Clean Out the Cupboards Challenge

While looking for new recipe ideas through orgjunkie.com, I stumbled upon the Clean Out Your Cupboards Challenge for January. Boy oh boy do I need this one! While my husband and I have attempted to live frugally this year, we ended up having some major expenses. Ie: totaled car and water damage throughout the basement. Unfortunately, during crisis times like these, we tend to head to the first restaurant we see when we get hungry. Bad news for the budget and bad news for the waist line - that is for sure!

So for the new year, we are back to the budget! The goal is $200 a month for a family of 4 for groceries and toiletries (excluding diapers). Here is what I hope to accomplish by cleaning out the pantry:

1. Eat out less by meal planning and using what I have.
2. Use up food before it goes bad
3. Have a more efficient kitchen
4. Need I add .... save money and live healthier!

Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday

Keeping it simple this week as we recover from Christmas and gear up for New Year's. I'm cleaning out the cupboards and trying a few new recipes! For more great recipes head on over to Menu Plan Monday with Orgjunkie.com

Dinners:
Vintage Hamburger Goulash
Whole wheat pizza with toppings
Italian Sausage Potato Roast
Baked Spaghetti
New Years Eve Party
Sunday Family Dinner
Cheddar Broccoli Soup with chicken and Soft Garlic Breadsticks

Lunches:
BLTs
Soup
Rice and Beans
PB & J

Breakfast:
Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal
Homemade Granola with yogurt

Menu Plan Monday

We're back to getting healthy this week! Lots of link ups to healthy recipes. Head on over to Org Junky's Menu Plan Monday for more great ideas!

Breakfast
Green Smoothie
Orange French Toast - healthy, easy, and yummy!
Oatmeal
Power Gold Smoothie

Lunch
Broccoli Salad
Butterfly Sandwiches
Chick-en Nugguts
Healthy Macaroni and Cheese (with a veggie puree!)
Soup and Grilled Cheese

Dinner
Beef Stroganoff
Hamburger on Rice
Quinoa and Black Beans
Crock pot ham
Pizza Casserole

Snacks
Cinnamon Vanilla Baked Apples
Holiday Pretzel Treats

CSN Winner!

The lucky winner of the CSN $40 gift code is comment number 18!

Karen said... 18

What a great giveaway! Thanks so much, Karen.

lemontart5kb at gmail dot com

November 16, 2010 4:19 PM

I'm sending you an email right now with your gift code in it! Happy Holiday shopping, Karen!

Deals to Meals

I've been following Deals to Meals for quite awhile! It is a fantastic and functional blog! They have great seasonal recipes that you can create from your food storage like Pumpkin French Toast and Apple Strudel Muffins. They offer a service where they base on a weekly menu plan on the deals and steals for the week. The gals do it all for you. How easy is that! So head on over to Deals to Meals and check out all the fun things they offer!

Ebates - get cash back for holiday shopping!

Do you shop online? If so, be sure that you are earning money back! Last year I signed up with Ebates and it has been fun to see a check come back to me in the mail every few months for shopping that I was going to do anyway!

Ebates is linked to hundreds of stores. Here are a few of their current cash back rates:

Barnes and Noble 8%
Banana Republic 8%
Kohls 4%
Disney Store 7%
Children's Place 3%

And those are just a few! I only shop online when I am getting a great deal - free shipping, clearance section, diaper deals at Walgreens, Black Friday. Ebates makes the deal even sweeter! It's nice to be able to get Christmas presents delivered right to my door step without me having to leave the house. The cash back check that comes in the mail is just an added bonus.

So if you do any shopping online at all, sign up for Ebates! The way it works is simple as pie. You go to the Ebates site and register. Once you are registered, you access your shopping merchants through the Ebates site. It tracks how much you spend and sends you a check in the mail! I believe they send a check for every $5 you earn. It is nice! Head on over to Ebates today!

Free Sampling Party at Coldstone today!

Cake Batter ice cream layers - yum!

Free cake anyone? Coldstone Creamery is the place for you today! Be sure to be there between 5 pm and 8pm on today, November 16th so you can sample their Eight Layer Cake.

If you are in Orem/Provo head on over to the University Mall. Checkout Coldstone online for more locations near you!

And while you are over at their site, be sure to sign up for a free creation on your birthday!