This Week on the Dining Table

The "Something I've Never Seen in a Grocery Store Here Before" Edition--

In case the signage is too small or you don't recognize these, they are Jackfruit from India.
And they are ginormous!  I read that a jackfruit can get up to 120 lbs......geez!
My question is--why are they in a grocery store in podunk PA( very small town a half hour west of my town with no Indian/Southeast Asian population)?!?
Has provincial small town PA suddenly developed a taste for something more exotic than pierogi and halushki?  Lololz
I am still shaking my head over this one.......


Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Beef Stroganof, Rice, TBD Veggie

2. Monday--Halushki

3. Tuesday--?

4. Wednesday--?

5. Thursday--?

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--FFY(Fend for Yourself)

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Beef Stroganof, Rice, TBD Veggie

2. Monday--Halushki

3. Tuesday--Leftovers at Brother's house

4. Wednesday--Fried Shrimp, Salad, Mashed Taters

5. Thursday--Pizza, Salad

6. Friday--Beef Brisket, Sweet Potatoes, Cole Slaw, Banana Pudding(Hubs and I shared a platter)
7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself(I had an English Muffin)

Last week saw 2 nights of home cooked dinners, 2 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 3 nights of Eating Out.  We were in VA and NC for a large part of the week so there was a bit of eating out.  Tues. we had leftovers the night we got to VA(had lunch at Chick Fil-A on the way down). Wed. we had breakfast out, no lunch and a dinner out. Thurs. we had breakfast at the motel, a late lunch at Pizza Hut and munchies in the room for dinner. Fri. we had breakfast at the motel, lunch at a BBQ joint and a burger at BK after going to the movies. Sat. we had Micky D's for breakfast on the road, lunch w/older son at Chili's and dinner was FFY at home.

1 big trip to Weis, a Bread Outlet trip and a trip to Maines restaurant supply for mostly produce-all before we left town last week-brought the weekly food spending to $123.76 and brought the monthly total to $153.61.
I have 9 days left in my shopping month for October.

My savings percentage last week was 48.93%(without Rite-Aid trips)and October's monthly savings total comes to 48.55%(w/out R-A)so far.

Leftovers going into this week......beef stroganof, halushki, cheddar broccoli soup.  The kids didn't seem to have eaten any of the leftover foods....gee, what a surprise. lolz

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

1. Sunday--Cheese Lasagna

2. Monday--Leftovers

3. Tuesday--Chicken Strips, Sweet Potato Fries, Veggie TBD

4. Wednesday--Beef Stew, Biscuits

5. Thursday--Rigatoni, Meat Sauce, Salad(Hubs will cook this)

6. Friday--Chicken and Chilies Enchiladas, Beans, Rice
7. Saturday--FFY(Fend for Yourself)

I made a big pot of pasta sauce w/meat on Sunday to use on the Lasagna.  Leftover sauce will be used on Thursday so Hubs can give me a night off from cooking(He can boil pasta and add the sauce and open a bag of salad aka as "cooking" in his world. lol)

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 2 night of leftovers/FFY, 0 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out.  Between the trip to Maine and the trip to VA/NC I have had my fill of Eating Out for awhile. ;-)

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing really except salad greens and milk.  Should make for a cheap grocery week, right? ;-)

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  

Frugal Friday......the October 19th Edition on Sunday

Let's see what frugalness happened around here this past week......

* I hit the bread outlet.

$10.95 for 4 loves of bread, 2 bags of rolls, 2 boxes of donuts and 3 bags of English muffins(cranberry!).  I spent $10 or more so I got a free bag of whole grain English muffins too.
Bought at reg. retail in the grocery store this all would have cost $47.49.  Even on sale at the grocery store it would have been around $29+/-.

*  I sent Hubs up for the Friday Freebie on the 12th........

A 2 lb. sack of flour.  Something I can always use so free was good!

*  I did a big shop at Weis(PMITA)Markets last weekend before we left on our trip.  Here are the highlights.......

The Kraft expertly paired cheese bags were on sale for $2(must buy at least 3-I bought 5).  I had a $1.25 cash rebate on Ibotta for these, up to 5 bags so they were .75¢ each in the end.
The tv dinners were on sale $1.99 each and I had a .75¢ cash rebate on Ibotta for these so $1.24 each in the end.
The Breakstone sour cream were $1.50 on sale and I had a .50¢ cash rebate on Ibotta for these so $1.00 each in the end.
I also had a coupon in a recipe book available at Weis for $1/1 Larabar.  The Larabars were $1 last week so this was free after coupon.

*  I found money on Tuesday.........

Hubs and I were in line at an Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)in Delaware when I spied this dime on the floor in our cashier line.  I reluctantly must say that I almost shoved the shopping cart violently into Hubs to get him to "move outta the way!" so I could pick this up before anyone else spied it.  Then I remembered that Kim wasn't with us and I took my time getting to it then. lololz

*  And speaking of good buys at Weis, I picked up these two pork butts before we left town too(part of that big shop I did at Weis mentioned above)......

These were .97¢ per lb.!  Haven't seen that price in something like 15 years around here so I grabbed two(making sure the sell by/use by date was long enough)and will be smoking these this week when we get a warmish day.
Then they will be finished off in the crock pot, shredded and the meat portioned out into freezer bags for the chest freezer for eating in 2019.

*  I don't remember if I mentioned this or not before........

My free EOS/Special K lip balm arrived.

*  We stopped at Walmart on the way to our vacation spot and picked up breakfast food, drinks and munchies.  We ate breakfast in the room each day and only ate 1 big meal out(dinner the first night/late lunch the second night)to save money.  Much more cost effective to not be eating out for every meal. 8-)

*  The last of the basil got pulled up the day before we left town.

I dried it in the oven and ended up with 2 small mason jars of dried basil.

In the background in that shot is also the last of the tomatoes we picked before we left and the weather turned much colder.  Now I have to tally up the grand total of what we harvested from the garden this past season.

*  And finally look at what arrived in the mail..........

My seasonal 15% off purchase coupon for being part of the "Ollie's Army".  We'll figure out how we plan to use this in early November to get the best value from it.

That's about it here.  Sorry I am so late with this but I didn't even open the computer a couple of days and the internet was not optimal anyway and who wants to be online when this is the sight out your front door................

What frugal stuff did you do this past week?  Tell us all about it.


As always, remember the words of the "Frugalest Man in the World"......

Sluggy

Just A Quickie Today

An early morning howdy to y'all from the front porch here............

I'm off for the day to see the sights.
* Sorry this photo wouldn't load so I am posting this since I got back.  Now I am going to go collapse in bed for a bit.*


Sluggy

Fall Giveaway Time!

Fall is officially here so it's time for the Twelth Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway for 2018. 8-)

This one is gonna be a bit different again.

Here are all the goodies you can pick from to fill your box if your entry is picked(except for the items that were picked by September's winners.....I am not hauling all this out to rephotograph it again!lol)

Personal care items...deodorant to body wash to shampoo to razors to dental care items to lip balm.

Laundry detergent pods, to sinus rinse to hydration to light bulbs to mouthwash to vitamins to lotions to tampons to supplements to night light bulbs to tape to shower cap to hair goods to hand soap to topical pain relievers to eye drops to baby wash.

More lotion to nail care to all sorts of make-up products(mascara, blush, eye pencils, eye shadow, face powder, lip products).

It's all about the chocolate and candy in this photo......Lindt truffles to sugar-free Russell Stover to gums to chocolate bars(from whole bags and to bars to singles).

Here's the full list of items available from the photos above........

Aussie mousse
Softsoap body wash x 2
Irish Spring body wash
Garnier shampoo
Pantene shampoo
Suave Professionals shampoo
Tresemmé shampoo
Suave Professionals shampoo
Gillette shave cream
Barlow's dry shampoo x 2
Arm and Hammer toothpaste x 2
Colgate toothpaste x 3
Listerine dental floss x 2
Oral-B toothbrush x 2
Arm and Hammer battery toothbrush
Oral-B battery toothbrush
Bic men's disposable razors
DayLogic men's refillable razor x 2
Degree fragrance spray
Suave ladies' deodorant x 4
Speed Stick men's deodorant
Lady Speed Stick deodorant
Arm and Hammer deodorant
Degree men's dry spray deodorant
Lever 2000 bar soap 2 pack
Yardley honey and almond bar soap

Cetaphil baby body wash x 2

XLEAR sinus rinse and bottle

Playtex sport compact tampons(reg.)

Arm and Hammer laundry tablets

Noxzema cream

Conair hair brush

Emergen-C super orange supplements

St. Ives face scrub

Liquid RX hydration packets x 2

Magnavox ear buds x 2

Dial hand soap pump

Conair shower cap

Thermacare back patches

GE LED light bulb

R-A night light bulbs x 2

R-A mouth rinse

Max Freeze topical pain cream

Aquaphor cream

Centrum fruit vitamins

Centrum Silver vitamins

Rolaids 3 pack

Visine eye drops x 2

Neutrogena oil-free acne wash

R-A cellophane tape x 2

Eucerin cream tubes x 2

Rimmel face cream

Cover Girl liquid foundation

Cover Girl face powder

Cover Girl lip stick

Physician's Formula bronzer powder

Sally Hansen nail strengthener gloss

Sally Hansen nail polish

Revlon emery boards x 2

Neutrogena concealer x 2

Cover Girl face compact

Cover Girl eyebrow pencils x 2

Jesse's Girl lip pencils x 3

Wet n' Wild eye pallette

Wet n' Wild single eye shades x 5

Cover Girl lip pencil

Rimmel bronzer/shader pallette

Revlon nail clippers

Revlon tweezers

Cover Girl eye shadow pallette

Maybelline eye shadow pallette x 2

Almay single eye shadows x 4

Cover Girl mascara

Rimmel mascara

Russell Stover sugar-free chocolates x 3

Hershey's cookie layer crunch w/mint

M & Ms caramel bag

Biscoff cookies

Perugina dark chocolate bar

Lindt Peppermint white chocolate bar

Mentos fruit rolls x 2

Reese's fast break

Hershey's Gold bar x 2

Dentyne's Ice gum 2 x

Orbit gum x 2

Trident gum x 2

Cadbury singles caramel x 16

Cadbury singles mint x 11

Cadbury singles fruit and nut x 6

Kit Kat bar singles x 16

Lindt truffles(assorted)x 36

I also added this group of items......

1 x Lindt gingerbread truffles bag
1 x GE LED lightbulb
1 x Always bladder pads
1 x Revlon Colorsilk med. rich brown
1 x Clairol Natural Instinct medium cool brown
1 x Clairol Nice n' Easy medium golden brown
1 x Revlon Colorsilk medium auburn
1 x Reese's cups sugar-free
1 x Twizzlers strawberry
2 x Jolly Ranchers candy bags
1 x Starburst gum
1 x Trident mint gum
2 x Mentos mint candy rolls
2 x Mentos cinnamon candy rolls
1 x Emergen-C super orange
2 x Colgate toothpastes
1 x Bic disposable razors
1 x Hello toothpaste(non-flouride)
1 x Gardenia body polisher
1 x Gardenia soap
1 x Gardenia body powder

Lots of things you can win and the retail cost depends on what you pick.
If something in the first 4 photos is gone from the list of what is available let me know and I'll see if I have more in my stash to send you if you are the winner.

I'll leave this giveaway open until Wednesday, 24th at 11:59pm Eastern Time, so that gives everyone a full week to enter this one.  On Thursday, October 25th I'll mark all the valid entries and use Random dotorg to pick a number and that corresponding person's entry wins.

*Please note the rules*
I'll post the name/Id of the winner on this blog and that person has 48 hours from then to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page).
If I am not contacted via email I'll attempt to contact the winner via the email they supply with their entry and if that email is not responded to within another 48 hours I'll pick another winner.

The thing that makes this Giveaway different is that ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER WON ONE OF MY GIVEAWAYS MAY ENTER THIS ONE!

There will only be ONE way to enter this time by leaving a comment on this post.  Tell me what your favorite activity is during Autumn, your favorite Fall recipes, your favorite Halloween candy, the best grocery deal you got recently, or the thing you most want to win.....those sort of comments.
You may enter once each day by leaving a daily comment on this post before October 24th at 11:59pm Eastern time.
And remember, only folks who have never won before are eligible for this one. 8-)

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.
As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten to high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies, I pay for it all(cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one with those Google Circles nonsense I CAN NOT CONTACT YOU as Google Circles doesn't show your contact info.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!

So let's get this started!

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Guess Where I Am?" Edition--

Well I'm not "there" anymore.  But it was just barely 2 weeks ago I was there. sigh

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--steak, corn casserole, collards, baked potatoes

2. Monday--Pasta

3. Tuesday--Pork Chops

4. Wednesday--Leftovers

5. Thursday--Pizza, Salad

6. Friday--Chinese take-out
7. Saturday--TBA

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--steak, corn casserole, collards, baked potatoes

2. Monday--Chinese Take-Out

3. Tuesday--Fend for Yourself(I had mushroom soup)

4. Wednesday--Fend for Yourself(I had a baked potato)

5. Thursday--Fend for Yourself(I had collards and a banana)

6. Friday--Pork Chops, leftover Mac and Cheese, leftover Cabbage
7. Saturday--Cheddar Broccoli Soup, leftover Rolls

Last week saw 3 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/fend for yourself, 1 night  of Eating Out/Take-Out.
Pizza and pasta didn't happen but the pork chops did.  I only "cooked" 3 nights as I eased myself back into an at home routine.  The fandamily had to deal with finding their own dinners for a few nights and it didn't' kill them.  ;-)

1 trip to Weis for collards, 1 trip to Ollie's for a few things and 1 trip to the Shursave Market brought the weekly food spending to $29.85 and brought the monthly total to $29.85.
I have 15 days left in my shopping month for September.

My savings percentage last week was 46.95%(without Rite-Aid trips)and October's monthly savings total comes to 46.95%(w/R-A)so far.

Leftovers going into this week......corn casserole, collards, 1 pork chop, broccoli cheddar soup, 1 dinner roll.

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

1. Sunday--Beef Stroganof, Rice, TBD Veggie

2. Monday--Halushki

3. Tuesday--?

4. Wednesday--?

5. Thursday--?

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--FFY(Fend for Yourself)

This week will see 2 new meals cooked, 1 night of leftovers/FFY, 4 nights of Take-Out/Eating Out or ?.

What needs buying for this menu?  I went to the produce/restaurant supply store and picked up cabbage, mushrooms and other produce, as well as a bag of shrimp.  Sunday and Monday used the mushrooms and cabbage(along with other items at home already).
We are traveling the rest of the week so no clue what will be eaten at this point.

Under $30 spent for October at the halfway point but I did do some shopping this past weekend which will be reported on next Monday's Dining Table post.

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