June's Monthly Grocery Haul

Hey Everyone.

Today I am sharing with you my two latest grocery hauls for the month of June.

Most of our snacks for the month will be from this Sam's Club haul. This totaled $143.21. Most of our meat will be boneless skinless chicken breast from last month's grocery haul which you can see by clicking down below. 

I would approximate we had about 20 something pounds worth of chicken left and planned all our meals around what we already had and what I could add as sides at a low cost to complete meals. I went through my pinterest board and selected 30 meals to cook for this month. From there I went through the ingredient lists for each meal and noted what was missing from my fridge, freezer or pantry. After that I set to shopping at Sam's Club and Aldi. I found 95% of what I needed on my Aldi's shopping list but was not able to get Ricotta, eggplant and frozen pepper and onion mix. Quick run to Walmart solved that. 

If you've been following me either on you tube or this blog you know I usually plan and shop on a weekly basis. This month were trying the monthly thing and just shopping fresh mil, bread and produce weekly. So far I am really liking it. I know what I will be making all month long and know I have all of what I need on hand to make those meals. Not to mention I have only spent just over half my monthly budget and only need milk and bread to really get us through the month. Sounds pretty darn good to me. I'll come back and let you guys know how the monthly shopping trip is working out. 

Oh and incase you are wondering we are COMPLETELY CREDIT CARD DEBT FREE! and are attacking that car loan with a vengeance. 

Debt Freedom Update + Kroger grocery haul 4/6

Hey friends! It's been a while since my last post and YouTube Video. Its been a busy past few weeks with family visiting and my and hubby's work schedule changing. We've made it work but I do hace to admit that its taking some time to get used the adjustments of a 4:45 am wake up for me. On the other hand due to the change in schedule I was able to increase my hours at work significantly while still spending a majority of the time with my family since I am out of work by 11am. So it does have its benefits.

We had family come over to visit us form New York and that was so much fun but our budget did take quite a hit because of it. Though we tried to pre budget for all the things we would be doing with the family, the going out to eat, shopping, driving and of course extra mouths to feed worked out to be more than the extra we accounted into our budget. What I did then for the month of remainder of March and will do for as long as I can for the month of April, is strictly work with what we have at home. We did a Sam's Club haul before our family came out for hot dogs(80 ct) and burgers (48 ct), and had plenty left over after we had barbecued, we also had ground beed from and Aldi's grocery trip we got on sale. We also had a few chicken breast left over from our Sam's club haul that was over a month ago as well as 2 freezer meals left over. (If you would like to see the videos to some of these hauls here's the link FrugallyLivingInTexas YouTube)So we've been making and planning meals using the ingredients we have on hand. The only things I have purchased to add to a couple of meals are frozen vegetable to bulk it up. In the past two weeks we have spend under $50 in groceries and household items. Some of the meals we have been cooking up Lemon chicken with pasta and salad, halal cart style chicken and rice, chicken pita sandwiches on homemade pitas, salisbury steaks with rice, pasta with ground beed and pasta sauce, pesto chicken, broccoli and rice,  meat loaf and rice, sweet & sour chicken with egg rolls, asian style veggies and rice, boneless wings and fries, burgers and hot dogs. If you want to take a look at our latest grocery haul link is below check that out, I got some great sales and clearances at Kroger for just under $29. I will just be adding these things to what we already have to produce some meals and probably make a shopping trip at Sam's Club once we've made all we can. I'll be sure to share that haul too.

One thing we did accomplish last month even though we did spend a lot, was to pay that last credit card, making us CREDIT CARD DEBT FREE and it feels so good. We are still working on the car and student loans. When we purchased our car, it was our first car and we didn't really know whether we should get the extended warranty, so they convinced us that we should because we would not be able to add it on later and it would be good for us and so we added it. Increasing both our loan amount and monthly payment. When we needed our first car repair and the warranty did not cover, we came to the realization that the "protection" offered was very specific and would leave us paying most repairs out of pocket even though the extended warranty plan cost so much upfront. We felt cheated and like total suckers. But through some research we made a discovery, did you know you can request to have the extended service warranties cancelled so long as you have not made any claims under the warranty and you've driven less than the number of miles you were protected for or haven't met the number of years offered by the protection? Contact the place where you purchase your extended warranty for more information. Be wary that they don't like to take care of these matter very quickly because a commission was made from your purchase and they have to take a loss. We went ahead not totally confident about it and typed up the official letter to both the servicer of the warranty and the dealership we purchased it from and sent it certified mail with proof receipt. You must send a proof of the official odometer reading with your request to prove you have driven less than your covered miles and prove proper maintenance. If you have payed off your vehicle the money you are owed will come to you, if you still owe the bank on your loan they will cut a check to your loan servicing bank. We got our response last week and were told they have cancelled the warranty upon our request and a check was being sent to the bank our loan is with. A check worth just over $1900. Which means our loan balance will decrease by this amount. That is huge! I think that is just amazing and will really help us toward our debt free journey. So debt freedom here we come. Home ownership you are next.

Until next time.

New Grocery Haul + Life Update

Hey everyone! It's been so long since my last real blog. How has everyone been? Life just got super busy for a while there when I started working part time. It's almost a full year later since I started working at Starbucks and we pretty much have a good routine going for our family. Work/Life balance is so important. Starbucks has helped us a lot by being a very flexible in the hours and days I work and the benefits are pretty good. If your ever need a side income or more affordable benefit options, don't hesitate to consider Starbucks as an option.

When I first started this blog one of our goals was to cut back expenses. I think while we haven't been perfect by any means, we do spend reasonably less than we used to. We are still in the process of finding the right budget for us. But I think we are close. Our grocery budget has decreased for the most part though I am sure we can still do a whole lot better and we definitely have our slip ups and lazy days. We discovered Aldi's within the last year which makes grocery shopping much more affordable, not to mention quicker too. Check out our latest grocery haul by clicking the video link down below.

Another one of our goals was to pay down debt. In fact we want to be debt free before we start making plans towards purchasing a home but it takes time and patience. I would love to see it all gone in the blink of an eye but I continue to remind my self that getting into debt didn't happen overnight and neither will becoming debt free. I am happy to say that in another two payments we will be completely credit card debt free, so we ave definitely made progress. We still have our car loan and student loans to work on, but it feels good to know that those super high interest rate payments are a thing of the past and we are not giving away our money to these companies any more. We are doing our best to continue our debt snow ball until they are all gone.

One thing we did to make our finances work for us was to open multiple savings accounts. When I tell people the numbers they usually have a look of shock and confusion on their face. They just can't comprehend it until I explain a little more in depth and then they pause and think about it for a second and say "that's actually pretty smart". What we did was open up - 11 additional account for savings. We have a total of 13 accounts. All of our expenses come out of our checking and the rest gets divided up into categories through an automatic savings plan. I find this the best option for things that only happen once a year, for example your car insurance or that Amazon prime membership. I have my car and renters insurance through the same company, I know how much I paid last year so I take that amount and divide it up into 12 months. I set up an automatic savings plan to deduct that amount from the checking account every month. When the time comes to pay that insurance fee again, we won't be scrambling to figure out where we will find the funds for it. The money is already there because we planned for it. We do this for other things too, like car maintenance and inspection fees,  christmas and birthdays, home improvement purposes, and fun stuff like saving towards taking a vacation or going out to eat without breaking the food budget. We even have one for the kids where I budget for doing fun things with them like taking them to a jump and play, here I also set aside money for new uniforms, shoes and school supplies for the coming year, or if they need something in the middle of the school year, like when they suddenly outgrow all their shoes, then theres money already set aside for it.

Well friends I hope you found some new ideas in this little update. Let me know in the comments below how you've been and what are some things you are doing this year to improve your financial situation.

Sam's Club Haul + Freezer Meals

Aldi & 99cents only store grocery haul + quick look at pantry and fridge

Kroger Grocery Haul 2-2-17

Grocery Haul - 1/19/17

Spanish Chicken Stew Recipe

17 Ways I make or save some extra cash

I'm sure we all at some point of our lives really could've used a bit of extra cash. There are real, legitimate ways to earn a little bit of side money and also save a bit on groceries without clipping coupons.

You've probably heard of some of these ideas before, but if not here are a few money saving /  money making tips for a little extra cash. Nothing you can make tons of money off but it pays the minimum amounts due on my credit card bills with real cash, sometimes a little extra depending how much work I put into them or some offer gift cards which I can then use for groceries or something else we need.

Let's start:

1. Inbox Dollars - Inbox Dollars allows you to earn money by taking surveys, playing games online, listening to loyalty radio, using their browser to search the web, shopping through their links, printing and using coupons,  watching videos, completing different offers and more... With them I can guarantee myself at least $30 - 40 a month with minimal effort if I want more I just work a little harder that month. Once you reach a minimum of $30 you can cash out and be mailed a check. There is a $3.00 processing fee, however they have always offered me an incentive, they will cover the cost of the processing fee if I reach a minimum of $40 within 30 days. And I have never had a problem reaching that goal. 

2. Swagbucks - Similar to Inbox Dollars allows to earn money by taking surveys, watching SwagBucks TV, listening to loyalty radio, searching the web, shopping, printing and using coupons, signing up for offers. The key here is to reach you daily goal every day to earn more SB that you didn't have to work hard for. Every 100 SB = $1. I usually cash out for the $25 Paypal. Which typically takes me less than a month to earn. It does take about a week to actually see it in your Paypal account while they process it but rest assured that you will get it. All dependent on how much time I put in but usually I will try to reach my daily goal and go on about my day after that. Earn online or on their app.

3. Send Earnings - Pretty much exactly the same as Inbox Dollars. You will notice they layout and features are almost exactly alike. Cash out at $30. Sign up using my link and get $5 to start in your account.  (no app available yet)

4. Perk TV - You can earn cash watching videos, playing games and through their several apps like scratch and win or play trivia. I play the videos for a majority of the day on my phone, tablet or laptop sometimes all three at once and earn anywhere from $1-2 a day. You can choose to redeem for gift cards or get Perk Wallet and use their Discover card as a debit card(certain restrictions apply). I rather use it towards Amazon or Walmart gift cards since these stores offer the most variety from groceries to clothes to electronics etc and are sure to meet whatever my needs may be. 

5. OnGo Surveys app - This is a survey app. The surveys are not many but when they become available act quickly. They are high paying most of the time and require under 5 minutes of your time. They also offer missions. I got paid $10 to rate my Kroger grocery shopping experience once. Download their app and check at least once a day for any new surveys, if your start a survey but do not qualify they will give you 10 cents for your time. Once you reach $10 you can get cash into your Paypal account and it will be there within seconds. 

6. Make Money app - I don't do much on this app except for daily checkins, occasionally download and start an app or watch videos. Once you reach 5000 points you can get $5 in your pay pal account. 

7. Earn Cash app - Similar to Make Money app. Do daily checkins, download and start an app or watch videos. Once you reach 5000 points you can get $5 in your pay pal account. 

8. App Trailers app - Watch short videos in different categories. Every 1000 points gets you $1. Cash out for Paypal begins as low as 500 points which is equal to 50 cents. 

9. Ebates - I think most people have heard of this. Earn cash back for shopping online through the ebates link to their website. Great if you're already planning to make a purchase make sure to do it through their link and earn some cash back while you're at it. I do suggest that you compare rates offered from Ebates, swagbucks, sendearnings and inbox dollars as they vary and you want to make sure that you are getting the best deal. 

10. Ibotta app - I love using Ibotta. Since I started using them about 2 years ago I have earned over $200 on cash back on my grocery purchases. I am a very casual user and mostly get the any brand offers. It is a great way to get cash back on things you are already planning to purchase and for those of you that coupon you can stack up and double up on the savings. Earn by scanning the barcode on the product and taking a picture of your receipt. Sign up using my link and you will get $10 upon redeeming your first rebate. You can cash out at a minimum of $20 for Paypal and you can also pick from different gift cards. 

11. Savingstar app - With SavingStar they work with certain stores. Their list is pretty big from Kroger, CVS, Shoprite, Target and Walmart just to name a few but there are many more. Some are tied to your stores loyalty card while with others such as Target and Walmart you submit your receipt. You must add your offers prior to making a purchase. When you purchase from stores with a loyalty card there's nothing else you have to do, just wait and within a few days you will see your savings added to your account. With stores where you need to submit your receipt you have to scan the barcodes on the products to make sure they match their offers and then snap a picture of your receipt. Within a few days they review your receipt and add the savings to your account. Note however that sometimes they get really busy or your store may report your purchase a little late and it can take up to 3-4 weeks for your reimbursement. However they do have a variety of offers with brands like General Mills, Glade, Dove, Suave and more. Almost all of which are mostly available month after month. They also offer a healthy item every Tuesday and occasionally a freebie on Fridays. You can almost always stack these offers with paper coupons as well. Cash out is at $5 to paypal.

12. Mobisave app - The best part of this app is that it is NOT store specific. You can purchase your groceries anywhere that provides an itemized receipt and get your rebate via paypal as soon as your receipt has been approved. Usually within minutes, at most hours. No waiting for a minimum to cash out. They offer rebates on food, magazines(new), health, baby, household, beauty and pet care items. Best of all they have recently added any brand offers, they have given rebates on milk, eggs bacon, apples, oranges, hand soap, dish soap, pain medication and more. I just love them. I haven't been with them very long but so far I have earned over $36.  This is another app you can stack up on savings if you coupon. One important thing with them however is that you MUST choose the offer BEFORE making your purchase. So make it a habit to check their offers and pick them at the latest before you pay at checkout. Otherwise you will not be eligible for reimbursement. Offers renew every Monday but watch out I have seen them add offers mid week. 

13. Shrink app - This app is great for organic and healthy products. You can also earn on any brand rebates. Their past offers include fresh meat, eggs, yogurts, different fruits or vegetables and more. The any brands is mostly what I use them for but it is also great for trying new organic products at a discount. Because I mostly use it for the any brand offers it takes a while for me to cash out but any savings is better than none. With them so far I have earned over $31 total since using them. Sign up with my code and earn a $1 bonus. You can also earn loyalty points and cash in for freebies. The best part is they're not tied to any store so all you need is an itemized receipt to earn you cash. 

14. Checkout51 app - Another grocery app saver. Offers renew every Thursday.  Most offers are product specific but there are some with certain store restrictions so make sure to check the details for each offer before making a purchase. They also offer a healthy item each week which you can pick. Usually fruits or vegetable to choose from. Pick which offer you want to redeem. I love getting bananas because even if I buy just one banana and pay 17 cents in store they give me 25 cents so I get a free banana and make a little change. With Checkout51 you have to wait to cash out at $20. It takes me a while because I pretty much only get the healthy offer but even with that over time I have earned over $81 using them. 

15. ReceiptHog app - It doesn't get any easier than this. Get paid just for snapping a picture of your receipt at almost any place including gas station receipt and restaurants. Simply take a picture from top to bottom and get rewarded. You can cash out with 1000 coins = $5 but if you're patient and wait a little longer you get a better value. At 4500 coins you can get $30.

16. ReceiptPal  app- Another super easy one. Just take a picture of your receipt. The amount of your purchase does not matter. Every four receipts earns you 100 points. for 400 points you can get $1 gift cards, you can choose from Amazon, CVS, Gamestop and more. They even have resturant.com gift cards too if you want to treat yourself to a night out. 

17. Kroger's App - Free Friday download coupon - This is self explanatory, every Friday, Kroger offers a freebie. A full size product for free. Since we moved to Texas we have taken advantage of this. With this we have been able to get free Yoplait and Kroger brand greek yogurt, 59 oz Welch's juice, chocolate bars, a Take 5 bar, Annie's mac and cheese, organic popcorn, Uncle ben's flavored grain rices and more. You have to load the coupon on to your account on the Friday it is being offered but they give you a really long time to make your purchase before the offer expires. 

I hope these ideas are useful to you guys If you have any questions for me or any additional savings tips for me please let met know in the comments below. 

Disclousure: This post contains affiliate links. I will earn a percentage at no cost to you. Thank you for clicking and helping me continue this site and supporting this SAHM.

Menu Planning Printable - Help yourself cut your grocery budget

Hey guys.

I've been hard at work planning and making this printable for myself to share with everyone.

So in an effort to have a solid menu plan and shopping plan in place before heading out to the store I plan to start doing my shopping on Saturday's. My ad circulars come to my mailbox on Wednesdays or aren't available on any apps until late Tuesday or until Wednesday. I usually head to the store having maybe looked at an ad or two for a few minutes and tend to miss things. Like lets say eggs were on sale for $1.89 at Aldi's, not bad, but if I had really taken the time to study all the circulars I would have seen that they were 99 cents at Albertsons. So the extra time will help me avoid making those kinds of mistakes. Another reason I think it will work better for us is because we are all home, there's no need to rush home to get ready for work or to pick up my daughter. This way we can run all our errands on the same day, visit multiple stores to snag the best sales for the most savings without the added pressure of having to be back home at a certain time.

So as promised I wanted to start menu planning. I had been trying to menu plan on a regular piece of notebook paper but I found I was just kind of throwing things on there that in the end didn't make sense. So the more I tried paper after paper, I said to myself I need to find a better way. I searched the internet for a printable because I really wanted to create a successful plan where nothing would end up forgotten or going to waste.  I feel proper organization is necessary for it to be successful. Plus who doesn't want a super cute printable. But everything I found was just not fitting the criteria for me. So I set out to create my own, which wasn't easy with my browser freezing twice creating the same template a total of three times #TheStruggle. I wanted a place where I could plan for breakfast, lunch and dinner for all 7 days of the week. Log what I had to work with, like what was in the pantry, fridge or freezer? What needed to be used right away? What was I missing? What did I need to go shopping for? I also needed a space to give myself reminders a bit of a to do list to prep ahead so I wouldn't forget to do something that was necessary for a dinner I had planned. Like defrost meat or soak dry beans overnight etc. I need that, I mean it, after having these kids I swear I am honestly lucky to just remember my name. So a reminder list is crucial to me so I don't ruin my plans and throw off the whole menu planning.

Because I didn't find one that worked. I made my own and decided to share with all of you incase it would be useful to anyone.

Download your free printable using the link below. For my printer I had to set the image to 49% to fit the entire page. You may have to adjust for your printer in your settings.

Happy menu planning.

Click HERE for your free printable. Download through dropbox.

Here is my real life example of how well it worked for me. I used a highlighter to cross off things after I had incorporated them into the menu. I tried to make use of all the perishables especially.

Hope you guys like it. Speak to you next week. 

Week 3 - Update - Cut Back Grocery Shopping

This week we took advantage of Aldi's meat special. of 1.89 a pound for ground beef. They also had chicken thighs on sale for .49 cents a pound but by the time we got there they were none and if any of you know Aldi's, once they're gone they're gone. What can you do, you win some you lose some right. We went ahead and grabbed ourselves two packages of the ground beef (they come in 5-lb rolls)  and a pack of green peppers priced at 4 for $1. We also stopped at Kroger and used my $2 off $10 meat coupon to buy some boneless skinless chicken thighs making them $1.32 the pound and got a little over 6lbs Not as good as Aldi's, but what can you do. I usually try to get my meat at $1.99/lb or less so in my book it was still good. Plus it was convenient to not have to debone them and remove the skin my self. Which is what I do most of the time and then save the skin and bones to make chicken stock.

Remember I said I wanted to plan my meals a little better. Well I didn't plan pre buying the meat (in fact the meat was kind of a spur of the moment buy) but when I got home I figured I have to do something better than just popping it in the freezer as is., so I planned ahead quite a bit. It took a few hours because I didn't go in with a plan and came up with all the recipe ideas as I went along but I think its better than not having a game plan at all.

See here is what I did.

16 meals were produced from the proteins that were purchased. Two didn't make it into the picture, oopsies.  I made sure to use ingredients that were already in my fridge, freezer or pantry plus the peppers I had just purchased. I also made sure that they matched with sides I could make at home from things I already had on hand as well, such as potatoes, rice, pasta or frozen vegetables.

The good thing is that because it was divided into so many meals I was able to use throughout the remainder of February and about a week into March or longer if I continue to add meatless meals into the mix in between.

The meals are:
1. BBQ chicken thighs - mashed potatoes and frozen vegetables
2. Curry chicken thighs - with white rice and beans
3. Honey garlic ginger soy chicken thighs - with white rice
4. Lemon cilantro chicken thighs - inside homemade pitas with fries from freezer
5. Thighs for making chicken salads sandwiches - on homemade sliced bread
6. Fajita Chicken thighs - on homemade flour tortillas
7. Beef stew - with white rice
8. Taco meat - homemade corn tortillas, onion and cilantro
9. Sweet and sour meatballs - with white rice
10. Beef - added to large elbow macaroni
11. Sloppy Joes - with homemade buns and fries from freezer
12. Salisbury meatballs - with homemade brown gravy and mashed potatoes
13. Hamburger patties - with homemade buns and fries from freezer
14. Meat loaf - with potatoes and frozen veggies
15. Thai Beef - with white rice (not pictured)
16. Thighs for grilled chicken salad - with lettuce, peppers, onions, tomatoes, cucumber (not pictured)

In the end I would say this cut back grocery shopping was a half success. While we did far less trips to the grocery store than usual and spent less money on each of our trips we still spent more than I was hoping for and went out more than even intended, at some point it kind of fell apart and I was a bit disappointed. Okay, ok a lot disappointed.  I do think however that next month we can do an even better job with our budget and making even less trips. There were times where because my husband is practicing his driving for his license we ended up near a shopping center or at one and kind of just went in for a few things, like lets check out the clearance and oh lets get milk and made some impulse buys we didn't NEED. We certainly made use of them or stored them in our fridge or pantry but we really could've gone without because we had all our needs met already. My husband sometimes says "lets go out for a drive and/or get this one thing" and though I try to convince him lets just put it on a list and get everything we need on one day so we have less temptation and waste less gas on needless trips but convincing him doesn't always work or maybe I am not trying hard enough.

We have started using Mint.com and I think this will also give us a better idea of where our money goes and help us keep a closer eye and tighter leash on things, I think its already helping hubby see that these spur of the moment driving adventures are not helping us stick to our budget and we are both promising to keep one another in check about it. Hopefully next month we can do even better and continue to grow from there.

I plan to start menu planning based off the weekly ads and whatever is currently in my pantry, fridge or freezer. I shop Kroger most of the time with the occasional trip to Aldi, Albertsons or Walmart and my beloved Dollar Tree. I will often make a day of shopping since all these stores are within 10 minutes of my apartment and just hit them up in order from furthest to closest depending on what sales are available. Walmart usually only gets used for when we have more than just food shopping to do which is rare. Dollar Tree on the other hand we end up in way too often and yes everything is a $1 but when you fill up your cart with $1 items eventually it really adds up to surprising amounts.

Thank you all for joining me on this challenge. I hope we can all learn something from what I may have done right to what I may have done wrong. I think we started off strong and committed and fell off track. I hope to see more of you enjoying my page. Join me next month as we attempt to really get on track with getting this budgeting thing to work and as I integrate menu planning into our lives to hopefully add to our savings.

Leave a comment below if you have any thoughts or tips to share with us. Appreciate it, until next week.

Also check back soon for a little mini project I have in the works for Free printable to make Menu Planning easy and hassle free.

Homemade bread

This is a super easy recipe I have been using for homemade bread after much testing and seeing what works best after some just ok, then some pretty good loaves I adapted and found what works best. This makes a 1-lb loaf if you want to make a two point loaf simply double this recipe.

Here it is.

Ingredients:
3 Cups of Flour. *
2 Tbsp Oil (olive, vegetable or canola will work)
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar or Honey
1 Tbsp of Yeast
1 Cup + 1 Tbsp of Water (Note: You can also replace water with whey** or partially with milk)


Instructions:

Step 1 - Make your dough starter. Mix 1 cup of flour with your yeast, salt, sugar, water and oils in a bowl. Let that sit for about 10 - 20 minutes until doubled in size.

Step 2 - Add the remaining 2 cups of flour. If your dough is too sticky add dough until your dough clears the sides of your bowl. Knead your dough for 5-10 minutes on a floured surface. Allow to rise 30 minutes covered.

Step 3 - Grease your loaf pan. Knead and shape your dough into a loaf. Place into your pan. Allow your dough to rise in the loaf pan for 30 - 45 minutes covered with a light weight towel. Do not disturb or poke at your dough or all the height gained will deflate. If needed let rise longer until dough is at a good height, just above the pan is good as it will rise more when baking.

Step 4- Preheat your oven to 350. As the oven is preheating my stove top gets pretty warm and allows the loaf to continue rising a bit longer while it preheats. Once the oven is ready, place your loaf in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes.

Step 5 - Remove from pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Or do what I do and have yourself a slice of that nice warm deliciously fresh bread with some butter or jam or even a sandwich.

Bread is my weakness!!! So is pasta and rice. Uuugghh all the stuff full of carbs... But thats besides the point.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and your fresh bread.

* You can use 1-2 cups of wheat flour. More than that ends up kind of dry/dense.
** Whey is by product of cheese making. I had lots left over last week from making ricotta. It gives bread a nice flavor. I will share the ricotta recipe soon. If you make it do not throw out your whey. Remember use everything waste less.

Note you can also use a food processor with a dough attachment.

Week 2 update - Cut Back Grocery Shopping Challenge

Here we are on week 2.

This Sunday was Valentine's Day. We had a nice day in at home and just spent it together as a family. As the homebodies we are, we're happy with that. Nothing is better than sitting at home and relaxing after a long week.

It didn't take long before I caved in and went shopping for flour since we ran out on Week 1 of this challenge. The kids and hubby were hoping I would bake some Valentines's Day treats and I knew it would come in handy for the rest of the week. I figured I would also cash in on some coupons Kroger had sent me about 2 weeks back since I was already going there. Free stuff??? Yes please, don't mind if I do! Free dozen eggs, free pint of ice cream and free bag of organic popcorn. Yes I know, I know. I said we were cutting back on junk but chocolate is my WEAKNESS. Plus I can't say no to free or cheap for that matter. Speaking of cheap, look what I found in my produce clearance section. Organic Veggies for only 99 cents. On the other hand though here is what I noticed, I went to the store for flour and freebies and came out with many unplanned things even if it was a good find.

Gallon of Milk - $1.49 after 50 cents Ibotta Cash Back rebate

Eggs - Free & 50 cents money maker after Ibotta Cash Back rebate

Simple Truth Organic Popcorn - Free

Private Selection Ice cream - Free

Simple Truth Natural chicken breast - $4.59 after Digital Coupon

Flour - $1.79

2 Organic Cabbage - .99 cents for both

2 Organic Eggplant - .99 cents for both

1 Organic Cauliflower - .99 cents 

3 Peppers - .99 for all three

Total: $ 11.33 

I got these chicken breasts because hubby wanted a "good dinner" since we weren't going out to eat at a restaurant, so I splurged a little.

Disclosure: Ibotta link contains my referral code. If you sign up using my referral code you will get $10 into your account and I will be rewarded with $5 once you redeem your first rebate. Ibotta gives you cash back on groceries at many store locations. Check them out for more details. Or feel free to ask me any questions and I will be glad to answer them.  In fact I may even make a post on my favorite money saving apps.

This week included lots of homemade goodies. Homemade, ricotta, bread, pitas, cupcakes frosting etc... I made three 1-lb loaves of bread. I started with one and that same day more than half had been eaten so I knew there was no way we would get through the week with just one, so I made two more. I made two of them using up the whey produced from the homemade ricotta and gosh they are tasty. Using my food processor made it a super easy task to mix up all the dough. It's not a Kitchen Aid mixer but it get's the job done at a nice price. I have been using it since November and I do not have any complaints. 

 Disclosure: Link is an affiliate link, If you make a purchase I earn a small percentage as a profit. There is no extra cost to you. Your support for this SAHM is appreciated.  

Now here's a glance at what our week looked like

Week 2

Day 1

- V-Day themed breakfast. Homemade Funfetti Pancakes, eggs and sausage. 

- Hot dogs and Homemade apple sauce (I canned a while back)

- Chicken Parmesan with Stuffed Shells with home made ricotta and eggplant
- Homemade Vanilla cupcakes w/chocolate peanut butter center and a homemade chocolate coconut frosting

Day 2
- Overnight oats w/ homemade apple sauce mixed in and sliced bananas
- Leftover Chicken parmesan with Stuffed shells and eggplant
- Eggplant patties with seasoned veggies and mini vegetable samosas

Day 3
- Cold cereal
- PBJ sandwiches on homemade bread
- Cabbage stir fry with homemade naan (from freezer stash)

Day 4
- Cereal bars with yogurt
- Burrito - Using leftover black beans and rice. Added scrambled eggs, salsa and cheddar cheese.
- Soup - Made from Homemade chicken stock with veggies, beans and rotini pasta

Day 5
- Overnight oats w/ coconut chocolate
- Grilled chicken salad
- Crunchy beef tacos

Day 6
- PBJ sandwiches on homemade bread / Instant Oatmeal

- Grilled cheese and fried egg sandwich on homemade bread with chickpea salad

- Homemade pitas stuffed with lemon cilantro chicken and chickpea salad 

Day 7
- Grilled cheese sandwiches with banana
- Chickpea salad
- Hamburgers on homemade bread


Stay tuned for more recipe links. I am a little behind on my blogging since my LO is sickie. But I will update ASAP.

Pancake Mix Recipe & Funfetti Pancakes

Homemade Funfetti Pancakes

Whenever we run out of pancake mix I usually make a run to the store. But not this time. I made my own pancake mix and it is super yummy. Much better and healthier than the store bought version and I always have these ingredients on hand in my pantry.

 


I found this empty container which usually houses my measuring cups and spoons but I use them so often they almost never make it back into the storage container anyway so it wouldn't be missed. I wrote the recipe and directions right on the container to make it easy for me to make a new batch when I run out or when I am cooking up a batch for breakfast.

Pancake Mix
- 4 cups of flour
- 3 Tbsp baking powder
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda

Add these all together to a container and mix until all is well combined.

As far as the flour goes I usually like to mix most recipes with at least one cup of whole wheat flour since it doesn't change the taste by much and usually goes unnoticed by my kiddos.


Directions for making batter: Yields about five 4" pancakes. 

- 1 cup of pancake mix
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of milk or buttermilk or make your own homemade buttermilk (mix 1 cup of milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar.let that sit for 10 minutes or so before use)
- 1 Tbsp of oil

To make these Funfetti Pancakes simply add to your batter:
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract (almond works well too)
- about 1/2 cup of sprinkles

The best sprinkles to use for this are cylinder sprinkles. These are the oblong shaped ones. They last better in the batter and don't bleed through. If all you have on hand are the round little ones like I did. I suggest adding them in as late as possible, I would wait until the batter is already on the pan and add in the sprinkles at that point. Otherwise these bleed into the batter terribly. Doesn't change the taste but it doesn't look as pretty.

I really recommend the buttermilk or homemade version for a nice flavor and extra fluffiness for your pancakes.

Cooking Instructions:
- Preheat a large pan or griddle. Grease your pan with cooking spray if your pan isn't non stick.
- Spoon the batter into pan. I usually use a soup ladle to keep the amounts even and it makes about a 4" almost perfectly round pancake.
- Cook for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown. A good indication is when you see bubbles the bubbles appear.
- Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Repeat until all your batter is done

Serve alone, with butter, syrup or your favorite topping and enjoy. Cut out fun shapes with cookie cutters for your little ones. They sure find anything shaped so much more enjoyable and I love seeing the smiles it brings on their little faces. Plus, whatever gets them to eat, right. I'll give you the link for the ones I purchased from Amazon, they're a great value and bring so many choices which are great for holidays. Disclosure: Link is an affiliate link, If you make a purchase I earn a small percentage as a profit. There is no extra cost to you. Your support for this SAHM is appreciated.

Update Week 1- Cut Back Grocery Shopping Challenge

Hey guys!


Here's that update I promised.
It's been one week so far since we started the no grocery shopping challenge and for the most part things are going okay. We are running very low on meat, but I'm okay with that. Looks like I will be working on quite a few meatless dinners this coming week. We have ran out of flour, which I use often for a lot of different recipes so I am not happy about that. I may eventually give in and purchase some because it is so versatile in the number of things I can make with it. Any who... here is a look at what this week looked like for us.

I've kept a track of our breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the week. Sorry I didn't take many pictures, thought most are nothing fancy. Keep in mind breakfast and dinner there are 4 of us but lunch is only three of us during the week. On the weekends we are all home.

We did go shopping on Saturday morning to Albertson's Supermarket. We needed to get milk since we ran out and picked up a few items. The little ones would not be able to survive without their cup of milk before bed. They've been wanting some bananas and we spotted asparagus on sale. This has got to be the least amount of things I have ever picked up when grocery shopping. 





Here is what we got.

Milk gallon $1.99

Milk gallon clearance 50% off $1.24

Milk quart clearance 50% off .75 

Bananas .55

Asparagus $1.50 

Cheese $1.99

Total: $8.02 (much better than our usual $80 - $120/week)

Week 1

Day 1

- Baked peanut butter and banana oatmeal

- Homemade pepperoni pizza

- Left over pizza w/ homemade boneless buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks and celery w/ blue cheese 

Day 2

- Cold cereal w/ milk

- Pasta w/ sauce and cut up vienna sausage

- Italian chicken w/ peppers, onions & veggies and side of leftover pasta w/ sauce from lunch 

Day 3

- Cold cereal / leftover baked oatmeal 

- PB&J for snack 

- Chicken nuggets and carrots

- Homemade empanadas, yellow rice with pork pieces, and pinto beans on the side 

Day 4

- Left over homemade pancakes (freezer)

- Left over pasta w/ sauce 

- Wild rice w/ carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Baked chicken breast topped with provolone and tomato 

Day 5

- Leftover homemade pancakes (freezer)

- PB&J on homemade bread

- Fried egg, cassava and frying cheese topped with onion

Day 6

- Egg omelette muffins (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots onions, cilantro. Sliced and toasted homemade bread.

- PB&J on homemade bread

- Brown rice,Red rice mix w/ Lentils & chicken quarters 

Day 7

- Overnight oats with Greek Vanilla yogurt, fresh apples, and raisins. 

- Black bean and cheese burritos on homemade tortillas w/ oven fries 

- Garlic ginger soy baked chicken quarters w/ garlic parmesan asparagus

I can tell these next few weeks are just going to get harder. It's already getting tough. We ran out of bread during the week, so I went on to good old Pinterest and found a nice simple recipe and made my own. The kids enjoyed the bread without any complaints and my husband and I did as well. In fact, I found it more filling than store bought bread and what's best, it's much healthier and I feel good with serving it to my children. Unfortunately it wasn't picture worthy as I forgot to do the second rest period for the dough to rise and allow the yeast to do its magic. Oops! So it didn't rise too much when it cooked in the oven. As a result, it was a little dense, but I'll do better next time. It still tasted yummy though. Especially warm straight out of the oven. Needless to say we eat a lot of bread and went through this 1-lb loaf in two days. But now without the flour, things are going to be even tougher. 

We included left overs in as many days as possible. Including our leftovers not only made things a little easier for me since I usually just needed to heat and serve. It also prevented things from going to waste and saved me from having to figure out another meal to make.  I did also use the left overs to make something new in some cases. 

I will add updated pictures of the fridge and pantry tomorrow so you can see what we are working with starting this new week. I will say with this challenge we have also noticed we keep stock of things that are not really food that we probably should cut out if we want to maintain a good budget. Its junk we do not really need and is not good for us anyway. We have been wanting to make a better effort of eating healthier for the benefit of our health and setting a good example for our children. So ridding our pantries of these foods altogether will also kind of give us a fresh start. While I won't throw it in the garbage(we did pay for it after all) we will not be buying them again. 

Be sure to check back next week for Week 2 update. 

3 week Cut Back Grocery Shopping challenge

Hey everyone, hope all is well.

This weekend I have been trying to come up with and set up a system for keeping track of our budget and expenditures. Not an easy task to say the very least but I know that I am doing this with a goal in mind and it HAS to be done. In doing so I realized we've already spent almost as much as we've made for the month (and we know to live well you must spend less than you make) and so hubby and I have decided to put ourselves up for a challenge.

We will not be grocery shopping for the rest of the month for items with the exception of milk and fresh produce which is mostly for the kiddos if there is anything else we buy I will disclose that. Other then that we are going to live off of whatever we have in the pantry, fridge and freezer. I do usually try and have our staples always on hand and whenever I see a good sale I always buy extra than what is just needed. So with that said, I think we will be okay and this is going to be a nice challenge for us, especially for me as the one who composes all our meals. It's going to take some creativity sometimes but I am sure I can make it work. I'm excited and looking forward to the challenge.

Check back every week for an update on how this challenge is going. I will try and post as much info and pictures of our pantry and fridge contents and the meals we make. I don't usually meal plan much ahead of time. Usually I will just come up with dinner based on what's in the house. It is however one of my goals. (I promise I will work on it very soon)

I wanted to give everyone a look at what we're starting with to get an idea of where we stand.
Here is a look at my pantry, fridge and freezer.

Would you be able to take on this challenge? Try one week and see how it goes.

Frugal Fridge Hacks

Every day I usually get up with the idea of what we will have for dinner. Sometimes I'm blank and search for inspiration on pinterest. Today however, 4:30pm came round and I hadn't even defrosted any meat for dinner. What was I to do? I looked in the freezer and took out two chicken leg quarters. I put those in the microwave to thaw, seasoned them and stuck them in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes. I then started organizing hubby and I's bedroom and next thing I knew it was after 5:30. The meat was just about ready when I went downstairs, but "what are we going to eat this with" I thought? I stared into my fridge in hopes that somehow the answer would come to me. As I looked in I realized there were quite a few forgotten things in there that needed some saving.

I had two way over ripe mangos and two avocados, about 10 jalapeño peppers that were way past their prime (some which were not even salvageable at this point), a yellow pepper that was not looking it's best and 4 home made corn tortillas from last Friday's dinner. The light bulb went on. Chicken tacos, yellow rice, mango salsa, guacamole, and I was pickling whatever jalapeños I could save. I wasn't about to let our money and food go to waste. By this time I didn't have much time to work with, it was 10 minutes away from 6pm and hubby was coming home at 7pm for dinner. He only has a half hour to come home, eat, and go back to work so I knew I had to move fast. I quickly began to put everything together. I threw rice in the rice cooker with seasoning set it and began working on the other items. I started with the guacamole. Next I worked on the Mango salsa and left the pickling jalapeños for last in case I didn't have enough time before I had to have dinner on the table. But thanks to the help of my food processor, I even had time to spare. And dinner was delish.

FYI - kiddo's aren't huge fans of tacos so they only had the rice and chicken. 

I got the avocados about a week ago on sale at Aldi's for 29 cents. Mangos at Kroger's over 2 1/2 weeks ago when they were on sale and I had two digital coupons which brought my costs down to .70 per mango. The jalapeños and yellow pepper came from my favorite section at Kroger, the produce clearance section. There were 3 peppers in a mesh bag for $1. There were about 15 or more jalapeños in the mesh bag when I purchased them for $1.

Here's what I did. 

Mango Salsa

What you'll need:

- 2 mangos 

- 1/3 large or 1/2 of a small onion (yellow or red)

- 1 small to medium pepper (red, green, yellow, it's up to you)

- a handful of fresh cilantro leaves

-1/4 jalapeño (more if you like the heat, less if you don't you can also choose to leave the seeds in or not) 

- 2 tsp lime or lemon juice

- salt to taste

Steps: 

1. Peel and pit your mangos. If you're using the food processor just cut big pieces and put them in your processor. Otherwise dice to small chunks in a large bowl.
2. Cut up a third of your onion and place in processor or mince and add to bowl. 
3. Cut your pepper remove seeds and again throw it in the processor or dice and add to bowl. 
4. Place handful of cilantro in processor or dice and add to bowl.
5. Place your desired amount of jalapeño into the processor or mince and add to bowl.
6. Lastly add your lime or lemon juice and salt. 
7. Turn food processor on pulse various times until all ingredients are combined. Or stir in bowl  until well combined. 

Flavors are best after letting it sit for at least fifteen minutes in the fridge but if you can wait an hour even better. This recipe should serve 5-6 people.

Guacamole

What you'll need:

- 2 ripe avocados
- 1/3 large or 1/2 of a small onion (yellow or red)
- 1 roma or plum tomato, seeds and pulp removed.
- 1/2 garlic clove, minced
- a handful of cilantro
- 1/2 - 1 Tbsp of lime or lemon juice
- salt to taste

Steps:

1. Peel and pit your avocados. If you're using the food processor just cut big pieces and put them in your processor. Otherwise scoop into a  large bowl.
2. Cut up a third of your onion and place in processor or mince and add to bowl. 
3. Place your tomatoes inside the processor or dice and add to bowl.
4. Place your minced garlic into processor or bowl.
5. Add your cilantro, lime or lemon juice and salt. 
6. Pulse in the processor a few times to combine all the ingredients. The texture depends on your liking, for creamier pulse longer, for chunkier, pulse less.  Or mash using a fork and combine all ingredients well.

This recipe should make about 4 servings.

Refrigerator Pickled Jalapeños

What you'll need:

- 5-6 jalapeños, Sliced (or diced in processor)
- 2/3 cup vinegar
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 tsp kosher or pickling salt
- 1/2 tbsp sugar* (optional)

Steps:

1. Combine the vinegar, water,  salt, and sugar in a pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Add your jalapeno's to a clean and sterilized pint jar. 
3. Pour the liquid from the pot into jar using a funnel to prevent spillage. 
4. Let jar cool down to room temperature before placing in the fridge. 

Wait at least 3 days before using. 

* Sugar will take away some of the heat. 

This was all quick to make and yummy. Best of all it prevented any waste or further spoilage of foods I had forgotten in the fridge. Too often we all shove things in our fridge, and forget about them, by the time you clean out your fridge they become trash. Let's make it a habit to do a weekly look at our fridges for anything we can cook up or should freeze or consume quickly.

How do you prevent food waste?

About Me

Hello everyone. Welcome to my blog where I hope to help you learn and inspire you to save and live frugally while I continuously learn new ways to save a penny or two.

I'll start by giving you a little background about me and my family.

My husband and I are born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. We have two beautiful girls ages 2 and 5. We have recently moved this past November of 2015 to Dallas, Texas. It has been a big change and we are loving every minute of it so far. Things have happened quickly for us and there hasn't been much time between settling in and having to just jump right into our lives with work and school, but I have to say we have been lucky. My husband got a great job to start the same week we moved. He is working a short 5 minute walk away from home. (Score!!!) That means no gas spent on commute and he gets to come home for break and eat a nice home made dinner and spend time with his family before returning to work.(How awesome is that, right?!?!) 

With the move however we did go down from two incomes to one. I have been staying home to avoid those crazy out of control day care cost. Unless I find the right job with the right pay it's just not worth it to put my little ones in child care. Not only would I lose family time spent with the little ones but I would be working just to pay childcare cost and make very little money out of it.

These circumstances have lead me to the inspiration for this blog. In the past few months I have been home I have learned so many new ways I can help my family save money and I continue to find new inspiration and ways every day. I want you to join me on that journey of discovery and if you learn at least one thing or inspire you to try something new by showing you that if a regular gal like me can do this you can too it would make me one very happy lady.