White Chili

So we had white chili for dinner tonight. It was wonderful. But WAY too spicy for my boys to eat. I like spicy so I thought it was great. I wanted to use the recipe HERE but ended up "winging it". Here's what I did:

You need:
1 pound chicken breast, chopped ($1.84)

2cans (15.5 oz each) Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed ($1.28)

16 oz chicken broth ($.25)

1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies (I accidentally used jalapenos) ($0.42)

1/2 bag mixed veggies (minus the green beans) ($0.50)
8 ounces sour cream ($0.50)
3/4 cup milk (free on WIC)
1/3 cup butter ($0.08)
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1/8 to 1/4 tsp chili pepper depending on spiciness (I used 1/4)

(I also added 1/2 cup of cornstarch - I like my chili thick. omit if you want yours thinner)

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high 5-6.

Total meal cost: $4.87 ( and there is PLENTY left for dinner Sunday night, so that's what we (Edward and I) will be having!)

$0.50/1 Rotel Coupon! HURRY!

There is a $0.50/1 can of Rotel HERE. (It's on the third header) You can print two. Hold these for a sale to get your can FREE!!

Mom, it's PURPLE!!

My oldest gets home from school today and wants to "make something". So we decided on blueberry muffins. I had a mix left from one of our Angel Food orders. I just added a 1/2 cup more blueberries and he mixed it all together. He happily yelled "Mom, it's PURPLE!!" After we put the muffins in the oven he had an apple! The muffins turned out blue but he was still excited. Aiden cried the whole time they were cooking, pointing to the oven and yelling "me? me?" I'm just so excited they ate blueberries! They both have been refusing to eat any fruits or veggies. I hid squash in their mac and cheese last night. :)

Colin enjoying his apples.

Aiden has bluberry muffin mix all over his face.

Frugal Grocery Shopping Tips

Last week, Rona over at BerryMorins Bits and Tips posted this about frugal grocery shopping. She wondered how the heck it was possible to spend $50 or less on groceries per week. I personally spend less than $50 a week. I've decided to change our budget... it was going to be $25 a week, now I'm thinking $30 or $35 (yes, that extra even $5 can help A LOT at times.) Anyway, here is a few tips I've learned to help keep my grocery bill under control.

1. I DO NOT take my husband into the grocery store. EVER. When I did I would spend $20 or $30 on NOTHING. I don't even know how it was possible. But it was.

2. Make a list. And stick to it. Unless something would be free after coupon and sale, if it wasn't on your list when you made your list (at home where you saw what you NEEDED) then chances are you don't need it now.

3. I use coupons combined with a sale to get rock bottom prices on the things my family buys. When something we use a lot goes on sale, I stock up. I buy enough of the item to get us through to the next rock bottom sale. (I bought 12 boxes of dishwasher detergent for $0.52, 10 boxes of cereal for .50)

4. Menu plans have saved my grocery bill. I buy what I need to make the meal and to get us through the week. I want to try to make monthly meal plans. That way if something is on sale in the beginning of the month that I need for the end of the month I can get it on sale.

5. Coupons. Local Libraries have no use for coupons. They usually give them away! The Coupon Clippers, EBay, Hot Coupon World, and A Full Cup are just a few places you can "buy" coupons. Family and friends are also great places to get coupons.

6. We recently started using Angel Food. We also receive WIC. Use the resources available to you!!

Here are the answers I gave to the post Rona wrote:

Do you shop every week?

yes, although I'm trying to stop. ;) I find I'm buying things we don't need just because it's a "great deal". If I'm not at the store I can't spend any money.

Are you only going to one store to accomplish this?

mostly just the local store since it's a 45 minute drive (one way) to anything else

Do you always use coupons? If you do, do you purchase the Sunday newspaper, print from online websites, coupon swap?

YES. I do a little of all three. I never was under budget until I started couponing.

Are you purchase paid memberships with Sam's Club, BJ's, etc? If so, how does this work into your budget?

The only thing around us is Sam's (and that's an hour and a half.) Not worth it for us.

What's a bargain price on ground beef and boneless chicken breasts?

Ground beef is $1.89 for us. (80/20) Chicken is the same.

Is it a challenge to include fresh fruit and vegetables in a tight budget?

yes. I buy them anyway, especially in the summer. I stock up when the prices hit rock bottom(sometimes using the whole budget that week for fruits and veggies) and can or freeze them. We planted a garden this year which helped A LOT.

I'd love to hear your answers to these questions and learn your tips! Leave a comment!

This post is linked to WFMW.

My First Baking "Day"!

Ever since I saw Money Saving Mom having a baking day, I have so wanted to do one too. My only problem is that my boys usually don't let me finish one "project". There's no way they would have done an all day event. So I decided to have a baking week. We made peanut butter cookies, zucchini bread, meatballs, cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins and I want to still make some ziti for the freezer and maybe a few other things. I know Edward wants chocolate chips cookies and I'd like to make some bread and pizza dough. We'll see how it goes. Here's our peanut butter cookie recipe.

Peanut Butter Cookies

You'll need:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 granulated sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour (I make half white and half whole wheat)

1/4 cup flax seed

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, sugars, peanut butter, egg and vanilla until fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine flour(s), baking soda, salt and flax seed. Gradually add to butter mixture.

Roll dough into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 minutes or until done.


I doubled this recipe. I shaped all the dough into balls and only cooked about 20 cookies. (that were all eaten that night) There is two bags of 35-40 dough balls in the freezer for next time we want cookies!

Come back soon for the next post from my baking week!

Meal Plan Monday (For 2 Weeks!)

I'm going to try and do meal plans (and grocery shopping) in two week increments. I'd really like to do it a month at a time but I thought I'd start small.

Last week we did OK sticking to the plan, except for Friday we had Chicken and Stuffing Bake. And instead of leftovers we had homemade pizzas. (We would eat pizza every night if we could.) Here's the plans for the next two weeks, see something you like? Come back for recipes and meal costs, or email me.

Breakfasts - we usually have cereal, oatmeal, or pancakes. Occasionally the boys want eggs. We made cinnamon rolls Colin has been eating every morning the past week.

Lunches are almost always leftover dinner, hotdogs, PB&J or sandwiches.

Dinners:

Sunday - there's a new pizza place in town - they had a special for an extra large pizza, wings and a two liter for $10. I wanted to take a picture but after an afternoon running around at the park, the boys dove into it as soon as we walked in the door. $10(there's leftovers for lunches tomorrow so more like $5ish)

Monday -Grilled Cheeseburgers (think grilled cheese with a burger)

Tuesday - BLTS

Wednesday - White Chili

Thursday - porkchop (wanting to try out a new recipie, any ideas?)

Friday- Ziti

Saturday - dinner at my parents

Sunday - Pot Roast (slow cooker!)

Monady- Enchiladas (makes enough for two nights and hubby would eat these every night if I would make them for him)

Tuesday- Homemade Chicken Nuggets (first attempt) mashed potatoes

Wednesday- Enchiladas

Thursday- Steak

Friday- Chicken Fajitas

Saturday- Leftovers

For more great menu plans, head on over to MPM!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Oh my goodness. So Colin and I made these cinnamon rolls tonight and oh my goodness. I ate TWO right out of the oven. Edward had FOUR. The boys have been asking me if they can eat another one. These are the BEST. You have to make them! I sort of combined this recipe and this recipe. I was very nervous but the worst part of the whole thing was the waiting for the dough to rise! Colin kept asking "Can we go eat a cinnamon roll? Can we make them now?" Although I made 35 rolls I think I'm only going to be able to freeze one pan (5!) I guess we'll just have to make more....

Dough:

1/2 c. very warm water

1 T. sugar

2 T. yeast

1/2 c. melted butter

2 eggs

2 t. salt

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. warm milk

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 1/2 c. unbleached white flour

Filling:

butter

brown sugar

sugar

cinnamon

Icing:

butter

vanilla

milk

powdered sugar (about 1lb)

Combine water, 1 T. sugar and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes to activate.

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt. Add to yeast mixture.

Stir in warm milk.

Slowly add flour

.Knead dough on a well-floured surface, until dough is not sticky.

Let rise until double in a clean, oiled bowl (about 1 hour, depending on how warm your kitchen)Punch down dough.

Separate into two pieces.

Roll out dough in a large rectangles. Spread with softened butter. Sprinkle liberally with brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon. Roll dough.

Floss dough into roughly 1-inch rolls. (I cut mine because all we had was bubble gum flavored floss. They turned out just fine).

Place in well greased pan. Let rise until double (about 45 minutes)

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

Spread icing while hot.

Icing:Melt 2 T. butter. Add 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 T. milk. Add powdered sugar into mixture and stir well.

Spread onto hot rolls. These freeze pretty well. Wrap them up in foil then stick them in a Ziploc baggie.

He wants more!

3 A Day

Here are the companies we're emailing today:

DOLE

Purina - Chef Michaels

Hormel Compleats (Hormel Foods)

Get caught up with our 3 a Day's here.

Free Sample!

Remember when I told you about the Free sample of Children's Homeopathic Remedies to mom bloggers? I received it yesterday. Here is what I got:

For Cold Relief - 2 tubes (80 pellets each) Cold Calm Pellets

For Cough - Chestal Honey Flavor 4.2 ounces of cough syrup

For Flu Like Symptoms - Oscillococcinum 6 doses, 0.04 oz each

Works For Me Wednesday - Cleaning the Kitchen

This is my first Works For Me Wednesday post.

I wanted to share with you about how I clean my kitchen after dinner. Instead of cleaning off the table and high chair, loading the dishwasher, doing the dishes and all that good stuff right after we eat, I wait until everyone else goes to bed. Then I finish cleaning. Right after we eat, Edward and Colin clean off the table and I put all the leftovers in the refrigerator. Then we go play or whatever. After I get everyone in bed I go back and do the dishes, wipe down all the counters and tables, sweep and anything else that needs done.

This works for me because I get to spend all the extra time with my boys. And it helps me to clean faster. I don't know about you, but for me it's hard to clean up my kitchen (or anything for that matter) with 2 kids, 2 dogs and a husband underfoot. After everyone is asleep is so much easier!

This works for me, what works for you? Find out what works for others at Works For Me Wednesday.

Gratituesday

As the season is coming to a close, I am reminder again how thankful I am for my garden. I already miss picking peppers, lettuce and tomatoes for dinners. Aiden was not happy to find out that his never ending snack (cherry tomatoes) was no longer where it was supposed to be. It looks like Colin may have another week or two left eating broccoli off the plants. Although I put up plenty of produce for the winter, it wont be the same as going to the yard and plucking a nice juicy tomato off the vine.

What are you thankful for? See what others are thankful for and share yours HERE.

Taco Giveaway!!

I love El Paso tacos! Who Said Nothing In Life Is Free?? is hosting a giveway. If you win you will get TWO coupons for a FREE Old El Paso product , a $10 gift card to buy your toppings and game sheets with about 20 different games to play while having dinner. Sounds great!

Kodak is Giving Away a Million FREE Gifts

Kodak is giving away a million free gifts!

Go HERE and fill out the info to see what you get.

(I got a $15 giftcode, so did Amy @ Who said nothing in life is free?)

"Grocery" Shopping

Here is the shopping for the week. (CVS is a different post) We decided to do some Christmas shopping since my mom kept the boys for a night. I wanted to grab a few cheapies from Target while we were out. Here's what we got:

TARGET:

2 - Ortega whole grain taco shells
1- Juicy Juice
1 - blueberry muffin pop tarts
1 bag chef Micheal's dog food
2 cans chef Micheal's dog food
1 Johnson's buddy bar soap
1 luvs diapers
1 shirt (for Colin for Christmas)
playskool busy ball popper (Christmas)
crayola beginnings crayons (Christmas)
putting cup (Christmas) (this isn't in the picture because I had to hide it from Colin)

Total before coupons: $56.06

Total OOP: $30.62
(we used our Christmas fund for this)

Total that was NON Christmas - $0.77

6 Kotex thin liners (20 ct)

belts for the vacuum cleaner

pizza for dinner

Total : $17.23

I also got a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, 2 bottles of ketchup, a packet of tuna at Giant for $3.49.

Total out of grocery budget : $21.49

WOO HOO!!! UNDER the NEW budget for the first week!! YAY!!

For more grocery trip, visit The Grocery Cart Challenge

Office Max - CHEAP paper and Other Goodies

The deal is only good through the 24th, so hurry and place your orders.
If you are a teacher (including homeschooling) or have a business of any sort (bloggers - if you make any money off your blog - you are a business), Office Max is having some great Max Perks Rewards deals this week. You can do these deals in-store on online.
You will be paying for these items up front, then getting that money back in the form of Max Perks Rewards that you can then turn around and use to purchase additional items at Office Max (like printer cartridges...)

You have two options to do this deal, in store or online.

In-store:
1. Sign up for a Max Perks Rewards card, if you don’t already have one, (Only teachers/business owners can sign up for this)

2. Purchase any of the following in-store, making sure to give them your MaxPerks Rewards card

5-Ream Case of Copy Paper (2500 sheets): $16.99 (limit 3)Earn $17 on your MaxPerks card Final Cost: FREE after MaxPerks Rewards
Sharpie Black Pens (2-pack): $1.99 (limit 3)Earn $2 on your MaxPerks card
Final cost: FREE after MaxPerks Reward
Manila Folders (100-count): $6.99 (limit 3)Earn $7 on your MaxPerks Card
Final Cost: FREE after MaxPerks Reward
Bankers Boxes (10-pack): $9.99 (limit 3)Earn $10 on your MaxPerks card
Final Cost: FREE after MaxPerks Reward

3. Your MaxPerks Rewards will be loaded on to your card.


Online:
1. If you don’t have a MaxPerks Reward Card, sign up for one. (Only teachers/business owners can sign up for this) Make sure that you write down your MaxPerks Reward Card number before you close the screen
2. Office Max has Free Shipping on Orders $50+. The deal is advertised on the Office Max home page, so just click on the banner/1st slide when you get to the site and it will take you to the items
3. Enter Your MaxPerks Reward number at checkout
4. Pay for your order.
5. You will receive your MaxPerks Reward card in the mail in a few weeks and will have your MaxPerks Rewards already loaded on to it. Hold onto it for some more great deals, that you will get for free with your MaxPerks Rewards from this transaction.

Thanks Moms Need to Know

Meal Plan Monday

Last week did not go as planned. We didn't have three of the planned meals (hot dogs, BBQ ribs and leftovers (because there wasn't anything leftover!)) The boys stayed at my mom's house Saturday so Edward and I "splurged" and ordered our favorite pizza and spent the night on the couch eating pizza and watching movies. Sunday we went Christmas shopping (!!) and picked up a pizza from WalMart. Hopefully we'll do better this week.

ALSO. I bought 2 big packs of ground beef last week (the week before?) to freeze. Friends came over when I got back from the store and I only got around to freezing one of the packs. The other went bad. (This is why you should do it as soon as you get home from the store!) SO. Since we don't have much hamburger left, we'll be eating a lot of chicken and pork until I can stock up again.

Check back later this week if you see something that interests you and for meal costs.

Sunday - pizza from WalMart ($8) we added some peppers and onions (free from garden)

Monday - Chicken Pot Pie (2.65)

Tuesday - spaghetti ($2.38)

Wednesday - turkey burgers, homemade french fries

Thursday - BBQ Ribs, mac and cheese

Friday - chicken salad panini

Saturday - leftovers

check out orgjunkie.com for other great meal plans.

3 A Day

Sorry for the lack of posts, we've had a crazy week. here's today's companies:

Kashi

Quilted Northern

Ideal (like Splenda)

I received a coupon for a free Kellogg's product on Saturday, but didn't take a picture of it.

Interesting Links

I've found a few interesting links (thanks to Common Sense with Money) and wanted to share them with you...

Jenny at Southern Savers talks about couponing burnout. I have to say, I have run to the store for one thing because it was on sale. I freaked out (like almost crying freaked out) because I forgot ONE coupon on something I needed. Her post definitely put things in perspective.

Dana’s husband, Ryan, talks about considering your investment in time when engaging in frugal activities. Do you reuse Ziploc baggies? I do. Dana and Ryan do not. This post is a very interesting read.

3 A Day

Today we're emailing:

Ball Park Franks

Stonyfield Farm

Progresso

I got my first 3 a day mail today! From Hostess and Bumblebee.

2 - free 14.75 oz canned salmon

2 - 25 cents off any bumblebee product (I'm thinking cheap tuna!)

1 - free hostess, wonder, or homepride product

Gratituesday

I was thinking about a good post for gratituesday today when it hit me square on the nose. I have saved so much money since I started blogging and tried so many different things. I am thankful for my fellow bloggers! From new recipies and meal plans (to keep me on track) to coupons and saving money at the stores to organizing and cleaning (and keeping clean) my house! So THANK YOU! You probably don't know it, but I bet you've taught me something. And that means the world to me.

Visit other gratituesday posts HERE

Chicken Quesadillas

Sorry, no pictures because the kids and Edward gobbled them up as fast as I was cooking them!

I found this recipe on Kraft.com and change it to meet my needs or whatever I have on hand.

Last nights recipe was :
roughly 1 cup salsa (homemade = FREE!)
1/2 cup mayonnaise ($0.10)
2 tablespoons chili powder (dumped in too much but it turned out great) ($0.03)
8 tortillas ($0.64)
sour cream ($0.50)
cheese (free)
1/4 head of lettuce ($0.32)
1 large COOKED Chicken breast, shredded or chopped (I cooked and shredded 3 and divided into 3 meals) $1.29

Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken, stirring until coated. Spoon onto tortilla shells. Sprinkle with cheese. Place another tortilla on top. Heat greased skillet on medium heat. Add quesadillas, cook until lightly browned on both sides. Repeat with remaining quesadillas. Serve with additional cheese, salsa, lettuce and sour cream.

Giant Trip

I went to Giant today for two reasons. 1 - the 50 extra turkey points when you spend $50. 2 - the buy $25 (or $15) in participating products get a $10 (0r $5 ) Catalina for your next order. I messed up and only bought $14.79 worth of items for the Catalina and didn't realize until I checked out. I was so mad. But what do you do? I did get the 50 extra turkey points so now we have 107 points. (193 to go). Here's what I got for $34.30.

1Betty Crocker cookie mix - on sale for $1.67

1Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal - on sale for $1.99

3 Wrigly's gum 3 packs - on sale for $1.79

3 Mussleman's 4 pack applesauce - on sale for -10/$10

1Knorr pasta side - on sale for 10/$10

1Giant Bread - $1.09

1Quilted Northern 6 double rolls - on sale for 3.89

1Dads 20 lb dog food- on sale for 7.49

1.7 lb grapes - on sale .97/lb - 1.65

2 round roasts (B1G1) - $8.52

4 Turkey Hill ice cream - on sale 2/$5

1 uncrustables - on sale - $2.29

1 dole frozen strawberry - on sale 2/$5

1always infinity pads 16 ct - $4.49

Coupons I used:

1 40 cents off betty crocker cookie (doubled to 80 cents)

1 75 cents off dole strawberries (doubled to $1.50)

1 45 cents off any knorr product (doubled to 90 cents)

2 $1 off any musslemans applesauce

1 50 cents off any musslemans applesauce (doubled to $1)

1 $1 off any 4 pack or larger quilted northern TP

1 $1 off any Dads dog food 3lb or larger

4 $1 any turkey hill product

1 free uncrustables product

1 free box Kashi Honey Sunshine

1 free box 18ct or smaller Always Infinity

Total before coupons and sales : $77.61

Total out of pocket: $34.30

Total savings: $43.31

check out other bloggers grocery trips HERE

3 A Day

Little Debbie

Act II Popcorn

Sweet Baby Rays

Responses today:

Emails included Kelloggs :

"We will be sending you a coupon via US Postal Mail in appreciation of your support for our products throughout the years. We wish a "Kellogg’s® Best To You" now and always! Please allow 7-10 business days for the coupon to arrive." (complaint)

and Olay:

"Since your satisfaction means a great deal to us, I'm sending money saving coupons by postal mail. You should receive my letter within the next 2-3 weeks. " (compliment/complaint)

Meal Plan Monday

Can't believe it's that time again! Once again working with what's on hand. Thinking about changing our grocery budget from $50 to $25 a week. Cutting it in half. Making alot of changes around here... if you have any money saving suggestions, please let me know! Working on cleaning out the garden this week too. Busy busy. Check back later for recipes and costs of meals!

Sunday - Lasanga (this was supposed to be planned leftovers since we never eat a whole pan of lasanga but my parents and sister were here for dinner so there's only one serving left) $5.75 or $.72 cent per serving!

Monday - Chicken Quesadillas - $2.88

Tuesday- Steak and salad

Wednesday -Mac and Beef entree (from angel food)

Thursday - hotdogs and [leftover] mac and cheese

Friday - BBQ pork ribs

Saturday - leftovers if there is any or cereal or something

For this and other great meal plans visit Meal Plan Monday hosted by Laura.

3 a Day

It's that time again...

Pepperidge Farm

Fisher Boy

Marcal

Herbal Essence - Get a free full size bottle now!

Herbal Essence is giving away 18,750 bottles of either shampoo or conditioner to their Facebook fans. They had been doing the giveaways late at night but they have moved up the start time of the giveaway. I just signed up for my bottle. Be sure to visit their page and become a fan!

Free sample of Children's Homeopathic Remedies to mom bloggers

If you are a mom who lives in the US and you have a blog, you can sign up here to get free samples of Children's Homeopathic Remedies. Once you enter your email address, you'll receive an email. Just click on the link in the email and fill out the form to receive your free samples in the mail.

3 A Day

Here is today's list to email:

Scotties Tissues

Olay

King Arthur's Flour

I recieved an email from Hartz (already) and they told me if I was unhappy with their product to send the UPC code in and they would refund me.

3 a Day

Are you "up-to-date" on our 3-a day campaign? Today I've emailed:

Dawn Dish Soap

Kelloggs

Hartz

I also received a reply (email) from Hostess. Here is an excerpt:

"It is a pleasure to hear from satisfied customers. We hope we can always count on your loyal patronage just as you can count on us to continue to provide the finest products available. We will certainly try our utmost to continue to merit your confidence. We are mailing a complimentary coupon which may be redeemed at any grocery store."

:D I also received an reply from Nestle. They were happy to hear from me, but no coupons were mentioned.

My Poor Camera

Just wanted to let you know why there is no pictures of any of the recipes...
Aiden threw my camera off the counter (where I had it while I was taking pictures of the chicken) and it broke. We took it to the post office today to send it to get fixed. Luckily it was under warranty still so it won't cost me anything to be fixed! So when it comes home, I'll be able to post some more pictures.

(He also dropped my phone in a pot of water. He is no longer allowed to take pictures or talk on the phone)

Chili and Cornbread

I tried chili for the first time in the crock pot today and let me tell you, it smells wonderful! (It also tastes great, but since it's only 11:30am and we haven't had dinner yet, I really shouldn't know that) Aiden and I have dipped into it a few times. I "stole" this recipe from a couple of other blogs (A Year of Slow cooking and Melissa's Bargin Blog) and combined it into my own.

You need:
1 lb ground beef (brown before placing in slow cooker) ($1.67)
1 can kidney beans (I drained some of the goop, left a little in there) (.75)
2 cans tomato sauce 8 oz each (free! homemade from garden)
1 packet chili spices (.25)
1/2 bag shredded cheddar cheese (free from WIC)
1 package cornbread (.38)

Mix all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Sprinkle cheese on top before serving if desired.

Total cost for tonights dinner : $3.05

*UPDATE* We loved this! Both boys cleaned their bowls, Colin asked for more. Edward had three helpings and I had two. It was wonderful.

Meal Plan Monday

Well... since I went to Kmart three times this week for KMart doubles and went [way] over budget, we are going to have some CHEAP meals this week. And probably the next few weeks. All coming from our freezer/pantry. If you see something interesting to you, check back later in the week for recipes and the costs of the meals.

• grilled cheese and tomato soup (bread-$0.27, butter - $0.03, cheese - free, tomato soup - free at Giant last(? maybe the week before) week, total - $.30!!)
• smothered chicken with brown rice
• meatball subs
• cheeseburgers
• chili (going to try it in the slowcooker for the first time) ($3.05)
• porkchops (not sure what kind yet..)
• leftovers

check out Meal Plan Monday for more great meal plans.

Awesome Idea We Will Be Doing!

So, I was surfing blogs and found Couponing to Disney. She has this AWESOME idea to write to companies to get coupons. Read all about it here. We will be doing this [hopefully] daily. I will provide you with 3 companies to write to. You can write compliments, complaints or questions. Most of the time, if you take the time to write a company, they will take the time to send you some coupons. Kristin suggests to give personal experiences when writing to the companies.

Here's the companies I've written to today:

Bumblebee

Hostess

NESTLE

Good luck!