Menu plan 6/29 - 7/5

Breakfasts this week will just be whatever we feel like eating. The choices are cereal, yogurt, oatmeal, grits, and possibly muffins if I feel like making some.

Monday 6/29
Lunch - Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers
Supper - Red beans and rice with sausage and cornbread

Tuesday 6/30
Lunch - Leftover red beans and rice
Supper - Chicken Spaghetti, homemade rolls

Wednesday 7/1
Lunch - Leftover chicken spaghetti
Supper - Lasagna, salad, rolls

Thursday 7/2
Lunch - BLT sandwiches
Supper - Leftovers from the week

Friday 7/3
Lunch - Leftovers or tomato sandwiches
Supper - Manwich sandwiches and french fries

Saturday 7/4
Lunch and Supper - cookout at the family reunion

Sunday 7/5
Lunch - family reunion
Supper - Southwest quiche (from freezer)

I give up

I've been trying to clean out our computer/junkroom this week. It's
not going so great. A few minutes ago I knocked over one of my
favorite pieces of junk, an old cast iron and glass gumball machine.
Oh, and somehow I managed to cut myself on the leg in the process. I
couldn't face cleaning it up right away so I sat down to compose
myself and this post. Just shoot me.

Menu plan 6/22 - 6/28

It's my birthday today, so if we end up eating out somewhere tonight, I'll just push everything back a day.



Monday 6/22
Breakfast - Yogurt
Lunch - Leftover red beans and rice
Supper - Ham and cheddar quiche

Tuesday 6/23
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Leftover quiche
Supper - Chicken Club Ring

Wednesday 6/24
Breakfast - Yogurt
Lunch - Leftover chicken club ring
Supper - Pork tenderloin, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese

Thursday 6/25
Breakfast - Cereal or oatmeal
Lunch - Leftovers
Supper - Pork fried rice

Friday 6/26
Breakfast - Yogurt
Lunch - Leftovers
Supper - Cheeseburgers and french fries

Saturday 6/27
Breakfast - Cereal or oatmeal
Lunch - Homemade pepperoni pizza
Supper - Breakfast for supper (Affectionately known around here as "brupper")

Sunday 6/28
Breakfast - Yogurt
Lunch - Fettucine alfredo (the Knorr side dish kind) with chicken added
Supper - Baked chicken breast with lemon pepper, squash casserole, pasta salad

Cheap By Choice

Cheap by Choice is a fellow couponing, deal-seaking blogger, and she's having a coupon giveaway. Whether you're an avid couponer, or just getting started, you should check it out. Go here for more info. Good luck!

Gift baskets

I came across this post from Coupon Mommie today and it reminded me of the gift baskets I made for Mother's Day and forgot to tell you about.
Knowing that our mothers and my Nana have just about everything they need, it's sometimes hard to figure out what to buy them for occasions such as Mother's Day, so this year I made them gift baskets from my stockpile. I know for instance that my Nana likes to use Dove products, so when CVS has deals on Dove, I stock up. I've forgotten exactly what I put into each of them, but it's stuff like shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, body wash, lotion, soap, razors, and deodorant. Gifts like these always seem to be appreciated and I think many people like getting gifts that are useful.
The Dollar Tree has a pretty good selection of baskets and plastic containers, and shredded paper to use as filler, as well as gift basket wrapping kits, which contain one clear plastic bag and a "pull bow" for a dollar each.
So, if you've started couponing and don't know what to do with all of the stuff in your stockpile, try making some gift baskets!

Menu Plan Monday...just a little late

Better late than never, right? I actually had the menu plan mostly done last night, but forgot about posting it till now. I really got into planning the menu this week and decided to just go ahead and plan meals for the next month. That's right, I have a month's worth of meals planned. After I get this posted I'm gonna go ahead and type up the next few week's menus so I won't be late getting it done again.

Meals for the week of Monday, June 15 - Sunday, June 21

Monday 6/15
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Chinese buffet
Supper - Mini meatloaf, mashed potatoes, baby lima beans

Tuesday 6/16
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Hot Pockets
Supper - Fried chicken tenders, salad

Wednesday 6/17
Breakfast - Granola bars
Lunch - Salad topped with chicken tenders
Supper - Barbecued pineapple pork chops, green beans

Thursday 6/18
Breakfast - Blueberry muffins
Lunch - Hot dogs and potato chips
Supper - Cheeseburgers on homemade buns, french fries

Friday 6/19
Breakfast - Blueberry muffins
Lunch - Hot Pockets (yes twice in one week - they were on sale at Kroger)
Supper - Chicken Spaghetti, homemade rolls

Saturday 6/20
Breakfast - Grits and toast or muffins if there are any left
Lunch - leftover chicken spaghetti
Supper - Cooking out with some friends at their house

Sunday 6/21
Brunch (we sleep late on Sundays)- Cinnamon rolls
Supper - Red beans and rice with sausage, cornbread

I'm also going to try my hand at making a pineapple upside down cake to have for dessert for the rest of the week.

Gettin' better

I'm getting better at this couponing thing. I just thought I would share last week's CVS trips with y'all.

Transaction 1
1 Bayer Contour meter on sale for $14.99, regular price $79.99 had a coupon making it free. (Gonna give it away).
2 Dawn dish soaps 2/$2, used a $.50 coupon and a $.25 coupon.
Earned $6.00 Extra Care Bucks (ECBs)
Used $2 ECBs
Total out of pocket (OOP) $1. 05 in taxes
Saved $83.97


Transaction 2
1 Gillette Fusion razor sale $7.99, regular $9.99, used a $4.00 coupon
1 King sized Hershey's candy bar $1.00, used "free coupon" up to $.85
1 Hershey's Bliss sale $3.50, use $1.00 coupon
3 Reese's Select Clusters $3.50 each, used 3 $1.00 coupons
Earned $9.00 ECBs
Used $11 ECBs
OOP $3.98
Saved 27.60


Transaction 3
Dove body wash, sale $7.00, regular $8.69, used $1.25 coupon
Dove shampoo , sale $4.00, regular $4.99, used $1.00 coupon
Dove conditioner, sale $4.00, regular $4.99, used $1.00 coupon
Dove deodorant,sale 2/$5.00, regular $3.49 each, used $1.50 coupon
Earned $10.00 ECBs for buying Dove
Used $10.00 ECBs
OOP $5.95
Saved 20.40

Transaction 4
Febreze Noticeables, sale $7.00, regular $8.49, used $1.00 coupon
Febreze Air Effects, sale $2.00, regular $3.29, used $.50 coupon
M&M's King size, sale $1.00, regular $1.59
M&M's regular size, sale $.67, regular $.89
Used $10.00 ECBs
Earned $5.00 ECBs
OOP $.29
Saved $14.09


Transaction 5
4 - 12 pack Coke products, regular $4.79, sale $3.25 each
Earned $3.00 ECBs for buying 4
Used $5.00 ECBs
OOP $8.56
Saved $11.16

Total OOP for all CVS transactions - $19.83
Total saved for all CVS transactions -$146.06
(I think all my math was right!)

*Edit*
Shelby asked why I did so many transactions, so I thought I would explain that. It's to "roll" the Extra Care Bucks (ECBs). ECBs are "$ off your next purchase" coupons that CVS gives you for purchasing certain items, and ideally, you want to use them to purchase items that give you more ECBs. I started out with $14 ECBs that I already had from last week's transactions. On transaction 1, I used $2 ECBs but earned $6 more, so that put me up to $18 ECBs. Transaction 2 I used $11, but earned $9 more, so tht put me at $16ECBs, and so on. When you break up your transactions, it gives you more chances to use the ECBs you have to earn more, which results in getting a huge discount by using the ECBs. I don't know if that made it any clearer, but you can email me if any of you have questions. I'm no expert though.
If you're interested in couponing, check out Hot Coupon World. You have to join the site, but it's free and SOOOO worth it. Once you join, click the Forums tab at the top, scroll down to Swingin' Deals and click Drug Stores, then click on the CVS subforum. There is tons of information about how to get good deals at CVS there. There are forums for just about every grocery and drug store out there, and they're always updated with the current deals. I've found it really helpful to see how others "coupon", Yeah, I'm so adjective, I verb nouns.

toothpastefordinner.com

Peanut butter pie

I just made this:

and it was as easy as the Pioneer Woman said it would be. Oh and her pictures are a little better, so go take a look.

Around here we really like chocolate and peanut butter. Actually I'm pretty sure I've posted a couple of other peanut butter and chocolate related recipes.
Mr. McHacker has been gone a lot lately and I wanted to make something yummy for him to come home to tomorrow. I think he'll enjoy it, I know I will.
I hope y'all have a happy Friday and a great weekend.

funny stuff

Yeah I've been neglecting the blog a lot lately. I have some things I keep meaning to post and just haven't. Maybe I'll get around to it someday.
But anyway, This post is to tell you about a funny blog I've been reading for a couple of months. It's called List of the Day, and it's frakkin' hilarious. If you're sensitive to foul language or vulgarity, don't click it. If you're sick and twisted like me and so many others, click and enjoy. I was reading this one today and literally laughed out loud like 18 times it was so funny. Just wanted to share the funny with any of you who wanted it. Hope you're having a great week.