What's Going on at Chez Sluggy Lately

I want to thank everyone who left birthday wishes on the blog for me!
Lots of old blogging buddies as well as new folks coming out of lurkdom and somewhere in between too.

It all warmed the cockles of my old, increasing grumpy heart....

Hubs took me out to Denny's at lunchtime on Monday so I could claim my free Grand Slam meal.  Then the family did the singing and cake thing Monday evening.
Daughter even got me a Whitman's Sampler box of dark chocolates.
And she put this on top of it.....

The chocies came with a $2 +Up Reward!   I think I was more excited by this than the candy.
That's my girl......lol

Evidently she's been giving Rite-Aid our phone number(which gives them my Wellness #)when she buys stuff there, because I am suddenly up to $62.89 for the $100 I need to get the 50th Anniversary Reward. lolol
I told her to go buy some more stuff there before Saturday to get me to $100 in spending.

Why didn't I think of this much cheaper way to get +Up Rewards years ago? lolol

Hubs didn't give me anything yet so maybe I'll give him a list of things that qualify for the 50th Anniv. Promo that I want for my birthday at Rite-Aid. Hmmmm......

My Gas Points at Weis expire on Saturday too.  My gas tank should be pretty low by then so I hope I remember to go get gas and use that .30¢ discount.

The Daughter has changed her educational plan yet again.....sigh
She's looking to attend a different community college in the Fall so she dropped 2 courses that won't transfer and that she doesn't need for the program there.  The program she was trying to get into here isn't working out(due to high demand and her placement test scores weren't so good), so she's going to move out of state and attend another program(once she places in).  I hope this one works out.

#2 Son got a job on Friday.  Well, he sort of had a job at a different restaurant, but they hardly ever called him in.  He was like the substitute's substitute dishwasher or something.
So he finally got an application together and went up on Friday and they gave him the job on the spot.
He's already worked 2 nights and seems happier and they haven't fired him. lol
Now I don't want to hear how the 18 year old nephew can't find a job and has been looking for a year now with no luck.  He just doesn't want to have to DO anything to get paid....except sit on his ass.

Now we have the Driver's road test next week for #2 Son.  If the parallel parking doesn't sink him, he'll do fine.

I've got to make reservations for #1 Son's graduation in May.  He'll be a college graduate in just over 4 months!  Goodbye FAFSA!!!lolol  This will be a 3 day saga since it's on the other side of the state.
I told him not to count on many of the family coming to it, since nobody lives out there.  They'd all have to travel and pay for lodging/food/gas to attend and most of them don't have the extra cash to do this.

Now I get to worry about him finding a job after college in his field.  I know he'll do whatever he has to to stay afloat economically but I worry anyway.  That's my mom job after all.....

As for me?  I still haven't figured out my 2013 Goals.  Heck, I'm doing well if I can figure out a meal plan a week ahead! lol
And it's too danged cold!!!  Our most recent electric bill was $340 and $216 of that was for heat. 

Gotta get up to the grocery store and then mail some textbooks back to Amazon.

What's going on in your world lately?

Sluggy

Meal Planning January Week 4, Food Spending Week 3

                                                                      

And here is what actually got served last week......

Sunday--Steak, Asparagus, Potatoes & Onions

Monday--Leftovers

Tuesday--Leftovers

Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Brussel Sprouts, Rolls(made into Garlic bread)

Friday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

Saturday--Chinese take-out

I served 3 of the meals I planned.  The meals that didn't get served(Steak Tips, Cheese Steaks) get moved to next week.

The food spending last week?

2 small trips to the grocers for a grand total spent of $50.90.  Almost half of it was for lunches, juice and seltzer for Daughter.  I bought frozen and fresh veggies, fruit, some provolone cheese, a loaf of French bread and I splurged and bought 2 Cannolis for Hubs and I.  The cannoli was the only dairy I had all week and it caused me some gunkiness....but was worth it. lol

We are up to $199.85 food spending for January.  One week left and I have half of my food budget still.
I also have a $10 Catalina that expires 1/24 to use at Weis.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--1 head of cabbage, and the leftover steak.

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

Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

Monday--Taco Bell or Fend For Yourself

Tuesday--Beef Tips in Gravy over Noodles, Ginger Carrots

Wednesday--Fish, Beets, Au Gratin Potatoes

Thursday--Cheese Steaks, Broccoli

Friday--Halushki

Saturday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

The Beef Tips are leftovers redone.  The other 3 meals are new food.  Wednesday and Friday meals will yield leftovers for Saturday eating.

Needed at the store to serve this lot?

I bought the fish and more carrots last week and had everything else already.  Depending on how much Halushki I want to make, I may need another head of cabbage.  I'll need more fresh fruit and salad greens(for lunches).  "Good" hot dogs and honey are on sale this week so I'll be stocking up on those items.  I'll try to keep the spending under $70.

I'll be going to my 2 grocery stores this week to note prices for the new Price Book.

What's on your menu for the week?  Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

I've got some big changes coming in February to our diet.  I am not sure how this will affect our food budget but I suspect it will have an impact.  Stick around and see what happens.

Sluggy

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Well today is my Birthday.
In the spirit of the day, I thought I'd share this with all of you....

Thanks for reading and being my friend!
Be sure to leave some love before you go......

Sluggy

Price Book Update--Week 2

Just posting the Week 2 Price Book numbers for my items.  I'll try to get Week 3 numbers reported in earlier this coming week and since that gets us halfway to all our data, I'll talk about the trends that seem to be appearing.

Ground Beef...2.28/3.69  3.79/3.99
Chuck Roast....3.99/3.99  2.99/3.99
Hot Dogs....4.99/5.99  4.99/5.99
Pork....3.99/3.00  3.99/2.99
Bacon....2.98/3.50  3.99/3.50
Chicken Breast....2.99/3.09  2.99/3.49
Chicken Whole.... .78/1.69  1.39/1.89
Salmon....10.00/7.99  0/7.99
Cheese....1.77/2.99  2.00/2.00
Butter.....3.00/3.50  3.49/3.98
Eggs....1.93/1.50  1.79/1.89
Carrots.... .90/1.00  .75/1.29
Potatoes....1.48/2.50  2.99/2.99
Celery.....1.69/259  1.99/1.89
Onion..... .49/.75  1.69/1.00
Salad Greens....2.50/1.95  2.50/1.85
Pasta..... .88/1.00  1.00/1.00
Spaghetti Sauce.... .88/1.00  1.33/1.25
Coffee....5.65 lb/5.12 lb  5.65 lb/4.16 lb
Soup Tomato...1.05/.75  1.05/1.00
Soup Cream....1.00/.75  1.29/1.39
Flour.....2.19/2.19  2.19/2.19
Sugar.....2.69/2.69   2.69/2.69
Brown Sugar...1.89/1.69  1.89/1.69
Honey.....4.00 lb/3.45 lb  4.00 lb/3.45 lb
Deli Ham...5.99/7.99  4.99/5.99
Deli Provolone...7.99/8.99  4.99/8.99
Frozen Pizza...4.49/4.99  5.00/3.33
Ice Cream...3.00/3.00  2.50/3.00
Frozen Broccoli...1.88/1.50  2.19/2.00
Soda....4.99/4.00  4.00/4.00
Chips....3.00/3.00  3.00/2.50


Be sure to log in your Week 2 prices and work on collecting your Week 3 prices.


Sluggy

What Do Vincent Price & Onion Soup Have In Common?

If you are like me you try to avoid eating Onion Soup at most restaurants out there.
Most restaurant pantries are stocked by food service mega-corporations like Sysco, US Foods and PFG in the US.  These corporations are the processed food suppliers to the majority of eating establishments.
Restaurants begin their French Onion Soup dishes with Onion Soup Base......a dark brown liquid or granular powder like the one pictured here.

Onion Soup based on this gives you an artificially onion flavored SALT LICK.
Yes, these soup bases have a very high sodium content.
They are nasty!

One of the more surprising cookbooks I have was given to me by my mother.
She passed it down to me from HER mother.
I find this quite hilarious since my grandmother was a country cook and cared not at all for grand living and fancy restaurants.  Why and where she would have picked up this cookbook is a mystery to me!

This cookbook is a collection of recipes from famous restaurants that Vincent and Mary Price visited in their travels around the world during their marriage, which spanned from 1949-1973.  (She was his second wife.)

Yes, this Vincent Price.....

In addition to being a famous Hollywood leading man and later, a B Movie Villain and all around "ham".....

He was a Gourmand Extraordinaire!

Or as they like to call them nowadays, he was a Foodie before there were Foodies!

This huge compendium of classic cooking recipes from the top dining spots around the world was my 1st Cookbook as a newly married woman.

While other 1980's newly marrieds were working on their meatloaves, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casseroles and pancakes, I was trying my hand at Coq au Vin, Steak au Poivre, Yorkshire Pudding, Haricot Verts a la Lyonnaise, Crepe Suzette and Gateaux Grand Marnier. ;-)

This book holds the best recipe for French Onion Soup bar none!
But over the years, I have made this recipe my own with changes and substitutions to make this heartier and more of a main course.
*My ingredient substitutions/changes are marked by asterisks.

From "A Treasury of Great Recipes", page 46, here is MY VARIATION....

SOUP À L'OIGNON (Onion Soup) À LA SLUGGY
serves 6 as a starter/4 as a meal 

3 tablespoons bacon drippings   *can use olive oil if no drippings are available
4 large onions, chopped fine    *Sliced thinly, not chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt     *"good" salt, like Himalayan or Sea Salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 clove garlic, smashed   *or minced or powdered
1 sprig parsley
1 pinch thyme
1 quart chicken stock  * you can sub chicken bouillon cubes or granules(cut the amount of salt you add by half), but not onion soup ones
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon cognac   * I omit because I don't have any
6 slices toasted French bread   * I use croutons

1 cup grated parmesan cheese  * I use shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1  You will need oven safe bowls for presentation/serving.

2 Over medium temperature in a large skillet, heat a deep skillet with the olive oil.

3  Add thinly sliced onions and cook until translucent.

4 Add the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic and cook until it is golden brown (careful not to burn).

 

5  Add the parsley sprig, thyme, chicken stock, wine, and simmer for 45 minutes, then remove from heat.

 6 While soup simmers, try to look busy.

 Presentation--

7  To make it Soupe à L'Oignon Gratinée: preheat your oven's broiler setting;  laden soup into each bowl being careful not to overfill.  Float croutons on top of soup.

 Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over croutons.

Place bowls on baking sheet under broiler in oven until the cheese bubbles and browns.  Keep a close watch so you don't burn your cheese!

Remove the soup from the oven and eat.

Nom Nom Nom.

Sluggy