Free Wine at Fred Meyer!

Fred Meyer is having their annual, amazing Founder's Day Sale and it ends today.  I shopped last night and got wine for almost free so had to share.

Their Beringer wines all on sale.  750 ML bottles, standard size are $5.99 each and the big bottles are $8.99.  I needed some white wine for a recipe and couldn't believe the deal when I saw the Mail-In Rebate attached to some of the bottles. 

Buy 6 bottles and get $35 back, buy 12 bottles and get $50 back.  The purchase of 6 had to total $35.05 or more to qualify and Fred Meyer gives a 10% discount on purchase of 6 bottles so I had to do some math.

I bought 5 bottles of the standard size for $5.99 each and one bottle of the 1.5 liter for $8.99.  The total price was $38.95.  Fred Meyer then discounted $3.90 for the 10% off leaving my total purchase price at $35.05, the minimum needed to get $35 back.

So I'm getting the wine for FREE, plus the price of a postage stamp when I mail the rebate.  I will do that immediately so I don't forget and I don't lose the receipt!

Katie

Freezer Defrosted!

I did it!  Last night I managed to empty the garage freezer and unplug it.  Hooray!  Here's a photo of the kitchen freezer.  It's full, but not packed.  I can hardly believe it.

 Here's a photo fo the empty outside freezer.  Those ice packs also got defrosted and are now in the ice hopper of the inside freezer.

I did leave a few things in the refridgerator for use this week. 

Here's the menu for the rest of the week:
Wednesday - Baked potato soup - used milk & bacon from freezer
Thursday - Ribs from freezer
Friday - Dinner wtih Bible study - contributing salsa, sour cream, & cheese
Saturday - Tamale Pie - will be from freezer
Sunday - Chicken la Viva! - casserole with tortillas, chicken, cheese all from freezer.

Katie

Freezer Day!

Oh, It's been a busy, busy week!  I was out of town 2 days and spent 4 days getting the garden in.  Then it was a busy weekend and here I am on May 15th, the day I'm supposed to have the outside freezer unplugged.  Hm.  Here's what the outside freezer looks like:  

Contents:

A loaf of bread

2 pounds of butter

8 pounds of ground meat

2 boxes of ice cream

1 box of ice cream bars

2 cups shreded zucchini, the last of last summer's produce

2 pounds of sausage

1 package of organic chicken pieces

10 containers of poultry broth

A whole chicken

4 pounds of shredded cheese

18 cups of blueberries

1 bag frozen french fries

1 can frozen juice

I condensed and emptied one whole shelf of the inside freezer.  This is what it looks like:

Frankly, I don't think I can make it happen.  I'll give it a try tonight and I'll pull out whatever I can for meals for the rest of the week.  I don't think it'll be enough. 

Check back tomorrow - I'll plan to post either early in the morning or in the evening.

Katie

Monday Menu Plan - Freezer Focus

I gave myself one more week to get the freezer emptied and I just might make it!  There still is an awful lot of chicken/turkey stock but if I use enough other stuff I think there will be room.

Last week we had a few menu change-ups so I'm rolling some meals into this week.

Dinners:
Monday - Stir Fry with freezer chicken, broccoli, snap peas
Tuesday - Crock Pot Pork Loin with freezer pork loan, cranberries
Wednesday - Leftovers for DH
Thursday - Leftovers for DH
Friday -  Ravioli (freezer) & red sauce
Saturday - Lasagna (freezer meal)
Sunday - At a wedding, hot dogs & tater tots for kids at home


Lunches:
Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Chicken Nuggets (freezer)
Wednesday - At Aunt Renee's House
Thursday - At Aunt Renee's House
Friday - Finger food lunch with tater tots (freezer)
Saturday - Grilled Cheese
Sunday - pb & honey

I also have another freezer meal swap coming up.  I hope to use two containers of picked chicken and cook up a third chicken to make several pans of Chicken La Viva!  It calls for creamy, canned soup that the swap prefers NOT to use (we try to be healthier), so I think I'll make a white sauce instead using some of the chicken stock from the freezer.  I'll also use up a package of small tortillas and jack cheese I've saved for the occasion.  Yay!

Katie

May Update

I know it hasn't been long since my April update, but I wanted to report on a couple things.

First, I've been using my clothesline for about four weeks and we've had such overcast, rainy weather for the last week or so all our laundry baskets are overflowing!  It totally irked me to have to use the dryer for two loads this week when I hadn't used it at all the previous three weeks!  I'm really looking forward to the sun that's supposed to be coming this week.  I bet I have a dozen loads of laundry piled up.  Crazy! 

Next, we were able to save the first chunk of our emergency fund in April.  It wasn't a lot, but we set aside 1.2% of our goal.  At this rate our emergency fund will only take us 7 years!  Ugh!  Hopefully we'll do better in future months! 

Goals for May:
Save for Emergency Fund!
Price mountains of garage sale stuff - at least 5 boxes per week.
Unplug freezer. 
Use Dryer only 5 times total (I've already used 2!)
Get the vegetable garden in (immediately!)

Katie

First Pass at Freezer

I did make a first pass at the freezer last week.  First we emptied everything out.  Here's what our table looked like.

First thing, I stacked all the pie crusts on the top shelf in the back.  I rarely use these and they filled that space behind the icemaker nicely.  This is usually my "bread shelf" anyway so they're in an appropriate spot.  Also on this shelf are tortillas, sliced baguette, bread crumbs, and live flour.

On the next shelf I stacked up freezer meals of conforming size on the right and surrounding them are plastic containers of shredded/picked meat, broth, beans, tomatoes, etc.  The plastic boxes stack well and fit perfectly next to the dinners so they have a home.

I buy yogurt tubes when I find them on clearance and just pop them in to the freezer.  To save space we opened 5 boxes of tubes and fit them all in this one shelf in the freezer door.  That excess packaging took up a lot of extra space!

The bottom drawer I packed with meat and the remaining shelves I just tossed the rest of the bits and pieces in.  When I REALLY pack the freezer (hopefully by May 15) I'll pack these shelves better.

This is a photo of the freezer before and to all of this I added 4 freezer meals from the swap this week AND 16 pounds of chicken (mostly in the bottom shelves of the door).

Katie



Monday Menu Plan - Freezer Focus

My life is really so much more smooth when I know what we're having for meals.  I had a difficult couple of months this winter and wasn't motivated to menu plan.  In retrospect it probably added to why things were feeling so difficult!

7 Dinners:
Baked Pasta - pureed tomato, ground sausage/turkey, mozarella from freezer
Easy Pot Pie - shredded turkey, mixed veggies from freezer
Stir Fry - chicken thighs, broccoli, snap peas from freezer
Pot Roast - Roast from freezer
Dinner Out
Sour Cream Chicken - chicken & broth from freezer
Popcorn & Smoothies

7 Lunches:
Hot dogs & Fries - dogs, fries from freezer
Ravioli - from freezer
Mac'n'Cheese
Chicken Nuggets - from freezer
Nachos
Grilled Cheese
PB & Honey Sandwiches

I'm hoping my freezer feels much emptier after this week.  We have been using lots of fruit in smoothies and I did make a big pot of turkey soup that used several containers of broth over the weekend, but it doesn't feel like enough!

Katie

Safeway Shopping Trip - $30.57

$30 is actually a big grocery purchase for me!  But I got some excellent deals I couldn't pass up.

FREE - Ken's dressing on sale for $.99 and I had 2 $1.00/1 MCs.

$1.59 - Tub of Oatmeal on clearance

$2.50 - Quart sized creamers.  I hate to spend this much, but it's the best deal I've seen in weeks!  Ad coupon for $2.99 and I had a $1.00/2 MC.

$1.67 - Cheez-it crackers with Ad coupon

$4.99 - Olive oil with Ad coupon

$3.99 - Olive oil with Ad coupon and a $1.00/1 MC

$4.99 - 2# shredded jack cheese (need for next meal swap)

$4.99 - 2# brick of colby cheese

$2.74 - Dannon 12-pack on clearance

$0.99 - Cream cheese with Ad coupon

I decided to get two olive oils because that price was so good.  Regular price for that size is generally $10 or more. 

Katie