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Saturday 9/25 Meals

Saturday, September 25, 2004

Things have gone weird here today. Between me working out this blog and not having the food in order (groceries are still in the bags on the floor!) The kids have been FFT (fending for themselves). They've been trying to put a dent in my snacks too! LOL

I won't be figuring out cost of meals today (at least not the first 2 ones) due to not paying attention to how much of what was eaten.

Since last night these things have disappeared....

2 cans of pringles
granola bars
pudding tubes
gummi bears and worms (but not all of them)

I've put a dent in the lemons and pepperocinis lol

Breakfast was...
Waffles and Pudding tubes

Lunch was....
Salami (some added cheese) Sandwiches
Broccoli and ranch dressing

Dinner...

Sloppy Joes and only Sloppy Joes. We ate on the fly.
There was enough sloppy joes (started with 4lbs of ground beef) that everyone had as many sandwiches as they wanted and I still had leftovers.

Snacks....

We lost power about 11pm so all of us went out to the bonfire with 3 cans of pringles. :o) A bunch of cokes and cherry cokes are gone too, but haven't checked how many.

Sloppy Joes

4lbs Ground Beef
1 small green pepper, diced
shake of dried minced onions (can use fresh...we have allergies here)
4-5c Ketchup
2 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
1/4-1/2c Brown sugar
1 Tbsp garlic powder

Brown ground beef with green pepper and minced onions added.
Add rest of ingredients and simmer about 20mins

Serve on rolls. Makes about 2 dz hearty sandwiches

Menu List for Shopping trip 9/24

I tend to loosely plan my meals. My menus will tend to be just a list of entrees with sides and serving days to be determined later. I will only be listing meals I can make with the groceries I bought that trip. So technically meals I use during the coming days could not be on my list here. (like if I poach the whole salmon I already have in the freezer). All meals will be included in the cost analysis at the end of each payperiod though.

Grocery bill for this plan

34 MEALS (some may be used as lunches)
---------------------
Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Ham and Cheese Rollup
Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Chicken Patty Sandwiches
Chicken Drumsticks
Chicken and Gravy (remaining drumsticks), Mashed Potatoes
Beer Battered Chicken Nuggets (thighs)
Chicken Fajitas (thighs)
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (thighs)
Chicken Stirfry (thighs)
Pizza Rollup
Sausage and Pepperocini Rollup
Italian Sausage Sandwiches
Spaghetti and Sausage, Garlic Bread
Polish Sausage Sandwiches
Hot Dogs
Hot Dogs
Cowboy Beans
Pork Loin Roast, Stuffing
BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Meatball Subs
Spaghetti and Meatball, Garlic Bread
Sloppy Joes
Tacos
Stroganoff, Egg Noodles
Chili con carne (ground beef)
Spanish Rice (ground beef)
Goulash (ground beef), Garlic Bread
Noodles Alfredo
Potato Soup with Bacon (1/2 lb)
Scalloped Potatoes
Bean with Bacon Soup (other half lb)
Salami Sandwiches

SIDE DISHES
----------------
Bagged Salad
Spinach Salad
Pasta Salad
Macaroni Tuna Salad
Garlic Bread
French Fries
Potato Cheese Casserole
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Potatoes
Stuffing
Onion Petals
Broccoli with Ranch
Baby Carrots with Ranch
Candied Carrots
Celery with Ranch
Refried beans (may turn into burritos)
Rice Pilaf
Fried Rice
Ramen Noodles (used as lunch also)


BREAKFAST (not everyone eats breakfast...bad I know)
-----------
Waffles
Eggs and Sausage
Eggs and Hashbrowns
Eggs McMuffin
Pancakes and Sausage
Cereal
Bagels
Bananas
Rice Cereal

LUNCHES
-----------
Meals above
Ramen Noodles
Tomato Soup
Leftovers
PBJ


SNACKS
-----------
Banana Split Sundaes
Freihoffer Cookies
Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Cinnamon Graham Crackers (may also use for no baked peanut butter cookies)
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla Wafers
Corn Chips
Cheese Puffs
Crunchy Cheese Curls
Micro Popcorn
Tortilla Chips
Pringles
Anderson Mini Pretzels
Lowrey's Beef Jerky
Granola Bars
Sunkist Cereal and Apple Bars
Squeeze n Go Vanilla Pudding Tubes
Mott's Healthy Harvest Strawberry Apple Sauce Cups
Hershey Kisses Caramel
Bradford Gummi bears
Bradford Sour gummi worms
Gum
Lemon bars #
Lemon Pie/pudding #
Chocolate chip cookies #


#...I'm hoping to experiment with baking in my 18qt roaster this week. I'd love to be making our bread again!!! The snacks with this note matter on how the experiments go.

I didn't include link to any recipes on this menu list. Being the first one I don't have any online yet. I'll be adding them as I make them. In the future the menu list should be clickable to recipes.

If my kids complain there is nothing to eat (meaning no good and fast snacks) before I have to shop again. Someone is going to be in TROUBLE!!!

First Grocery Shopping trip of the blog. $$

Friday, September 24, 2004

Price Chopper/ Save a Lot/ Sam's Club/ Wegmans/ Dollar Stores/

Bear with me for a bit. I'm new at this and making things up as I go along! LOL I'll be listing each store with only the food products I buy there. I won't be mentioning personal, pet, paper products and such. I'll give the total next to each store name. I hope I don't mess up on the math too bad *blush*

You can use the links at the top of this post to bring you to a specific store. My menu list will be posted in a separate entry. I'll be denoting sales and when I use coupons. Here is how I'll denote them...

! = sale
* = buy one get one free
** = buy one get two free
c = used a coupon

The meat in a BOGOF sale lists the actual price per pound I pay, not the original price.
Sizes listed are of a single unit, not total pkgs bought

Price Chopper Total...$155.40

16.41 - Chicken Thighs $.85/lb *
5.99 - 3 Chicken Drumsticks 4# **
4.99 - Tyson Chicken Patties 12ct !
7.47 - 6 Price Chopper Cheese Singles 12oz *
5.58 - 4 Price Chopper Extra Sharp Cheese 10oz *
6.38 - 4 Price Chopper sliced Sharp Cheddar Cheese 8oz *
6.38 - 4 Price Chopper sliced Mozzarella Cheese 8oz *
2.20 - 2 Dozen Large Eggs
3.98 - 2 On Cor Lasagna !C
1.58 - 2 Goya Dried Kidney Beans 1#
.79 - Goya Dried Great Northern Beans #1
.79 - Goya Dried Pinto Beans 1#
5.94 - 6 Del Monte Green Pepper & Mushrooms Spaghetti Sauce 26.5oz !
3.38 - 4 Progresso Soup (Lentil, Minestrone, Split Pea, Chicken Penne) !C
5.94 - 6 Price Chopper Frozen Waffles, various flavors 10ct !
2.00 - Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats 24.3oz !C
1.00 - Kellogg's Frosted Flakes 1/3 less sugar 17.5oz !C
8.38 - 2 Malt O Meal Fruity Dyno-bites 25.5oz C (mistake...see below)
3.99 - 2 Edy's Ice Cream 56oz *
1.99 - 2 Spinach Cello Bag 10oz *
1.69 - 2 Broccoli bunches *
1.29 - 2 bags Yellow Cooking Onions 2# *
.79 - Price Chopper Garden Rotini 1#
1.29 - Price Chopper Macaroni 3#
2.58 - 2 Price Chopper Thin Spaghetti 3#
.89 - 2 Carapelli 4 Cheese Pasta 4.73oz *C (Pat ate one already)
3.96 - 4 Price Chopper Hotdog Rolls 12ct !
2.97 - 3 Price Chopper Hamburger Buns 12ct !
6.45 - 10 Loaves Italian Bread *
1.99 - Kraft Blue Cheese Dressing 16oz !
.99 - Save Chocolate Syrup 24oz
3.29 - Freihoffer Chocolate Chip Cookies 12oz **
5.00 - 2 Coke 12oz can 12pk !
9.95 - 5 Milk Gallon
1.76 - 2 Save OJ concentrate 12oz
5.16 - 4 Juicy Juice 46oz



Save a Lot Total...$114.22

3.29 - Polish Sausage 3#
4.72 - 8 Hot Dogs 12oz
3.96 - 4 Turkey Breakfast Sausage 12oz
3.98 - 2 Bacon 1#
1.98 - 2 Armour Pepperoni pillow pks 4oz
3.98 - 2 Armour Hard Salami 8oz
3.16 - Hunts Spaghetti Sauce, Meat 26.5oz
1.99 - Hash Brown Patties - 18ct
1.99 - French Fries 5#
1.99 - 2 Simply Potatoes, Shredded 20oz
5.88 - 12 Cream of Mushroom Soup 10.5oz
4.68 - 12 Cream of Tomato Soup 10.5oz
.98 - 2 Cream of Celery Soup 10.5oz
1.47 - 3 Angelhair Pasta 1#
.49 - Small Shell Pasta 1#
3.54 - 6 Wide Egg Noodles 12oz
1.98 - 2 White Rice 3#
2.07 - 3 Stuffing Mix 6oz
1.98 - 2 Plain Bagels 6ct
.99 - Cinnamon Raisin Bagels 6ct
3.94 - 5 Stroehmann English Muffins 6ct
3.98 - 6 Pantry White Bread 22oz
2.97 - 2 Snacker Crackers 16oz
2.94 - 6 Cucumbers
1.69 - Pecan Shortbread Cookies 16oz
.99 - Cinnamon Graham Crackers 16oz
1.49 - Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies 27oz
.99 - Vanilla Wafers 11oz
1.98 - 2 Corn Chips 16oz
1.98 - 2 Cheese Puffs 12oz
.99 - Crunchy Cheese Curls 12oz
3.37 - Gum, Big Red, Winterfresh, Juicyfruit 5pk
1.19 - 2 Mini Marshmellows 10.5oz
3.98 - McDaniels Instant Coffee 12oz
.79 - Apple Cider Vinegar 32oz
.29 - Ranch Onion Dip Mix
1.00 - Chili Seasoning 1.78 - 2 Black Olives
1.99 - Ketchup 64oz
.79 - Ketchup 24oz
2.97 - 3 Baumann's BBQ sauce 28oz
.59 - Yellow Mustard 16oz
.99 - Sweet Relish 16oz
.99 - Italian Dressing 16oz
5.34 - 9 Blue Bonnet Margarine, sticks 1#
1.29 - Whipped Margarine, tub 3#
2.99 - Lard, tub 4#
5.40 - 3 Vegetable Oil 48oz



Sam's Club Total...$145.68

15.96 - Pork Loin Roast $1.88/lb
10.57 - Casa Di Bertacchi Meatballs 6#
13.80 - 90% Ground Beef $1.88/lb
10.02 - Frozen Ground Beef Patties 24ct
5.82 - Cameco Cooked Ham Lunchmeat 2#
4.88 - Lemons 5#
2.88 - Dole Salad Mix 3#
1.94 - Dole Bananas 6#
4.14 - Tone's Beef Boullion Cubes 25oz
4.14 - Tone's Chicken Boullion Cubes 25oz
7.24 - 4 Knorr Onion Soup Mix 21oz
3.68 - Ramen Noodles Chicken 36ct
2.46 - Bakers & Chefs Brown Sugar 5#
3.69 - Domino Granulated Sugar 10#
7.06 - Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 5#
2.87 - Fleischmann's Instant Yeast 2#
3.14 - Tone's Imitation Vanilla 64oz
4.98 - 2 Angela Mia Crushed Tomatoes #10can
5.12 - Byrne Dairy Sour Cream 5#
3.88 - Bakers & Chefs Kosher Dill Spear 1 gallon
2.83 - Victoria Pepperocini 62oz
6.13 - Act II Microwave Popcorn 28ct
4.16 - Medallion Tortilla Chips 6#
5.17 - Pringles 6pk
3.18 - Anderson Mini Pretzels 5#
4.81 - Lowrey's Beef Jerky 24ct
6.81 - Member's Mark Instant Cappuccino Mix


Wegmans Total...$55.56

12.02 - 80% Ground Beef, Reduced $1.29/lb
14.45 - Mild Italian Sausage, Reduced $1.99/lb
4.95 - Babycut Carrots 5#
3.38 - Celery stalks, 2 bunches
4.85 - Green seedless grapes 4.9lbs
3.96 - Potatoes, 4 bags 5# !
2.98 - Wegman's Apple Juice, 3 bottles, 64oz
2.00 - Wegman's Margarine sticks, 4pkgs 1#
5.97 - Wegman's Butter, sticks 3 pkgs 1#
.49 - Tub of cotton candy (girls ate in the car)


Dollar Stores

Dollartree... Total $3.34

1.00 - 2 shasta soda's (drank during shopping)
1.34 - 3 candybars (for in the car)
1.00 - bag of royal rolls (imitation lifesavers)

Real Deals... Total...$18.30

2.00 - 12 Nature Valley Granola Bars
3.00 - 3 Sunkist Cereal and Apple Bars
2.00 - 2 Squeeze n Go Vanilla Pudding Tubes 8pk
4.00 - 4 Mott's Healthy Harvest Strawberry Apple Sauce Cups 6pk
1.00 - Hershey Kisses Caramel 10oz?
3.00 - 3 Bradford Gummi bears 12oz
3.00 - 3 Bradford Sour gummi worms 11oz
.30 - 3 Wise Mac n Cheese Cheese Doodles, 3 single serve pkgs (for the car)


*********Mistake mentioned above. I grabbed 2 bags of malt o meal cereal that I thought were 2.49ea. I intended to buy them with a $1/2pkgs coupon. At the register it rang up $4.19ea. I was too busy to notice the difference while she was ringing it up. I'll never take it back so the kids will enjoy some expensive cereal this week and I'll be more careful next time.

I did this different then I normally do. I bought THEN made a menu. I've found I spend more when I shop this way. I also ran into a lot of reduced meat so made a few extra purchases that I wasn't planning. This payday is one of my lighter debt ones and Tom has overtime....so things didn't have to be so tightly planned.

I don't have enough fruit for my liking. I'm hoping to stop by an apple farm and a local farm stand to get some more fruit and veggies. (ran out of time yesterday) I'll need more bread and milk.

This entry is so long that I'll be posting my menu list in another post.
Menu list for this shopping trip

Total Amount for Groceries listed here..... $495.50

LOK Cooking Challenge - Previous Entries

Thursday, September 23, 2004

October '08

KFC Challenge - Feed a family of 4 for $10/day. A family of 6+ for $15/day. Breakfast and Lunch can be one dish. Dinner must include sides. Beverages not included in total.

Denise at *F*O*O*D* - $14.29
B - Scrambled eggs, toast, butter and jelly
L - Cheese Quesadillas
D - Pan fried boneless chicken breasts, biscuits, green beans

Jodie at HomeSweetHome
Okonomiyaki,


Ranae at Cornbread and Cookies - $14.31
B - Blueberry Waffle Sandwiches, Banana, Milk
L - Toasted Bread, Tomato Soup
D - Goulash, Broccoli

Lisa at The Joy of Six - $14.04
B - Oatmeal, orange
L - Peanut butter sandwich, carrot sticks, banana
D - Spaghetti with sauce, salad, bread

Sally's here - £5.64 / us$9.76
B - Porridge with syrup
L - Cheese and ketchup, apple
D - Corned beef hash, tinned peas

The official LOK entry here - $14.75
B - Pancakes with syrup
L - Creamy tuna macaroni
D - Flauta (Taquito) Dinner with Refried Beans and Cheesy Mexican Rice

Michelle at Coffee and Chaos
B - Oatmeal
L - Macaroni and cheese with salsa
D - Chicken tenders, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked beans, and rolls

Late, unofficial and with a twist, Kim at Growlies for the Gang - $14.85

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

June/July '08
Dollar store Challenge - 3 course meal (appetizer, main dish, dessert) for 4. Ingredients obtained from the shelves of a dollar store (no refrigerator case)

Annie Jones at Real Life Living
Bean dip with tortilla chips
Fried treet
mashed potatoes with gravy
Green beans
Pound cake topped with chocolate pudding and raspberry preserves

Anne at Cooking with Anne
Roasted Red Peppers with Marinated Mushrooms and Olives
Baked treet marinated in oranges and balsamic vinegar
Risotto
Collard greens
Baked pears with raspberry preserves and chocolate

Kim at Growlies for the Gang ~ *winner
Marinated garlic vegetables with tuna and crackers or tuna cakes
Chicken cheese enchilada rice with mango glazed carrots
Pound cake with cranberries and raisins in an orange marmalade sauce with a drizzle of chocolate

Michelle ~ Owner of LOK
#1 Large Family Network Entry
Olive Bruschetta
Italian Hash
Baked Green Beans
Lemon Bars with Strawberries

#2 LOK Household Blog Entry
Hummus on Melba Toast
Chicken-Peanut lo mein
Chocolate pudding with strawberries

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ April '08 ~
A meal for $1 per person

Lisa at Living Easy ~ 5 people
Meatloaf
Baked Potato
Buttered Corn
Wacky Cake

Annie Jones at Real Life Living ~ 5 people ~ *Winner!
Steamed Dumplings with Chicken Gravy
Herbed Green Beans with Tomatoes
Garden Salad with Croutons

Michelle ~ LOK owner ~ 11 people
#1 Rich Breakfast Casserole
#2 Enchilada Suiza Dinner

Next 2 listed at Cooking with Anne
#1 - Kate's Green Soup - 9 people
#2 - Penelope's Poppy Seed Chicken - 11 people

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Setting up shop

Just setting up this blog so that once I have all the info to start posting, I won't have an excuse NOT to do it. Why did I pick Growlies as a name for food? I saw it on one of the first websites I visited geared toward large families Growlies for Groups. I always thought it was a neat slang word for food...even if I've never heard it used anywhere else. LOL

What I hope to accomplish here is to....

* Post my grocery list from each store I visit and how much I spend
* Post the menu to go with the purchases I've made
* Keep track of each day's meal and how much it cost me in total...including any pantry and food I already have on hand.
* Post recipes when applicable, so I have them all in one place. Make notations about them.
* Index the recipes in alphabetic order so they are easy to find, creating an online recipe book
* Analyze each payperiod's meals, recipes, and budget.

Now let's see if it's possible. I'm afraid I've made this more complicated then I intended or need to. (story of my life) LOL

LOK Cooking Challenge - Previous Winners

~ October ~

Challenge - Serve a family of 4 for $10/day. A family of 6+ for $15/day. Breakfast and Lunch can be one dish. Dinner must include sides. Beverages not included in total.

Lisa at The Joy of Six

Breakfast
Oatmeal and an orange - $4.38

Lunch
Peanut butter sandwich, carrot sticks, and a banana - $4.40

Dinner
Spaghetti and Sauce, salad, homemade bread - $5.22

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~ June/July '08 ~

Challenge - A 3 course meal (appetizer, main dish, dessert) for 4 for $15. All ingedients must be shelf items (no refrigerator case) at a dollar store.

Kim at Growlies for the Gang

Appetizer- Marinated garlic vegetables with tuna and crackers or tuna cakes
Main - Chicken cheese enchilada rice with mango glazed carrots
Dessert - Pound cake with cranberries and raisins in an orange marmalade sauce with a drizzle of chocolate

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ April '08 ~

Challenge - A meal for $1 per person

Annie at Real Life Living ~ Family of 5

Steamed Dumplings with Chicken Gravy
Herbed Green Beans with Tomatoes
Garden Salad with Croutons
Total Price = $4.84

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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