Menu Plan Monday

Good morning!  Some weeks it is so much easier to come up with a menu than other weeks.  Last week we ate everything on the menu - woohoo!  The Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff was excellent - a keeper for sure. We'll see how this week goes - we've got company in for the weekend - my husband's cousin, Ryan, and his girlfriend.  His girlfriend is Buddhist, but I don't know if she has any dietary restrictions.  We're just going to roll with the punches!

Monday: Steamed shrimp, corn, salad, bread

Tuesday: Pintos and tortillas

Wednesday: Pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit

Thursday: Won ton tacos, refried pintos, salad

Friday: Chicken pot pie, salad

Saturday: 

Sunday: Baked Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

For more great menu ideas, head over to OrgJunkie!  have a great week!

CVS-ing (and grocery shop)

I did good!

I got:

  -2 pkgs of teensy-tiny diapers

  -2 pkgs of wipes

  -1 bottle of detangler

for 5.73.  I saved 29.28 with a combination of sale pricing, mfr coupons, a CVS $4/$20 coupon, and a carefully hoarded stash of ECBs.  And I got $5 ECBs and another $4/$20 for a future purchase.  Whoo-hoo!!

I also went to BiLo and procured this week's groceries.  I was able to find everything except mirin, and I only forgot to get one item - tomatoes.  I also got some household items that I had coupons for, and with 25 items in my cart, I got out of there for 50.45, saving 11.49 between sale pricing, coupons, and coupon doubling (up to $0.55!!)

So I have 8.82 left for mirin, tomatoes, and whatever else.  Yippee!

Menu Plan Monday

Wow, I am exhausted.  Yesterday we went to Biltmore House from about 9am-5pm, then headed over a mountain to attend a wedding for a cousin.  It was beautiful - I cried buckets!  We didn't really intend to stay for the reception (the wedding started at 7pm!!), but not only did we stay, we helped clean up, too.  Then we hopped in the car and drove 2 1/2 hours home.  We got home a little after 1am.  I was lucky - I got to sleep in till 7 - my poor husband had to leave for work at 5:50am.  I think it's going to be a rough day for him.  Rougher still for his parents - they left when we did to drive 8 hours, with work to attend to today.  I don't want to go anywhere for a while.  Anyhow, I got a late start on menu planning, but here it is.  I have the car today, so grocery and CVS are calling.  *sigh*  Laura at orgjunkie has a bunch more menus (most of my inspiration today!) - go check it out!

• Monday: Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff over noodles (whatever is in the pantry!), zucchini stirfry
• Tuesday: Pizza, salad
• Wednesday: Venison roast (slow cooker) with veggies, biscuits (frozen), green beans
• Thursday: Beans and Rice, tortillas (holdover from last week), tomatoes, sour cream
• Friday: Venison teriyaki with mushrooms and broccoli, egg drop soup, wontons
• Saturday: BLTs
• Sunday: Leftovers

I think we'll make cookies this week.  Have a great week!

CVS-ing

Not quite as complicated this week.  Nora was with me, so I'm pretty glad the ad wasn't as lucrative on multiple transactions (at least as far as I was interested.)  This week, I got a bunch of stuff to donate for Operation Christmas Child - at church they mentioned that collections were starting.  Kind of boring stuff - but necessary items.

• 3 Oral-B Advantage Toothbrushes     10.47 reg/7.47 on sale/4.50 ECBs
  
• 3 CVS Toothbrushes   2.97
  
• 1 CVS Toothbrush  1.99
  
• 1 Colgate MaxFresh toothpaste  2.99/2 ECBs
  
• 1 Colgate Total Advanced toothpaste 3.49 reg/2.99 on sale/2 ECBs
  
• 2 Ivory Soap 3-pks  2.78/1 ECB
  

Total  24.69 reg/21.19 on sale/9.50 ECB

Coupons

• $4/$20  
  
• .99/1 toothbrush
  
• 1.00/3 toothbrushes
  
• 5.79 ECBs (got these from the infant Advil deal for August) 
  

Total coupons  11.78

GRAND TOTAL  9.41 OOP, 9.50 ECBs earned

Next week, I have big plans for those ECBs - time to start stocking up on baby necessities!!

Centsible Savings is giving away a $5 CVS Gift Certificate - check it out!!

Menu Plan Monday

Good morning!   After a short week of menu planning last week, I've got another short one!  This weekend we are going to a wedding, and midweek, my in-laws are coming.  Nora is over the moon!  Without further ado, here goes:

Monday:  Spicy Basil Tofu, Cabbage and Carrot Stir-Fry, Rice

Tuesday: Spinach/Feta Quiche, Quick Bread

Wednesday: Hot Dogs, Corn, Grilled Apples

Thursday: Chicken something - I'm fixing for 3 additional adults - I'm going to have to think about this one.

Friday: Beans & Rice, Tortillas, Fixings

Saturday-Sunday: Gone for Wedding!

For more great menus, go see Laura at OrgJunkie!  Have a great week!

CVS-ing

I've been doing a bit of research on how to play the CVS "game".  Last week, I picked up a prescription and got a $4 off of a $20 purchase coupon.  I checked out the ad, and was able to find a good sale on training pants (still!), and a few other things to total $21 and change, and got $7 in Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) to use on a future purchase.  This week, I really planned it out - I went in by myself (thank you Toddler Time!!), selected a basket full of items, and then sorted it out into 4 transactions at the checkout counter.  The cashier was incredibly patient, as I had picked a couple items that didn't follow my plan, and talked about how she liked to play the "game", too.  So, here's todays purchases:

Transaction #1

• Carefree Pantiliners / 13.78 / 9.00 /accumulating
  
• Neosporin / 5.49 /5.49 / accumulating
  
• Neo To Go / 6.49 / 5.50 / accumulating
  
• $4/$20 coupon      -4.00
  
• $2.00 ECB           -2.00
  
• $5.00 ECB          -5.00
  

TOTAL / 25.76 / 9.62

Transaction #2

Item / Regular Price / Sale Price / ECBs

• J&J Bedtime Cream / 4.29 / 3.99 / 10 (combined with T#1 purchases)
  

TOTAL / 4.29 / 3.99 / 10

Transaction #3

Item / Regular Price / Sale Price / ECBs

• Starburst / 0.79 / 0.50 / accumulating
  
• Hershey's Nuggets / 3.49 / 2.50 / accumulating
  
• Kitkat 4 pack / 1.29 / 1.00 / accumulating
  
• Trident 3 pack / 2.79 / 2.00 / accumulating
  
• M&M Premium / 4.99 / 4.00 / 5
  
• Old Spice Deodorant / 3.99 / 2.99 / 0
  
• $10 ECB -10.00
  

TOTAL / 17.34 / 2.99 /5

Transaction #4

Item / Regular Price / Sale Price / ECBs

• Scott Towels 8 pack / 9.99 / 4.99 / 0
  
• Bandaids / 3.29 / 2.99 / 2
  
• $5 ECB -5.00
  

TOTAL / 13.28 / 2.98 / 2

GRAND TOTALS  Regular Price Sale Price ECBs

TOTAL / 60.67 / 19.58 / 2

That seems like a pretty good deal to me.  I stuck to buying only items that we'll actually use.  I also got another $4/$20 coupon, which I will use next week.  I definitely wasn't very smooth, but as I said, the cashier was very patient and nice.  Even adding this to the rest of my grocery spending (for this two-week period) leaves me with $35 for items that come up, saving for future meat purchases, and next week's CVS-ing!

Menu Plan Monday

Another Monday, another menu plan!

Last week went well - again a little out of order, but I tried a few new things that are keepers!  The Stir-fried Chicken with Sweet Chili Sauce got rave reviews - it actually tasted a bit like takeout Szechuan Chicken - yum!  The Two-Sauce Lasagna was also really good.  I'm not a huge lasagna fan, but I really liked how this one turned out.

This week (and next week) are short due to family things on the weekends - a reunion this weekend, and a wedding next weekend.  Because of that, I planned for the 9 days we'd be here the next two weeks, and grocery shopped accordingly.  We also have a cousin coming to stay a few days (starting today), so a few bigger meals are planned.  I do have the menu split into two weeks, and here's this weeks:

Monday:  Crockpot Venison Roast, Potato Salad, Green Beans, Bread

Tuesday:  Pizzas, Salad

Wednesday:  Shepherd's Pie (from the freezer), Bread

Thursday:  Beans on Toast & Eggs (or leftovers)

Friday - Saturday: Family Reunion

Sunday:  Leftovers (or Beans on Toast & Eggs)

I'm not really attempting too much homemade this week.  It seems like it's going to be a very busy week.  We did bake bread and make biscuits for the freezer on Saturday, and Nora and I will make cookies today, but that's it.

For more great menu ideas, head on over to OrgJunkie.  Thanks, Laura!