I am starting to look at some ways to use my freezer to make my life easier, and not just as bulk storage space. I like the idea that I can have meals already to go, just thaw and stick in the oven or slow cooker. Of course, I want to start small and build, so this week I want to try making and freezing homemade pizza dough. Perhaps sauce too. We do pizza once a week, on Fridays as a rule. It can get kind of expensive buying pre-made frozen pies, or always getting Chef Boy-Ar-Dee (tho I confess, I love that Chef!). I want to see if making this stuff myself is cheaper, tastes better, etc.
We always top with pepperoni and mushrooms. Sometimes sausage, sometimes ham, sometimes onion, occasionally left over chicken. Olives are a nice change of pace, but kind of pricy so we don't do that often. I can get the pepperoni at the Dollar Tree, and occasionally jarred mushrooms too. That helps keep the cost down.
One year we canned pizza sauce, chili base, and spaghetti sauce. Frankly, it was nice to have it all premade, but the chili base was the biggest hit. So now I am watching for canned sauce to hit the sale list, because I really dont want to do all the canning yet. (It is cooler now, so this might be a good time after all... will have to ponder that one!
Anyway, the Once a Month Freezer Meals link on the left is there because this lady has TONS of recipes. She is on Pinterest too, so check her out :)
Friday, March 28, 2014
Lack of discipline strikes again!
So its Friday, and I am just now sitting down to list Mondays purchases... and I cant find the dang receipt. However, I can say with certainty that we used the calculator, stayed within $1 of the budget, and my loose change fixed the overage. We have done well this week, its already pay day and nothing is over drawn, getting turned off for nonpayment, there is food in the house and gas in the car.
Ladies and gents, God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good. :)
Ladies and gents, God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good. :)
Monday, March 17, 2014
New Budget
What an exhausting process! But we have cobbled together a budget and a system for tracking all our money/bills/etc. This is the beginning of the first week, and so once I have it completely figured out I will document the process, in case anyone else needs help and stumbles across my humble blog :)
In the meantime, its grocery day again. This week we budgeted an extra $10 because we are contributing to the Lenten Study dinner on Wednesday with salad and bread. So we start with:
Grocery budget (includes $40 food and $10 non food necessities) of $50
Extra for church event: $10
Total will be $60.00
This week I went to Kroger for the bulk of my shopping. I did a little at the Dollar Tree. Honestly, its the cheapest place I can buy pepperoni!!
Dollar Tree:
1.00 Swiss Cheese singles
1.00 American Cheese Singles
1.00 Pizza sauce
1.00 Sharpie pen
1.00 Pepperoni
1.00 Wheat Thins
1.00 Lunchable (because I committed the sin of shopping prior to having taken the time to eat anything!)
Total with tax: 7.06 (I threw in the .06 from my existing change)
Kroger
5.88 Pork Loin (actually thin cut pork steaks with bone in)
6.94 Beef Roast
3.00 Grape Tomatoes
1.29 Head of Lettuce
1.70 cucumbers (2)
1.00 Avocado
2.09 fresh mushrooms
6.00 Quaker Instant Oatmeal
0.00 Free Milk special with oatmeal purchase
1.79 Corn meal
2.19 Peach Tea mix
2.00 Individual Frozen pizza (2 for Hubby's lunches)
2.00 4 cans of soup (for Hubby's lunches)
1.00 mandarin oranges, canned
1.17 pineapple, canned
.69 Pork and beans
3.00 Frozen fish filets
2.69 Vanilla ice cream
1.29 frozen CA vegetables
2.17 antipersperant
Total with tax : 49.50 (+ 7.00 =56.50 which just barely goes over the budget)
I was pretty pleased that we were able to do this. Hubby went along and did the calculator part of the trip to help keep me on budget. We did have a mishap with that and lost the total, so that is why we were over 1.50. Fortunately there was a little money on the Kroger Gift Card, so that covered it.
So now...whats the menu? This week its built off the shopping and the pantry/freezer:
Breakfast options: oatmeal, eggs and toast
Lunch options: Hubby has pizza, soup, we have lunchmeat in the fridge and cheese for sandwiches. I have a couple of Michaelinas and plenty of salad fixing. Pasta salad (previously purchased pasta, italian dressing, CA veggies)
Dinners:
Monday: Baked pork chops, boiled potatoes, salad, and steamed asparagus (from a previous shopping trip)
Tuesday: Banquet salsbury steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Wednesday: vegetarian chili (made by someone else), salad (lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumber, avacado) and cornbread
Thursday: pot roast, potatoes, carrots, green beans
Friday: fish sandwiches, rice, mixed vegetables
Saturday: burgers, tater tots (purchased this weekend), salad
Sunday: Chicken casserole (hashbrown potatoes, carrots and peas, mushroom soup with chicken) salad
The optional meal of the week: Pizza night with salad
We do still have eggs, several dessert mixes, muffin mixes to add to the variety. Also, I have a hankering for fruit whip (1 can mandarin oranges, 1 can pineapple [save the juice], 1 box SF instant vanilla pudding, 1 container of whipped topping. Mix the pudding with the pineapple juice until dissolved, add drained fruit and toss. Add thawed whipped topping and mix well. Keep refridgerated).
All in all, not a bad plan :)
In the meantime, its grocery day again. This week we budgeted an extra $10 because we are contributing to the Lenten Study dinner on Wednesday with salad and bread. So we start with:
Grocery budget (includes $40 food and $10 non food necessities) of $50
Extra for church event: $10
Total will be $60.00
This week I went to Kroger for the bulk of my shopping. I did a little at the Dollar Tree. Honestly, its the cheapest place I can buy pepperoni!!
Dollar Tree:
1.00 Swiss Cheese singles
1.00 American Cheese Singles
1.00 Pizza sauce
1.00 Sharpie pen
1.00 Pepperoni
1.00 Wheat Thins
1.00 Lunchable (because I committed the sin of shopping prior to having taken the time to eat anything!)
Total with tax: 7.06 (I threw in the .06 from my existing change)
Kroger
5.88 Pork Loin (actually thin cut pork steaks with bone in)
6.94 Beef Roast
3.00 Grape Tomatoes
1.29 Head of Lettuce
1.70 cucumbers (2)
1.00 Avocado
2.09 fresh mushrooms
6.00 Quaker Instant Oatmeal
0.00 Free Milk special with oatmeal purchase
1.79 Corn meal
2.19 Peach Tea mix
2.00 Individual Frozen pizza (2 for Hubby's lunches)
2.00 4 cans of soup (for Hubby's lunches)
1.00 mandarin oranges, canned
1.17 pineapple, canned
.69 Pork and beans
3.00 Frozen fish filets
2.69 Vanilla ice cream
1.29 frozen CA vegetables
2.17 antipersperant
Total with tax : 49.50 (+ 7.00 =56.50 which just barely goes over the budget)
I was pretty pleased that we were able to do this. Hubby went along and did the calculator part of the trip to help keep me on budget. We did have a mishap with that and lost the total, so that is why we were over 1.50. Fortunately there was a little money on the Kroger Gift Card, so that covered it.
So now...whats the menu? This week its built off the shopping and the pantry/freezer:
Breakfast options: oatmeal, eggs and toast
Lunch options: Hubby has pizza, soup, we have lunchmeat in the fridge and cheese for sandwiches. I have a couple of Michaelinas and plenty of salad fixing. Pasta salad (previously purchased pasta, italian dressing, CA veggies)
Dinners:
Monday: Baked pork chops, boiled potatoes, salad, and steamed asparagus (from a previous shopping trip)
Tuesday: Banquet salsbury steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Wednesday: vegetarian chili (made by someone else), salad (lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumber, avacado) and cornbread
Thursday: pot roast, potatoes, carrots, green beans
Friday: fish sandwiches, rice, mixed vegetables
Saturday: burgers, tater tots (purchased this weekend), salad
Sunday: Chicken casserole (hashbrown potatoes, carrots and peas, mushroom soup with chicken) salad
The optional meal of the week: Pizza night with salad
We do still have eggs, several dessert mixes, muffin mixes to add to the variety. Also, I have a hankering for fruit whip (1 can mandarin oranges, 1 can pineapple [save the juice], 1 box SF instant vanilla pudding, 1 container of whipped topping. Mix the pudding with the pineapple juice until dissolved, add drained fruit and toss. Add thawed whipped topping and mix well. Keep refridgerated).
All in all, not a bad plan :)
Friday, March 7, 2014
Its been a while
Yes it has been a while. And its been a long cold winter. Now that spring is coming back, we have to hit the budgeting hard to pay for the heat LOL! So... Here we go again:
Kroger
1.79 sausage, 1 lb
6.00 Quaker Instant Oatmeal (3 boxes @ 2.00 each + free gallon of milk)
.68 cucumber
1.99 shredded cheese
1.29 lettuce, 1 head
2.49 butter, 1 lb
2.00 Michaelina's, 2 items
1.99 eggs, 1 dozen
2.00 Kroger soup, 4 cans @ .50 each
Total: 20.23
Save A Lot
4.90 Chicken leg quarters, 10 lbs
1.50 fresh mushrooms
3.24 Oscar Meyer balogna, 2 @ 3 for $5
.52 cabbage, 1.33 lbs @ .39 lb
1.00 celery
1.00 green onion
1.99 Banquet family size frozen dinner
1.99 Banquet family size frozen dinner
1.99 5# red potatoes
99 saltine crackers
1.63 tomatoes, 1.26# @ 1.29 lb
.98 green beans, canned, 2 items
Total: 21.73
41.73 food total
5.99 bath tissue Kroger
.89 shampoo Kroger
.69 paper towels, 1 roll Kroger
1.96 slow cooker liners Walmart
1.76 bread bags Walmart
Total: 11.29
Entire trip: 53.02
So we started out planning to spend $40 a week for 2 adults. We failed to consider non food items, so that total may climb to $50 in the future. Yes we went over this week, but we will have chicken for a few weeks. Also, currently we have frozen veggies and some other meat in the freezer.
Items I missed (mostly so I remember for next week!):
Mayo or Miracle Whip
nonstick cooking spray
Kroger
1.79 sausage, 1 lb
6.00 Quaker Instant Oatmeal (3 boxes @ 2.00 each + free gallon of milk)
.68 cucumber
1.99 shredded cheese
1.29 lettuce, 1 head
2.49 butter, 1 lb
2.00 Michaelina's, 2 items
1.99 eggs, 1 dozen
2.00 Kroger soup, 4 cans @ .50 each
Total: 20.23
Save A Lot
4.90 Chicken leg quarters, 10 lbs
1.50 fresh mushrooms
3.24 Oscar Meyer balogna, 2 @ 3 for $5
.52 cabbage, 1.33 lbs @ .39 lb
1.00 celery
1.00 green onion
1.99 Banquet family size frozen dinner
1.99 Banquet family size frozen dinner
1.99 5# red potatoes
99 saltine crackers
1.63 tomatoes, 1.26# @ 1.29 lb
.98 green beans, canned, 2 items
Total: 21.73
41.73 food total
5.99 bath tissue Kroger
.89 shampoo Kroger
.69 paper towels, 1 roll Kroger
1.96 slow cooker liners Walmart
1.76 bread bags Walmart
Total: 11.29
Entire trip: 53.02
So we started out planning to spend $40 a week for 2 adults. We failed to consider non food items, so that total may climb to $50 in the future. Yes we went over this week, but we will have chicken for a few weeks. Also, currently we have frozen veggies and some other meat in the freezer.
Items I missed (mostly so I remember for next week!):
Mayo or Miracle Whip
nonstick cooking spray
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