Hello, again!

Your lackadaisical blogger is back after yet another crazy week. I should probably stop making promises that are practically impossible to keep, like, "try to do better" ... :P No promises are contained in this post! It's just a quick update:

Sunday evening we ladies of the house headed to Dickson and were gone until Wednesday afternoon-ish. We had a friend over from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday morning, and Mama and I went grocery shopping yesterday. So, the grocery budget total is now: $381.64.

I'm behind again

Yep, I'm behind. And I'm not going to try to remedy it all the way. I'm just going to pop in here and say that thankfully I got paid recently, and at the same time we had various, random party expenses (yes, we hosted a little get together yesterday evening -  it was loads of fun!) which brought the grocery budget down to $394.83.

PEACHES!!!

Breakfast: Blueberry muffins!!!

Lunch: Get whatcha want

Dinner: Barbecued chicken legs, roasted green beans, and Alton Brown's fingerling potatoes! T'was delicious!

WE GOT PEACHES TODAY!!!!!!!! They're SOOOO good!!!! And now all that's left of the grocery money (until tomorrow, supposedly) is $13.06. Was it worth it? Oh, yes.

Let's pretend...

That Monday and Tuesday didn't happen - food-wise anyway - 'cause I don't remember much of anything. So that brings us to today. Mama and I went grocery shopping today (by the way, Aldi's has great prices on chicken this week! We were totally out of chicken, so I was delighted to find that!). The grocery total is now: $46.62. Yeah, ouch... Thankfully payday is just around the corner!

Breakfast: Get whatcha want (I'm assuming... Daddy was the only other one up when Mama and I left this morning.)

Lunch: Mama and I had Einstein's Tuscan Pesto Chicken (or something like that) and smoothies. It was all quite good, but we thought it was rather pricey.

Dinner: Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and smoked sausage with corn on the cob on the side.

Finally Friday

Breakfast: Get whatcha want

Lunch: Left-over chicken salad

Dinner: BLTs!!!

Over the last couple of days we reduced the grocery money to $695.66.

Done with Tuesday

Breakfast: Get whatcha want

Lunch: Tacos

Dinner: Left-over tomato soup

Mama and I had to go into town early yesterday morning, and we picked up some things we'll need this weekend. We spent $32.26, making the total $730.94.

Monday came way too soon.

Breakfast: Blueberry muffins!

Lunch: Left-over beef hash

Dinner: Pasta, pepperoni, mushrooms, sauce... Claire threw it together.

Daddy picked up some items that were running very dangerously low (as in, we had about 4 eggs left, and maybe one onion...!). He spent $68.97, making the total $763.20.

Behind again?!

And I thought I was doing better... :/

Wednesday:

Ah, I know what happened! I was gone all morning on Wednesday; I'm not sure I got on my computer at all that day! While we were out, we spent $37.51 of grocery money, bringing the total to $382.17.

Breakfast: Get whatcha want

Lunch: Mama, Claire, and I were gone, so we picked up chicken strips, honey mustard, and Pringles at Walmart for lunch. I don't know what the menfolk had.

Dinner: Squash casserole, greens, and salad - maybe another dish, but I don't remember...


Thursday:

'Twas Mama's birthday!

Breakfast: Claire fixed an egg and greens casserole thing.

Lunch: Get whatcha want

Dinner: Stuffed/rolled pork chops, grilled garlic scapes and broccoli (bite-sized pieces, foil pouch, olive oil, salt and pepper), fried apples, baked the left-over stuffing, and cranberry sauce/gravy thing. It was a really awesome dinner! I was especially pleased since I didn't have any idea what I was going to do at 3pm. :) For dessert Claire and I fixed a couple fresh blackberry pies. Oh, gosh, that has got to be one of the best pies EVER!!!!! (The recipe is for the strawberry version; for blackberry, peach, or another type of soft fruit just substitute the appropriate jello.)

Yes, yes, I'm terrible...

I know I said I was hoping this week would be better, and here I am again after 2 full days of no posts. Here are my excuses: Tuesday was grocery shopping and a late-night class after which I was exhausted. Yesterday I finally succumbed to the illness that has been lingering in our house for a month or two. The symptoms are an extremely sore throat, off-and-on fever, chesty cough, and major fatigue (some also have congestion - I don't... yet), so I spent most of the day sleeping. Thankfully I'm doing much better this morning; I'm quickly becoming a believer in Thieves Oil! I've had 3 drops down my throat, and it's far and away better than it was yesterday morning! I kind of suspect it's helped with the fever as well!

Anyway, because of the last two crazy days, I'll not try to come up with the past 6 or so meals. However, I will tally up the grocery total since we went grocery shopping the other day: We spent $360.43, bringing the total to $392.68.

Weird week

Or perhaps it was a weird month. I don't know, but whatever it was, I was a terrible blogger. I hope to be better this week/month. Part of being so terrible means that I got behind on the grocery total. We spent (hopefully this was all that was unaccounted for in the previous total) $206.06, bringing the total to $316.11. *Sigh* I was hoping to have more than that; I believe this next shopping trip is going to be... somewhat major. Perhaps I'll get paid soon; that would be good!

I'll try to keep up with the daily menus better this week, but for now, I really don't remember everything we ate in the past four days. So with that, I'll be back, Lord willing, tonight or tomorrow morning to reveal to you all the feasts that were today's meals (and yes, I'm probably exaggerating - it's Monday, peoples!).

May's First Grocery Trip

Breakfast: Get whatcha want

Lunch: Egg-y, cheesy casserole thing that Claire threw together (and wheat-free brownies for dessert)

Dinner: Hamburger steak, baked okra, corn - with ice cream sandwiches for dessert!

First of all, I got paid yesterday, bringing the total to $904.26. Then Mama and I headed to Walmart and Sam's around 2pm. I do not like getting away so late, but we were home before 6:30pm, so I guess it's not that bad. We spent $411.09 (YES! Under budget! A little...), leaving the grocery money with $493.17.

Here's a little tip that ... I failed on yesterday. Check to make sure your coffee beans are NOT decaf, preferably before you got through the checkout line, but definitely before you get home. :/ An emergency coffee bean run may be in our near future.

Ting-a-lings

First of all, after receiving the money that the clothing envelope owed groceries, and after repaying myself (after having to supplement the grocery money from my own funds the other day), the grocery money is not in the hole! It has exactly $36.26 until a few days from now when, thankfully, I get paid again!

Breakfast: Baked basil-egg cup things

Lunch: Left-overs

Dinner: Soup and homemade crescent rolls

I made Ting-a-lings yesterday morning. I opted for those because I was hot, and the thought of doing cookies was less than delightful to me. Also, I love Ting-a-lings/haystacks, and they're incredibly easy.

• 1 bag of butterscotch chips
• 1/2 bag of chow mein noodles
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups peanuts

Melt the butterscotch chips. I did it in the microwave, but be careful. They do burn/scorch pretty easily. If you think they've already reached that point, but just barely, then add a little coconut oil, butter, or shortening. That should get it usable again, but that only works if you've not burned them too badly. Stir in the noodles and peanuts. Drop in whatever sized stacks you want on wax paper and let cool. Enjoy!

Grocery Shopping

Right now, I think the grocery budget is in the hole, but I believe the clothing envelope owes grocery enough to let it break even.

Breakfast: Get whatcha want

Lunch: Mama and I ate at Chuy's. We had the Chuychanga this time; it was really quite good. Between the two of us though, we were only able to eat half of it.

Dinner: Claire fixed nachos.

More Groceries

Yesterday morning was spent menu planning for the coming week. We have guests coming in this afternoon, and we prefer to treat our guests better than we do ourselves. In the midst of the planning however, it became obvious that we would need to go grocery shopping pretty soon. Mama and I decided to do it ASAP, so we headed out the door around 2:00pm. We were done shopping and home in roughly 4 hours, which is amazing since we live at least an hour away from where we chose to shop this time. Anyway, here's the money matters: I got paid yesterday. Finally. Which means that I finally get to take out my "earnings," but I decided to wait until after this trip to see how things were looking. I get paid $450. We spent $326.02, leaving the grocery total (if I start from scratch as of this pay period) $123.98. I'm going to say that's good enough; I think I should get paid again in the next week or so anyway. So, this quarter my earnings are $60.48 - if I add in all the change, otherwise it's $55 and some change.

Breakfast: Egg... stuff.

Lunch: Get whatcha want

Dinner: Stew

In which we go to town again

Breakfast: Scones

Lunch: Mama, Claire, and I were in Nashville most of the day. We had chicken salad with Grammy Evelyn.

Dinner: Daddy fixed fried rice!

While we were out, we picked up a few things we forgot Thursday. :/ I still owe $100, but I should get paid soon. We spent $9.68.

A Last Minute Decision

Breakfast: Panna Cotta!

Lunch: Claire fixed pasta with some sort of sauce that had smoked sausage and peppers in it.

Dinner: Breaded and baked pork chops with left-over baked potatoes

At lunch it was decided that Mama and I would go grocery shopping. We finally managed to get away around 2:00pm. We hit Sam's first (probably a bad idea...), then Walmart, and, after a brief stop to re-fuel, we made it home by 7:15pm. Pretty good, in my opinion - especially seeing how it takes us ALL. DAY. when we go into Cool Springs. Anyway, all that was to stall the bad news. We spent $627.90, which, according to the total I have here, I should have been able to do, but I wasn't. I guess I've missed some receipts; they're hard to keep track of when I send money with this person, then that person, and only go into town myself once every couple of weeks. In the end, I wound up owing one of Mama's envelopes $100. I will get paid today though, thankfully. Also, I was going to collect this time, but I'm not sure what I'll do now. I'll get paid $450, pay Mama back, $350, and then the question is do I keep that, or do I let the grocery money keep it until the next pay period? I'll probably do the latter.

In which we go to town

Breakfast: Eggs, sausage, and green chiles all mixed together and baked in muffin tins.

Lunch: Left-over rice and pork satay

Dinner: All of us except Kyle ran into Centerville yesterday evening. We got ice-cream and corn dogs from Sonic, and then made a quick stop at Save-A-Lot and Rite Aid across the street. We got butter, onions, and allergy medicine and spent $13.75, bringing the total to $668.95.

So tired

But people have to eat nonetheless... Here's yesterday's menu. Oh, and Kyle got $6 worth of toilet paper (some things are too necessary to wait for... :P); that brings the total to $682.70, I think.

Breakfast: Biscuits, sausage gravy, apples, etc.

Lunch: I was over at some friends' house helping with their planting, so they very kindly invited the rest of my family over for lunch! We had awesome barbecue, salsa and chip, jambalaya, and baked beans. It was delicious!

Dinner: Baked potatoes with the trimmings ('cept we're out of sour cream... Thought we were going to go grocery shopping today, but turns our we're not...).

Today

Breakfast: Beersheba eggs (scrambled eggs with sausage crumbled in with it), toast, grapefruit

Lunch: Get whatcha want

Dinner: Grilled pork chops, cooked apples, wild rice, strawberry shortcake for dessert

Kyle went to Spring Hill today, which was rather lucky since Claire needed some chocolate chips for some major baking she was planning on, and we were essentially out of coffee (NOT a good thing). So I sent the grocery money with him, and he picked up $22.07 worth of stuff for us. That brought the total to $238.70, but I also got paid today (Hallelujah!), which brings it to: $688.70!

I'm goin' to Dickson

Well, yesterday we did, and we had a lovely time with family for a few hours. While we were there, Grammy told us about some amazing deals on fresh stuff at Aldis, so Mama and I went there for a quick grocery trip. We got quite a few things and only spent $17.40! That brings the grocery total to $260.33, and I should get paid this week. Phew, we're almost past this pay-period!

Breakfast: Get whatcha want. I had protein-packed pound cake. ;)

Lunch: Grammy fixed a delectable lunch of corned beef, cabbage, rolls, "pink fluff," mashed potatoes, with a gluten-free strawberry cake for dessert. (I was *ahem* too full. No, I really was, but I did enjoy the candy that came out a little while later - gluten-free or not.)

Dinner: We were gone most of the day, so Daddy, who stayed home to work, made spaghetti. Because he was so busy with work stuff, he threw the sauce together early in the day, and left it simmering on the stove for probably 6 hours. We've decided, because of that, that the grass-fed ground beef also benefits, just like roasts, from the low and slow! That was some of the most tender ground beef! And I never even considered twice-ground ground beef tough before! Very interesting.