This past week was Spring Break for my kids and my husband from school. It was a rather boring one for them since we didn't go anywhere special, mainly because I had sinus surgery on Thursday to repair 6 of my 8 sinuses. We had originally planned to go visit family in Louisiana the last part of the week so that I could help my mother with hosting a bridal shower for my nephew's fiance, but when I had my visit with the ENT on the 20th, he squashed those plans with the news we had kind of expected. So anyway, I have spent the last few days recovering from the surgery, which I pray I don't have to repeat. I was lucky in that he didn't have to touch my septum, so the facial pain has been a minimum. Mostly, the discomfort I have had was from not being able to breath through my nose the first 24 hours post surgery due to the packing, and then from removing the packing and the irritation it created in my nasal cavity. Ouch!! I have to admit, I cried when I had to take it out and I hope it's something I never have to do again. Anyway...today I am feeling somewhat back to normal, but trying to take it easy still. (I need to be able to work tomorrow!) So, I stayed home from church this morning and embraced the new plan we have for budgeting for our groceries, and created a supper menu for the next two weeks, along with a shopping list. The first week of the menu is based off of the meat products I all ready had in my freezer (boneless-skinless chicken breasts, a pork shoulder, tilapia filets, boneless country style pork ribs, a whole chicken, and shrimp). Easter Sunday and the second week will be items that I will be purchasing on this shopping trip. Here's my menu:
Sunday 04/01-Fried Chicken, green beans, rice and gravy, salad and rolls
Monday 04/02-Crockpot pork shoulder, Lima beans, rice and salad
Tuesday 04/03-Tilapia Tacos with carribean style rice, guacamole and chips
Wednesday 04/04-Chicken Parmigian, Salad and Garlic Bread
Thursday 04/05-Leftovers!! If there aren't any, we'll have sandwiches
Friday 04/06-Grilled Country Style Pork Ribs, baked potatoes with fixings, and salad
Saturday 04/07-Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya, garlic bread and salad
Sunday (Easter) 04/08-Smoked Brisket, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, homemade macaroni and cheese, rolls and apple pie
Monday 04/09-Leftovers from Easter
Tuesday 04/10-Chicken Alfredo Tortellini, salad and garlic bread
Wednesday 04/11-We'll eat dinner at church this night
Thursday 04/12-Grilled ribeyes, Pioneer Woman's creamy rosemary potatoes and salad
Friday 04/13 (oh, just realized that's Friday the 13th!!)-Family night out for dinner
Saturday 04/14-Crawfish Pie, salad
I have made menus and coordinating grocery lists in the past, and I always find it makes my week so much easier knowing ahead of time what I'm planning to cook and I tend to stick to the shopping list much easier than going in the store and blindly purchasing food items without a real plan for them. It also cuts down on the time spent in the grocery store because I get what's on the list and only what's on the list. Something I did this time that I don't normally do is clip coupons specifically for items that are on my list. We don't get a Sunday newspaper, so I did all my coupon clipping online. I plan to go to the grocery store tomorrow (not quite up for it today), and I'll let you know how much I spent and how much I saved with coupons. I haven't quite figured out the art of coupon shopping that maximizes the use of a coupon, and can't say that I'm interested in shopping mulitple stores to find the best savings. I plan to purchase my meat products at Costco and most of the produce, dairy and other food items at Walmart. I like the quality of the meat at Costco, and I like the idea of buying them in bulk, as I recently blogged about, and re-packaging them in the portion sizes I will use later.
So that is the plan, and I am really hoping to stick to it! I also have a recipe from Southern Living for a lemon-blueberry cream pie that I plan to make at some point this week, possibly tomorrow. I have been craving something lemon...this beautiful spring weather must be responsible!
Hey Melissa! You are at a great start for budgeting groceries! I've been couponing for two years and at first I went to the extreme and it made my life harder than it needed to be. I'm glad that you know you don't want to go to that extreme. I think the first step is just sticking to a list when you shop (with maybe a super-sale item that you find). Of course, planning your meals will help with creating that list. I don't plan our meals but have always thought it would make it easier. The trick to couponing though is pairing in-store sales with coupons (either from the newspaper inserts or online ones). Food item sales usually rotate about every 12 weeks. So if you see something you know you are going to use on sale, consider stocking up on that item so that you can wait it out to the next sale. One thing that is really great about Walmart is that they price match any other store's prices on the same item. Just bring the store's sales flyer with you to price match. Oh, and check and see if any grocery stores around you have a double or triple coupon day where you can multiple your coupon's value. One last thing, there is a website called Hip2Save.com that is great about walking you through couponing and highlighting deals. I have also found a local couponer that blogs the local deals here. She posts all kinds of deals and the sales/coupon match-ups for my local grocery stores so that I don't have to do all the research of finding the food deals. Search "coupon blog" for your area and maybe you'll find someone that is doing the same in your area!
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