Grocery Shopping

Today is Friday and they always seem hectic around our household. I dropped Tyler off at school this morning and then went grocery shopping - EXCITING - NOT!!! But I did quite well for the amount I spent. Whenever I go grocery shopping I always have a plan, here is what I do:

1. Check what I all have on hand in the freezers, fridge and cupboards including the pantry.

2. Figure out my weekly meal plan from what I have on hand and also try to always include at least 1 new recipe to try. By palnning with what I have on hand it's this much less to buy.

3 Go thru the sale bill and see what is a bargain and also if I have coupons for any of the items. Coupons are a must in our household, love the thrill of seeing how much I can save!

4. Compile my shopping list, I normally shop at Wal-mart first (a lot of people don't care for them, but our store is a very nice, clean one)so at the bottom of my list, I list the items that HyVee has on sale and see if Walm-mart is cheaper or has priced match, I also take into account if I can get the product cheaper with the employee 10% discount, you don't get the discount on everything in the store, but it's pretty good for the majority of what we buy and use.

5. I then go thru all my monthly coupons and take out the ones that I know I am going to use and I will even sort the coupons to how I shop in the store: Health/Beauty/Pet Food and any other household items go first, then I head on over to the other side of the store I go thru the aisles and leave parishables, meat, frozen and produce to the last.

6. When I get to the checkout I even have a plan there: Give the coupons first, make sure if I have any for FREE products that they are on top and then I start to unload stuff out of the cart (There's even a plan with this): FREE items first, then canned, glass and boxed goods followed by meat, frozen and produce this is followed by all the taxable items and then finally any bakery and chip products are last. We don't drink pop so I don't have to worry about anything bulky like that to unload.

7. This seems to help the clerks at the checkout when it comes to bagging the items up.

8. When I finally arrive home even my closets and pantry/cupboards are organized, it may sound neurotic, but it sure helps when it comes time to bake or cook and to make out that shopping list.

9. Forgot to mention that I also always check for clearence items and discounted meat.

*This morning I went shopping had to buy both groceries and taxable items, started out at Walmart: Used 8 coupons (2 Free products, The rest were cent & dollar off amounts: 2($2), $1, $1.50, $0.75 and $0.35)

My Subtotal was: $63.04 - coupons $13.00
New subtotal of: $50.04 - Discount $3.31
Subtotal of: $46.73 + Tax $1.38
Total of: $48.11 This amount is for groceries and taxable amounts


Then I went to HyVee quick to get the catfood that our cat likes:

My total there was: $2.98 + Tax $0.19
Total of: $3.17

My Grand Total for this morning was: $51.28 with a Total savings of: $21.22

A day of great savings!!

Real Chicken Nuggets

One thing I try to do each week when planning my meals is to try out 1 new recipe a week. So last night for dinner or supper depending upon what you call it I made:

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Herbs
Chicken Chunks (This is the new recipe)I have made homemade chicken chunks/nuggets before but this one was with a different breading.

The potatoes just consisted of:

2 lbs. red potatoes cut into quarters.
3 Tbsps. olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Thyme (dried or fresh)
Parsley Flakes (dried or fresh)

-Scrub and wash potatoes, cut into quarters and mix with the rest of the indredients in a bowl. I used dried herbs. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for around 30-45 mins., it depends upon the size of your potatoes in how long they will take.

Chicken Chunks:

3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 small can (2.8 oz.) French Fried Onions
2 eggs, beaten
Bread Crumbs

-Cut the chicken breasts into chunks.
-In a seperate bowl, beat the 2 eggs.
-In another bowl, finely crush the French Fried Onions and combine in some bread crumbs for better coverage.
-Dip your chicken chunks into the beaten egg and then into the breading, shake off excess.
-Place on baking tray, I sprayed mine lightly with baking spray and then bake right along side the potatoes, these take about 20-25 mins. again it depends upon how big your pieces are.

Here are some pictures of what my meal looked like:

Ingredients for making the chicken chunks:


Before pic. of the potatoes mixed with herbs:


Here are the chicken chunks breaded and ready to go into the oven:


Just out of the oven:


Simple, easy meal, that my family gave a thumbs up on!

First Time Blogging - Yikes!

Bare with me as I try my hand at blogging.
I am just a simple, loving stay at home mom raising two very active children: Brittany is 16 and a Junior in H.S. and Tyler is 10 and in the 4th gr.
I have been married to my dear hubby Daren for almost 18 years and he likes to stay busy so not only does he work full-time, he also works part-time on the weekends!

You would think that being a SAHM with 2 school aged children that I wouldn't have anything to do all day but be the typical stereotype of what some people think a SAHM does (eat bon bons and watch soap operas). Okay, Yes I do have my favorite soap that I watch but it's while I am preparing lunch for my husband that I get to watch it and yes, I like chocolate but usually have a piece at night when we are having family time watcing tv.

There are some days that I don't have enough time in the day to get everything done and with 2 very active kids and a husband it takes 3 calendars to keep us going sometimes. My husband often comments that he would never be able to do it all referring to the running of the household and knowing what everyone is/should be doing and where they are at. I agree that sometimes I wonder if trying to live the simple life and juggling 3 calendars qualifies for "The Simple Life", but we seem to love it otherwise we wouldn't do it!