Menu Plan Monday

We are eating from the pantry this week until we get paid and go grocery shopping again (I've used up all my grocery money, plus most of a $25 prepaid debit card, but we did manage to have our normal meals, host a small dinner party for Jesse's birthday, cook the dollar dinner at the Beacon for about 30 people, and host Thanksgiving for 12 people, so I'd say that was pretty successful). 

I was able to find some super cheap cereal at Cub Foods yesterday (2 boxes for $1 each and 2 boxes for $0.49 each), so we'll have that and probably this peanut butter bread for breakfasts.

Lunches will be our standard sandwiches, soups, and tortillas with cheese.  I may actually get around to making chili and tomato soup this week.  Or I may not.  It will depend on my mood.

Dinners:
Monday: Sausage Pizza Pockets from the freezer
Tuesday: Mini Turkey Loaves, Green Beans, Sweet Potato Fries
Wednesday: Advent Dinner at Church (how is it time for this already?)
Thursday: Dollar Dinner at the Beacon (these are almost done for the semester)
Friday: Black Beans, Rice, and Cheese (the beans and rice are already cooked and in the freezer)
Saturday/Sunday: TBD, but maybe Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup will become a dinner, or a Veggie Minestrone Soup.  Or we'll have Pancakes.  Something quick and easy.

What I'm Reading...

Taking A Pass On Play: How Outsourcing Playtime Helps Me Enjoy My Toddler More.  A lot of the time, toddler playtime isn't that exciting for me either.  But sometimes it's fun. (The Happiest Mom)

Make The Most Of Your Thanksgiving Meal Preparation.  Doing things ahead of time makes
everything easier. (Don't Waste The Crumbs)

Here's hoping everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and a fun-filled Black Friday!  We enjoyed time with family and bought each other's Christmas gifts.  Now on to the Christmas season!

Free Card From Treat

Although I do like to make some of my own cards, I also get really excited when I see offers for free cards from some of my favorite photo sites.  Treat is a an offshoot of Shutterfly, one of my favorite photo sites. Treat focuses on greeting cards, and today they have an exciting offer for you: a free card!

I love getting the opportunity to sample a card from a site before I buy any, and today you get that chance too!  Use the code TREATBLOGR for one free card from Treat.  This code is valid today and tomorrow only, so go check it out!

If you haven't ordered from Treat yet, do it now!  Treat offers one-of-a-kind cards for every occasion.  I like to keep a stash of birthday cards on hand for those birthdays that pop up suddenly.  Order a birthday card like me, a Thanksgiving card for this weekend, or look further ahead to Christmas or thank-yous or...you get the idea.  What card are you going to pick?

This is a sponsored post.  I received compensation for writing it, but as always, all opinions are my own.

CVS Coupon Shopping

CVS has some awesome freebies this week!  I knew I wanted to get there right away today before everything sold out (and 2 items I wanted were already gone!).  I started with $10ECBs, and did 2 transactions to minimize my money out-of-pocket.  I spent $2.76 total out-of-pocket, and ended up with over $18 in ECBs for next time!  Money making trip!

Transaction #1:

• South Beach Diet Bars: $4.99, get $4.99 ECBs
• Children's Advil: $2.37, get $2.37 ECBs.  Used $3/1 CVS coupon machine and $1.50/1 printable.  Both of these coupons came off my total with no problem, even though they were more than the item total.
• 2 Right Guard Deoderants: $2.99 each, get $2.99 ECBs (limit 2).  Used two $1/1 printables = paid $3.98/2, got $4 ECBs
• Glade Scented Oil Warmer Kit: $1.25, get $1.25 ECBs.  Used $1/1 printable = paid $0.25, got $1 ECBs.
• 2 Crest with Scope (2.7oz.): $2.67, get $2 ECBs each (limit 2).  Used $2/2 CVS coupon machine = paid $3.34, got $4 ECBs.
• Used $10 ECBs from last time = paid $1.36, got $11.62 ECBs.

Transaction #2:

• Nips Candy: $0.88, get $0.88 ECBs
• Kraft Macaroni & Cheese: $0.99, get $0.99 ECBs.
• Powerade: $1.00, get $1.00 ECBs.
• Sprite 1.25L: $0.99, get $0.99 ECBs.
• Scooby-Doo Fruit Snacks: $2.00, get $2.00 ECBs.
• AirWick Warmer Unit: $0.99, get $0.99 ECBs.
• Hot Wheels Car: $1.00, get $1.00 ECBs.
• 2 Kleenex Slim Packs: $1.00, get $1.00 ECBs (limit 2)
• Charmin Single Roll: $0.99, get $0.99 ECBs.
• 3M Command Hook Sample Pack: $0.99, get $0.99 ECBs. Used $1/1 printable = free, got $0.99 ECBs.
• Used $10.24 ECBs from first transaction = paid $1.40, got $11.83 ECBs.

What I'm Reading...

3 Tips To Help You Relate Better With Your Husband.  Men and women are different. (Simple Mom)

How To Save By Price Matching (a.k.a. Saving Without Using Coupons) - Part 1, The Story.  (And here's part 2) While we didn't have a huge enough stockpile to have tables full at a garage sale, I do recall once sending a box of donations to Seminary that included enough toothpaste for each student to have a tube. (Don't Waste The Crumbs)

24 Clutter-Free Advent Calendar Gift Ideas.  This is a good list of fun things to do in December. (The Minimalist Mom)

Monday Mission: How Many Baby Steps Have You Taken?  We have taken some of these baby steps toward healthier eating.  There are some we will most likely not do.  And there are some that I will continue to research. (Kitchen Stewardship)

I've Started Telling My Daughters I'm Beautiful.  So important. (Offbeat Mama)

Walmart Coupon Shopping

Walgreens has Lindsay olives on sale this week for $0.99.  There is a printable coupon out on Lindsay's Facebook page (enter to win free olives first) for $1/1 Lindsay product.  There was also a coupon on coupons.com last week, which I had printed as well, but that one is gone. 

Our Walgreens was (of course) out of the black olives, but I took the ad to Walmart and was able to price match and get 6 cans for free!  My boys, who love their black olives, were very excited.

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfasts:
Still a lot of cereal, but I will also be making banana bread tomorrow.

Lunches:

• PB&J/Soups x2
• Ham Sandwiches x2
• Grilled Cheese
• PB&Banana Tortillas
• TBD

Dinners:

Monday: Eggs, Toast, and Bacon
Tuesday: Potato Soup with Bacon
Wednesday: Black Bean Burgers, Homemade Fries
Thursday: Dollar Dinner at the Beacon
Friday: Homemade Mac & Cheese
Saturday: Stir Fry
Sunday: Sausage Breakfast Sandwiches on English Muffin Bread

Soups this week will be Tomato and Chili.  Or I may put off making the tomato soup since we've ended up with quite a few cans of condensed tomato soup from the Seminary food donations, and we'll just eat those.

The big menu planning push this week will be to figure out our side dishes for Thanksgiving.  I always love finding a yummy stuffing recipe (although my husband loves his Stove Top), and I want to do something different than the typical green bean casserole this year.  Off to searching!