Menu Plan Monday 4/6

Here's the plan for this week........

M- Cheeseburgers, curly fries, cucumber slices
T- Breakfast for dinner
W- Mini pizzas made with free Target bread, salad
Th- Jambalaya with cornbread and green beans
F- Nephew's birthday party- sandwiches
S- Frozen ravioli with leftover spaghetti sauce, salad
S- Easter- ham and lots of yumminess! I love holidays!

This is the roast that never ends....

I wanted to share this about a roast. I made 2 roasts in the crockpot Sunday night. They were small roasts, about 2.5 lbs each. We had 2 guests for dinner so 4 adults ate, no kids. (My kids secretly want to be chicken nugget vegetarians.) Monday, I put the remaining meat in the crockpot again, with a can of diced tomatoes w/ onion and garlic. I served this meat over flour tortillas with rice and beans. Hubby and I each had 2 tacos each. Tonight, I put the remaining meat in a sauce pan with a little water (maybe 1/4 cup), and served it over mashed potatoes with green beans. I spent around 7.00 on the 2 roasts and it has fed us 3 yummy dinners. It sort of messed up my meal plan but I am glad to have used up the leftovers instead of throwing them out. And I have an extra meal for next weeks menu!

Menu Plan Monday 3/23

After sitting down with my calendar, I have a pretty short grocery list this week. Since I am constantly buying things at low, low prices (or FREE, my favorite) I thought I would post my grocery list. Hopefully, this will show what stockpiling can do for your grocery budget. Keep in mind, I budget $300/ month for a family of 4 for food. This is mostly spent on groceries but we occasionally go out for dinner.

M- Shredded beef on tortillas, beans and rice (This is using leftovers from the fridge.)
T- Beef tips, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread
W- BBQ ribs, mac & cheese, cucumber slices, biscuits
Th- Spaghetti Pie & garlic bread
F- French toast, bacon & eggs
S- Bertolli ravioli (& leftover spaghetti pie, in case it's yucky)
S- Tacos, black beans, corn

This is our grocery list. This includes breakfast and lunches.

bacon
parmesan
ricotta
black beans
tortillas
bread
milk
lunchmeat
strawberries
mozzarella
juice boxes

I'm also going to buy a couple of punds of Laura's Lean Beef if it's on sale at my Target. I'm down to one pound in the freezer. Hopefully Homeland will put their's on sale soon!! I'll update with a total when I return.

Edit: I spent $46 at Target. The beef was not on sale and they were out of razors. I ended up adding some things to the list like snacks for Peyton's class on Thursday, coffee filters, and vegetable oil. I also had to get children's tylenol. These extras added up quick, but I still came in under budget for the week.

Frugal Spring Break- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

We have had such a fun week I didn't have a chance to post the last couple of days. Wednesday we went to the park with Daddy and had a picnic and flew kites. It was a beautiful afternoon so the girls played, the dog walked (and got lots of attention from strangers) and Mommy layed in the sun for a minute. Here's the pics:

Our picnic (complete with the quilt)

Daddy and his girlies flying kites.

"I see my kite, Daddy!"
Total cost: $2.14 for kites from Dollar Tree

*****

Thursday we went to the Zoo with our neighbors. I got a free family pass from work last Spring and it doesn't expire until June. We took a picnic lunch and saw the Dinosaur exhibit.

Peyton and the baby T-Rex

Peyton, Maddy and our neighbor on the turtle sculpture.

The life size T-rex. It is animitronic and loud! Peyton screamed when she saw it.

Total cost: 1.00 for drink refills, 1.02 for smashed pennies.

Thursday evening the neighborhood girls put on a concert for the parents. They curled their hair, put on glitter and set up chairs. They had a stereo and 3 karaoke machines. They had made invitations earlier in the week. It was so cute to hear them sing Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. At the end they signed autographs for all of us!

Total cost for performance: 0.00! =)

*****

Friday, we had the first day of our garage sale. We sold old clothes, furniture and new items I had gotten free with coupons. Our first day was pretty profitable. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, and warmer! Maddy is trying to make money for a new bike. Today she sold stretch bracelets (aka my old black pantyhose with random household items attached) for $1. Tomorrow we are going to try a different approach. Stay tuned!

Bargain Meal of the Week- Homeland

We interupt this frugal Spring Break to bring you the bargain meal of the week. I made this for dinner last night and it is always so good!

Buy:
approximately a 2 lb. chuck roast= 4.00 (a 1.7 lb roast fed 3 hungry adults w/ leftovers)
2 lbs potatoes= .52
1 onion .50
baby carrots (1/2 bag) .75
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$5.77

I use this recipe. It's so easy!
http://http//allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easiest-Pot-Roast-Ever/Detail.aspx

I don't use the celery. I just don't like the taste with roast. And instead of bouillon I just use 1 c. water and pot roast seasoning. You can use a packet or just find things in your spice rack. (salt, pepper, & steak seasoning is what I used last night- yum)

Frugal Spring Break- Tuesday

Spring Break- Day Two

First, the girls jumped on the trampoline in the warm morning sun.

(After they made invitations to their concert for later in the week.)

Peyton's herkie. Courtesy of The Jonas Brothers.

Sire the dog. He's wondering why these girls are in HIS backyard.

Maddy in mid toe touch.

******

After lunch, we hit the dollar movies. Tuesday is half price day so tickets are .50 before 6pm.

******

Finally, we hit the park again while we waited for the crockpot to finish dinner.

Heading home. Ready for another fun day.

Total cost for the day: 1.50 movie tickets, 3.75 popcorn= $5.25

Frugal Spring Break- Monday

Since Mom and Dad are busy "snowballing" our Spring Break will be a "stay-cation". I have different things planned for each day this week and I will be posting pics to go along with the fun. Today I was the kind of Mom I would be if I had all the time in the world. We shopped, we played, and we baked. This must be what Angelina does all day. Here are the pics...
After shopping for our supplies, the girls made aprons for our baking day. I helped Peyton and baked the cake while the big girls finished their aprons.

Then we had lunch. Crust-less grilled cheese, chips and fruit. On leftover birthday plates. Because I'm cool like that.

Then we were off to the "big" park that we pass in our neighborhood. Everytime we drive by Peyton asks if we can play there. I usually say no but not on Spring Break! And we stayed until they were tired of playing. Because I am also cool like THAT.

For Mommy! I love FREE magazine subscriptions!

After playing at the park, we came home to make Cupcake Pops. Ours didn't turn out as cute as Bakerella's but we had fun trying.







So there is our Day 1 of Spring Break. Total for all this fun?
2.99 x 2= aprons
1.99= sticks
.99 x 3= paint
.88= cake mix
1.00= frosting
2.00= almond bark
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14.82