This Week on the Dining Table

 The "Front Garden is Doing Great!" Edition........

Hubs and I planted Coleus, Pansies and Celosia flame type flowers in front of the house this year.

We did Celosia one year and Hubs liked it so much he always wants to plant it there now.  I love me some Coleus because of the so many varigated varieties of it.  This year the Coleus are all going gangbusters and are starting to resemble bushes rather than small plants! lol

This photo is from 28 July so I'll get a more recent photo as soon as Hubs weeds the area again. ;-)

The pansies unfortunately have all been eaten and dug up by our resident rabbits.  Evidently besides violets, rabbits enjoy munching on pansies as well.  The green pot to the front left holds some lavender plants which haven't grown much at all.  Maybe I should re-pot them in a bigger receptacle?

Onward to the meal planning!

Moving On....

This is what was planned.........

1. Sunday--Steak strips, Brussels Sprouts, Baked Potato
2. Monday--BBQ chicken legs, leftover Macaroni Salad, Squash and Onions
3. Tuesday--?

4. Wednesday--?
5. Thursday--?

6. Friday--?
7. Saturday--?

And this is what really happened.......

1. Sunday--Steak strips, Brussels Sprouts, Baked Potato
2. Monday--BBQ chicken legs, leftover Macaroni Salad, Squash and Onions
3. Tuesday--Take-out Pizza

4. Wednesday--Teriyaki Pork Stir-fry w/Veggies, Rice
5. Thursday--Lobster, Chopped Mediterranean Salad

6. Friday--Beef Pie
7. Saturday--Cheeseburgers, Sweet Potato Wedges

Last week saw 6 nights of home cooked dinners, 0 nights of leftovers/FFY, and 1 night of Take-Out/Eating Out.

What got put into the freezer last week....
* 3 more chicken pot pies

* 2 veggie lasagnas(single servings)

What got taken out of the freezer and used.....
* Steak strips

* Brussels Sprouts

* Chicken Legs

* Teriyaki Pork Loin

* Stir-Fry Veggie Mix

We spent $172.75 last week, between Dollar General(a week ago last Sat.), Weis(PMITA)Markets(a week ago last Friday), Price Chopper, the Bread Outlet, Walmart and Malacari's produce, bringing our food to $298.16 so far this month.

Again I did a bit of stocking plus after Wednesday I won't be going grocery shopping(or even Rite-Aid shopping so I got everything we need for the rest of the month mostly as I'll have to send Hubs to the store and he has to have that specific and detailed list unless I want him going rouge and just spending willy-nilly. ;-)  I hope besides some produce and hamburger buns we are all set for the rest of August. 

I knew because of my surgery that I had to "front end load" the grocery shops this month. ;-)

I've earned $70.70 on Ibotta in August so far.

I've earned $4.25 on SavingStar in August so far but am closing in on a $5 wys $25 GM cereal rebate there as well.

My savings percentage for last week was 57.82%(without "regular"Rite-Aid trips)for August and the monthly savings total for August comes in at 52.64% so far.(w/out R-A).  Much better than last week's percentage

Leftovers going into this week......Stuffed Shells(I defrosted and prepped for Ex-CB to take home to his apt. but he never showed up for them so they got cooked and Hubs ate half of the container lol), Teriyaki Pork stir fry w/Veggies, Rice, Beef Pie and a few Sweet Potato Wedges.

That's it.  I think I am starting to get the hang of cooking less quantities now that Ex-CB isn't here unless it's something I know we like as a leftover.

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

1. Sunday--FFY(I had oatmeal for dinner)
2. Monday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Carrots
3. Tuesday--Grilled Salmon, Salad

4. Wednesday--? Not making dinner so who knows??
5. Thursday--Meatloaf(I'll make ahead for Hubs), the rest TBD and Hubs responsibility

6. Friday--Chicken Pot Pie
7. Saturday--Chinese Take-Out

What needs buying for this menu?  Nothing, I've got everything we need for this already and I won't be going grocery shopping again this month.  Hubs may

What's left on my master list of meals we can make from what's at home(not that I'm referring to/using it at this point with the heat).
* Shrimp Scampi
* Tuna Casserole
* Roasted Chicken
* Shrimp/Crab Ravioli
* Cheese Ravioli

* Breakfast for Dinner

* Haddock Fish Dinner  new
* Chicken Tenders  new

* Beef Liver  new

Plus lots of thinly sliced Chicken Breast, grass fed Ground Beef and Ground Turkey in the freezer.

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

August Giveaway Winner!

Thanks for everyone for checking out Sonya Ann's new ebook over on Amazon.

 The winner of the $25 Amazon code is.........

Debbie!

debbieAugust 12, 2020 at 9:53 PM

Checked out her site,download the book,and I'm glad she's back i have missed her. Swrtd@aol.com

Congratulations Debbie!!!  Now you need to email me within the next 48 hours so I can send you the Amazon code to add to your account.

Thanks for everyone who checked out Sonya's new book and her blog/writing journal website.

I hope she gets inspired soon to write another book!

Sluggy

Last Chance to Enter the Giveaway!

Today is the last day to get your entry for the August Giveaway!

This month we are publicizing Cousin Sonya Ann's new eBook and the prize is a $25 Amazon e-code.

Great prize, right?

Go HERE to enter before tonight at 11:59pm EDST(Eastern US Time)to enter and best of luck to all of y'all!!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the August 14th Edition

 Here are a few things that happened around Chez Sluggy this past week that we call frugal.......

* I had 13 items from a Weis trip last Friday that gave me an extra Midweek $1 Bonus(12 were needed to hit the bonus so I did 1 beter).  

These 13 were also tracking toward a Buy 30 items/Get a $10 Bonus that was running until mid month in August so while I was in Walmart earlier this week I finished that Bonus off.

I got......

1 x 3 pack Renuzit air fresheners($1.00)

5 x single Renuzit air fresheners($2.00)

1 x Ritz toasted chips($1.00)

1 x Townhouse pita crackers(.25¢)

1 x lg. Buddig lunch meat pack($1.00)

1 x Lily's baking chips(.75¢)

1 x Kraft mac and cheese box(.15¢)

1 x Serious Bean Co. can(.50¢)

2 x Stouffer's Veggie Lasagna single serve($1.00)

3 x Banquet Pot Pies(for Hubs to make next week)(.50¢)

1 x Perdue Ground Chicken($1.25)

1 x Country Crock "Plant" Butter sticks($1.00)

1 x Country Crock "Plant" Butter tub(.50¢)

4 x Bella wet dog food tubs (.50¢)

5 x Hall's Energy and Sleep packs($6.25)

1 x Poise pads($3.00)

1 x Fage yogurt split cup(.55¢)

Plus I earned .10¢ each on sleep aid, crackers and chips(.30¢ total), the $10 Extra Dough, a $1 Renuzit Bonus and a Cash Giveaway entry for this trip.

Total rebates earned was $32.50 and I used an old Walmart gift card $50 to pay plus another $4.84 w/sales tax total OOP(after using $3.50 in coupons also)for all this.

* I found money!

I found this penny last Friday as Hubs and I were leaving Weis(PMITA)Markets.

Last Saturday when entering the Dollar General not in my little town I saw this dirty quarter outside.  It sort of blended into the walkway but my eagle eye was on point that morning! ;-)

Then when leaving the register after checking out I spied this shiny penny halfway tucked under the candy rack.

Then the glint off the sunshine in the parking lot at Rite-Aid made me look/find this penny near my car as I exited it.  No abandoned change inside my R-A that day however.

Hubs and I went to Price Chopper to get lobster on Thursday and I found 2 pennies there-1 in the check-out lane and another in the foyer of the store on our way out.

Total Change found this week. .30¢
Total Change found this year....$47.50

* I hit the Bread Outlet for 2 loaves of Arnold Bread and a package of hot dog rolls.  Total OOP was $4 for all 3 items.  Buying just one loaf of Arnold's bread reg. retail at Weis(PMITA)Markets can run over $4!

* While I was at the Bread Outlet I went next door to Malacari's produce market for 3 types of lunch meat, 1 lb. of sharp cheddar cheese slices, 2 heads of lettuce and 5 cukes and a head of cabbage for $16.95 total.

*  Don't hate me because I had lobster and salad for lunch on Thursday..........

The Price Chopper ad last Sunday had a coupon for $4.99 lb. lobsters so Hubs and I went on Thursday to check it out.  

There were other coupon deals we did($1.99 case of water, $1.99 lb. 80% ground beef(3 lb. or more packages), $1.99 for 1 lb. of butter, and select GM cereals and/or NV granola bars for 4/$8 and you get a free gallon of Milk)plus we had to spend $15 on non coupon deal items(that's how the PC Qs always work)so we picked up a nice piece of Salmon, 3 chopped salad kits(all of them had $1.50 instant savings stickers plus were already on sale), a 24 oz. container of whole mushrooms(also with a $1.50 instant savings sticker on it). I found a gallon of distilled water too over on the markdown/damaged goods shelves with a .25¢ instant savings sticker on it so that ran me .75¢ instead of $1 I usually pay.

I also stacked a $1/2 NV granola bar peelie Q and a $1/2 GM cereals IPQ with the PC 4/$8 and get free milk ad-Q so I paid $6 for 2 boxes of cereal, 2 boxes of granola bars and a gallon of milk(here in PA whole milk by the gallon is $3.94-it's price regulated by the PA state dairy board-so that's nothing to sneeze at!)

We also picked up 2 packs of muffins for $5 and a lemon meringue pie for $3.99 and of course the 2 lobsters.  Total OOP was $53 and change for all which was a really good deal.

I don't often go to Price Chopper but when I do I have deals to get. ;-)

* I did one Rite-Aid shop so far this past week that I already posted about.

Be sure and go get your free or moneymaker toothpaste and toothbrush(or mouth wash) before the sale ends on Saturday!

*  We got Domino's on Wednesday for dinner using a gift card.

*  Things kept me occupied this past week(beyond grocery/R-A shopping)at home...........

As energy and my leg have allowed I've been slowly working on reorganizing and de-cluttering the house now that Ex-College Boy's room was emptied.

Hubs had vacuumed and shampooed the carpeting and cleaned the baseboards in there. Ex-CB came over on his day off to help move furniture and since then Hubs and I have been moving the toiletries stockpile, Xmas tubs, kids crap around in our version of Tetris.  I hope to get that room tidy and functional as a guest room before my surgery next Wednesday.  Updates and photos at some point later.  The upstairs hallway(were we've staged some stuff is looking quite empty now.

After that it's on to sewing room and those supplies then another purge of the linen closet in the hallway.  Yippee!

That's about it to report in from here.

What frugal wins did y'all have this past week?

Sluggy

To-Do List.........July's Outcome

** NOTE-Don't forget to enter the August Giveaway which closes on Saturday night, August 15th.

Not many entries yet and there are only 4 days left to enter.  $25 in Amazon CASH is up for grabs and who can't use that, right?!?

Link to enter is on the side bar -->

Let's see how July's To-Do List turned out...........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything got paid on time or early as always

* Read 1, 2, 3 Books  PASS  July was a good and bad month for my personal reading goals.   I tend to have multiple books going in an given month and July was one of those months.  I had FIVE books in progress but only finished ONE of them, this one what with everything going on around here(company, moving, etc.)..........

"My Father's Business:The Small-Town Values That Built Dollar General into a Billion-Dollar Company" by Cal Turner, Jr.

This was an interesting read, all about the family(3 generations)that started what we know as the Dollar General chain of stores.  The business, started by Cal, Jr's grandfather, Luther Turner, a man with a 3rd grade education, as a wholesale supplier in Scottsville, Kentucky in the 1950's, then was taken to new heights by the son, Cal Turner, a nature entrepreneur with no business "learning" and eventually was headed by Cal Jr. until he resigned earlier this century.  It truly was a family business that kept to it's small-town roots and principles and defied modern day business models of giant corporations.

Being a family business was not always easy or good for the family interpersonal relationships either.

I found the book fascinating and instructive as well and it left me with a good feeling about the folks who tried to model this business to serve others(though not always successfully-service and looking out for your fellow citizen doesn't always jive with a company's bottom line after all, especially after it goes public and has stock holders).  Cal Turner, Jr. had massive shoes to fill from his familial predecessors and it's an honest account of how he attempted to make his family proud and drag the chain into the 21st century.

4 Thumbs up!

* Hold Giveaway--DONE

The winner didn't want the MandM's so I subbed in a few other things instead.

* Mail Giveaway--DONE  Mailed and received though it seems to have taken awhile longer than expected.....but then again, with this virus situation and the extra volume of packages flying around it's to be expected.

* More Decluttering--DONE  Well, between the leg injury late in June and Ex-CB not leaving until the last day in July(plus Eldest son here taking up space)I am surprised I got as much gathered to go to Sallie's or into the garbage as I did.  Eldest still had some of his stuff here and I hoped he'd take it with him to Jersey but his car was already full of crap for the move he didn't want in the POD he rented for this move so we'll have to bring it with us to Jersey when we go see the new apt. in a couple of months.

I now have a huge cardboard box in the living room where I have put all the stuff leaving the house that is donate-worthy and I filled it up in July.  Woot!

Of course, with Ex-CB gone I can now de-clutter stuff that was in the closet of his room that I couldn't get to previously and refill that box once Hubs takes what's in that box now to Sallie's.  Double Woot!

* Sew More Masks--PASS  Though I didn't get any masks completed I did do some cutting and sewing and got 4 masks closer to finished.  It was sort of a challenging task this past month with Eldest son here, Ex-College Boy getting ready to move out(the sewing room was in an uproarious state with all the boxes and furniture being moved about)and my leg issues.  But we did make some progress so I'm calling this a win.

* Continue to Deal w/VA stuff--DONE  Well we aren't "done" with all the legal stuff but we did make progress and got answers to lots of questions still on your plate via Zoom meetings.  There will be one more Zoom session in our immediate future before we can move forward with our tentative plans for relocating(which won't be any time soon, the relocating that is).  Things are moving forward.

* Cash in Savings Bond--DONE  We did that as soon as possible in July.  After we cash out 3 bonds maturing Sept.1st we'll decide on where to squirrel away all those cashed in bonds.  We also have a CD maturing mid September so we'll probably throw the bond monies in with the CD after we decide where to put that next.

* Help Ex-CB Move--DONE  He moved out July 31st.  It took a U-Haul cargo van and Hubs and Ex-CB's new roomie about 2 hours to relocate Ex-CB's stuff.

Here's the photographic proof that he is gone(without showing all the crap he left lol).

Hubs posted this photo on Facebook of me and Ex-CB before they left for his apartment..........

I can't decide if I look deliriously happy or psychotic in this photo. lol  I know Ex-CB is happy to finally be on his own.

I am glad that for the first time in TWENTY NINE YEARS we have an empty nest!  July of 1991 when eldest was born until July of 2020 when kid #3 moved out.  29 years and they are all gainfully employed, have college degrees, on their own and relatively happy.

Gosh, I need a nap(and maybe a drink).......

* Get Ready for Eldest to Visit--DONE

Eldest spent about 11 days here between the time he moved out of the Fredericksburg apartment and when the apt. in NJ was ready to move into.  It was nice having him here for that long though I had hoped we'd get a bit of work out of him in exchange for the free room and board but he had other ideas. lolz

All things considered, it was a pretty productive month here at Chez Sluggy.

How was your month and your To-Do List if you make one?

Sluggy