Sunday, May 24, 2009

Menu Plan - May 25, 2009


Monday - Pasta with meat sauce
To Do: Defrost beef

Tuesday - Cheesy Beef and Rice with veggies (make a double batch and freeze one.)
To Do: Defrost sausage

Wednesday - Sausages with mashed potatoes and onion gravy and veggies

Thursday - Leftovers
To Do: Make hamburger buns

Friday - Hamburgers with potato salad and raw veggies
To Do: Defrost lamb

Saturday - Lamb chops with baked potatoes with veggies
To Do: Defrost pork

Sunday - Pork tenderloin on the bbq with mashed potatoes and veggies

For more menu plans, please visit the Organizing Junkie.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Extra Food Deal: Apple Juice

I just noticed in the Rexall/Pharmaplus flyer that Rougemont apple juice is on sale this week. It is a really great bargain at $0.69 for a 1.2L can (standard size). Normally, this goes on sale for $0.88, so this is a deal indeed if you want 100% juice.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Growing Food: Potatoes

The idea that you can grow 100 lbs of potatoes in 4 square feet sounded impressive, but we decided to go with the original plan and use the garbage pail method.

I know I said it was going to be my project, but it just didn't work out that way. My husband did a great job putting this together from an old garbage pail (and even took photos for me!). I will just have to keep an eye on my pail and add more soil when needed. I am excited to see how many pounds of potatoes we get from the three we started with!





Our seed potatoes came from a bag of regular eating potatoes that had started to grow in the cold cellar. I am glad we will get good use out of them!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Ontario Food Deals for May 22 - May 28, 2009

The most exciting thing this week is the $1, $2, $3 sale at Food Basics. There are a few good deals, which I pointed out below, but there are also some things that have actually been rounded up to go with the sales theme. Their sales price on mayonnaise is usually under $3, but has been rounded up to $3 this time! Don't forget, you need to know your prices!

I will also make my way to the Superstore to look at the big box of granola bars on sale. These make a good snack I can keep in the car for the kids, saving me money on trips to Timmie's with "starving" children.

I may also pick up some bacon. We are running low in the freezer. I have seen bacon for as little as $2 per package for good quality, and the sales this week are $3 per package. Was the extra low sales price a fluke, or part of the regular sales cycle? Looking in my price book, I saw the lowest price in March, when I last stocked up. Bacon was available at $3 per package in February, and again over the last two weeks. This is where stocking up takes experience, thought, planning and a little luck. It may be that the "new normal" sales price of bacon is $3 or it may be that I should wait longer for the next good sale. We will see!

Although I blew my $100 challenge this month, I still want to keep my spending as low as I can. Still, it doesn't make sense to pass up good deals when they are around, unless my store cupboards are already overflowing with those items.

Food Basics

$1, $2, $3 Sale
  • Saporito Vegetable Oil, 3 L for $3
  • Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, frozen, seasoned for $2 per lb or $4.41 per kg
  • Marc Angelo Italian Sausage, hot or mild, 500 g for $2 (I have never tried this brand, but it is a pretty good price)
  • Italian home bakery Calabrese style bread, 675 g for $1
If you are in Kitchener or Waterloo, there is a new Food Basics open at 600 Laurelwood Drive in Waterloo. There are a few extra deals in town, available only at the Food Basics located at 600 Laurelwood Drive, 851 Fischer-Hallman Road and 370 Highland Road West only.
  • Black Diamond cheese, selected varieties, 500 g for $3.99, limit 2 (This is actually a few cents more expensive than a similar cheese at Walmart last week. Still a decent deal though.)
  • Piller's Black Forest Style Ham, smoked and cooked, 900 g for $3.99. This comes to $0.44 per 100 g, much cheaper than buying it pre-sliced at the deli counter.
No Frills
  • Pork side rib portions for $1.97 per lb or $4.34 per kg (Not a bad price if the good weather has you in the mood for ribs!)
Superstore
  • Unico tomatoes, still price locked at $0.79 per 796 mL can
  • Nature Valley crunchy granola bars, club size (1.12 kg) for $8.79. I think this is a good deal, but I don't know how many bars are in this box. You can get a regular size box with 5 double bars for $1.99 at Zehrs (their ongoing semi-permanent sales price). That works out to just under $0.40 per bar. If there are over 23 double bars per box, it is a good deal! Do keep in mind that each individual sleeve contains 2 bars. I think this is clear from the packaging, but make sure there are over 23 pouches of double bars if you are looking for the best deal. I think these jumbo packs are usually in the $10 range. Also, each box contains a variety of flavours, so if your family won't eat all the flavours, it isn't a good deal! I will post when I have more details.
Price Chopper
  • Asparagus, product of Ontario, $1.49 per lb or $3.28 per kg
Sobey's
  • Kellogg's Cereal (Mini-Wheats or Raisin Bran, Froot Loops or Frosted Flakes, selected, 275 - 475 g), 3 for $5
  • Schneiders Bacon, regular, salt reduced or thick, 500 g for $2.99 (Good deal for name-brand bacon!)
Foodland
  • Maple Leaf Bacon, 500 g for $2.99. Similar deal to at Sobeys
Zehrs (Loblaws)
  • Asparagus, product of Ontario, $1.77 per lb or $3.90 per kg (It is a bit cheaper at Price Chopper, but if Zehrs is more convenient, go there. Just don't forget to eat your local asparagus while you can!)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

$100 Grocery Challenge: Week 3

I did something last week and this week that you should never do when trying to stick to a budget. I sent my husband to the store and then I went to the store hungry!

On Friday, my husband went to the grocery store to get the milk, eggs and sugar. He ended up spending almost $20.
  • Regular chips at $0.99 + $0.13 tax
  • Other chips for $0.99 + $0.13 tax
  • Onion soup mix for $1.49 (to make dip with the sour cream)
  • Eggs for $1.97
  • Sugar (2 Kg) for $2.03 (Interesting side note, sugar is cheaper at the grocery store than at either of the local bulk stores. It always pays to compare prices!)
  • Frozen blackberries (600 g) for $2.99 A good deal, but not as good as the $1.49 I was paying for frozen fruit with my coupon. He saw everyone else grabbing them and fell into the trap of believing it must be a great deal.
  • Pickles for $3.89 I have no idea what he was thinking. We have lots of pickles in the cold cellar!
  • Milk (4 L) for $3.97
  • mini carrots for $0.99
  • TOTAL = $19.57
Today I went to the grocery store because we were out of milk, and my bread machine is broken, so we are out of bread. We also needed cat food. Rather than going right after breakfast, we procrastinated and went right before lunch when I was hungry. I was just as bad, spending nearly $20 myself.
  • Cat food (1 kg) for $1.59 + $0.21 tax (I bought a small container beause it is a new kind I am testing on the cats)
  • Yogurt for $2.89
  • Milk (4L) for $3.97
  • Cucumber for $0.99
  • Ham (300 g) for $3.17
  • Artichoke dip (my favourite indulgence!) for $2.99
  • Bakery bread for $1.69
  • TOTAL = $17.50
Total this week = $37.07

Total spent to date = $99.20

I am SO disappointed! There is no way we are going to make it to the end of the month without buying anything else. I am going to keep on trucking though, and do my best. I am definitely motivated to try again next month. I should be able to buy only milk and eggs next week, but I will probably buy some local asparagus too. It would be a shame to miss out on the short season.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Menu Plan - May 18, 2009

I was sick Sunday night and didn't do a menu plan last week. It has reminded me why menu planning is SO important, even though I don't buy my weeks groceries based on my menu plan. We ate lots of soup and canned beans this week, and ate out a couple of times, all because I didn't know what to cook. I didn't get the advanced preparations done, and that makes a huge difference.

Monday - Steak with baked potatoes and vegetables
To Do: Soak lentils

Tuesday - Sweet and sour lentils, with rice and vegetables. I made these lentils a few weeks ago and they were GREAT.
To Do: Defrost ground beef

Wednesday - Spaghetti with meat sauce. I will make a big batch of sauce so I can use leftovers to make chili and also have some to freeze.
To Do: Soak dry kidney beans

Thursday - Leftovers
To Do: Cook the kidney beans

Friday - Chili with cornmeal muffins
To Do: Defrost pork

Saturday - BBQ'ed pork tenderloin with potatoes and veggies

Sunday - I will be out for supper at a scrapbooking event. I think the boys will probably have hamburgers with carrot sticks (if I remember to cut them ahead of time!)

For more menu plans, visit the Organizing Junkie.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Ontario Food Deals for May 15 - May 21, 2009

Lucky for me and my food challenge, there isn't much to excite me this week. I have lots of peanut butter, so don't need to stock up. I'll probably buy some asparagus, because it is in season now, and doesn't last long. It should be easy to stay under $15 this week.

No Frills

The Half Price Sale continues. The deals listed last week should still be good this week, according to last week's flyer! Additionally:
  • Kraft peanut butter, selected varieties, 750g or 1kg. This may include Kraft's natural, 100% peanut butter, which comes in the 750g size for $1.99
  • Kellogg's Raisin Bran (675 g), Mini Wheats (540-555 g) or Rice Krispies (525 g), selected varieties, $2.49
Zehrs (Loblaws)
Price Chopper
  • Kellogg's Raisin Bran (675 g), Corn Pops (345 g), Rice Krispies cocoa (420 g), All Bran (525 g), $2.49
Sobey's
  • Asparagus, Product of Ontario, $1.47 per lb, weather permitting
  • Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, value pack, $2.99 per lb or $6.59 per kg
Real Canadian Superstore
  • Post cereal, selected varieties (Shreddies and Honeycomb are pictured) (400-620 g) for $1.99 (price lock)
Walmart
  • Cracker Barrel cheese (500 g) for $3.97
Food Basics
If you are in Kitchener or Waterloo, there is a new Food Basics open at 600 Laurelwood Drive in Waterloo. There are a few extra deals in town, available only at the Food Basics located at 600 Laurelwood Drive, 851 Fischer-Hallman Road and 370 Highland Road West only.
  • Irresistibles white meat chicken strips or nuggets (908 g) for $3.99