Stuffed Mushrooms

Now I wish that I had taken a picture. What began as a way to use up the gorgeous mushrooms the husb. bought at Costco a few days ago before they went slimey turned into a victorious end to the experiment. I wanted to use them for dinner and as we were having potato soup for dinner, sauteed mushrooms didn't seem like they were a suitable accompiament. I couldn't find any sausage in the freezer that wasn't freezer burned, so I switched out hamburger. I decided to use Stove Top stuffing, the pork flavor for the stuffing part.

Stuffed Mushrooms

20-24 or so large button mushrooms
2 T. minced onion
1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing mix
1/2 lb. sausage or ground beef, browned
garlic powder or garlic salt or fresh garlic
Olive Oil

Pull the stems out of the mushrooms. Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel or rinse quickly and absorb the water with a paper towel, and set them in an 8x8 pyrex pan. Drizzle some olive oil on them. Chop the mushroom stems up finely. Saute the onion in some olive oil, add the mushroom stems and cook until soft. Add some water to the fry pan, maybe 3/4C.-1 C., add the stuffing mix and stir until the stuffing is a nice consistency, adding more water if you need it. Add the sausage or ground beef and some garlic powder or garlic salt to taste. The mushrooms will give off water when they cook in the oven, so the stuffing can be a little dry before you add them to the mushrooms as it will absorb some mushroom liquid while cooking. It needs to be wet enough to stick to the mushroom however. Stuff the mushrooms, drizzle more olive oil over the tops, cook at 350 for about 20 minutes. It could have been less, I didn't keep track.

Cranberry Slush

Quick Recipe
Cranberry Slush
from Jane Maynard from the blog, This week for dinner

4 cans whole berry cranberry sauce
3 quarts cranberry juice
2 quarts ginger ale

Run 4 cans of cranberry sauce through a collander or sieve. Add 2 quarts of juice. Freeze. When ready to serve, mash up frozn cranberry mix with 1 quart of cranberry juice and 2 quarts of ginger ale.

In a comment post, Jane said that she believed that this would serve 25 six oz. servings.

Apple sausage bread dressing

Apple Sausage bread dressing or stuffing

1 lb. of breakfast sausage or italian sweet sausage, cooked and crumbled
2-3 shallots or a half onion, finely diced
2-3 ribs of celery, diced
2-3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 stick butter
Aproximately 2 cans of vegetable or chicken broth
Sage, if desired
Aproximately 2 boxes of Mrs. Cubbinson's seasoned breadcrumbs or cubes
salt and pepper
melted butter or olive oil

Put the bread cubes in a bowl. You decide by how many people you are having if you use one or two boxes. We like it leftover so I use two boxes. Put the butter or margerine in a skillet and sautee the celery, onion and apple until soft. Pour the vegetables on top on the bread cubes. Add a can of broth and let it sit for a few minutes. Stir to absorb the liquid into the dried bread cubes. Add more broth or water for desired consistency. Put into a greased casserole dish. Top with a little melted butter or some olive oil. Bake, uncovered aproximately 30 minutes at 350 until golden on top.

NOTE: This year, 2010, I was lazy and didn't peel, core and dice apples so I took my kitchen shears and cut up my dried food storage apples, then rehydrated them with hot water for 15 minutes. No one knew the difference in the stuffing.

My family likes it this way, however you could add:
sauteed mushrooms
dried cranberries
cooked diced giblets, ew
wild rice mix, like Uncle Ben's or Rice A Roni
diced cooked bacon or panceta
raisins or other dried fruit like apricots
egg, as a binder
turkey stock from cooking the neck and giblets instead of canned broth

Cranberry fizz

Or as Sooz and her family call it, "Cran-Up". A nice punch to have around the holidays is quite simply, Cranberry juice cocktail with sprite, 7-Up or another brand of lemon-lime soda added to it. Variations could be Raspberry Cranberry juice cocktail or my current favorite, Pomegranate Cranberry juice coctail. Throw in a splash of orange juice if you'd like. You can float some raspberries or cranberries in the pitcher or punch bowl if you'd like to make it look pretty.

Pumpkin Gingersnap Ice Cream

Pumpkin Gingersnap Ice Cream
by Pam Anderson, USA Weekend, Nov. 14, 2010

1 can (15 oz.) 100% pure pumpkin
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 quart preminum vanilla ice cream
16 gingersnap cookies, coarsely crumbled

Heat pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and cloves in a medium saucepan, stirring to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Trasfer to shallow pan; freeze to cool quickly. Soften ice cream (15 seconds to 30 seconds on high power in the microwave). Turn into a large bowl; stir in pumpking puree until nearly incorporated. Crumble 16 gingersnaps into ice cream and continue to fold until incorporated. Freeze until ready to serve. NOTE: The ice cream that I normally buy is not a full quart any more.

Leftovers Post

I know, like the cart before the horse but this will allow you to buy what you need for the leftovers meals while you are buying for the Thanksgiving dinner. There were some great ideas in the USA Weekend magazine yesterday for ideas of what to do with leftovers.

Turkey soup, of course
Turkey pot pie, make up a bechamel sauce ahead of time, add your meat and vegetables to it, heat and put a baked round of puff pastry on top of it
Turkey sliders
Cranberry scones or muffins
Cranberry pancakes
Cranberry cream cheese for toast or sweet breads or bagels.
Pumpkin pie milkshakes. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

My own idea, to make up pie pastry ahead of time for your Thanksgiving pies will also work for the leftovers, in using the pie pastry for turkey pot pie. Just make up or buy extra crusts when you are planning on or making pies.

Turkey and dumplings
turkey/cranberry sandwich with a spread of cream cheese.

And if you cannot take another bite of Thanksgiving food, freeze it and it will taste so good in two weeks when you have a busy day of shopping and haven't planned dinner.

Pens and Corn Cob Pen Photo

You'll want to scroll down and click to get to the post that I just recently added pen pictures to, named "Life". Written about a week ago. The hubs and children are making these. Left is a corn cob pen. There are photos of a blue corn cob pen and some wooden pens in the "Life" post. When I went on my recipe copying and writing rampage, it pushed it down to the next page.

Twice-Baked Maple-Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Twice-Baked Maple-Pecan Sweet Potatoes
from Soozy

Ingredients
6 medium sweet potatoes (4 lb0, scrubbed
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or pancake syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 slices bacon, cooked crisp, crumbled
3 Tbsp pecans, toasted and chopped
Garnish: snipped chives or slice scallions

Preparation
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Prick each potato once with a fork. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet 45-55 minutes until soft. 2. When cool enough to handle, cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop insides into a medium bowl. Mash with next 4 ingredients until smooth. Spoon back into skin. 3. To serve: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with foil or parchment: coat foil with nonstick spray. Place stuffed potatoes on sheet; sprinkle with bacon and pecans. Bake uncovered 15 minutes or until hot. Garnish. Planning Tip: Pecans can be toasted and chopped up to 1 week ahead. Bag; store at room temperature. Prepare potatoes through Step 2 up to 2 days ahead. Refrigerate covered. Bring to room temperature before reheating (Step 3).

Corn Pudding

Corn Pudding
from Soozy

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 can whole kernal corn
1 can creamstyle corn
2 eggs beaten
1 cup cream
1 stick butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together (including corn liquid). Put in an 8x8 pan and bake for 1 hr. at 350 degrees F.

I usually double this and put in a 13x9 pan. You can also add diced green chilies if you'd like.

Butternut Squash soup

Butternut Squash Soup
Roast the dices of Butternut Squash at 400 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes
After roasting the squash, put some of the squash into the blender with some chicken broth or vegetable broth and puree being careful not to explode or implode the contents. Don't ask me why I know that this can happen. Luckily it didn't hit the ceiling and the dogs aproved of the flavor as they were licking it off of the floor. Sometimes if you take the plastic handle thingy out of the top and put a thick thickness of paper toweling on top while you whir, it helps. When I made this, I sauteed some diced shallots and ginger first in olive oil and then added it to the mixture to puree. Or add some ground ginger. Be careful with the ginger, I added a small amount, and the heat was intense, it was fine for me, but the flavor intensified the next day also. Puree with broth until desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste unless you salt and peppered the squash when you roasted it.

For added richness, add some cream, if you want, although I think that I am a purest when it comes to butternut squash soup. I am quite happy with the uncreamed version.

Eat and enjoy. My family said, "EW, squash soup!" So I got to eat it all by myself and was very happy with my predicament.

Roasted Butternut squash

Roasted Butternut squash
Turn oven on to 400 Degrees FCut in half carefully, don't lose a digit. Cut off the stem end and the bottom end so that you have a steady squash for peeling and slicing. You really do need to be careful here, the squash is quite hard to cut and peel, and you could quite easily lose control. Don't have any small children at the counter when you do this.Peel carefully, I use a Chef's knife. The big intimidating one. You could try using a peeler, but I'm not that patient.DicePut on a sheet pan and drizzle with Olive oil, then add salt and pepper. Don't look at my gross/grody baking sheet. That's why I usually do fuzzy close-ups. Gorgeous color. Toss the dices around so that all are coated in the Olive Oil and are seasoned nicely. Roast at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.

It comes out all carmelly, sweet and delish. Yum. My favorite new thing to do.

Thanksgiving menu

I know, I know that I have been such a slacker lately. So many other things that won't wait have required my attention.

I have been thinking this morning about Thanksgiving and what I will do and some easy ideas that would make someone's dinner table look sensational but require a minimum of effort. I will include them in separate posts so that they can go into the recipe list.

I think that we will have our standard T-giving menu:

Appetizers-Spinach dip from Knorr vegetable soup mix, with french bread chunks, Vegetable or olive/pickle tray. Assorted Juices and soda as everyone assembles together. Ooooooo, and also have to have those Lil smokies. Wouldn't be quite the same without Lil Smokies.

Turkey, possibly a small ham also

Apple, sausage and sage dressing-I cook it separate from the bird so therefore it's called dressing. Something has always freaked me out about putting it in the turkey, plus I like the dressing crusty and crunchy on the top.

Maple pecan yams

Mashed potatoes/gravy-lately I used bottled gravy, don't hate me for this.

Potato salad-HUH? When I ask the family two weeks before t-giving what they want for turkey day, the Hubs alwasy responds with "POTATO SALAD". His mom always served Potato Salad for Thanksgiving. So while it sounds like, to me anyway, that it belongs more on a summer picnic menu, we have potato salad. Except for a couple of years when I was too lazy to make it and one year when I forgot to get it out from the fridge put it on the table.

Homemade cranberry relish/sauce-this is fantastic, just follow the recipe on the package of whole cranberries and you can make it a couple of days ahead. It's easy peezy.

Either that Green Pistachio salad, the fluffy kind with cool whip and pineapple in it or that Pretzel Strawberry salad. Both seem more like dessert than a salad, but, oh well.

Some kind of green vegetable. Which in my family means green beans unless you count the spinach from the appetizer.

Rolls. Sometimes I make homemade and freeze them a couple of weeks ahead. Sometimes I use Pillsbury tube crescent rolls, sometimes I buy them from the bakery at the grocery store.

Pumpkin pie, mincemeat pie and apple pie with whipped cream. Last year, I think for Christmas dinner, I had put a disk of homemade pie crust in the freezer when I had made the pies for Thanksgiving because it was leftover. So I pulled out that pie crust and let it defrost in the fridge, then made a pumpkin pie using it. It worked out great. So make your pie crusts now and freeze them for the day that you make pies or the day of Thanksgiving. Or I make turnovers using the leftover crust. Cherry filling, jam, apple pie filling, mincemeat, all yummy wrapped in pie crust, sprinkled with sugar, with a few tiny slits on top and baked to golder perfection and yumminess.

And I love to have little dishes of nuts and M&Ms throughout the house. With dogs and little kids, they have to be hidden or put up high now.


So now, there you have it. Now I will tell you what I have been doing this past week and this week to prepare for this. The grocery deals are smokin in Nov. You need to get on it. With last week's and this week's Mega 10 sale at Fry's I have been stocking up on baking items, cream soups, chunky soups, canned chili, broths, pumpkin, stuffing mixes, gravy, choc. chips, flour and sugar that I will use throughout the coming year. Take a few minutes to go to http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/ and get your coupons together and organize your list. Seriously, every time that I have gone to Fry's the past couple of days, I have saved over $70. For example, 7-Up and A&W root beer are .40 this week with a coupon and with buying ten Mega 10 products. We will either use it for Thanksgiving, or the kids are always asked to bring soda to a party or two around the holidays, or we will give them away as the neighborhood or friend's gifts.

I have also been using the really good buys, like .50 cookie mixes and .75 Stove top stuffings and .75 gravies to contribute to the school's Feed a Family for Thanksgiving drive. It feels good to help plus at these prices I can contribute double or triple or quadruple what I could have for the original prices. Gathering cheap canned goods for the little kids to help you deliver at a food bank is an excellent way to open up a conversation of how blessed we are to live in this country, how there are so many people who need help in the world, other countries standards of living and to discuss gratitude and thankfulness for what we have.

Bashas' and another store have Gold Medal flour for .99 this week. Bashas' price is just for the weekend, so read your ads! Fry's had toothbrushes for .89 last week and with the Colgate coupon doubled they were free. I need to see if the same is true this week. Would make for a very economicle stocking stuffer for Christmas. Also check the coupons for make up for your big girls for stocking stuffers. Or sometimes things like grooming supplies are dirt cheap if they are on sale with a coupon.

Now is also the time to polish the silver, wiped out the good goblets if they haven't been used in awhile and wipe off the china. Also if you're planning activities for visiting children or table favors or special table decorations, get them done now. Also buy any pans, candles or extras that you need now.

So what is your standard t-giving menu? What are YOU planning?

Energy Audits

Just a shout out for my cousin's boy, Mark, who recently started a home energy audit business. He's a good guy. If you're interested in having Mark do an energy audit of your home contact him at www.consultethos.com or check out his blog at www.consultethos.blogspot.com . He is licensed in Arizona and Utah to do these audits. Check out www.energysavers.gov/ for energy saving tips.

Here's to...

Licks on the chin from my puppy, warm cookies or muffins just out of the oven, homemade cards, being saved by a friend, friends helping and volunteering because you procrastinated for whatever reason...thank you, you know who you are. Here's to hugs from a child, hugs from a "not so little anymore" child, lunch being brought unexpectedly by my hubs, my best friend. Here's to being able to make and eat soup in the fall without sweating your brains out, to warm, out of the dryer clothes that warm your outsides, here's to thoughts that warm your soul. Here's to love and goods times and here's even to the not-so-good-times that make us stronger. Here's to the promise of a new day! I will get the new budget menu out tonight or tomorrow, promise.

Life

So, trying to get out the door this morning at 6:07 for Seminary when my daughter finally remembers that she needed a current event for a class at school today. She goes on the computer and of course, it's slow or freezing up or whatever. Murphy's Law, the computer never works when you really need it right now. She gets frustrated and says something in an agitated manner and I say something snarky about waiting until two minutes before we had to leave to do homework. All the while this is happening, I am bringing the newspaper into the house. She says something dramatically to the effect of, "Fine, I just won't do it, I just won't do it!" I say, "Go do it, I'll wait, it's fine." Then I ask, "I can come home and look it up while you're in Seminary, just tell me what you need." She replies, "No, I just won't do it, it's fine, let's go." Then, the old double "DUH" happens. I had just brought in the newspaper. THE NEWSPAPER. Remember those? So I grab the paper, grab some scissors, and viola, we're in business. Feeling stupid, but in business. She cuts out an article while I'm driving and she gets to Seminary in time. It wouldn't be fun I guess if we didn't have drama once in a while when getting ready for school/Seminary.

Other things going on around the house. The hubs has decided that he needs a new hobby and has taken up mini lathe turning of pens. You buy the "blanks" at the Rockler wood store or you can make your own blanks out of scrap wood. So far he has made a pen out of tulip wood, and one out of walnut. And the coolest material by far he's done, a pen out of a corn cob. Yes, you heard me right. You can buy the corn cob blanks at Rockler. They're treated with something to stabilize them so that they don't disintergrate when they are on the lathe. Also, you can buy acrilic blanks, or blanks with coffee beans, or spaghetti or wheat in them. When he gets the corn cob pen finished, I will post a picture. Blue corn cob Closer look at blue corn cob penYellow corn cob penCloser view of the yellow corn cob pen, but sorry, it's fuzzy. Tulip wood pen Walnut wood pen

Also my little dog is going blind in one eye. I feel like a dog nurse lately meeting scheduled medicine giving. I have pill dispensing and eye drop giving to a dog down to a science. I slip it underneath an animal cracker bit and she scarfs it down. The pills, I mean, not the eye drops. Cream cheese, chicken, peanut butter also work really well. Again for the pills, not the drops. I can just hear someone reading this saying, "No wonder she has an eye problem with all of that peanut butter in her eye." Ha.

On to putting the groceries away and then working on the budget menu.

If you don't think....

That it pays to buy groceries on sale, let me tell that it does. I just went to Bashas' before the sale this week ended to get a few things that I couldn't this morning because they were doing some work in the store. I bought 10 packs of bacon and 10 boxes of pasta for $25-something. I SAVED, let me repeat, that I SAVED $52! Can you believe that? Always buy on sale if you can.

Menu with what's on sale for the week of Oct. 13-Oct. 19

$77.08

Breakfast
1-Pop tarts, Juice
2-Yogurt, toast
3-Cold cereal, milk
4-Pancakes
5-Muffins, yogurt, raspberries
6-Cinnamon rolls
7-Cold cereal, milk

Lunch
1-Bologna sandwich, doritos chips
2-PB&J sandwich, grapes
3-turkey sandwich, strawberries
4-PB&J sandwich, cheetos
5-Turkey sandwich, nutri grain bars, bugles
6-Tomato soup, cheetos
7-Hot pockets, coke

Dinner
1-Mac & Cheese, crescents, asparagus either steamed or roasted
2-Cheese omelett, salad
3-Spaghetti, garlic toast, salad
4-Hot dogs, buns, carrot sticks, baked beans
5-Chicken and dumplings
6-Bacon and tomato sandwiches
7-Leftovers

Desserts
Dreyer's ice cream
Cookies

Albertson's
Buy 8 deal
1-Shake n pour pancake batter, .99
2-Betty Crocker cookie pouch, .99
3-Betty Crocker muffin mix, $1.99
4-Pillsbury crescent rolls, $1.49
5-Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, $1.49
6-Cinnamon toast crunch or another kind of cereal, $1.49
7-Progresso chicken broth, $1.49
8-Bugles, $1.49

Albertson's 1/2 gallon milk, .88, buy 4 at $3.52
Raspberries, .88
Bar S jumbo meat franks, .88
Carrots, $1/2# bag
Chicken, .88 lb, fam pack, I've allowed for $9.00

Bashas'
10 item deal
1-Hunts Pasta sauce, .69
2-Barilla pasta, .69
3-Sunny D, .69
4-Tillamook cheese, $1.29
5-Tillamook cheese, $1.29
6-Cheetos, $1.59
7-Tyson bacon, $1.99
8-Tyson bacon, $1.99
9-Nutri grain bars, $1.99
10-Hot dog buns, nature's Own, $1.29

Red seedless grapes, .77 lb., buy 2 lbs.
Red bell pepper, .99, buy one

Fry's
Baguette, .75
Private Selection mesquite smoked turkey, $4.25 lb., buy one lb.
Fry's large eggs, .84, buy 2
Kroger yogurt, 3/$1, buy 9
Bush's baked beans, 10/$10, buy one
Kroger Value bread, .88, buy 4
Buy 10 deal
1-Dreyers ice cream, $2.77
2-Coke, .79
3-Coke, .79
4-Kelloggs Poptarts, $1.49
5-Oscar Mayer bologna, $1.49
6-Hot pockets, $1.49
7-Hot pockets, $1.49
8-Kraft Mac & cheese, .49
9-Kraft Mac & cheese, .49
10-Doritos chips, $2.49

Safeway
Campbell's tomato soup, 2/$1, buy 2 cans

Sprouts
Strawberries, .97
Cucumber, .49
Asparagus, $1.49 lb.
Sweet onions, .77 lb.
Romaine lettuce, .77
Cluster tomatoes, .88 lb., buy one lb.

Items not on list:
flour, for dumplings
sugar
syrup
peanut butter
jelly
butter
spices, herbs
mayonnaise
mustard

Make-A-Mix

For those of you who have never heard of the Make-A-Mix cookbooks, let me tell you, that they have been around since 1978. I remember hearing about it about a year or two later and loving my paperback copy which I still have. I only mention all of this because I was able to see a demonstration by two of the authors, Karine Eliason and Nevada Harward, this past Tuesday. Their presentation focused on the importance of family meal time in a structured way, around the dinner table. If you find that you don't have time to cook each night you might want to check out their books, which give ideas for saving money and time with mixes that you make yourself at home on a day when you have time to cook. I wanted to put a picture of the books somewhere on this post but for fear of breaking copyright laws if you want to see them, then go here:

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Mix-KarineEliason/dp/0762426020#reader_076426020

Also check out their website with the link on my Favorites blog list or at:

http://www.make-a-mix.com/ Some great ideas for Halloween on there.

Homemade doughnuts

This recipe is brilliant. Brilliant, I say. I was strolling over at "$5 dinners" and found this
http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/10/angies-home-donuts.html
I am loving the convenience lately anyway of refrigerated biscuit dough in the tubes. When I made the Monkey Bread I was pleasantly surprised at how it tasted like a yeast dough when cooked in that way. I hope to try this soon and get a few photos of my own up with this post.

Perfect for fall weather and Halloween time, can you imagine a cup of hot spiced cider with this, or a even a cold glass of apple juice, oh yeah. This is the simple recipe in my own words:

Angie's Homemade Donuts
from the blog, "$5 dinners"

2 tubes of refrigerated biscuits
oil for frying
sugar for coating afterwards Line up the biscuits, use a pop bottle cap to cut out the center.Fry doughnuts and centers in hot oil, being careful not to start a fire or splash wicked hot grease on yourself. When golden brown on both sides, transfer to a paper towel lined plate, and while still hot put in a brown grocery bag with sugar and/or sugar and cinnamon and shake until coated. Or, if you would prefer to frost or glaze your donuts, omit the sugar coating step and make a simple glaze.Above photo shows a plain glaze made out of powdered sugar, vanilla, water and a touch of butter. I think that I would have to make a chocolate glaze to top mine though. With sprinkles on top.
Above, chocolate glaze, no sprinkles. These turned out small because they were from the smaller biscuits. We liked them a lot. They taste different than a bakery donut, but we liked them enough to do it again. They fry up quick, it maybe took me 30 minutes from start to finish. That included making two different kinds of glazes and glazing them. And watching part of "the Price is Right"!

Bruschetta

Few things get scarfed down in this house with the same intensity as this and a loaf of good french bread toasted to perfection do.

Bruschetta
from Sue S.

3 T. Basalmic vinegar

5 Roma tomatoes

2 T. finely chopped fresh basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 T. chopped garlic, or to taste (I use garlic salt or powder)

1 T. Olive Oil

Mix together everything, then drizzle the olive oil over all and toss.

Slice french bread, brush or drizzle with olive oil, and then put under the broiler to toast. Put a spoonful of mix on the bread and eat. Yummy!

Menu for the week with what's on sale for Sept. 29-Oct. 5

$83.93

Breakfast
1-Pancakes, syrup, apple juice
2-Cold cereal, milk
3-Cold cereal, milk, banana slices
4-Panckaes, syrup
5-Creme Brule French toast. See recipe at cloud on right under eggs or breakfast. Use a french bread for this.
6-Cold cereal, milk
7-Pancake, syrup

Lunch
1-PB&J sandwich, granola bar, mini carrots
2-PB&J sandwich, pudding cup
3-Bagel with cream cheese, apple
4-PB&J, granola bar
5-Pasta salad, grapes, crackers
6-Chicken Noodle soup, apple, crackers
7-Tomato soup, crackers

Dinner
1-Banquet Meat Pie, salad
2-Taco soup, see recipe at cloud on right under soups. Tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese as toppers. Use garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper as the seasoning instead of buying a packet of taco seasoning.
3-Fish filets, frozen vegetable
4-Pasta salad, french bread. Pasta, Kroger ranch or italian dressing, zucchini dices, blanched broccoli.
5-Ground beef and bean burritos. Use garlic salt and chili powder as seasoning. You might want to add an extra package of cheese onto your grocery list at $1.25 per package.
6-Vegetable lasagne, salad. Use some of the blanched zucchini and broccoli and red pepper and onion. Make a while sauce and layer vegetables and lasagne noodles together and top with cheese.
7-Macaroni and cheese, fresh green beans, hot dogs either whole or cut into coins, french bread. Leftover vegetables if any.

Albertson's
French bread, .99, buy 2
Iceberg lettuce, .49, buy 2
Smucker's grape jelly, $1.29
Zucchini, $1 lb., buy .50 worth
Santitas tortilla chips, $1.77
Albertson's frozen vegetables, 10/$10, buy 1 or add a dollar to the total and buy 2 if you need to
Ground beef, $1.97 with 5 lb. minimum, 5 lbs. at $9.85

Bashas'
Gala apples, 2 lbs./$1, limit 6 lbs. Buy 6 lbs. at $3.00
Bashas' milk, $1.68, limit 2, buy 2
Seedless grapes, .79 lb, buy 2 lbs.
Red bell pepper, .99
Del Monte vegetables, 2/$1, buy 1, buy corn
Del Monte tomat sauce, 2/$1, buy 1
Buy 2 cans of tomatoes, I've allowed for $1/can, buy 2 fifteen oz. cans at $2
Buy 5 Promotion
1-Aunt Jemima pancake mix, $1.59
2-Aunt Jemima pancake syrup, $1.59
3-Life cereal, $1.59
4-Life cereal, $1.59
5-Quaker granola bars, $1.59

Half and Half, $1.99
Onions, 2#/$1, buy one at .50
Fresh green beans, .99 lb.
Hunt's snack pack pudding, 10/$10, buy 1
Campbell's chicken noodle soup and tomato soup, buy two of each at $2.00
Kraft mac & cheese, 5/$4, buy 2
Triscuit or wheat thins crackers, 2/$4, use coupon from the ad and get a dollar off, so 2 for $3
Banquet pot pies, .44, buy 4 at $2.64
Dole bananas, .48 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $1.44
Eggs, I've allowed for $1.39/doz., buy 2 doz.
Lasagne noodles, I've allowed for $1.99

Fry's
Langer's apple juice, .99
Barilla Pasta, 10/$10, buy 1
Kroger salad dressing, 10/$10
Kroger bar or shredded cheese, 4/$5, buy 1
Kroger mini carrots, 10/$10, buy 1
Gorton's fish, 2/$7, buy 1
Kroger sour cream, $1
Broccoli or cauliflower, 10/$10, buy 1 lb. of brocc.
Bar S franks, 10/$10
Bush's beans, 10/$10, buy 2
Kroger cream cheese, 10/$10, buy 1
Kroger bagels, 10/$10, buy 1
Pillsbury brownie mix, 10/$10, buy 1
Kroger value bread, .88, buy 2
Kroger value peanut butter, $1.50
Four tortillas, I've allowed for $1.99

Items not on the grocery list:
Mayo
herbs, spices
sugar
brown sugar
taco seasoning packet
butter
fresh tomatoes

Creme Brule French Toast

For a brunch, holiday or if you're LDS, a Conference morning breakfast. My friend Tanya gave us this recipe and I have not tried it yet. NOTE: Obviously, since I have a picture of it now, I have tried it since I first wrote this. I found it easy and my family thought it was delicious. It's going in the file and will be used for special occassions.

Creme Brule French Toast
From my friend Tanya

1/2 C. unsalted butter
1 C. packed brown sugar
2 T. corn syrup
Bread, sliced to cover butter mixture (5-6 slices)
5 large eggs
1 1/2 C half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

In a saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Pour into a 9x13 glass baking dish. Arrange bread pieces on top. Beat eggs, half and half, vanilla and salt. Pour egg mixture over the bread. Cover and chill overnight in refrigerator. The next morning, bake uncovered @ 350 degrees for 34-40 minutes.

Golden brown and yummy---enjoy.

Menu with what's on sale for the week of Sept. 22-Sept. 28

Some really great deals going on this week and one I stumbled onto for Barilla pasta. Buy four and get a catalina coupon at the register good for $2 off on 3 piccolini pasta boxes. Buy four more and use the coupon and then get another coupon b/c you bought 4 more and keep on going back for pasta at .50/box b/c it's on sale for $1/box. This was at Fry's. Also at Fry's at the newly remodeled store on Tatum/Shea, Starkist Albacore tuna for .50/can. Raspberries for $1 a box, limit 4 at Fry's. I am seriously thinking about making a couple of more batches of freezer jam to use for neighbor/friend's gifts at Christmas. It would be already done, all I would have to do is reach into my freezer when I am ready to take them a goodie. Or I may dip marshmallows in chocolate and pack them into a clear bag. Can't decide. 90 days, 13 hrs., and 45 minutes til Christmas, in case you were wondering. Last year what I tried to do was to buy a couple of gifts every week starting with the first week of September so that it wasn't so overwhelming to me when Thanksgiving was over with and the Christmas frenzy hit. I haven't started yet, but need to get on it.

$75.83

Breakfast
1-Cold cereal, milk, banana
2-Yogurt/toast, hard boiled egg
3-Cold cereal, milk, peaches
4-Cold cereal, milk
5-Cold cereal, milk
6-Oatmeal, raspberries
7-Cold cereal, milk

Lunch
1-Tuna sandwich, carrots
2-Lunchmeat sandwich, grapes, crackers
3-Bagel with cream cheese, grapes
4-Tuna sandwich, apple wedges
5-PB&J sandwich, orange
6-Ramen noodles, apple wedges
7-Ramen noodles, crackers

Dinner
1-Spaghetti, french bread stick, salad
2-Favorite chicken, see chicken on recipe cloud, canned vegetable
3-Tacos
4-Fish, baked potato/butter, canned vegetable
5-Salad, cheese toast on french bread stick slices
6-Chunky soup(Beef, most likely, or some kind of chicken flavor if you'd like) over mashed potatoes
7-Breakfast for dinner, scrambled eggs and toast. Hash browns if any potatos are left. Or Fry's Mac & Cheese for $1 for 2 boxes.

Dessert:
Peach/Raspberry Crisp, see Pies/Crisps on recipe cloud
Brownies

Albertsons:
Buy 8
1-Albertson's bread, .89
2-Albertson's bread, .89
3-Albertson's bread, .89
4-Albertson's cereal, .99
5-Albertson's cereal, .99
6-Albertson's cereal, .99
7-Long grain rice, .99
8-Classico pasta sauce, $1.79

Albertson's butter, 99
Green grapes, .77 lb., buy 2
Mini carrots, .77
Land O Frost shaved deli lunchmeat, $1.99
Albertson's Taco shells, 10/$10, buy 1
Maruchan Ramen noodles, 6/$1, buy 6
Radish or green onions, 3/$1, buy one green onion bunch at .33

Bashas'
Milk, .88 1/2 gallon, buy 4 at $3.52
Bashas large eggs, .77 dozen on Monday only, buy 2
Chompies bagels, $1.99
Philadelphia cream cheese, $1.99
5 lb. bag russet potatoes, .77
Split chicken breasts, .97 lb., buy 6 at $5.82
Dole garden salad, .77, buy 3 at $2.31
Food Club yogurt, 10/$4, buy 4 at $1.60
French stick bread, $1.49, buy 2 at $2.98
Dole bananas, .48 lb., buy 5 lbs. at $2.40
80% lean ground beef at $1.48 lb. in 3# chub at $4.44

Fry's
Raspberries, $1, buy 2
Yellow peaches, .59 lb, buy 3 at $1.77
Kroger tuna, 20/$10, buy 2 at $1.00
Pillsbury brownie mix, 10/$10, buy 1
Gorton's fish fillets, 2/$7, buy 1 at $3.50
Apples, $1 lb., buy 3 lbs.
Fry's spaghetti, .88
Kroger Value peanut butter, $1.49
Fry's chicken broth, .89, 2 cans, check recipe for sure that it's 2 cans, if not add .89 onto total
Kraft cheese, $1.67, buy 2
Campbell's Chunky soup, 10/$10, buy 2 cans
Fry's mac & cheese, .50, buy 2 at $1 if you opt for mac & cheese on #7 instead of eggs/toast

Safeway
Navel oranges, .88 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $2.64, Sat., Sun. and Monday only
Mushrooms, .99
Safeway canned vegetables, .79, buy 2 cans
Ritz crackers, $1.88, Sat., Sun., and Mon. only

Sprouts
Oats, .79 lb, buy 2 lbs. at $1.58

Items not on list
jelly
flour
sugar
brown sugar
spices, herbs
Mayonnaise
salad dressings
tartar sauce
sour cream
Mayonnaise
taco sauce or salsa
tomatoes

Another Monkey Bread Recipe

So how many monkeys does it take to make Monkey Bread?

Monkey Bread
from Sooz

24 Frozen Rhodes balls
1/2 small box butterscotch pudding mix (not instant)
1/2 C. magarine
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1-Place dough balls in unbuttered bundt pan. (I cut them into quarters) (So I assume that they are thawed then)

2-Sprinkle pudding over the dough

3-Melt margaine and brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour over top. Leave overnight. (Not sure if you would leave it on the counter or in the fridge overnight, I'll have to ask Sooz.) Bake 350 for 20-30 minutes. Invert to cool.

Rasberry Jam

Loving the Raspberries. I made two batches of Raspberry Jam two weeks ago. I just use the recipe for freezer jam contained in either the Sure-Jell package or the Kroger brand pectin. The Kroger brand is about half the price. Anyway, Albertson's has raspberries on sale again this week so I want to get more and make more freezer jam. Aren't they beautiful? Probably don't look as ripe as they should be to those of you who have your own raspberry bushes.I seive at least half of the pulp to avoid so many seeds.

Monkey bread

I wasn't fast enough to get a photo of this before it began to be eaten. I made this this morning. So good. And I used cheap Bashas' Food Club brand tube biscuits at .66 each. Worked out marvelous. The husband got this recipe from our friend Tom. It is now afternoon and all of the Monkey bread is gonzo. Tom says that making the cream cheese icing below and putting some on top of the bread while it is still warm is yummy, and then making sure you have some for dipping is necessary. I didn't know cream cheese icing was an option when I made this so we had it without. I think that we consumed enough calories without it.
Monkey Bread
from Tom H.
who got it from http://www.famousfrenchdesserts.com/

for 8 people
4 tubes Biscuits (refridgerated)
3/4 C. granulated sugar
3/4 C additional granulated sugar
1/3 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. evaporated milk
1 C. butter
1.5 C. chopped pecans (I made it without nuts)
2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut biscuits into quarters. The biscuits I used were small so I cut them into thirds.. Combine 3/4 C. white sugar with the cinnamon. Roll each biscuit quater in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. In a cake pan or baking dish, (I used two bread pans), layer the biscuits and the pecans. In a saucepan, slowly bring milk, remaining 3/4 C. white sugar, brown sugar, and butter to a boil. Remove from heat. Pour over biscuits in the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until it is cooked to your liking! Flip pan over onto a serving dish and serve right away! Voila!

Variations:

Chopped almonds instead
Layer apple chunks and walnuts with biscuits
Layer biscuits with strawberry jam and fresh strawberry slices, omit cinnamon
Apricot jam
Raspberry jam and mixed berries

Icing
1/2 pound cream cheese (8 oz.)
1/2 pound butter (1 C.)
1 pound powdered sugar (4 C.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
t tsp. lemon juice

Allow cream cheese and butter to get to room temperature. Beat butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl with a mixer. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Mix for 12 minutes. Do not mix less than that. When almost done, add in the extract and lemon juice.

Menus with what's on sale for the week of Sept. 7-Sept. 14

$78.04


Breakfast
1-Cold cereal, milk and juice
2-Instant oatmeal, juice
3-Cold cereal, banana
4-French toast, juice
5-Instant oatmeal, peaches
6-Cold cereal, milk, juice
7-Eggs, toast

Lunch
1-Bologna sandwich, banana
2-PB&J sandwich, grapes
3-Bologna sandwich, cheez its crackers, orange
4-PB&J sandwich, cottage cheese
5-Spaghetti salad(leftover spaghetti noodles, tomatoes, onion, leftover vegs, vinegar and oil and italian herbs), green salad
6-Soup, apple wedges
7-Soup, oranges sections

Dinner
1-Turkey burgers, potato salad
2-Spaghetti Alfredo, salad
3-London broil, baked potato, green beans
4-Chicken thighs, brown rice, broccoli
5-Taco soup, salad, biscuits. Tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream as toppers. See Taco soup recipe under soups in recipe section
6-Chicken salad, cantaloupe wedges. See recipe for chicken salad under Polynesian chicken salad in recipes section. Leave out mandarin oranges. Add scallions and celery to grocery list and total if desired.
7-Leftovers

Dessert:
Root beer floats
Ice cream

Albertson's:
Albertson's sandwich bread, .77 each with coupon, limit 2, buy 2 at $1.54
Iceberg lettuce, .47 each with coupon, limit 2, buy 2 at .94
Ground turkey, $1.99 for 1# with coupon limit 2, buy 1
Albertson's milk, $1.67, limit 2, buy 2 at $3.34
Campbell's soup, $1, buy 4 at $4
Seedless grapes, .79 lb, buy 2 at $1.58
Chicken thighs, .79 lb, buy 3 lbs. at $2.37
American beauty pasta, $1
Bar S Junbo franks, $1
Bar S bologna, $1
Albertson's sour cream, $1
Malt O Meal cereals, $1, buy 4
Albertson's instant oatmeal packs, $1
Albertson's cheese, 2 lbs., $4.99
Onions, $1 lb., I've allowed for 1 lb., buy 1 onion

Bashas'
Food Club canned biscuits, .66
Cheez its snacks, $1.88
Challenge butter, $1.98
Libby's Vegetables, 10/$5, buy 1 can corn at .50
Food Club Peanut butter, 2/$3, buy 1
Food Club grape jelly, 2/$3, buy 1
Lawry's taco seasoning, 2/$1, buy 1 at .50
Fiesta tortilla chips, .99
Shamrock Farms cottage cheese, $1.99
Old Orchard juice blends, 4/$5, buy 1 at $1.25
Dole bananas, .48 lbs, limit 6 lbs., buy 6 lbs. at $2.88
Eggs, I've allowed for $1.39, buy 2 doz.

Fry's
Gala apples, 2 lbs/$1, buy 4 lbs.
Kroger ice cream, $1.77
Kroger cranberry juice, $1.98
Hunt's tomatoes, .89, buy 3 cans, puree one in the blender to use as tomato sauce
Kroger Value bread, .88, buy 2, you may be able to get by with one loaf
Hamburger buns, I've allowed for $1.50

Safeway
Rancher's Reserve boneless london broil, $1.99 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $5.97. Have one lb. ground into hamburger for the Taco soup
Ragu sauce. Buy alfredo if you'd like. .99
A&W root beer, .77. Monday only
Yoplait yogurt, .50. Buy one vanilla for the chicken salad recipe

Sprouts
Peaches, .49, buy 5 lbs. at $2.45
Cantaloupe, .77 each
Green beans, .88 bls, buy 2 lbs.
Broccoli crowns, .88 lb.
5# bag russet potatoes, .88 each
Vine ripe tomatoes, .77 lb., buy 2 lbs.
Brown rice, .69 lb., buy 1 lb.

Items not on grocery list:
Mayo
mustard
flour
sugar
spices
salad dressing
celery
scallions
mandarin oranges
syrup or powdered sugar

Menu with what's on sale for the week of Sept. 1-Sept. 7

$73.05

Breakfast
1-Pancakes, cranberry juice
2-Oatmeal
3-French toast, bacon
4-Waffles, cranberry juice
5-Oatmeal
6-Corn griddle cakes
7-Oatmeal

Lunch
1-PB&J sandwich, crackers, banana, Kool Aid
2-Suddenly Salad, crackers, Kool Aid
3-PB&J sandwich, potato chips, grapes
4-PB&J sandwich, potato chips, carrots
5-PB&J sandwich, grapes
6-Hot dog, banana
7-Suddenly salad, watermelon

Dinner
1-Hamburgers with buns, potato salad, corn on the cob, Big K soda
2-Hot dog on bun, pork and beans, watermelon
3-Pasta Alfredo, salad, garlic baquette
4-Chicken, broccoli and rice
5-Salad, baguette, raspberries
6-Sloppy joes, potato chips, cole slaw. See ground beef under recipes for how I make Sloppy Joes
7-Leftovers

Dessert
Peanut butter cookies
Brownies
Grilled pineapple with vanilla ice cream(add .98 to the grocery total and buy the pineapple at Fresh & Easy)
Ice cream

Albertson's
Broccoli or cauliflower, 2 lbs./$1, buy 2 lbs.
Albertson's buns, .88, buy 2 hamburger and 2 hot dog
Baby red potatoes, $2.99 each
Fresh express cole slaw, 2/$3, buy 1

Bashas'
Campbell's pork and beans, 3/$1, buy 3
Kraft Mayonnaise, $2.99
Bar S meat franks with shocker coupon and min. $10 purchase, .47, limit 2, buy 2
Blue Bunny ice cream, $1.67 with shocker coupon and min. $10 purchase, limit 1, buy 1
Corn, 6/$1, buy 6
Jiffy corn muffin mix, 2/$1, buy one at .50
Krusteaz Pancake mix, $1.99
Food Club butter, $2.49
Dole bananas, .48 lb., buy 8 lbs.
Watermelon, .15 lb., buy 10 lbs. at $1.50
Eggs, I allowed for $1.39 doz., buy 2 doz.
Milk, I allowed for $2 gal., buy 2 at $4

Fry's
Ocean Spray Cranberry juice cocktail, $1.88
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $1.77 lb, buy 2 lbs. at $3.54
Farmer John bacon, $1.77
Organic red seedless grapes, .77 lb., buy 3 lbs.
Dole Salad, $1 each, buy 2
Lay's Potato chips, $1.77, buy 2
Kroger Peanut butter, 10/$10, buy 2
Ragu alfredo sauce, $1.67
Pillsbury brownie mix, 10/$10, buy 1
Suddenly Salad, $1.47, buy 2
Big K soda, .69
Kool Aid, 10/$1, buy 10
Rice, I've allowed for $2.99
Kroger mini carrots, $1
LaBrea baguette, .99, buy 2
Kroger Value bread, .88, buy 4
Fry's pasta, .88
sweet onion, $1 lb.

Sprouts
Ground beef, $1.99 lb., buy 4 lbs. at $7.96
Oats, .69 lb., buy 3 lbs.
Raspberries, .97, buy 2

Fresh and Easy
If you wish to have grilled pineapple buy Del Monte Pineapple at .98 extra to grocery total

Items not on list:
sugar
oil
vinegar
salad dressings
ketchup
brown sugar
worcestershire

What to have for Labor Day

I've looked through the new ads for this week briefly while waiting for someone this morning. This is typically a good week to shop for and stockpile condiments and hot dogs and meat.

I was trying to think what would sound good for our evening meal on Labor Day. Sadly, seems like we are never together at once lately for meals. Or we are coming and going so the table never gets set. It's a shame.

I always gravitate to burgers, hot dogs or brats, potato salad and beans for summer holiday meals. I should be more creative, but I'm not. Or maybe it's just that I choose to not mess with perfection.

I am feeling like I need banana cupcakes today so I will excuse myself shortly to go make these:

Now for some ideas for the Labor Day Menu using what's on sale this week:

Fry's is still taking competitor's coupons so take advantage of the Fresh & Easy coupons for $3 off of a $30 purchase or $5 off of a $50 purchase when buying groceries this week or for your Labor Day BBQ

Fry's:

Organic red grapes, .77 lb.=chilled on ice, nothing better to refresh yourself when you're out in the sun at a swim meet or little league practice or soccer game. Or freeze them for a frozen treat.

Pork Loin Back ribs, $1.97 lb.=BBQ ribs

Boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.77 lb.=BBQ chicken

Farmer John Bacon, $1.77 each.=baked beans, jalepeno poppers, hearty breakfast

Hebrew national beef franks, $1.97 each=hot dogs

Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and Van Camp's pork and beans, .97=baked beans

Dreyer's ice cream, $1.99=brownies ala mode, ice cream sundae bar, root beer floats, strawberry or chocolate shakes

Lay's Potato chips, $1.77=once described by my friend Margie as "the world's most perfect food." Best eaten from the bag, on the way home from the grocery store. Or serve with dip.

Kroger dip, 10/$10

Pillsbury brownie mix, 10/$10=brownies ala mode, brownie blizzard

Keebler Fudge shoppe cookies, $1.66=S'mores

Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad, $1.47

Fresh and Easy:

Mixed grill Pack, $5.99=sausage, hamburger, chicken

Boneless New York Steak family Pack, $4.99 lb.

Pure water, in multiples of 2, 2/$5 for 24 pack

Del Monte gold pineapple, .98=grilled pineapple with vanilla ice cream, fruit skewers/kabobs

Bashas':

Food Club cheese, .99=Cheeseburgers, potato skins

Campbell's pork and beans, 3/$1=baked beans

Split chicken breasts, .98 lb.=BBQ chicken

Colorado Olathe Corn, 6/$1, limit 12=grilled corn with chili butter or lime. Butter or Parmesan. Cheddar corn chowder.

Rib Eye steak, $3.98 lb.=grilled steak with a compound herb butter put on top to serve or seasoned with steak seasoning and grilled to perfection

Bar S Meat franks, with Shocker coupon at $10 additional purchase, .47=hot dogs

Lay's potato chips, $1.77

Arrowhead water, $2.88

Blue Bunny ice cream with shocker coupon, $1.67

Watermelon, .15 lb.

Dole bananas, .48 lb.=banana cupcakes, banana splits, banana cream pie, chocolate covered frozen bananas

Sprouts:

Raspberries, .97=berry salad, raspberries sprinkled around decadent frosted brownies or atop a chocolate cake, raspberry ice cream, raspberry freezer jam on cheesecake pie, raspberry shortcake, Peach/Raspberry Crisp, yum

Extra lean ground beef, $1.99 lb.=hamburgers, tacos

Safeway:

Fresh King Salmon Fillets, $6.99 lb.=grilled or baked salmon

Sweet Large red lion nectarines, .99 lb.=nectarine tart

Albertson's:

Pork loin baby back ribs, buy 1, get 2 free with in-store coupon, limit 1 reward per transaction=BBQ ribs

Whole seedless watermelon, $1.88 each, limit 2=ice cold refreshing watermelon wedges, or melon salad

Lay's potato chips or Wheat thins or Pace salsa, 3/$5=appetizers while grilling

Albertson's buns, .88=Hamburgers or Hot dogs

Hebrew National hot dogs, $1.97=hot dogs

Gourmet baby red potatoes, 1.5 lb. bag, $2.99 each=roasted red garlic potatoes, potato salad

Fry's Grand re-opening on Tatum/shea

Fry's milk, $1.59 gal., limit 2

Fry's large eggs, .59, limit 2=deviled eggs

menu for the week with what's on sale, 25 Aug. to 31 Aug.

Forgive me, I've had a time converting back to school in session for the kids. And the week before I spent the week doing jury duty and making cookies for my son's Eagle Court of Honor. If you are a family of two, there are some things that you can't cut down on with this grocery list, but the good news is that it may last you for two weeks instead of one. Just change about the dinner ideas a little, freeze the leftover spaghetti and pot roast and you are good to go.

Here it is:
$76.25

Breakfast
1-Yogurt, toast, juice
2-Oatmeal, raspberries
3-Oatmeal
4-Oatmeal, peaches
5-Eggs, toast, sausage
6-Oatmeal, yogurt
7-French toast

Lunch
1-PB&J sandwich, orange sections
2-Bologna sandwich, crackers
3-PB&J sandwich, crackers, lemonade
4-PB&J sandwich, strawberries
5-Bologna sandwich, snack pack pudding cup
6-Ramen Noodles, goldfish crackers
7-Ramen noodles, carrots if any are left

Dinner
1-Chicken tacos, cheese, sour cream, taco sauce, lettuce if desired
2-Banquet meat pies, have allowed for four
3-Spaghetti and salad
4-Polynesian chicken salad, cantaloupe wedge and roll
see recipe under "salads" at side
5-Mac & cheese with hot dog coins, roll
6-Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, baby carrots, steamed broccoli
7-Leftovers, soda pop

Dessert and snacks
Yellow cake plain or with strawberries and whipped cream
Brownies
Strawberries and cream
Popcorn

Albertson's
boneless skinless chicken breasts, 4 lbs. aprox. $7
Albertson's lg. egg, .79 with coup from ad, limit 2, buy 2
Russet potatoes, 10# bag, $1.99 with coup from ad
Maruchan ramen, .10 with coup from ad, limit 24, buy 4 at .40
Kraft Mac & cheese, .69 with coup from ad, limit 4, buy 2
Armour sizle and serve sausage, .88 with coup from ad, limit 4, buy 1
Bar S jumbo meat franks, .77
Raspberries, .99
Bar S Bologna, .97
Banquet Pot Pies, .69, buy 4 at $2.76
Triscuits or wheat thins crackers, $1.99
mini carrots, $1

Bashas'
Chuck roast, $1.77 lb, buy 3 lbs. at $5.31
Strawberries, .99, buy 2
Whipped cream in a can, $1.99
Betty Crocker brownie mix, $1
Food Club popcorn, $1
Bashas milk, 1/2 gal, 10/$10, buy 4 at $4
Del Monte spaghetti sauce, $1
Dole pineapple, $1
dole mandarin oranges, $1
Old Orchard juice, $1
Pepsi, .89
Dinner rolls, 12 count, $1.99

Fry's
Kroger sour cream, $1
Kroger lemonade, $1
Kroger Peanut butter, 10/$10, buy 1
Kroger grape jelly, 10/$10, buy 1
Fry's sandwich bread, 10/$10, buy 3
Sanck Pack pudding, 10/$10, buy 1
Goldfish crackers, 10/$10, buy 1
Kroger salad dressing 10/$10, buy 1
Ortega taco shells, $1.49
Ortega taco sauce, $1.49
Kroger shredded cheese, 2/$3
Nabisco snack crackers, $1.99
green onions, 2/$1, buy 1

Safeway
Lucerne yogurt, 10/$4, buy 10, buy one vanilla flavored for the chicken salad
Betty Crocker cake mix, .99
Safeway Pasta, .89

Sprouts
Cantaloupe, 3/$1, buy 1
Peaches, .88 lb, buy 2 lbs. at $1.76
Roma tomatoes, .88 lb.
Valencia oranges, .88 lb., buy 4 lbs at $3.52
Cauliflower or broccoli, .88 lb.
Oats, .69 lb, buy 4 lbs. at $2.76
Lettuce, I've allowed for $1

Items not on the grocery list:
Mayonnaise
mustard
herbs, spices
sugar
oil
butter

Edible transfers

It's really blurry. But it's the Boy Scout logo on an edible transfer. I just had to share this with you. I made sugar cookies for my son's Eagle Court of Honor and put these transfers on some of the cookies. It's the first time that I'd ever worked with this before. They peeled off like a sticker and then I put them on the newly frosted cookie and they kind of become one with the frosting and melt into it. the cookies looked great but unfortunately I didn't take a picture of one before they all got eaten.

What's for dinner?

I have no idea what to do for dinner tonight. We've eaten stuffed pork chops all week long that were leftover from Sunday's dinner. Also keilbasa with Rice A Roni and meat loaf. And Shepherd's Pie. And a big green salad last night with nothing eggciting but hard boiled eggs on it and for the adventurous among us, dried cranberries and onion/raspberry vinaigrette. Nothing sounds good to me today. The family would probably be happy with Pizza tonight but the wicked truth is, and call me crazy, I get tired of pizza. I would not fare well being a teen in this day and age. Seems like that is the menu for every party. I guess that I could go to Fry's and buy 4 lunchables and 4 Powerades on the "8" sale and call it dinner for a grand total of $3.88. I could. I probably won't though. What are you planning for dinner?

Menu with what's on sale for the week of 11 Aug. to 17 Aug.

Busy week with getting back into the swing of school. Also a few disappointments from last week have been wiped away by a really good surprise this week. Funny how you can struggle with something thinking it is a good thing and when it just doesn't work out and something else slides into place almost effortlessly...life is funny.

So...food sales this week. Fry's has a really good buy 8 items sale, get $4 off this week. If you have kids in swim or football or cross country, go get some Powerade for .38 each this week to have on hand for buddy bags or for dehydration prevention. I'm not sure how many 8's you can do in one transaction. I did two today.

$72.81

Breakfast
1-Breakfast tacos. Flour tortillas with scrambled egg, cheese, cooked crumble sausage.
2-Banana Pancakes, Sunny D
3-Oatmeal
4-Peaches, yogurt
5-Pancakes, syrup, Sunny D
6-Oatmeal
7-Oatmeal

Lunch
1-PB&J sandwich, carrots and celery, Capri Sun drink
2-PB&J sandwich, grapes, Capri Sun drink
3-Lunchmeat sandwich, grapes
4-PB&J sandwich, carrots, apple
5-Lunchmeat sandwich, carrots, fruit bowl
6-PB&J sandwich, wheat thins, yogurt
7-Egg salad sandwich, wheat thins, whatever fruit is leftover

Dinner
1-Eggplant/Zucchini parmesan, green salad. See recipe at side under "Vegetarian". Use a can of stewed tomatoes blended in the blender with herbs for the marinara or buy a jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce and add the price into the total. If you don't buy the stewed tomatoes, then adjust the "8" list
2-Tacos, watermelon
3-London Broil, corn on the cob
4-Chicken, grilled or baked, mashed potatoes, chilled canned peaches
5-Chicken noodle soup made with carrots, celery, canned broth, some onion, pasta/macaroni and leftover chicken from idea #4
6-Green salad with cumcumber, tomatoes, leftover steak or chicken if there is any, hardboiled egg wedges, Kaiser rolls
7-Breakfast for dinner, Waffles, syrup and sausage links, Sunny D

Albertson's
London Broil, $1.97 lb., buy 2 lbs. at $3.94
Seedless grapes, .77 lb. buy 2 lbs. at $1.54
Albertson's large eggs, .88, buy 2 doz.
Farmer John breakfast links, 10/$10, buy 2
Don Pancho tortillas, 10/$10, buy 1
La Moderna pasta, 5/$1, buy 1 at .20
Kaiser Rolls, $1.99, 6 count

Bashas'
Bashas' milk, $1.67 gal, buy 2 at $3.34
Chicken drums, thighs, leg 1/4's, .77 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $2.31
California peaches, .59 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $1.77
Tillamook cheese, $1.77, buy 2 pkgs., make one mozzarella for the Eggplant/Zucchini Parmesan
Food Club lunch meat, $2.99
Krusteaz Pancake mix, 2/$4, buy 1
Food Club syrup, 2/$4, buy 1
Dole bananas, .48 lbs, buy 5 lbs. at $2.40
Celery, .99 each
Taco seasoning, I've allowed for $1.00

Fry's
Buy "8" list
1-Del Monte sliced peaches, .79
2-Del Monte stewed or diced tomatoes, .79 (whir in the blender and add italian herbs to it)
3-Betty crocker Pouch Potatoes, .49
4-Betty Crocker Pouch Potatoes, .49
5-Sunny D
6-Sunny D
7-Capri Sun drinks, $1.27
8-Old El Paso taco shells, .99

Super lean ground beef, $1.77 lb. in 2 lb. chub, $3.54
Mini watermelon, $1
Kroger yogurt, .40, buy 8, $3.20
Kroger fruit bowls, $1.67
Chicken broth, I'ved allowed .99, buy 4
Kroger Value bread, .88, buy 4
Onion, I've allowed $1
Cottage cheese, I've allowed $1.50 (in place of ricotta for the Zucchini/Eggplant Parmesan

Safeway
Wheat thins, 2/$4, buy 1
Zucchini, .99 lb.

Sprouts
Cucumbers, .49 each
Sweet corn, 4/$1, buy 4
Fuji apples, .88 lb., buy 3 at $2.64
Iceberg lettuce, .88 each, buy 2 at $1.76
Baby carrots, .88
Roma tomatoes, .69 lb., buy 2 lbs. at $1.76
Eggplant, .88 each
Oats, 2 lbs./$1, buy 4 lbs. at $2.00

Items not on grocery list:
Butter
Mayo
Parmesan
oil
salad dressing
herbs and seasonings
Italian herbs
fresh herbs
pickle relish

Summer Punch Slush

Also known as the Wedding reception punch, this slush is wonderful in the hot summer days in Phoenix or...anywhere. So refreshing and cool. I myself, have made this for a couple of weddings, and it's always a hit. It's still blistering hot out, 114 this afternoon at 4:50p.m., so make this for your family, they will love you for it.

Summer Punch Slush
from Margie M.

One 12 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate
One 12 oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
2 teaspoons almond flavoring (I have made this without the almond flavoring and we still liked it a lot)
20 cups water

Mix well to dissolve sugar. Freeze in one large tupperware-type container or in several gallon size zip-lock baggies placed in the large Tupperware container. Set out about an hour before serving to partially thaw. Smash it up and add a cold 7-Up type pop to make into a smooth slush. I use a potato masher to smash it up smooth.

Have one or two 2-liter bottles of ice-cold pop on hand. You probably won't use but one.

Summer Punch
Makes one gallon

This is the same punch but in unfrozen state and without the fizz of the pop. Or you could add some pop if you wanted to.

1 small can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 small can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 teasponn vanilla flavoring

Mix well to dissolve sugar. Pour into a gallon container and fill to top with water. Refrigerate until well chilled so the flavors blend. Shake or stir before pouring.

Menu with what's on sale for the week of 4 Aug. to 10 Aug.

OK, so a little late again. There have been some good deals to be had this week so I hope that you are reading your grocery ads. I got a pork loin at Bashas' on Sat. for around $13 and am going this morning for the .99 Cranberry juice. In a couple of weeks when it gets closer to the national norm of school opening, there will be good prices on peanut butter, granola bars, canned soup.

$79.23

Breakfast
1-Oatmeal, apple juice
2-Brakfast taco with tortilla, eggs, cheese, sausage
3-Oatmeal, banana
4-Oatmeal, fresh pineapple chunks
5-Oatmeal
6-French toast
7-Oatmeal

Lunch
1-Bologna sandwich, brownie
2-PB&J sandwich, cantaloupe chunks
3-Ramen noodles, brownie
4-PB&J sandwich, strawberries
5-Bologna sandwich, watermelon chunks
6-Ramen noodles
7-Chicken wrap, pepper strips

Dinner
1-Spaghetti Alfredo, green salad, crusty bread
2-Marinated Top sirloin on the grill. Corn on the cob, steamed broccoli
3-Hamburger stroganoff, applesauce. See recipes under ground beef for Hamburger Strogonoff recipe
4-Taco soup. If leftover corn on the cob, strip the niblets off of the cob and use that in the soup. See recipes under soup for recipe for Taco soup. Sour cream, shredded cheese as toppers.
5-Hot dogs with buns, potato salad
6-Chicken Polynesian salad with cantaloupe wedges. See recipe under Salads.
7-Cheese Omelets, crusty bread

Desserts:
Banana cupcakes
Brownies

Grocery list:
Albertson's
Sweet corn, 5/$1, buy 5
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $1.67 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $5.01
Bar S franks, 10/$10, buy 1
Bar S bologna, 10/$10, buy 1
Don Pancho tortillas, 10/$10, buy 1
English cucumbers, 10/$10, buy 1
Tillamook cheese, $3.99 with coupon from Wed. ad
Pillsbury brownie, .88 with coupon from Wed. ad
Dole Pineapple, .87 with coupon from Wed. ad
Resers Potato salad, .99 lb with coupon from Wed. ad

Bashas'
Red or green grapes, .77 lb, buy 2 lbs.
Bashas milk, $1.67 gal., $3.34
Mini watermelon, $1.99
Ragu Pasta sauce, .99
Food Club pasta, .99
Food Club applesauce, 2/$3
Bashas sour cream, $1.29, buy 2
Dole bananas, .48 lb., buy 10 lbs.
Green bell peppers, 2/$1, buy 1
Eggs, I've allowed for $1.29/doz., buy 2
Top Sirloin, $1.99 lb., buy 2 lbs. at $3.98
Cream cheese, I've allowed for .99

Fry's
Del Monte gold pineapple, $1
Maruchan Ramen noodles, 6/$1
Fry's vegetables, 5/$3, buy one can of corn at .60. Don't buy corn if you plan to use the leftover corn on the cob for the taco soup
Fry's tomato sauce, 2/.88, buy 2
Fry's canned tomatoes, .77, buy 2
Fry's black beans, .77, buy 1
Langer's apple juice, .99
Kroger Value Peanut butter, $1.49
Kroger Value bread, .88, buy 4
Hot dog buns, I've allowed for $1.50
Vanilla yogurt, .75
Onion, I've allowed for $1
Mushrooms, I've allowed for $2
noodles, I've allowed for $2
scallions, I've allowed for .50

Safeway
Ground beef, $1.29 lb., min. 5lb. purchase, $6.45

Sprouts
Strawberries, .88
Jumbo cantaloupe, .88
Broccoli crowns, .88 lb., buy 2
Romaine lettuce, .88
French bread, $1.29, buy 2
Oats, .69 lb., buy 4 lbs.

Items not on grocery list:
condiments
mayo
parsley
mandarin oranges
butter
leavenings
flour
oil
powdered sugar
sugar
molasses
wine

Banana Cupcakes

Every time I say "Banana Cupcakes" in my head the lyrics to that "Makin Banana Pancakes" song that my daughter loves rattles around in my head for about five minutes before they leave again. If you ever crave banana bread, these cupcakes are for you. I made these Saturday night. I also made more yesterday after church. Very easy recipe that is goof proof. I also made these without eggs using an egg substitute and they turned out fine. I have to tell you that I am a mix girl. Used to be that making cakes and muffins from scratch didn't work well for me. I don't think that my baking skills have drastically improved, I think that you need the right recipe. The frosting recipe with this calls for 2 T. of molasses. I thought that sounded like too much for my taste, so I only put 1 T. in and that was plenty for me. If you don't like a burnt sugar taste, or the deep taste of molasses, leave it out, these will be great with a cream cheese frosting. I would leave out the milk possibly if leaving out the molasses. Or use vanilla or buttercream frosting. Or eat them without frosting.



Gina's Banana Cupcakes
recipe courtesy of The Neelys
from Downhome Cookin with the Neelys

Ingredients
Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, (reserve some for garnish) I left out the nuts altogether

Molasses Frosting:
2 tablespoons whole milk (I used skim)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons molasses (I used 1 tablespoon)
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 1 (12 cup) muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter and the sugar. Beat with a hand-eld mixer until combined. Add the sour cream and the vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Incorporate the dry mixture and wet mixtures together until thoroughly combined. (I, however, dumped in the wet ingredients with the leavenings, mixed them, then dumped in the flour and mixed) Add the banans and walnuts, being careful not to over mix. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner 3/4 way full. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops turn golden-brown and when a toothpick, inserted in the middle of the cupcake, comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven to a wire rack and let cool before frosting.

Frosting:
In a large bowl, add the butter and cream cheese. Beat together until incorporated. Add the molasses and mix well. Stir in the vanilla extract, milk and powdered sugar.

Heavily frost the cupcakes and garnish with reserved shopped walnuts.

The egg substitute I used was:
2 T. water, 1 T. veg. oil, 1/2 tsp. baking powder for each egg called for.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins

These are so good. I even used an egg substitute (1 T. oil, 2 T. water, 1/2 tsp. baking powder) and they were great, maybe not as light or tender if a real egg had been used but they were wonderful.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
from Cindy B.

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. canned pumpkin
1 egg
1/2 chocolate chips

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom of muffin pans or use paper liners. Mix all ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle sugar on top of batter. Bake about 18-20 minutes for full size muffins, or 10-12 minutes for mini muffins.

Cheap movies

The most exciting part about the trip to Idaho was going to the cheap movies. My niece took Sonny boy and my daughter to see the fourth Shrek movie the last night we were there. My kids are old but they were excited to get away from the parents and oldie moldies so they jumped at the chance to go see Shrek with my 20 something niece. Turns out that they have this great movie theater in Boise. I don't even know the name of it. They show movies that have been around for a little while. You can buy a ticket, and get your choice of two concession items like a medium drink and a small popcorn for $4. Wow. We need one of those here, don't we?

So What if?

I should be getting some of tomorrow's dinner prepped. I should be going over the Primary Sharing Time that I am to do tomorrow. I should be ironing white shirts. I should be dusting furniture and vacuuming dusty dog paw printed floors in preparation for our dinner company for tomorrow.

I asked myself the question this afternoon that what if someone didn't like my menu plan for the week. What then? What if you don't like PB&J sandwiches or oatmeal or casseroles? Do your own thing. Believe me, we are as picky as they come over at this house. I couldn't pull off tuna sandwiches for lunch for my family. These are ideas to let you know that it is possible to serve good food within a reasonable budget.

Let me tell you some of my basic rules and strategies when I scour the ads on Wednesday. I stick to the meats on the first page of the store ad. And I stick to the meats that are under $2/lb. Under $1/lb., even better. If you have enough cash reserve during the week to buy family packs of meat, then the price per pound goes down. Read the price stickers closely. Learn how to read then, then teach your kids to read them.

For produce and meat. If, when you get to the store and the item on sale looks crappy, then don't buy it. It's not a good deal if you have to throw it away before you can use it. It's also not a good deal if your family won't eat it. Only buy what your family likes. Produce on the last page or produce page will be the best prices in the store that week. Sometimes frozen or canned is cheaper. Just depends on what your family likes and will eat.

I buy Mayo and condiments around big BBQ and holiday weekend sales. With a coupon you can get mustard free, mayo for $1.50-$2.00 for a quart. If you don't stockpile these items and need them, see the store generic brands like Kroger Value at Fry's and Food Club at Basha's. I don't see a difference in most items that are generic. However, I am a Mayonnaise snob and buy only Kraft.

Get used to buying and eating seasonal produce, it will save you a bunch of money.

Watch "best by" dates and "use by" dates closely. If you stockpile more than you are going to use before an expiration date, it doesn't save you $. Having said that, I use lots of stuff after the expiration date. Don't think any less of me. But I do not use mayo or salad dressings after the exp. date. They get really funky after their exp. date.

Lactose intolerant?

So I can relate. When I eat a full bowl of ice cream and have forgotten to take some LactAid pills.

Sooz gave me grief for not posting the picture of the dead, bloated cow. The below image is not for the squeamish. It's waiting for the "dead" truck.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Banana Crumb Muffins
from All Recipes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. sprinkle topping over muffins. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Onion Strings

Onion Strings
From Pioneer Woman Cooks, pg. 92-93
Ree Drummond

1 large onion
2 cups buttermilk (if you don't have any buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar to just under 1 cup of low fat milk)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 scant tablespoon salt (I found this too salty for my taste)
Plenty of black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Canola oil for frying

Begin by peeling the onion and slicing very thinly. Separate the onion slices and place them in a shallow dish. Pour buttermilk over the top. Press the onions down so they're submerged as much as possible and let them soak on the counter for at least an hour. If necessary, stir them around a bit halfway through the soaking process. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Pour 1 to 2 quarts canola oil in a pot or Dutch oven. Heat to 375 degrees or until a pinch of flour sizzles when sprinkled over the pan. Using tongs, remove a handful of onions from the buttermilk and immediately dunk into the flour mixture. Coat the onions in the flour mixture, then tap them on the inside of the bowl to shake off the excess. Plunge the onions into the hot oil. With a spoon, fiddle with them a bit just to break them up. And watch them! They'll be ready to remove from the oil in no time flat. When they're golden brown (this should take under a minut), remove them from the oil and place on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat with the remaining onion slices and serve immediately. Pile these on top of a juicy grilled hamburger--to die for!

Menu with what's on sale for the week of July 28-August 3

Eating 1/2 of your meals in restaurants or fast food places for a week makes you really appreciate, good wholesome cooked foods when you return home.

$79.42

Breakfast
1-Oatmeal, chocolate milk
2-cold cereal, milk
3-Oatmeal, banana
4-Oatmeal
5-French toast
6-Oatmeal
7-Egg in the hole

Lunch
1-Tuna sandwich, grapes
2-PB&J sandwich, peach slices, Cheez its crackers
3-Tuna sandwich, cantaloupe chunks
4-PB&J sandwich, orange
5-PB&J sandwich
6-Pizza, watermelon wedges
7-PB&J sandwich, melon salad

Dinner
1-Spaghetti, vegetable
2-Favorite chicken, see recipe at side, steamed broccoli
3-Cobb salad. Lettuce, cucumber, radishes, green onions, hard boiled eggs, leftover chicken, bacon. Save some cooked bacon for the Potato soup on menu idea #5
4-Hamburgers, PW's fried onion strings, see recipe at side
5-Potato soup, see recipe at side. Toppers: Leftover fried onions strings (crisp up in oven first if desired), shredded cheese, sliced scallions, crumbled bacon. I haven't allowed for heavy cream in the budget so use milk only.
6-Stuffed green pepper halves. Stuff with ground beef, cooked rice, tomato sauce, onions. Vegetable for side dish. If any whole hard boiled eggs left over, make deviled eggs.
7-Oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green salad

Dessert:
Banana muffins, see recipe at side
Rice pudding

Albertsons:
Ground beef, 93 %, 5 lbs. or more, $1.88 lb., buy 5# at $9.40
Red Baron pizza, $2.79
Iceberg lettuce, 2/$1, buy 2
Malt O Meal cereal, $1.99
Russet potatoes, $2.99 for 10# bag
English cucumbers, .99 each
Mushrooms, $1.99 each

Bashas:
Dole bananas, .48 lb., buy 4 lbs. at $2.40

Fry's:
Australian Navel oranges, .88 lb., buy 5 lbs. at $4.40
Cantaloupe, .88 each
Fry's sandwich bread, .88, buy 4 at $3.52
Hunt's Pasta sauce, 10/$10, buy 1
American Beauty pasta, 10/$10, buy 1
Broccoli or Cauliflower, 10/$10, buy 1 lb.
Pictsweet vegetables, 10/$10, buy 2
Boneless skinless chicken breasts, $1.77 lb, buy 4 lbs.
Kroger shredded cheese, 2/$3, buy 2
Kroger Value bacon, $1.68
Bumble Bee Tuna, 2/$1, buy 2
Fry's lg. eggs, .88, buy 2 at $1.76
Fry's chocolate milk, .88, buy 1
Kroger Value peanut butter, $1.49
Rice, allowed for $2.99
Tomato sauce, allowed for .50
chicken broth, allowed for .99, buy 2
vegetable broth, allowed for .99, buy 2

Safeway
Green seedless grapes, .78 lb., buy 2 lbs. at $1.56
Peaches, .88 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $2.64
Mini watermelon, $1.99
Dairy Glen milk, $1.68 gal, buy 2 gal at $3.36
Safeway Hot dog or Hamburger buns, .99, buy one Hamburger buns
Green bell pepper, 3/.99, buy 2 at .66
Land O Lakes spreadable butter, .99 with coupon and $10 min. purchase
Green onions, radishes, 2/$1, buy one of each
Cheez its crackers, 2/$4, buy 1
Walla Walla sweet yellow onions, .99 lb., buy one or two

Sprouts
Oats, .69 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $2.07

Items not on grocery list
jelly
vinegar
flour
sugar
brown sugar
spices
garlic
buttermilk, use milk and vinegar
Parmesan cheese
packaged bread crumbs
canola oil
Mayonnaise
sweet pickle relish
paprika
basil, fresh or dried