Sick and tired of being sick and tired

ick! I hate the sickness...I'd rather just puke and be done, but nooooooo! I have to have the stuffy nose, itchy throat, watery eyes kinda sickness. Day 2 and hoping that day 3 brings an end to it! I have stuff to do dang it!

Speaking of stuff to do. Uh, I haven't been doing so much of the P90X. One, because I have felt like doo-doo - two, our copy of the program is all fricked the frack up and works when it damn well feels like it and three, I've been down right exhausted getting used to the single parent schedule again.

So, I ordered a NEW copy of P90X and it arrived TODAY *jump for joy* and on MONDAY I will be starting ALL OVER! Which is fine with me, BRING IT beotch. I am also going to try my darndest to get on board with the meal planning they provide, but with just the boys and I home for dinner 4/5 nights during the week it's hard to cook salmon, tilapia and lemon pepper chicken when they'd just as soon have a bowl of froot loops or some grilled cheese. We'll see how that progresses.

I need to take more pictures. Random thought.

And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank not only all those blogs listed down there on the side for helping me understand this whole "super-couponing" thing but more specifically the ladies over at Couponers Wanted. They are full of information and resources! They really know how to make you feel welcome and give you the help that you ask for. Thanks gals!

Onto tonight's shopping adventure. I think I missed posting an adventure..oh yes, one to CVS. It wasn't grocery related so that's probably why.

Let me share my abbreviations before we get started.
Shelf=the regular selling price.
Card=preferred card price.
MQ=manufacturer coupon.
SQ=store coupon.
CAT=catalina coupon that prints at the end of an order at some grocery stores for $XX off your next order.
Instant=instant savings when you buy a certain # of a product
EQ=electronic loaded coupon, which you can find here, here and here. Also, if you have a Upromise account you can load coupons and the savings will go into your account instead of coming off you bill (at least that is how I understand it.

Buckle up, here we go!

Jewel-Osco
$1.39/ea when you buy 5 participating Quaker products; here's what I did

6 granola bars
Shelf: 19.14
Card: 11.94
MQ: $3
4 boxes instant oatmeal
Shelf: 15.96
Card: 7.96
MQ: $4
Instant on 10items = $6
I paid 6.90

2 skippy peanut butter
Shelf: 6.50
Card: 3.00
MQ: 1.00
I paid 2.00

2 I can't believe it's not butter
Shelf: 5.90
Card: 3.00
MQ: 1.00
I paid 2.00

Coffeemate
Shelf: 1.79
MQ: 1.00
I paid 0.79

Wheatables
Shelf: 4.29
Card: 1.88
MQ: 1.50
I paid 0.33

Sara Lee bread
Shelf: 2.99
Card: 1.69
I paid 1.69

Slim fast bar
Shelf: 0.99
Card: FREE
MQ: 1.00
I paid: -1.00 :)

Mountain High vanilla yogurt
Shelf: 3.59
Card: 2.19
MQ: 1.00
I paid: 1.19

I also had a $5 CAT and a $2 CAT.

Total Shelf Price: 60.15
Total card savings: 33.70
Total MQ: 20.50
I paid: 6.95 not including tax; 88.63% savings.

Moving right along to Dominick's

Trix cereal
Shelf: 3.49
Card: 1.88
EQ: 0.55
MQ: 1.00
I paid 0.33

Lucky Charms
Shelf: 3.99
Card: 1.88
EQ: 1.10
MQ: 1.00
I paid: -0.22 (yes, they gave ME $ to buy the cereal)

2 Doritos
Shelf: 7.98
Card: 5.98
SQ: 4.00
I paid 1.98

4 Ragu
Shelf: 7.96
Card: 5.00
SQ: 2.00
MQ: 2.00
I paid: 1.00 (or 0.25/ea!!)

4 La Victoria Salsa
Shelf: 11.96
Card: 8.00
MQ: 8.00
I paid: 0

Angel soft
Shelf: 1.79
I FORGOT MY MQ!!!!
I paid: 1.79

2 Milk
Shelf: 4.98
Card: 3.98
I paid: 3.98

1 choc milk
Shelf: 1.99
Card: 1.99
MQ: 1.99
I paid: 0

2 Trop50 OJ
Shelf: 6.78
Card: 5.00
MQ: 2.00
I paid: 3.00

Shelf: 49.92
Card: 14.42
SQ + MQ+EQ: 23.64
I paid: 11.86 not including tax; savings of 76.24%

ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN DOLLARS & EIGHTY SEVEN CENTS OF GROCERIES FOR

$18.87

Naysayers

Don't hate the player, hate the game LOL! I've had some people...no names...questioning my ability to be saving as much money as I am doing our grocery shopping. Some even going to so far as to accuse me of not supporting the military way of life b/c I am shopping less and less at the commissary. As far as I am concerned, the commissary is not supporting US by supplying over-priced products, incoherent policies and the teeny-tiniest of selection!

So, for my naysayers....I give you the comparison from this evening's shopping trip.

2-pkgs barilla pasta
I paid 1.98
Commy price 2.98

2-pkgs crescent rolls
I paid 0.19/EACH
Commy price 1.64/ea

2-pkgs pillsbury breadsticks
I paid 1.29/ea
Commy price 1.75/ea

2-pkgs pillsbury cinnamon rolls
I paid NEGATIVE 0.11 cents each! Yep, they paid me to take those cinnamon rolls out the door!
Commy price 1.75/ea

2 boxes gogurt
I paid 1.54/ea
Commy price ON SALE 1.75/ea reg price 1.89/ea

2 pkgs sargento sliced cheese
I paid 0.99/ea
Commy price 2.29/ea

I also received a coupon for $4 off my next purchase at Dominick's.

The total amount I paid out of pocket was 10.29 which includes 0.41 tax.

Had I shopped for the same items at the commissary it would have cost me 17.62 WITHOUT the surcharge...with is 0.05/item and I wouldn't have gotten a coupon to come back and shop again!

Essentially that trip cost me 6.29 vs. 17.62 an 11.33 difference. I could have bought TWICE the amount of items at Dominick's for the same price I would get ONE set at the Commy. Sad isn't it?

Gettin' crazy around here!

DevilDoc went back to school last week and I became the new den leader of Pookins Tiger Cub pack or den or whatever it is called. I have NO clue what I am doing, can ya tell? So, basically I am a single parent AGAIN! I totally have the hang of it but DANG, doesn't mean I have to like it.

I fell off the P90x wagon over the weekend, but I will get back on and add a week to phase 1 for good measure...BRING IT! Did some deal shopping last night, wanna know what I got?

Jewel-beef top round roast, 1lb. carrots and bag of cereal
reg 12.85
paid 7.74
Savings 60.23%

Target-3 first aid on the go kits and 3 travel band aid packs
reg 5.82
paid .20 (tax)
Savings 100% :)

Walgreens-2 pert plus shampoo/body wash 2-sure deodorant
reg 14.36
paid 2.56 plus got a $2 coupon off next purchase!
savings 86.07%

I got this nifty little budget spreadsheet that already has all the formulas plugged in so all you do is add your expenditures. It shows how much you saved in coupons, store savings and total savings $$ wise and % wise. Love it! Check it out here.

Month to date my overall savings rate is 56%...not bad, but not where I want to be. Striving for 70% next month.

Updating from the pantry

Thought I should share some of my scores this week and update on our progress doing the From the Pantry Challenge.

Wednesday I hit up a new store, Super Fresh Market in Waukegan. Ridiculous dirt cheap prices on produce! And they had the ever elusive Yoplait strawberry mango frozen smoothies (b/c you just can't get GOOD fresh strawberries right now).

2.83lb gala apples @0.69lb 1.95
2.66lb bananas @0.29lb 0.77
2.11lb grapes @.99lb 2.09
3.35lb navel oranges @0.49lb 1.64
2 frozen smoothies @2.99 5.98

MINUS $2 coupons

Total 10.65 :)

Jewel Osco
There were a couple deals expiring that I wanted to get in on, so we scooted through on our way home from MOPS.

MaltOMeal cereal
reg 2.90
pref 1.49
i paid 0.75 (0.75Q)

slim fast bar
reg 0.99
pref card FREE

slim fast bar
reg 0.99
i paid NOTHING ($1Q)

I had purchased some cheese as well b/c I heard it was generating a catalina..but it didn't. So I returned it and I ended up walking out the door with 1.50 more than I came in with!

Commissary
10 Naked juice @1.85ea
10.85
2 $1Qs

2 cascadian farms frozen fruit @2.50ea
5.00
2 $1Qs

2 bags frozen generic mixed fruit @1.79
3.58

Total 24.55
less $10 mail in rebate for Naked Juice
14.55 :)

$23.70 total for today plus the $48 running total is $71.70 with 8 days left in this pay period.

BUT,
the TRUE deal of the day was

FREE all detergent and Nivea body wash!
4 32oz small & mighty all; price matched at Target to 1.99 ea. I had 4 $2 off coupons! Paid tax :)

2 Nivea body wash 2.99; $1 target Q and $2 manf Q (I had 2 of each!)

Glide dental floss 0.97, I had $1 manf Q

Stay tuned......

When did I grow up?

8 years ago today I married my true soul mate. That's right; 8 years ago DevilDoc and I stood side-by-side in the chapel of the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and said "I do". The next day we ate lunch at Cheesecake Factory and had our wedding dance on the top of the parking garage at Ceasar's Palace.

Through the years...

January 20, 2002-Wedding portrait


2003-re enlistment and one of the WORST pictures of me EVER!


2004-family photo just before 2nd turn to Iraq


2005-just home from Iraq and a VERY pregnant me!


2006-freedom! Hilton Waikaloa Beach Resort & NO kids!


2007-a night out


2008-July 4th celebration (that's Bob from Pass the Chopsticks fame!)


2009-admiring my Chief at Khaki Ball


2010
We'll have to wait and see what it brings us!

Going strong

on both the "pantry challenge" and P90x. Today was day 8 of P90X and it was SO much easier than last week! I am actually looking forward to the rest of the week...I hated the workout today, I don't like pushups. I don't do them right and I have bad wrists which just makes it even worse. I do my best though, and forget the rest ;)

There was still a killer deal at Dominick's today that I couldn't pass up! The granola bars were still 99cents so I grabbed 3 more and they had the strawberry cream cheese variety of toaster struedel marked down to $1.59 from $3.18, I had 2 $1 off coupons and an e-coupon on my Dom's card for 55cents off...all together: 3 boxes of granola bars and 2 boxes of toaster struedel for $3.71; total savings $8.55 or 70%. We'll see what else pops up this week.

So far for the 2nd pay period I am around $48 I think! The only thing I think we might run out of is cereal and pancake mix...hopefully I can stretch it out!

Saving money is my new hobby

it makes me giddy like a school girl.

Tonight I went to Jewel-osco and Dominick's to scoop up some deals..this is what I got for $41.78:



And this is how I got it:

I have started following coupon/savings blogs and printing coupons at home from internet sites. I match up my coupons with good sales in the stores and only buy what is rock bottom or free. I'm spending WAY less than at the commy. I'll get links up in my blog roll to the blogs I am following and I'll do another post with links for places to print coupons.

First I went to Jewel-Osco. At Jewel-Osco I do separate transactions to take advantage of the catalinas I earn. Catalinas are the little coupons that print out at the end of your transaction telling you that you can save $xx.xx off your next purchase. I went to the back of the line twice when people got behind me so I didn’t make a big scene at the checkout.

I did this deal b/c I heard it generated a catalina, I didn’t realize it was select products purchased get you the catalina. I didn’t buy the right stuff BUT I did get a $2 customer service survey coupon on my receipt so it all evened out!
The deal was supposed to be buy $4 in Contadina get $3 catalina for next purchase
4-contadina
Reg 4.06
$1 MQ
I paid $3.53 w/tax

Then there is another catalina deal for Kraft products, buy 5 qualifying products get $5 catalina off next purchase.
5-Breakstone doublers (cottage cheese/peaches)
Reg 1.24/ea=6.20
Pref 1.19/ea=5.95
I paid $6.05 with tax and got a $5 catalina for next purchase

20-Yoplait
Reg 0.68/ea=13.60
Pref 0.50/ea=10.00
$5 catalina (from kraft deal)
$1 MQ
I paid $4.18 w/tax and I got a $2 catalina for next purchase
TOTAL SAVINGS $9.60

Jewel is also running a 10 for $10 promo on certain items
Mission tortillas
Reg 1.98
Pref 1.00
$0.75Q

4-Lunchables
Reg 1.20ea=4.80
Pref 1.00=4.00

5# clementines
Reg 7.99
Pref 3.77

1.89lbs Gala apples
Reg 1.95/lb=3.69
Pref 1.00/lb=1.89

1.58lbs Fuji apples
Reg 1.95/lb=3.08
Pref 1.00/lb=1.58

Regular price $21.54
Pref price w/tax $12.45
2-$2 catalinas (from above Yoplait and previous trip Yoplait)
0.75 MQ
I paid $7.70
TOTAL SAVINGS $14.05

JEWEL-OSCO report
Regular price $45.25 without tax
I paid $21.46 with tax - over 50% off and ALL THINGS WE USE REGULARLY

Dominicks
They don’t do catalinas, at least I haven’t seen any yet..but I just started!

Quaker granola bars
Reg 2.99
Pref 1.99
Super special 0.99

2-True delight bars
Reg 3.49/ea=6.98
Pref 1.99/ea=3.98
I forgot to get two other super specials coupons!!
$1 MQ
I paid $2.98

Caribou coffee
Reg 9.99
Pref 4.99
$2 ecoupon
$2 MQ
I paid 0.99

18ct eggs
Reg 2.29
Pref 1.89
Super special 0.99

Kids smoothie
Reg 1.39
Pref 0.69

Healthy life bread
Reg 2.99
Pref 1.99
$0.55 MQ
I paid 1.44

6-Jennie-O 20oz ground turkey
Reg 5.49/ea=32.94
Pref 2.50/ea=15.00
6-$1 MQ
I paid $9.00

3-Avocados
Reg 5.97
Pref 2.64

Reg price $66.09
I paid $20.32 (should have been $18.32!!)
TOTAL SAVINGS VALUE $45.77 or 70%

So tonight, I purchased $111.34 worth of groceries and I paid $41.78…
TOTAL SAVINGS 63%

Uh huh, I feel good.

Day 3 of P90X

and day 13 of Eat from the Pantry Challenge was yesterday. I'm doing much better eating from the pantry than I am with the P90X. I was feeling good yesterday and woke up this morning with legs that don't want to carry me up and down the stairs and arms that can barely buckle my seatbelt. I would gladly clean a 3rd bathroom if it meant there were one on the main floor...okay, I don't clean the bathrooms but I'm sure DevilDoc would also agree to cleaning an extra bathroom if it meant we didn't have to hobble up and down the stairs.

We are still going strong on the pantry but I must hit the store again today, if I can manage to get upstairs to take a shower and get dressed of course! New sales started today and coupled with some coupons I have and in store rewards I just can't pass it up. But, I am counting it towards the second 1/2 of the month budget since we get paid tonight :)

And lest you think all we do is workout and shop for deals I want to share some things from the kids. Yesterday Pookins came home from school all a-flutter about "Marvin Lufer King Jr." (I did help him pronounce it correctly after 10 or so tries!). He told me all about what MLK Jr. did, the speech he gave and that he died. He wanted to come home and find out how old MLK Jr. was when he died. So, we did. And when I told him that MLK Jr. was 39 he burst into tears. My birthday is right around the corner and DevilDoc JUST LOVES to tell the kids how old I will be (celebrating the 7th anniversary of my 29th birthday) and Pookins being the little math whiz that he is quickly determined that my age and MLK Jrs. age at death are very close and promptly told me I could not die because I need to live 'til infinity.

{{{Insert mommy with heart bulging out of her chest here!}}}

Then he went on with "how did MLK Jr. die"? So, I did my best to put it into 7yo words...I told him that there were people who didn't think white people and brown people could be friends so they didn't like MLK because he thought that we can all be friends. And those people were very bad and killed MLK Jr. Oh my, that really turned the faucets into high gear. He was darn near hyperventilating at this point and I had to take a few minutes to calm him down the best I could. God love him. He told me that his friend Derrick at school is brown and it's okay that they are friends. As a matter of fact, even if Derrick was purple they would still be friends, that what he said.

{{{Insert mommy doing her best to hold back the tears because she is SO PROUD of the little boy sitting next to her.}}}

Fast forward to this morning before school I had on the news and of course everything is about the tragedy in Haiti right now. Pookins was VERY concerned about the people he was seeing on TV, mumbled under his breath each and every statistic they were providing on the news and asked me for more information about earthquakes. Then he said, "what can I do to help the kids in Haiti?" My baby has such an amazing soul. Remember he did this for his 6th birthday. So today, while he is at school filling his little brain with more math, phonics and facts about MLK Jr. I am going to do my best to find SOMETHING that he can do to help the kids in Haiti. Somthing he can ACTUALLY do, participate in, be a part of...not simply sending money - though we'll be doing that by text when he gets home, but something of his own that he can say "I did this".

If you have any ideas, feel free to leave it in the comments.

Visit The American Red Cross Website for more information about the disaster in Haiti and ways you can help.

The good news is

I'm not going to be doing laundry for awhile. The bad news is it's because my legs feel like jell-o-y rubberbands thanks to P90X. Before I "brought the pain" I made a run out to Jewel-Osco and Dominick's to pick up some sweet deals on yogurt seeing as how DevilDoc is going through 3 a day!

Dominick's
Dole 4pack fruits
reg 2.79ea
sale 2/$4
pref card 1.49/ea
MQ (manufacturer coupon) 2-$0.75/1
I paid $1.24 each AND there is a DOLE rebate going on here and now I am 1/2 way there!

Lucerne gallon milk
reg 2.49
sale 1.99/ea when you buy 2
MQ for free 1/2 gallon choc. milk w/purchase of 2 gallons white
I paid 3.98 for 2.5gallons of milk

32oz Coffeemate
reg. 3.49
sale 1.99
MQ 1.00
I paid $0.99!

Total at Dominick's including tax $10.19 :)

Jewel is a lot easier...only got yogurt
20 yoplait yogurts
reg. 0.64/ea
pref card 0.33/ea
MQs 2-$1/6 and 1-$1/8 $3 total
I paid $4.29 inclucing tax AND got a $2 catalina for my next trip! That's a coupon :)

Today's total $14.48 added to my running monthly total of $82.57 = $97.05; I'm $2.95 UNDER budget and we are STOCKED! Might just get myself a Starbucks with that...oh nevermind, I have a giftcard!

Still doing well on the eating from the pantry but the shelves are getting BARE! We are down to ONE box of cereal that no one wants to eat except me. That's fine, but I'm not buying anymore until Februry unless it is free or VERY CLOSE to free. We are all making healthier choices and getting more creative with our food. Tonight we had breakfast for dinner with turkey bacon and it was Mmmm, mmmm good! We may be switching to turkey bacon forever!

Sunday SUNday SUNDAY!!!

I'm not sure if I was more excited about football or the newspaper this morning LOL! I needed to make a trip to the commissary as we were getting pretty low on dairy stuff and I still didn't have any ground turkey!

We also fell off the wagon a bit over the weekend. Our stupid sink, dishwasher, garbage disposal were in cahoots and got all blocked up. I couldn't wash dishes, run water, start the dishwasher...NOTHING. So, I threw my hands up and off to Cracker Barrel we went. That was on Friday. On Saturday I am not sure what everyone else had for dinner because I fell into some type of minor coma during the Bengals game. The next thing I knew it was midnight-thirty and I was wide awake! BLAH. I am assuming they had sandwiches or something since I didn't notice any dirty pots and pans.

I stuck with the menu for Sunday and DevilDoc made teriyaki chicken with rice and vegetables as I was on my way home from the commissary, I had just enough time to scarf down a bowl of yumminess before I headed out the door for work. The damage at the commy today...

10x yoplait/0.50ea ($1/10Q)
2x sausage/1.99ea (.55/1Q x 2)
turkey bacon/1.50 (0.75Q)
Kings Hawaiian rolls 2.49 (1.00Q)
2x block kraft cheese 8oz/1.50
block kraft cheese 16oz/2.50
2x ground turkey/1.92 (0.75Q x 2)
frozen mixed fruit/1.79
2x vanilla yogurt/2.08 (1.00/2Q)
sour cream/1.09
turkey lunchmeat/2.49 (1.00/2Q)
yoplait parfait/1.49 (1.00Q)
YoPlus/0.99 (1.00Q) MM!
macaroni/0.75
pizza sauce/1.15
salsa/2.08
applesauce/1.99
apples/2.50
bananas/1.09
grapes/4.72
texas toast/1.72
bread/2.00 (0.40Q)
popsicles/1.49
chips/2.82 (0.55Q)

59.12 total before Qs...10.30 in Qs for OOP cost $48.82!

The commissary didn't have a few things that I was looking for; Yoplait smoothies, Dole frozen fruit....I think I'll take a trip to Dominick's and see if they carry it and to also compare their prices to the commissary. I wrote down the prices of many things I buy during a normal shopping trip, can't wait to compare! I also bought a few non-food items (dog food, cleaning stuff) that I did not include in the above total for obvious reasons.

So, that's $33.75 (previous total for the month) + 48.82 new purchases = $82.57 leaving me $17.43 until January 15 which will net us a savings of $50 on groceries for the pay period :) Makes me HAPPY!

On the menu this week:
11-artichoke & caper slow cooker chicken/rice
12-breakfast casserole
13-bruschetta chicken/garlic rolls
14-beef portabello stroganoff (using ground turkey 1/2lb)
15-skillet lasagna using other 1/2lb of ground turkey
16-kalua pork/rice/mac salad
17-frozen pizza (I have a TS party)

I have everything I need to make it to the 15th!! We *might* need a refill on milk at some point during the week but that's all.

I got sucked in

to the panic of a "winter storm advisory" and made a trip to the store. And, in my rush to leave I forgot to pull my receipt off the self check out thingie!

AGH! I came home with 2doz eggs @1.24ea, 1gal milk @2.40, cheese slices @1.25 (plus coupon), butter @1.29 (plus coupon), gogurt x2 @1.89 (plus coupon), bread @1.49, 5 cans juice @0.89 and 3 sets of 3pie pans @0.80ea...I think that was it. Oh, bananas 2.16. The WHOLE reason I went in the first place was to get ground turkey. Well, apparently when there is a "winter storm advisory" everyone stocks up on turkey and chicken because there wasn't a cluckin' thing left. Cluckin' get it? There I go, crackin' myself up again. See, crackin'...get it? Oh, I gotta stop.

So, my total was somewhere around $18 after coupons and surcharge (commissary). So, that's $15.75 + $18.xx = $33.75.

Oooh, DevilDoc, Magoo, Pookins and I did head out to Sears to use our Heroes at Home gift card. We got Magoo a new pair of kicks and then we ran over to Kmart and picked up a shelving unit for the kitchen so I can have my cabinets back. It's totally ghetto fabulous and I love it.

Moving right along

on our menu plan! So far so good, no one is starving. Last night we had BBQ beef sandwiches that I made from leftover pot roast :) Go me! I also sent home 3 containers of leftovers with my buddy Karen (chili, chix dumpling soup and 1/2 the BBQ beef) since she has a husband at home 'til the 19th I figured he could eat them up quickly!

I did make a grocery purchase yesterday, coffeemate was on sale 2/$3 at CVS and I had a coupon for $1.50/2 so I ended up paying $1.50 for 2 coffeemates which I think is a good price.

For those keeping track: $14.25 + $1.50 = $15.75 in groceries so far for January. I should really run out today and get some ground turkey that I need for the menu but it is SO FREAKIN' COLD I can barely type. Okay, it's not THAT cold. But it is cold enough to make me stay inside wearing my jammies and scarf with Magoo's piggies tucked underneath my legs on the couch while we watch "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" for the bazillionth time in less than 24 hours.

Whoosh, how was that for a run-on sentence? My freshman English teacher Ms. Flat would be SO unhappy.

Oh, and I took pics of my cabinets...here ya go!

What we've got here is a cotton pickin' mess! Ugh, I HATE that I don't have a pantry in this darn kitchen. Hopefully tonight I will somewhat remedy this problem...I'm gonna buy some wire shelving that will serve as a pantry-ish type of thing.

So, we got some soup, beans, lots of tomato products, veggies, hot cocoa, rice/sides, tea, PB, spag sauce, frosting (always have frosting, never know when you NEED a spoonful!), various sauces and junk on the top shelf.

CABINET #2

This is my Tastefully Simple cabinet LOL! Lots of TS stuff; almond pound cake, brown sugar sauce, beef stroganoff, portabello soup, sweet cheeseball mixes..you get the picture (get it, "get the picture"?) Oh I crack myself up. Also snacks; chips, pretzels, chex mix, popcorn. Pasta, oatmeal, stove top, rice and granola. 3 boxes of stove top! WTH am I gonna do with that? DevilDoc doesn't like it...I will use one box in bruschetta chicken so I need to do something with 2 boxes. Hmmm....ideas?


Refrigerator angle #1

I cannot believe I am putting a picture of my fridge on the internet. Lord help me, at least it is clean! We've got crescent rolls, breadsticks, etc. in the drawer along with some cheese, carrots and rosemary. Then there is sweet tea-DON'T MESS WITH MY SWEET TEA!-Jell-O cheesecake treats :) yogurt, LOTS of various cheeses, fresh cut pineapple, lunchmeat, left over BBQ beef, salsa, eggs...blah blah blah. You can see the picture.


And the door view #2

Ricotta, jelly, ketchup, chocolate syrup, hoisin, milk, juice, creamer, sparking juice :), BBQ sauce...blah blah blah condiments.


Finally the freezer
Remember, we lost everything in our fridge/freezer right before Christmas...which is why they look so empty! Stir fry veggies, coffee, meatballs, ice cream treats and pizza. Woo-hoo, exciting. I did not take a picture of the outside freezer because IT'S TOO FREAKIN' COLD to go stand in the garage in front of the FREEZER and take a pic. Just know that there is a bag of frozen chicken breasts and maybe 2lbs. of bacon out there. That's it.

Now you can play a game...you can look at my menu and see if I actually have everything on hand that I need to make meals for the rest of the month. I'm gonna give you a hint..I don't! Like ground turkey for instance! I have one pkg. but need 2 more.


Oh, and if you have any ideas for that stove top let me know...and not just make stuffing out of it :)

I just realized I didn't take a picture of the teeny-tiny shelf thingie in the kitchen...it is home to cereal, potatoes, more hot cocoa (hey, it was on sale during wacky Wednesday!), chips, mac n cheese and crackers. Don't judge :)

Made the first trip

to the commissary since the Pantry Challenge started. My kids are drinking milk like it is WATER! But that's okay; I'm happy to buy milk for them...especially since I just found out it is $1.99/gallon at CVS this week! I also needed bread, butter, eggs, potatoes, cheese and buns. After DevilDoc returned from the store I realized that since I had switched some things around on the menu I also need 2lb of ground turkey for this weeks menu. Oops. Guess I'll be making a trip to Wacky Wednesday after all.

Milk 2.40
egggs .94
butter 2.19 AND I had a coupon but someone forgot to use it!
cheese 2.50 I would have never spent that much, he didn't buy the off brand
bread 1.94
buns 1.60
5lb potatoes 2.00
total with surcharge 14.25

Not that I think it matters (or that you care at all) how much I spend at the grocery every.time.I.go, BUT it does help me keep track of what I am spending and hold myself accountable since everyone can see it :) Our normal monthly food spending (without dining out) is about $300. I'd like to cut that in half this month and then start stockpiling when I can combine coupons/store sales come February.

Oooh, and I need to take a pic of the "pantry", fridge and freezer so y'all can see what I'm working with.

Day two of the pantry challenge

and we are doing well! Typically on the weekends it is a free for all at breakfast time; everyone just kinda does their own thing. Same goes for lunch :) We are all usually doin' our own thing so it's hard to get everyone to sit down and eat lunch together. Yesterday it was a free for all breakfast and lunch and then we had taco bar for dinner; there are enough leftovers for either DevilDoc or I to have a couple tacos or a taco salad for lunch.

For breakfast today I made a Tastefully Simple berry buckle cake and DevilDoc is making sausage and cheese omlettes, bacon and toast. We also have fresh fruit and juice/milk. For lunch someone will have the leftover tacos and it'll probably be pb, turkey or cheese sammies for everyone else. On the menu for dinner is another Tastefully Simple creation hearty chicken and dumpling soup :)