Meal Plan April 24-28 ~ This Starts the First Week of the "Eating Out" Ban

Well this starts the first week of the "eating out" ban. (I wonder how long we will make it last LOL)  I'm sad.  I will get over it.  We, Hubby and I, can make some pretty amazing food (at least we think so anyway), but we just get lazy.  It's so much easier to go out to eat.  No meal prep and no clean up or dishes to worry about.

Lunchs:

1. sandwich and chips (left over from last week)

2.  sandwich and chips

3.  sandwich and chips

4.  sandwich and chips

Suppers:

1. chicken quesadillas (we gonna make some "special sauce" that i seen on a video for these.  If it's good I will share the recipe link next week)

2. Steak. mashed & gravy, cottage cheese, corn, bread & butter

3.  eat at church before bible study (last one until school starts back up)

Thursday supper through Sunday supper we will be eating at work.

New Crochet Project on the Hook

 I started a new project this past week. I think it’s going to take me a bit to finish. 

I’m using a no name brown, although I suspect it’s an older RedHeart yarn. I am also using Loops & Threads Raspberry. 

I am making a cool drawstring bag, or dice bag.  I seen it and I had to make it. I am so looking forward to finishing it and putting it up for sale in our gaming store. 

Here’s what I have accomplished so far. The bag, minus the drawstring and I’m working on the “decoration” for the bag. 

Best get back to work so I can get it done. 😊

Meal Plan April 21 to 24

 

I’m reassessing my meal plan thinking this week. I have never been good at meal planning but I keep trying. Honestly it’s getting harder these days to find a place to eat out (in my area) that has good food, decent portions, and a decent price.  There are a couple but hubby and I  always find something to complain [to each other] about the experience.  😂. So keeping at trying to find something they resembles meal  planning and the ingredients I want at a reasonable price seems to be the current best option. 

So what am I thinking this week?  Settling designated dollar amounts for meat, produce, fresh fruit, and extras and trying to make meals with what I buy. It’s very hard for me to think on the spot, in the store for meal ideas, but meat wise, or anything else for that matter, I never know what’s going to be available or exactly how much it’s going to cost. As I mentioned in a previous post “ Shopping at our local grocery store stresses me out.  The prices on their website and products don’t always match the in-store available products and shelf price and the shelf price doesn’t always match the price at checkout and I am pretty positive that different checkout lanes charge different prices on certain items.”  My grocery store doesn’t have an app and they also charge an additional 10% above the shelf price plus local sales tax. It’s considered a “cost plus” store.  Here is their explanation on their buying theory per their website:

“COST + 10% FORMULA

Every item is priced at our cost to get the product from the source to the shelf, then we add just 10% at the checkout. The result is the guaranteed overall lowest prices in the area and you don’t need a shopper’s card or have to pay a membership fee to save.”

Sorry I don’t buy their savings theory. Most local people don’t either. Even though it’s posted in the store everywhere you look it seems deceptive.  Why can’t they be like normal stores and just post the actual full price of the item on the shelf?

 I only have a Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar General to shop at as well, and to save time I prefer to get everything at the same store. Doesn’t always happen though.

Ok enough of the rant on my dislike for grocery shopping locally.  On to this weeks Menu Theory.

Monday lunch we will have some Mac and cheese and orang and some blueberries.  Monday supper we have been invited over to someone’s house  

Tuesday lunch sandwich and chips

Tuesday supper hubby is taking me out  

Wednesday lunch sandwich and chips

Wednesday supper we are going out for our anniversary.

Thursday lunch sandwich and chips 

So much for trying to implement my new plan 😂  I’ll try again next week  

Time Out!

 

This project is going in Time Out‼️. I need to rethink the top part of it, where the drawstring is, because It needs to be a little taller. The proportions are off.  I think I just need to decrease row and SC row …… for the number of decrease rows. Does that make sense.  Granted I am using a pattern that calls for blanket yarn, so that may be part of my issue since I’m using regular yarn and an “I” hook.   I will get back to it soon. I really want to finish it. In the mean time I am still working on the tunisian project from yesterday’s post. 

Good News!

 I found the missing crochet project. Wanna know where it was hiding?  In my scrap yarn tote. Makes sense since it is a scrappy project. It’s Tunisian (with a double end hook) and Im making strips to join together to make a blanket.  

At least that’s the plan. 🧶

Cute Crochet This Past Week

 This past week was a busy one. We went out of town on Monday and I babysat Tuesday and Wednesday.  In the middle of all that I moved back into my craft room.  It’s been a while since I have actually used it for more than just storage of extra yarn and things. 

What a mess. 😂  It is a bit more organized now but there’s still a project I’m missing. It’s gotta be there somewhere cause it’s not where it had been stashed. I will find it. It’s a scrappy project and I have more yarn to add to it. 

I have a couple of finished projects for this week. I made a cute pink/black octopus and I made a cute mini backpack. 

Not a good picture of the octopus. I finished him at work and quickly took a picture. Guess I could take a new picture, but I’m not going to.😂

Next week is going to be full of fun surprises. I hope to share all of them.  

Meal Plan This week 4/14 to 4/20

 

Sorry it's late this week.  I've been busy and getting distracted easily.  

These are pretty much in order by day this week. 

Lunches

1. We had leftover spaghetti
2. turkey sandwiches and chips
3. turkey sandwiches and chips
4.  pepperjack sausages and a salad

Supper

1. out of town and ate at Pizza Ranch   It wasn’t very good.
2. ate out at Taco Mayo  It was better than last night
3. Eat at church 

Thursday supper through Sunday supper we will be eating at work.

I only shopped for the lunches this week.  We picked up some lunch meat and chips while we were out of town Monday and Wednesday night we picked up for Thursday lunch.

Ta Dah!

 Woo I got a lot accomplished this weekend.  Made these this weekend.  Hat is the same hat just both sides. It’s a double thick loom knit hat, and it’s finally finished.  Now on to other exciting fiber things. 

Slowly Making Progress on Loom Knit Hat.

 I have slowly been working on my loom knit hat. I just haven’t been in the mood lately.  I have a total of 53 rows of light blue to make. I currently have 15 completed.  Maybe this weekend will be when it gets finished. 

Meal Plan this Week April 7th to 12th

 Not many items on hand this week except pantry staples.  

These are pretty much in order by day this week. 

Lunches

1. We were out of town and had pizza buffet 
2. Thank goodness for some leftovers 🤣. We had leftover chicken nuggets and cottage cheese from last week and a couple egg sandwiches. 
3. Bologna sandwiches and chips. 
4. Bologna sandwich and chips

Supper

1. Was still out of town and ate at McDonald’s   It wasn’t very good.
2. Spaghetti with sauce with  some bread and butter and a salad. Dessert will be graham crackers with homemade buttercream frosting to dip them In, both of which I already have on hand. (Tuesday is date night. Always try to something a little extra special)
3. Eat at church 

Thursday supper through Sunday supper we will be eating at work.

I also bought a couple boxes of Mac n Cheese and some canned corn and a couple fresh oranges. 

I didn’t have near the grocery budget this week due to going out of town so I had to plan a lot harder. I spent  about $22.52 on groceries and we will have a few leftovers and some extra for future meals.

This week there’s no room to be over charged at the grocery store this week.  I will be double checking bar codes and taking pictures of shelf tags.   

I picked up a few extra items that have really good digital coupons.  The Best Choice canned veggies, 4 cans for 56¢ and 2 best choice pastas 90¢ Both after the digital coupons. Those are a steal 🤣.  There was an issue with claiming the digital coupons at the register so i had to visit the customer service booth after I finished paying. Both the cashier and the manager in charge stated there was issues with the digital coupons. There’s always issues with them. Most people won’t persue them but I usually do, as well as pushing for shelf price when it’s less than the register price rings up.  Im probably one of thier least favorite customers, but they are my least favorite store. 😁

Much Improved

 Well I did start the pink/black hat over and its much improved.  I increased a row too far but it should be fine. I also crocheted up a second hat as well, the purple/white one.  I have another one on the hook as I write this.  Here’s my preemie hats so far that im going to donate to a local Ronald McDonald House, in a couple months.

Yes thet still have ends to weave in 😳

Wondering If I Should Start Over 🤔

 So this is the current preemie hat I am working on. It seems like it’s going to be too big. I’m wondering if I need to frog it and just do DC instead of HDC rows. 

Here it is in comparison to a finished hat that I actually followed a pattern for. The Pink/Black hat is slightly larger even though the crown diameter is the same.  

Is it because I did HDC instead of DC?  The yarn is slightly thinner too, but that’s how the Yarn Bee Soft Secret is. It’s kinda like Caron Simply Soft.  I think I will frog it and start over following the pattern I have instead of trying to do it on my own. I should know better, trying to figure out a pattern on my own doesn’t always work. 😂

Another New Hat Started and Finally Frozen Pizza Success

 

Hey friends happy Thursday.  Today was pizza day 🍕 for us, but more on that in a bit. I started another preemie hat yesterday.  Previous I have made 3 with some worsted weight yarn.  Here’s what they look like. 

Here’s the current preemie hat WIP.  I am using some Yarn Bee Soft Secret. Its nice and soft. I have started the body of the hat. I am a couple rows in.  I can’t wait to finish this one amd make some more. Finally a project for my Yarn Bee yarn.

Now for thr pizzas.  They were much better than usual.  My regular oven tends to burn them before the cheese is melted.  This time I cooked the cheese pizza exclusively in my toaster oven. The other one i started in the regular oven and finished in the toaster oven. Much improved for both of them.  Hubbie commented that he wishes the crust on his was a little crispier. I will try to improve on that next time.  I think I will be doing the frozen pizzas this way in the future.  Note I did thaw them before baking. They each took about the regular time to bake.

Tonight we went to Braums so I could check thier fresh market prices. Thier app and website don’t seem to be working for any of my devices.  I made a list on my phone withnthe item, size, amd current price.  At least now I have a better idea what they have available, that I would purchase, and the approximate prices for those items.  Hopefully using thier little grocery section will help with my stress level when grocery shopping. 🛒  Some items I will still need to go to the regular grocery store for, but the less I need from there the better.  The local farmers market is due to start back up soon.  I need to try and support local farmers as well, unless thier prices are higher than i can get at the grocery store or Braums.

Hopefully tomorrow I can have a finished crochet project or two to share with you. 

❤️🧶

What’s on My Menu this week? 3-31 to 4-3

 

I need to be more careful with my meal spending money aka grocery budget.  I know I’ve said this before, and obviously failed to keep up here, but I am going to try harder this time to be more diligent on sharing for my records and hopefully to help you with new ideas. I won’t say this is low budget cause I allow $70 for 7 meals each week. Thats $10 a meal or $5 per person per meal.  Eating out also comes out of our grocery budget most of the time unless its a preplanned special occasion. Ive noted the on hand items and the preplanned dining out in this week’s plan. 

These are pretty much in order by day, the only difference is lunches #2 and #3 may be swapped, depends on which we want to eat first. 😂

Lunches

1. Copycat KFC Chicken bowls with grilled chicken (meal left over from last week’s shopping)
2. Grilled cheese and ravioli
3. Chicken nuggets and Mac n cheese 
4. Sandwich and chips 

Supper

1. Taco mayo (had a $20 gift card and spent an additional $15)
2. Steak, grilled onions, baked tater, corn, cottage cheese, crescent rolls (already had the taters and onions)
3. Boxed Pizzas

Thursday supper through Sunday supper we will be eating at work.

I spent about $67.43 of my grocery budget. I was over charged about $3 at the grocery store, which is a common thing. Shopping at our local grocery store stresses me out.  The prices on thier website and products don’t always match the instore available products and shelf price and the shelf price doesn’t always match the price at checkout and I am pretty positive that different checkout lanes charge different prices on certain items. Its always a hassle to try and get an incorrect charged  item corrected. I have started shopping Dollar General and Dollar Tree more but neither have fresh meats or produce. I plan to check our local Braums Fresh Market for meat and produce. It may mean spending a bit more but if it causes less stress for me it will be worth it.