Desert Debbi's April savings and menus

[Desert Debbi]

After reading a few comments from people about how hardly anyone is posting their deals, I decided to start posting mine again. As I am now menu planning to best maximize my stockpile and the sales out there on fresh produce I figured I would post the planned menu, grocery list indicating stockpile, or what has to be purchased. I hope that it will help someone else out if they see the method to my madness =D Normally my menu is planned around a wednesday- friday cycle so I will have a partial menu up for sunday - tuesday. My breakfast and lunches are usually pretty simple as I am feeding a 4yo. My DH goes with whatever I tell him to take to work, and I eat whatever I can scrounge =p

Below is a list of my stores out here in Arizona, and their couponing rules:

Albertsons: no loyalty card, normally no doubled coupons.

Frys: loyalty card, coupons under a dollar are increased in value to a dollar for the first three per transaction. Multiple transactions are allowed.

Safeway: loyalty card, store manager has set the following policy in place: coupons under a dollar are increased in value to a dollar for the first three like coupons per loyalty card per day. They will only accept 3 like coupons per loyalty card per day, regardless of doubling or not.

Walmart Neighborhood Market: no loyalty card, price matches competitors in ad prices BUT NOT THEIR COUPONS

[Desert Debbi]

Week 1: April 1-3 Menu, Recipes and Shopping List

Menu:

Breakfasts: cereal or wafflers
Lunches: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples, leftovers, or hot dogs, carrots, yogurt and crackers
Dinners: Burritos, tacos, or super nachos (build your own) and quesadillas

Recipes:

Hal’s Pinto Beans
1 onion, diced
3c dry pinto beans- rinsed
4c chicken broth
3-4c water
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
2-3 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, minced

Put everything in a crock pot on low heat at 7pm. At 7am turn to high heat for another 3 hours.

Pressure Cooker Shredded Beef Pot Roast
2.5lb rump roast cut into about 2-21/2 inch cubes
1 onion, quartered
1 jalapeno, halved and seeded
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tub knorr homestyle stock, beef
3 1/2 c water

Place all ingredients into a pressure cooker, making sure that it does not exceed 2/3 full. Adjust the burner to medium-low heat when the pressure cooker reaches full steam and the rocker is gently rocking. Cook the roast for 35 minutes and remove the pressure cooker from the heat. Run cool water on the lid until the valve drops, then open it and drain. I like to shred my meat with my hands but alot of people use a potato masher to break it up first.

Grocery List (s) denotes stockpile item

Cereal (s)
Wafflers (s)
Milk (purchased prior to April 1st)
Apple Juice (s)
Flour Tortillas
Bread (s)
salsa (s)
sour cream (s)
Lettuce (purchased prior to April 1st)
Red Onion (purchased prior to April 1st)
Yellow Onion (purchased prior to April 1st)
Jalapeno (purchased prior to April 1st)
garlic cloves
Carrots (purchased prior to April 1st)
Apples
Medium Cheddar Cheese (s)
Dry Pinto Beans (s)
Knorr Homestyle Stock (beef) (s)
Chicken Broth (s)
rump roast (s)
hot dogs (s)
yogurt (purchased prior to April 1st)
crackers (s)
Tortilla Chips (s)

So my actual groceries I need to get for this short week are as follows:

Flour tortillas
garlic cloves
apples

[nv2nme]

I think this will help a LOT of people! Especially the newbies!!! You are so sweet to detail eveything out

[Rabid]

The pinto beans sound great. I'll have to try that recipe.

[Desert Debbi]

Week 1: Grocery Shopping trip results:

4/1/12

Safeway:
3 sunday papers (daily star as they were all out of AZ Republic.. boo!) $6.00
3 Yakisoba Noodles Free after MQ x3 doubled
1 flour tortillas 16ct burrito size $5.19
red delicious apples $1.16
Gala apples $1.56

OOP: $14.34
Saved: $5.94 (30%)

Albertsons:

3 sunday papers (AZ Republic.. yaa!!) $6.00

OOP: $6.55
Saved: $1.00

Monthly running total OOP: $20.89
Monthly running total saved: $5.94 (22%)

[Desert Debbi]

Week 2: April 4-10 Menu, Recipes and Shopping List

Menu:

Breakfasts: cereal and pancakes

Lunches: PB&J & apples, Quesadillas, leftovers, hotdogs,
yogurt & crackers with carrots

Dinners:
Wednesday: leftovers from burrito fixings last week
Thursday: Chicken Nugget Picata & Romaine Salad
Friday: Chicken Nugget Picata leftovers & Romaine Salad
Saturday: Crock Pot Corned Beef & Beer
Sunday: Leftover Corned Beef
Monday: Spaghetti & Sausages with Salad
Tuesday: spaghetti & sausages with Salad leftovers
Special: Amanda’s Portuguese Sweetbread & rice krispy treats

Recipes:

Chicken Nugget Picata
Chicken Nuggets (approx. 1-11/2lbs)
Salt
Pepper
Flour
4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp dry white wine
2 c chicken broth
6 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp capers
2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes, chopped
4 tbsp COLD butter
4 c cooked Fettuccini

Bake the chicken nuggets as directed by the packaging. Remove and keep warm. Add wine to a sauté pan on medium heat, and reduce. Add chicken broth, capers, sun dried tomatoes, lemon juice. Reduce to one half. Add cold butter to thicken the sauce. Adjust the seasoning. Serve over fettuccini noodles.

Crock Pot Corned Beef & Beer
2-3lb Corned Beef
Spice packet which came with the corned beef
2 bags baby carrots
8 red potatoes, quartered
2 med yellow onions, halved and quartered
1 beer ( I am using Smithwick’s)
Water to cover (about 1 cup)

Place corned beef in crock pot and top with the spices in the spice packet. Surround with potatoes, carrots and onion. Pour in beer and add water. Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Amanda’s Portuguese Sweet Bread

note: I have not made this in over 30 years. It was my grandmothers recipe. It is a VERY special recipe to me and I hope you enjoy it too if you try it. I have added some notes about it from the Fleishman's yeast people who kindly translated yeast cakes to yeast packets for me and reviewed the recipe's viability.

¼ lb butter
2 tsp salt
1c evaporated milk
1 tsp sugar
2 yeast cakes: A packet active dry yeast is recommended per cake so use 2 packets. Tthe Fleishman’s yeast lady suggested 3 packets for a better rise and said it won’t affect the flavor.
1/2c water
6 eggs
1 1/4 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
5 ½ - 6 c unbleached flour
Milk

Mix together ¼ lb melted butter, 2 tsp salt and 1c evaporated milk- keep warm. Dissolve 2 yeast cakes and 1 tsp sugar in ½ c warm water. Beat 6 eggs (which are at room temp) and 1 ¼ c sugar until it is lemon colored and sugar is dissolved. Add 2 tsp vanilla to the egg mixture. Then add the butter and yeast mixture and mix thoroughly. Add 5 ½ - 6 c unbleached flour. Blend and knead until smooth and satiny. Near the end of the kneading grease sides of bowl with Crisco so dough won’t stick to the bowl or your hands. Knead 6-8 more times and let rise until doubled then punch down and let rise again. Shape loaves and place in greased pans (grandma used round 8” cake pans) and let rise again. Cut a triangle on top of the loaves when risen in the loaf pans and rub the top with milk. Bake at 300degrees for 45 minutes.

The Fleishman’s yeast lady said I can use the bread hook attachment on my mixer to speed up the process of kneading, for those of you who are not inclined to do it the labor intensive old fashioned way =D


Shopping List: Items in bold are what I personally need to get. The rest I have in my stockpile, denoted by an (s)

Milk
Yogurt (s)
Cheese (s)
Eggs (s)
Butter (s)

Juice (s)
Beer (s)
White wine (s)

Cereal (s)
Flour Tortillas
Crackers (s)
Fettucini noodles (s)
Croutons (s)

Flour (s)
Sugar (s)
Evaporated milk (s)
Yeast (s)
Chicken broth (s)
Capers (s)
Sun dried tomatoes (s)
Salad dressing (s)

Corned beef (s)
Hotdogs (s)
Chicken nuggets (s)

Cucumbers
1 Red Onion
Cherry Tomatoes
Romaine Lettuce
Apples
3 bags baby carrots
8 red potatoes
2 yellow onions
Lemon juice

[Desert Debbi]

Just had to share my sweet success! I made my grandmothers Portuguese Sweetbread today. No lie, I havent ever made it solo.. and its been WELL over 30 years since I last enjoyed any. The taste and memory of it has lasted all this time though!

[yfox]

Debbie, thank you for sharing, they look beautiful!
I would also like to add- your stove top looks remarkably clean.

[Desert Debbi]

ROFL and here I was looking at it noticing the crumbs on it .... yeah I am a bit of a neat freak in my kitchen. Food poisoning is a scarey scarey thing to me!

[Desert Debbi]

Week 2 shopping: 4/4/12

CVS:
6 mars easter singles 2/$1.00 - $1.00/2 MQ (3) = free
2 mars candy filled eggs $.88ea -$1.50/2 MQ (1) = $0.26
6 cadbury creme eggs $0.99/2 (BOGO free) - $0.50/2 MQ (3) = $1.47
1 Russel Stover solid chocolate bunny $0.99 (NQ)
2 Nestle crunch eggs 2/$5.00 - $1.00/2 MQ(1) = $4.00
4 12 packs coke = $10.00 (NQ)
1 sm hand painted easter basket = $4.99 (NQ)

used the following ECB:
$1.50
$5/$25
$2/$10 easter

oop:$12.01
saved: $36.35 (76%)

Frys Transaction 1:
3 colgate toothpaste 4.6oz $1.00 x 3 - $0.75/1= $1.00/1 (3) = Free
3 colgate toothbrush $1.00 x 3 -$0.40/1 = $1.00/1 (3) = Free
3 febreze Air Effects $1.49 wyb4 x 3 - $0.50/1 = $1.00/1 (3) = $1.47
1 pledge multi surface $2.99 wyb4 - $0.50/1 = $1.00/1 (1) = $1.99
6 birds eye steam fresh frozen veggies $1.00 x 6 - $0.50/2 = $1.00/2 = $3.00

OOP: $7.41
Saved: $36.95 (84%)
Recd Catalina for $1.00 OYNO from the nestle toll house morsels

Frys transaction 2:
3 febreze Air Effects $1.49wyb4 x 3 - $0.50/1 = $1.00/1 (3) = $1.47
1 pledge multi surface $2.99 wyb4 - $0.50/1 = $1.00/1 (1) = $1.99
6 birds eye steam fresh frozen veggies $1.00 x 6 - $0.50/2 = $1.00/2 = $3.00

OOP: $6.96
Saved: $24.24 (78%)

Safeway:

6 vlassic pickles BOGO free: $3.79 x 3 - $0.75/1 = $1.00/1 (3) = $8.37
1 gallon Pantry Essentials Milk $1.57 (NQ)
1 dozen plastic easter eggs $0.99 (NQ)
3 Yakisoba Noodles $1.00 x 3 - $0.50/1 = $1.00/1 (3) = free
3 fleishmans active dry yeast $1.69 x 3 - $$0.40/1 = $1.00/1 (3) = $2.07
2 Mc Cormick Pure Vanilla 2oz $6.99 BOGO Free - $0.75/1 = $1.00/1 (1) = $5.99
1 C&H Sugar 4lb $2.49SQ - $0.40/1 =$1.00/1 (1) = $1.49
4 Ocean Spray Fruit Snacks $0.99ea wyb4 -$0.50/1 = $1.00/1 (3) = $0.96
2 Nestle Toll House morsels $1.99SQ x 2 -$1.00/2 = $2.98

OOP: $23.49
Saved: $53.87 (70%)

Monthly running total OOP: $70.76
Monthly running total saved: $157.35 (69%)