Apple Picking

On Saturday Anthony's parents came for a visit, and we headed over to Chiles Peach Orchard in Crozet to pick apples. It was a neat place and we had a good time. I can't believe we have that place so close to us but had never been there before! We picked Fuji and Granny Smith apples. Anthony's mom and I made 2 different types of apple crsip later that evening, and they were great! I got enough apples that I am going to make another one sometime this week. Here are a few pics from the trip.

We can't wait to go back again next year, when Bailey is old enough to actually pick some apples herself! :)

Meal Plan Monday

Here we are.... another week! They are just flying by and it's so hard to believe it is October already and Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it. I actually have a lot of recipes that I want to try but the week is just too short to have fit them all in. But we are trying a couple of new things this week. Thank goodness for other blogging Moms sharing their recipes! Here's the plan for the week....

Monday
Anthony gone for Quiz Bowl meet @ Fort Defiance/I'm going to Mom's!

Tuesday
Ravioli
Peas

Wednesday
Grilled Cheese
Tomato Soup

Thursday
Roasted Chicken & Veggies

Friday
Stromboli
Pringles
Pickle Spears

Saturday
Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings
Corn

Food Lion Deals

Here are my best deals from my trip to Food Lion today....

and the breakdown....

*2 boxes Honey Nut Cheerios: MVP price B1G1 at $4.00 each minus $1/2 coupon = $1.50 per box

*Toaster Strudel: MVP price $1.79 minus $1 coupon = 79 cents

*Crest Toothpaste: MVP price $1.75 each minus $1/2 coupon = $1.25 per tube

*Edy's Ice Cream: MVP price $1.99 (didn't have a coupon on this, but we're making apple crisp tomorrow, so we NEEDED some ice cream to go with it) :)

*Creamer: MVP price $1.67 minus $0.55 coupon = $1.12

*Smithfield Bacon: MVP price B1G1 at $4.99 each minus $3/1 coupon = $1.00 per pack

Tha brings my total on these items to $11.40. The regular price, without any sales or coupons would have been $31.53, making my savings $20.13 or 64%. Although, like Kroger, I believe most things are overpriced at Food Lion as well. My best deal was definitely that bacon. I have had that coupon for a while but had been hanging on to it hoping to find a great deal like that.

They also had a good sale on Gain Laundry Detergent and Coke products, so I got some of those as well.

Well, Bailey is in her bed now, supposed to be taking a nap, and I need to get some cleaning done. Anthony's parents come tomorrow - excited about that! :) Hope everyone has a great weekend.

October!

So it has been a week since I blogged! I think I'm having withdrawals. :) Not quite, but it just feels like the weeks are going by so fast. I can't believe it is October 1st already, and my baby turned 9 months old on Sunday. It's sad that she is growing up so fast, but I'm also glad that my days at home don't drag on and on.

Where to start?? I got a couple of good deals in my shopping this week, mainly Bird's Eye vegetables (regular and SteamFresh) that Martin's had on sale. They were 69 cents a bag, which they advertised as the lowest price of the year, and I had a couple of coupons as well, so I'm guessing I probably got them for closer to 50 cents a bag or so. And I kept my total under $40 this week, which I don't hold myself to, but it's what I have in my mind that I would like to be able to do every week.

I was going to go to Target today to pick up some coke that is on sale, but while Bailey was napping this morning, I happened upon the Food Lion specials this week (their circular has not be in the paper the past few weeks, not sure why?) and they have soda for a better price, along with a few other great deals that I cannot pass up. They also have a few things on a 3 day sale which starts tomorrow, so I decided to skip Target and go to Food Lion tomorrow. I'm excited about some of the deals I should be able to get.

I didn't get around to posting our menu for the week but I have to brag on the new recipe I tried on Tuesday. It was Poppyseed Chicken from Kelly at Kelly's Korner and it was yum-o! I definitely recommend serving it with rice, like she suggests. And it was so good, that my husband, who rarely likes leftovers, suggested that I just whip up some more rice and we could have the leftovers for dinner on Wednesday evening! And it was just as good the second time around. :) Tonight we are having baked spaghetti, which is all ready to go, just needs to be put in the oven, and tomorrow night we're having french toast and bacon.

This weekend Anthony's parents are coming to visit, so we are looking forward to that. We are planning to go apple picking at Chiles Peach Orchard and I've never been there before so I'm excited to check it out. I love doing things like that with Bailey in tow. It's so fun to introduce her to new things and watch her learn and grow. :)

Well, I think that's about all for now. I believe my little one is awake from her nap now. Speaking of which, I just have to throw this in, I think we are finally on a good, consistent schedule for naps now! She has been taking a morning nap usually at 9 or a little after and an afternoon nap at 2 or so, and her naps have mostly started being between an hour to an hour and 45 minutes (whereas sometimes she would just sleep for 30 or 45 minutes), so I am one thankful mama!

Kroger Deals

So I did it! I finally decided to branch out from Walmart and make a shopping trip to Kroger this week. They had a "Buy 10, Get $5 off" sale going on this week, and my main goal was to stock up on cheese. Here's everything I got, for a total of $8.71. The non-sale total would have been $33.26, for a total savings of $23.98 or 73 percent!

So first, let me say, Kroger is so overpriced! But, you can get good deals when they have a sale, especially when you have coupons to pair it with. So while my savings sound pretty good, keep in mind, Kroger is overpriced, to me anyways. That's why I do my main shopping at Walmart!

Here's the breakdown...

Nerds (for Trunk-or-Treat at church): originally $3.19, after sale $1.50

2 bags Kraft 8oz. Mozzarella Cheese: originally $3.69 (oi! - the Great Value bag at Walmart is only $1 something), after sale $0.99

2 bags Kraft 8oz. Cheddar Cheese: originally $3.69, after sale $0.99

2 packages Kraft 16 slice American Cheese: originally $4.69, after sale $0.99

Hot Pockets: originally $2.14, after sale $1.50, after .50/1 coupon, doubled, a total of $0.50 (woohoo!)

2 boxes Jell-O: originally $1.49 each, after sale $0.77 each, after .50/2 coupon, doubled, a total of $0.27 each

Those double coupons are fantastic! So I think I am definitely going to at least leave myself open to make a weekly trip to Kroger, if double coupons can come into play for me. If I don't have any coupons to use at Kroger, I'm better off just price matching their ad at Walmart.

I also made a trip to Target today, and didn't find all the deals I was hoping to find, but did get a couple of good finds. I got another pack of those Bic Soliel razors for 99 cents, a CFL lightbulb for free (was on clearance for $2.48 and had a $2.50 off coupon), and a new rug for our back door for $1.48 on clearance! Also got a Christmas present for one of my little nieces, but I don't want to share that, since she might find out about it if I posted it. :)

And on the total opposite end of saving money, we had to spend some serious money today, paying Anthony's school bill. Let me elaborate. In order for Anthony to qualify for federal financial aid for grad school, he has to be at least a half-time student which is 5 credit hours for grad school.

Well, his program has been "discontinued" at the school, but they are letting any students who were already enrolled finish out the program, just not accepting any new students into the program. So it seems like the program has kind of been put on the back burner and they are not doing as much as they used to. Last year, Anthony took 2 classes (6 credit hours) each semester, but this semester, they only offered one class that he needs. He would gladly take 2 classes if they offered another, but obviously, that was not an option this semester.

Long story short (kind of), we thought he may be able to fill out a form to kind of "override" that, explaining that it wasn't his fault he only had one class, but turns out, there's no getting around it. So today we had to pay the bill to avoid late fees. We had the money, so it's not a huge deal, just took away a lot of our "pad" in our checking account. I am REALLY hoping that in future semesters he will be able to take 2 classes, because we can't keep paying out of pocket right now for his classes.

But then on top of that, Anthony says his car is not acting right, so of course, like I always do, I assume the worst about it. He said he's going to look at it this weekend and see if he can figure out what is going on.

So I'm a little worried about money right now, and I HATE that. I know that God has provided for us, above and beyond what I could have imagined, since I stopped working. And I know, in my head, that He will continue to provide for us, just has He has done in the past. So why do I worry? I just can't figure it out! I am making a major effort to not worry, and just to trust God to take care of us, but I would love to hear any suggestions on how YOU deal with worry!

Whew! That was a lot of stuff. It actually makes me feel a little better just getting it off my chest. :) Anyways, now I'm getting back to the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy! I love fall TV!

Shopping Day

I did my grocery shopping today, and got some GREAT deals. There wasn't a lot of good coupons in the paper this last week, but I had some really good printable coupons.

This is not everything I got, but the things I am most proud of the deals that I got! :)



I got everything in this picture for $7.99!

Here is the breakdown:

8 cans of DelMonte vegetables: price matched with .49 sale at Martin's + $1/5 coupon = 36.5 cents per can

Huggies wipes: 2 coupons for $2/1 any Huggies diaper product = 37 cents per box

Bic Soliel Razors: price matched with $3.99 sale at Target + $3.00/1 coupon from Sunday insert = 99 cents

Healthy Choice Fresh Mixer: $2.00/1 printable coupon = 78 cents

Healthy Choice Frozen Meals: on sale for $1.78 a piece and I had 2 coupons for $2/1 (so I could have gotten "paid" to buy these), but I think I forgot to use one of them, so I only used 1 coupon for $2/1 = 78 cents a piece, still not bad

Coffeemate Creamer: price matched with 2/$4.00 sale at Martin's + 2 coupons for $1/1 = $1.00 a bottle


I LOVE couponing! :) And so does Bailey, but it really tires her out....

Meal Plan Monday

Here we are.... start of another week. I really don't know how it is the middle, well really past the middle, of September. With my menu plan this week, I really tried to use as many things from my cabinet as possible, to really keep my grocery bill down this week. I still have a lot of new recipes I've come across that I'm looking forward to trying and I can't wait to share them when I get to them. Trying one of Courtney's on Friday this week. Here it is:

Monday
Cheesy Beef Stroganoff
Whole Potatoes

Tuesday
Coney Island Hot Dogs
Salad

Wednesday
English Muffin Tuna Sandwiches
Chips

Thursday
Baked Spaghetti
Salad

Friday
Smothered Chicken
Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

Saturday
Pampered Chef Party/Youth Group Game Night = No Cooking for Me! Yay!