This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "We Finally Got a Proper Snow" Edition--

24 hours after the storm we have bare pavement again!  Having a nice sunny day on Sunday helped with this.

Onward to the meal planning!

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

1. Sunday--Meatball Subs, Veggies
2. Monday--Turkey Sandwiches(using up leftovers)
3. Tuesday--Butternut Squash Soup, Salad
4. Wednesday--Orange Chicken, Rice, Veggies
5. Thursday--Birthday Dinner Out
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Pizza or Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Meatball Subs, Brussels Sprouts
2. Monday--Turkey Sandwiches(using up leftovers)
3. Tuesday--Sesame Chicken, Rice, Stir-Fry Veggie Mix
4. Wednesday--Leftovers of Chicken Enchiladas, Corn Casserole, Brussels Sprouts
5. Thursday--Birthday Dinner Out(Steak, Salad and Grilled Veggies)
6. Friday--Stromboli(using gift card)
7. Saturday--Halushki

5 meals cooked at home(3 new meals and 2 using up leftovers) and 2 meals out/take-out.
The Turkey sandwiches used some of the Turkey Roulade and stock from the freezer.  Butternut soup didn't happen as we ate the leftover Butternut Squash. We ate all the leftovers in the house except for 2 meatballs last week.  The Sesame chicken was a frozen dinner in a bag which I added more stir-fry and roasted chicken strips to.  Hubs finished the leftovers of that meal for Lunch on Sunday. I had gotten a large head of cabbage sometime last week so Saturday with the snow storm I made a large batch of Halushki with it.  I had to cook the cabbage down in 2 batches as I didn't have a pan large enough to do it all at once. lol  Lots of cooking on the weekend as electric rates are lower then.

As for my grocery spending last week......$63.89.    I have spent $352.65 so far this month and have -$52.65 left in the January food budget. lolz
Going over budget on food for us isn't a crisis.  We have plenty more to spend on food but I do like to keep close tabs on what is actually leaving the wallet.  This helps me stay accountable with spending, using up leftovers and not wasting food.

Leftovers going into this week......Halushki and 2 meatballs.  The Halushki will be 1 leftover meal and probably a few lunches for me this coming week.  The meatballs I'll cut up and add to Hubs serving of Lasagna tonight.  8-)

I cooked off 3 lbs. of ground beef bought on discount the week before(plus made up 2 small, uncooked, meatloaves for the freezer with the other 3 lbs. of beef bought).  I used half of the cooked off beef to make the meat sauce on Sunday for the lasagna I made and the other half will be for our Taco night on Wednesday.  I have a new bag of taters and everything else on the menu is in the freezer and/or pantry.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Spinach Salad
2. Monday--Lasagna, Tossed Salad or Cooked Green Veggie
3. Tuesday--Salmon or Rock fish(freezer), Potato Salad(pantry), Green Beans(freezer)
4. Wednesday--Tacos or Taco Salad
5. Thursday--Leftovers
6. Friday--Roast Chicken(freezer), Mac and Cheese(pantry), Collards(freezer)
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 5 new meals cooked and  2 meals of leftovers(repurposed into new dishes or not).
The spinach salad was because I got a 50% bag of it last week.  I cooked off the lasagna on Sunday as electric is cheaper on weekends here and we will reheat in the toaster oven tonight.  I plan to make Chicken and Dumplings next Sunday with the leftover Roast Chicken too, again rates are cheaper on Sunday.  I may also make a pot of Broccoli Cheddar Soup next Sunday too.  It's truly soup weather lately.  ;-)

What I need to buy for this menu? Lettuce.  I might also get some more food bank items(mayo, pasta)and stock up on G2 Gatorade as I am almost out.  Last week of the January food budget and I have busted it already so why not?! ;-)
The local Shursave market in the town west of us has Eggs for .99¢ dozen on Tuesday.  I have to go there to get to CVS(and I have a $5 EB to use)plus they have a Weis Market, so I might hit all those on Tuesday if the weather cooperates.

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 last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Last Week

Well the snow storm thwarted my evil plan as I wasn't able to get to Rite-Aid on Saturday to finish the deals I wanted to do last week.
Rats.

I shared what I bought on my son's card last Sunday(which was a $14.59 moneymaker)but here is what I bought on my card later on this past week.........

I actually did 5 transactions--2 of the cosmetic items in 1, the other cosmetic in a another 1, the air fresheners in 1, 2 x Kleenex with the Vitamints in another 1 and 2 x Kleenex and dish soaps in the last 1.

Each 2 boxes of Kleenex 4-packs generated a $2 OYNO Catalina Q so that's why I broke up those purchases into 2 orders.  2 of the Physician's Formula items have mail-in rebates so that's why I bought those 2 in separate orders.  And the air fresheners where bought first on another day because the store's truck order hadn't come in that week yet so I couldn't do the Kleenex purchases yet as they were out of stock.
See?....there really is a method to my madness.  lolz

Altogether this all came to $64.96 w/tax.
Coupons came to $13.29
$64.96-$16.30=$48.66

I used $48.66 in Plenti points to pay and earned another $32 in new Plenti points(2x $10 wyb $15 Physician's Formula, $10 Bonus Starting Points wyb $30, $2 Kleenex wyb $15), received $3.30 in cash at SavingStar(Renuzit) and will receive $15 in mail-in cash rebates for the cosmetics(Physician's Formula), making this a $1.64 moneymaker AND I still have a $2 OYNO Catalina to spend too.
Deducting the cost of the stamps to mail for the cosmetic rebates and it's still a .74¢ moneymaker.  ;-)

I had plans to do the P&G Deal(earning $20 in Plenti points)on Saturday.  I had to wait a day for the new Plenti points I earned to go "live" from Friday's purchases and when the snow happened well, I didn't get to the store on Saturday.
Rats.
If I had my 2 x Pampers, 2 x Cover Girl eye shadow and 1 Charmin TP pack would have "cost" me $1.90 + tax after sales/Qs/new Plenti points.
Oh well.......

Let's recap all our purchases of last week--

I "bought".....
6 x 12-packs Coke products
2 x 12-packs Charmin
2 x Vitamints
2 x Cover Girl eye shadow
2 x Cover Girl mascara
2 x Palmolive dish soap
4 x Kleenex 4-pack bundles
6 x Renuzit air fresheners
3 x PFormula cosmetic items

And after sales/coupons/rebates/taxes/cost of stamps I "made" $15.33(and a $2 Catalina too)to bring this all home for FREE! 8-)

I'll be laying off of Rite-Aid this week as the Starting Points Bonus Deals are finished for January and the next promo for February doesn't start until next Sunday 1/31.  I'm not real crazy about the next promo as you have to "spend" $100 before the first reward of $20 kicks in.  This promo will be harder to work the deal so that I don't "spend" anything to get my free stuff. 8-)))

Other than buying some gift cards that generate Plenti points this week there isn't anything for me to buy at Rite-Aid until next week.

Sluggy

Snowmageddon Jonas.......Not Bad Here

We got a mere 9.5 inches by the time the snow stopped flying around 4 pm......

I measured 8" at 2 pm on the back deck.....

So what do you do when you can't go to Rite-Aid because the roads are a mess?

In NE PA you make a big pot of Halushki......

And you brew some beer........

....though Hubs Session IPA won't be ready for a few weeks yet.

And then you send Hubs out to shovel down by the road before the plows come through again and pile it all up at the base of your driveway and it freezes overnight........

About an hour South of here got 2.5 feet.
College Boy who's an hour west and then an hour north of us didn't get a single snowflake!
Eldest son checked in at 6 pm with 2 feet and it's still coming down there in F'burg, VA.  I do believe at this point his school WILL be out of session for about a week. lolz

Sluggy

Friday at Chez Sluggy

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday on the blog.
It was my birthday.
I'd like to say that I was too busy partying and carousing with friends to write yesterday.
But the reality was quite different and I was holding a little pity party for myself.

Some folks on Facebook did send me some Happy Birthday messages which I appreciated.
But I am so bad about remembering other people's birthdays I am not surprised, nor should I be, that most folks don't make a fuse for mine.
Plus not having any friends in "real life" living around here doesn't help.

So I just got wild and crazy yesterday and went up to Rite-Aid and picked up a prescription, bought some air fresheners(will be a .30¢ moneymaker after Saving Star Rebate(lolz), then I went to Weis(PMITA)Markets and spent 33.43, saving 58% over regular retail.  I then got some soup for lunch at the Chinese restaurant and laid down and took a nap.

Hubs took me out for a Birthday dinner at a local steak place that evening and I splurged and got a flight of Long Island Iced Teas......

What's with that face I am making? lolz
And I don't even remember actually eating dinner after drinking those little tiny drinks.
I am a lightweight when it comes to drinking.....

This weekend Hubs will get a cake and sing to me, after I stuff cotton balls in my ears of course......yah, he can't sing.  ;-)

As of now it looks like the Jonas Snowmageddon will miss us mostly.  Only 2-5 inches of snow in these parts on Saturday.  We can do that standing on our heads!  Eldest says they are predicting 2 feet+ down in F'burg and they called school off for Friday on Thursday.  Scuttlebutt by other teachers in his building is that school will be out for all of next week there too if they get as much as what they think is coming.

As for the good "deals" I picked up at Weis yesterday........

4 cans of Pillsbury Grands! biscuits after sale/Qs were .50¢ each.  At this price I don't mind using some of them to make dumplings for chicken 'n dumplings next week because they are as cheap as the store brand whack biscuits I use for this dish usually.
 
4 packs of chewing gum for free after sale/Qs.

2 jars of peanut butter for $1 each after sale/Qs.

6 boxes of whole grain Barilla spaghetti for .55¢ each after sale/Qs. (These are headed to the food bank.)

1.04 lb. of steak for $2.67 after sale/instant $2 off sticker.

1 bottle of ketchup for .79¢ after sale/Q.

4 cans of Hormel chili for .75¢ a can after sale/Qs.

1 bag of fresh spinach $1.24 after 50% off sticker.

4 bags of Oreos(for CB)$1.99 bag after sale/Qs (I'll also get a $2 rebate from Checkout51 for buying these so they'll turn out to be $1.49 a bag in the end.)

College Boy likes Golden Oreos but I just had to get a bag of this one I haven't seen before, Cinnamon Bun.  I may have to actually try one of these before he gets home for break as I love anything Cinnamon......lolz

I'll be going back to Rite-Aid today to do some deals on my Plenti card(I already did some deals on Eldest son's card last Sunday).  I have $5.94 spending tracking toward #1 $30 Bonus Plenti points Reward from those air fresheners I bought Thursday.  I couldn't finish off the deal I wanted to do yesterday because they were out of some of the products so I have reformulated a plan and will go back later today to "work it".  After all is said and done I'll spend $43.96 in Plenti points, get back $40 in new Plenti points AND qualify for $15 in cash Rebates so another moneymaking opportunity!  8-)

Eating out this month...We have only gone out twice--for my birthday dinner last night and for breakfast on Monday(Hubs was home and I had a dr. appointment so he came with me and we hit Denny's for some eggs) and my take-out Birthday soup.  We have spent $75.99 on only 2 meals out/1 take-out meal.  I don't foresee anymore eating out this month so we will stay under $100 on that tally.

All the bills for the month are in and paid for January.  It's only been about a week since the credit card bill cut and we already have $500+ more on that one which will be due in February.  Half of that is for 1 drug refill(medical high deductible)so it's really not so bad.  We had a car that needed it's yearly inspection, another car needed an oil change/etc., CB needed a black shirt for symphonic band performances, we spent $75 at Lowe's and another $75 on CB's books for the semester and then CB's new glasses didn't come in until after he went back to school so I had to mail them to him yesterday so postage was put on the credit card.
The costs of just living your life do add up, don't they?  8-)))

I tried to work on a Giveaway to post yesterday but didn't get very far with it and certainly didn't get it all sorted so I could post it.  Maybe this weekend I'll finish that up and it will go "live" as they say.

Not much else new going on here that I can talk about yet.  I'll have something to share after next Tuesday so stay tuned..........

What's going on in your world?

Sluggy

You Just Never Know

Now and again I'll send for product samples.  I don't really seek them out as much anymore since I get most of my toiletries for free after deals/coupons/sales/points at Rite-Aid.
But if I see on one of the Deal blogs that I get emails from a sample that we can use I will send for it.

Usually, if the item is one we use, the accompanying high value coupon that is sent along with the sample is worth more to me than the actual product sample.

Well it was a pleasant surprise when this Axe Deodorant sample arrived...............

Not a sample but a full sized bottle!
No coupon but this was even better.......

So send for those samples because you just never know when that sample will be a free full sized item!

Sluggy