GCC Shopping Round Up

Found a good deal this week on roast simply because one of the butchers was sloppy in the way they packaged it up. I didn't mind a bit. Slipped it in the cart with a smile and I can probably get a few dinners out of it. Here's what I managed to find this week...


Win-co

2 gallons milk $3.96
bananas $1.57
soymilk $2.95
Top Round Roast $7.03
2 loaves bread $1.74
broccoli $3.98
2 kids vitamins $7.96
deodorant $2.67
margarine $.68
chicken breasts $7.89

Garden

Salad greens and tomato

Freezer

Still working on all the free bread I got several weeks ago

Grand Total $40.43

Would you like to show & tell your own shopping trip? Please link directly to your post, not your homepage, and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Plan Monday

Ahhh, another week. Is it just me or is this summer just flying by? This is my last week of clinicals and then a glorious two weeks of regular life before school starts for both the kids and I. We've had such a late summer here with very little hot weather. I ate my first tomato from the garden yesterday and I've got lettuce coming out my ears. While it's growing, I can tell I'm not going to have much to can this summer. It's just not growing like it should. Any other Washington folk having problems with their gardens?

Anyway, here's what's cooking this week...
Breakfasts

Choice of oatmeal, fruit and bagels, smoothies or freezer pancakes
Dinners

Grilled cheese and fruit
Balsamic chicken, steamed broccoli
Crock pot Italian Beef, green beans and rolls
Grilled chicken salad and crusty bread
French Toast Raphael
Tuna salad sandwiches
Leftover Buffet

For more great menu plans go HERE.

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

I found this recipe at Food.com and I'm trying it out with some friends during a homeschool meeting this weekend. We'll be eating and planning our school year for the kids. You can find the recipe here...

Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole

Do you have a recipe you'd like to share? Please link directly to your post, not your homepage and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Have a great weekend!

Cheap and Fun

Early on in our marriage we were given some advice to have a weekly date night. Since we were prompt to produce the first grandchild 10 months after the wedding, we had parents who were more than eager to come over once a week to fawn over their new grandson while we happily scrambled out the door hollering “good luck” behind us as we ran to our car. The only problem was that by the time the dust settled and we dug through our newlywed wallets we would find that we usually had around seven dollars to fund our few hours of freedom. Even 15 years ago that wasn’t much so we had to get creative.

It became a fun challenge to see just how much we could do with our measly few bucks. We found that we could each order off the fast food menu and have just enough for a meal. Our love of books sent us to the library to read our favorite magazines for free and hunt down books we were dying to read. There were always little league games or high school sports that we could go watch or free art exhibits to wander through. Sometimes we’d feed the ducks at the lake or play tennis at one of the local courts. We found there were plenty of things to entertain ourselves with and date nights were so much more fun as we came up with more and more ways to connect without spending too much money.

Now that the kids are older we still look for creative ways to spend time together as a family without getting buried in recreational debt. If you’re looking for a few ways to have some thrifty fun, try these ideas on for size.

• Go for a hike or a bike ride
• Pack a homemade picnic
• Go to the free concerts at the lake
• State parks randomly offer free entrance days. Research Here.
  
• Cook a meal as a family. This is actually lots of fun.
• Play board games together
• Swim at the local YMCA
• Camp in your living room
• Have a “no electricity” night. Cook over the fireplace, tell stories, read a story out loud to each other.
• Act like tourists in your own town. Take pictures of each other around landmarks and see the city through the eyes of a visitor.
• Volunteer together. Donate your time to serving a meal at Community house or visiting a nursing home.
• Learn the constellations together after dark.
• Watch the sunset together.
• Fly kites
• Put together a puzzle as a family

GCC Shopping Round Up

Did a little shopping this week from my garden. We had a really late growing season this year so things are just starting to ripen up. Hoping I'll get enough of a harvest to get some canning done. But the garden easily saved me $10 this week. Here's what I got.

Win-co

Chicken breasts $7.62
Pork Roast $7.11
2 freezer bags $1.96
Cheese $4.48
TP $5.48
2 milk $3.96
bananas $2.48
sugar $1.98
eggs $7.08
2 chicken broth $1.10
nectarines $2.48

Grand Total $45.73

Shopping from my garden includes:

lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, fresh berries, and rhubarb.

Would you like to share your bargains? Please link directly to your post, not your homepage, and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Plan Monday

So, this is my first week of clinicals where I'll actually have my hands on patients. I'm really nervous and a bit excited. Plus I have to get up at some crazy wee hours in the morning for my shift so I'm thinking dinners are going to be the last thing I do before my head hits the pillow each night. Thankfully it's just through Wednesday this week and next. So here's what's cooking for the Bryant house this week.

Breakfasts (still on their own)

Choice of oatmeal, toast and fruit, or freezer pancakes

Dinners

Turkey Burgers
Balsamic Chicken with spinach salad from the garden
Pork roast with asparagus
Taco Salad
Honey Baked Lentils, with rolls and veggies
Chicken Broccoli
Leftover Buffet

For more great menu plans go HERE.

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

Ahh. Finished all my finals yesterday. No school for a month. Slept in today for the first time in weeks and then made our favorite French Toast Recipe for breakfast. I don't think I've cooked a real breakfast for the last 8 weeks and you know how I usually make a big deal over my favorite meal of the day. I also realized that I haven't done a good scrub of my house all quarter either (blech). I've tidied and had the kids run the vacuum and sweep but it seems like my house will only get cleaned on breaks. That's gross but I'm going to happily don my rubber gloves today and dig in before I'm off to have coffee with friends this afternoon. And then tomorrow, a day at the beach....feet in the sand, snooze in the sun, read a good book and let the lonely kid play in the surf before all the other kids come back from vacation on Sunday.

Good Life.

The Best French Toast Ever

4 eggs
2/3 cup whole milk
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
6 slices thick bread (we use Texas Toast or slice a loaf of Italian bread 1" thick)
3 tablespoons butter

Mix together eggs, milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Heat a large skillet or griddle and melt a tablespoon of the butter in it. Dip bread in batter for 30 seconds on each side. Let the extra drip off and cook each slice for around 2 minutes on each side. Use more butter to cook the rest of the slices. We serve with fresh berries or butter and syrup.


Do you have a recipe you'd like to share? Please link directly to your post, not your homepage and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Have a GREAT weekend!

All Generics Are Not Created Equal

I was in a rush yesterday to grab some last minute nasal spray for one of my kids as they went off on their vacation with Grandma. I was closer to Safeway, which I hardly ever shop at, so I decided to stop in there to get it. I always buy the generic version because early on I learned that when you compare ingredients, generic has the same darn thing. The only thing missing is the brand name. I finally found it and looked at the price, expecting to pay the $1.78 that I find it at Win-co, and HOLY MOLY that same exact generic nasal spray at Safeway was $4.99. I had never compared generic prices before. I was always under the assumption that generic was cheapest wherever I went but let me just tell ya, shop around for your generics just like you would for your brand names. As I started to compare their other generic prices with the prices I find in my other stores I was floored. So remember that generics are not a blanket statement for "cheap".

GCC Shopping Round Up

Ok, it's been 13 years since I've grocery shopped for three people and I think I kind of like it. With half of us gone this week, I'm hoping that I can expect half as much mom-work. Although I will be taking on the roll of playmate to my (temporarily) only child, the sheer drop in laundry, dirt and dishes is making me giddy just thinking about it. Here's what our tiny little family got at the grocery store this week.

Win-Co

buns $2.48
Turkey Burgers $4.98
tater tots $1.78
garbage bags $3.21
milk $1.98
cereal $4.09
soymilk $2.95
bananas $1.68

Would you like to tell us how your bargain shopping went this week? Please link directly to your post, not your homepage and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Plan Monday

Whew. What a week last week. Life got juggled a bit, vacations rescheduled, a wonderful memorial service for Grandpa and now this week should start chugging along as usual. It's my last week of class time before clinicals start, lots of prep for the kids school year this week too as I enter my 10th year of homeschooling and our first year of high school. My three older kids are off on their annual vacation with Grandma which means less cooking for me. Yippee! It also means some creative juggling since I'll have a 6 year old at home with no brothers and sisters for entertainment or babysitting. I'm hoping to have some great one on one time with my "baby" but I'm a little concerned that it might look more like Mom taking a nap next to Gabe while he watches a movie.

Since my family is getting cut down to half it's size this week I'm thinking that meals are going to be really simple. I'm thinking I'll buy some cereal as a treat this week. A treat for me because I won't have to cook breakfast and a treat for Gabe because with a family of six it would cost an arm and a leg to feed all four kids that much pre-packaged cereal and milk every morning.

Here's my ideas for this week:

Breakfast:

Cereal with milk

Dinners:

Garden salads, tuna sandwiches, pasta salads, and anything quick and simple. I think I'm going to hang a "Kitchen Closed" sign on my cupboards.

For more inspired menu plans go HERE.

GCC Shopping Round Up

Busy, busy, busy today! No recipe from me this week but please feel free to share your own. I'll check back later to see all your good ideas. Have a great weekend!

***If you'd like to share a recipe with us, please follow the link instructions below. Also remember to link directly to your post, not your homepage and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

What My Kids Have Taught Me About Frugality

This parenting thing is not for wimps. From that first night 15 years ago when Chris and I came home from the hospital holding our newborn son and realizing there was no nurse to bale us out when we didn’t know what to do, we knew we were in trouble. Then began the sleepless nights, the familiarity with wearing infant body fluids all over our clothing and the constant safety vigilance, “No, don’t touch that it’s HOT!” And still we brought home three more babies after that. I remember plenty of people passing knowing looks and telling us how hard parenting would be but nobody was specific. They didn’t tell us that it would become normal to carry five bags worth of baby gear every time we left the house or that bowel movements would become a source of constant discussion or that when date night came around all we could do was sit and stare at each other across the table at Starbucks in a daze. But a wonderful thing happens as we raise up these cuddly little people, they start to teach us things about ourselves and about our lives in ways that point out how simple things can truly be. From infant to teens, my kids have pointed out some stark contrasts between what I think I need and what is truly necessary in the area of frugality. Here are a few of the lessons my kids have taught me.

• The cardboard box is sometimes more fun than what is inside. I put a lot of thought into what I give my kids as gifts. For months we discuss what would thrill and amaze our two year old. We save and plan and get excited about the surprise and on the big day we watch their faces as they tear off the wrapping paper only to find that they are much more interested in the box than the toy that’s inside. They happily crawl in and out of the box making forts with windows and doors, stacking pillows inside for chairs and using blankets as curtains. The actual gift lays untouched for days until the cardboard box finally breathes it’s last and then as an afterthought the child turns to the toy. Their imagination and creativity took them so much farther than the fancy toy that did all the creative work for them. As adults, do we really need all those costly toys or the next great gadget or is it possible that our recreation and entertainment can be found in simpler and less expensive ways?

• The reward is in the effort. Contrary to popular belief, I love my kids teen years. I really enjoy helping them learn the adult lessons of action and consequence as well as the value of hard work and healthy relationships. Early on, Chris and I decided that as the teen years approached and the inevitable desire for expensive toys like video games, cell phones, and $100 jeans (yes, I cringed as I wrote that dollar amount) began to bud, we would guide the kids to earn those things for themselves. We don’t have any problem meeting the general needs of food, shelter and clothing but the extra’s would be on their shoulders. So we were a united front last year when requests for a dog came in from our son. We agreed that if he could earn the money himself for the adoption fees, initial vet visits and food we would support him in his desire to have a dog. Immediately he canvassed the neighborhood offering lawn mowing services, drew up a rough cost analysis and a doggy budget and in a matter of three months and lots of sweat equity, earned several hundred dollars to adopt and support his new best friend. Now, we could have made it easy for him and gone down and got that dog ourselves but he learned some valuable lessons along the way. He learned to weigh the costs of his effort, commit to a project and determine if it was really worth it. He took ownership and responsibility for his own desires and was willing to sacrifice to do it. He also learned the character building lessons involved with having to wait for something good rather than make rush decisions that you might regret later. How many times have I decided on a whim to make a major purchase, put it on credit and regret the bill later when times got tough? Too many to count. But when we replaced our broken washer and dryer set a few years ago and paid cash for it after using the Laundromat for a few months while we saved, it was a sweet sweet thing. I still hover over my shiny front loader, lovingly run my hand over it’s surface and say to myself, “I don’t owe anyone for this!”

It’s easy to complicate our finances, to live above our means and to feel like our needs are much more than they really are. But keep an eye on your little ones and see how happiness for them doesn’t really revolve around stuff, it has much more to do with creativity, imagination, play and purpose.

Menu Plan Monday

There was a death in the family tonight so no Menu Plan this week. We'll be taking time out to help with that and rearrange the calendar to accommodate all the events that it brings with it.

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

One of my first jobs when I turned sixteen was working at a deli. Everything there was over the top delicious and one of the perks of the job was that I got a free meal every day that I worked. I'd build myself the most amazing sandwich or savory Gyro and end each meal with a delicious fresh baked dessert. There were homemade apple dumpling with lemon cream poured over the top, velvety french silk pies, creamy Peanut Butter Pie, and the best buttery shortbread cookies ever. But what always kept me coming back were the the Peanut Butter Bars. I could have eaten the whole pan if no one was looking. A few years back I finally found a recipe that tasted like those bars. Come to find out, it's about the easiest dessert I'll ever make.

5 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Butters

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 lb confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup melted butter
1 (12 ounce) bag milk chocolate chips

Combine crumbs, sugar and peanut butter and mix well. Blend in melted butter until well combined. Press mixture evenly into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Melt chocolate chips in microwave or in double boiler. Spread over peanut butter mixture. Chill until just set and cut into bars. Delicious with a cold glass of milk.

Do you have a recipe you'd like to share? Just follow the link rules below. Please link directly to your post, not your homepage and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge.

10 Ways To Reuse It: Old Toothbrushes

Most dentist recommend replacing your toothbrushes every three months. Well, multiply that by the six people in my family and you've got 24 toothbrushes going into the garbage each year. Is there another use? You betcha. Here are some ideas.

• Dust your computer keyboard. Toothbrushes fit amazingly between the keys!
• Touch up dye jobs. Your grays are showing? No worries. A toothbrush is just the right size to get your roots and along your hairline.
• Clean mud out of the grooves in the bottom of your shoes. Both ends work good for this. The handle is a good digger and the brush gets the rest.
• Clean around the sink drain. I do this all the time. The toothbrush is the perfect size to scrub the drain and the stopper and also the around the seal of the faucet and even around the toilet seat attachments.
• A nail brush. Sometimes I like to work in the garden in my bare hands only to find I've got caked dirt under my nails. Toothbrush to the rescue. Works great on mechanics fingers too!
• Clean your rings. Toothbrushes are a great way to get all those tiny spots around your settings.
  
• Make a toothbrush bracelet. No kidding! Go here.
• Clean your remote control. Honestly I rarely clean that thing but it gets touched constantly. Gross! Use a toothbrush to get around all those buttons.
• Eyebrow brush! Sterilize first but this is the perfect size for eyebrows.
• Scrub out a laundry stain. I use my homemade stain remover and a toothbrush to prep stained laundry for the wash.

For more WFMW ideas go HERE!

GCC Shopping Round Up

Having the kids off on vacations last week really put a nice cushion in my grocery budget. Not near as much got depleted so I came in under budget again this week. It's been a really good month. Next week three out of four of the kids will be gone again on their final grandparent vacation which means smaller budget, less cooking and some great one on one time with my youngest. Here's what I gathered this week...


Freezer

Bagels, loaves of bread, rolls

Garden

Lettuce, spinach,


Win-co

2 gallons milk $3.96
bacon $2.58
whole chicken $6.49
cheddar $4.48
Dish soap $.88
garbage bags $1.64
Bananas $1.57
Mayo $1.98
Enchilada sauce $1.78
Ground Beef $6.30
Apples $3.14
Deodorant $2.17
green beans $.58
Lotion $3.27
Freezer bags $.98

Grand Total $41.80

Would you like to tell us about your savings? Please link directly to your post not your homepage and please include a link back here to the Grocery Cart Challenge. Follow the directions below with the attached Mcklinky.

Menu Plan Monday

Here we are, another week, and the new school year is almost here. Our Washington State Summer has finally warmed up over the last few weeks and my garden is responding with all kinds of green stuff. The apple, plum and pear trees are getting heavy with fruit that I'm hoping to can. The weeds got away from me in my newly planted berry patch so I think I've choked them out this summer but there's always next year. My free stash of bread from a few weeks ago is slowly dwindling but I'll still have plenty to get me through the rest of the summer.

Here's what's cooking this week...
Breakfasts (kids on their own)

eggs and toast, oatmeal, bagels and fruit

Dinners

Egg salad sandwiches and fruit
Whole Crockpot Chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes
Crockpot Mac and Cheese, green beans
Easy Beef Enchiladas, green garden salad
BLT Past Salad, Italian bread
French Toast Night!
Leftover Buffet

For more great menu ideas go HERE.