No time to blog...

because I've been doing all the things I've been blogging about! :) I've got so many great things to share with you, but as you're well aware, these things take time. I'm really enjoying it all, but it's kept me from being able to write about  most things. I'll be sure to get pictures and ideas up as soon as I get a chance. Today we went to a local farm and now I have so many fresh vegetables it'll probably take the rest of the week to get to them all. I can't wait to load up my pantry and freezer for the winter! :)

Groceries-Delivered: CORRECTION!

Well...after a more thorough investigation, we've found some sad facts about the grocery delivery program. Much of what we were told about the condition of the meats actually isn't the whole truth. I'm disappointed to not be getting my groceries delivered, but even more so by the lack of honesty they displayed in their sales pitch. Lesson learned, though, always, ALWAYS, always wait out a larger financial or commitment decision over night. Thankfully, we have 3 days to cancel, so we're all good. Back to Plan A--buy meat from a local farmer whose growing/raising practices you can see first hand.

Groceries-Delivered

This Sunday we went to the farmer's market and had a lovely time. I'll post all about that another time this week (I got some great deals! :) I can't wait to share them with you!) While we were there I came across a booth for a company that delivers fresh, all natural, organic meats and produce.

Sidenote: I've been reading a book called The Conscience Kitchen, which talks about all the benefits of organic and local foods. It hasn't been my favorite book ever, but it has been very educational and gave me more facts to back up my already forming beliefs that some of what we are buying at the grocery store isn't exactly the best for us or the earth.

Needless to say, the booth caught my attention and so I asked for some information. They explained that I would get a weeks worth of groceries for free if I signed up for a meeting to talk to them about their program. I'm always up for anything free, especially when it's actually way more meat then we'll use in a week! :) I'm also not afraid to say no in high pressure situations, so I was confident that if this wasn't for us, we'd be okay with taking the free food and tell them we weren't interested in their services.

Well, they came this afternoon for our appointment with a box of great food along with them! :) After hearing what their program offers, we decided to give it a try. The short version is that they deliver 6 months (although we opted to spread ours out over 10 months) worth of all natural meat, fresh pastas, and organic produce to your house. They offer a freezer through them, which is an additional option if you're needing one. They then load and organize your freezer for you with all the goodies! :) YES, PLEASE! The best part is that it really is very affordable. Considering all the food we will be getting and keeping it within our current budget, it's going to be so convenient to have all that on hand and help me avoid the grocery store!

Just a few booths down there was an all natural, fresh dairy and eggs delivery service as well. I'd already decided I wanted to sign up for them before stopping by, but I wanted my husband to try their milk to see if he was on board too. They not only gave us samples to try while we were there, but they also sent us home with a half gallon of milk for free too! :) Lovely. The downside to the dairy delivery is that it will be more expensive then what we're currently spending on milk, cheese and eggs. I've been doing some research on what's in our dairy products though and it's not good. I'm feeling confident that I've been able to reduce our grocery budget enough that spending a little more for healthier food for my family is worth it in this case.

I've also been really considering baking our own breads and making our own dough for pizza, etc. So it's looking like the grocery store will be a much less frequent errand on my to do list. I think I'm going to like having my groceries delivered! :)

Coupon Resources

Here are some of my favorite places to get grocery coupons:

*Our newspaper lets you subscribe to an ads/coupons only delivery for FREE. It's called YES! The Essential Shopper--maybe other areas do something similar.
*Nestle
*Kraft
*Coupons
*Target

I've noticed that some of our local stores are no longer accepting printed coupons, so be sure to ask before planning to use them. What sites do you use for getting grocery coupons?

It's PAID for!

My bachelor's degree that is. I officially paid my last payment today!! WOO HOO!! It feels so wonderful to take bills off our bill pay page! :) Not to mention not having to worry about it each month. So, now we're going to pile it on full force on to my husband's school loans. Something to celebrate, for sure! :) YAY!!

Cereal Stock Up

This week our Albertson's had a special on General Mills cereals for $1.57/box. We had one box left in our stock pile, so I knew this would be a great opportunity to stock up. I also had 3 $1 off coupons for General Mills cereals too, so I was sure to read all the fine print on those to get that extra savings. After it was all said and done, I walked out with 8 boxes of cereal for about $10! That was a savings worth the extra trip!

A Giant Pot Chili

Chili has to be one of the easiest things to make it bulk and can be a really inexpensive meal. This week I did just that. To cut the costs even more, I bought the bags of beans (rather then the cans) which only cost about $1 each and make a whole lot more! It did take some time, but not really "working time". The beans do need to sit over night in water to soak, but that only takes 5 minutes the night before to get them ready and then you let them cook alone for about 1 1/2-2 hours and then it's just like making your regular recipe. So, for about $5-6 I got 5 meals (maybe a little more if you count for lunches) out of it!  We ate it the night I made it and then I filled 4 large freezer storage bags with the leftovers. It's also easy and inexpensive to stretch the chili too. If you need a little extra filler you can serve it over rice and/or make cornbread or another side. I loved the savings I got out of using three bags of beans! It's a rice and beans budget, but doesn't has to always taste like it! ;)

Fall Cleaning

Last week I tackled some projects in the kitchen that have been needing to be done for a while. I wanted to also do a little inventory, if you will, on what I had for cleaning supplies and in the pantry. I know there have been times that I've bought things at the store and then come home and found three more in the pantry. So, I wanted to actually KNOW what I have and what I was running low on or was needing to replace. I also wanted to know what things I should be using that I always forget are in there. All of those questions were answered!

It turned out to be a very helpful project. I now know that I have not one, but TWO bottles of hardwood floor cleaner (which then motivated me to actually use some! ;)), TWO kinds of miracle grow for the garden (I'm blaming my husband for that one! ;)), and a ridiculous amount of old candy (thank you Halloween from who knows what year--yes, it's all in the garbage now). My pantry looks fantastic because I also cleaned off every shelf and drawer and neatly organized it again. Yes, I'm a bit compulsive about things and actually made a list of what is in our pantry. I'm posting in the kitchen so that when I'm making my menus I can see what I really do have. I'll be crossing things off as I use them and adding those items to my shopping list if it's necessary. We'll see how long that "system" lasts, it could prove to me too high maintenance, but at least now I have a starting point.

I intend to do the same thing in my overflow pantry (yes, I know....ours inside is tiny...and I like to stock up!) and our freezers for the same reasons as I noted above.

Overall, I think it's a good time to really get things in order for the fall and winter. It'll hopefully cut some spending and some waste. It feels nice to see everything in my pantry now too.