Spring is finally here YEAH!

Spring is finally here the sun is shining and the birds are singing. I love this time of year! A little "catch up"

Last week we were able to start working on our garden! Living in a 3rd floor apartment, gardening is not much of an option. I was very excited a few months ago when I found that there was a community garden starting in our neighborhood. I immediately got in contact with them and was one of the first to get a 4x16' raised bed. This whole garden is being built from scratch so everyone has to put in alot of work. We will be gardening using the Lasagna Gardening method. No we are not growing lasagna but if you google "Lasagna Gardening" its an amazing concept! We went last weekend and layed the 1st layer of cardboard. This past week we went and filled in our bed with about 12 wheelbarrow loads of dirt. The whole family is chipping in!

This weekend my 2 older kids went on a church youth group retreat up to MT Baker. They were able to sled and enjoy the last of the winter snow along with some great worship music and Christian fellowship. One of the most exciting things out of the weekend is my oldest son commited his life to Christ and has decided to get babtized next month!!!

I met up with my mom/sister in law/neice and another friend with the 2 youngest kids and we went to check out the Dirty Dan's Seafood festival. It was alot of fun! There were crafts and activities for the kids. All sorts of seafood booths, live music and some really neat shops to check out.

I don't have much to share grocery wise this week as I am going out of town for work for 3 days and the 4 kids are all going in different directions. I have the most awesome and amazing friends that jumped in to help so I could go to this conference. The kids are all very excited its an adventure for them to. They get to stay overnight with friends on a SCHOOL NIGHT! LOL

Above are a few pictures of our adventure this weekend.

Week of April 19-25th

Did not need much this week but did have to make a trip to Costco.

Cost Cutter:
Lettuce .78
tomato .88
half & half $2.49
hamburger buns $1.49
whip cream $1.29
beef patties $9.99 (we will get 4 meals out of this box)
2 cream cheese $3.00
shredded lettuce $1.24
2 gallons milk $3.98

Total: $25.14
Our grocery store also now has a "gas" card you add up savings for gas at a local station. I needed gas yesterday and over the past month had earned a savings of .45 per gallon! That was a savings of $4.50!!

Costco:
Case Dr pepper $9.49
Eggos $7.99
2 dozen eggs $2.99
5 romaine lettuce $2.99
French fries $5.79
Muffins $6.49
Total: $36.55

Total spent: $61.69
See what Gayle and the others have done at The Grocery Cart Challenge

Menu for the week:

Breakfast options:
muffins
eggos
cereal
eggs/toast
pancakes

Lunches:
3 kids in school will eat hot lunch at school
Youngest and I will eat at home

Dinner:
S- Slow roasted beef with horseradish cream sauce, mashed potatoes and peas
M- Crispy garlic chicken cutlets, buttered noodles, veggies
T- Tacos
W- Spaghetti, salad, hm french bread
Th- Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
F- Meatloaf Mac & cheese and green beans
S- Pizza @ church

Busy times

Wow time is starting to fly! Before we know it camping season will be here (YEAH!!) and school will be out for the summer. We are busy around here getting ready for Youth Retreat for the 2 oldest kids, Outdoor Ed for my oldest daughter, Spring ballet performance for my Youngest daughter and then the boys, the youngest gearing up for Kindergarden and the oldest HIGH SCHOOL! HOW did that happen??

I did a cooking day last week and have some of the pics above to show my efforts. I made chicken soup, breakfast burritos, double batch of cookies, bread, dinner rolls and banana bread. I think that was it. OH Pizza pockets which have been the hit here this week.

Week of April 12-18th

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We had a great time this weekend. Family joined us for church and my oldest daughter sang in the Easter Choir (5 services!) this weekend.

My grocery shopping was very minimal this week so no picture. I have instead added some pictures from this weekend :)

This weeks groceries:

Fred Meyer
Easter ham $14 (YIKES but oh so good)

Cost Cutter
2 gallons milk $3.78
cool whip $1.67
angel food loaves $2.99
2# Strawberries 2.98
1# butter $2.50
TOTAL: $13.92

Total Spent: $27.92

See what Gayle and the others have done at The Grocery Cart Challenge

Cookies

Last night I decided to make cookies. I have always used the chocolate chip cookie recipe from the back of the bag. Recently, I ran out of my .50 bags of chocolate chips from discount store and purchased them in bulk at Winco. So no recipe. I went to Allrecipes and found the BEST cookie recipe!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies I

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

I did follow the reader suggestions and used 1 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes. These were so good! My kids friends were over and couldn't get enough of these!

Laundry

One of my favorite (NOT) chores is laundry. With 5 people in the house we can accumulate alot of laundry. Not only is it time consuming but it can be expensive! I am picky when it comes to brand of laundry soap. I do not like the "cheap" detergent but that is a personal thing. I have not yet been brave enough to try Homeade Laundry Detergent . I have however switched to Gain with matching scent drier sheets.

To save $ on laundry I use 1/2 of the recomended powdered detergent and only 1/2 of a drier sheet per load. It is amazing how much longer the box of detergent and drier sheets will last!

To stay ontop of the laundry I do a load (sometimes 2) every day. We can start doing laundry at 8am (apartment) so I throw a load in right at 8 when I am getting my youngest daughter out the door for the bus. By having that in my daily routine I never fall behind.

Folding it is another story I usually delegate that to the kids!

April Menu

I am starting the dinner menu with tonight since well we are already past the first 4 days LOL. Tonight we had dinner out on our way home from visiting friend and family.

hamburgers and fries
baked burritos and spanish rice
spaghetti/salad
chow mein, rice
grilled chicken ceasar salad, sandwiches
pizza @ church
Easter Dinner: (ham, scallop potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, buiscuts and angelfood cake with strawberries)
hamburger helper
CORD (clean out refrigerator dinner)
homemade pizza
spaghetti, salad
crunch baked pork chops, roasted potatoes, veggies
Pizza @ church
slow roasted beef with horseradish cream sauce, mashed potatoes peas
crispy garlic chicken cutlets, buttered noodles, veggies
tacos
spaghetti, salad
tomato soup, grilled cheese
meatloaf, mac & cheese, green beans
pizza @ church
CORD
27th-29th I will be out of town for work
30th- turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and veggies

This week is spring break so the kids will be home for breakfast nad lunch:

Breakfast choices:
eggos
muffins
eggs and bacon or sausage
pancakes
cereal

Lunch:
M- Mac & cheese and turkey dogs
T- Sandwiches & chips
W- Ravioli
Th- Salsbury steak, mashed potatoes
F- sandwiches and chips

April Grocery Shopping

So we have some additional expenses this month, youth group retreat for the kids and deposit for E's braces. So the only place to really "cut back" is the grocery bill. However, this week is spring break. Kids are off but I have to work. So I bought more convenience items this time than normal.

So far for April:
(See what Gayle and the others have done at the Grocery Cart Challenge)

COSTCO:
Muffins $6.49
bs chicken tenders $13.59
tortillas $4.99
breakfast links $12.99
Total: 38.06

Winco:
3.13# bulk cat food $1.53
3.28# chocolate milk mix $3.41
.85# chex mix $2.49
3 bags lays chips $5.94
1 bag ice $.98
3 pkg crunch taco shells $3.54
3 family size cans ravioli $7.74
pork chops $4.69
sour cream $1.78
.73# block chocolate $2.46
7 boxes pop tarts $12.46 (I hate buying these but my daughter is not a breakfast food eater and I pick my battles. Poptarts avoid a every morning confrontation with a "tween" girl. She can have the pop tarts. Those with pre teen girls know what I mean. LOL)
half & half $1.43
2 pkg cupcake cups $1.22
2 turkey franks $1.56
5 pkg bacon $7.40
1 mayo $3.43
3 spaghetti sauce $2.94
2.83 # fuji apple $2.49
5 tuna $3.90
4 crm chicken soup $3.40
10 mac & cheese $7.80
2 garbanzo beans $1.48
6 chicken broth $2.40
chopped garlic $1.88
5 rice a roni $4.60
ceasar dressing $2.48
2 Jiff Peanut butter $5.96
1 sliced cheese $1.21
frenches onions $1.92
1 case top ramen $3.98
horeseradish $1.18
bbq sauce $.98
lemon $.48
shalot .24
hamburger buns .88
hotdog buns .88

Total: $115.74

FREE:
(from my sister)
2 boxes cereal
1/2 box of swiffer wet wipes (costco size)

TOTAL: $153.80

Ok coming back to edit I went to Cost Cutter last night to pick up the meat. I bought a large pack of ground beef and only 1/2 will be used this month the rest will go towards next month.

Cost Cutter:
Raw sugar $3.35
Lettuce $.98
potatoes .86
2 gallons milk $3.78
ice cream $5.99
Dr pepper $1.99
roast $3.62
ground beef $12.89

Total: $33.63

My APRIL total so far: $187.43
For the rest of the month I should just need milk and any produce and a small ham for Easter.