Meal Plan Monday.....June 7th Edition w/Spending Breakdown

**This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge located over HERE.**

I know I haven't done a Meal Plan Monday in awhile but thought I'd get back into this week.

For all you June Food Stamp Challenge readers.....
One way to keep control on your food costs is to plan your meals ahead.  Figure out what to serve before you go to the store and buy food.  It can be a rigid per day menu or just a loose list of meals that will appear on your table at some point in the week...whichever works for you.

When you have a list of meals to serve it's easier to just buy what you need, because you now KNOW what you need!  How many times have you gone to the store and come home with bags of groceries, spending $100 or more and after emptying your bags find that you don't have the ingredients for what you want to cook?
It's happened to me in the past....but not since I plan ahead!
It's what I call my BPLS system.....Browse/Plan/List/Shop.
Browse the sale ads for the store, Plan a menu, Make a List of what you need for that menu and THEN go food Shopping.

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...
There was a very loose menu plan last week.  We had relatives visiting for the week and I hosted 2 large dinners.  We did NOT go out to eat while they were here(except for 1 2-person lunch)for a change, so it was cooking at home for the week.  2 nights we had 'fend for yourself' or leftover nights to use up bits and pieces I didn't incorporate into the dishes I cooked fresh.  We also did brinner....aka breakfast for dinner one evening which was a nice cost-efficient meal.

Here's what I will be serving our family of 5 this Week.....our household presently consists of 2 adults and 3 teens at home.  No children under 14.

MONDAY--Beef Stew ala Crockpot, Whack Biscuits
TUESDAY--Spaghetti with Meatless Balls, Tossed Salad
WEDNESDAY--Roast Turkey, Stuffing, Sweet Potatoes, Wax Beans
THURSDAY--Sloppy Joes on rolls, Tossed Salad
FRIDAY--BBQ Chicken Thighs, Green Rice Casserole
SATURDAY--Beef Enchiladas,  Mixed Greens Salad
SUNDAY--leftovers


Here are the cost breakdowns...
Beef Stew....Meat $2.32, Onion .25, Carrots .50, Potatoes $1.00, Celery .25, Green Beans .30, Stock free, Spices .10, Biscuits .50=$5.22
Spaghetti w/Meatless Balls....Pasta .50, Sauce $1.50, 'Ball' ingredients $2.10, Salad .99, Dressing $1.00=$6.09
Turkey Dinner...Turkey free, Stuffing $2.00, Sweet Potatoes $2.70, Beans  free=$4.70
Sloppy Joes....Ground Beef $2.54, Rolls .50, Sauce $1.00, Salad .99, Dressing $1.00=$6.03
BBQ Chicken Dinner...Chicken .13, Sauce .25, Rice $1.00, Spinach $1.00, Other casserole ingredients $2.00=$4.38
Enchiladas...Ground Beef .85, Tortillas $1.00, Refried Beans .50, Enchilada Sauce .79, Cheese $2.00, Onion .25, assorted Spices .30. Sour Cream .50, Salad .99, Dressing $1.00=$8.18
Leftovers.....free

Adding up what has already been spent and what I need to spend for this week's menu, I can serve this menu of 5 meals to a family of 4 adults/teens for a total of $34.60.

Leftover nights have no cost as they were already figured in when the meal was served the first time.  If you divide the meals' cost by 6 nights, you get an average cost per night of $5.77.  That's $1.15 per person per night.  And this is mostly a cooking from scratch menu.  The only 'processed foods' are the Whack biscuits & jarred Spaghetti Sauce.  To be honest, some of my ingredients are free.....the whole turkey from last fall for a "buying XX$ in groceries" promotion and the homemade vegetable stock.  Having to pay for these items would raise your costs but even with that, this is a very frugal menu.

How am I being frugal with this menu?

The Beef Stew....I am using leftover London Broil slices and a small package of purchased Stew Cubes bought on Saturday to supplement(you can check out that post for details on how I got the meat for cheap).  The stock is in the freezer, made the last time I pan roasted veggies.  I added water and pureed them for a thick vegetable stock for free.

The Beef Enchiladas...I'll take the leftover Sloppy Joe beef to put into this dish.  I've budgeted a small amount of 'fresh' ground beef to add as well in case the Sloppy Joes are popular.lol  The sauce in the Sloppy Joes means I don't need to add tomatoes to season the enchilada filling.  It will require a bit of dried mexican type spices(cumin, chili powder)only.
If the Meatless Balls are NOT popular, they can be crumbled up and added to the Enchilada filling as well to extend it.

The Turkey Dinner turkey was free.  It needs to be used while everyone is home, so it has to be this week.  There will still be leftover meat so it is a prime candidate for Saturday's Leftovers meal.  We might get a few sandwiches out of it and then a small pot of turkey chili on next week's menu as well.
The beans with this meal are also free....it's the last bag of beans from our garden last summer.

You'll notice I have us eating salad 3 times this week.  There is an excellent deal on salad this week(I can get 3 bags free!) and salad doesn't keep long so we must eat it.  Changing other add-in veggies or dressings will keep it from tasting like the same thing each time.

LAST WEEK'S FOOD SPENDING
I spent $87.91 last week on groceries(not including pet food).  I have an allotment of $410.72 to spend in June on food due to my participation in the June Food Stamp Challenge located HERE.  I have $322.81 remaining.

The only NEEDS for this week's menu are potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad greens, spinach, milk.  This should run me about $15.  I do plan on taking advantage of a few sales this week to stock-up on cheese(always needed here), canned chili(for #2 son summer lunches), frozen veggies(to get us through until the local farm stand opens) and ricotta cheese(to use next week).

FOOD WASTE REPORT
Nothing went bad, nothing wasted this week. 

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

Sluggy

Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway....WINNER!

There were 58 valid entries to the 3rd Boring Blog Box Giveaway.
I listed the names in order of them being received and assigned a number to each entry.
Then I plugged the parameters into Random.Org and it spit out the Winner.


And the winner is......


Entry Number 41

I'm So Pretty said... and you are so on my blogroll! ;)

Congratulations "I'm So Pretty" and please email me your snail mail info. within the next 48 hours from this time stamp and this lovely box of assorted Boring Blog Stuff will be on it's way to you!

And thank you to everyone who entered!!  We picked up a couple new readers along the way during this Giveaway and I'd like to say Welcome to them! and I do hope they stick around and keep reading and participating.

More Giveaway Fun coming soon....

Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Day Five

This post is part of the June Food Stamp Challenge over HERE.

 **WARNING--This is the post where I ramble on about grocery shopping.**

This is the last day of the weekly sales cycle at my local grocery store, Weis Markets, so I headed over to the grocery store to gather some supplies for the month.

Now and again, they run Catalina Deals at Weis.  
For those who don't pay attention to this marketing tool that grocery stores use, a Catalina Deal consists of a special group of items for sale in the store.  When you purchase these items(in a certain combination or quantity and/or in a certain dollar value), the store rewards you with a special coupon called a Catalina.  This coupon is usually good on a subsequent shopping trip.  The store uses this to get you back into their store so you spend MORE MONEY there!

But sometimes, you the consumer, can use this marketing tool to your advantage.  If some of this special group of items that qualify for the Catalina are on sale and you have Manufacturer's coupons, and these items are things you are going to buy anyway, you can pay very little for the items, get the Catalina coupon and then roll the deal.

"Rolling the deal" involves making multiple purchases and using the previously received Catalina to help pay for the next purchases(after applying any coupons and the sale prices of course).  Doing this can help you stretch your food dollars even more as long as you don't succumb to buying products you really don't need/can't use that are qualifying for the Catalina deal.

This is one of the 'tricks' couponers use to maximize our dollars.
I rolled a Catalina Deal 3 times today.  More on that later.

Here is my 1st grocery store food purchase for Saturday....

2 x Hebrew National Hot Dogs on sale BOGO($5.99)=$5.99
2 x Weis Cheese 8 oz. blocks on sale BOGO($2.50)=$2.50
1 x Sara Lee Bread on sale $1.50**Rang up=$2.89
2 x Better Than Ears Dog Treats on sale $2.29=$4.58
1 x 18 Large Eggs on sale=$1.50
1 x Almond Breeze Milk on sale=$2.50
4 x Klondike Ice Cream Bars on sale $2.50=$10.00
1 x Perdue precooked Chicken on sale=$3.50
2 x 1.18lb. Ground Beef special @.99¢lb=$2.36
1 x 1.03lb. 93%lean Ground Beef patties=$5.14
1 x .81lb. Sirloin Tip Steak=$3.47
1 x .92lb. London Broil=$3.67
1 x 1.16lb. Beef Cubes=$3.82
2 x pkgs. Chicken Thighs(4lbs. total)-$4.25 & $4.07 BOGO Sale=$4.25
SubTotal before coupons with sale prices.....$56.17

Coupons Used

2 x .75/1 Hebrew National Hot Dogs manu Q(doubled to $1)=$2.00
2 x $1.50/1 Better Than Ears Dog Treats manu Q=$3.00
1 x $1/1 Almond Breeze Milk manu Q=$1.00
1 x .75/1 Perdue Shortcuts Chicken manu Q(doubled to $1)=$1.00
1 x Ground Beef patties $3.00 Discount Sticker=$3.00
1 x Sirloin Tip Steak $1.50 Discount Sticker=$1.50
1 x London Broil $1.50 Discount Sticker=$1.50
1 x Beef Cubes $1.50 Discount Sticker=$1.50
2 x Chicken Thighs $2.00 Discount Sticker=$4.00
Coupon Total....$18.50

$56.17-$18.50=$37.67+$.28tax=$37.95
And I received a $7 On Your Next Order Catalina for buying the Eggs, Almond Breeze Milk & Ice Cream Bars.


So after coupons....
The 2 packs of hot dogs came out to $2.00 a piece.   Yes, you could buy cheaper hot dogs, but Hot Dogs are marginally nutritional, so if we are going to eat them, I'd prefer we eat 'good' ones.  This is not something we eat all the time but sometimes us carnivores feel the need to pour nitrites into our bodies....if you don't eat them, good for you.  We do, so deal with it. ;-)
The dog treats were $.79 a package.
The large almond milk was $1.50.
Over 10lbs. of raw meat/chicken was $15.28 after sales and Meat Dept. Instant Discounts.**The 2 packs of chicken was awesome because I only paid for 1 pack due to the BOGO sale plus the 2 $2 Discount stickers made that $4.25 pack of chicken cost $.25...4lbs. of chicken thighs for 25¢!

**This is one of my tips on buying meat for less.  Grocery store meat departments generally have a day set aside when they discount meat products.  It's worth asking them what that day is so you can arrange your week to get to the store when they mark down the meats.  Some stores also mark down dairy in this way so check your local stores.  My favorite scenario involves meats that are on sale already(either per lb. sale discounting or a BOGO deal)additionally being reduced since they are coming to the end of their "sell by" dating.  I bring a calculator to the store to figure the per lb. cost after all the discounts are applied to see if the sale price is low enough.  I like to keep my beef purchase price $2 or under and my chicken $1 or under.  I do NOT use this trick to get seafood cheaper.....fresher is better there! ;-) 

And my loaf of bread did NOT ring up on sale as it should have.  Weis store policy is that you get a full refund of what you pay if something on sale does NOT ring up correctly, so I get to deduct the $2.89 refund from my spending today.

In addition, the Perdue precooked chicken has a rebate in addition to the coupon I used, so my $3.50 package of chicken pieces will be free(+ an extra .25¢ since the coupon I used doubled to $1 and the rebate form only takes off .75 for the coupon). **This kind of item is something I don't usually buy, due to the high cost per lb. of meat...I prefer to buy my chicken raw.  But the rebate made it free to me so I got it.
So...the OOP spending on this transaction has become $32.31.
Since the Food Stamp Challenge doesn't include pet food, I'll deduct the OOP for the dog treats(plus the tax on them), so that's another $1.86 off, for a grand total of....$30.45.


Then I took that $7 Catalina Coupon and stocked up on Ice Cream, Eggs and Whipped Cream....


1 x 18 ct. Large Eggs on sale=$1.50
1 x Redi-Wipp Whipped Cream on sale=$2.00
4 x Klondike Ice Cream Bars on sale $2.50=$10.00
Subtotal....$13.50-Minus $7 Cat coupon=$6.50 Out of Pocket & another $7 OYNO Catalina coupon.

And I rolled this same transaction again.....$6.50 & another $7 OYNO Catalina to use next week.

I ended up with 8 more packages of Klondike Bars, 3 dozen more eggs(in addition to my 1st transaction) & 2 whipped cream for an additional $13.00 OOP(=Out of Pocket).

Usually I like to use coupons to bring the OOP down lower but the items that qualified for this Catalina Deal, that I wanted, did not have coupons available.   I could have bought different qualifying products that had coupons available & paid even less but that would not have been smart with the money. ;-)

Grand Total for the day's groceries.....$30.45+$13.00=$43.45 (+that $7 Q I can use on any product next week).
Value of the food if purchased at regular retail without sales/coupons.....$125.31.
That's a savings of 65.33%.
I almost forgot.....for every $50 you spend in one transaction at the local Weis you earn 10¢ in gas rewards at the local gas station.   Today's 1st transaction earned me .10¢ per gallon discount on my next fill-up.
Not that I buy groceries to get the gas discount but it's a small perk I can use.

I am now stocked up with ice cream for the summer, have 12lbs. of protein(counting the precooked chicken and hot dogs)& some whipped cream for the local strawberry crop that will be ready very soon.

June FS Challenge Total Spent to date.....$87.91
Amount Remaining in Budget.....$322.81  

Days Down.....5
Days to Go....25

Sluggy

JUNE Food Stamp Challenge....Day Four

So I jumped into this June Food Stamp Challenge on Day Four(which was yesterday actually), when I went grocery shopping for the 1st time this month.

We have had a relative house guest this week and we opted to cook-out on the grill instead of going out to eat before she left......so I was off to the grocery store for supplies.
If we had eaten out, that cost would have gone under our Entertainment spending, but since folks on food stamps don't have the option to eat out and pay with SNAP benies, we ate in and I cooked.

For the meal on Friday, I bought......
10 ears of corn =$3.99
1 bunch of red leaf lettuce=$1.20
3.50 lbs. of london broil=$13.20--it was the cheapest cut of meat they had
2lbs. of strawberries=$4.99

$23.38 spent for this meal that fed 6 people.  (BTW...this same meal in a restaurant for 6 people would have run at least $60 not counting beverages.)
On hand already, we had other fresh veggies for the salad(cuke, red cabbage, iceberg lettuce, carrots, celery), croutons and dressing, butter and salt for the corn and steak sauce.  We drank iced tea or water.

I also bought for later in the week on that grocery trip......
3 x 1/2 gallons of lactose-free milk on sale @$2ea.=$6.00
3 x bags of frozen veggies on sale $1.33ea.=$3.99
1 x cream cheese(house brand) on sale=$.99
I used 3 x $1/1 lactose-free milk ManuQs=$3.00 off

Grand Total spent.....$34.36-$3 in Coupons=$31.46

There is enough meat leftover to make a pot of stew next week when the temperature is suppose to dip into the 60's.
There are strawberries leftover also for putting into breakfast cereal and the 2 ears of corn that were not eaten will be used in the pot of clam chowder in the coming week.

As for the 1st 3 days I missed....we had leftovers 2 of those nights(from the Memorial Day cook-out) and the 3rd night I made chicken enchiladas, using stockpiled refried beans, chicken breast & tortillas and leftover homemade enchilada sauce & shredded cheese from the freezer, and spices from the cabinet.  A can of corn was pan roasted for a side dish.  Estimated Cost of ingredients used for those 3 days.....$13.00

Add that to what I have spend in June and we are at....$44.46 for the month.

Sluggy

The June Food Stamp Challenge.....I'm Doing it!

So, a fellow member of the Compact Group, named Katy, has a blog called The Non-Consumer Advocate.  It's located over HERE.  PS...Katy lives in Oregon.....

She is conducting a month long Challenge for June called The June Food Stamp Challenge.  She is attempting to keep her food spending for her family at the federal food stamp(or as it's known by the moniker of SNAP) benefit level for a family of 4.  Well, she is using the figure of $101 per person actually to make it simpler.  You can read the whole premise of the Challenge HERE.

I thought I would play along too.  You can find links to other bloggers who are trying this as well, on Katy's website(or at the link above directly).

So first thing I need to do is figure out how much food money I will have to spend.  As assorted teens will be here and not be here at various times in June, I really need to do a per day break down for them.  $101 divided by 30 days is $3.36 per day.  The combined days for all 3 teens is 57, plus we had a live-in guest for 5 days in June, so that's 62 days--or 2 whole persons worth+2 days.  $202.00+$6.72=$208.72.
Add in a full $101 for myself and hubs and we get a grand total of..........
$410.72 for 4.06 people, which is technically how many I will be feeding. 8-)

Anybody who has been a longtime reader of my blog knows that I regularly spend less than that every month on food--including toiletries, cleaning, pet food and the few paper goods that I buy.  I may have to throw some other obstacles into my take on this challenge to, er....challenge me more.

Plus I am in eating down the freezer mode so I don't plan on spending much in June(once the kids leave!lol).  If I am using what I have, then I am not buying and it is silly for me to buy things that I already have here and eat that and not use the older items in the freezer or stockpile.
So to make this more challenging for me, when I use something I have in the freezer, I'll purchase the same item to restock my supply and count the cost of that even though I am cooking/serving the older already bought item OR I'll deduct what I paid for the already bought groceries that I use this month.  Since I have all my grocery receipts this won't be hard to find the price paid and add into my spending.  I hope that makes some kind of sense..... ;-)


I am off to do my first real grocery shop for June......I'll check in tonight!

Sluggy