March Stockup

We are pretty well stocked for the month of March.  I had a few holes in my pantry that I filled and I picked up some meats on discount.  I also know that to some of you this will look like a ton of junk food.  In a way, it is.  However, it was all bought with specific things in mind.  We will be on the road each weekend this month, including an out of state trip.  The costs of eating on the road are high and we like to have things to munch on.  While I will pack some homemade items for the "going portion" of the trips, we will rely on sealed packages for the "coming back portions" of the trips.  There are also sodas for my daughter for school and some snack items (such as Goldfish) that go in her lunches.  These aren't the cheapest items, but they are far less expensive than her eating out.  She also has to leave her food in the car because of her lab rules so we have to have items that can withstand heat.

You'll notice that there are not many veggies other than canned tomatoes and not any fruit.  I have a ton of frozen, canned and home canned that we are working on....for both fruits and veggies.  I've been told that the produce stand that I pass on weekends is opening soon and I will check to see what they have.

Beef is the only meat I am low on.  I found decent mark downs.  I haven't decided if I will can the meat or freeze it.  I'm leaning toward canning it.  (The lone package of turkey will be frozen.)

We bought meats, sodas, flour, 3 packages of turkey bacon, Oreos, fruit snacks, Goldfish, 4 bags of candy, 8 yogurts, 1 package of refrigerator dough, 1 package of refrigerator cookie dough, 8 cans of tomatoes, 2 bottles of pancake syrup, 1 jar of pasta sauce, 10 sleeves of Ritz crackers, chocolate coffee (our treat), a toothbrush, 2 bottles of body wash, 1 can of pledge, a can opener, a plunger, 7 brownie mixes, 4 cake mixes, 4 lbs, of cheese, bacon bits, 2 cartons of lactose free milk, and 4 (18 count) cartons of eggs.

I also bought these boxes of cereal.  Believe it or not, they are for a party.

We were having a hard time getting together as a family for my brother's birthday. 

Due to crazy schedules, the only time we can all meet is Sunday morning.

However, he lives an hour away and has to be to work by noon.

We're doing a breakfast party.

Every person is bringing cereal and each family is bringing milk.

No having to arrive early, no major clean up, and the children will all be happy.

The children are the reason for two of these cereals...lol.

(We'll have coffee and juice, too.)

So what did I spend?

I spent $211.95 including tax.

I saved $32.07 on mark downs and coupons.

Then I did an additional $14 in coupons on Ibotta.

If anyone is interested, I can share a group number. 

(If I understand correctly, the larger the group the better the savings benefits.)

$15.00 of that comes out of my gift budget for the party.

So I am at $197 for the month.

I'm expecting to have to buy milk, a few fresh items, and possibly more sodas depending on my husband's needs.

However, I think all in all I did pretty well.

Chicken, Chicken, and More Chicken

Yesterday morning, I  put away 40 lbs of chicken and completely cleaned the entire kitchen after with Clorox in 2 hours and 35 minutes.  The trash was even out.  However, to be fair the pressure cooker was still going and had about 30 more minutes.   So what did I make?

2 pans of Italian Ranch chicken strips

 8 pans of barbecue chicken chunks (I froze these in round pans because I can either bake them this way, or they will fit perfectly in my round crockpot.)

 4 pans of chicken pot pie (I freeze the filling and add my bread topping when I bake them.  I either add a biscuit crust, cornbread crust, or a pie crust depending on my mood.)

 4 pans of chicken tetrazzini (I put cheese on all four, but snapped the photo to show the veggies, too.)

 5 bags with the double the amount we need for a meal.  This is for grilling.  If we have company I'll have enough, but if not I'll grill extra to use during the week.

 Almost 2 quarts of chicken broth.

 7 pints of chicken for chicken salad or quick meals.  (This was my first time raw packing meat to can, so I've learned something new this month.)

At $68.95 the chicken for these meals works out to be $2.30 per meal.  Not bad at all.  

Menu Monday

I'm trying my hand at the new menu sheets.

 Instead of using the side for writing in a grocery list -- I'm stocked -- I am writing in my meal prep tasks.

 Sunday -- homemade pizza (make 2 crusts and freeze one for Friday to carry off for weekend -- grate mozzarella)

 Monday -- Pressure Cooker beans and rice (soak beans, can 7 pints of beans)

 Tuesday -- tacos (take out beef to thaw, cook and package leftovers for Thursday night, grate Colby cheese)

 Wednesday -- oven fried pork chops, Pressure Cooker Mac and Cheese, Green beans (take out pork chops, grate cheddar cheese)

 Thursday -- leftover tacos (I am picking up 40 lbs of chicken and will spend the day prepping it.  My goals are to make ranch chicken strips, BBQ chicken, tetrazzini, and plain chicken for the freezer.)

 Friday -- On the road -- pack pizza and make up a hamburger helper mix to take with us Saturday -- We will be away.  Carrying beef from freezer, cream of mushroom soup, and rice.  I'll grab a can of peas and we will have a pressure cooker meal.  I'm also packing cereal and milk for breakfast, and the hamburger helper will be for lunch.

 Updated as of Sunday night: We did make pizzas, but I opted to grate all the cheese for the week.  One of my least favorite things is cleaning the food processor and it just made sense to grate it all at once so I only had to clean it once.  

 

Sam's Club and Where the February Grocery Budget Stands

I'm very fortunate to live literally 5 minutes from a Sam's Club.  I find the store to be invaluable for certain items that I like to buy because of either personal preference and/or allergy issues.  I prefer their Member's Mark brand dishwasher tabs.  I like to buy the POM toilet paper and paper towels.  Their fruit prices (for the quality they sell) are excellent and I've never had any trouble with any of the produce I bought there.  Sadly I can't say the same for some of the other stores in my area.  I also like their meats.

 This month they had some great sales and I actually bought items for storage that will stretch on into June.  We are covered for toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher tabs, Clorox 2, food saver bags, and deodorant.  After a careful inventory I made a list of items we needed to go into our food rotation to round out what we have.  I'll also be picking up an order of chicken breasts from Zaycon later this month and it is reflected in my totals.

 For tracking purposes we divide these purchases (except the chicken) out over how many months we will use them and subtract them from those individual months' budget.  This accounting method and our "convenience" fund helps us balance things out. I budgeted $500 for food and household supplies.  When everything is added and the household supplies are portioned out, I have $158 left for the month for incidentals like milk, eggs, etc.  We are well stocked on everything and should be able to carry on into the next month with no problems.

  (This order includes two gifts -- a box of coffee pods for my son and a bag of chocolates for my daughter in law and grandson.  Their cost is not part of the grocery budget, but if I include them I would still have $122 left to spend if I need it.)