Yes, Jackson peeled every single one of these 45 carrots.  All by himself.  The only thing I did was cut off the ends before putting them in the sink.  He sat diligently for almost 1.5 hours peeling away, apparently having the time of his life.  He wanted to peel the carrots anyway, but then I made a deal with him that I would give him a 5 minute ticket for every 5 carrots he peeled for me.  I figured he would earn maybe 3 tickets and move on, but he kept peeling and peeling and peeling.  Nine tickets later, he finished the first 10 lb bag and I asked him if wanted to do the other 10 lb bag for me as well, but he had apparently had enough for the day.

We’ll do the other bag and juice these carrots.  We enjoy having fresh carrot juice anyway, and with most of us battling colds right now I think a little carrot juice every day would do us good.  Is it economical?  No.  It it yummy and healthy?  Yes.

Just FYI, 20 lbs of carrots makes approximately 5-6 days worth of carrot juice for our family (with Gavin and I drinking 8 oz, and the kids drinking 4 oz daily).  That works out perfect because by day 6 or 7 the juice is starting to go a bit rancid, even with storing them in the fridge in canning jars.  Gavin’s parents gave us a fabulous juicer a couple years ago, so whenever we have some extra food money in our budget we like to get carrots (it costs $13 to get 20 lbs of carrots at Costco).  I never liked carrot juice before until we made it fresh.  It really is good - we’ve converted a number of skeptics who were surprised at the first sip.  You do have to drink it cold though… warm carrot juice - no good.

Anyway, so if you have some carrots to peel, I have a 4 year old who can do amazing things with a peeler.  I’ll even provide the tickets.

Ok, I’m back - no roundup from last week, as I didn’t go grocery shopping.  We went to the beach and brought our food, and made do with what we had here at home when we got back.  So, I made up for it with a big shopping trip this week!

Menu:

• Monday: sizzling pork noodles
• Tuesday: date night
• Wednesday: southwest chicken sandwiches, potatoes, corn
• Thursday: fried rice, eggrolls, asparagus
• Friday: chili and cornbread (or maybe Chick fil A)
• Saturday: out for Halloween
• Sunday: barley chicken casserole

Grocery:

Costco: got potstickers, bacon, craisins, 20 lbs of carrots to juice, chocolate chips and english muffins

• Spent: 52.64
• Full item value: 62.64
• Saved: 10.00 (16%)

Target: coffee creamer, yogurt, juice, and some free baby Puffs

• Spent: 10.03
• Full item value: 18.52
• Saved: 8.49 (46%)

Publix: veggies, meat (I paid full price for both ground pork and ground beef - gasp!), butter, and some other odds and ends

• Spent: 26.52
• Full item value: 53.13
• Saved: 26.61 (50%)

Kroger: yogurt, pizza, lots of items

• Spent: 26.39
• Full item value: 63.33
• Saved: 36.94 (58%)

Dream Dinners: I did a Groupon deal about a week ago where I paid $45 to get 6 dinners from here.  I haven’t done this before, but their November menu looked decent - although $9 is more than I would normally pay for our family to have dinner here at home, this means I will have 6 meals in my freezer that I didn’t have to make, and that I can pull out during the holidays when times are busy.  That was worth it to me - the total value was $110, something I could never see paying.  So I’ll let you know how the food is!  Even though I haven’t done it yet (I will go in Nov), I paid for it this month so am including it in this month’s grocery budget.

• Spent: 45.00
• Full item value: 110.00
• Saved: 65.00 (59%)

Totals:

• Spent: 160.58
• Full item value: 307.62
• Saved: 147.04 (48%)

I ended up with 1.12 left in my monthly budget.  I shopped with a calculator today to make sure I didn’t go over, and even put a couple things back that were going to put me over.  I’m planning another cooking day(s) to get my freezer stocked up again, so will work on those groceries starting in November.

We had a short, but very fun, vacation in Charleston this week. We went primarily to spend time with our dear friends, Joel and Amy Woodard, who just moved back from Slovenia. We spent a lot of time with them while we were in Slovakia, vacationing together and getting together whenever we could. It had been 2.5 years since we last saw each other, yet this week it felt like hardly any time at all had passed.  We drove in on Tuesday, leaving a day later than planned because Jackson spent Monday throwing up all day.  It seemed to be a 24 hour bug because Tuesday he was tired but feeling fine.  We then had to come back Friday because of a camp program this weekend.  So we packed as much as we could into our 2.5 days!

This was also the first time Gavin had been to Charleston, and the first time our kids had ever been to the beach.  We had beautiful weather, and even got quite a bit of sun on our faces (Morgan especially - her face is still very pink even 2 days later!).

Warning - this post will have LOTS of pictures, I just couldn’t decide.

Day 1 - We spent a good portion of the day at the beach at Sullivan’s Island.  There were hardly any people on the beach, the sun was shining brightly, and the kids (especially Jackson) absolutely loved playing in the sand and wading in the water.  I didn’t realize how warm it would be so I didn’t pack any bathing suits, but Jackson pretty much got completely soaked in his jean shorts, and didn’t mind a bit.  He was very upset when it was time to leave.  Guess we’ll have to plan a beach vacation sometime soon!

Yup, Morgan is in a diaper.  Her capris got wet and off they came!

Abigail Woodard had fun helping bury Jackson in the sand.  She is 3, and we have decided to begin their courtship. :)  They had a great time playing together this week.

Day 2 - We spent the morning at the Children’s Museum in downtown Charleston, had lunch at a great Mexican place, then walked along the Battery and found a park where the kids played.  That evening we had dinner together with the Woodards.

The museum had an art room and the kids enjoyed painting outside.

You can sorta see her sunburned face in this picture.

Jackson decided to stick with the color orange.  Very bright and cheerful!

Poor Mackenzie.  She didn’t get a decent nap for 2 days straight.  She took mini naps when she was able, usually up against Gavin or I, and was constantly being woken up.  She was a trooper though, and is still definitely our laid back, go with the flow, child!

Amy is 35 weeks pregnant with #3.  Definitely one of my dearest friends, we connected from the first time we met.  As did Gavin and Joel, which makes it just so much fun to hang out together.  Friends like this are rare in life, and we are so glad that they are on the same side of the ocean as us once again!

What happens when you have 2 tired girls?  Lots of crying, and thankfully a Daddy who can laugh it all off (versus Mommy who can get rather stressed out!)

And another one of my little peanut… just cause she’s so darn cute!

And of course we wait until the *very last minute to take a picture of us all together.  How come that always happens?  Our families have grown quite a bit since we were last together - see that picture here.  We were quite the sight walking through downtown Charleston with 5 kids ages 4 and under, and a very pregnant Amy!  We look forward to lots more vacations and fun times together (and of course the continuation of Jackson and Abigail’s courship. )

Last Friday the preschool contingent of our homeschool group went on an outing to a pumpkin patch.  The kids had fun riding on a tractor hayride, picking out their mini pumpkins and climbing all over the big pumpkins.

Morgan picked out a pumpkin, and Jackson picked out a gourd.

They did not want to be cooperative for the camera, and looked everywhere else but at me!  Oh well, they are cute anyway.

Again, not so excited about the camera, but I had to get a shot with them before we went home!  Mackenzie stayed home with Daddy.

Finishing up with some delicious apple cider.

What does Mackenzie look like through a wide-angle lens?

This is a meal I made for the first time a few weeks ago, and we really loved them. I made them again tonight. They are quite easy to make, and you can use turkey instead of chicken if you like.  I cut this recipe out of a Redbook magazine - I don’t remember getting the magazine, but must have gotten a couple issues free in the mail.

I made a few modifications to the recipe based on what I had on hand, which I have put down below.

Ingredients
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (I used a few shakes of dried parsley if I didn’t have fresh)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp whole milk (I used whatever kind I had in my fridge - 1%)
1 Tbsp ketchup
3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (I used freshly grated parmesan, and not quite 3/4 cup - I *don’t think it would be quite as good with the green shaker containers of parmesan)
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lb ground chicken (or ground turkey)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, for garnish (I didn’t use this much)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (I left this out cause I didn’t have any)

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, stir together breadcrumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, salt and pepper.  Add the chicken and combine well.  Use a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure) to scoop the mixture.  Roll it into 3/4 inch mini meatballs.  Note: these will be small.  You will make a lot.  I should have counted.

Note: before doing step 2, I would recommend having a splatter screen handy, and you should probably wear an apron.  Oil does spatter out a bit.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat (I used a cast iron).  Working in batches (it took me 2 batches), add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes.  Turn the meatballs and brown the tops, about 2 minutes longer.  Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and brown the next batch.

3. Add the chicken broth and all the meatballs and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Garnish with chopped fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

I served these over egg noodles, which I cooked with a bit of chicken broth in the liquid.  I used the leftover broth from the meatballs to spoon over the plate.

The family loved them.  Mackenzie ate 9 of them.  Jackson cleaned his plate.  Morgan didn’t touch her food, but that’s nothing unusual in this house.

Enjoy!

Menu (we didn’t eat a couple planned meals last week):

• Monday: Chicken cacciatore, polenta
• Tuesday: leftovers
• Wednesday (also making extra to bring to a family who recently had twins): chicken meatballs, egg noodles, salad
• Thursday: beef nachos and refried beans
• Friday: Chick fil A after soccer
• Saturday: Sausage spinach bake, bread, salad
• Sunday: sizzling pork noodles (except I will use ground turkey)

Rite Aid: I transferred a Rx to them, so got $25 gift card, and also had a gift card left from a previous deal I did there.  I only purchased items that were free after rebate, so with my coupons and gift cards, I paid 0.00 out of pocket and made money which will come back to me in the form of a check.  I like it when I can transfer gift cards to cash, which is basically what I did.

• Spent: 0.00 out of pocket (30.98 on gift cards)
• Full item value: 55.48
• Will receive in a check: 36.43, plus $5 in rite aid gift cards
• Saved: 55.48 (100%) - plus will be making 10.45

I actually plan to do another Rite Aid transaction this week to qualify for the full $20 Rite Aid gift card in their fall Gift of Savings program.  I’ll get more free-after-rebate items as well as a couple items I need anyway.  Will post that in next week’s roundup.

Publix: Got pretty much everything I needed for this week, plus 2 gallons organic milk, 4 cans black beans, 3 cans whole tomatoes, and a few other things.

• Spent: 48.79
• Full item value: 72.00
• Saved: 23.31 (32%)

I do need to make a run into Costco tomorrow for a couple items (tortilla chips, spinach, cheese), but I don’t anticipate spending more than about $15.

Totals:

• Spent: 48.79
• Full item value: 127.48
• Saved: 78.69 (62%)

Monthly grocery budget remaining: 172.36 (will post my Costco run next week as well)

I know I do my weekly roundups each week, but I thought I would do a post with the things that I have found really help me save on food each week at the grocery store.

I have listed a lot of things.  If you are new at the food budget/couponing thing, don’t be overwhelmed.  Start with one or 2 things and gradually work in other things that work for you.  The most important item is item #1 on the list below - this alone can transform the amount of money you spend on groceries.

1. Have a grocery budget.  This is non-negotiable.  Set it to what is reasonable for your family.  Take it out in cash if you have to (I recommend this when you are starting out).  This will force you to shop smart or else you will be eating a lot of beans and rice at the end of the week/month.  If you are a warehouse shopper I have found that a monthly budget works better for me.  Then I don’t feel bad spending a good portion of our weekly money in one trip to Costco.  It ends up being spread out throughout the month.  But if you don’t know if you can be that disciplined, then do a weekly budget.

2. Have a weekly meal plan.  Plan it around what is on sale at your grocery stores.

3. Stock up on items when they are on rock-bottom sale.  Buy meat on sale and freeze it for future use.  This prevents you from having to ever buy things at full price.  Just don’t go over your budget to stock up.

4. Use coupons when you can.  There are a LOT available online, you do not need the Sunday paper to have coupons (although it helps).  Use websites such as Southern Savers and Money Saving Mom to know what deals are out there with coupon match-ups.  Know your stores’ coupon policies.

5. Try to do all your grocery shopping in one day for the week.  Fewer trips prevent impulse buys and just spending more in general.

5. Be courteous to the cashiers, and even try to use the same one if you can each time you shop so they get to know you.  Introduce yourself to the manager as a coupon-user and ask him or her first-hand what their policy is.

6. Stick to a grocery list.  Really stick to it.

7. Shop with a calculator to know how much money you are spending before you get to the checkout counter.

8. Pay attention when your items are being scanned.  More than once I have gotten home to see that they charged me for pears instead of apples, for example.  Or that the wrong price rang up for an item.

9. Do not be afraid to go back to the store with an incorrect receipt or food that isn’t good.  It doesn’t have to be right away, I usually just take it with me on my trip the next week.  Publix has always immediately corrected the problem on my word alone, and all stores have taken back fruit or vegetables that were bad.  Maybe returning a 2.99 watermelon that was gross when you cut it open sounds crazy, but that’s 2.99 more you have to spend on your groceries that next week.  It’s a lot when you add it up.

10. Price compare your stores for the items you use the most.  Determine if Costco really is cheaper for some items (I find that it is not, generally).  Along those lines, do unit price comparisons - sometimes the smaller quantities of things actually are cheaper than the larger ones.

11. Don’t be afraid of store brands.  I rarely buy store brand food because I find that with sales and coupons I can get the national brand much cheaper, but if there is no sale or coupon, I have found store brand to be comparable for almost everything.

12. Make things from scratch.  It’s really not as hard as it seems, and you avoid  over-priced packaged food (and the not-so-great ingredients most of them contain).

13. When making a meal, double it and put it in the freezer, if possible.  It will only take slightly longer than making one batch, and knowing you have something in your freezer to pull out on nights you don’t feel like cooking or don’t have any food will prevent you from resorting to pizza or take-out.

14. Have a handful of recipes that are frugal.  Try to add one or 2 in to your meal plan each week to balance out recipes where you have to buy a lot of ingredients.   I plan to post some of my frugal recipes sometime soon.

If I think of any more, I’ll add to the list.  I started my frugal shopping habits with items #1 and #2 on this list, and built up from there.  Some of these I am just starting to do (like getting to know the managers).  Good luck!

So my little 8 month old has become a food snob.  She will not eat anything out of a jar.  Even if I try to sneak it out of the jar and put it into a bowl without her seeing.  She still just knows.  She takes a bite, closes her mouth, and looks at me with this look that so clearly says “you expect me to eat that?”

*sigh.  Sometimes I just want convenience.

I have made her baby food from the start - it’s so easy and economical and since I’m home most of the time anyway, it just makes sense for us.  I pureed every fruit and veggie I can think of, froze them in ice cube trays, popped them all into freezer bags and voila - instant, cheap, and easy baby food.

But as she gets older I’m trying more variety, and it’s not quite as simple.  Plus we traveled last week and will travel again soon, so jarred baby food is absolutely the easiest thing to do during those times.

It all started a couple weeks ago - we were at my in-laws, and a friend had loaned me one of those Kidco baby food mills where you can manually grind up whatever you are eating for your baby.  I had not used it yet because we were at home, and I had a large stash of baby food that I had made this summer that I was still using.  Gavin’s mom made stuffed shells one night, and I milled it up and fed it to Mackenzie.  I’m pretty sure she ate more shells than both Jackson and Morgan combined that night.  It was like she had tasted the good stuff and was almost insatiable.

Since then she has pretty much eaten whatever we have had for dinner.  She ate my slightly spicy sichuan green beans, ground up with the turkey and rice.  Tonight she gobbled down chicken gumbo and brown rice.  Last night she at a ton of thai asparagus and rice (yes, somehow I managed to have rice on the menu 3 nights in a row - oops) and one piece of shrimp before I panicked and realized I didn’t know if she should be eating shellfish at 8 months.

So she has tasted real food with all sorts of spices and yummy things, and the jarred stuff just doesn’t do it for her anymore.  Not that I blame her.  But sometimes it sure would be nice to not worry about what to give her for lunch and to just pop open a jar, since I have a handful in my cupboard that I have picked up on sale.  I’m guessing that I will end up gifting most of them to a friend.  Oh well, at least my food snob sure is cute - and at least I have one kid that will eat all the food I cook!

Menu:

• Monday: thai shrimp and asparagus
• Tuesday: chicken gumbo, rice, bread
• Wednesday: smoked pork, steamed veggies, potatos
• Thursday: leftovers
• Friday: Chick fil A after soccer
• Saturday: chicken cacciatore, creamy polenta
• Sunday: beef nachos

I had a big shopping day today - Gavin watched the kids while I went out for a bit.

Publix:  I had to buy a couple full-priced items for my thai meal tonight.  Plus shrimp and most of the rest of my groceries.

• Spent: 42.13
• Full item value: 79.45
• Saved: 37.32 (47%)

Kroger: mostly got chicken on sale, plus some canned tomatoes and a couple other things.

• Spent: 13.79
• Full item value: 20.05
• Saved: 6.26 (31%)

Trader Joes:  Olive oil, fruit and veggies

• Spent: 22.07
• Full item value: 22.07
• Saved: 0.00

Target: Motts applesauce, juice and some nutmeg.

• Spent: 5.85  (plus my 5.00 gift card from a couple weeks ago)
• Full item value: 12.00
• Received: 5.00 gift card back
• Saved: 6.15 (51%)

Totals:

• Spent: 83.84
• Full item value: 133.57
• Saved: 49.73 (37%)

Monthly grocery money remaining: 221.15