The Grocery Cart Challenge

Menu Monday- Thrifty Coffee Drinks

2012-01-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

In the comments of my last post someone asked me why in the WORLD I bought sweetened condensed milk so often! So I thought I'd let you in on my Starbucks busting secret. Instead of buying a $5 coffee every day I make my own sweet coffee drink for less than $2 per week. And it's so embarrassingly easy. All I do is make a full pot of coffee, mix it into my Pampered Chef Quick Stir Pitcher (

GCC Shopping Round Up

2012-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

I tried to offset last weeks budget blow-up with a slim and creative week this week. I built my menu around meat already in the freezer, fruits and veggies I already had and just got the minimum we'd need to feed us healthy meals for a week. Here's what I got.Fred Meyer'sFamily Size Pork chops marked down to $11.02Win-coWorcestershire sauce $1.10Soy sauce $1.93Milk $2.53Almond Milk $3.24Matches

Menu Monday

2012-01-22T19:20:00.001-08:00

A couple of nights last week, I came home from work too tired to cook so I assigned kids to pull something together. We all got fed, they had a nice little lesson in cooking and serving and Mama was happy. It also left me with a few recipes that I have all the ingredients for, so they will get moved to this weeks menu. And since I blew last weeks budget out of the water, it's really going to

Soups On!

2012-01-18T12:39:00.000-08:00

I wish that my parents had written a hand book for my husband when we first got married. It would have made life so much easier. There were just some things he needed to know about living with me that I couldn’t explain to him all by myself. For instance, there were certain times that he needed to have a bag of peanut butter cups ready for me with no questions asked. He also needed to know

GCC Shopping Round Up

2012-01-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

Boy did I blow the budget this week. But we'll be trying out some fun new vegetarian meals to add to our future list of meatless recipes. All in the name of research, right?Win-co2 bags tortillas $3.76TP $4.98mushrooms $1.989 mini pizza crusts $10.022 vegetarian refried beans $2.10butter spread $2.642 cans garbanzo beans $1.362 gallons milk $5.06salsa $3.98English muffins $1.98apples

Menu Monday - Mostly Vegetarian

2012-01-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

Having a vegetarian in the house is complicated. Even when she was a little girl she would pick a green pepper over a hotdog and peel the meat off her hamburger before eating it. It was inevitable I guess. But living with 5 other carnivores can be rough on her. I try and cook a portion of each meal without meat in it but sometimes that doesn't cut it. So this week she requested a

GCC Recipe Swap

2012-01-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

We have full days and need quick breakfasts. One of the kids' favorite breakfasts is simple and provides a whole lot of healthy goodness to get them ready for a day full of learning. I hope you like it.Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast (for one)1/2 a whole wheat English muffin, toastedPeanut ButterHoney1/2 a bananacinnamonPreheat oven broiler. Spread toasted muffin with peanut butter. Next,

GCC Shopping Round Up

2012-01-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

It seems that Sunday's are working for me as my new shopping day. Here's what I got this week.Win-co2 loaves of bread $3.162 whole chickens $8.86frozen chicken breasts $5.98ground turkey $4.982 tubs yogurt $3.96almond milk $3.24sour cream $1.98brown sugar $1.42cream of chicken soup $.88spinach $1.782 onions $1.02syrup $1.98tomatoes $1.28Dry onion soup mix $.794 avocados $3.12bulk baking powder $

Menu Monday

2012-01-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

I'm planning a whole crockpot roasted chicken this week. It will not only become a main dish meal but will also be part of a salad with greens and chicken, and then boiled down into broth for future meals. I love when a recipe calls for chicken broth and I can pull out homemade broth from my freezer. It just has better flavor and a richer taste than the canned stuff. Here's what's cooking

GCC Recipe Swap - Healthy Breakfast

2012-01-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

We eat lots of muffins for breakfast because they are easy to make, the kids can just grab them, and I can make extra for the freezer to save time. But it would be easy to start their day with sugar filled "cake" muffins rather than something healthy. So these are a great nutritious alternative that tastes just as good. I hope you like them.Whole Wheat Honey Banana Muffins 3 1/2

Food as Comfort

2012-01-04T07:46:00.000-08:00