$500 challenge - update

Woo-hoo just one more week to go! It's a stormy day here, so we had to cancel our plans for today. I took advantage of a break in the rain and ran to get movies and Jackson requested hot dogs for dinner.

Spending:

2 prs of Crocs for Kira - the crocs site had a sale on their Mary Janes - they were $9.99 and if you bought two pair you got them for half off. I had a code for free shipping, so 2 pair shipped for $9.99. She constantly puts Jackson's Crocs on, so I've been watching for a sale for her. (I didn't post the deal itself on here, because by the time I found out about it, they had exactly 2 prs left in her size and not much else.)

The kids and I went to see Kung Fu Panda at the movies yesterday - Free (Regal theaters - UA in these parts - free summer movie series)

Derek stopped for milk at Tom Thumb: 1 gallon of organic marked down - spent $2.25 saved $3.75 (based on the $6 regular price)

Redbox - $1.08 - I ran out for a couple of movies and had a code for one of them. DVDONME is the code, if you haven't used it yet.

Kroger:
1 personal sized watermelon: $1.97 on sale
1 package of Oscar Mayer beef franks: $4.69 used Free coupon (it was only up to $4.50, so these were .19)
1 package of hot dog buns: .88 on sale
1 7 oz Kraft 2% shredded cheese: $1.67 on sale - used .50/1 doubled tearpad q - so .67
1 dz Eggland's Best Eggs - $2.59 used .35/1 insert q tripled

spent: $5.08
saved: $9.06

$500 Challenge Totals:
food & eating out (includes HBA): $194.92 ($168.49 savings)
- (eating out $53.36)
gas: $110.74
clothing: 9.99
coffee & beer making supplies: $52.05
household necessities (like air filters, etc)
entertainment:
- Derek allowance: $20.46
- Wendy allowance: $18.85
- Kids' allowance: $6.08
crafting supplies: $45.38
gifts: $12.88
Total spent: $471.35
Remaining: $28.65

I was thisclose to letting us eat out after storytime on Tuesday. I really, really want to stay under $250 for all of our groceries, eating out, and the coffee purchase, though. That leaves $3.03 and I think we can do it.

For breakfast today: scrambled eggs and peach/banana smoothies

For lunch today, I sauteed some onion and added the last of the leftover bison. We had it with brown rice and shredded cheese - broccoli on the side. We had watermelon for dessert.

I have this bread using leftover brown rice baking right now. I hope it's good! It calls for a 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice and that's usually about how much I have leftover.

We're having hot dogs for dinner - haven't decided yet what to make for sides. Might just be watermelon.

I'm making kettle corn to enjoy while we watch a movie tonight.

I'm working on the getting started - coupons post. I'm having a hard time deciding on where to start, though. If you have specific questions on organizing, obtaining, or anything else related to starting couponing - or if you have any suggestions - please let me know!

menus for a couple of days

Just a promised what-we've-been-eating update. I'm also loosely planning the next couple of days. I just started a loaf of bread in the bread machine and may try to get another one going later. I need to pull a whole chicken out of the freezer, too.

Sunday - my wonderful, amazing, magnificent husband took the kids to see the in-laws all day. I stayed home and did chores. I ate leftovers from Saturday all day. I did enjoy some fancy bevs, though. I made iced tea and mashed up a couple of strawberries in the bottom of my glass. Yummy. I also made iced coffee - I keep forgetting to do the cold brew method, so it was just my regular old coffee on ice. Still good, in fact I think I'm going to go make more in a sec.

Derek and the kids came home with a huge bag of peaches from my in-laws peach tree. He also brought a small dish of their home grown squash and tomatoes.

So, today:

Breakfast: Cheerios, strawberries, peaches for the kids. I had yogurt with strawberries and peaches and little honey.

Lunch: totally random. I sauteed the squash and tomatoes in a little olive oil and added in some frozen broccoli - put the lid on the pan and let the broccoli steam for a bit. Had it all over rice. The kids had monterey jack cheese cubes with theirs. I had a little ceaser dressing on mine. Jackson actually had seconds, so I guess random worked. More peaches for dessert.

Tonight: We're having a sort-of stroganoff with ground bison and a sauce made with plain yogurt, sauteed onions, and a little Worcestershire. We'll have it over egg noodles and I'll probably just go ahead and throw peas in, too.

Tuesday:

Breakfast - scrambled eggs, toast w/jelly
Lunch - grilled cheese sandwiches, whatever frozen veg the kids decide on or maybe celery sticks and some dip kind of thing.
Dinner - I'm thinking of trying this Adzuki bean soup recipe, although I may change it up depending on what spices we have available. One of the commenters on the site topped their's with yogurt and it sounds really good. I have dried adzuki beans - this recipe doesn't call for soaking them, but I think I'll soak them tonight anyway. We'll have this with bread - or maybe rice would be better?

Wednesday:
(I'm going to get Derek to start the chicken in the crockpot in the morning - not sure what he'll throw together, so we'll see.)
Breakfast - cantaloupe, the last of the strawberries (if there are any left), peaches and either cereal or toast
Lunch - leftovers from Tuesday
Dinner - chicken and whatever needs to go with it depending on what Derek does.

Thank you for visiting random menu planning with Wendy.

yesterday's eating

Oh y'all, we ate good yesterday!

Breakfast: the last of the leftover pizza (oh so healthy) and honeydew melon (that's better)

Lunch: I made a variation of Taco Style Lentils and Rice - I sauteed about 1/3 cup of chopped onion in olive oil and used that instead of the onion powder, used Better than Bouillon instead of bouillon cubes, and added a couple of tablespoons of salsa. We ate it with chips, guacamole (made from frozen avocado puree - thanks Teri!), grated cheddar cheese, and salsa. It was my first time to make it and it was really, really good. The kids really enjoyed it, too.

Dinner: Derek made Chapatis - basically an Indian tortilla made with flour, yogurt, a little oil, and a little salt. We used those for soft tacos (Derek and I) and quesadillas (the kids) with ground turkey italian sausage. Derek cooked the sausage with fresh spinach and salsa. We sprinkled grated cheddar on top. So, so, so good!

Snacks: honeydew, chips - although there wasn't much snacking today. All of our meals were really filling and the kids ate all of them surprisingly well.

Where did the food come from?
The turkey sausage I bought a couple of months ago for $2.99/lb at Whole Foods
The cheese, onion, salsa, chips, honeydew and yogurt were from this week's shopping (last Sunday and Friday).
The spinach was from last week.
The flour, rice, lentils, and oil were from the stockpile.
The huge bag of avocado puree was from my friend Teri, who happens to be a chef. She gave it to us awhile back and we froze it.

This is why I actually love shopping and cooking like this. Tonight's dinner came together from what we had and it was so delicious. I can try to give more detailed recipes, if anyone is interested.