Love-Leigh Thoughts and Ideas

Ok so I still  went over my budget( but not really ) ….. I have not been shopping in a while so I think its ok …… right ?

So here is the breakdown: Giant Eagle: Spent: $24.97 – I only bought meat there.  4- pack chicken 1- whole chicken and 1-pack of steak

Aldi: Spent : $65.61 Bought 55 items ! I think this is my new favorite store !

Total:$90.58 ….. So that’s $40.95 over budget but I had not shopped in 2 weeks so I’m $9.42 under budget

This was so good and I couldn’t even get it out of the crock pot it was so tender it just fell apart .

a whole chicken  ( Cleaned out and rinsed)

sprigs fresh rosemary

4-cloves of garlic

2-sliced lemons

a juice of a lemon

Place the chicken in the crock pot. Add garlic , lemon, rosemary, lemon juice . Place the lid on and cook on low for 8 hours. It has a nice hint of lemon and is super tender.

I placed the bones back into my crock pot last night with 8 cups of water, pepper corns, 2 carrots and 3-stalks of celery.  I  turned it on low. And have left it on. The plan is when I get home tonight To strain everything out and have my own homemade chicken stock !

Last night with the help of my wonderful husband  we took an inventory of everything in our freezer and pantry. I didn’t do the refrigerator because I feel like those things don’t stick around that long.

So here it goes, if anyone can help make meals out of the things I have listed please help

Freezer:

1-whole chicken

1-Pack ground beef

1-Pack pork Chops

1-Pack bacon

2-bags of steak each with 3  in them

1-box frozen waffles – This is one of the very few foods I buy frozen .

1-Pack stew meat

1-Pack smoked sausage

1-Boston Butt

2- Bread  dough

1-Garlic bread I’m going to work on making my own ….

2-Bags frozen brocoli

2-Steam rice

1-rice with Veggies

Fridge

These things will last a while and will be helpful in meal planning

2- Pie crusts – 2 in each box

3-Packs tortillas

Pantry

3- Jars pasta sauce

3-Jars Peanut Butter

2 boxes chicken broth – in the next week I plan on making my own broth !

3-Tomato soup

1-Chicken noodle soup

1-Beef stew

1-Cream of Mushroom soup

1-Cream of chicken soup

4-Cans of Tuna

1-Syrup maple

1-Bread crumbs

1-Enchilada sauce

1-Salad dressing mix

2-Mac n cheese

4- Pizza crust

A TON OF PASTA !

1-tomato paste

1-can whole tomatoes

3-Boxes of cream of wheat 2-instant -1 stove top

1-Box Bisquick

1-Rolled oats

1-Wheat germ

1-Pop corn kernels

1- box of potatoes red, Idaho, and 2 sweet potatoes

1-White vinegar

1-Cider vinegar

1-BBQ Sauce

1-Soy sauce

2-Stir fry sauce

2-Corn muffin mix

1-Bread mix

1-Bag whole wheat flour

1-Bag all-purpose flour

1-Bag brown sugar

1-Bag raw sugar

1-Bag white sugar

So let’s see how many meals we can make out of all of this good stuff

I went grocery shopping this past weekend and boy did I spend a lot on money ! I even had a list written out for what I wanted to cook  . I try to buy what is on sale and I use my trustee coupons.   In an effort to reduce my grocery bill ( I hope ) I am going to see how many meals we can get out of what we have on hand.

 This is going to have to be a 2 part post because I am not at my house right now to make a complete list.  So this is the list off the top of my head :

1.) Lasagna and Italian bread( This is sorta cheating this is our dinner tonight … )

2.) Pasta and garlic bread

3.) Tuna noodle casserole( This is going to be some night when Ryan is not home – he will not eat this)

4.) Tuna sandwiches ( Again when Ryan is not home)

5.) Pancakes /  french toast and bacon

6.) B.L.T’S and oven fries

7.) chicken pot pie

8.) whole chicken and potatoes

9.) Pork chops and veggies

10.)Taco’s

11.) Homemade pizza

12.) Beef stew

13.) Pulled pork

14.) Grilled Cheese and tomato soup

15.) Tortilla pizzas( Ryan likes to make these for lunch sometimes)

16.) Beef     burritos   

17.) Fried egg sandwiches ( When Ryan is not home )

18.) Steak.

I can’t wait to do a full inventory of our pantry! If this is just off the top of my head I can’t wait to see what other stuff we have !