Dinner Menu March

Some of the dinners are from the last menu that I never made.
For a more detail plan of how I plan breakfast, lunches, and dinners click here.

1. Creamy Turkey Soup (with homemade bread)
2. Fish (Salmon)
3. Green Chili Chowder (with homemade bread)
4. Sesame Chicken
5. Chicken Pillows
6. Italian Chicken (crock-pot)
7. Spaghetti and meatballs (homemade sauce)
8. Sour Cream Chicken
9. Stuffed Pasta Shells
10. Honey Lemon Chicken

Desserts: Pistachio Cake, mini-cheese cake tarts, brownies
Snacks: popcorn, homemade blueberry muffins

Weekly Deals Feb 27-Mar 3 Albertson's

Look in your Fridays, Feb 27th paper for coupons in the Albertson's ad.

The following coupons are in the ad:
Challenge Butter 1lb $.99 limit 2

Iceberg Lettuce $.49 limit 1

85% lean Ground Beef 5lbs or more $1.88 limit 10 lb
(Costco Ground Beef $2.99 lb)

Brown & Serve Sausage $.77 limit 4

M&M's Bag Candy 12.6 oz $1.67 limit 3

Homemade Yogurt

We are big yogurt eaters at my house. I will buy store bought yogurt, but often make it myself. Here are the recipes I use to make peach and vanilla yogurt .



VANILLA YOGURT
(Milk prices $2.00, it costs me about $1.00 to make 7- 6 oz cups)


1 quart 2% milk
1/4 cup sugar or Splenda
1 tsp vanilla
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (optional, used to give yogurt a firmer texture)
5 Tablespoons plain yogurt (skim and discard upper surface of yogurt before measuring.)

Bring 1 quart of milk to 180 degrees, I use a candy thermometer it takes 10-12 minutes. This kills the bacteria in the milk and also helps give the yogurt a firmer texture. Take out 1/2 cup of milk and put in a separate bowl. Allow the rest of the milk to cool to 110 degrees (about 30 minutes.) When cool skim off the bubbles and the other stuff.

Mix gelatin in with the 1/2 cup milk until dissolved. Add vanilla, sugar, and the rest of the milk. Mix well and add plain yogurt (you need the live cultures to make yogurt), mixing until the yogurt is well blended.

Follow Directions for your yogurt maker (I keep mine in the yogurt maker for 8 hours and chill for 3 hours.) Or use the Oven Method.

Oven Method: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Turn off oven and place yogurt inside. You can do small jars of yogurt or 1 big bowl of a quart of yogurt. Keep the door closed and turn on oven light. The yogurt needs to incubate for 8-10 hours. If the yogurt doesn't set, take it out of the oven, preheat oven to 200 degrees and return yogurt to the oven with the light on, for 1 hour. Cover yogurt with lids or plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours, yogurt will continue to thicken as it chills.



PEACH YOGURT
(Milk prices $2.00, it costs me about $1.50 to make 7- 6 oz cups.)

1 quart 2% milk
1/4 cup sugar or Splenda
1/2 cup Peaches, chopped or purred
5 tablespoons peach juice
1 pkg. unflavored gelatin (optional, used to give yogurt a firmer texture.)
5 Tablespoons plain yogurt (skim and discard upper surface of yogurt before measuring.)

Bring 1 quart of milk to 180 degrees, I use a candy thermometer it takes 10-12 minutes. This kills the bacteria in the milk. Allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees. When cool skim off the bubbles and the other stuff.

In a separate bowl combine the peaches, juice, sugar, gelatin. Add cooled milk and plain yogurt, mixing well so all ingredients are well blended.

Follow Directions for your yogurt maker (I keep mine in the yogurt maker for 8 hours.)
Or use the Oven Method.

OTHER TIPS
Temperature is key to making good yogurt.
You can use whole milk, 1%, 2%, fat free, or powdered milk to make yogurt.
Make sure you use PLAIN yogurt with live cultures.

Weekly Deals Feb 25-Mar 3

*okay deal (similar price to Wal-mart/Costco)
**good deal
***great deal

Deals are okay, good or great before using any coupons. If you use coupons it’s a bonus! King Soopers and Safeway will double coupons up to $1.00.

Remember Wal-mart price matches, but remember to bring your ads. Some Wal-marts will not accept coupons in addition to the price match.

King Soopers	Price	Coupon
Grapes (Seedless)Green, Red, Black	$0.98/lb**
Avocados	$1.00each**
Red or Bosc Pears	$1.00/lb**
Broccoli Crowns/td>	$1.00/lb**
Lemons	$1.00/2lb bag**
Kroger Cheese 8oz shreds/bars	$1.50*
Cottage Cheese, Kroger 16oz	$1.00**
Sour Cream, Kroger 16 oz	$1.00**
Frozen Vegetables, Kroger	$1.00 each*
Knorr Lipton Side Dishes	$1.00*
Dole Canned Fruit Pineapple, Mandarin Oranges, Fruit Salad 15-20 oz	$1.00 each*	.75/buy 2 SS 2-1
Pasta American Beauty 12-16oz	$1.00*
Pillsbury Biscuits (The Crescents are $1.00,but for the small 4 roll pack, not a good deal unless you have a coupon.)	$1.00**
Toothpaste Aquafresh 4.6-6.4oz	$1.00**
Right Guard or Soft & Dri deodorant 2-3oz	$1.00**
Kleenex	$1.00**	$0.50/buy 3 SS 2-8
Dial Liquid Hand Soap 7.5 11.25oz	$0.88lb**
Ice Cream, Kroger 56oz	$1.99*

Albertson's	Price	Coupon
Fresh Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast	$1.88/lb**
Cutie's Clementine	$2.77/3lb bag**	$0.55 expires 2-28
Milk Meadow Gold/Viva gallon	$1.67***
Kellogg's Cereal Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, Corn Pops Corn Flakes, Raisin Bran	$1.00/$0.70 RP 2-22	$1.67**
Challenge Butter	$1.50**
Tide Liquid Detergent	$9.88	.$0.35 PG 2-8 ++
Chicken of the Sea Tuna	$0.50** limit 4

++Buy $25.00 worth in p&G items save $5.00. The other items were Bounce Sheets, Downy Fabric Softener, Dawn, Cascade Powder Detergent, and a few other items, but the prices were not good deals. The tide 64 loads is $0.154 a load before using the coupon or the $5.00 off. If you buy 3 you pay $24.64 which is $.128 a load. A great deal compared to Costco $.20 a load.

Safeway	Price	Coupon
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts	$1.79**
Asparagus	$0.98/lb**
Lucerne Butter	$0.99*** limit one	use coupon in ads
Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats or Raisin Bran 24 oz	$0.99***	use coupon in ads
2-liter Pepsi	FREE****limit 1	use coupon in ads
Navel Oranges	$1.00/lb*
Fuji Apples	$1.00/lb*
Broccoli Crowns	$1.00/lb*
Yellow Onions	$1.00/3lb bag**
Red Grapefruit	$1.00/lb*
Roma tomatoes	$1.00/lb*
48 hour sale Saturday and Sunday only
Iceberg Lettuce	$$0.49 each***
Large Eggs dozen	$0.87***

In the Safeway ads look for the $10.00 of a $50.00 purchase valid 2/25-2/28.

The do have a promotion if you buy $25.00 worth of select frozen foods receive $10.00 your next frozen foods purchase. To me this seems like a lot of frozen food to buy and most the prices are only a good deal or higher priced, so I am passing on this promotion.

Free Movie Rental at Red Box

Every Monday Redbox distributes a code for a free movie rental.

the code is: S39XKT

It expires tonight at midnight. When you go to redbox to rent a movie you will have to swipe a credit or debit card. Redbox will put $1.00 charge on your credit/debit card, but will remove the charge if you bring back the movie before 9 PM the next day (Tuesday.)

Free Samples

For a free sample of Crest whitestrips click here.

If you have not signed up for these free samples, they are still available

For a free sample of Viva Paper towels click here

For a free sample of Maybelline liquid dream mousse (all 12 shades) click here

Menu Planning

I plan meals for two weeks at a time. For my family (2 adults+3 kids) this means, I plan out ten dinners. I don't assign days to these dinners, but I will first make the dinners that have perishables that go with it. I plan using food we already have at home and then plan with what is on sale at the grocery store. I have made a separate spreadsheet with dinners we like, where to find the recipe, and ingredients list to help me in the process. To see my dinner sheet click here.

For the current dinner menu for my family see the black print below.

I will grocery shop for the 10 meals at the beginning of the 2 weeks. This leaves me with some money to shop the second week for fresh produce, milk, and any good or great deals. I am planning to have the French Dip dinner this Sunday, so since the Roast wasn't a good price last week I held off on buying it. It worked! Albertson's have them on sale this week, which I plan to buy 2 so I can freeze one.

2 week Dinner Menu
1. Bean Soup (and homemade bread)
2. Thai Noodles
3. Burritos (Burrito filling frozen from previous dinner)
4. Hawaii Coconut Chicken (already have coconut and almonds in freezer)
5. Mexican Chicken (We eat it with avocados, tomatoes, and lettuce and so we already ate this.)
6. Sesame Chicken (already have all ingredients)
7. Manicotti (already have noodles and frozen filling from last month)
8. Creamy Turkey Soup (I already have frozen leftover turkey.)
9. French Dip
10. Fish (I already have frozen Salmon from Costco.)

I will also serve a vegetable (fresh, frozen, or can) and sometimes fruit to go along with dinner.

When I freeze leftovers, I love to use Reynolds Handi-Vac. This handy tool allows you to suck the air out of the bag, to help prevent freezer burn. Since using this tool, we have actually eaten the frozen leftovers for dinner instead of chucking them in the annual freezer clean out.

Lunch
We do eat leftovers and my husband will often take leftovers for lunch. For his lunch I include a main entree, vegetables, fruit, and a yogurt. For my kids lunch we have a main entree like PBJ sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, Mac & Cheese, or egg rolls (egg, ham, cheese fried in an egg roll wrapper.) I also have a fruit and/or vegetable and a good bribe (Cheetos) to eat their lunch.

Breakfast
Cereal, oatmeal, or waffles (Krusteaz mix from Costco).

Snacks
Fruit, yogurt, crackers, popcorn, Pop-tarts etc... I like to save the fruit snacks and granola bars for a snack away from home.

Desserts
We are a cookie home. I always have ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. I generally have a dessert for Sunday and Monday nights. This week it is apple crisp and ice cream. We also love popcorn and brownies.

Weekly Deals Feb 18-28

King Soopers
Avocados	$1.00**
Pears, Northwest Organic	$1.00/lb**
Red Leaf, Green Leaf, Romaine Lettuce	$1.00**
Red Delicious Apples, Organic	$1.00/lb**
Ground Beef 80% lean	$1.99/lb*
Tuna-Chicken of the Sea Light	$0.50**
Yogurt-King Soopers,Kroger Kroger Lifestyle	$0.33***

Safeway

Gallon Milk (limit 2)	$1.77***
Apple Juice 64 oz Safeway (limit 4)	$1.00***
Ragu Pasta Sauce 26 oz	$1.00**
Red Peppers	$0.99each**
Avocados	$0.99 each**
Oscar Mayer Shaved Lunchmeat	$2.49*
Ground Beef 80% lean	$1.99/lb*

Albertson's

Potatoes 10lb bag (limit 2)	$1.99***
Roast**	$2.99**
Kool Aid Mix	$0.10***
eggs 18 count (limit 2)	$1.50**
Hershy's Candy bars	$0.33**

Roast include: Top Round, Sirloin Tip, Eye of Round, Tenderloin Roast

Free Samples

Sample or trial size of many items are perfect for a 72 hour emergency kit, in the car, or just to try out a product before you buy it. Below are free samples offered by Walmart.

For a free sample of Viva paper towels click here

For a free sample of Huggies baby wipes click here

For a free sample of Always Infinity pads click here

For a free sample of Maybelline Dream liquid mousse click here

Shopping Trip 3

After seeing the ad for Sproutz I wanted to go check it out for myself. This is what I bought:

carrots were $.50/lb and were locally grown,

cilantro $.34,

Fuji apples $.69/lb

garlic $.50

green leaf lettuce $.69 each

avocados $.69 each

limes $.20 each

red peppers $.50 each

roma tomatoes $.69/lb,

corn 6 for $1.00!

The Bananas were $.57/lb which was less than the grocery store, but Costco still has the cheapest price/lb for bananas. Cantaloupe $1.50 each, Colby Jack Cheese block $1.99/lb, this was a special sale this week and is the same price/lb as Costco. The Tortilla Chips were $1.89/12 oz, and they were an extra buy (I am not perfect at sticking to my list.)

The chips were good and I would buy them again, but my FAVORITE tortilla chips are made in Henderson, CO, La Favorita chips.

Sam's Club is the cheapest place to buy them, but you can find them in King Soopers and Albertsons for $1.99/16 oz bag. I have also found them at the Wal-mart in Commerce city. You will have to look around at your local Wal-mart and grocery stores, because not all Wal-marts, King Soopers, and Albertson's carry them.

Shopping at specialty stores

If you have a favorite authentic Chinese or Mexican dish, consider making a shopping trip to a specialty Chinese or Mexican market. The cost of specific ingredients used only in the authentic recipes are usually less than the grocery store.

Also, consider buying produce and meat at a natural food stores. In Colorado we have Sproutz, Sunflower, and Vitamin Cottage. Watch the ads for meat, cheese and produce. The meat and cheese go on sale occasionally cheaper than the grocery store. The stores seem to always have some produce that is significantly less than the grocery store and it is beautiful, delicious produce.

Always consider the amount of food you are buying verses time, gas, etc...before you go. These stores will have higher prices for other goods (milk, bread, cereal, etc...,) so plan on just shopping the ads if you go.

My family has loved the produce we got from Sproutz this last week. I may be making a monthly trip there to stock up on produce. Of course I will have to weigh in the gas and time factor, but it is something to consider.

Weekly Deals Feb 11-17

Weekly Deals Feb 11-17th

*okay deal (similar price to Wal-mart/Costco)
**good deal
***great deal

If you click Weekly Deals on the menu bar you can see an easier to read version, because the prices are in a seperate column. Also, you can print a black/white copy.

Deals are okay, good or great before using any coupons. If you use coupons it’s a bonus!

Remember Wal-mart price matches, but remember to bring your ads. Some Wal-marts will not accept coupons in addition to the price match.

King Soopers
Red, Green, Black Seedless Grapes $ .99/lb**
Asparagus $.99/lb***
Milk-gallon $1.99***
Eggs-large dozen $.99**
Oranges 4lb bag ($.75/lb) $2.99**
Grapefruit 5lbs ($.60/lb) $2.99**

Mix and Match get $3.00 off
Most of the items on the ad after the final price are either an okay price or higher price than an okay deal. You have to buy 10 items to get the $3.00 off. No thanks, KS I am passing on this sale. :)

Case Sale! Must buy the case to get low price
Tomato Sauce 6 oz ($.20 each) $4.80/24 cans***
Cheese-Kroger, ($1.25 each) $15.00/12 pkg**
8oz bars or 2 cup Shreds
Canned Vegatables-14.5-15 oz ($.50) $12.00/24 cans**
Refried Beans, Rosarita ($.85 each) $6.77/8 cans*

Safeway
12 pk Coke, Pepsi, 7-up($.21 a can) $2.49**-must buy 3
Avocados-large $.98 each*
Eggs-large dozen $.99**
Post Honey Bunches of Oats 19oz $1.99*

Super Coupons-You can find these in this weeks ad, usually they have ads out in front of the store by grocery carts.

Hill Shire Farm-lunch meat ($2.67) $8.00 for 3 pkg** (I buy it for $3.00)
Frosted Mini-Wheats ($1.50 a 16 oz box) $6.00 for 4 boxes***

Albertson’s
Milk- half gallon (limit 4) $.99***
Red, Green, Black Seedless Grapes $.98/lb**
Skippy Peanut Butter 18oz (limit 4) $.88***
American Beauty Pasta 16 oz $.88**
Ketchup, Hunt’s 24 oz $1.00**
Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix 10ct $1.00**
Albertson’s Sour Cream 16 oz $1.00**
Avocados-medium $1.00each*
Tomatoes $1.00/lb**
Broccoli Crowns $1.00/lb**
Red Bell Peppers $1.00each*

Shopping Trip 2

This week I went to Safeway and Costco for my shopping trips. I bought all my produce for the week, cheese, butter and the necessary Chicken Nuggets at Costco. At Safeway I bought 2 dial soaps for $0.30 each after using a coupon. The Colgate Toothpaste was free after using coupons! The Tide Laundry detergent was cheaper than at Costco, $9.99 each, making it .$15 cents a load vs. buying the same Tide detergent at Costco at $.20 cents a load. The Pop-tarts and Fruit Snacks were $0.50 a box after coupons. Frito's/Cheetos were $1.00 each. I saw the Cheetos for $1.50 at Wal-mart before the Superbowl, so I think at $1.00 it is worth to stock up on a few bags.

Shopping Tips

Go to the store with out kids

I try not to take my kids to the grocery store, when I do I know I put extra things in my cart. When we get home they ask for one of everything I just bought. I like to go to the grocery store by myself because I am able to stick to my "list" and when I get home I can put the groceries away before opening any of them. Also, the food stays longer in the house. For example the Pop-tarts and Cheetos I bought above, I put one of each in the pantry and the rest in my food storage (in my case the basement.) If I had put everything in the pantry, we probably would have (and have in the past) just consumed all the Pop-Tarts and most the chips in less than a week. Defeating the purpose of stocking up when an item is at a good or great price.

Simply Saving Money at the Grocery Store

Getting Started
Quality matters to me. I don’t just want to buy at the lowest price, I want quality too. For an item to be a great deal it has to meet my quality and price expectations.

What makes me different from other grocery sites is I track prices and rate the deals okay*, good**, or great***. By identifying the sales okay, good, or great will help you decide how much to buy of that item. Also, just because a store claims an item is on sale I won't put it on my Weekly Deals unless it really is an okay, good, or great buy.

I do buy some store brand items, but there are some items I just like the name brand. I want you to eat what you buy. Just because the store brand bread is .67 cents, it does not meet my "quality expectations" and so you won't see it on my Weekly Deals list.

What does okay, good or great mean to me?
Okay* is the price you would be if you bought the item at Wal-mart or Costco. When I need an item that is on sale and not at an okay price I will usually drag myself down to Wal-mart for a shopping trip.
Good* is the price level I will usually stock up buying a few more than I really need to feed my family for the week. I also try to coordinate a meal menu using these sale items.
Great* is the price level I will by extra for my food storage. I am working on building a 3-month supply of food that my family eats on a regular basis. There are many reasons to do this, if you want to know more about building a 3-month suppy of food visit http://providentliving.org/ and click on the Family Home Storage link on the left sidebar. One good reason to have a 3-month supply of food is it will save you money. Think of it has having your own little store in your basement and you will now only buy food and household goods when they are at a good or great deal to maintain your store.

How I like to shop
The way I like to shop is to buy on sale and buy in bulk. I also limit the number of grocery stores I go to, but will search the ads for the best deals. The grocery stores I will search ads for are Albertson's, King Sooper's and Safeway in the Denver metro area. I do shop at Wal-mart, but I only go there when something I need isn't on sale at the grocery store. Also, Walmart price matches, so some weeks it may make sense to shop at Walmart, but remember to bring your ads!

I also use coupons, most coupons I use are from the newspaper. If you don't want to use coupons, that's okay! The weekly deals I list are okay, good, or great without coupons, which makes coupon using a bonus savings.

If you have any questions about grocery shopping please email me at simplysavingcolorado @ gmail .com (remove spaces before sending email.) or leave a comment on the blog.

Weekly Deals Feb 4-10

Okay*
Good**
Great***
Coupon Codes: Smart Source SS or Red Plum RP + date (month-day)

Remeber Wal-mart price matches, bring ads with you. Some Wal-marts will not accept coupons in addition to the price match.

King Soopers
Frozen Chicken Breasts or Tenders, boneless skinless $5.37/3lb pkg ($1.79/lb)**
Dial Liquid Hand Soap 7.5-11.25 oz $0.88**

3-day Sale Feb 6-8th
Milk $1.77***
Oroweat Country White or 100% WW Bread $1.88**

Albertsons
Frozen Chicken Breasts or Tenders, boneless skinless $5.31/3lb pkg ($1.77/lb)**
Pasta, American Beauty 16 oz $1.00*
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (limit 6) $0.50**
Ragu Pasta Sauce $1.50*
Eggs, large dozen $.99**
Aluminum Foil, Homelife 25 sq ft. $1.00**

Safeway
Fresh Chicken Breasts, boneless skinless $1.88/lb**
Carrots 1lb bag Baby $1.00**
Pop-tarts 8 ct (limit 8) $1.00** RP 1-18 (buy 2 for $1.00 with coupon)
Cream Cheese, Lucerne $1.00**
Lunchables. Basic $1.00**
Kellogg’s Fruit Snacks 8-10 ct (limit 8) $1.00*** RP 2-1 (buy 2 for $1.00 with coupon)
Fritos or Cheetos 8-10 oz (limit 4) $1.00***
Toothpaste Colgate 6.4oz $.99** SS 2-1 (free after coupon)

Mix and Match-must buy 2 for $9.99 each

Tide Liquid Laundry detergent 64 loads or .156 a load (cheaper than Costco .206 a load-see Costco on Menu Bar)

Brawny or Bounty Paper Towels 16 mega rolls

Costco Price Points

Check out the Costco Price Point sheet by clicking Costco on the menu bar. I hope to keep expanding this list, if you would like me to track a specific item please email me or leave a comment. If you are planning to use your Costco coupons this month, be sure to check out the bottom of the list were most of the coupon items with prices can be found.

Shopping Tips

Buying chicken at a good deal

I love using the fresh chicken breasts from Albertson's for dinner. When they are on sale for $1.99 or less a pound, I will buy extra for my freezer. I ask the butcher to put one chicken breast per bag and then wrap in freezer paper. This usually is about a pound of meat. Sometimes it is less and I will use those packages for soups. Sometimes, like today it is more like 1 1/2 pounds of chicken per package, those I will use when we have family and friends over to share a meal, or use in a favorite dish that I can freeze leftovers for another day.