Cause you gotta eat

So there was a time when I got all wrapped up in Extreme Couponing. I really wanted to get my groceries for near nothing. But, it does come at a cost, time. You have to spend so much time in order to save money. I have saved 99% on my groceries before, and that was awesome. But most of the time I would only save between 20% and 30%, which if you shop savvy (don't always buy brand names, test out the store brand, sometimes they are the same in different packaging) is the same amount I am able to save anyway. I was spending 5-15 hours a week planning (yes this was before I did 3 months of meal planning) and clipping coupons. Then there was the shopping... When I had coupons it would take me so much longer, and my boys... Well, they are boys, and no amount of free cookies or balloons will keep them busy for the hour it was taking me in the store each week.

I decided that couponing was not for me about 2 years ago. I was pregnant with my third, and my
other boys wanted me to play with them. I didn't have the energy or the time to do both, and I started thinking... add another kid in the mix and there would be even less time. So I stopped clipping and going though all the adds. Now I do still go on the King Soopers web site, because you can add digital coupons to your card! It takes almost no time at all. I don't keep track of what I load on my card. I load everything (you never know right?). Then it is a wonderful surprise when I save a little I wasn't expecting.

If you want to save even more money, then by all means coupon. For me I feel I am saving enough, and eating what we like, without coupons.

Tonight is a fend for yourself night, or FFY. My "night off" from cooking. These nights are a saving grace for me, helps me keep my sanity, helps with the pocket book, and helps clean out the fridge. But does it really mean that I don't fix anything??? Not really. So what does FFY look like with my boys, seeing as they are 1, 4, and 6? Obviously, the 1 year old doesn't have to make his own dinner, but the other boys do. So FFY usually is a PB&J for my 4 year old and a Ham sandwich for my 6 year old. The hubs (when he is home), baby and I enjoy leftovers of some sort. Having a left over night is not always a favorite, but it is an necessity. We almost always have left overs of some sort. If it isn't in the fridge it is in the freezer. When I pack up left overs from a dinner, I will put it in the fridge. If after 3-4 days we haven't eaten it, I will usually pack it up and put it in the freezer, saving it for a night when I am really short on time.

Sometimes if they are lucky I may make a trip through a drive though, but I really try not to do that. I remember when I was a kid, even a teenager, actually all the way until I was about 28, I thought that fast food was cheap. That was before I started to really enjoy cooking. Now, I have come to realize that those golden arches really are made of gold. Even though $1 burger sounds cheap, you can't just have that, so with the fries, and maybe another burger and a drink you are up to $5. Then you have to add in the hubs meal (another $7) and the kids meals (about $8 for 2), and we are looking at $20! That as much as I spend on groceries some weeks!! I can make the whole family burgers (about 10) with fries and a drink for about the same cost as one meal, and it tastes a whole lot better. Anyway, that is why we don't eat out nearly as much as my boys would like.

So, question for all of you... Do you have a FFY night? What usually comes of it in your house?

Last night while I was tucking my 4 year old in, he asked if we could eat cookies for breakfast. Of course he would want cookies, and while I am sure he meant the traditional chocolate chip or sugar cookie, my spin on the breakfast cookie is what he got.

I looked around on Pinterest of course, but I didn't have all the ingredients for most of the recipes. So, I improvised, combined some recipes and substituted some ingredients for things I had on hand (the is NO way I am going to the store again today, only once a week thank you very much). Here is what I came up with...

Logan's Breakfast Cookie
INGREDIENTS:
3 ripe bananas (masked until creamy)
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c vanilla yogurt
1/4 milk
1 t vanilla
2 c quick oats
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c chocolate chips
1 t cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cookie sheet with oil.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, then add the last 4. Let sit for a few moments (so the oats soak up some of the moisture). Then scoop spoonfuls on your oiled cookie sheet.

Bake for 15-20 min, depending on the "doneness" you like. Take out of oven, allow to sit on cookie sheet for a few, then move to cooling rack. ENJOY!

July starts tomorrow... Hopefully, if you are following along with me, you have gone to Costco or Sams and stocked up for the next 3 months! My total for Costco came to $302. Although I didn't buy all the meat there (because we have deer), I did get diapers and Benadryl, which more than covered the cost of the hamburger and roasts. At any rate, you hopefully didn't spend more than $400.

Now, I like to do my small weekly shopping on Mondays. No big reason why, it just works well in my schedule. So, here is my weekly shopping list, hopefully it won't cost more then $40.

Watermelon
garlic
grapefruit (at least 5)
egg noodles (didn't find these at Costco :( )
sour cream
bacon
milk (0%, 2%, whole)
eggs
powder sugar
bread
miffin mix
yogurt

I am getting plenty of veggies from my garden, and that is saving me money!! I will do a post on gardens soon.

I remember summers in KC at my grandparents. Well, actually what I remember most is my grandpa's waffles. He made them from scratch, no waffle mix at his house. For a long time I used his buttermilk waffle recipe... That is until I wanted waffles and didn't have any buttermilk. I know you can "make" your own with milk and vinegar, but it just doesn't taste the same. So I went on a search for waffles that were just as good... And I found one!! My whole family absolutely LOVE these waffles. I still will make Grandpa's buttermilk ones, but most of the time I make these.

Best Waffles

Ingredients:
1 1/3 c flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 c butter, melted
1 3/4 cups milk

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the dry ingredients, and place the whites in a small mixing bowl. Beat whites until moderately stiff; set aside.
Add milk and melted butter to the dry ingredients and blend (you want this a little lumpy). Fold in stiff egg whites. Ladle mixture into hot waffle iron. ENJOY!

Ok. So after going though and writing down everything I need for the next three months, I then make my "Buy Ahead" shopping list. Most of these things I try to buy at Costco (you can go to Sam's Club if you prefer). Remember this is for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinners for the next 3 months, so expect to pay for that much (it will be more than $100). These are all at least amounts, I never buy less than I need, but sometimes buy more.

16 lb ground beef (however, I have some deer so I won't be buying this time)
8 pork chops
6 8-packs hot dogs
2 whole chickens
pork shoulder
6-8 lb chuck roast (I have some deer so I won't be buying this time)
brisket
16-20 spare ribs
frozen berries
frozen veggies
4 frozen pizza
meatballs
10 frozen chicken breasts (it is a better deal to buy the package of already frozen chicken breasts, you are going to freeze them anyway)
egg noodles
American cheese
cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese
Peanut butter
flour (I always buy this in bulk 25 lb bags)
cinnamon
can corn
apple cider vinegar
tuna
Chips
4 bottles BBQ sauce
canned diced tomatoes
tomato sauce
can soup
salsa
granola bars (2 boxes)
String Cheese
crackers
diapers

Here is the list for things I buy at King Soopers:
sour cream
cream cheese
13 muffin mixes
cereal (I find better deals at Kings then Costco)
onion soup mix
Italian dressing mix
AuJus mix
rosemary
thyme
bay leaf
5 cans spaghetti sauce
Skim milk
2% milk
bread

I should come out pretty good, seeing as I don't need to buy the ground beef or the roasts because we have some deer left from hubby's last hunting trip. I will make the post later this week, so keep a watch out!

OK, so just because I plan my meals out for 3 months and do a big shopping trip once every 3 months does not mean that I don't have to go shopping every week. I still need to buy the fresh fruits and veggies, not to mention cheese, yogurt, milk and butter. I know that these are all things that you can buy frozen, but, well I don't. I will buy a bulk bag of frozen berries for smoothies, and a bulk bag of mixed veggies that I can boil up for a quick addition to dinners, but that is about all I do.  I have heard of some people stocking up on dairy items, even milk. They store them in their freezer. But I never know how much my family will drink from one week to the next, and even though we have a chest freezer, space is valuable (seeing as I need to stock it with meat for 3 months).

The hardest thing about this weekly shopping trip is to stick to a list. I am forever going and buying things that aren't on my list (yes I am human). And those $1 items sure do add up fast. One thing that really helps me (although some call me nuts) is on these little weekly trips I take my kids. Why??? Well, it is simple, I have a list of 5-10 items, it should only take me about 10 minutes to get them, which is about that same amount of time my kids behave in the store. So, by taking my kids I am forcing myself to stick to the list and get in and out as fast as I can. For those lucky times when I am kidless, don't go to the store hungry (that is the worst thing you can do) and go when you are in a bit of a hurry so you don't dilly dally in the snack section.

So this weeks list consisted of the following, all bought at King Soopers (I prefer Kings because it usually has decent prices on the things I need, and their quality on the fruit and veggies is so much better then Wally World)...

cheddar cheese - $2.18
2% milk (for the hubs) - $2.79
Whole milk (for the boys) - $2.79
2 bricks of cream cheese - $1 each
2 lbs butter - $2.50 each
2 packs margarine - $0.97 each
tortillas - $0.99
18 eggs - $2.98
4 mangos - $0.88 each
bunch of bananas - $1.55
watermelon - $5.99

Total coming to $31.73, not too bad for a weeks worth of food (remember that I am on my last week of food from the previous quarterly plan, so that is why I get away with this. Obviously these items don't make up all the meals). It took me a little longer this time, because a certain 4 year old decided to walk off on my while I was picking out some bananas. I was still out within 15 minutes, and it only took me 5 min to make up the list, no coupons either.