$3.00

...is what I spent on all of these. Our local library has a "library shop" in which they sell books that have either been donated and cannot be used, or library books that have been phased out of the system. I've come home with some amazing finds from this shop, and always make sure to check it out each time we are there, since they restock it frequently. Sassy and I went to the library on this cold Saturday morning, and we found some treasures in the library shop today! We chose twelve books. All children's books are a quarter a piece... you can't beat that! Yes, some are a little old, and some are a little worn... but there are so many books that have tons of life left in them!


We found some cute Little Golden books.


And we found some childhood favorites of mine.


We found a book by one of our favorite funny authors.


I always thought The Magic School Bus books were so neat.


And we came home with this, since it will be in three days.


$3.00 for twelve books. The library shop is a great place!

EFTP Challenge: Week #4 Plan

The last week of January has arrived! This challenge has been harder than I thought in some ways, but not so bad in others. It's kind of a fun challenge to think of what I already have and see if I can put it to use in new and different ways, but I didn't succeed so well on the budget. However, I still think that I've done okay saving money in the long run by buying things as they are on sale, when I have coupons for them, etc. If I totaled up only what we consumed this month and no more, I'd have probably come in under budget anyway... or let's believe that I would. :)

The menu for the last week of January:

Monday 1/25 - spaghetti, broccoli, garlic bread
Tuesday 1/26 - chili dogs (using leftover chili), french fries, cottage cheese
Wednesday 1/27 - chicken fried pork chops*, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls
Thursday 1/28 - hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, baked beans
Friday 1/29 - crunchy garlic chicken*, baked potatoes, fruit
Saturday 1/30 - chicken cordon bleu, twice baked potatoes, green beans, rolls
Sunday 1/31 - tacos, fruit (plans changed last Sunday, so we'll eat this meal this week)

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

EFTP Challenge: Week #3 Plan

Halfway through the month!

We're still doing well on goals 1, 3, and 4... it's just that darn budget that hasn't complied so well.

Yep, I'm over-budget. Already. And we're only halfway through the month. I concede defeat on that one. It's that darn 10 for $10 sale at our grocery store!

However, I haven't bought anything that we have not or will not use, and I really don't think I've bought things at unreasonable prices, either. For instance, between the sale and coupon-doubling, I bought a brownie mix last night for 20 cents! I guess, if nothing else, I've learned that I'm probably doing okay on our normal grocery "budget." As is, I would expect to spend approximately $50 for a week's worth of groceries. Which really isn't bad when you think that that comes out to about $7 a day for three people, or $2.38 per person per day. Not bad.

Otherwise, we're still on track. Oh, and the chicken and dumplings meal was terrible. I won't be making it again. Maybe I did something wrong. "E" for effort, though! :) I liked the honey BBQ pork recipe, but would probably add a bit more liquid and/or sauce to cook it in next time, as they ended up a little on the dry side.

Meals for this week:

Monday 1/18 - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls (no school tomorrow, and this sounds like a "homey" meal to make in the afternoon!)
Tuesday 1/19 - steak sandwiches with onions and peppers, french fries, fruit
Wednesday 1/20 - pancakes, eggs, breakfast sausage
Thursday 1/21 - chili
Friday 1/22 - cilantro lime pork chops*, cajun rice, rolls
Saturday 1/23 - homemade pizza
Sunday 1/24 - tacos, fruit

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

Never would have thought

Since Sassy was born, I have enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. That was always the plan. It was something my husband and I discussed even before we were married -- that we both wanted me to stay home with our children someday, and that we'd be willing to make the sacrifices necessary in order to make that possible. We both had moms who stayed at home (mostly) while growing up, and felt that was important to both of us when looking ahead to the future of our own family. I know some are not as fortunate, and some choose other paths, but it works for us. :)

I taught elementary school before becoming a mom, and did really enjoy it. I was most certainly ready to get out by the end, and pretty fed up with the endless meetings, paperwork, and documentation that come with the job. I'd dealt with my share of irate, unreasonable, or absentee parents, and I'd gotten my fill of administrative "politics."

But, I do still miss the actual teaching part of teaching. I've even had a small seed in my thoughts of homeschooling Sassy when the time comes, but I'm not sure yet if that will come to fruition or not. I don't want to make that important choice based on my desires rather than her best interest.

For now, I'm just 100% enjoying where we are in life right now, and that includes me being at home.

And then the phone rang this week. The principal from the school where I used to teach said, "I have a favor to ask you, and don't say 'no' right away." Ugh... what was coming?

The short story is that, after a few hours of debating and thinking outside my comfort zone, I agreed to fill a long-term substitute position for a kindergarten teacher who is out on an unexpected medical leave. I've committed to one month, at the most. If her recovery goes well and she's able to return sooner, I let the principal know I wouldn't be offended. :) We also discussed that I cannot work past our agreed-upon deadline. I don't want to get into a situation of, "Oh, do you mind coming in just a couple more days? Just another week? Just one more?"

I only cover the morning class, which is wonderful. I don't think I could have done it full-day. We've pieced together family members who are willing to watch Sassy at our house every morning. This is fantastic, since she's not even awake when I leave for work in the mornings. I'm relieved that we've had to make very minimal changes to her normal routine. The only REAL difference is that I'm not the one here with her, but instead it's grandmas or aunts that she is completely familiar with.

I can't lie; it was flattering to be their first choice fill-in. It feels nice to be appreciated, and all of the other teachers (many of whom are former co-workers) have made me feel right at home again. I've gotten lots of hugs and words of encouragement. Everyone smiles warmly and says, "It's great to have you back!" I think what is most hysterical to me is watching former students pass me in the halls and whisper, "Hey, Mrs. _____ is here... is she back?" In a way, it feels like no time has passed.

The kids are delightful and precious. I've gotten a few hugs from them, too, and one little girl wanted to sit next to me one day. They do stretch my patience quite a bit in a couple of areas, but we'll get there. :)

The most difficult part so far has been putting everything back into order. Since the teacher was out so suddenly, and hasn't been in the classroom since before the holidays, things are fairly chaotic. I'm missing curriculum, portions of lesson plans, worksheets that were to be done, and other materials. Given my "type A" personality, organization was always a strong point of mine while teaching, and I had plans and materials laid out for at least a week in advance, always. Again, this is a unique situation, so it's not really anyone's "fault"... but it does make for some added challenges.

I think things will be much more smooth when the clutter gets under control a bit. I also think it will help the flow of our day significantly when I gain some familiarity with the new reading and phonics curriculum they've implemented this year, which is quite extensive. (Side note: I would love to know why curriculum writers seem to think half-day kindergarten has upwards of seventy minutes to spend alone on phonics. Perhaps it's been a bit too long since they've had to escort a classroom of five-year-olds to the restroom eight times in a morning, tie forty-seven shoelaces in an hour, and compassionately listen to a ten-minute story of how little Johnny's dog has a cold today.)

The mommy guilt isn't as bad as I'd expected during the day, simply because there is no time to think about it. Three days out of five, I have literally NO breaks, from the time they walk in the door to the time I drop them off for dismissal. But, it does hit a bit more when I get home. I eat lunch with my precious girl, and then it's time for her nap. She's been a little crabbier since this all happened, and I've noticed a few more meltdowns than usual. I wonder if this big change (in our world) is affecting her more than I realized. :(

It's only a month. We can do anything for a month! And, I do honestly enjoy it... but I won't be turning in my application for next year. :) I'll have fun with it while it lasts, be able to count the days, and will probably heave a huge sigh of relief when I scoot out of that building on my last day. I'll definitely be ready to go back to "just" a stay-at-home mom. That's my favorite job. :)

EFTP Challenge: Week #2 Plan

One week down, three weeks to go!

This week was pretty successful, although I did end up making a last minute addition of chicken parmesan for lunch today, as our plans didn't happen the way I thought they would. No big deal! I chose what was easy to prepare and what was on hand, and only made a small amount (no leftovers).

Of the new recipes I tried, I realized the calzones were not all that different from ones I'd made in the past, so that was no huge improvement. I found cheesy chicken strips recipe in a cookbook I've had for a few years, but not made much out of yet. They were okay, but I'd probably add a little more seasoning next time, if I were to make them again. They were a bit on the bland side.

I personally LOVE the chicken fajita recipe I use, and could eat it on a weekly basis if my picky eaters liked Mexican. I cut chicken breasts into thin strips and marinate them (usually overnight, but even an hour or two ahead of time works just fine) in a mixture of one part soy sauce to two parts molasses. Sounds weird, but it's really good! My dad actually came up with that one years ago, but I've added it into our regular meal "rotation" lately. Saute the chicken with sliced onions and peppers, and serve on tortillas with whatever toppings you like. Leftovers are excellent, too!

As far as shopping for what I needed this week, I did pretty well. I bought milk earlier in the week, and also a yellow pepper for the fajitas. I don't believe I bought anything else for meal prep this week.

Where I'm concerned (and starting to think my budgetary goal of $150 wasn't quite as high as I felt like it was!) is that I've already spent about $100 in groceries this month. That DOES include about $45 in meat, which will be at least ten meals for us, maybe more. We're only one-third of the way through January, but I've spent two-thirds of my goal... so we'll see. I don't expect (and never did) to really trim the budget back that much every single month (after all, the goal this month is to use what you've already bought), but I can't help but think it's a nice effort to try it once. :)

Here's the meals I'm planning to make this week:

Monday 1/11 - baked penne, corn, garlic bread
Tuesday 1/12 - out to dinner
Wednesday 1/13 - honey BBQ pork loin with carrots and corn*, cottage cheese, rolls
Thursday 1/14 - rosemary chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, green beans
Friday 1/15 - chicken and veggies with dumplings*, baked potatoes?
Saturday 1/16 - lasagna, green beans, garlic bread
Sunday 1/17 - quesadillas, fruit

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

I had planned to make orange chicken (a new recipe) and stir fry rice on Tuesday night, since my husband will not be home for dinner and that's the kind of thing he absolutely detests. But, my mother-in-law has offered to take Sassy and me out to dinner that night, so we took her up on it. I'm no fool.

I saw a recipe for chicken and veggies with dumplings that looks really good, but I'm a little concerned about substance for my meat-and-potatoes husband. The only "hearty" addition I can come up with is baked potatoes, but I would LOVE other suggestions if anyone has them! I'm not coming up with much... the meat, veggies, and "bread" (dumplings) are already in the main course.

I will have to make a quick trip for milk again, but other than that, I'm hoping not to have to buy anything else for this week's dinners. If chicken is on sale, I will buy some of that, though... I know we don't have enough chicken in the freezer at the moment.

A brief follow-up...

...to the previous post about price matching. I thought of a couple other things I did not mention. :)

While shopping, I try to keep all my price match items separate, if possible. It's much easier come check-out time to put all those items either first or last, and helps the cashier if I have all those items grouped together and can run through those prices (written on my list) at once. It's also easier on me to do it all at one time, rather than watching each item as it is scanned.

I'm not sure how this works on store brand items... never tried. :) I did, however, use this with produce last week. A store I am NEVER at was having a sale on mushrooms -- eight ounces for one dollar. I honestly hate mushrooms, but I bought four cartons and made cream of mushroom soup in my crock pot one day. I realized that, with the sale price, the homemade stuff was significantly cheaper than the canned! I froze it in Ziploc baggies, and have already used it in one recipe. I don't really expect to stop keeping at least one of those red-and-white cans in my pantry, but it's sure nice to know you can save a few dollars by making a homemade version with not a lot of effort.

Jenni asked how long the whole organization process takes. It's a good question, and to be honest, I'm not sure if I have an exact answer! :) I usually organize in stages. I'll start by cutting out all my coupons for that week and looking through the ads, usually on Sunday afternoon. Then on Sunday night, I'll plan out my meals (generally based on what's on sale that week, what I have coupons for, and what we just haven't had in a while). I try to organize coupons and make out my shopping list that evening also, but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes that falls to Monday night, meaning I go shopping on Tuesday morning. It just depends. :) I would guess it takes around an hour from start to finish.

It's hard to fit everything in during the course of a day, week, or month! There are definitely areas that are lacking around here. I've spent the past three days trying to finish dusting my living room because I have a clingy little one who is apparently quite offended by a clean house. My vacuum cleaner is about as handy as as the toy vacuum that hides next to it in the closet (banished because it has too many little pieces that drive me batty). I fell off the exercise wagon months ago, but I'm too out of shape to run and catch it. But, this is at least one small area that seems to be working for me at the moment. :)

And with that, it's time to go clean the bathroom sinks.

Price matching

I've recently been introduced to the world of price matching. How did I not know about this sooner? :)

I honestly never got the whole concept of why you'd want to spend the time looking through ads of other stores, when you can just go to the stores you normally shop at and buy what you normally buy. I also thought that if a particular store was running a great deal one week, why not just stop by that store for only that deal? Why mess with the whole "price matching" thing?

Here's what I've discovered in the past few weeks: price matching is not nearly as difficult or as time-consuming as it seems like it might be. Who has the time (or gas money) to drive around to a bunch of different stores, particularly if they aren't even in the same town or otherwise near each other, if you can get the same sale price at your one-stop-shop for the week? In other words, if I'm already going to make a Walmart trip once a week, why drive around to the other places if Walmart will give me the same price on the same item?

It does take organization, though. I'm still working to figure out the best system for myself, and I will also add that it DOES take more effort to be paying attention to which coupons I have, what sale prices are at which store, the items we need today vs. the items we don't need just yet, and keeping my two-year-old occupied in the cart and not knocking a fire extinguisher to the ground, sending every employee within a six-aisle radius running in our direction (true story).

Here's what I traditionally do to keep organized throughout the store:

• Plan the week's meals out ahead of time, so I know exactly what ingredients I still need to purchase for that week.
• Do a quick scan through the pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what commonly-used items we are running low on. I try to keep at least one ahead of most things we do use frequently (except items with a short shelf-life, of course) to minimize the last minute trips to the store.
• Pull various store ads from the weekly paper and take a quick look through each of them. Circle or mark down in some way the items that would be good to price match.
  
• Clip new coupons, and throw out expired ones. Pull all coupons I expect to use for that week, and put them in the order in which I'll be coming to that item in the store.
• Write my list out in the order of the store. This keeps me from having to make several trips back and forth across the store, because I don't forget things I've already passed (usually).
• Put a star next to any items I have coupons for, so that I don't forget to use them.
• Include price match items in my list. I make a note of which store has the best price by writing only the first initial of the store, and circling it on my list. (M = Meijer, C = CVS, W = Walgreens, etc.) I write that store's price next to the item on my list, and I also make note of any special consideration (how many ounces that price is good for, if there is a limit on how many you can buy at that price, etc.).
• If an advertised sale price is something like "2 for $6," I've found it's easiest to break it down into how much each ONE item is. It seems to be less confusing if I just tell the cashier the item is on sale for $3 each, instead of saying "I have three of these, and they are on sale 2 for $6."
• Know which stores will honor competitor's prices, and which ones don't. Walmart does price matching, but not against other Walmarts. (Strange, I know. We discovered this two years ago when Sassy's formula was nearly $7 more expensive at the Walmart two minutes away from us than the one in the town to the south of us. In that case, it was worth the ten-minute drive once a month or so to stock up.) Our regular grocery store does NOT price match, but they do double coupons up to fifty cents.
  

As I'm walking through the store, I make sure to check the store's regular price with the other sale ads (which are all written on my list, so I'm not flipping through eighteen thousand papers while shopping to look for that one item). Sometimes, I've found that the store's regular price is actually cheaper than another store's sale price.

I do make sure to take all my ads with me to the store, but so far, the cashier generally does not ask to see the ads. I guess I either look like an honest person, or they take pity on a mom with a toddler! Besides, who's going to lie about baby carrots being on sale for $1, instead of the normal $1.88? :) I still take them anyway, just in case I'm ever asked. I can refer to my list to help me remember which ad a specific price was in.

Price matching is apparently more common than I realized. I've had a few cashiers tell me they see people bringing in a stack of ads frequently! I guess when I realized how "easy" it is, I don't mind putting forth a little extra time and effort to save some money on our regular shopping bills. It's amazing how fast the normal items really can add up, so this has been one little way I can stretch my husband's paycheck just a bit farther, and I'm always proud of myself when I accomplish that!

EFTP Challenge: Week #1 Plan

Here's my plan for the first full week of January, and meeting my goals with the Eat From the Pantry Challenge!

Monday 1/4 - chili, cornbread
Tuesday 1/5 - calzones*, fruit
Wednesday 1/6 - sloppy joes, macaroni and cheese, broccoli
Thursday 1/7 - cheesy chicken strips*, baked potatoes, green beans
Friday 1/8 - chicken alfredo with broccoli (or spinach), garlic bread
Saturday 1/9 - chicken fajitas, homemade applesauce
Sunday 1/10 - family lunch out (no, I'm not cheating... a family member has a birthday :)

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

So far this month, we've had:
Friday 1/1 - chicken parmesan bundles*
Saturday 1/2 - taco soup*
Sunday 1/3 - beef stew (which kind of flopped because I let it cook too long, and some of the meat disintegrated a bit... oops)

I really liked both the chicken parmesan bundles and the taco soup. My two-year-old wasn't thrilled with the chicken, which kind of surprised me, and she called the taco soup "chili" and ate a small portion. My husband didn't love the spinach in the chicken dish, but otherwise liked the meal. He wasn't a fan of the taco soup, which also surprised me because it was pretty close to chili, which he does like. I love my picky eaters, I love my picky eaters, I love...

Anyway. I looked through one of my cookbooks that I haven't pulled out in a while tonight, and bookmarked a few new recipes to try this month! The cheesy chicken strips recipe is from that book, and I was excited that I already had all the ingredients on hand, which is totally the point of this challenge... using what you already have!

Of all the meals I plan to make this week, I believe I have everything I need for them already. The only thing I really "need" to get at the store this week (I think) are things like milk, fresh fruit, and meats for meals to come. I do know I'll need to stock up on meats to put in my garage freezer, because there's no way we'd make it through the month if I didn't, or next week even. I saw the grocery store in town that I don't usually shop at (it's traditionally more expensive) is running a sale right now on "combo packs" -- large packages of beef, chicken, and pork that would feed our family for probably 5-6 meals for $20.

If anyone else happens to be blogging their similar efforts, please let me know! I would love to follow along and get some new ideas for recipes. :)

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

I don't tend to make New Year's Resolutions, but I have some goals I'd like to accomplish in the month of January. Most of them center around organization projects (and getting the half the contents of Toys R Us that have somehow landed in my house over the past month under control), but I came across another great idea last night.

It's the Eat From the Pantry Challenge. The whole idea is to shop as little as possible, and to use the items you already have in your pantry (or fridge, or freezer, or cabinets) for meal-planning.

I'm a fan of stocking up on things when they're on sale, when I have the right coupons, and (my newest addiction) using the price-matching policy that many stores have available. It's a little extra work, but if you can stay organized and on top of it, you can save a ton of money! I estimated that I saved around $50 on my last trip to Walmart by looking at other stores' ads ahead of time in order to price match, and using my coupons as usual.

I think this challenge can blend really well with what I'm already doing to save money. I do like to plan my meals ahead of time for the week, but I've gotten away from doing that in these past couple holiday months. It's also hard to plan ahead when you know so many things are going to come up at the last minute (Christmas visitors, impromptu holiday get-togethers, visiting relatives, etc.), but now that January is in full swing, I'm really excited to get back to my normal routine of planning out our dinners.

January also happens to be the busiest month for my husband. He works long days and most Saturdays this month. He also happens to be a huge basketball fan, much to my dismay, so this is also a month when he tries to squeeze in a few games here and there, meaning dinners are sometimes rushed or eaten away from home. While I know a plan is just that -- a plan -- I'm going to attempt it anyway, and just know that I'll have to go with the flow sometimes. And, on nights he might not be home for dinner, I'm looking forward to trying some recipes that he might not be as much of a fan of. I'm seeing orange chicken and stir-fry in my future this month. :)

So, here's the challenge! You set your own goals, based on what you expect to work for your family. See the link for some ideas of what others are doing!

My goals for this month in the EFTP challenge:

1. Make only two "big" shopping trips during the month for groceries. Things like milk and produce may be purchased as needed in between.
2. Stay under a budget of $150 for grocery bills this month. It sounds like a lot, but I've actually cut what I would normally expect to spend by 25%. Of course, I traditionally buy a little extra of certain things to stock up if I see a good sale on a product we use frequently... so all bets are off if the store is having some ridiculous sale that truly will save us money in the long run. :) But, I hope to be able to do it, and I think I might be able to cut back on some of the "snacky" stuff... and by eating from the pantry, of course!
   
3. Try at least one new recipe a week. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but it's really easy to get in a rut with cooking. I already met this goal both last night and will meet it again tonight... new recipes both nights!
4. Post a recap weekly to let others know how I did! I've fallen WAY out of the routine of blogging from what I used to do, and that's okay... but I think it might give me a sense of accountability if I know someone else will be reading about it... even if it's just two or three others. :)
   

So, those are the goals! I hope to be able to meet them, and I'm honestly excited to see how I end up at the end of the month.

Now, off to do some meal-planning for the week! I'll come back and post our menu later.

Who else will take the challenge?!