This Week on the Dining Table

The "Unseasonably Hot September" Edition................

The last few days(and I see 7 more are coming this week)it's been very warm and muggy, especially for this late in September here.  The perpetual motion machine named Dixie Belle has even been waylaid a bit and actually lays in a bed for more than 3 seconds at a time.  Summer is not loosening her grip on NEPA.

Moving On....

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned--

1. Sunday--Chili, leftover rolls
2. Monday--Chicken Cordon Bleu, Veggie TBD

3. Tuesday--Barbecue Chicken Thighs, Yellow Squash and Onions, other Leftover Sides

4. Wednesday--Steak Ravioli w/Sauce, Salad

5. Thursday--Salmon, Roasted Sweet Potato and Carrots

6. Friday--Steak
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

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

1. Sunday--Chili, leftover rolls
2. Monday--Leftovers(I had a BLT)

3. Tuesday--Barbecue Chicken Thighs, Yellow Squash and Onions

4. Wednesday--Chicken Cordon Bleu, leftover Yellow Squash and Onions

5. Thursday--Steak, Caesar Salad

6. Friday--Leftovers
7. Saturday--Leftovers

Last week saw 4 nights of home cooked dinners, 3 nights of leftovers/ffy, and 0 nights of Eating Out/Take-Out.

Everything happened except the Salmon meal and the Ravioli which moves to this coming week.

I tried my hand at making Chicken Cordon Bleu from scratch.  Maybe I should have tried an actual recipe or something? lolz  They were tasty but a messy disaster because I pounded my chicken too thin inadvertently.  I tried to make "burritos" or pockets with them, so the cheese didn't leak out.  This meant using so many toothpicks and they still leaked!  They were just messy and time consuming and now I know why when Hubs wants this dish I buy them pre-made and frozen. lolz
The dish's taste vs. work wasn't worth it for me.

What got put into the freezer last week.....

* Just a small baggie of home grown broccoli.  I didn't buy any meats or cheese for the freezer. (Unless I decide to shred up some of that 6 lbs. of cheddar I got at Walmart last week but the clip at which Ex-College Boy goes through cheese......)

What got taken out of the freezer and used last week.....
* Stew Beef pack and a less than 1 lb. hunk of London Broil
* Some shredded Swiss cheese(about half a package)
* 3 T-Bone Steaks

One trip to Weis($32.24), a trip to the Ocean State Job Lot($72.70), and a trip to Walmart($47.13)brought the weekly spending to $152.07 and my September Total spending on food to $376.78.

My savings percentage last week was 51.25%(without Rite-Aid trips)and September's monthly savings total comes in at 55.05%(w/out R-A).

I have 7 more food shopping/spending days in September.  The budget is $400 so I have very little left to spend($23.22)before September is through.
As I am hitting OSJL this week before their annual "20% off everything in the store Sale" is over I am assuming now I will be over for the month.  But it will be worth it.
And as I was almost $100 UNDER budget for food/toiletries in August and the fact that I won't be home for a good part of October(=no food shopping)I don't feel too bad about going over this month.

Leftovers going into this week......2 Pork Chops, Carrots, Asiago Rice, Goulash, Egg Noodles, Chili.

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

1. Sunday--Spaghetti with Sauce, Meatballs, Salad
2. Monday--Leftover Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze(glaze is new), Asiago Rice, Veggie TBD

3. Tuesday--Salmon, Roasted Sweet Potato and Carrots, Mac and Cheese

4. Wednesday--Hot Dogs w/Chili, Beans

5. Thursday--Steak Ravioli with Sauce, Salad

6. Friday--Leftovers or FFY
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

This week will see 5 new meals cooked, 3 night of leftovers/FFY, and 0 nights of  Eating Out.

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing.  I've got everything here in the fridge, freezer or pantry.  It's a good thing too since I am about out of food budget for the month.

Of course, except for Sunday(which is in the books now)or tonight's leftover fest, this plan can change in a hot minute depending on if I feel like eating/making this menu or not when that particular night is here.
Cooks prerogative rules, am I right!? lolz

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  

September Giveaway Winner!

I made exactly $338.75 at the Stockpile Sale.  And since I paid nothing for most/if not all of what sold it was alllll profit.  8-)

So that means, with a guess of $339.07(yikes, they were off by only .32¢!!!)the winner is.............

Crystal!

CrystalSeptember 18, 2019 at 12:56 AM

Next guess: $339.07

Congratulations Crystal!!
Now email me within the next 48 hours from the time this post goes live with your full name and mailing address.
We can discuss what else I can put into your box to fill it up at that point. ;-)

Thanks for reading and playing along to everyone who made guesses.
I've already got October's Giveaways prepped and ready to launch since I'm going to be out of town for a good part of October.  I hope to get it live early in the month.  ;-)

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the September 20th Edition

Here's a few frugal-like things that happened around Chez Sluggy this past week............

*  I picked what will probably be the last of the broccoli on Thursday.  Our nighttime temps are almost to freezing.

Had I known that after the first big heads these plants would keep producing little heads I wouldn't have pulled up the 3 plants that I did.
This little bit will either go into a mish-mash stew this Winter or Chester will get it in his dinner bowl(it's his favorite, the crazy dog!).

Grand total of broccoli grown/picked this year is 4.40 lbs.

*  I found money!(Can you guess that this is the favorite frugal thing when I can post it? lol)

I found this quarter in the Rite-Aid parking lot last Friday.

Then I went to Weis and found 2 pennies.....both at the Customer Service Desk.

Then I found this penny at the Walmart self-checkout.  I spied it at the register across from the one we were using and I scanned my shit so fast so I could bop over there and pick it up before Kim got it. lolz

Then I went back to Weis on Wednesday for something and found the penny at the Customer Service Desk and the dime next to the self-checkout I used.
Weis has some self-checks designated for credit/debit and some for cash.  I always go to(or at least walk by the cash one)because between people not taking their coins out of the slot, the coins shooting forcefully out of the slot and getting lost on the floor and people just dropping their change into the trash can there(and missing)there is usually at least one stray coin laying there.  ;-)

And this coin I spied in the Weis parking lot last Friday while walking back to my car.
I picked it up even though it wasn't a US or Canadian coin.
It's a 1971 UK "New Pence".
Seems it might be worth a couple of bucks if I sold it on eBay. 8-)))


* I got the Freebie at Weis(PMITA)Markets last Friday.......

A jar of pizza sauce.
rah.

*  I also got these deals this past week at Weis.........

Tomato soup was .49¢ a can last Friday if you bought 6.  Between Ex-CB and making my Beef Pie recipe we can handily use these 6 up in a couple of months.

 I got 3 meat items with instant discount stickers on them--a bottom round steak came to $4.27, 8 hamburgers(1.76 lbs.)came to $5.00($2.84 lb.)and a pack of 10 chicken thighs came to .89¢ per lb.  I used half the hamburger patties with 1 lb. of ground chicken and turned that into chili for last Sunday's supper.  The round steak is in the freezer as are 3 of the hamburger patties(I had the 4th one for lunch one day)and half the chicken thighs(the other 5 thighs were dinner on Tuesday).

These were discontinued bags of candy($1.49 on clearance). Each had a $1 off peelie Q on the package making them.49¢ out the door.  The Skittles are my brother's fav so another Xmas gift marked off the list.  The Starburst?......might be in a giveaway, who know?? ;-)

*  I listed some stuff on eBay.   It was a bunch of stuff that's been sitting around here I have not dealt with until now.  We shall see if that yields any sales and cash for my coffers.  I've got more to list and now is the time to get it up there as the Holidays are coming!

*  I received a $5 gift certificate to a local craft brewery in my email.  I have forwarded it to Hubs for his use.  ;-)

*  We sat down and decided on how much more money to move into a CD from our checking account and I promptly made the transfer.  I have to say 2.35% is much better than the .01% we were earning on that money! lolz  Still not enough....thanks a lot Fed, you suck!!!

*  I bought $72.70 worth of food items at OSJL and received back a gift card worth $72.70 in their store.

I got some stuff at Walmart using a few Qs and got $15.35 back in Ibotta cash rebates.

I got this stuff at Rite-Aid and used Bonus Cash, paying nothing OOP.

That's about all from here.

What frugal wins happened in your life this past week?


Sluggy

A Couple of Big Hints Concerning the Giveaway

Ok this is the final reminder that the current Giveaway ends Friday night at 11:59 pm.
Go HERE to put in an entry/guess.

I also want to give y'all two hints about the exact amount the Stockpile Sale earned me.

Here goes.........

FIRST HINT--The number I am looking for ends in one of these cents..........
Zero  $XX.00
25      $XX.25
50      $XX.50
75      $XX.75

I priced everything in increments of .25¢.

SECOND HINT--The number is between $300.00 and $400.00.
So guess at least $300.00 but less than $400.01.

If you put a guess up today, Thursday, before I posted this page, I'll let you have a second guess today.

Ok, that's it.
I've got some stuff to do today AFK.

Have a good frugal day!

Sluggy

Ocean State Job Lot & Walmart-Potentially Free Food & Ibotta Rebates

So I was over by OSJL on Monday so I browsed the "Eat for Free" table of goodies and came home with lots of foodstuffs!

I laid out how this program works in the blog post HERE.

Here is what I bought, all items we will use.........

1 x Chai tea concentrate=$2.99
2 x Grapeseed Oil 50.70 oz.=$20.00
2 x Roasted Almond halves=$11.98
4 x Organic Turkey Stock=$8.00
2 x Cranberry/Orange baking chips=$4.00
2 x Sea Salt=$2.98
2 x Cranberry/Museli Cookie tins=$4.00
2 x Bamboo Shoots=$1.78
1 x English Breakfast tea bags=$2.99
4 x Stir-Fry/Fried Rice Seasoning packets=$4.00
6 x Mushroom pieces=$6.00
2 x Tetley mint/Hibiscus tea bags=$3.98

Total of $72.70 paid OOP and I received a Crazy Deal gift card for $72.70 too.
Crazy, right?

Since some of these things are "gourmet" items and they don't sell them around here I had to find the regular retail price on Amazon or on other websites where you can buy particular items.
All told, reg. retail came to $164.11.

Add this $72.70 gift card with the one I got in July for $10.78 and besides this $83.48 in food items I now also have $83.48 in store chits to put toward our grocery/toiletries/paper goods/etc. spending. (Can not spend it on other Crazy Deal items or on items with Insider Coupons, has to be regular priced goods in the store.)

Oh and those Danish cranberry/museli cookies are "da boom"!

I know that folks who use Ibotta may or may not have the same offers in their app but here are some groceries I picked up while were were out that day, this time at Walmart.
I thought I'd check my Ibotta app while there picking up some needs like sour cream and cheese and see what else I could find a "deal" on.
These are the items we got that I either got a rebate on or have Qs for.......

1 x Scott paper towels clearance to $2.50
1 x Greenies dog toothbrushes=$4.98
1 x GV Baking Mix clearance to $1.35
1 x GV 2lb. cheddar=$5.64
5 x Hormel natural choice snacks=$8.35
1 x Perfect Bar protein bar=$1.98
5 x Pro Fuel yogurt drinks=$9.80
SubTotal this stuff.........$34.60

As for Qs used......
I had a $5.00 off for the Greenies that the company snail mailed me.
There were .75¢ hangtag Qs on all those Oikos drinks.
Qs used came to $8.75.

Everything pictured above(except the Greenies)also had an Ibotta rebate in my gallery--
* .25¢ off any brand toilet paper(the Scott item was paper towels but it came off)
* .25¢ off any brand pancake mix(technically what I bought was "baking mix"but it came off)
* .25¢ off any brand cheese
* 5 x $1.50 Hormel natural choice snack packs=$7.50
* $2.00 off Perfecct Bar protein bar(even though only paid $1.98)
* 5 x $1.00 of Pro Fuel yogurt drinks=$5.00
* .10¢ for buying anything
Total Rebate....$15.35

$34.60-$8.75 in Qs=$25.85-$15.35 rebates=$10.50 for everything pictured after Qs and Ibotta rebates.
The best "deals" above were the snack packs(.17¢ each after rebate)and the yogurt drinks(.21¢ each after hangtagQ and rebate).

I bought another $21.28 in food/paper products so my total OOP at Walmart was $47.13.
(The rebates get figured into/taken off my spending at the end of the year).

To recap the day's food spending for 2 stores--
$119.83 Total OOP
$15.35 back in Cash Rebates
$72.70 back in OSJL store script


I run hot and cold throughout the year with using Ibotta. A lot of times the rebates are on items I don't buy or the stores I shop at aren't an Ibotta qualifying food source(Shursave, Aldi, Restaurant Supply Store, local Produce Market, etc.).But I do avail myself of Ibotta when I can when buying at Weis, Rite-Aid, Target or Walmart.

If anyone doesn't use Ibotta yet but would like to try it and you have a smartphone, give it a go.
And if you'd be so kind, please use my referral code when you sign up--

Referral Code  mkaaxa
I'd appreciate it. ;-)


Sluggy