Confessions of a Working Momma

We love these cookies. We make them about every couple of weeks. In order for them to last as soon as they cool, I place them in Ziploc bags and place them in the freezer. Then we all just take a couple out as needed for our lunchs or for snacks. I got this recipe from a great family cookbook called Susie's Cookbook. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 1/2 C flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1 C shortening 3/4 C brown sugar 3/4 C sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp water 2 eggs 2 C Oatmeal 12 oz. Chocolate Chips Cream shortneing; add sugar, vanilla and water. Beat until creamy. Add eggs. Gradually add flour, salt and soda. Stir in oatmeal with a wooden spoon; add chocolate chips. Blend well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Again no picture. I did a late night run to the store this week and Daddy was still up when I got home and before I could stop him he had already put away half of the groceries. How sweet! Again we went over the budget this week. However, we are completely stocked in our freezer and do not have to buy any more meat for a while. I picked up some novelty items like ready to bake cookies, for Elle's birthday party at school and here with friends, since I am going to be making a cake and cupcakes as well. I went for ease. So here's the total... Giant Food Store 4c Raspberry Tea mix to Go - 3.99 4c Raspberry Tea mix - 3.99 2 12 pks Diet Coke - 7.34 (This is a habit I am trying to break hence the buying of the raspberry tea) 2 # Cake Flour - 2.65 (For Elle's birthday cakes next week) Cake Mate decorating tips - 1.35 (can't find my old ones) Coffee - 4.59 3.33 # Apples - 3.69 5# Potatoes - 3.89 Banquet Chicken Nuggets - 4.59 (The only ones that don't contain milk) 2 - 1

Gayle at the Grocery Cart Challenge is having any awesome giveaway you might want to check out. She is giving away this Keruig coffee machine. For those of us who live on coffee this is a great machine. No more brewing a whole pot and you never get to finish it. (Wastful and NOT frugal). This machine brews one cup at a time. You never have to worry about wasting a whole pot if you don't drink it all. You should run over to her website and sign on up for the giveaway. I did! HERE

Monday Pork Tenderloin Potatoes Corn Salad Tuesday Sandwiches & Chicken Noodle Soup- out of freezer Wednesday Pack PM snack for Sassy London Broil Baked Potatoes Mixed Veggies Thursday Pack Main Lunch Meal for Sassy Eggplant Sauce Salad Friday Pack Yogurt & Lunch Side Dish – butternut squash from freezer for Sassy Salmon Tater Tots Peas Saturday Meatball Sandwiches WW Rolls Salad Sunday Homemade Pizza’s Crust, Sauce, Cheese, Soy Cheese Check out some other great meal plans this week HERE .

So I forgot to add a Birthday cake to this week's menu plan. It was Daddy's birthday on Wednesday. However, with both of our work schedules as crazy as they are we didn't get to celebrate it till Monday. In the morning, I made him his favorite breakfast of all time, a good southern breakfast of bacon, fried eggs, homemade biscuits, and gravy. Then after dinner we had a birthday cake. With Sassy's milk allergy however, I cannot exactly go to the store and pick up a cake. (Plus they are expensive) So off to the Grandma's cookbooks I went. My favorite is the Woman's Home Companion Cook Book published in 1944. If you can get your hands on a good cookbook from the 40's it's well worth your money. These books were printed during the war and right after the depression, so all most all the recipes contain staples that are in your pantry everyday; are not expensive to buy and have modifications to them in case you have already used your ration of sugar, etc. Thes

So part of being Frugal is hitting the deals when you can and get stuff you need or will need in the future and will use. So this weekend Target and Old Navy were having MAJOR deals. We hit both of them, especially since we get an extra 10% off of everything at Target since Daddy works there part time and Old Navy's deals were 50% off all their celerance that was already 50% off. So here is what we got. Target - OOP 23.52 clothes for Sassy Old Navy - OOP 27.17 more clothes for Sassy Old Navy - OOP 11.96 some clothes for Mama Old Navy - OOP 27.95 some clothes for Daddy For a Grand total of $90.60 for 28 pieces of clothing. That's a little over $3 for each article of clothing. You can't beat that!!

So no pictures again this week. When I got home from the store Daddy and Sassy were starving for dinner so I had to get that started. So apparently I do not learn well from others mistakes. I went to the store this week, hungry never a good time, it will always spell disaster and it did. We were WAY over budget for the week, but I know I will make it up in weeks to come, since I now don't need a lot of things. Amelia's Grocery Outlet (2) frozen lean cuisines - 3.00 Ice Cream - 1.99 Head of Lettuce - 1.50 34 pk of 100 calorie snacks - 5.79 (2) Lawry's Marinade - 1.98 (2) Kidney beans - 1.58 Peas - 0.50 Refried Beans - 0.50 PB Pretzels - $2.69 Grated Parmesan Cheese - 2.59 Total - 22.41 Giant Food Bisquick 40 oz - 2.74 (on sale) Frito Lay French Onion Dip - 2.79 (Daddy's request as I walked out the door) 1# Dry Beans for 16 bean soup- 2.19 4 cases of soda - 11.00 1# Dry Black Beans - 1.12 (on sale) 1# Dry Kidney Beans - 1.30 (on sale) 2.62 # Sweet Potatoes - 2.59 4.05 #

So we didn't end up eating the Pork or the Roast beef last week, so they will be used in this weeks menus. Monday - Roast Beef on the Rotisserie, Baked Potatoes, Mixed Veggies Cake for Daddy's birthday last week. Tuesday - Roast Beef Sandwiches on Whole Wheat Rolls, Tater Tots; Salad Wednesday - Herb Crusted Pork Roast and Potatoes - From the Freezer Thursday - Hamburgers on whole wheat rolls; Tater tots; Salad Friday - Chicken and Rice with a Salad Saturday - Steaks on the Grill; Sweet Potatoes, Mixed Veggies (Yes, we still use our grill in the dead of winter. Daddy loves to grill, he doesn't seem to mind the near ZERO temps, so why stop him) Sunday - Homemade Chili with Rolls and Salad So that is our plan for the week, we will have to see how it goes.

This is our menu plan for the week. Monday: Meatloaf with baked potatoes and frozen veggies Tuesday: Chicken Fajitas Wednesday: Ravioli's - store brand for me and Dairy Free one's for DD (Today is DH's birthday but he is working at his second job so we will have his special meal on Thursday) Thursday: London Broil with Potatoes and Onions and frozen veggies and Cake of course - Diary Free as well of course Friday: Herb Crusted Pork and potatoes - complete reheat meal from the freezer Saturday: Turkey Pot Pie - using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving Sunday: Roast Beef on the Rotisserie with Veggies

So I have been reading the Grocery Cart Challenge for several weeks now and I have been thinking if she can feed a family of 6 on $60 a week, then I can do it for 3 on $30. Then I started really thinking about it... With DD's milk allergy, I purchase high end vegan subsitutes for her like vegan cheese, sour cream, soy milk, etc. These things are expensive, but I don't want her to miss out on things like having tacos, and lasagna. So we will have to sacrfice in other areas to make up for that. So I have set our weekly grand total for $40, if I can get it close to $30 even better. But $40, is our max. So here is our weekly trip. Sorry I don't have a picture to post with this one. Giant 8 o'clock coffee $2.25 (on sale) Fels Napa Soap $0.99 Washing Soda $2.37 Giant brand whole wheat hamburger rolls $2.49 Giant