How does your garden grow?

I killed a Chia pet in college. No, wait - TWO chia pets, and a bonzai tree. To say that I have a black thumb is an understatement...when it comes to growing things, I am the Angel of Doom. I'm lucky that my kids don't get planted!

But regardless of my inadequacies in the past, I think this is the year I'm going to take the plunge. I can't deny the financial benefits to having a garden, and we finally have room to make it happen.(Having a helpful toddler who likes dirt is just an added bonus!) I have many fond memories of growing veggies with my mom as a kid, I just wish I had paid more attention to what she was doing and less time playing with the caterpillars...

I've been doing a lot of reading, and have settled on Square Foot Gardening - the basic idea is that instead of planting in a big area, you plant in an organized grid, with one item densely planted in each square. It's a raised garden bed so there's no tilling or treating the soil necessary. And because of the way you are instructed to plant, there's less weeding and it's easier to rotate plantings. I found the book All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! at my local library, but you can also purchase it on Amazon or the main website.

There's a small area of my yard where we can set up a 2'x8'grid, but I've read a few people who did container gardens on their deck/patio with each pot being an individual area of the "grid". What appeals to me is that there's minimal weeding (my back prevents me from being hunched over for long periods of time), and I can deal with the whole IDEA of gardening in small chunks - I wanted to plant last year, but the whole process of starting a garden in the "traditional" way really overwhelmed me...I'm sure being pregnant didn't help either!

And how timely is THIS....my hero Erin over at $5 Dinners just posted a couple of great links - one about getting free seeds and another about free printable garden planners!

I signed up for my free seeds, and I'll be plotting my garden and making my supplies list this weekend - spring thaw is finally hitting Massachusetts, and I'm going to TRY not to kill my plants this year! Wish me luck!






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Grocery Trip - week 9 '10

SOOOOO...my Once a Month Cook-off shopping bled into the first week of March - I had hoped to get more done up front but I was able to get ALL of my freezer meals done before the end of the week! Total spent last week ended up at $86.56, but very little of that was non-OAMC shopping. It also included wipes and Ziploc bags for my OAMC! The good news: I finished last week with 21 dinners and a lot of granola for breakfast in the freezer, so my biggest challenge for the rest of March will be to resist the urge to pad my stockpile.

I also did a CVS ExtraCare Bucks deal last week - first time in a LOOONG time! But we needed body wash and the milk was $1.99/gallon after the ECBs! I also came across two loaves of whole wheat bread at Shaw's for $0.45 each because they were close to the sell-by date...those went straight into the freezer!

Here's how it went down:

BJ's
BJ's wipes - $10.99 (got $3 in instant rebate)
5lb bag Mozzarella cheese - 11.99

Total: $22.98

Wal-Mart
Ziploc quart freezer bags - $2.67+tax
Ziploc gallon freezer bags - $3.26+tax

Total: $6.30

Price Rite
42oz Price Rite old fashioned oats - $1.79 (for OAMC)
14oz box Price Rite cheerios - $1.59
20oz box Price Rite baking mix - $1.79 (for OAMC)
2 24oz jars salsa - $2.98 (for OAMC)
10 oz can Price Rite corn - $0.49 (for OAMC)
1 packet PR brown gravy mix - $0.29
24oz PR honey - $3.99 (for OAMC)
24oz PR yellow mustard - $0.89 (for OAMC)
15oz can PR peas - $0.69 (for OAMC)
12oz PR dijon mustard - $0.99 (for OAMC)
PR cinnamon - $0.89
box PR raisins - $1.49
1 loaf PR wheat bread - $1.19
1 bunch scallions - $0.59 (for OAMC)
1 bulb garlic - $0.45 (for OAMC)
1 bunch celery - $1.49
4.78lb onions (8) - $4.25 (for OAMC)
0.7lb zucchini - $0.69
16oz Caramel Apple Coffeemate - $1.29
2 dozen eggs - $2.98 (1 for OAMC)
4 24oz bags PR frozen corn kernels - $5.16 (for OAMC)
42oz canister PR quick oats - $1.79
4 pkg PR cream cheese - $3.96 (for OAMC)
1 bag PR tater tots -
1 pkg Bar S hot dogs - $0.99

Total: $36.91

Shaw's
0.64lb green pepper - $1.91 (for OAMC)
2 8oz packages white mushrooms - $2.00 ($2.38 in-store savings) - for OAMC
2 loaves whole wheat bread - $0.90 (no instore savings but these are usually $2.50 ea!)
Strawberry pie filling - $3.99 (for OAMC)
Blueberry pie filling - $4.29 (for OAMC)

Total: $13.09

CVS
2 Gallons milk - $5.98 ($0.80 in store savings before ECB)
1 Suave body wash - $1.99+tax($0.80 in store savings)
1 Irish Spring body wash - $4.99+tax
received and used $6 in ECBs

Total OOP: $7.28

This week I got $8.54 in store savings and ECBs!




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Menu Plan Monday - Mar 8th, '10

Yeah yeah, I know it's Tuesday. We had one of those weekends where it seemed like there was more work than hours in the day, and we got buried - but the air has cleared a bit, the birthday party for my toddler went off with just a few minor hitches, and the weather is getting nicer :) Good things ahead!

Last week was a menu plan FAIL. I had so much to do all week, that most days I either forgot to thaw the meat or just didn't leave myself enough time to prepare the meals. Fortunately, we have plenty of *alternate* supplies on hand - between frozen food items, grilled cheese and soup fixins, and leftovers, we muddled through.

On the bright side, thanks to the phenomenal ladies over at Once A Month Mom, I have a freezer brimming with prepared meals! This will be the first week of diving into the stash, and I plan to try using 2-3 freezer meals per week (marked as OAMC in my menu plan). This week we actually have a WHOLE DAY when both hubby and I are off from work, so we're going to try and do a fancy-schmancy dinner...I might even let HIM cook for a change ;)

Here's our table for the week, don't forget to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for tons more menus and recipe ideas!

monday - Party Pizza leftovers! (free)

tuesday - Shepherd's Pie (made with leftover mashed potatoes), green beans ($2.70 for 4 servings)

wednesday - Black Bean Salsa Chicken - OAMC ($5.32 for 6 servings)

thursday - Sloppy Joes on homemade buns (will make buns and dinner rolls for Friday), veggies - OAMC ($3.70 for 4 servings)

friday - Petit sirloins (got on sale for $2.50/lb), green beans almondine, homemade rolls ($5.90 for 4 servings)

saturday - Leftovers since we're both working (free!)

sunday - Dinner at the in-laws (free!)





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Boston Groupon - half-price oil change and interior cleaning!

It's official, I am a Groupon groupie! This little gem of a deal posted today and I had to pass it along for my Boston/west of Boston peeps!

Today's Groupon deal is $35 for an car Oil Change, Car Wash and Super Basic Interior Cleaning at Clean Machine in Framingham! This package is normally valued at $68, so this is a great deal. Van and SUV owners get the same package for $45, a $78 value. The interior cleaning includes: vacuum the carpets, wash the windows and dash, shampoo the mats, empty the ashtrays. Rugs or seats can undergo a gentle shampoo and scrub, and detailing also includes an exterior car wash.

The great thing about this Groupon, it doesn't expire until 12/31/10 so this makes a FANTASTIC gift - they limit one Groupon per vehicle, but this could save a lot of cash for multi-car households or folks with several practical-minded people to buy for this year. The deal is ON - so get your Groupon on before the end of today!







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Once-A-Month Cook-Off - my results!

Thanks to the ladies over at Once a Month Mom for sponsoring this cook-off - I love freezer cooking anyway but making it a challenge certainly egged on my competitive spirit. (And if you have any inklings of trying out once-a-month cooking, you MUST visit their site. Now. I'll wait.) For me, this was more of a "Several-times a Month Cook-off" - Our schedules are such that it's almost impossible to schedule one entire day for cooking. And no offense ladies, but if hubby and I have a day off together, I'm kind of inclined to hang out with him eating Cheez Doodles and catching up on LOST :)

I planned things out kinda loosely, and arranged my days so that I was prepping stuff for two or three dishes the night before, and then assembling the next day. For example, I browned all the ground beef, and then put together the Sue Sue's Casserole, Taco Bake and the Sloppy Joes over the next two days. Another night I tossed the chicken in the crockpot overnight, and the next day put together the Chicken Ranch Pizza and the Black Bean Salsa Chicken (I pre cooked the chicken for that dish, it's a personal preference). That night I tossed the Lazy Granola together so that it cured in the oven while I was cleaning up. It worked out well because the littles keep me VERY busy during the day, but once they were in bed I usually had time to make a few dishes. I also got some help from the Boy Wonder when making the Stuffed Pancake Cupcakes :) I made a few adjustments to some of the recipes, based on what I had on hand and what would make the overall recipe a little cheaper for me.

The nice thing about doing a freezer cooking month gradually is that I never did more than an hour or so of work in a night. Some things, like the Pork Roast dishes, took all of about 20 minutes to throw together! All told I probably did about 6-7 hours over the course of the month, but when you break it down into small groupings, it's not even noticeable.

We hit a bit of a snafu with the Pancake Cupcakes - the first round I made leaked out the bottom, and the gel around the fruit melted down so much it just left caverns inside the ones that did stay together. With the second batch, I used paper liners (which solved the leakage beautifully!) but I still had the big holes in the middle. I ended up scrapping them - but made more Lazy Granola to make up for the missing breakfasts. I also only ended up with three Taco Bakes instead of four, but that's because I bought 8X11 lasagna pans instead of 8X8...it worked out fine, I'll just have more leftovers when they appear on the menu!

Since I always price out cost-per-meal on what I cook, I did the same for the OAMC dishes that are now happily tucked away in the freezer (these are based on the actual cost of what I bought...I'm a total nerd and did the math out for individual ingredients. It's my OCD.) I actually used a lot out of my existing pantry, and included what I paid for those items in the cost-per-meal. But I also tracked what I bought new just for OAMC, or what would replace pantry items that got used up this challenge. The grand total for my OAMC spending was: $97.96!! As I've done my Grocery Tracking I made notes on anything that was bought for this cook-off. Since this whole blog is about my monthly spending and grocery budgeting, I'm really looking forward to seeing how spending that money ahead of time saves on my overall budget!



Here's what I ended up making, along with the cost-per-meal for each dish. We have 21 dinners(most will leave us leftovers) and a lot of granola to carry us through March and probably the beginning of April!

2 Pork Roast with Apples and Pears - $4.47/entree
2 Asian Pork Roast - $3.56/entree
2 bags Curried Turkey Tidbits - $1.32/entree!
I used a bunch of leftover turkey that I had in the freezer, so technically that's FREE!)
2 Chicken Ranch Pizza Toppings - $4.65/meal including dough
used 1 can of diced tomato drained instead of fresh tomato
4 bags Black Bean Salsa Chicken - $5.32/meal
I used a 1-lb bag of dried black beans (cooked) and 2 cups frozen corn per bag instead of the canned
4 bag Lazy Granola - $4.44 for all!
3 pans Taco Bake - $3.21/meal
again, used frozen corn kernels in place of canned, also used canned crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce
4 pans Sue Sue's Casserole - $4.62/meal
2 bags Sloppy Joes - $2.62/entree





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Another great Boston Groupon!

Need to do some gift shopping? Want to pick up some good quality art or sterling silver jewelry for half price? Then check out this weekend's Groupon.com deal for $60 gift certificate to Baak Gallery/Abrano Silver for $30! This deal is ON and will be sold through tomorrow. Limit 1 per visit, expires09/08/2010.

The Baak Gallery is an independent art gallery where the finest works from area artists have been on display since its inception in 1976. They also deal in fine gold jewelry. Adjoining them is Abrano Silver,where they merge the best aspects of art and wearability to create upscale accessories catering to all tastes. Use your certificate in the Gallery towards a piece of local artwork, or pick up several items at Abrano Silver, where many items are priced below $20!

Not living in the Boston area? Go to Groupon.com and click on the "Visit other cities" tab at the top - Groupon has deals around the country, so check out what they're offering in YOUR city!





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Grocery Trips - week 8 '10

Last week was a weird shopping week, we were WAY over budget at $106.03 - I needed very little "regular" shopping items, but I did pick up part of my remaining OAMC shopping. That accounted for about $26 of the spending, and I'll make that up in March when we are eating mostly out of the freezer. I got SUPER lucky at BJ's, the day I was there they happened to have some ground beef that was close to the "sell by" date, it was 93% lean and marked down to $1.50/lb for quick sale! I picked up 8lbs, which will cover ALL of the beef dishes for my Once a Month Cooking.

The snag came when I decided to do a little "extra" shopping at Stop & Shop. I needed toilet paper, and they had the 12-pack double rolls of Angel Soft for 2/$11. A great deal when paired with the $0.50/1 coupons from the Angel Soft website, which doubled! But they also had Gorton's seafood products at half off, a great price AND I had coupons. My toddler loves fish but we can't always afford it, so I went for it. I also picked up 4 containers of ice cream to prepare for the Boy Wonder's birthday party this weekend, since they were also heavily marked down. I could have passed both these deals up, but I didn't (and I missed out on an extra $4 in savings because I didn't plan out my transactions correctly ahead of time - my own fault!). It just means I will have to be even MORE diligent through March.

The good news: my total spending for the month of February was $261.91 - while that was over budget, it was only $12 more than my max goal! The last OAMC shopping will fall on the first week of March and will drive that budget up a little...but if I plan well through March, things should look good by April 1st! Keeping fingers crossed :)

BJ's
3lb bananas - $1.44
Foil lasagna pans - $7.99 (for OAMC)
8.2lbs 93% lean ground beef - $12.30 (for OAMC)
51oz can BJ's formula - $19.99
2 gal milk - $4.96
2 40-oz jars Skippy peanut butter - $7.79
3lb shredded cheddar cheese - $7.99 (most for OAMC)
BeechNut stage 2 dinners - $7.79 (while I figure out the homemade versions)
2 SodaStream soda mixes - $7.98 (we don't buy soda, we make it!)

Total: $79.23

Stop & Shop
4 containers Breyer's ice cream - $7.96 ($14 store savings)
4 pks Gorton's seafood - $10.06 (used $2 in coupons, $12.10 store savings)
2pks 12 double roll Angel Soft toilet paper - $9.00+tax (used $2 in coupons, $3.98 store savings)
used 5% off your order coupon from mailer - additional $0.74 in savings

Total: $26.80

This week I used $4 in coupons, and got $30.08 in store savings!





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