A Little Musical Interlude

College Boy plays bass in two different bands....these are outside of the college bands he is in.

The Docile Sponge is the first band he was/is part of.  They formed it while he was still in high school and their music is alternative/heavy metal-ish.

The other band he is in is called The New Nowhere.  They formed up at college and have been playing a few gigs here and there.  Nothing involving making money yet. ;-)
Their music could be classified as indie/punk/pop.

 College Boy is on the left on bass, Blaine on drums, Steven on guitar/vocals.

Hubs and I went to hear them play on Sunday as it wasn't too far from here.
The venue is someone's old barn building in the middle of nowhere(fitting for The New Nowhere to play there, right? lol).

There were 5 or 6 bands slated to play that evening, starting at 6 pm.  Things were a bit disorganized so the bands didn't start actually playing until 7 pm.  We had hoped to stay and hear more of the bands but with the late start we left right after CB's band played because we wanted to leave before dark as we weren't confident of finding our what back out of there in the dark.
So we hung out with all the college aged indie music peeps, mostly from their college, for an hour before the show started.  I think one of the college kids who came to watch the show brought their mom but otherwise we were by far the oldest "kids" in the room.

I find this band's music a little more relatable than the other band he is in.
The tunes are more mainstream. however the lyrics are still filled with teenage/college angst.
Here are two of the songs from their set.

Performing "I Hate Last Summer"

Performing "You Can't Win Em All".
Their friend Brandon plays the trumpet on this one.
And excuse the large pole obstruction in this video which CB is hiding behind for most of the song. It's a very informal venue. lolz




Sluggy

Earning Christmas Update.....First Quarter of 2016

I am trying to earn as many freebies for Christmas giving as I can this year.
Yep, it's one of my goals to keep/save my cash as much as possible and find freebies to give at Christmas.
That being said, I am under no illusion that I'll pull off a free Christmas in terms of gift-giving but at least I should be able to find enough to stuff the stockings this year, right?

So far here is what I've gotten for free during the 1st quarter of the year......

1 x full size bottle of Axe deodorant
1 x small bar of goat's milk soap
12 x packs of Juicy Fruit gum
1 x $10 Best Buy Gift card(for buying 20 packs of applesauce)

The gift card wasn't exactly free since I did have to use a stamp to mail away for it but for all intents and purposes, it's free.  ;-)

As I said, the gift card was for buying applesauce earlier in the year.
The soap was being handed out one weekend in February when Hubs and I went to Price Chopper to get beer.
The Axe was a freebie sample from the Walmart website in January.  The "sample" turned out to be a full sized deodorant.  There was an optional short survey they also sent about a month later to do online, which I did, as CB has used this before and I knew his views on the product.
All that gum was also gotten in January when Weis(PMITA)Markets had what seemed like a month long sale on Juicy Fruit gum for $1 a pack.  I paired that sale with as many JFG coupons I could glean from Coupons dotcom that month(which reset that coupon a couple of times during Jan.)and doubled at Weis to $1.

Granted it's a good start but I have between 2 and 4 stockings(4 if I do the grown kids' stockings too)to fill so this isn't going to cut it. lolz

I'll keep searching for freebies throughout the rest of the year and will report back 3 more times before the year ends.

I am fortunate that I do have all those toiletries I don't pay for from Rite-Aid which I can raid if I need to as well, if the freebies dry up. 8-)

So how is your Christmas gift gathering going this year?

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Musical Sunday" Edition......

Hubs and I got to see College Boy perform Sunday evening with his punk band from school.  There was an impromptu concert held at an informal venue(aka someone's old barn)about 45 minutes northwest of here.  The weather was stellar so we drove over for it and got to chat with CB too and bring him some essential supplies to get him through the last 20 days of school.

I'll upload the 2 videos I made later for your listening pleasure.


Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Ravioli(freezer)in Mushroom/Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
2. Monday--Leftover Meatloaf, leftover asparagus, leftover beets
3. Tuesday--Sloppy Joes made with beef/turkey, using homemade low-salt sauce, Rolls, Sugar Snap Peas(freezer)
4. Wednesday--Leftover Beef Bourguignon, Cuke and Tomato Salad
5. Thursday--Kielbasa(freezer) on Rolls, Collard Greens(freezer)
6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY(Fend For Yourself)

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Ravioli(freezer)in Mushroom/Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
2. Monday--Leftover Meatloaf, leftover asparagus, leftover beets
3. Tuesday--Sloppy Joes made with beef/turkey, using homemade low-salt sauce, Rolls, Sugar Snap Peas(freezer)
4. Wednesday--Leftover Beef Bourguignon, Cuke and Tomato Salad
5. Thursday--Leftover Ravioli w/Mushroom/Meat Sauce
6. Friday--Pork Tenderloin sandwiches, CA medley veggie mix
7. Saturday--Kielbasa on Rolls with Onions and Peppers, Sauted Cabbage

7 meals cooked at home.
4 new meals, 3 nights of leftovers, and 0 nights of Eating Out.
Mostly kept to the plan but not necessarily in the order planned.

As for my grocery spending..... I spent a total of $44.78 last week.
I have spent $175.02 in all for April so far and have $74.98 left of my food budget with 12 days to go.

Leftovers going into this week.......Mushroom/Meat Sauce, Sloppy Joe Meat, Sauted Cabbage and 1/2 helping of CA Veggie Mix.

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

1. Sunday--Eating Out
2. Monday--Tempura Shrimp, Cole Slaw
3. Tuesday--Rigatoni in Meat/Mushroom Sauce
4. Wednesday--BBQ Chicken, Leftover Cabbage
5. Thursday--French Onion Soup Gratineé
6. Friday--Leftover Sloppy Joes or Taco Salad
7. Saturday--?

This week will see 4 new meals cooked and 1 meal of leftovers(re-purposed into new dishes or not) and 1 meals Out and 1 meal of  "I haven't a clue yet". lolz

What I need to buy for this menu.....Got the World's Largest Head of Cabbage last week so don't need that, BBQ chicken half and shrimp is in the freezer.  I have a large bag of onions so will do our favorite French Onion Soup(low sodium, not that dark brown sodium soup crap you get in restaurants), use up the Leftover Sloppy Jo meat and Meat Sauce I had last week.  Haven't a clue about Saturday's dinner yet.....depends on what if anything is left and/or what I pick up in the store this week or what I pluck out of the freezer.  Other than looking for meat markdowns I don't have any plans at the grocery store this week so far.  Maybe will buy milk, maybe not.

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 Trip Today

I got some goodies this morning at Rite-Aid.

First off I activated a partner offer on Plenti dotcom for $1 in PPs wyb2 General Mills cereals and 2 other household offers as well-one for $3.99 in PPs wyb2 Tresemme Beauty-full items and one for $1 in PPs wyb1 Tresemme(any product).  Both of the Tresemme offers expire today so this will only work if you buy them today.

I also activated rebate offers in my Saving Star account for $3 off Olia Hair color(no longer available to activate so if you didn't awhile back you can't do this one) and 2 x .75¢ on 2 GM cereals-Golden Grahams and Cocoa Puffs(Yes, College Boy will be coming home in about 2 weeks and I am getting ready.).

Everything I bought qualifies for the Spring Points Promotion for this week.....Spend $50 and get an automatic $20 back in Plenti Points.

Here is what I bought.......

4 x Garnier Whole Blends shampoo(20% wellness discount=$3.67 ea.)=$14.68
2 x GM cereals on sale=$5.00
2 x Vitamints(20% wellness discount=$7.19 ea.)=$14.38
1 x Olia hair color on sale=$7.99
2 x Tresemme beauty-full shampoo on sale=$10.00
SubTotal.......$52.05

Coupons Used
2 x BOGO Garnier Whole Blends items ManuQ=$7.34
1 x $2.1 Garnier Whole Blends item ManuQ=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Garnier Whole Blends item ReceiptQ=$1.00
2 x .75¢/1 GM cereals IPQ=$1.50
2 x $4/1 Vitamints(1 IPQ/1 ReceiptQ)=$8.00
1 x $3/1 Olia Hair Color ManuQ=$3.00
Coupon Total..........$22.84

$52.05-$22.84=$29.21(w/.87¢ tax)

I used PPs to pay so Zero cash OOP.

I earned $20 in new PPs so $9.21 using "down" the Plenti Points.

But....
I will also earn $5.99 in activated PPs in the next couple of days when they get credited to my account($1 GM cereals, $3.99 Tresemme Beauty-full $1 any Tresemme), making this a $3.22 points spend down.

Then I will get $4.50 in Saving Star cash rebates($3 for the Olia, $1.50 for the 2 cereals) and I will end up with a $1.28 Moneymaker.

Yay me!



Sluggy

How I Use A Large Ground Beef Purchase

I had bought a 5 lb bag of Ground Beef last week at Maine Source and it was incorporated into last week's meals and my meal plan for this coming week grew organically from this purchase.

Of course this meant having a plethora of ground beef meals but while we are heavy on beef meals now, when I buy a large quantity of chicken or fish our menu will be heavy with those proteins instead.

This is how I used that bag o' beef....

Last Wednesday we each had a hamburger for dinner(Hubs had 2).
I had a hamburger for my lunch 3 times last week(Wed-Fri) and Hubs and I each had a burger last Saturday.  I guess I was just in a burger craving mode. 8-)
8 Burgers used up half the ground beef.

Then on Sunday I took most of what was left of the beef and made a big pot of sauce, also using up some fresh mushrooms I didn't use in the Bourguignon.  We had ravioli in this sauce for Sunday's Then we had the leftover ravioli on Thursday night, using more of the pasta sauce.
The rest of the sauce leftover will be the basis for a Rigatoni and Sauce dinner either this weekend or next week.

The rest of the ground beef was mixed with 1 lb. of ground turkey on Tuesday and made into Sloppy Joe meat using my homemade low-salt sauce recipe.  The rest of Sloppy Joe meat will be another 2 meals(either lunches or dinners).  I might keep this Sloppy Joe meat or have 1 more meal of SJ and then add more spices and turn this SJ into Taco filling for the last meal using this beef.

So that 5 lbs. of beef made all this.......

* 1 Burger Dinner for 2(3 burgers consumed)
* 4 Burger Lunches(5 burgers consumed)
* 2 Ravioli Dinners for 2(with beef sauce)
* 1 Pasta Dinner for 2(in the future with beef sauce)
* 3 Sloppy Joe Meals for 2(1 done, 2 in the future)

19 total meals consumed(or will be consumed when all is said and done).
I could have made meatballs or thrown beef into a casserole, make beef enchiladas, etc. depending on what we had a hankering for dinner.  This is how I chose to use up this purchase.

So what do you do with ground beef when/if you buy that food?
Anyone have any good recipes using ground beef to share?

Sluggy