10/26/08-10/31/08 menu plan

Oops! looks like this week is a little late.

S: Hot turkey sandwiches w/ mashed potatoes and gravy
M:Hamburgers, fries, Corn on the cob (thank you Omaha Steaks!)
T: Spaghetti, bread, salad
W: BBQ chicken, corn, tater tots or Angus all beef Hot Dogs instead of chicken
Th:Pizza, bread, salad
F:Leftovers
S:Beef N Broccoli, steamed rice, potstickers ( this got bumped last week!)

Grocery List:

Buns (hamburger & hot dog) 6.00
lettuce 1.79
tomato 2.00
tater tots 2.00
broccoli 3.00

Approx cost-14.79

Ground Beef .36 CENTS/pound!!!!! *EDITED*

OK, this has got to be the DEAL OF A CENTURY!!! I am so excited! I just bought 5 1/2 pounds of hamburger for a measly $1.98....DELIVERED! I really can't believe it!

I found out about this deal here.

It is not extremely difficult, but admittedly could be a little easier.

1) go to Geico and register for FREE up in the top right corner (where it says "register to save with Omaha Steaks" , no strings attached, no policy required. You will recieve an e-mail within a few hours with a code for a $25.00 gift certificate.

Note: when you recieve your comfirmation e-mail, be sure to be logged into Geico in another

screen with your username and password BEFORE you click on the email link. This will get you your gift card code. It is pretty long, so copy it carefully!

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2) to sweeten the deal, go here to recieve a free bonus gift of (12) 4 oz burgers. You should get an email on this immediately.

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3) using the email link from step 2, go shopping

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another note:for some reason, when I clicked the email link it wouldn't take me to shop, so I just put a request for my password, and the password confirmation email gave me a direct link to where I needed to go

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4) once shopping, click on burgers/brats on the right column, then click burgers, then scroll down to add (8) 5 oz burgers 12.99 to your cart

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5) now you are ready to check out. Add you gift card code, then click APPLY. Your free burgers should already be chosen in the box underneath this where it says "bonus gift" After clicking APPLY, you should have saw your total go down to $1.98.

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6) Now you can finalize you payment!

Enjoy your burgers!

One last afterthought... I tried to register with Geico using my SBC Global email account, and never recieved my 25.00 certificate, so I tried to register using my G-Mail account, and had no problems. If you don't have a G-mail account, you can set one up for free HERE.

Sadly, Omaha Steaks has decided to modify this promotion as of this morning ( 10/22/08), and the 1.98 is no longer avaliable. You can still get the gift card, but there is a minimum purchase requirement. :(

Menu Plan 10/19/08-10/25/08

Last weeks menu didn't exactly go as planned. We moved just about everything around, and skipped pot roast all together. This actually worked out pretty well, because Sunday night was a busy night, and Pot Roast was a perfect solution! I think that I will be switching Sunday's to Crock Pot night, move pizza to Thursday's, and leftovers to Friday's.


S:Pot Roast, root veggies, bread
M: enchiladas, spanish rice
T: BBQ chicken, corn, mashed potatoes
W:Goulash, bread, salad
Th: pizza, bread, salad
F: Leftovers
S: Beef N Broccoli, steamed rice, potstickers


Grocery List-

enchilada sauce?-.99 actual-NOTHING I found a recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook, and made it from scratch!
1 lb. pasta-.69 actual-1.92 for 2 lbs
salad-.79 FREE-I have some left over from last week
broccoli-3.00
beef n broccoli sauce-.99 actual-2.00 ( I bought 2)
brown onion -.50 actual .83
Mayan Onion- 1.00 actual 1.30
Red onion-.50 actual -.61
tomato x 2-1.00 actual-4 vine ripe for 1.79
eggs 18 ct-1.99 actual-1.99
milk-2.69 actual-2.69

unplanned-
yogart-.50
ballpark angus beef franks-1.79
french bread-.60
5.5 lbs hamburger-1.98

TOTAL-$14.14
Spent to date-18.00

It's a GIRL!

OK, so I am still working on the video, but here are some really grainy pics from the ultrasound!

Menu Plan 10/12-10/18/08

S: Banquet Select Frozen Dinners ( I heard these aren't too bad, so we are going to give it a shot)
M:Burgers, fries, corn
T:? some kind of casserole or something to use up the buns (we skipped fajitas from last weeks menu because we ran out of tortillas. I used the chicken, bell pepper, and onion from that and added a can of pineapple and sweet n sour sauce to it to make sweet n sour chicken.
W:Spaghetti, homemade french bread, salad
Th: Leftovers
F: chicken, green beans, salad, bread
S: pot roast

Projected grocery list-

Salad-1.29 actual-1.79
buns-2.39 actual-.99
3-4 tomatoes- 1.32 actual-1.64
2-3 potatoes-1.50 actual-2.57
eggs-1.49 skipped.. we are still good from last week.
oatmeal-6.59 (costco) actual 6.59

unplanned- sweet n sour sauce 1.25
canned pineapple chunks-1.25

Total Spent-$16.08

Tuesday turned into sweet n sour chicken. It was so delicious. We had a lot of leftovers, and only needed half of the bell pepper and onion. ( I don't make this very often, but will need to make a mental note that it is cheap, quick, and easy, and likely freezes well) These will get used up on pizza on Sunday.

When did stealing become LEGAL?!?!

OK, so maybe not totally free.... but really really close.

I recieved an Email today with a ton of coupons for cleaning products. I matched these with some current Walgreens sales...and voila!

• Pledge 2.49 x 2
• coupon 2.00 x2
• fantastik 2.50
• coupon 1.50
• windex 2.50
• coupon 2.00
• shout 2.50 x 2
• coupon 1.50
• Scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner 19.99
• coupon 10.00
• Shredded cheese 1.50

Total before sale-53.72

After sale price -38.47

after coupons-17.97

after rebates-1.97 (basically just the cost of the cheese!)

How do I menu plan?

I have had a few question lately on how I make a plan for my weekly menu. It is actually really simple.

For breakfast I rotate 3 choices...

cereal
eggs, toast, OJ
Pancakes, fruit

The hubby really likes Oatmeal, so sometimes he eats this on his own.

For lunch I pack lunches for work and school on m-f, so it is usually basically the same. On Sat and Sun we usually eat leftovers.

Sandwich-pb&j or lunch meat
fruit or veggie
snack like popcorn, chips, pretzels, or cookies
juice

For dinner, I plan a theme for each night

Sunday is Pizza Night
Monday is Hamburger- usually tacos
Tuesday is Chicken Casserole, however sometimes in the winter or when money is really tight we eat soup and bread
Wednesday is pasta- the family loves spaghetti, and would gladly eat this every night of the week. I also rotate this with Lasagna or Goulash
Thursday is leftovers
Friday is chicken-usually a more traditional dinner with veggies, salad and bread rolls
Saturday is Beef- but not usually an all steak dinner. I try to make dishes that will stretch the meat like beef n broccoli, or fajitas. Both of these could easily get by with just one steak.


Lastly, with these guideline in place, I try to make at least one meal a little more special than the norm. I usually pull this off on Friday or Saturday. Like chicken picatta on chicken night or steak and baked potatoes or pot roast on beef night. I find that when I do that, it kinda satisfies the craving I get to eat out.

Having a basic plan in place is so helpful in keeping a variety. I love to break out the cookbook, and see what new recipe I can add to our repertoire. I also have started getting my 8 year old involved in the planning. She always feels so proud that she got to help plan dinner, and I am teaching her homemaking skill in the process!

Weekly Menu 10/5-10/11/08

My basic breakfast and lunch menu stays the same every week, which you can see here... so here is my dinner plan for this week.

S: Pizza, salad, crazy bread
M: Sloppy Joe's, haystacks
T: Chicken Rolls N Rice , salad, french bread
W: Lasagna, french bread, salad (this was skipped last week, so I still have the fixins for it handy)
Th:Leftovers
F: Chicken Picatta, rice ( this was a huge hit last week! I use Trader Joe's picatta simmer sauce. 1 jar can last for 2 dinners, and the jar was $3.99.)
S: Chicken Fajitas, rice, chips

Projected Grocery List

Salad-1.29
eggs-1.49 actual -1.42
milk-3.19 actual -3.15
butter-2.79 actual-1.16
cream of mushroom soup-.50 actual -.58
fried onion-1.28 actual-.98
buns-2.79 actual-1.22
tortilla chips(I never got around to this last week)-3.19 actual-3.09
bananas-1.79 actual-1.76
green pepper-.99 actual -.50
onion-.50 actual -1.19
fruit-2.27 lbs apples-$2.25
2.06 red grapes-$1.81
( the price on these fruits were to good to pass up this week. Fruit is an important part of our diet, so I am willing to spend a little in this category.)

unplanned -flour-1.94
Frozen seasoned French Fries-2.16
Devil's food cake-.88
baking Cocoa-2.38
cool whip-.78
mozzarella cheese-2.50 ( I realized , at the last minute, that the cheese I had was spoiled! What a waste)
approx TOTAL-$19.80
Spent to date-$29.78
If I get any extra money I will buy OJ, olive oil, sugar, and Rice Krispies.

Looks like this week I will be a little over, however, I still have some money left over from last week to cover it. Also, it was my unplanned purchases that put me over. These items are not needed to complete this weeks menu plan, they are just pure moments of weakness!

September cashcrate

So, I haven't received a check yet from cash crate, but for September I earned about 30.00! I started on the 23rd, so I earned this in 7 days.

My original plan was to spend 1 hour per day on cash crate, but life got in the way...mostly morning sickness! I would say that I spent a total of 3 1/2 hours on cash crate. Most of this time was just learning the system! Also, I haven't devoted any time into trial offers (which pay significantly more), only the 100% free offers. I plan to try some of these offers in October, so I will let you know how these turn out. Most of the offers I completed were 30-40 cent offers, so you can see how they really start to add up.

In October, I haven't spent any time on cashcrate, but have already earned 7.00 from referrals. I am clueless on how this referral program works...but I am so grateful for it! So thank you to any readers out these who signed up under me. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!