What a week it has been! My hubby came home on his week off last week sick with a cold. Then it was my turn on Monday. I have been battling a cold since Monday. It started with a sore throat, didn't get the cough, but my sinuses are going crazy! I think I am at the end though.
My little one came home from school yesterday and complained of not feeling well, didn't eat lunch and proceeded to fall asleep on the couch. She never naps! Needless to say she stayed home from school this morning.
I normally have insomnia so not sleeping much is my norm however I was only getting around 4 hours of sleep this week every day. It all caught up with me today and I was fell asleep at 7:30 ish in the recliner tonight. My oldest came in the room and was complaining of a sore throat too! Will the cycle never end?
This week we had no food budget except for about $30.00. Like many families we struggle with our second check of the month. My DH is the breadwinner. My little check usually goes for food but I found it going towards our rent this time. Luckily I have a stocked freezer and we by no means went hungry. I did have to send him to the store for cat food so our cats will not eat us and staples like bread and diet soda. Yes I did say diet soda is a staple lol!
In a effort to drive out the sick I made soup a few days this week. One day was chili and today was Chicken Chipotle tortilla soup. Our grocery store had a sale on boneless chicken breast on sale for $4.99 this week. That's an awesome buy as we go through one of those bags a week. I buy one of those 5 gallon tubs of ice cream every week. Unfortunately my youngest hasn't been good this week and has missed dessert more times than I can count. Here is the page with the Chicken chipotle soup.
http://tinkmomfoodie-foodobsession.blogspot.com/2011/01/frugal-with-capital-f.html
The good news out of all of this is my pantry and freezer are getting empty! Grocery shopping will be on Tuesday this week. What happened to the good ole days when you could write a check for something and have the check deposited in a few days? Now our grocery store sends everything electronically so the funds better be in there or else you get charge a gazillion dollars in fees. It kind of negates writing out checks.
How am I getting by? These are some of the things I do when I shop.
My store had double couponing but only allows me to do it on 5 items. I keep a binder with coupons and save about $35 to $40 in coupons every week. If my store allowed more I would probably go crazy. I usually buy generics and am not brand loyal although there are some things I do like the regular brands. Oftentimes the regular manufactures also make the generic product. I generally spend $80-100 a week on food and supplies like cat food, litter, soda, etc. I also sit down every Sunday and plan out my meals for the week with my stores circular. I see whats on sale and see what I have on hand in my freezer and pantry.
These are some of the things I buy on and store in my freezer and keep in my pantry for the rough weeks
Pantry:
Rice (I purchased a 20lb bag of long grain rice and use it several times a week)
canned soups (nothing goes better with sick than soup) also a coupon sale item
lentils or beans
tomatoes (stewed, diced)
spaghetti sauce and noodles (I usually have 2-3 different kinds of noodles at a time)
canned veggies
juice
cereal (I coupon and buy on sale)
Freezer:
3lb bag of boneless chicken breasts (buy every week)
fish like Tilapia (when it goes bogo I stock up)
when on sale I buy hamburger and freeze it into one lb bags
soups (like my French Onion) I freeze it into one cup baggies and use it for Pot Roasts or single servings
frozen veggies (mixed veggies and peas)
veggie purees (I learned this from a Jessica Seinfeld cookbook and sneak the purees in meals)
meats buy large amounts and divide into single meals and freeze
In the basement freezer
breads, milk, overflow from the upstairs freezer
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