Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Grocery Cart Challenge

This week is the big purchase week.  I purchased all the food to make lunches and dinners for the whole month.  After this I will just have to purchase the stuff to make side dishes, once we run out of frozen veggies, and a few other things.  We are also trying the idea of once we run out of something then we are done until next month.  This mainly applies to what I call extras... the granola and a few other things like that.

Commissary  - I arrived at 8:00 when they opened up and the time stamp on the receipt says I left at 9:46!  Wow.  This is where I purchased the bulk of my items.


Barley - $0.89
Tomato Sauce - $0.59
Sugar - $1.50
Salad Topper - $2.19
Oregano - $1.89
Cumin - $1.89
Garlic Powder - $1.79
Jalepeno - 4 @ $1.00/ea
Mustard - $1.29
Fiber One Cereal - $3.47
Water - $2.19
Water (for me) - $0.99
All Detergeant - $3.99 - $1.00
Freezer Bags - 2 @ $2.72
Scrubber Pads - $0.87
Tortellini - $2.59
Yogurt - 21 @ $0.50
Milk - $2.50
Parmesean - $2.19
Eggs - $1.12
Fudge Bars - $3.78
Frozen Corn - $1.89
Frozen Broccoli - $1.59
Mixed Veggies - $1.89
Pepperoni - $0.99
Italian Sausage - $2.39
Whole Wheat Bagels - $2.97
Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns - 2 @$2.04
Pork Loins - $2.29
Ground Pork 2lbs. - $3.74
Red Onion - $0.71
Yellow Onion - 2 bags @ $1.39/ea
Zuccini - $0.70
Potato - $0.37
Red Potatoes - $1.07
Mushrooms - 2 @ $1.09
Carrots - 3 bags @ $0.50/ea
Tomato - $0.57
Total $101.70 (includes coupons)

Sam's Club - We were out of a few things
.
Fish - 2bags @ $7.78
Mozzarella - $8.54
Toilet Paper (won't have to buy for a long time) - $14.84
2PK Double Fiber Bread - $3.78
Pickles - $4.18
Fiber One Granola Bars - $7.24
Cinnamon Gum - $6.34
Total = $62.20

Walmart - Last place to go!
Apron - $5.00
Scrub Brushes - $2.50
GV Great Northern Beans - 3 @ $0.56
Salsa - 2 @ $1.08
GV Chilies - 2 @ $0.67
Diced Tomatoes - 3 @ $0.54
Diced Tomatoes - 2 @ $0.87
GV Bread Crumbs - $1.22
GV Italian Bread Crumbs - $1.22
Aluminum Foil - $3.32
Cough Drops - $2.43
Sweet Potato - $0.73
Ground Turkey 1lb - $1.97
Chicken Breasts - $5.88
Celery - $1.36
Pitcher - $2.50
Total minus Coupons = $35.67

Grand Total = $199.57

How did I do?  I splurged on a few things.  I could have gone with regular tortellini and not whole wheat.  That would have saved $0.50 but I felt getting 7 grams of Fiber was better than 1 gram.  I also could have gone with regular buns and spent $2.00 but again I felt the whole wheat was worth the extra money.  The Pitcher was a necessary as the glass pitcher I was making sugar-free lemonade in sprung a leak on Sunday and flooded our refrigerator!  The main splurge was the apron.  I figured it would be worth it in the end if I could keep my clothes somewhat clean and it's red so that is an added bonus!   Overall I was expecting to spend around $200 so I hit that perfectly!  I'm very happy.  I'll bite my pride (and Sam's) and say that in the past we have probably spent that much and barely made it through 2 weeks so I'm very happy at this point with how this is going.  Now back to the kitchen.  My break is over.

Check out Gayle at The Grocery Cart Challenge

Monday, March 30, 2009

April Freezer Cooking Master Action Plan

Monday
- Prepare Breadsticks
- Prepare Crescent Rolls
- Make Banana Bread

Tuesday
- Wake up early and go to Walmart.
- Go to commissary.
- Go to Sam's Club either before or after lunch.
- Organize canned items according to recipe.
- Start Calzone Dough
- Prep Veggies
- Assemble Calzones
- Make Tomato Basil Soup
- Make Tuscan Bean Soup

Wednesday
- Start Soups (Minestrone, Southwestern Vegetable)
- Assemble Breaded Fish
- Assemble Marinated Fish
- Assemble Oven Baked Pork Chops
- Make American Goulash
- Make Turkey Sloppy Joes
- Make Soups (Southwestern Chicken Soup, Chicken Stew)

Thursday
- Sleep in
- Pamper myself with new haircut!

I think that is everything!

April Freezer Cooking Master Menu Plan

Here is the revised master menu plan for April's OAMC session.  I used spark people and spark recipe to log all meals.  I did this to make sure we were getting the right amount of calories and other nutritional content.

Chicken Stew - 4 meals
Southwestern Chicken Soup - 6 meals
Minestrone Soup - 5 meals
Southwestern Veggie Soup - 6 meals
Tomato Basil Soup - 4 meals
Tuscan Bean Soup - 5 meals
Cornmeal Crescent Rolls - 36 rolls
Breadsticks - 24 breadsticks
Turkey Sloppy Joes - 8 meals
Calzones - This makes 16 meals but we will only be using 5 meals this month
American Goulash - 6 meals
Breaded Fish - 5 meals
Marinated Fish - 3 meals
Oven Baked Pork Chops - 2 meals

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Meal Plan Monday

Check out more menu plans at orgjunkie.com

This menu marks the beginning of my feezer cooking adventure!

Monday
Lunch - Tomato Soup, Salad, Garlic Toast
Dinner - Meatloaf

Tuesday
Lunch - Subway
Dinner - Meatloaf

Wednesday
Lunch - Chicken Noodle Soup, Salad, Garlic Toast
Dinner - Turkey Sloppy Joes, Green Beans w/ Mushrooms

Thursday
Lunch - Chicken Stew, Salad, Homemade Crescent Roll
Dinner - American Goulash, Collard Greens

Friday
Lunch - Minestrone Soup, Salad, Homemade Onion Garlic Breadstick
Dinner - Pizza Calzones, Parmesan Cauliflower

Saturday
Lunch - Southwestern Chicken Soup, Salad, Homemade Crescent Roll
Dinner - Breaded Fish, Sweet Potato, Broccoli

Sunday
Lunch - Tuscan Bean Soup, Salad, Homemade Garlic Onion Breadstick
Dinner - Turkey Sloppy Joes, Garlic Broccoli, Broiled Tomatoes

About This Blog

This blog is about my adventures in once-a-month cooking.  It is also called freezer cooking.  I first heard about this in October of 2008 but was pre-occupied with other issues in my life.  In January of 2009 I decided I would give freezer cooking a try but again one thing led to another and it was put on the "back burner".  Now it is almost April and I am finally ready to take on the big task of making a months worth of meals in a day or two.