This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Mother's Day" Edition--

 

 

The flowers from my daughter and Hubs, cards from Hubs and his oldest brother and my oldest son called me on Sunday to chat.  My only kid actually HERE on Mother's Day made no effort.....I didn't even get a "Happy Mother's Day or I love you Mom" or a hug outta him.  Just for that, I'll be waking him up bright and early today and putting him to work out in the yard......that'll show him! ;-)

 

 

Anyway, onward to the meal planning!

 

Here's what was planned last week.......

 

1.  Leftover Lemon Chicken w/Zucchini and Rice
2.  Leftover Taco Salad

3.  Kielbasa or Hot Dogs, homemade Boston Baked Beans(maybe), leftover veggies and macaroni salad
4.  Chicken Parm, Tomato and Cuke Salad(use up some produce)

5.  Ravioli,  Sauté of Squash and Onions

6.  Fend For Yourself
7.  Pizza?
 

And this is what actually happened--

1.  Leftover Lemon Chicken w/Zucchini and Rice
2.  Leftover Taco Salad

3.  Kielbasa or Hot Dogs, leftover veggies and macaroni salad
4.  Chicken Parm, Tomato and Cuke Salad(use up some produce)

5.  Ravioli,  Sauté of Squash and Onions

6.  Fend For Yourself
7.  Fend For Yourself

Everything went as planned I guess except no pizza.  We stopped at a nice? restaurant on the way home from getting College Boy on Saturday so we just scrounged at home for something light for dinner.

Last week I made 5 trips to 3 different food stores and spent $52.98 OOP on $143.47 worth of reg. retail groceries and toiletries

I had 3 transactions at Rite-Aid last week and spent $11.67!
Gasp!!!
That's what happens when you have no +Ups or Plenti Pts. and are starting from scratch.....the OOP is too danged high!
I now have 600 Plenti Pts.
Again like last time I say....."Whoo-pee".

$232.74(plus $11.67 at R-A) spent of my $? May food budget.

Leftovers going into this week are---taco filling and some veggies leftover from the osso buco and mashed potatoes.
Hubs is out of town after Tuesday dinner time so it's just College Boy and me to feed Wednesday to Saturday.....and College Boy has work already(evenings) and Thursday is a long standing "Wing Night" at a local handout with his buds.

I don't want to cook a lot of leftover type dishes this week since we are going on vacation and College Boy has a bad track record with eating leftovers when we are gone.  I'll just put some easy fix items in the house(burritos, chicken strips, frozen pizza, etc.)and some cash to get fast food(as he has been fast food deprived due to a lack of spending $ at college)as that is what he wants to eat.
 

Here is the plan for this week.........

1.  Chinese Take-out(Mother's Day and I don't cook!)
2.  Salmon, Squash casserole

3.  Leftover Chinese take-out
4.  Rotisserie Chicken, Roasted Cauliflower

5.  Fend for Yourself/Wing Night

6.  Tacos or Taco Salad
7.  Subway sammies

I am only cooking 2 "meals" this week.  I have TONS to do before we leave and all of College Boy's crap and laundry to deal with this week so I am all about making things as easy as possible this week.
 

What I need to buy for this menu.......nothing except to buy the take-out foods(Subway sammies,  Rotisserie Chicken at Weis).  I will use up the Osso Buco veggies in sauce by putting that into my taco filling this week.  Tacos leftover is the one thing College Boy will eat that is leftover even if we aren't home to remind him. 8-)

I will be hitting the grocery stores for some loss leaders this week and any deals that pop up or instant discount meats as usual.  I am figuring about $60 of spending.
 

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

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Happy Mother's Day & Giveaway Winner

First off Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there!
I hope your kids fete you in some nice ways this year.....or at least CALL YOU! lolz

I lost my mom almost 15 years ago and I still miss her.

And now here is the Winner of my latest Boring Blog Box Giveaway.

CSKIES!

cskies1April 29, 2015 at 6:52 AM

Your food totals so far for 2015 look great....hope May doesn't blow you out of the water!! :)
Adding another entry for your giveaway box of goodies!!
cskies1 at yahoo dot com

Congratulations!
I guess that mountain of entries paid off for you.  ;-)

Please send me an email cskies with your full name and mailing address and I'll get this box of goodies out to you asap.  You have 48 hours from when this entry posts to get back to me with the information or I'll have to draw another name.

And another big THANK YOU to everyone who played along this go 'round.

I'll have another Giveaway Box coming up soon so stay tuned.

I am off now to enjoy the Mother's Day breakfast Hubs made for me......

Sluggy

Eyeballs, Gift Cards, Spending, Flowers & More

Well my eyeball is cleared for all normal daily activities as of yesterday.
Rah!
And they scheduled the other eyeball for cataract removal.....in JULY!
TWO FREAKING MONTHS LATER!!!
I had to wait an entire month+ for the first surgery and now TWO months.
Argh.
Between other dr. appointments and other family members plans this blows up my entire Summer and my plans.
Argh.Argh.

So not happy about that but it is what it is.  I may have to do my gallivanting in September now.

I hit 2 Rite-Aids yesterday on the way home as the first one didn't have everything I wanted......

3 x Puffs facial tissue on sale=$3.00
2 x Ziploc bags on sale=$4.00
2 x CeraVe cleanser BOGO50%=$7.93
4 x Mentos(cinnamon)BOGO sale=$2.30
SubTotal......$17.23

Coupons Used
3 x .25¢/1 IPQ(coupons dotcom)=.75¢
1 x $1/2 Ziploc items IPQ(coupons dotcom)=$1.00
2 x $3/1 CderaVe items ManuQ(don't remember which week's insert)=$6.00
1 x $1/2 Mentos Rite-Aid FaceBook Q=$1.00
Coupon Total.....$8.75

$17.23-$8.75-$8.48 + .80¢ tax=$9.28 OOP which I put on a Rite-Aid gift card I bought online last Fall at a 15% discount from one of those gift card reselling sites.  It helps bring down the costs at least a little paying this way, but it takes planning ahead.

I earned 500 Plenti Pts.(300 CeraVe, 100 Puffs, 100 Ziploc)to add to the 100 Pts. I earned the other day, giving me a total of 600 Plenti Pts.
Whoo-pee.

Had a little chat while in "my" Rite-Aid with the employees when she asked me how I liked the new program.
Oh, she got an earful! lolz
She said many of their "regulars" like me haven't been coming around at all or not nearly as much and she suspects sales are down.  She also said other customers were grumbling about the new program.

I also got this in the mail this past week.....

A Kmart pharmacy incentive to transfer prescriptions to them.  It expires in July and I have 2 rxs that are due for refills in June so I'll take advantage of this $60 deal next month.  The wording says a $30 Kmart "Award" Card, not a gift card.  I wonder if they give you $30 in "points" or something?  I need to read the fine print to see what exclusions it carries too.
It would be awesome to get $60 of free toilet paper though, wouldn't it? lolz

Then I used some of those credit card points I earned from putting the car purchase on the card briefly and ordered this, which came this past week......

A $100 Target gift card.
Since it's one of the few stores they have around here that my c/c points program offers(really, how many Walmart gift cards can a person use? lol), I got this Target card.  I figure I go into Target now and again to do a deal(though not very often and I don't like Target on the whole)and if push comes to shove my Target now carries a full grocery section so I can spend this on food if need be.

I also sold & shipped out another piece of fabric this week.
Rah!
Someone asked me about another piece of fabric too, a twill weave woven denim-like one.
The potential buyer wanted to know if it was stretchy like denim?
Hello!.....What??
Since when is regular old denim stretchy? lolz
She's been buying spandex denim much too long I think.....

And while I was on the phone on Thursday I heard a truck pull up in front of the house and then a THUMP as something hit my front porch.
Here is what I found when I went out to check......

A box of flowers.
The UPS driver never even rang the doorbell.
What an idiot to drop of something perishable like this and not alert anyone?!
When I opened the box the HEAT wafted out.
It was in the high 80's here that day and much hotter it seems in the back of that UPS truck!

Imagine what would have happened to these flowers if I hadn't gotten them inside quickly.....I'd have EX-Flowers.....

Stargazer lilies and irises.

Loved the sticker on the wrapping....

 

It's a good thing I had had my lunch already, huh? ;-)

And of course my smart ass daughter sent this card enclosed........

"Happy Mother's Day...to someone who has been just like a mother to me."

If you aren't up to speed on the origins of this family tradition go read HERE and click on the link to read more on that post.

And lastly today is the last day to enter my giveaway!
Use the link of the right sidebar or go HERE to leave a comment and enter.

And with that I am off.  I am a traveling woman today.
Back tomorrow.
Enjoy your weekend!

Sluggy


 

Last Weekend's Not-So-Frugal & Kinky Yard Work

Last weekend was an expensive one.

If you remember a couple of weekends before we started laying the border for the bed on the side of the yard......

 

Well last Saturday we got this......

a truckload of white stones
$$$!

We laid down the landscaping barrier I got at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)on sale and using a 10% off discount card......

Then Hubs shoveled a large quantity of that pile of stones......

 

On Sunday it was off to Lowe's to spend more money.....

on a bench.  I wanted to one of the far right.
Of course they only had one left in stock and it was up in the rafters of the Garden Center......

 So after wrangling an employee he mounted the fork lift and ascended toward the heavens...

and retrieved the last of that bench in the store.

Yay!  Hubs with the yet-to-be assembled bench.
More $$$!

One more stop before the check-out for some garden seeds..........not on sale, boo!.......

then home to put the bench together(which was much easier than we thought it would be!)and Voila!

Once the trees leaf out it will be a nice tranquil shady spot to contemplate ones navel this Summer.

And Hubs bought a hose last week too......

Let it never be said that Hubs is kinky. ;-)

On Saturday morning I also finally broke down and ordered a freezer......

It arrived early Wednesday morning and by Wednesday evening I had filled it.

Did you know that the freezer compartment in a full sized fridge is only slightly smaller than the freezer space in a 7.1 ft. chest freezer?
Did you also know that you need a step ladder to reach the bottom of a chest freezer if you are well over 4 feet tall?
Well now you do! 8-)

Since my last experience with a new Whirlpool standing freezer that died after 3 whole weeks of owning it I have been gun shy about replacing the freezer.  This one is much smaller(with 2-3 people at home fulltime, we just don't need that much space for frozen food anymore)and much cheaper so if it dies well before it's time I won't be in a panic to replace it and save a lot of food but I will still be summarily pissed off if it doesn't last at least a few years.

$600 give or take a few $s leaving the account last weekend for all this....rocks, barrier cloth, seeds, bench, hose and freezer.
I can't WAIT for the credit card bill to arrive for this month.........actually I can wait........lolz

This weekend is more low key as we are picking up College Boy on Saturday for his Summer vacation.  I am sure he will bring with him a whole mess of hooliganism back into our lives.
Can't wait.......*insert eye roll*

Sluggy
 

Shopping This Week

I went out driving yesterday for the first time in a week, since my eye surgery.
Let's just say I managed to NOT kill anyone on the road. lolz
I am not confident driving yet with 2 eyes that aren't seeing the same thing.

I went to Rite-Aid and bought my first items with my new Plenti/Wellness Card.....

3 x Dawn soap on sale=$3.00
I used 3 x .25¢/1 IPQs(go use the link of Sonya Ann's blog to go to the Coupons dot com site)=.75¢ off=$2.25 + .14¢ tax=$2.39 OOP.

I earned 100 Plenti Pts. on this purchase(which is equal to $1).  I have to have at least 200 Pts. to spend them though. ugh.

2 Things about this new Plenti Program, 1 I like, 1 I don't like.

1-I won't have to continually buy stuff and "roll" the pts. within 2 weeks, before they expire.  This often meant buying things I didn't really "need", but could use and it was stressful some weeks when there was little to nothing I wanted to buy.

2-I don't like that these points are only electronic and you can't have them printed out in paper.  I also don't like that they are linked to a specific card/account and can't be used on a different account held by another family member.  So don't like this and it will really cut down on my frequenting Rite-Aid. sigh.

Then it was on to Weis(PMITA)Markets.  The only items on my list going in was a watermelon and doing the Light N' Fit Yogurt Deal......

2 x Monterey Burritos on sale=$7.00
2 x Cauliflowers on sale BOGO=$3.99
2 x Yogurt Protein Shakes on sale=$9.98
1 x Yogurt 4 pack on sale=$1.69
4 x PowerAde Zero on sale=$2.36
6 x Borden shredded cheese on sale $1.67ea.=$10.02
1 x bagged Salad 50% off sticker=$1.74
1 x Bakery onion rolls 50% off sticker=$1.64
1 x Bakery French bread 50% off sticker=.64¢
2 x Gluten-free Matzo Ball mix clearance .83¢ea.=$1.66
2 x Hanover green beans 25% off=$3.44
1 x 2.26 lb PA organic chicken legs $2 discount sticker(.99¢lb)=$2.25
1 x Watermelon seedless on sale=$3.99 *not pictured*
I used 3 x $1/1 Light n' Fit Yogurt Qs for $3 off plus because I spent(reg. retail prices)over $12 on the LnF items I got an instant $3 off my total, and I used the $10 OYNO Catalina earned 2 weeks ago for spending $40 on Gatorade G2 drinks and paid $34.53(including .15¢ tax).

Regular retail was $86.85(before tax) so I saved 60% on this order.
Nice.
8-)

Everything bought was on sale.  I missed the $1.67 cheese sale in the ad so that was an unexpected surprise.  Too bad there weren't any Qs for that brand here.
The cauliflower, burritos and mega cheese means College Boy will be home soon. lolz
Unfortunately the only meat markdown deal that was worthwhile this week was a package of chicken legs.  I am not a big fan of chicken legs but slap them on the grill and brush on bbq sauce and the family will eat them.

Grocery spending for the week so far stands at $36.92.
I'll go back to Rite-Aid for 3 boxes of Puffs tissue and earn 100 more points when I go pick up an rx refill so that will be another $2.39 OOP for the week.
I may hit Maine Source tomorrow for some produce when I go for my 1 week post-op checkup as it's only a few blocks away.  I don't plan to spend much but one never knows, do one? ;-)

Sluggy