Grocery Challenge Meals: Day 9

June 29th, 2010

Here’s our menu for Day 9 of the All You Grocery Challenge:

Breakfast: Raisin bran

Lunch: There was a ton of leftover Almond Chicken from the previous day, so we split that and had grapes and carrot sticks on the side.

Almond Chicken

Dinner: We had quesadillas and salad – there was a teeny bit of pasta & ham casserole left, so I used it as a salad topping along with some flaxseed. It was good!

Quesadilla & salad

Week 1 Spending Totals

June 28th, 2010

Saturday marked the end of Week 1 in the All You Grocery Challenge. Our allotment for the Grocery Challenge is $25 per person per week, a total of $50 maximum for our two-person household. I went shopping twice last week, and spent a total of $39.20 for the week.

Receipt

Sunday marked the start of Week 2, and it was a busy day! First, we went to lunch with family, and spent a total of $17.75 on lunch + tip – I took a photo of the receipt with the tip as documentation, since obviously you don’t get a receipt for cash tips!

After lunch, I went to the store and picked up some groceries. Normally, I count the cost of coupons as part of my grocery budget, but apparently you do not factor the cost of coupons into your budget for this challenge. Household supplies and toiletries are also exempt. Bearing all that in mind, this makes Sunday’s total for groceries $8.23. That brings my running total for Week 2 to $25.98.

Grocery Challenge Meals: Weekend Recap

June 28th, 2010

Here’s our weekend menu for the All You Grocery Challenge:


Friday, Day 6:


Breakfast:
Raisin bran


Lunch:

Meat pie scramble

OK, so how’s this for stretching leftovers – I had a little bit of meat pie leftover from the previous day, but not enough for a meal on its own. So I scrambled it up with eggs, one biscuit crumbled into pieces, flaxseed, seasonings, and served with orange slice. I honestly think you can use almost any leftovers in an egg scramble – this was very nice!

Dinner: We went to a party at a friend’s house, and the host served us a very nice spaghetti dinner. Yum!


Saturday, Day 7:


Breakfast:
Raisin bran

Lunch:

Blending a smoothie

I blended two bananas, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, and a little milk to make smoothies. I served these with egg salad wraps:

Egg salad wraps & smoothies

Dinner:

Pasta & Ham casserole

I made a casserole by cooking a box of Ronzoni pasta from the stockpile, which I spooned into a pan and tossed with olive oil and cooked, chopped ham steak. I then put about 8 carrots through the food processor, chopping finely, and added them to the dish along with shredded cheese and seasoning. I also served the last of the biscuits as a side dish.

Pasta & Ham casserole


Sunday, Day 8:


Breakfast:
More Raisin bran – I have a big bag to use up!

Lunch: We met with family for lunch at a Chinese restaurant:

Almond chicken

Pan-fried noodles

Dinner: We had a casual dinner of leftover casserole and salad:

Pasta casserole & salad

Shopping Trip, June 27th: Paid to Buy Goldfish Crackers, Powerade, Margarine & More

June 28th, 2010

I did a few deals on Sunday, and brought home $67.65 worth of groceries for $17.06:

Safeway trip, June 27th

Transaction #1:

Goldfish, Powerade, & more

Total spent: $10.73
Total before coupons: $19.83
View receipt

I am pleased to announce that Safeway has gone back to its old policy on printable coupons – no more “50% of the value” rule! Click here to read the updated policy. The only exception is that you may not redeem “Free” printable coupons, so I will continue to take those to Fred Meyer.

So bearing that in mind, here’s what I got:

2 packages of Goldfish crackers – on sale for .88 cents, used two .50/1 printable coupons, which doubled; final price: Free plus .24 cents overage.
1 bottle of Ocean Spray Blueberry Juice – on sale for $1.50, used one $1/1 printable, which doubled; Final price: Free! (Thanks to Frugal Living NW for the tip!)
1 bottle of Powerade – on sale for .88 cents, used one $1/1 coupon good on any Powerade that I got through RecycleBank, which doubled; Final price: Free plus .62 cents overage.
2-lb bag of cheese – price: $3.99
1 gallon of milk – $2.39
1 bottle of Suave conditioner – On sale for $1.79, used one free coupon from the recent Facebook promotion. It automatically took off the full value of the coupon, which was $3.00, so I also received $1.21 in overage.
1 Sunday paper – price: $2.50
1.85 lbs bananas – price: $1.28
1.78 lbs of grapes – price: $1.76
2 bags of Fresh Express salad – on sale for .99 cents each, used two .55/1 coupons that I got by writing to the company; Final price: .44 cents each.

Transaction #2:

Stayfree

Total spent: $1.46
Total before coupons: $14.95
View receipt

I had read that there was a “Buy One, Get One Free” Stayfree coupon in this week’s Sunday paper, and since I had already planned to do a few more transactions to use up the rest of my $2/1 Stayfree coupons, I looked through the paper after I bought it and tore out the coupon. Then I loaded my groceries in the car and went back through the line again!

Got:

5 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used four $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled, and one “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon from the 06/27 Red Plum newspaper insert; The “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon automatically took off the full value of the coupon, which was $3.49, so I also received .50 cents in overage. Final price: $1.46 for all five.

Transaction #3:

Stayfree

Total spent: $1.96
Total before coupons: $11.96
View receipt

Got:

4 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used four $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; Final price: .49 cents each, $1.96 for all four.

Transaction #4:

Stayfree

Total spent: $1.96
Total before coupons: $11.96
View receipt

Got:

4 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used four $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; Final price: .49 cents each, $1.96 for all four.

Transaction #5:

Stayfree & Gold 'N Soft

Total spent: .95 cents
Total before coupons: $8.95
View receipt

Got:

2 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy 2 or more; used two $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled; Final price: .49 cents each.
3 tubs of Gold ‘N Soft Margarine – while flipping through the 06/27 newspaper for the Stayfree coupon, I also found two coupons for Gold ‘N Soft Margarine located in the Smart Source insert. So I picked up three tubs of margarine for .99 cents each, and used one .50/1 coupon and one $1.50/2 coupon, which doubled; Final price: Free plus .03 cents overage.

Grocery Challenge Meals: Day 5

June 28th, 2010

Here’s our menu for Day 5 of the All You Grocery Challenge:

Breakfast: I had a small piece of steak leftover, so I chopped it into little pieces and scrambled it up with eggs, flaxseed, seasonings, and crumbled up biscuits. I like adding biscuit pieces to a scramble because they get nice and crispy and lend a good flavor to the dish.

Steak & egg scramble

Breakfast is served

Lunch: I reheated the rest of the potato soup from Day 4 and served it with a salad:

Potato soup & salad

Dinner: I had pre-cooked beef cubes in the fridge that I had planned to utilize in a more elaborate dish, but I was absolutely exhausted. I had gone to the doctor that morning for my knee troubles and started two anti-inflammatory medications, so between the medicine and the fact that I’d only gotten 3 hours of sleep, I was toast. So, I decided to do a quick meat pie by putting the beef cubes in a pie plate, adding a stock cube, and covering the meat with rest of the leftover mashed potatoes.

Meat pie

I served the meal with biscuits, and used paper plates to keep cleanup simple!

Meat pie & biscuit

Shopping Trip – June 24th

June 24th, 2010

I made a quick trip to Fred Meyer this afternoon:

Knee braces & groceries from Fred Meyer

Total spent: $29.06
Total before coupons: $36.55
View receipt

Got:

2 Futuro knee braces – I went to Fred Meyer right after a doctor’s appointment for some knee trouble that I’ve been having, and the doctor prescribed me some anti-inflammatory medication and recommended that I buy a brace for each knee. As luck would have it, there were coupons hanging off the shelf next to the knee braces for $2/1 – so I bought the two knee braces that I needed, originally priced at $12.99 each, and paid $21.98 total for both after coupons.
1 bottle of Seventh Generation dish soap – regularly $3.49, used one free coupon that I earned through RecycleBank; final price: free.
12-pack of toilet paper – price: $4.69
1 gallon of milk – price: $2.39

The milk purchase brings our running total for Week 1 to $39.20. Our allotment for the Grocery Challenge is $25 per person per week.

Grocery Challenge Meals: Day 4

June 24th, 2010

Here’s our menu for Day 4 of the All You Grocery Challenge:

Breakfast: I had about two bites of an Atkins granola bar that I got in the mail through a free sample sign-up. I didn’t finish it because it tasted rancid to me, even though it was months away from its best-by date. Blech!

Lunch:

Jai was going to be out at jobs during the early afternoon, so I packed him a lunch of leftover steak, carrots, and a banana:

Steak, carrots, and a banana

Meanwhile, I had leftover steak & mashed potatoes with orange juice:

Steak & mashed potatoes

Dinner: Remember the pan of chicken that I made on Sunday? Well, I had a bunch of nice stock left over from it that I wanted to put to use. Since my decision to make soup was fairly last-minute, I didn’t have time to defrost any meat, so it seemed like a veggie soup would be the best way to go; and so I decided I would make a potato soup. Yes, more potatoes – what can I say, I’ve been doing a good job of using them up recently!

We didn’t have much milk left – I’ll pick some more up today – so I decided to Google “Vegan potato soup” to see if I could find a recipe that wouldn’t require milk. Sure enough, I found this recipe for Vegan Potato-Leek Soup and decided to modify it to fit what I had on hand. First, I sauteed garlic in a little olive oil, and then added four potatoes with the skins still on. I then added the leftover stock, which I had made by covering Sunday night’s chicken with two cups of water, one stock cube, wine, olive oil, garlic, seasonings, finely chopped carrots, and celery. I then added just enough water to cover the potatoes – there was a lot of stock, so I didn’t need too much water – and then added another stock cube and brought it to a boil. At this point I reduced the heat to simmer and cooked until the potatoes were fully done and could be easily broken up with a spoon. Then I poured the soup into my food processor a little at a time and blended until smooth, returning it to a low heat to keep warm until the next part of dinner was finished: Biscuits.

Biscuits

I had originally wanted to make bread bowls for the soup, but I ran out of time; so I decided to make biscuits instead. I wanted to try this recipe for drop biscuits because it looked quick and easy. I had never tried making biscuits this way before, and I got a little worried because the dough did not look very appetizing. However, they turned out just fine – the flavor of these is like cornbread, unlike the traditional sort of biscuit that I’m used to, but still good.

Potato soup & biscuits

I was surprised by how good the soup was. Since it was an experiment, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, and the recipe sounds very plain – but it’s actually very nice. I’m not usually a big soup fan, but I thought this was delicious and I would definitely make it again. And this recipe is certainly frugal!

Free & Cheap Items at Medco – Band-Aids, Floss, Toothpaste, & More – Hurry!

June 24th, 2010

ETA: Alas, my order has been cancelled, along with most of the readers over at Money Saving Mom. Medco told me that “This promotion was available ‘while supplies last,’ and due to overwhelming demand the item is now out of stock. Accordingly, we have now terminated the promotion.” I had assumed that due to the great success of their $10 off promotion – which resulted in a great deal of positive publicity and new customers for the company – that they had released these new coupon codes as a way of keeping up the momentum. Having a deal valid “While supplies last” is a smart thing to do – but where Medco slipped up here was not making that fact crystal clear to their customers. If the company runs out of stock (and all the items I bought were marked “In stock”), the coupon code should bring up an “Expired” message. If a coupon that a company advertises deducts the promotional amount on in-stock items and places the order without issues, how is the consumer to know that it has expired?

Medco

Hurry over to Money Saving Mom’s site and check out her post about how to get free & cheap items at MedCo with some online coupons that they are currently offering. These deals are selling out quickly, so hurry! The picture above is a screenshot of what I ordered – a box of 50 Band-Aids, 4 Chapsticks, 5 packages of dental floss, and 8 toothpastes for $4.19 shipped.

You’ve read my thoughts on online deals, so be pragmatic as always – however, my experience with this company has been good so far. The only reason why I haven’t received my first order yet is because the items were on backorder – and then last week, my debit card number was stolen, so my order was further delayed while I waited for my new card to arrive.

Grocery Challenge Meals: Day 3

June 23rd, 2010

Here’s our menu for Day 3 of the All You Grocery Challenge:

Breakfast: Raisin bran with flaxseed sprinkled on top:

Raisin bran

Lunch: I scooped the leftover egg salad from Monday onto red leaf lettuce, and topped it with a little more flaxseed for a nice salad served with orange slices. (I was reviewing the flaxseed for Contest Corner!)

Photobucket

Dinner: I marinated 8 steaks that I bought earlier that day, using the ample supply of Weber grill mix in my stockpile, and made mashed potatoes to go with it – I chose to leave the skins on the potatoes, because the skins are nutritious and peeling the potatoes is also the most time consuming part of making homemade mash.

Steak and mashed potatoes

Jai wasn’t home when dinner was ready – our schedules always vary! – but I put aside a big steak and mashed potatoes that he ate when got home. We also had vanilla pudding for dessert.
I cooked way more steaks than we needed for this meal, because I wanted to freeze a few for dinners later on, as well as have leftovers for lunch today:

Chipotle steaksBlack peppercorn steaks
Leftover steakFreezer steaks

Shopping Trip – June 22nd

June 23rd, 2010

I stopped by Safeway yesterday to pick up supplies:

Safeway groceries - June 22nd

Total spent: $38.00
Total before coupons: $57.49
View receipt

Got:

1 bag of dried split peas – price: $1.45
1 bottle of Ken’s ranch dressing – on sale for $1.50, used one $1/1 coupon from the 5/9 Smart Source newspaper inserts, which doubled; final price: Free
Half gallon of half & half – price: $3.99
1 carton of Tropicana Orange Juice – on sale for $3.50, used one free coupon that I received through their “Juicy Rewards” program. It automatically took off the full value of the coupon, which was $3.99, so I also received .49 cents in overage.
1 8oz block of Tillamook extra sharp cheddar cheese – on sale for $2.50, used a $1/1 coupon, which doubled; final price: $1.00. A friend of mine got this coupon when she went to a cheese festival, and she very thoughtfully sent it to me!
100-count bottle of ibuprofen – price: $5.99
2 packages of Stayfree – on sale for $2.99 when you buy two or more; I used two $2/1 coupons that I got through trading, which doubled – final price: .49 cents each.
5 packages of Ranchers Reserve steak – there was a coupon for $5 off Ranchers Reserve beef with any $25 or higher beef purchase in the Safeway sales flier; I like to utilize meat coupons whenever I find them, and this was perfect timing to take advantage of the sale since I have used a lot of meat from the freezer recently. I got five different packages of steak, which added up to $25.18 – making the final total $20.18 for all five packages after coupon.
2.46 lb of bananas – price: $1.70
1.34 lbs of oranges – price: $1.33
1 head of red leaf lettuce – price: $1.00
10-lb bag of potatoes – price: $1.78
2-lb bag of carrots – regularly priced at $1.59, used a .50/1 coupon that I received by writing to the company; final price: $1.09.

Jai also picked up milk and half and half on Sunday, for a total of $5.78. Our allotment for the Grocery Challenge is $25 per person per week; our total spent on food for Week 1 so far is $36.81.