Grocery follow up

I am going to do a follow up post on the grocery post below - but it will most likely be later this week. We are leaving for Vegas very early Wednesday morning and I will be KIDLESS for 3 days....expect a post then.

So if anyone else has ideas they want to share - post a comment or drop me an email (I have got some emails versus long comments, they are GREAT!)

How much do you spend on groceries?

Last week at our church we held a menu planning/coupon clipping money saving class. It was so interesting. I was able to talk a little bit about menu planning. I didn't do the best job, mostly because I just wanted to rush through my part so I could learn about the coupons. I did learn a lot and I've been experimenting this past week with clipping a few coupons and getting some pretty good deals. (below)

This is my main reason for posting, is after this class I've been wondering what most people spend on groceries and if anyone else has tips or ways they save. I think we do pretty good, but I think that I also have room for improvement.

This is what I do and why.

I started menu planning a few years ago. I would plan out by the week. I wasn't too faithful, but weekly menus worked well for us at the time and gave me lots of flexibility. I really didn't mind running to the store if we needed something so I wasn't too serious, but I liked knowing what we would be eating that night.

Then we moved here and started residency. Don't get me wrong, we lived by a budget in medical school...we only got paid 2 times a year, we HAD to. But now our family is larger, our housing costs have almost doubled what they were in Iowa, with that utilities are higher and if you think that resident doctors make a lot of money - you are VERY sorely mistaken. I'm pretty sure we lived on more money IN school than we do OUT of school...at least for now. For me to stay at home with the kids - my number one priority - this is what I have to do.

Another reason I plan our menu and changed an shop for 2 weeks at a time now, besides the fact that is when we get paid, is that I also really don't think that taking 4 (mine plus Eric the little boy I watch during the week) kids under the age of 5 to the store is very much fun....let's just say it's an adventure every time that we go.

Okay - so I plan out our menu 2 weeks at a time. I sit down usually on a Monday night (I like to shop Mondays, but have a meeting Monday morning so I shop Tuesdays) and come up with give or take 12 meals (I plan a few free nights that Wade will be gone where I let the boys pick or we eat cereal). I then write down everything that I need to make those recipes, then crossing out the ingredients I know we have. I take this list and put it into a final list of groceries that we need by section or isle of the grocery store that I will find them in. To make my "adventure" even easier, I then take 3 pieces of paper and draw a few items on my list for each kid shopping with me (besides Avery who would just eat her list.) The boys LOVE this they get so into finding their items and crossing them off.

We do have to shop for small items in between, mostly produce and milk and I try to only go once in between my two week large trips.

My two week menu for the past two weeks looked like this:

1. Chicken spaghetti (frozen from the last time I made the double recipe)

2. Taco soup (made double, froze half)

3. Homemade mac & cheese

4. Chicken enchiladas

5. Turkey sausage sandwiches

6. Polenta with asparagus and mushrooms

7. Beef rolls

8. Blueberry muffins with eggs

9. Chicken & lemon soup

10. Pork with polenta

11. Red beans and rice

12. Scones

13. Cafe Rio

14. FREE

I LOVE making my menu for two weeks for so many reasons, but besides the whole shopping trips and budget points of view, my favorites have to be that I don't have to stress every day about dinner time, I already know what I'm making and how long it will take. And two, I am not a creative cook, but planning a few new things and recipes into my normal routine takes a lot of stress off and I'm able to pull it off and we try a lot more new things now....like POLENTA! I've never even thought about making it before now, and we tried it this week with success. Everyone ate it and we gave it a B+. I think we will be making it again!

Okay - so back to my question. How much do you spend? I try to go every two weeks, my goal is to spend under $120. If I can get out under $100 I am feeling REALLy good, but $120 is about my average right now. This also allows me to go back to the store in the middle and spend about $30 on extra milk or produce. My big shopping trip boils down to $60 a week, $8.50 a day, and less than a dollar per person a meal. Not too bad, but I have seen blogs and read books and I KNOW I can do better. ( I just read a book where a mother of 7 can feed her family for under $200 a month! 9 people for under $200!)

I might not ever make that...but I'm looking for ideas.

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Coupon deals! That was the other part of the class and I got super excited to try this for a lot of the household items that we need. I typically buy a lot of our "household" items at Costco....diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, TP, paper towels. I don't really want to start getting the Sunday paper, so I know being the super shopper that does coupons like crazy is out for me, but I did find a few websites - my favorite being moneysavingmommy.com that tells about deals you can get.

Last week I was able to combine some coupons and got 2 packages of HUGGIES diapers for $6!! I could have got them even cheaper but my Walgreens didn't have the coupon book that had the extra coupon I needed.

Today I was able to stock up on Power-aid (since little Avery Ann needs it right now) for .60 cents a bottle. Pretty cheap.

The best deal came this past weekend with a $1 off coupon I got online and took to Safeway - they had Men's Right Guard deodorant on sale for $1, you got it free! That's right, I got Wade deodorant for FREE! He walked in the door Saturday with flowers for Valentine's Day for me, and all I could said was, "OH, yeah...I got you deodorant for FREE!" I haven't heard the end of that one.

~~~

So, I know this was a really long post and lacked pictures, but - I really want ideas. I want to know what people spend on groceries, if you plan meals, or don't, what works and what doesn't. I want to know if you use coupon sites, what ones. If you aren't comfortable leaving a comment, email me...wadeanddebbi@gmail.com. Or leave an anonymous comment.

Treats, Bread and some Blueberries

Last week I was on some sort of treat and quick-bread kick. I made cookies twice and then banana and applesauce bread. I love the fact there are so many berries in abundance here in the summer. They are everywhere and pretty cheap. I have had berries in my freezer almost all winter and now that we have church in the afternoon I get to enjoy these treats a lot on Sunday mornings. In my defense, it's not like I ate all of these treats on my own.

I like to post the recipes so I can look back and find them on my blog. During Wade's 4th year when we were "homeless" living with family our stuff was in storage and for almost a whole year the recipes on my blog were the only ones I could find when I wanted something I needed the recipe for.

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This is the frosting I made for Wade's birthday cake. I will NEVER buy coconut pecan frosting again, it was so yummy I could have ate it with a spoon....okay, maybe I did once or twice.:)

Coconut-Pecan Frosting

Better Homes and Garden Cook Book

In a medium saucepan slightly beat 1 egg. Stir in one 5 ounce can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk, 2/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter. Cook and stir over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat, stir in 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Cover and cool thoroughly.

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Then of course, I liked the coconut frosting so I had to make another coconut treat. So yummy! My boys are crazy because they won't eat these!

Outrageous Cookie Bars

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and pour in to an 13x9 baking pan. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter and stir well. Press onto the bottom of the pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk over crumbs. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts, press down firmly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool completely and then cut into bars. YUM!

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My friend posted this on her blog and it looked so tasty I couldn't wait to try it myself. I used some of the applesauce that I canned in the fall and I also did 1cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white. Everyone gobbled it up without complains! There is no doubt I will be making this again.

Spiced Applesauce Bread

www.craftpad.com

1 1/4 C. applesauce

1 C. white sugar

1/2 C. vegetable oil

2 eggs

3 Tbsp.milk

2 C. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan.

2. Combine applesauce, sugar, oil, eggs and milk and mix well. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and stir until smooth. Fold into loaf pan.

3. Bake for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

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Nothing fancy about this recipe, I don't need a mixer, it just works. Sometimes I add chocolate chips. I also replace half of the flour in this recipe (3/4 cup) with whole wheat. No one knows:)

Banana Bread

Simply Recipes.com

3 or 4 ripe bananas mashed

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup of flour

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Cook on a rack and slice to serve.

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I have decided I no longer need to buy pancake mix. It's not really that much harder just to make my own mix and it is SO much cheaper. I really like this buttermilk recipe.

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes

Simply Recipes.com

Dry ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 Tbsp sugar

Other ingredients:

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup milk

3 Tbsp warm melted butter

1 cup blueberries

1 Tbsp of butter or vegetable oil

1 Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the eggs, milk and buttermilk in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until the batter just comes together. Add the melted butter. Mix lightly. Fold in the blueberries (or wait to add them once the batter has already been poured on the griddle - this will keep them from bleeding).

2 Heat a flat iron surface - griddle or large pan - to medium high heat. Oil the pan with either a Tbsp of butter or vegetable oil. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle to the desired size, usually about 5 or 6 inches wide. When air bubbles start to bubble up to the surface at the center of the pancakes (about 2-3 minutes), use a flat spatula to flip them over. After a minute, peak under one for doneness. When golden or darker golden brown, they are done. Note that cooking the second side takes only about half as long as the first side. And the second side doesn't brown as evenly as the first side. Serve immediately.

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One of my favorite blueberry muffin mixes. We made these for dinner just the other night and ate them with yogurt and scrambled eggs. I love breakfast for dinner! The topping is the best part, I found this on my friends Kelly's recipe site. Same as the other recipes above, I replaced half of the white flour with wheat (3/4 cup)

Blueberry Muffins

http://internecipes.blogspot.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Christiansen 2010 Winter Olympics

We've been pretty excited for the Winter Olympics. Too bad we don't have DVR since they don't show the events (that happen in our time zone) until 8-midnight!? I've had to break out the old tapes on the VCR so they can see some events. Funny! Either way, they've loved talking about it, counting the medals the countries have gotten each day and coloring pages about it.

Well, last night for Family Home Evening we held our very own Winter Olympics. It was something Gage was so excited for and planned all day long.

We started out with Wade running the torch around the backyard while we cheered from the doorway! They boys really loved this event because it dealt with REAL fire.

Of course, we had some of the cutest spectators at our events last night. Go USA and Team Christiansen!

Our first event was long distance skiing. It involved being in our socks and running on the hard wood floor though a course Gage set up. Each participant was timed. I took a bad fall on turn one and was docked a few seconds. Wade slipped on the second turn and was able to save himself. Of course Gage was the fastest with 6 seconds on the clock.

Next up - stair mogels. This was so funny - and actually kind of hard to do. You have to jump down all the stairs, knees together, side to side. Noah took first place - look at the form and concentration.
After mogels we headed back to the kitchen for the speed skating competition. Socks were a must! You had to do ten laps around the island. Wade kept trying to pass and take other people out, but in the end he was able to take gold.

The last and final event during our Olympics last night was figure skating. We turned up music really loud and danced the night away...in our socks on the wood floor of course. Avery and I stole the show with this lift, our matching pajamas and special ending with a smile. The judges couldn't resist us!

To end the night we had a medal ceremony. Silver and bronze tried to be happy, but it's hard when you don't win gold!

Gage winning gold in cross country skiing:

Noah taking gold in mogels:

Very humble Wade took home the gold in speed skating:

And Avery and I were able to win gold together in ice skating:

Then all the gold medalists were able to snack on chocolate chip cookies and be tucked promptly into bed.

Gage is already planning more events. Should be a fun 2 weeks! We love the Olympics!

Birthday Festivities

Avery Ann had a great time celebrating her birthday tonight. This picture wraps up how she felt all night. I say it all the time, but she really is just such a happy girl. She is such a joy to be around, you can't help but smile!

(notice her crooked teeth - she has 3 on top (2 middle and then one to the left) and 3 on the bottom (middle 2 and then one to the right), but they don't match, so it makes her smile look crooked! hehe!)

Already spoiled, Dad and Mom got her her very own cell phone and a set of car keys. She really likes pushing the buttons ....when she can get it away from her very helpful brothers.

(total side note, but I had something else planned but was able to get this present for her today at walgreens for almost nothing! you can't argue with that! I'll post about my stealing deals another time)

Don't let this serious face fool you. Avery loves bags of clothes...what she got from both grandparents. She loves holding clothes, hugging them and putting them on her head. She LOVES helping me with the laundry or even crawling into my closet where the dirty laundry is! I don't know what it is about clothes, but to say she is a girl at heart!

Yes, she is advanced and can read her own birthday cards. No need to help her, she is one independent one year old girl.

Bring on the cake! She was super excited for this part. My decorating skills are NOT grand,do NOT pay attention to what it looks like. I made everyone else cupcakes and then used the left over batter to make her a small round cake of her own to demolish.

The cake portion of the party went like this: At first Avery would just pat her cake. Then she found out she could smash it. Then she pushed half of the cake down on the floor.

After about 10 minutes (and me putting cake into her mouth 2 times) she finally decided to taste it! Silly girl. She giggled and smiled and kicked her feet!

As you can tell she enjoyed her cake. It took draining the bathtub 3 times before we could get all of her (and the bathtub) clean.

Thanks to everyone who called her and sent her cards or messages for her birthday. She had a very special day. My parents were able to visit for dinner and cake - maybe a first time EVER they have been able to go to a 1st birthday party of their 14 grandkids. They got a kick out of watching Avery make a mess - when we asked if they were going to give her the bath they quickly decided it was time to leave:)

Also we were very blessed that Wade could make it home to be part of her birthday. He had a very busy day with surgery and clinic and then is on-call so we put off dinner for an hour for him. Then he walked in the door and got a phone call and had to walk out. We were so glad that the attending that called him was okay with giving him an hour to be at home, he was able to see Avery and put her to bed before having to leave again. Awwww....someday (in 2 1/2 years) we'll have him back. someday.

Like I said at the top of the post, I believe Avery had a great day and that is what it was about. She loves playing with her brothers and climbing the stairs. She strangely enough at one year old she really does love all the clothes she got. I look back at where we were a year ago and so much has happened. I try to hold her every day and treasure this little happy girl. She really is growing up much too fast.

Happy Birthday Avery Ann

Today is a great day!

Today a year ago, little Avery Ann joined our family! I can't believe how fast the past year has gone by. Avery is such a happy girl and such a joy. She smiles and giggles, she loves to wave and talk. She has started to blow kisses! We are having a small party for her tonight, which I know she will enjoy, because it involves chocolate and cake!

Piggy Tails

still a little messy

but they were adorable at church yesterday

Happy Birthday Wade!

Last week we celebrated Wade's 3o (4th cough cough) birthday. He really doesn't like me doing much for his birthdays - he would LOVE it if I would just forget about it all together, but strangely enough, that never happens!

I did manage to keep it fairly low key this year. (unlike when he turned 30, I threw him a surprise party and handed out 30 suck suckers!)

We manged to make him his favorite cake! German Chocolate, in a pan (he requested it that way?). After a failed attempt at a all from scratch cake I opted for a box mix and real homemade frosting. No matter the outcome, Noah took care of the dishes.

I have to say I will never EVER go back to store bought frosting after making coconut pecan frosting from scratch! It tasted soo good and really wasn't that hard. The boys didn't like it at all. I told them it was like candy. Noah took one sniff of the bowl and said, "Mom, it sure doesn't smell like candy!"

Thursday night we took the kids out with us to celebrate. We went to one of Wade's favorite places, Panera Bread. He loves it because it's actually good for you and I love it because the boys eat everything on their plate and ours if they can a hold of it before us! Then on the way home Noah and Avery both fell asleep so Gage was the only one that got to stay up and have cake with us.

We were out of candles - so we "created" homemade candles with some matches! haha!

Saturday Wade and I were able to celebrate his birthday on a date! Ever since we moved to Washington Wade has wanted to try The Crab Pot in Seattle. He saw it on Man Versus Food and is fascinated with it!


So, if you haven't seen the show or know what The Crab Pot is about - this is the deal...you can order a real meal, or you can order by the pot! It's nuts, they bring out butcher paper and cover your table and then dump all your food out, hand you some mallets, forks, some cutting boards and let you go to town!

And - did I mention that they put bibs on you? Wade said he wasn't going to wear his but our waitress came up from behind and put it on him. He had no choice. It was great. My first wack at the crab made me feel a little silly but then I looked around and everyone was wacking away. I know the crab should have been my favorite but I really loved the shrimp in the pot we ordered, but they still had their heads! I felt so bad looking into their little eyes! hehe! The one couple at the table next to us was dressed up for a formal dance I felt a little bad she was so dressed up and wearing a bib and eating with her fingers, but they looked like they were having a great time! It was so much fun.

We totally loved the whole experience even the wait to get in the door! Wade ended having a great birthday! We decided it would be a fun place to take the boys - besides, they would LOVE it that they hand you hammers with your meals! So, if anyone is up for a trip to Seattle - we'll meet you at The Crab Pot!

Valentine Recipe Swap!

Tonight while kneading the dough for our bread sticks (a recipe I got from a swap similar to this one!) the thought struck me - what a perfect dinner we would be having for the first day of February! Homemade bread sticks, penne pasta with alfredo sauce...I just needed to find some candles and turn down the lights to celebrate! Of course, bouncing boys jumping on the bench and a giggling baby throwing food from her tray deterred the mood just a tad, so the candle sticks will have to wait until later.

However - I did think a fun recipe swap was in order! The big question was to do desserts or main dishes - but why not do it all! Let's have fun with this!!!

Valentine Recipe Swap

Who can do it: Anyone - blogger, facebooker, anyone!

How to sign up: Send your mailing address to me - wadeanddebbi (at) gmail (dot) com.

You can include anything about yourself - what you love to cook, who you usually cook for, anything!

What to swap: your favorite dessert recipes and/or fun romantic meals that you love!

When: NOW! Sign up by Friday, February 5

How it works: Saturday, February 6 I will email you a swap partner. This will give you the weekend to think about and gather your recipe cards. Then mail off your recipe cards on Monday, February 8 so everyone can recipe their cards by Valentine's weekend!

Happy Swapping!!!