Meal Planning January Week 4, Food Spending Week 3

                                                                      

And here is what actually got served last week......

Sunday--Steak, Asparagus, Potatoes & Onions

Monday--Leftovers

Tuesday--Leftovers

Wednesday--Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce, Brussel Sprouts, Rolls(made into Garlic bread)

Friday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

Saturday--Chinese take-out

I served 3 of the meals I planned.  The meals that didn't get served(Steak Tips, Cheese Steaks) get moved to next week.

The food spending last week?

2 small trips to the grocers for a grand total spent of $50.90.  Almost half of it was for lunches, juice and seltzer for Daughter.  I bought frozen and fresh veggies, fruit, some provolone cheese, a loaf of French bread and I splurged and bought 2 Cannolis for Hubs and I.  The cannoli was the only dairy I had all week and it caused me some gunkiness....but was worth it. lol

We are up to $199.85 food spending for January.  One week left and I have half of my food budget still.
I also have a $10 Catalina that expires 1/24 to use at Weis.

As for leftovers rolling into this week--1 head of cabbage, and the leftover steak.

***********************

Here is what is getting served this week.....

Sunday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

Monday--Taco Bell or Fend For Yourself

Tuesday--Beef Tips in Gravy over Noodles, Ginger Carrots

Wednesday--Fish, Beets, Au Gratin Potatoes

Thursday--Cheese Steaks, Broccoli

Friday--Halushki

Saturday--Leftovers or Fend For Yourself

The Beef Tips are leftovers redone.  The other 3 meals are new food.  Wednesday and Friday meals will yield leftovers for Saturday eating.

Needed at the store to serve this lot?

I bought the fish and more carrots last week and had everything else already.  Depending on how much Halushki I want to make, I may need another head of cabbage.  I'll need more fresh fruit and salad greens(for lunches).  "Good" hot dogs and honey are on sale this week so I'll be stocking up on those items.  I'll try to keep the spending under $70.

I'll be going to my 2 grocery stores this week to note prices for the new Price Book.

What's on your menu for the week?  Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

I've got some big changes coming in February to our diet.  I am not sure how this will affect our food budget but I suspect it will have an impact.  Stick around and see what happens.

Sluggy

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Well today is my Birthday.
In the spirit of the day, I thought I'd share this with all of you....

Thanks for reading and being my friend!
Be sure to leave some love before you go......

Sluggy

Price Book Update--Week 2

Just posting the Week 2 Price Book numbers for my items.  I'll try to get Week 3 numbers reported in earlier this coming week and since that gets us halfway to all our data, I'll talk about the trends that seem to be appearing.

Ground Beef...2.28/3.69  3.79/3.99
Chuck Roast....3.99/3.99  2.99/3.99
Hot Dogs....4.99/5.99  4.99/5.99
Pork....3.99/3.00  3.99/2.99
Bacon....2.98/3.50  3.99/3.50
Chicken Breast....2.99/3.09  2.99/3.49
Chicken Whole.... .78/1.69  1.39/1.89
Salmon....10.00/7.99  0/7.99
Cheese....1.77/2.99  2.00/2.00
Butter.....3.00/3.50  3.49/3.98
Eggs....1.93/1.50  1.79/1.89
Carrots.... .90/1.00  .75/1.29
Potatoes....1.48/2.50  2.99/2.99
Celery.....1.69/259  1.99/1.89
Onion..... .49/.75  1.69/1.00
Salad Greens....2.50/1.95  2.50/1.85
Pasta..... .88/1.00  1.00/1.00
Spaghetti Sauce.... .88/1.00  1.33/1.25
Coffee....5.65 lb/5.12 lb  5.65 lb/4.16 lb
Soup Tomato...1.05/.75  1.05/1.00
Soup Cream....1.00/.75  1.29/1.39
Flour.....2.19/2.19  2.19/2.19
Sugar.....2.69/2.69   2.69/2.69
Brown Sugar...1.89/1.69  1.89/1.69
Honey.....4.00 lb/3.45 lb  4.00 lb/3.45 lb
Deli Ham...5.99/7.99  4.99/5.99
Deli Provolone...7.99/8.99  4.99/8.99
Frozen Pizza...4.49/4.99  5.00/3.33
Ice Cream...3.00/3.00  2.50/3.00
Frozen Broccoli...1.88/1.50  2.19/2.00
Soda....4.99/4.00  4.00/4.00
Chips....3.00/3.00  3.00/2.50


Be sure to log in your Week 2 prices and work on collecting your Week 3 prices.


Sluggy

What Do Vincent Price & Onion Soup Have In Common?

If you are like me you try to avoid eating Onion Soup at most restaurants out there.
Most restaurant pantries are stocked by food service mega-corporations like Sysco, US Foods and PFG in the US.  These corporations are the processed food suppliers to the majority of eating establishments.
Restaurants begin their French Onion Soup dishes with Onion Soup Base......a dark brown liquid or granular powder like the one pictured here.

Onion Soup based on this gives you an artificially onion flavored SALT LICK.
Yes, these soup bases have a very high sodium content.
They are nasty!

One of the more surprising cookbooks I have was given to me by my mother.
She passed it down to me from HER mother.
I find this quite hilarious since my grandmother was a country cook and cared not at all for grand living and fancy restaurants.  Why and where she would have picked up this cookbook is a mystery to me!

This cookbook is a collection of recipes from famous restaurants that Vincent and Mary Price visited in their travels around the world during their marriage, which spanned from 1949-1973.  (She was his second wife.)

Yes, this Vincent Price.....

In addition to being a famous Hollywood leading man and later, a B Movie Villain and all around "ham".....

He was a Gourmand Extraordinaire!

Or as they like to call them nowadays, he was a Foodie before there were Foodies!

This huge compendium of classic cooking recipes from the top dining spots around the world was my 1st Cookbook as a newly married woman.

While other 1980's newly marrieds were working on their meatloaves, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casseroles and pancakes, I was trying my hand at Coq au Vin, Steak au Poivre, Yorkshire Pudding, Haricot Verts a la Lyonnaise, Crepe Suzette and Gateaux Grand Marnier. ;-)

This book holds the best recipe for French Onion Soup bar none!
But over the years, I have made this recipe my own with changes and substitutions to make this heartier and more of a main course.
*My ingredient substitutions/changes are marked by asterisks.

From "A Treasury of Great Recipes", page 46, here is MY VARIATION....

SOUP À L'OIGNON (Onion Soup) À LA SLUGGY
serves 6 as a starter/4 as a meal 

3 tablespoons bacon drippings   *can use olive oil if no drippings are available
4 large onions, chopped fine    *Sliced thinly, not chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt     *"good" salt, like Himalayan or Sea Salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 clove garlic, smashed   *or minced or powdered
1 sprig parsley
1 pinch thyme
1 quart chicken stock  * you can sub chicken bouillon cubes or granules(cut the amount of salt you add by half), but not onion soup ones
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon cognac   * I omit because I don't have any
6 slices toasted French bread   * I use croutons

1 cup grated parmesan cheese  * I use shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1  You will need oven safe bowls for presentation/serving.

2 Over medium temperature in a large skillet, heat a deep skillet with the olive oil.

3  Add thinly sliced onions and cook until translucent.

4 Add the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic and cook until it is golden brown (careful not to burn).

 

5  Add the parsley sprig, thyme, chicken stock, wine, and simmer for 45 minutes, then remove from heat.

 6 While soup simmers, try to look busy.

 Presentation--

7  To make it Soupe à L'Oignon Gratinée: preheat your oven's broiler setting;  laden soup into each bowl being careful not to overfill.  Float croutons on top of soup.

 Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over croutons.

Place bowls on baking sheet under broiler in oven until the cheese bubbles and browns.  Keep a close watch so you don't burn your cheese!

Remove the soup from the oven and eat.

Nom Nom Nom.

Sluggy

Did You Do Your Price Book This Week? & Newbie Grocery Store Tips

Just a reminder to get those Price Book Week 2 prices recorded before the Sales week at your store(s) is over.

I did 1 store so far this week but I still need to get the prices at Weis "PMITA" Markets recorded.

**A quick note in regard to sales cycles at the store for newbies**

As you go through these weeks jotting down prices you may notice that at your store there is 1 week per month where your store is advertising "house brands" mostly and not the name brand products.  House brands are the store brand equivalents of all those name brand products they carry.  Your store may have 1 house brand or they may have lots of house brand names they use.  For example,  my local Shursave affiliate market carries Shursave or Shurfine branded products.  These are the brands that are always lower than the identical products that they carry under a name brand.
But if I shop at Weis or Price Chopper, both of these chains feature more than 1 name for their house brand.  And then there are stores like Aldi's that only carry their house brands and Sav-A-Lot which carries their house brands and a very limited selection of name brands.

Some people can taste a difference between name branded and store branded items.  I have found the quality of house brands vs. name brands range from identical to "are you kidding me?!".  8-)
You really need to try a house brands before you dismiss it as not worth buying because it tastes bad.
House brands of basic items like canned tomato products, flour, sugar, etc. are usually on par in quality with the name brand ones.  Once you are into the higher priced items.....like coffee, frozen veggies, the ingredients in the house brand may be far below that of the name brand equivalent.  Sometimes it IS all about "you get what you pay for".

In order to get the lowest priced of identical items, and without shopping the weekly sales and/or using coupons, you are probably buying the house brand(s).  House brands don't go on sale very often usually, compared to name brands.  A store will push their house brands in their sales ad 1 week of each month.  Around here, that week is usually the 3rd week of the month.  The "house brand week" generally will fall in your area when the majority of employees who are paid monthly or twice a month are at the end of a pay period.  The assumption is that everyone runs out of money the closer to payday, so they push the less expensive brands, the house brands.  "HBW" might be the last week of the month instead, as the govt. sends out support checks at the beginning of the month.

Usually, again in my area, advertising of house brands does not mean the house brand items in the ad are on sale.
If you are trying to figure out when to buy/what to buy to get the best deal, take note of when your store pushes the house brands, and when they feature the house brands in their ads, if they are actually a better deal that week compared to the rest of the month.
A favorite "trick" of grocery stores is to feature an item in a sales ad at the regular price if they need to unload extra stock of that item.  You see the item in the ad and assume it is on sale, yet it is not.  The store will try this trick to sell items it is overloaded with first, before it reduces the price.  So when perusing your sales ads, it helps to know the regular prices of items.

I'll be back tomorrow night with my Price Book Week 2 prices.

Sluggy

Lackluster Rite-Aid Week

2 x Clear Men's Shampoo $7.49 w/Gold discount $5.99=$11.98
2 x Clear 3oz. Shampoo $2.49 w/Gold discount $1.99=$3.98
1 x Keri Hand Lotion (raincheck price b4 Xmas)=$.99
1 x Cella cherry w/Gold discount=$.26 *not pictured, eaten*
SubTotal.....$17.21

Coupons Used
2 x $3/1 Peelie Clear Men's Shampoo(on bottles)=$6.00
2 x Free Item Clear 3oz. Shampoo VV/AdPerksQ(deducted full $2.49 price ea.)=$4.98
1 x $2/1 Keri Lotion IPQ(from Dec. was stapled to raincheck when procured)=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$12.98

$17.21-$12.98=$4.23

I used $4+Up Rewards and put the .23¢ on my gift card.
I received back $7+ Up Rewards for buying $15 in Clear products.

My 50th Anniversary Promo tracking is now at $48.41(only the .99¢ Keri qualified).
I am still missing my Sharpie marker spending on my total.
But I guess it really doesn't matter because I am NOT getting to $100 of spending/tracking by the 26th.

I might just use my $11.50 in +Ups tomorrow and buy 2 large packs of TP, as the Scot is on sale.  Betwwen +Ups, Sale price and 2 Qs I have, I'll have to "spend" about $1.06 on my gift card.
TP is something we can use/need and I'll be out of +Ups so I can stop Rite-Aiding for a few months.

The deals at Rite-Aid are few and far between for me lately and I am just worn out and need a break.

I know everyone will miss these R-A posts.....LOLOL

Maybe I should hold a lottery and everyone can guess how long I can go before I go back to Rite-Aid? ;-)

This trip to Rite-Aid--
OOP....$0.00
Value of items.....$29.08
+Ups coming into this trip....$8.50
+Ups used....$4.00
+Ups earned......$7.00
+Ups at the end.....$11.50

 
**GRAND TOTALS FOR JANUARY-so far**

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$139.89
Savings Rate of  100%
Rebates due......$16.99(Neosporin 2x)
Savings Rate after Rebates.....100 %

+Ups at beginning of month...$32.50+
+Ups used....$37.00+
+Ups received...$16.00+
+Ups currently...$11.50+  


Sluggy

What Santa Brought Me.....Keeping the Costs Sensible

I know everybody is anxious to know exactly what presents Sluggy received for Christmas in 2012.
Oh come on.....you KNOW you want to know.  ;-)

Yes, we are lavish gift givers around here.
It's all about the bling.......the luxury........the decadence........
No, around here, we don't expect anyone to spend a big wad of cash on a pile of gifts for us.  We gift sensibly.  We give what someone wants/needs(within reason) and we try to get a deal if possible.

Here are a couple of gifts I got from extended family......first from my brother and his wife....

A pair of slippers and a cocktail shaker and mix

And from Hubs brother and the nephew.....

a Kitchen store gift card

We do a nuclear family Secret Santa gift exchange and #2 Son got my name.....

I got a book I wanted, "Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War Is Wrong", and a gift card to Ollie's Bargain Outlet "Good Stuff Cheap!".  #2 Son knows me too too well.....

And #2 Son gets extra credit because he bought the book from a used bookseller. ;-)


Then my older two kids, having jobs now and making a little of their own money, got some Christmas Spirit this year and decided to buy presents for each family member.  This was unexpected and yes, the thought of it was the best part of the gifts!

So #1 Son bought me....

Candles that smell like cookies and Cherry Blossom Bubble Bath

And the Daughter got me this.....

An Olive Oil Pump/Sprayer to break my addiction to PAM. lol

Then Hubs bought me a book.....Hubs considers a book the "perfect gift" so I can pretty much count on a book for Christmas....lol.....

Gotta love Stonewall Jackson!

And "Santa" filled my stocking with this strange mix of goodies....

2 packs of safety pins(I asked for those!lol)
Gas treatment ?
Post-Its ?
Chocolate coins ?
a high class bottle opener ?
I am still shaking my head over most of this stuff....I think Santa either lost his mind or had too much egg nog before he got to our house.lolol

As you can see, we just live on the edge, walk on the wild side, spend money like it's going out of style!!
Not.....

But here is the one thing I asked for and they & Hubs actually got for me.....

While the kids were all home at the same time for the Holidays(which doesn't happen nearly at ALL anymore), they went up to the local portrait studio and had this photo taken.  I haven't had a photo of the 3 of them together done since they were in elementary school.  And the bestest thing about it?  They are actually smiling REAL smiles, not those faked ones I get when I ask them to pose so I can take a picture!

Of course, I didn't get the portrait until late last week, but it made my Holiday.
Yes, it did.



Sluggy