Fresh & Healthy
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
Groceries from Ingles
Now that I am home again and school is in full swing I am trying to do better at posting my weekly grocery update. Thanks for hanging in there with me as I traveled, spent time with my family over summer vacation, and transitioned in the new school schedule. It is nice to get back in to the routine and giving you regular updates (they really do help me stay on target). I was super excited to score some great fresh produce on clearance at Ingles this week (our garden is almost done producing). Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.
Ingles Groceries:
- $16.83 at Ingles for 1 container of Mushrooms (clearance), 1 loaf Laura Lynn Sandwich Bread (sale), 2 packs Vegan Gourmet Cheese (clearance), 1 bag fresh Brussel Sprouts (clearance), 1 bag fresh Broccoli (clearance), 1 gallon Milk (sale), 2 pack Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough (clearance), 1 tray Apple Slices & Cheese (clearance), 1 pack fresh Snow Peas (clearance), 1 pack fresh Sugar Snap Beans (clearance), 1 bag Chipotle Coleslaw (clearance), and 1 bag fresh Cauliflower, Carrots, & Broccoli (clearance). Everything was marked down, on sale, or on clearance including the non-dairy cheese because we have a family member who is not currently eating dairy (all produce was $0.99 or less) at Ingles.
This week I spent $16.83 on groceries. I went under on the budget this week, but only because I had a few weeks that I wasn’t tracking the spending well and went way over! Thankfully we are stocked up on most items so I could save a little from this week to spread out over the rest of the month . I was happy to find some cheese deals and some fresh produce on clearance that should last us for quite awhile especially with the girls taking lunches to school everyday. Hopefully next week we can come under budget and September will be a better month for us!
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Recipe: Hamburger Pasta Bake
Now that school is going full throttle as well as all the after school activities it has been my mission to find quick, easy, and healthy meals that I can make for my family. I have been doing a lot in crockpot lately so I decided it was time change it up a little bit and try a casserole. The challenge was that it has to be ready in a limited amount of time. By the time we get home from activities we have about 1 to 2 hours to finish homework, give the kids a bath, eat supper, do devotions, and spend a few minutes together before the kids hit the bed. The schedule is tight therefore dinner needs to be ready on time.
Hamburger Pasta Bake
- 1 pound lean Ground Beef
- 16 oz Pasta (I used Bow Tie pasta, but any will work)
- 1 can Spaghetti Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese (I used a mix blend of cheese, but you could use just mozzarella)
- 1/2 cup Pepperoni – optional
- 1/2 cup Mushrooms – optional
Preheat the oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13 a pyrex casserole dish. Boil the pasta in a large pot until pasta is tender. Brown hamburger in a skillet. Drain pasta and place into casserole dish. Add the spaghetti sauce, meat, pepperoni, mushrooms, and stir. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Our family loved this recipe. The only thing we added to it after trying it once was the pepperoni and mushrooms for extra flavor. It tastes awesome either way just add what your family likes to eat (or have on hand) and enjoy.
Tips to help make dinner prep more efficient when you have tight evening schedule:
Ground Hamburger – cook up your ground hamburger in advance and freeze it cooked in measured out portions. My favorite way to cook it is to get a large pack of hamburger (several pounds) put it in the crockpot and heat it on low stirring occasionally to break up the meat. Once it is cooked pour the hamburger into a strainer (over a bowl) drain, and blot with a paper towel. Allow it to cool them put into baggies or containers. I typically do between 2 to 4 cups per bag which is approximately 1 to 2 pounds of hamburger. This allows you to pull the meat out prior to dinner and make your meal. Cooking the hamburger in advance eliminates a lot of time, prep, and mess.
Cook the Noodles – if I will not have time to cook the noodles right before dinner I will cook them the night before or earlier in the day so they are done and ready to go.
Assemble in Advance – when it is going to be a busy evening schedule I will often put together the entire casserole in advance and store it in the fridge until it is ready to go into the oven. If I am really prepared when I make up a batch I put one in the fridge to bake that night and do another one to stick in the freezer for a later day when we are really tight on time.
When you have an section of the day that has a really tight schedule like ours the key is to utilize the parts of the day when you can prep for dinner. If you have a few extra minutes in the morning or after the kids are in bed for the evening prep for the next day. Lay out any items that you know you will need and do what you can to make sure those tight schedule times go as smoothly as possible.
Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Karlie and Brina’s lunches all packed and ready to go for school.
With the school year in full bloom we have once again started the lunch box routine. Every evening before going to bed we put together all the lunches for the following day including school and work lunches. After everything is all packed the lunch boxes are put into the refrigerator so in the morning all that we need to do it pull them out, stick in an ice pack, and go. The mornings are busy enough with activity so prepping the night before saves us a lot of time. We try to pack a protein (sandwich / meat), fruit, vegetable, diary (yogurt or cheese stick), drink, and snack in each lunch. Everyday is a little different to add more variety to their lunches.
Fresh plums, garden tomatoes, and other goodies
Lunch Box Meal:
- Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwich
- Fresh Red Plums
- Blueberry or Mixed Berry Yogurt Tubes
- Garden Red Cherry Tomatoes
- Ritz Cheese Crackers
- Strawberry Fruit Rollup
- Honey Ham Stick
- Mini M&M’s
- Reduced Sugar Cherry or Pineapple Juice
The cupcake sandwich container and princess baggie add a little more excitement to the lunch.
While it may look like a lot of food the items packed in their lunch boxes have to get them through the majority of the day including school lunch and an afternoon snack. We have activities after school every day of the week so whatever they don’t eat for lunch they will eat as a snack on the way to the activity for the day. Since we have started doing the school lunch boxes they have had more energy because they are eating a more balanced meal and snack plus we know exactly what they are eating. Do you pack lunches everyday for your kids? How do you keep it exciting for them?
Rubbermaid LunchBlox Sandwich Kit
I was super excited to receive the Rubbermaid LunchBlox Sandwich Kit set in the mail. It came at the perfect time with school beginning. The girls take lunches to school and Jake takes a lunch to work almost every day so these are really handy. Here’s a picture of the set we received below:
The Rubbermaid LunchBlox Sandwich Kit includes a sandwich container sized for regular and specialty breads, two snack containers (great for yogurt or nuts) and a side container (perfect for fruits, vegetables, and chips). I love that they have the measurements marked on the outside of the containers too!
Product Features:
- Modular containers snap together in multiple configurations
- The containers stack compactly, saves space, and stay organized in lunch bags
- Holds a wide variety of basic or specialty breads
- Includes a Blue Ice keeps lunch cool on the go
- Secure lid seals
- Containers are perfectly portioned for lunch foods commonly carried away from home
- Microwave, Dishwasher, and Freezer Safe
- BPA-Free
- Each Sandwich Kit includes 1 Sandwich Container (2.6 cups |615 ML), 2 Snack Containers (0.5 Cup |118 ML), 1 Side Container (1.2 cups | 283 ML), and 1 Medium Blue Ice
I encourage you to check out more information on Rubbermaid’s LunchBlox Sandwich Kit if you are interested in finding nice containers that stack compactly, saves space, stay organized and cool in your lunch box. Individual containers are sold separately from kits so you can configure a different way everyday. Check out all the other great Rubbermaid LunchBlox options. The Rubbermaid Lunch Blox can be purchased at Rubbermaid’s website or at Target, Kmart, Kroger, Safeway, Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie, HEB, other grocery stores and select Wal-Mart stores.
More information about Rubbermaid and the Clean & Dry Plunger can be found:
I was given this product for free to write an informed review. The product, specific product information, and pictures were provided by Rubbermaid, however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own. I was not paid to write this post. A special thanks to Rubbermaid for providing a LunchBlox Sandwich Kit to review!Fresh & Healthy: First Day of School Lunch Box Meals
Karlie and Brina’s lunch for the first day of school
Another school year has started…..we had a blast this summer. Their school lunch boxes are metal with a chalkboard on the inside so I can write them a message. For the first day I wrote “Happy First Day of School Brina & Karlie. We love you!” The girls pack a lunch Monday through Thursday on Friday they eat their lunch at school as a special treat. Most days the girls pack their own lunches but with the first week being so busy I got them started until they adjust to the new schedule. Each day they get a protein, fruit, vegetable, dairy, drink, and snack (sometimes I will through in an extra snack or treat if I know we have activities after school).
Karlie’s lunch box has a shiny red race car with her name on the car and tracks
Brina’s lunch box is covered in hearts and her favorite colors (orange and pink)!
Each lunch box has their design and names on both the font and back as well as the sides (see picture at bottom for the side view). The lunch boxes were a “surprise” for the girls. They were thrilled to get these to use for school. I was pleased with how they turned out too.
Ready to be packed
Lunch Goodies:
- Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza
- Berry Blast Fruit Mashups
- Peach Yogurt
- Fresh Carrots
- Cherry Fruit Twist
- Peanut Butter Crackers
- Cinnamon Teddy Grahams
- CapriSun Sunrise Juice
- Million Dollar Mint
Lunches all packed, in the fridge, and ready to go for tomorrow’s big day!
Save A Lot: Deals for the week of August 22 – 28, 2012
The Save A Lot weekly ad deals are listed below for your convenience. It is a great time to stock up on some Save A Lot deals. Sign up for the Smart Shopper Club, by doing so you will get a $5.00 off of $25.00 coupon!
Meat and Seafood
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – $1.69 lb
Ground Beef – $1.99 lb
Assorted Pork Chops – $1.69 lb
Boston Butt Roast – $1.69 lb
Grilling Steaks, Ribeye, T-Bone, NY Strip – $6.99 lb
Chicken Drums or Thighs – $0.99 lb
Fairgrounds Hotdogs (12 oz) – $0.79
Hickory Springs Bacon (12 oz) – $1.99
Pick 5 for $19.99 promo on going! Pick any 5 specially marked packages of your favorite cuts or types of meats, vegetables and more.
Fridge and Freezer
Eggs (dozen) – $0.99
World’s Fair Ice Cream (56 oz) – $1.99
Mantia’s Pizza – $1.99
Produce
Cucumbers – $0.29 each
Green Peppers – $0.39 each
Head Lettuce – $0.79 each
Cabbage – $0.25 lb
Medium Vine Ripened Tomatoes – $0.69 lb
Yellow Onions – $0.99 each
Potatoes (8 pounds) – $2.29
Assorted Apples – $0.99 lb
Whole Seedless Watermelon – $3.99
Grocery
Ginger Evans Flour (5 pounds) – $1.69
Ginger Evans Granulated Sugar (4 pounds) – $1.99
Duke’s Mayonnaise (32 oz) – $2.99
Save-A-Lot Soft Drinks (12 pack) – $1.99
O’Days Mac & Cheese – $0.39
Remember you can use the $5/$25 printable coupon to sweeten these deals! Plus you can earn up to 5 additional $5 off $25 coupons for sharing the coupon with your friends. For more information about Save A Lot’s coupon policies go here. If you find additional deals or savings please let me know and I will add them to the list.
Recipe: Green Spinach Smoothie
Green Spinach Smoothie
I made this Green Spinach Smoothie recently for breakfast and it was delicious! My husband happen to see it on the table in passing and asked “what are you drinking”!? It may look a little funky but it is actually quite tasty. The girls think its great and it gives them an extra boost in vegetables and protein! With the egg, peanut butter, milk and spinach combination its not only delicious it’s a healthy smoothie too.
Green Spinach Smoothie:
- 1 hard boiled Egg
- 1 cup Vanilla Yogurt
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 2 cups fresh Spinach
- 1 Banana (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Peanut Butter (optional)
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. You can freeze the banana for added coolness! I added Peanut Butter to the list because I tried it the other day with a tablespoon of peanut butter in it which tasted awesome!
Great way to start your day!
With the summer temperatures still high this is a great smoothie to help cool you off. Although I had the Green Spinach Smoothie for breakfast it would make a wonderful lunch or snack too!
Creative Kids: Edible Wildflower
Edible Flower
The first time we made this large “edible flower” was at the girls birthday party. It was a lot of fun to put together and was a big hit. The flower is not only delicious and healthy it adds to the overall decorations for the party. It is a great appetizer for any family or friend get together. The flower is about two feet long and covers most of our large cutting board. You can substitute items to make any shape, color, size or variety you want, here is what I used:
- 1 (8 oz) block Cheddar Cheese
- 1 Celery Stick
- 6 Snow Peas
- Handful Grapes
Slice the cheese into triangles (leaving an open space in the center, see picture below) and place in a layered circle on the cutting board or serving dish. Wash all the vegetables and fruit. Trim the ends off the celery and tuck under the cheese petals. Add the snow peas for leaves and place a handful of grapes in the center of the flower.
Kids in the Kitchen: Fruit Cars
Apple Cars
The kids loved these fruit treats. It was a fun snack and craft to do at the girls birthday party too. At their party we set out a bowl of apples, oranges, grapefruits, and grapes so the kids could put together their own cars. The cars we’re a lot of fun and you could even drive them (so cute with their wobbly wheels).
Orange Car
Cute little fruit cars made by the kids. All it takes is some fruit and toothpicks (broken in half for the wheels). If you have smaller kids you may want to help them put them together and take out the toothpicks for them before they eat their fruit car.
Recipe: Fresh Blueberry Muffins
Fresh Blueberries
A couple weeks ago the girls and I went over to a friends house to pick blueberries. I was really impressed with how dedicated the girls were to picking the blueberries with me. They had a blast picking the blueberries, washing them and of course helping us eat them. The kids loved eating the fresh blueberries and helped me make homemade blueberry muffins, blueberry smoothies, and more goodies with the fresh blueberries.
When we picked the blueberries we used a beach bucket to store them in while we are picking because it had a handle. When we got home we rinsed the blueberries, and laid them out on racks to dry out (see picture below) before bagging and putting them in the freezer.
Fresh blueberries drying out after being rinsed
You don’t want to store fresh blueberries in an tight container all today, especially if you are leaving it on the kitchen counter for awhile because they will go bad. The blueberries, much like some people, need a little bit a space between them and the next one to breath.
Homemade Blueberries Muffins (made with the fresh blueberries we picked together)
I am so thankful for a sweet friend who let us come over and pick blueberries. The blueberries have been a huge hit in our house and it was great having a chance to pick and catch up at the same time. Blueberries are very healthy for you and this is the time of year to get stock up on some either picking them yourselves or getting them on sale at the store.
Fresh Blueberry Muffin Recipe:
- 1 cup fresh Milk
- 1/2 cup Oil
- 1 Egg
- 2 cups Flour
- 2/3 cup Sugar
- 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Fresh Blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12 muffin cup pan. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together and create a well in the center. Put milk, oil and egg in bowl and blend well. Add the moist items to the flour mixture and stir until moistened. Fold in the fresh blueberries and spoon into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven butter the tops of the muffins and sprinkle with sugar in the raw crystals.
