valu....$20.00
Pinecone Research....$3.00
Rite-Aid SCR........$155.42(counting old rebate check lost in mail reissued)
Snapple......$11.98
Zantac........$5.00
Subtotal........$222.39

FREE ITEMS

Betty Crocker Garlic Mashed Potatoes(full sized!)
Chik-Fila Sandwich

Secret Deodorant Sample

COUPONS

Kashi Go Lean-Vocalpoint

GIFT CARDS & STORE CHECKS
Rite Aid  $40.00
Staples  $30.00 Visa Card
Staples  $24.00 (ink rewards)
SubTotal...$94.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$316.39

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from CVS at 98.70%, Walgreen's at 89.05% and K-Mart at 85.25%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$602.84
TOTAL of Rebates...................................$222.39

TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$380.45

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$1751.22
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$2131.67

BUT....I have additional income this month to put into the Food Budget!
Remember I sold a bunch of stockpile items in Oct. at the flea market.  $600 of the $932.25 net made was put toward the $60K Savings Challenge and the rest, $332.25, was put into the Food Budget to offset any OOP spending in October.  So my OOP becomes.....

$380.45-$332.25=$48.20


$48.20 OOP
Value of Items remains at $2131.67

Amount of Savings becomes $2083.47
Bringing the TOTAL Savings % for OCTOBER to...............97.74% (71.70% before the flea market $)

This closes out the October spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
With the high amount of income from Rebates And the Flea Market income received I was able to have a tremendously low out of pocket for this month. Though I initially spent well above what I had planned for the Food Budget, having the extra income streams this month helped me take advantage of a lot of unexpected stock-up opportunities on in season farm produce to freeze and meat buys at the store and still come in under budget.
Outside of Rite-Aid, which I practically lived at in Oct. I was there so much this month, I made very few trips to drugstores.

What's ahead for November.....
I'm going to keep the Food/Toiletries Budget at $250 for November.  I may make 1 trip to the Discount Grocery Outlet this month for cheap dairy/frozen chicken and any special deals I may find.  There is nothing we need at the moment in the way of Toiletries.  The only Drugstore trips will be for any freebies at Rite-Aid and to roll ECBs and RRs at CVS & WAGS or to spend Gift Cards. I'll be picking up the seasonal cheap items this month.....cranberries, canned pumpkin, sugar, flour, etc.  The things I won't be buying are cold cereal, granola bars and pop-tarts...I don't care how cheap they are, I am overrun with those things!lol

How did you do in October with your Food Budget?  Leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid run for FAR Items week of 10/25-10/31

Did a quick run to Rite-Aid to pick up the weekly FAR(=Free after Rebate) items.

1 x Scope Mouthwash FREE WYB Crest Toothpaste=$0.00
1 x Crest Toothpaste  on sale $3.99 WYB Scope Mouthwash=$3.99
1 x St. Ives Scrub temp price reduction=$3.59
1 x Finesse Shampoo on sale=$2.99
1 x Febreeze Odor Eliminator=$4.29
2 x GE Soft White Lightbulb Packs on sale @$1.00=$2.00 **Not Pictured**
2 x Hall's Refresh Drops @$2.49=$4.98
SubTotal=$21.84

Coupons Used
1 x $4 off $20 Rite-Aid Q(from coupons.com)=$4.00
1 x $1/1 Scope Mouthwash(P and G insert Q)=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Crest Toothpaste(P and G insert Q)=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Finesse Shampoo(10/18 insert Q)=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Febreeze Odor Eliminator(insert Q week of ?)=$1.00
1 x BOGO Hall's Refresh Drop Q(Rite-Aid ad Q)=$2.49
1 x BOGO Hall's Refresh Drop Q(Tearpad from grocery store-limit of $2.29 off)=$2.29
Coupon Total=$12.78

$21.84-$12.78=$9.06+$tax=$9.68 OOP
Value of Items $38.71.

I'll receive $7.00 back in SCRebates($2 lightbulbs/$2 Febreeze/$3 St. Ives).
Plus there is a Finesse MIR to the company for $2.
This totals rebates of $9.00, reducing my 'spending' to .68¢

Or so I thought!  Seems I bought the wrong St. Ives....my 6oz. container doesn't have a rebate, as it's the 10 oz. jar only, WHICH they were out of....grrr.
My store also doesn't carry the new Vaseline that I had a $1.50 Q for and had a $4 SCRebate....double grrr.

So my SCRebates are only $4 for this transaction, but I still can send for the Finesse $2 rebate, making rebate refund total $6.
So the effective OOP spending is $3.68  I might just have to return that St. Ives product, since I didn't even have a coupon for it.
**sigh**

Sluggy

Ghosts of Halloween Past

I have just returned from the grocery store where I was in the checkout line with Harry Potter and Buzz Lightyear.
Yes, all the little kids were dressed up today in the grocery store!lol

 As I begin to spend the day preparing for the onslaught of miniature ghosts and goblins this evening, I harken back to memories of Halloweens past.
I found these couple of photos in my family albums from when my kids were wee little ones.

From 1995......

My almost 3 yr. old daughter as Tigger and my 4+ yr. old son as Casper the Friendly Ghost.

And from 1999.....

My 3.5 yr. old son.  He's the one in the middle in the shot.....dressed as Kimberly, the PINK Power Ranger.  That was just one of quite a few years he decided to be the Pink Ranger.  

Oh, the laughter & the looks he was responsible for the other moms giving me at his preschool.

Who says parents can only be the ones to embarrass their kids?
It's a two-way street!lolol


I am not one to stifle my kids' creativity and personalities, unlike my own parents.  The Pink Ranger now lives on in our family lore.


This will be the first year since 1990 I do not have a child dressing up to Trick or Treat for Halloween. 
The #2 son has hit the age when it's 'not cool' to Trick or Treat.
That may have something to do with the fact that he was invited to a Boy/Girl Party this evening.
I guess when you are 13, GIRLS trump CANDY! lol


It marks the end of a phase of my life I suppose.
And it has me feeling a bit blue today.


Here's hoping you get more Treats than Tricks tonight....


Sluggy