the week's menu and a weekend recap

I have been out of town all weekend living the college life for a few nights. It was quite fun (and tiring). I was sleeping on my sister, Sarah's, couch, and Friday night I arrived in Auburn around 9 pm AL time. Sarah, Kate, and her roommates were all hanging out, and I ended up staying up as late as they did, which I think was 2 am. (3 am GA time). I then woke up at 8:30 am because my body does not know how to sleep in. 8:30 is sleeping in for me. I then spent the day with all of my college friends, celebrating the coming birth of Shannon Farrar Vinson's baby. It was so much fun talking and laughing and catching up. We laughed so hard. And reminisced. And caught up. The shower started at 2 pm, and a few of us extended the party into dinner at one of our favorite AU restaurants, Amsterdam Cafe. We finally said good-bye around 10 pm on Saturday night. We just didn't want it to end because the visits are few and far between these days. It was incredibly refreshing and encouraging to be around these girls who know me so very well.

I then headed back to Sarah's house, where I proceeded to stay up until 2 am again. There was some college girl drama, which I found myself in the middle of, mainly because I have been there, and being on this side of things, I tried to give a bit of perspective to the situation. As in, this too shall pass, and it will pass quickly. At 2 am I finally climbed into Sarah's bed and left her and the other girls up watching a movie. She said she would sleep on the couch if I needed to go to bed, and, indeed, I did need to go to bed. It was so much fun playing the college role again, going to Sonic at 1 am for diet coke and a snack, and coming back to find out who my celebrity husband is (Ryan Gosling--if you were dying to know). What a fun time college is--hanging out with your best friends until all hours of the night, the future ahead of you full of endless possibility, more freedom than you will ever have again. It's just fun. There is no better word to describe it.

Anyway...I am now back home and back to the reality that is my life, which is, you guessed, meal planning (or that is one aspect of the reality of my life). So...here's the plan for the week

Monday--frozen pizza because I forgot to take out the meat that needed to defrost. Never fear, a Tombstone pizza is in the freezer for just this occasion.

Tuesday--spaghetti, bread, broccoli (the ground beef is in the fridge, so that it will be good to go tomorrow)

Wednesday--chicken enchiladas (never made these last week)

Thursday--probably Arby's because we have a coupon for a free sandwich with the purchase of anything else. It expires soon, so we want to take advantage of it this week. And Thursday's are crazy days, so Arby's will be perfect.

It looks like it will be an easy cooking week for me, which is good because I am back to tutoring online after I get home from tutoring in students' homes. I am looking at some late nights this week, so I need easy cooking and cleaning to make up for the late nights.

For many more meal ideas, go to Organizing Junkie every Monday.

p.s. there will be some changes around here soon. As you know if you read this blog often, it isn't so much "All Things Ada" anymore, so I am planning a blog title change. I am in the process of creating the heading. Stay tuned...

Publix Wins, hands down

Here is my loot from today's trip to Publix. I paid 43.00 OOP. I saved 85.00 with sales and coupons combined!!!!!!!!! It really was a record day. My grocery cart was very full, and I did not have a calculator with me, so I was very nervous about the total. The total before coupons was 60-something, so I was already okay with that total (I only bought sale items), but then it dropped even lower after the cashier scanned my large stack of coupons. (I had a coupon for everything that you see above). The guy behind me was watching all of this take place, and he turned to his wife and said, "we need to start clipping coupons." I wanted to turn to him right then and there and give him a quick lesson on how to get started. I managed to refrain.

So, what you see above is this

4 cartons of chicken broth
2 cartons of beef broth
2 tombstone pizzas
2 Juicy Juices
2 bottles of Electrasol Dish Detergent
2 boxes of Kotex
6 bags of frozen veggies
4 boxes of cheerios
2 bags of chips
4 jars of Ragu
2 boxes of wheatable crackers
2 bottles of Lysol bathroom cleaner
6 boxes of whole grain Kraft mac and cheese

And, onto Kroger, which was sadly a bummer after the Publix trip.
Here's the list

2 boxes of brown sugar (.29 each)
2 boxes of confectioners sugar (.29 each)
1 pack of Pampers
1 pack of Luvs
1 gallon of milk
2 tubes of Pillsbury Biscuits
2 bags of dry beans
3 4-packs of Cottonelle (.49 each)
1 lb of ground beef
1 pack of chicken (BOGO)1 pack of Oscar Meyer deli chicken
1 pack of Keebler cookies (I have been craving cookies all week, so I threw them in the cart)

Okay, the total was a disappointing 47.42. I made several careless mistakes--I went overboard with the sale items, instead of purchasing what I needed for the week first (milk, ground beef, diapers, etc.), and then purchasing sale items based on how much was left in the budget. I also didn't pay close enough attention to the sales paper. I purchased the deli chicken, for example, because I thought it was on sale 2/4.00. Actually, that sale was only Thursday from noon-8pm. The deli chicken was actually over 4.00 for the pack. Compared to the prices I normally pay per item, that was quite expensive!! Anyway...I stayed under the 100.00 we budget per week, but my goal is to consistently stay near 50.00. I have stocked up enough that my grocery list mainly consists of sale items rather than need items, which allows the budget to stay low.

So, the numbers for Kroger just don't add up. The biggest savings seem to be at Publix. Here is the key to "playing the Publix game." My list consists 90% of BOGO items, and I always buy 4 copies of the Sunday paper. That way I am paying only one price for two items, but I am using two coupons to lower that one price. You follow me? Also, if I have four copies, when items I need go on sale, BOGO, I can stock up on four of that item at rock bottom prices. Stocking up is KEY to saving money. It has given me the freedom to only buy items when they are at rock bottom prices. Sales always run in cycles. So if you collect multiple copies of coupons, and stock up when items are at rock bottom, by the time you run out of the item, the sale cycles back around, and you can stock up again at rock bottom. I now plan meals solely based on what's in my pantry already and what is on sale that week.

For more money saving advice, check out Frugal Friday.

Leave the couponing to the women

My sweet husband presented me with a stack of printed off, cut up coupons when I arrived home from the Church's Ladies' night tonight. (Some husbands present flowers, jewelry even--what does it for me? A fresh stack of coupons).

He and Ada are both tucked into bed, and I am still up trying to make sure the grocery list is done and the coupons are matched. So I began to look through my stack of new coupons, and I realize that many of them have a very haphazard look about them. And I know what Scott did. He thought he would save time, and cut lots at once. But, ya'll, you know the part that has to be scanned. The part that saves me the money, well, half of the coupons barely even have that part anymore. Oh sweet Scott. I know his heart was in the right place. Truly, I know it. But, oh man...these precious coupons. Unusable. Lesson learned, here. Leave the couponing to me, babe.

I'm feeling disloyal

As you all know, Kroger won my heart a long time ago. By doubling coupons and offering such great deals with the Kroger plus card (not to mention .10 off gasoline), I thought Kroger and I would be together forever.

Here's the thing. Lately, Publix is catching my eye. They are wooing me with there BOGO deals. And this week was the clincher. As I was making my grocery lists today for tomorrow's shopping trip, I realized that the Publix list was longer than the Kroger list. It looks like I am crossing over. Don't get me wrong. I am by no means breaking it off with Kroger completely, but I do think we have to take it down a notch. I need to make room in my life for Publix, after all.

p.s. Juicy Juice is back on sale BOGO. I mean, who wouldn't be won over by that?

This one's for you, Scott, and a quick summary of Black Friday

So, this year I decided at the very last minute to participate in the madness that is Black Friday. Next year I will be much more prepared. Ann told me that she planned to go to pick up a few items for Ellie and Luke, and I decided to go along for the ride, "just in case" I found a good deal. We originally planned to leave Scottsboro at 4 am to be at Toys R' Us when the doors opened, but we decided that was crazy and there was no way everything would be gone by 7, surely. Clearly, we were rookies. Ann got the last one available of what she wanted--a medical kit for Ellie and Luke. We had joked that surely no one would be diving for the 5.00 medical kits, so we didn't need to be lined up outside the door. (They were 50% off)

We were wrong. People were diving for the medical kits. And anything else that they could get their hands on.

I wanted to pick up a 25.00 slide that is normally 40.00. To get the slide, I had to pick up a little slip and take it to the cashier. There I would pay for it and go around back to pick it up. After waiting in a very long, but fast moving line, Ann and I drove around back to pick up the slide. There were about 4 mothers ahead of me also wanting the slide, but after a while of waiting, the employee comes out to say that the slides are gone, and we will have to get our money back. There was absolutely no way I was getting back in that line, so I decided to wait until I got back to McDonough to "return" the slide (which I don't actually have). All of that to say that

1. I think Black Friday is worth the deals, but you really do have to be there when the doors open, and

2. Ada and I plan to go see Scott today because he works near the Toys R'Us, and I still need to get my money back. Plus, we have plans to purchase a toy kitchen for Ada, and Scott and I want to look at those while we are there. I have been telling Ada all morning that when she wakes up from her nap we are going to see dad, hence the pictures below.

Looking out the window for dad

Bringing me the keys because she's ready to goShe's moved on from dad to playing with her toys (aka, her old baby bath tub. Hey, whatever works). She's pointing out the sheep's eye.
Because she was looking up at me, and I wanted her to smile, I said, "Ada, do you want to go see, dad?" And below is how she reacted to that question...

she couldn't get out of that tub fast enough. "Let's go," she says.

Because she's much too busy to worry about pants

Back to the daily grind

All of the following was written yesterday morning before I posted about CVS.

I have so much I want to post about Thanksgiving--all the fun had with family, the incredible excitement over CVS deals, and the mad house that Toys R Us was on Black Friday, but before all of that, I must, must, must figure out the meal plan for the week. Combining money spent on the trip home and Christmas shopping on Friday, it is crucial that I stick to the grocery budget this week. Scott and I travelled home late last night, while Ada slept soundly in the back seat. We finally stumbled into bed at 2 am this morning, and slept until the late hour of 8:30 am. He quickly got ready and took Ada to church, leaving me here in my pajamas recovering from that late night (and an icky stomach due to medication being accidentally left in McDonough).

So, I am in my favorite gray lounge pants and orange Auburn hoodie (War Eagle, anyway, I say. I believe in Auburn, and I love it despite the nightmare of last night's game), surrounded by coupons and sale papers, and I am about to recipe search. So here I am to menu plan for all the world to read.

Sunday night--crossing my fingers that we will have family photos this afternoon, but it is not looking good as it is currently cold and drizzly. I might scream. If we are out in the cold taking photos, I plan to have warm, cozy bean soup cooking in my BRAND NEW crockpot when we come home. And hopefully, once Ada is tucked into bed at 7:30, Scott and I will transform this living room into a winter wonderland AKA as yet one more thing for Ada to get in trouble for

yet again, the pictures did not happen due to rain. It's becoming quite ridiculous. We are now scheduled for Friday at 4. I am not counting on anything, though.

so, tonight--Bean soup, cornbread

Monday--pork tenderloin (from the freezer), rice, veggies (all things I already have on hand)

Tuesday--chicken spaghetti, salad, bread (I will be using shredded cheese instead of velveeta. Also, I already have chicken breasts, spaghetti, and the cream soups)

Wednesday--chicken enchiladas, spanish rice (thanks Lindsay!!)

Thursday--corn chowder, corn bread or biscuits

Lunches--leftovers, pb&j and chips, stouffer's pizza (BOGO at Publix), slow cooked beans

Breakfast--peanut butter toast, Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (BOGO at Publix), eggs (.99 from 12-8 on 12/4 at Kroger)

snacks--popcorn (BOGO at Publix), pears

I spent a total of 64.00 on groceries, and I shopped at Kroger, Publix, and Walgreens. I also spent 21.00 at CVS earlier in the week, so that came from this week's budget. So, 85.00 dollars, which I am fine with because we budget 100.00.

I won't go into the nitty gritty of what I bought, but I will share a few numbers. I spent 26.80 at Publix, and I saved 38.86. Not bad!! I spent 36.76 at Kroger, and I saved 23.13. And at Walgreens--well, I don't have the receipt--but I bought two bottles of All detergent for 1.79 each, minus coupons on each. I think my total was around 3.00, and normally one bottle of detergent costs about 3.00 (the bottles were small), so a 50% savings. I was pleased with the day's savings.

As always, check out Organizing Junkie for more meal ideas.

And I will leave you with a picture of this little stinker from Thanksgiving day, when miracle of all miracles she kept her bow in for an extended period of time.