This Week on the Dining Table

The  "Cheap Eats" Edition--

I wanted to share my small grocery trip to Weis on Fantastic Friday a few days ago.
There were a few deals I wanted to partake of--
Celentano Pasta(including this Eggplant Parm)was 50% off.  There is a $1.50/2 Celentano Pasta Q in the Weis QBooklet.  This meant that the $3.49 Eggplant Parm when bought in twos was $3.49 and with the $1.50Q it went down to $1.99 for 2 or $1 per box.  Of course I had to use the self-checkout and do two transactions to use 2 Qs to get 4 boxes.
They also had London Broil for $2.50 a lb., shredded Weis brand cheese for 1/2 price($1.74 a bag)and Greek Yogurt cups for .50¢(I use this for breakfast or to mix with sour cream to make dip).
Total spend was $12.57 for all, $33.21 regular retail price.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Pork Chops, Stir-Fry Veggies, leftover Au Gratin Potatoes

2. Monday--Chicken and Dumplings w/Carrots

3. Tuesday--Country Fried Steak, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Veggie TBD

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Pasta w/Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
6. Friday--Salmon, Mushroom Risotto
7. Saturday-Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Pork Chops, Stir-Fry Veggies, leftover Au Gratin Potatoes

2. Monday--Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Country Fried Steak, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus

4. Wednesday--Chicken and Dumplings w/Carrots

5. Thursday--Salmon, Mushroom Risotto
6. Friday--Homemade Pizza, Salad
7. Saturday-Leftovers

Last week saw 7 nights of home cooked dinners....2 nights of Leftovers and 5 nights of  new meals.
The pasta didn't happen again because pizza happened instead, but various folks had pasta on leftover nights so we used up the old sauce.

I made 2 trips to the Weis Markets for $21.60, a trip to the Shursave Market for $20.95 and 1 trip to the Bread Store for $8, totaling $50.55 OOP.  This brings my June food spending total to $145.63.  There are 19 days left in the month. 

My savings percentages last week was 55.23% which brings the month's percentage to 69.41%. 

Leftovers going into this week.......meatloaf, au gratin potatoes,1 chicken fried steak and gravy, pizza, chicken and dumplings w/carrots.

Here is this week's "food plan"....
* Denotes "complicated" meals

1. Sunday--Marinated Steak, Salad

2. Monday--Chicken Parm, Carrots

3. Tuesday--Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Cucumber/Tomato Salad

4. Wednesday--Leftover Chicken and Dumplings

5. Thursday--Fried Shrimp, Cole Slaw, French Fries
6. Friday--Rigatoni and Meat Sauce, Salad
7. Saturday-Daughter is cooking(not sure yet what)

This week will see 6 new meals cooked, 0 night of Take-Out/Eating-Out and 1 night of Leftovers.
It's suppose to be hot and muggy here Mon. and Tues. and warm the rest of the week.

I am having an off week coming up with something for the menu.  I am just not feeling like cooking or eating lately(the first thing is bad, the second one is good lol).

What I need to buy for this menu?  I bought 2 London Broils last week so that is done but I do need to buy salad greens and potatoes.
We found out we were out of propane for the grill on Sunday when I tried to grill steaks(had to do them in the broiler in the kitchen instead)so we'll have to pick up that as well.

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

A Presidential Post

It all began with finding out I am related to Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson our 3rd President.

First I found that my 7 x Great Grandmother, Mary Hunt married as her third husband, Field Jefferson, who was Thomas Jefferson's uncle.  So my 7 x GGrandmother was Thomas Jefferson's Aunt.

In addition, Thomas Jefferson is my 5th cousin 9 x removed through his mother Jane Randolph. I share ancestry with his maternal line through my ISHAM line.  Our common ancestor is, Ensley Eusby Isham(Tom's 4 x Great Grandfather and my 13 x Great Grandfather).

As I worked my family tree back I found lots of exciting connections to many founders of America.
And then I found that George Washington was also my cousin, 11th Cousin 8x removed to be exact.

George and I share a common ancestor in Ralph de Neville,  my 18th GGrandfather and George's 10th GGrandfather.  We may share a closer kinship but I haven't stumbled across it yet.

His exact line to mine--

George Washington
Augustine Washington(father of George)
Mildred Warner(mother of Augustine)
Mildred Reade(mother of Mildred)
Gov. George Reade(father of Mildred)
Mildred Windebank(mother of George)
Frances Dymoke(mother of Mildred)
Anne Tallboys(mother of Frances)
Elizabeth Gascoigne(mother of Anne)
Margaret Percy(mother of Elizabeth)
Sir Henry Percy(father of Margaret)
Eleanor De Neville(mother of Henry)
Ralph De Neville(father of Eleanor)Common Ancestor
George De Neville, 1st Baron Latimer(son of Ralph)
Henry De Neville(son of George)
Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Latimer(son of Henry)
Margaret Neville(daughter of Richard)
Lady Elizabeth Willoughby van Broke(daughter of Margaret)
Sir Edward Greville(son of Elizabeth)
Frances Greville(daughter of Edward)
Samuel Mathews Jr(son of Frances)
John Mathews(son of Samuel)
Elizabeth Frances Mathews(daughter of John)
John Charles Holloway(son of Elizabeth)
Martha Holloway(daughter of John Charles)
Mary Elizabeth Hudgens(daughter of Martha)
Frances T Flippen(daughter of Mary)
Sarah P Hamilton(daughter of Frances)
Patrick Henry Baker(son of Sarah)
Lucy Ellen Baker(daughter of Patrick)
Lillian Grace Vassar(daughter of Lucy)
Carole Frances Harper(daughter of Lillian)
Me(daughter of Carole)

George Washington's direct ancestor is Ralph de Neville and Joan de Beaufort's daughter, Eleanor de Neville, while my direct ancestor is their son, George de Neville, 1st Baron Latimer.

Since finding George hanging on my tree I've decided to start a new family tree where I'll see how many US presidents of all the 44 men who have held that office I am related to.

I wonder how many I can connect my line with?

How about you?  There are scads of Americans who are related to our Commanders-in-Chief and their families if they only took the time to do the research and look.

There's an article about a middle schooler who took on the challenge of connecting all our Presidents.
HERE.

So I'll be posting sporadically as I find a President I can place on my "Sluggy and the Presidents" family tree.

Have you verified that you are related to any famous people?
Do you wish you could confirm a family story or myth about a famous relation?

Sluggy

2016 Road Trip.....May 15th LA to TX & Back-Part 2

So we left Natchitoches Louisiana and headed Northwest toward Texas, driving down back roads.

We came to a crossroads called "Kickapoo Corner".  I don't know if this area is called that or it's just the name of the gas/convenience store someone put up here. lol
We also saw advertisement for the Champions of God Cowboy Church too.  Cowboy Churches are not something I am familiar with back in PA.

Driving west we came to Keatchie LA and this historical marker............

and pulled over by some abandoned buildings where Keachi College use to stand.

These buildings aren't ruins of the College but a farm.  There are ruins of an abandoned high school behind the tree line too on this property.

Keachi College, a women's college, was used as a field hospital after the Battle of Mansfield, LA on 8 April 1864.
The Red River Campaign of the Union involved Gen. Banks attempting to invade Confederate Texas traveling inland from the Red River on back roads below Shreveport, LA.
Banks didn't count on Gen. Taylor, CSA, and his troops challenging Banks' advance.  The battle lasted two days and was a Confederate victory, although short lived obviously.

The wounded and dying from the battle were transported to Keachi College to be patched up or prepared for burial.
The dead were interned across the road in a makeshift graveyard for the Confederate troops, as the climate here in April made it impossible to "preserve" and transport the dead home to their families to bury them.

It is said that many were buried in communal graves too as they were dying in quick succession. Local slaves were tasked with digging trenches into which the dead were placed.   The dead number over 100 both in marked and unmarked graves.

While we were there, we saw two men doing maintenance on the grounds(mowing and burning brush).  The one stopped to talk to my Daughter and I briefly(sorry that I didn't get his name).  The local Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of the Confederacy Chapters have taken over maintaining this graveyard.

Me at the Keatchie Confederate Cemetery.

After that stop, we headed on west into Texas.....

We drove into the little East Texas town of  Carthage, TX.
We stopped in at the local H-E-B grocery store.....I had never been in one of these before.

Since it's Texas they carried liquor in the grocery store and they were well stocked with the "high end" stuff cousin Sonya Ann likes....*snort*

Hubs found some local brews too, Karbach Brewing out of Houston.  Hubs bought this Hopadillo IPA.

I always like to look around in grocery stores when I travel and see if there are items for sale I can't get at home, and the H-E-B did not disappoint!

You probably can't read this label but it's Beef Tongue....fresh tongue, not frozen.  Not sure if this was a good buy or not at $5.36 lb.
I didn't buy it as transporting it home would have been problematic(as would figuring out how to cook it). lolz
Oh darn.

I left the tongue at the H-E-B but did buy a few drinks.

We then went off in search of a place for an early dinner.
This wasn't an easy chore since A-It was a Sunday in a small Texas town where the sidewalks are rolled up after Church and B-it was a small Texas town with not a lot of choices.

We finally settled on the Longhorn Grill.
Not Longhorn the chain but this one.......

We got there as they breaking down their Sunday Buffet so we ordered off the menu.

 I got a Surf N' Turf plate(steak and catfish)with salad, fried okra and broccoli.

Hubs got this Bread Pudding dessert to top off his meal.  I took one bite but that was all I could fit in my already full stomach. Eck.

We headed back to LA after that, dropped Daughter off at her house and went back to our motel room for the evening.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday....the June 9th Edition

Let's see what got done around Chez Sluggy lately that was frugal.

*  I already talked about my trip to Rite-Aid for some freebies.........

We needed the plastic bags, the emery boards will be showing up in an upcoming Giveaway box(if I continue with those)and the gum goes into the Christmas gift giving stash.  This all "cost" me less than $2 in Plenti Points.

* I needed to wrap some coins up as the change jar was about to overflow.......

That's $17.50 to add to the rolled coins for 2017, making a grand total of $28 so far for the year.  It's well below what we have usually accumulated by this point in the year for two reasons really-1, Hubs was off from work on disability for a few months(or working from home)so he wasn't taking cash withdrawals for walking around money(WAM)to spend and generate change for the cup and 2, I've been using the credit card instead of cash withdrawal for grocery money most of this year so I am not generating anywhere near the change that method of payment did.
Less change just means more money is staying in the bank really so I am good with that.  ;-)

* Speaking of freebies..........

The first Wednesday of every month is Wellness Wednesday and they have samples and/or coupons + 1 Day only coupons available on that day.  Most of the samples are geared toward Senior Citizens(read denture tablets and adult diapers)but sometimes they have stuff I can use.  I got the lotion, 2 new Band-Aid products and 4 Callous cushion samples.  Both bandage and cushion packages have a Q inside too.  Yes!

* I had enough points in one of my hotel loyalty accounts to send for this........

A Choice Hotels $50 gift card.  I'll be using it on our 2017 Summer Road Trip™ to reduce one night of lodgings somewhere out West.  Have you seen what they charge for a motel room out there?!?  It isn't pretty......

* I pretty much stayed home this week, just going out in the car for the usual errands(groceries, drug store).  I tried to do electricity driven activities during the off-peak hours(vacuuming, washing, drying, dishwasher running).  I made a point to cut off the a/c window units in both the kids' rooms if they weren't home(as one of them is notorious for leaving it on)and making sure they were set to FAN and not COOL since it hasn't been hot enough here yet to use the a/c.

*  Before I got home from Virginia I asked Hubs to prepare the garden area and buy some plants and put them in for me, since I wasn't home to do it.
Hubs bought the plants(and also some beans seeds)and College Boy prepped the bed and planted it all.
This is what I saw when I got home.......

Hubs even had the fencing up.  They didn't plant or prep the half barrels flanking the bed so this week saw me dumping soil in and planting some squash seeds I found we hadn't used last year.  They "should" germinate aok but if not maybe I can pick up a pack or two at the Dollar Tree if there is still time to put something in(or maybe I'll pick up some discounted flowering plants at Home Depot or Weis Markets.

* I went with Hubs to the notary this week to sign/notarize papers for his annuity and then he faxed them in.  This makes sure payments start on time for our timeline and we don't have to wait weeks extra for the passive income to start rolling in(and cover that stretch with our non-retirement monies.

* Speaking of retirement, Hubs gave me the exact monthly annuity net figure(we are having federal taxes taken out of that money so it's not a headache at tax time).  I have been sitting down this week working on our real life budget starting July 1st.  This won't be hard for me(doing a budget, keeping inside it will be another story lolz) since I am so use to doing budgets and tweaking them.

That's about it here.
Did you do anything especially frugal lately?

Sluggy

Wednesday Shopping

A quick trip to Rite-Aid and I brought this home.........

4 x Ziploc bags(I was out of quart size)on sale 2/$6=$12.00
2 x Revlon emery boards BOGO50%=$2.83
2 x Freedent gum 20% Wellness Disc.=$2.06
SubTotal.....$16.89

Coupons Used
2 x $1/2 Ziploc IPQ=$2.00
2 x $1/1 R-A Wellness Wednesday 1 Day ManuQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$4.00

$16.89-$4.00=$12.89 + .76¢=$13.65

I used $13.65 in Plenti Points to pay so ZERO OOP.
I earned back $7 in new Plenti Points(2 x $2 Ziploc wyb2, $3 Revlon wyb2)so spent down $6.65 in PPs.
I also applied for a Cash e-Card rebate wyb3 Ziploc HERE.  It says it's a $5 Gas e-card but really from reading about it, this is just a $5 cash code they send you so you can spend it anywhere on anything, not just gas.
So after my $5 e-code I am "down" $1.65 for these items.

The 4 Ziploc packs came to $1 + .76¢ tax for all 4(.44¢ each), the Freedent gum was .03¢ per pack and the emery boards were straight up free even after tax.

Then I went up to Weis(PMITA)Markets for this lot.........

2 x London Broil BOGO=$11.58
3 x San Giorgio pasta(.67¢)=$2.01
1 x French's dijon mustard=$2.19
2 x Lysol toilet bowl cleaner 50% off=$2.69
*Mix and Match 6 items/Get $3 off items
2 x On-Cor frozen meals on sale=$5.98
2 x Muuna cottage cheese on sale=$2.98
1 x Glad trash bags on sale=$4.99
1 x Palmolive dish soap on sale=$1.49
SubTotal........$33.91

Coupons Used
1 x .75¢/1(doubled to $1)French's dijon ManuQ=$1.00
2 x .50¢/1(doubled to $1)Lysol toilet cleaner hangtagQ=$2.00
2 x FREE ITEM On-Cor Q=$5.98
1 x $1/2 Muuna cottage cheese IPQ=$1.00
1 x $1.50/1 Glad trash bags IPQ=$1.50
1 x .25¢/1(doubled to .50¢)IPQ=.50¢
1 x $3 wyb6 M&M items=$3.00
Coupon Total........$14,98

$33.91-$14.98=$18.93 + $2.36 on almost 1 lb. of loose mushrooms(not on sale)=$21.29+.31¢=$21.60 OOP

The 6 items for the Mix & Match Deal cost $3.45 total or .58¢ each after Qs/$3 off/sale prices.

I also applied for a $1.50 French's rebate on Checkout51(making the mustard a moneymaker)and I got .50¢ back for buying it through Ibota so I am down to $19.60 OOP for this shop
63% savings rate after sale prices, Qs and rebate over regular retail.

Did you find any good deals this week at the grocery/drug stores?

Sluggy