Town and Country in Humboldt

Ground Beef 1.29

20 lbs red potatoes 3.88

green cabbage 25 cents/lb

Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs 1.25

Best Choice black eyed peas 49 cents

Bunny Bread 1.00

Best choice corn, peas, green beans 48 cents

Best Choice cake mixes 69 cents

Food Rite in Trenton – The ad is not up yet, if anyone has the ad and wants to type the best deals I will post them and give you credit!

Food Giant in Jackson

Pork Boston Butt 98 cents a pound

Jiffy corn muffin mix 5/2.00

Cabbage 25 cents/lb

Red potatoes 20 lbs 3.99

Ground Chuck 1.58/lb

Bunny Bread 98 cents

Lykes Bacon 1.98

Lykes hot dogs or bologna 98 cents

Kroger in Jackson

Boneless English Roast 1.97

Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix 3/1.00

Green Cabbage 3lbs/1.00

Boston Butt Port Roast 97 cents/lb

Pepsi or Mountain Dew (Diet Pepsi was pictured as well) Must buy 6 – 84 cents each

Mary Jane Bread 1.00

Money Saving Mom is hosting a pantry challenge.  The deal is to eat out of the pantry for one month.  She has a set of rules for her family that she will follow.  I (Jessica) am going to participate in this.  I thought that after my post yesterday, it would be a fitting thing to do!  (Glad I haven't cooked the chicken and artichokes yet!) 

I am going to have to inventory the pantry, freezer and  cupboards to get a good sense of what is there. 

Here are my goals:

Go to the grocery store once a week for produce and dairy.  

Spend no more than $40 at the grocery store.  That will cut my food budget by more than half.

I will not go out to eat on my own dime.  (I have a gift certificate from my points on the way, and my brother likes to go out to eat.)

I will not allow myself to spend money on any non perishable packaged food or freezer food.  (I will get it if it is free after coupon. I can’t resist a great deal.)

I will take the money I save and pay it on the principle of the house. 

So those are not very earth shattering but it will challenge me!  I will post interesting things I cook, and post my menus as I come up with them.  This will be fun!

I have a confession to make. I don't always take my coupon binder to the store. I have 4 kids. Time is very limited. I have a bag of unclipped, unfiled coupons sitting under my desk right now. I used to feel a bit guilty about it but now I just feel great that I actually bought the paper and thought to take the coupons out! But I have some good news:
You don't have to use coupons to save a ton of money on groceries! There are some very frugal things that you can do to cut your grocery bill in half. Check back each day for new things you can do to save money.

Today I want to talk about what we already have. We all have food in the backs of our cabinets that we never do anything with. This is generally the food we reach for during the canned food drives at the library or church. But if you can't figure out what to do with it, the people visiting the food pantries in your city probably can't either. You need to use these items. Think of it as money sitting in your cabinets. If you had a dollar in there, you would take it out and put it in your wallet.

I have some canned chicken, artichoke hearts, and some dried beef. I also have copious amounts of dried beans.

This is what I am going to do with it:
I found this recipe at allrecipes.com using their ingredient search. It looks simple enough and will use the ingredients I already have. I will modify the recipy slightly to account for the chicken being cooked and canned.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Artichoke-Chicken/Detail.aspx

The dried beef will be used for some Creamed Beef on biscuits.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chipped-Beef-on-Toast/Detail.aspx

I will use the dried black beans to make black bean burritos. Mix a half a pound of cooked ground beef, beans, and a pack of taco mix together. Put some spoonfuls in tortillas, roll them up, put in baking dish, cover with jarred salsa and cheddar cheese. Bake until cheese it melted and dish is heated through. The ground beef can be omitted entirely but my husband would revolt.

So I have 3 suppers and I did not even have to go to the grocery store. I have a pretty decent stockpile right now so I don't anticipate going to the store at all except for milk and bread. WOO HOO!

So this week I encourage you to look in the dark places of your cabinets, get those odd foods out and try something different. You will save money and hopefully find a new recipe to try and love!




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I glanced through the ad - I think the best deals are going to be found at Town and Country this week however these meats are worth mentioning!

Chicken Breast Tenders 1.99
Ground Chuck or Ground Round 1.99

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Best Choice Ice Cream Squares 1.19
Split chicken breasts 88 cents
Swiss Miss Cocoa 79 cents
Ozark Hearth Brown and serve rolls 59 cents
10 lbs potatoes 1.99
Prairie Farms Butter 1.69
Always Save diced or crushed tomatoes 49 cents
Best Choice Flour 1.19

That is what I am going to pick up - At least I hope to get their! I am about out of butter with all the holiday baking I have been doing.

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Some nights I go to bed with the hopes that the good fairies will come and clean it up while I am sleeping.  I have tried this several times.  They don’t come.  No matter how hard I wish them too, they just don't come.  So I took it upon myself this evening.  I decided at 9:20 to clean up the kitchen and living room.  All the children were snug in their beds.  Gary was sitting in the living room playing on the computer.  I walking into the kitchen.  This is what I saw.

Not a pretty picture.  So, I got to work.  I cleared the cabinets by the stove.  I had my first moment of being sidetracked. 

I started to clean the tops of these canisters when I reminded myself that I was surface cleaning only.  I could come back and do canister tops later.  I am glad I stopped myself.  I probably would have decided to put something in the clean canisters and that would have prompted an entire makeover of the contents of my cupboards.  I moved on to the stove and then turned to the sink.  I washed all the dishes and dried and put them away.  I cleaned off the counter tops and turned to the dining area.  I cleaned the table, put my dh’s coat away and called for him to take the garbage out.  I swept the floor, decided to mop it later, and stood back to see my results.

That is a kitchen worth getting out of bed for! 

Now the living room.

This room was so messy it was probably criminal to let my kids play in there.  Of course, it was mostly their fault. I put away clothes, toys, and threw away some trash.  I would have vacuumed but did not think the sleeping ones would appreciate it.  Notice my dh is not in any of these pictures.  He went to bed after he took out the garbage. One hour later………..

Then I figured I may as well do my desk while I was at it.

Now I am sitting down and taking a well deserved break.  It is 11:30 pm and I can not believe I am still up.  I never stay up this late.  I am glad that I get to wake up to this house tomorrow.  It is Sunday and I won’t feel so overwhelmed at the beginning of a new week.  It should make my home blessing hour much easier on Monday.

Kroger Deals!

Tide Detergent $5.99
(11/29 PG) Save $.35
pgesaver.com Ecoupon - Save $1.00
Final Price, $4.29

Tennessee Pride Sausage Patties 30 count $4.99
(11/15 RP) Save $.55
Final Price, $3.89

Jimmy Dean Sausage Regular rolls, pre-cooked patties 2 for $5
11/1 RP Save $1.00
Final Price, $1.50

Duncan Hines Cake Mix 10/$10
(10/11 SS) Save $.55/2
Final Price, 2/$.90

Ro Tel/ Hunts 10 for $10
All You Dec Save $1.00/4
Final Price 4/$3

Ronco Pasta 10 for $10
(10/11 SS ) Save $.55/2
Final Price, 2/$.90

Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits 10/$10
(11/8, 11/22, 12/6 SS) Save $.40/3
(10/4, 11/15 GM) Save $.30/2
Shortcuts eCoupon Save $.30/2
Cellfire eCoupon Save $.30/2
Final Price, 2/$.70

Pillsbury Sweet Rolls 10/$10
(11/22, 12/6 SS) Save $.55/2
(11/8, 10/25, 10/18 SS) Save $.40/2
(10/4 GM) Save $.40/2
(11/15 GM) Save $.55/2
Shortcuts eCoupon Save $.40/2
Cellfire eCoupon Save $.40/2
Final Price, 2/$.10

Edwards Pie $5.99
(11/15 SS) Save $1.00
Final Price, $4.99

Domino Brown Sugar 2 for $4
(10/18,11/15 RP) Save $.50/2
Final Price, 2/$3.00

Karo Syrup 2/$5
(10/4, 1/8. 12/6 SS) Save $.40
Final Price, $1.70

Nestle Morsels $2 for 5
(11/1 RP) Save $.50
Printable Coupon Save $.50/2
Final Price, $1.50

Progresso Soup 4/$5
Printable Coupon Save $1.10/3
(12/6, 11/8, 10/25 SS) Save $.50/2
Cellfire eCoupon Save $.50/2
Final Price, 2/$1.00

Lean Pockets 5/$10
(10/25 SS) Save $.50/3
Final Price, 3/$5.00

Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers 3/$5
(11/15 GM) Save $.40
Final Price, $.67

Velveeta $4.59
(11/15 RP) Save $1.00
Final Price, $3.59


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