Grocery shopping STINKS, but meal planning helps.

One of the worst jobs in this house is far and above grocery shopping. It takes me a really long time to make a menu and make a shopping list. It takes me even longer to shop and I usually forget something, get confused as to what I'm doing, and I always come home angry. Not at the shoppers or the store, but just my own limitations now.

For example, today? Today my cart was so full, literally overflowing, and I couldn't push it anymore. A very nice guy offered to push it for me until I was done. It was really nice and I must have had the "I don't know what to do, I need this stuff, but I can't move it" look on my face. But I came home really irritated because I hate that I need help. I hate being dependent on other people. It's really frustrating and demoralizing for me.

Anyways.

But people wanted me to share my menu for the next 16 days to get an idea about menu planning. Matt's paychecks are bi-monthly, always the 7th and 21st, so on long months with 31 days, the wait for his next check is kind of a pain. Bill paying wise, this is a great set up because I always know what bills go with what check, but when life happens, that's not fun. Matt does a lot of the budgeting, bill paying, numbers stuff now because I'm just not able. And again, really frustrating and demoralizing.

Anyways .

So here we are, our menu. I'll make notes and if you want a recipe, I can give you the link or email you what I do, just leave a comment and your email and I've got it handled!

Crockpot Chili (we had this tonight- delicious! I have more than enough for lunch tomorrow)
Shake & Bake Chicken, Macaroni, vegetable
Tacos
Spaghetti
Meatball subs, pasta salad, chips (I use my leftover spaghetti sauce for this. I put the sauce and meatballs in crockpot, cook all day on low)
Crockpot Cube Steak with egg noodles, and mashed potatoes (for Matt) (This is SO GOOD.)
Lasagna (I make my own)
Burgers, baked beans, macaroni
Crockpot Chili Mac (I found a new recipe, so we'll see how it is. I'll have this cooking so Matt doesn't have to cook as I'm driving to Mayo Clinic for appointments.)
Order Pizza!  (It's a Halloween tradition that we order pizza, plus I'll be coming home from Mayo around dinner time.)
Spaghetti
Crockpot Chicken Tacos (This is AMAZING. It always makes a lot and I use it on a salad or nachos the next day for lunch.) 
Crockpot Beef Stew
Pork chops, stuffing, corn
Steak, scallop potatoes, vegetable
Pancakes, sausage, eggs

So you can see I use a lot of crock pot meals. Tuesdays are sometimes tough because Olivia has dance so I make sure to have dinner done right at 4 when Matt comes home so we can eat together. We almost never get takeout for dinner, that's usually a weekend lunch while we're out and about. We always eat together at the table. Even on days when Olivia has to be somewhere by 5, we're eating right at 4. Every meal will have some leftovers for Matt's lunch next day and for Penelope and Lucy's lunch. Sometimes Matt doesn't bring leftovers and opts for a sandwich instead, and that's cool. I also try to make one dessert in my calendar, so this time I picked an Orange Cake that I found on Pinterest. I had everything except the orange that it calls for, so we'll see.

A long time ago I did a post all about my menu planning (an actual step by step guide on how I do it), so if you go HERE you can see that if this is still confusing.

What's on the menu? Plus Raspberry Coffee Cake recipe!

I have seriously slacked off on my menu planning, coupon clipping, and it's really taken a toll on our monthly budget. Part of it is because it's really tough for me to find time to go grocery shopping alone, I really hate dragging three kids with me. But the other part is that being 31 weeks pregnant, I'm just too tired to cook by the time Matt comes home so it's like- yeah, go get a pizza.

Also? We're going through a lot of cereal. The kids have asked that we not have cereal this WHOLE week and I don't think they understand that this means I have to rally and cook something every day.

EVERY DAY.

Feels kind of unreasonable yet here we are.

This week though, I'm going to try to limp through what we have for groceries because I don't want to go shopping considering next week we'll be gone for two days and coming home the third kind of late so that day will for sure be cereal.

Take THAT, children.

So here's what I came up with for this week:

Monday: Crockpot chicken tacos
Tuesday: Pork chops, mixed vegetables, potato side dish
Wednesday: Crockpot cheesy chicken and rice
Thursday: Sloppy joes, pasta salad
Friday: Crockpot beef stew with rice
Saturday: Spaghetti
Sunday: Eat Out

I know, I kind of cheated for Sunday but truly, I'll be packing that night with the kids and we are going to be busy with some yard work so I know full well I won't be in the mood to cook. And that's OK.

Each week my goal is to try making a new baked good because as it turns out, I prefer baking and cooking in the summer versus the winter (it makes no sense, I get it) so I'm back on that. A few weeks ago I mentioned I was going to make some Raspberry Bars on Facebook and several friends mentioned they wanted the recipe. When I dug it out, I realized I call them Raspberry Bars, but it's really a Raspberry Coffee Cake.

Whoops. So here it is:

Filling:
2 cups raspberries
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch

Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 tablespoons of butter cut up
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons of butter (it's a lot, but I like butter)

So first thing is first, I use frozen raspberries. We're fortunate enough to get a ton of blueberries and raspberries from Matt's parents each summer so I've made this with both of those, or strawberries, basically whatever I have that needs to be used up. I had one last package of raspberries I froze last summer so I figured I'd use them up in preparation for more to come soon.

Preheat your oven to 350. I use an 8x8 dish because I like a thick cake, but if you have a 9x9 that works, too. But spray the hell out of your pan.

In a medium saucepan, put your fruit in, water, sugar and corn starch. Stir it up, cook on medium heat until it basically becomes a sauce, stirring periodically. I usually get this started and then work on the cake to save time.

While your fruit is simmering, get yourself a bowl and whisk your flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda together. You'll put the butter in, but cut it in so it gets kind of crumbly.

In a measuring cup, whisk your egg, buttermilk and vanilla together- pour it into the dry ingredients.

Mix it all together- it'll be pretty sticky.  You are going to use HALF of this to line the bottom of your baking pan.

Meanwhile, make sure your fruit sauce looks amazing. This clearly does.

So we lined our pan with HALF of the batter. Be patient, it's a super sticky batter so it can get frustrating.

Pour your fruit sauce all over it.

Now take the other half of your cake batter and dollop it all over. It will mostly bake over and you won't see so much fruit, so don't freak out if you feel like you don't have enough covering the fruit.

Now you have to make your crumble that goes on top. Mix your flour and sugar together, cut in the butter. I use at least 6 tablespoons of butter but if you want less or more, go for it. Once you get it fairly crumbly, cover the top of your fruit and batter. I also sprinkle cinnamon sugar across the top for an added sweetness, but it's optional.

Bake it for about 45 minutes or until your sauce appears bubbly and the top is golden brown.

Isn't she pretty?

She knows it, too.

Let it cool for a bit and then cut up into squares. This is PERFECT for summer breakfast, potlucks, whatever you need to bring a dish to. It's nice and soft, it's the perfect balance of fruit and cake and it's super easy. That and your house will smell amazing. I've been making this since Matt and I had our first home, so 11 years now, and it's still a favorite.

How to save on your grocery bill AND meal planning for dummies

I know this is a day late, but it's such a good post and it's going to be super helpful for you so I wanted to make sure I had enough photos to show you the way I do it so you aren't confused at all.

Currently, I am not working. I haven't worked since the end of March so we have been relying on Matt's paycheck to get by. Matt's job pays him twice a month, he isn't bi-weekly, he is paid strictly on the 7th and the 21st of the month, no matter what. Which sounds super, to have a guaranteed pay day! But when you look at the calendar, some months this really sucks. Like July/August for example. Matt's pay periods run from the 1-15 of the month gets him paid on the 21st, and the the 16-last day of the month gets him paid on the 7th. Well he got paid July 21 and won't get a check until August 7, and when you look at that, it's a LONG haul.

Which makes meal planning crucial because it keeps our grocery bill down. Currently, I'm cooking meals for 4 people. Matt and I typically either have left overs or sandwiches for lunch, and the kids almost always have a sandwich. Right now we are taking advantage of free lunches and snack at the park, but that ends August 7. And really, that hasn't cut down on our grocery bill because I'm still buying sandwich things anyways, but it's a nice option to have if available to you.

I know I have had many people say to me, "I don't know what I'm going to want to eat on a particular day a week from now" when I mention meal planning as a great way to get your grocery bill down. To that I say- learn. Seriously. If you are in a position that you have to budget, learn. Secondly, you don't necessarily have to do that. Here's how I do it:

When you come to my house you will see a packet like this hanging on my fridge. It's my meal plan and any recipes I'll need (if it's a new recipe I'm trying or one I can't remember off the top of my head) all together on the side of the fridge.

Step One: When I plan my meals out, I write down every day I need to have a meal for between Matt's pay checks. You can see here that it's basically three weeks of meals. I only include dinners because for breakfast I always have cereal but also keep a hot option like waffles or pancakes in my freezer. I write down a meal idea for every single day. In the morning, I pick a meal off of the list for dinner, not necessarily the one "scheduled" for that day. Some times something comes up and I need a crock pot meal so I find one off the list I can quickly do and not worry about it during a busy day.

Other tricks I do? At least once in a cycle I do a spaghetti and use the left over sauce for meatball subs the next day. Sometimes I'll make chicken tacos and we'll have nachos the next night with my leftover chicken, and I'll add corn and beans to it. Be realistic, if you know there is going to be a day where you declare you absolutely are not cooking? Put "order out" on there, knowing you can only order out ONCE in that cycle. (You see that? I just saved you money.)

Step Two: As I add an item to my menu, I write down the ingredients I'll need to make it. Don't even THINK about what you have on hand already, we'll get to that. But for right now, write down every single thing you'll need.

Step Three: Once you have that completed, take your list and go through your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. Cross off what you already have. This will save you money because you won't buy repeat things.

Step Four: Then I go through my ad. Usually I peek at the ad first primarily to check if there is any good deals in the meat department because that's often the most expensive area. Yes, those are ads from two different stores. Yes, I know it's a pain in the ass to go to two different stores, but if there is a really fantastic deal on a couple of things at one store, split your trip. Sometimes Cub Foods had a buy one/get one deal on chicken breasts and when that is happening I go and bring Matt and the kids with me. I'll make Olivia buy 4 packs of chicken (the limit), Matt buy 4 packs of chicken, and I'll buy 4 packs of chicken. I have a chest freezer and that's when I stock up.

Step Five: Once I get my coupons from the ad, I start looking online for coupons on the items I need. Truly, the only two sites I really use are Coupons.com and Krazycouponlady.com. Sometimes I find no coupons, sometimes I find a bunch I need. Don't forget to look at your ads at the things that are already on sale without a coupon. This week I was able to get mayonnaise (the large jar) for only $1.33 because it was on sale for $3.33, but I had a $2 coupon online.

Lucky for me this week Super One Foods had a lot of buy one get one deals so I did all of my shopping there. Things I picked up extra as buy one/get one deals that were not on my list were:

• Quilted Northern 6 packs of toilet paper
• Kielbasa
• Marinated pork roasts
• Packaged deli meat
• Soft taco shells
• Taco seasoning
• Purex laundry soap

I also picked up two packs of pork chops that were in the marked down area of the meat department. That will save me on my menu planning for next round. 

After purchasing everything on my list, plus my extras, my bill was $125.49. 

My absolute budget per month for groceries is $300 for a family of 4. I budget $150 per paycheck to groceries, so the extra $25 went into my savings for Olivia's braces. 

Every Sunday I'll be posting recipes that I've tried from cookbooks, Pinterest, etc that are inexpensive to make. If you missed my first post, Macaroni & Cheese, go back and check that out. Next Sunday I'll be sharing my Pot Roast recipe that is so easy and SO good.