My first week’s meal plan worked out really great!  While I didn’t enjoy sitting down to plan the meals, I did enjoy seeing your guesses, seeing what I actually spent, and not having to worry about what to cook each night of the week.  So before we get to week two’s meal plan, let’s find out what I actually spent for the first week and who won the Chef’s knife with the closes guess!

I was able to get everything on my list except hot dog buns, which I had to come back and get later in the week.  Next time I do this, I’ll make separate transactions and keep my household stuff separate so that you can truly see the total.  Here is the receipt and prices for the ingredients for week one.

So on the first receipt, I had a subtotal of 43.51.  On the second receipt, the subtotal is 2.50.  The grand total is……

$43.51 + $2.50 = $46.01 

The winner of the Chef’s knife is Melissa Miller with her guess of $45.76 (Val, you were soooo close too).  Congrats Melissa!!!  I really think the hot dog buns were high but since I don’t buy them often, it might be normal. I bought all my stuff at Walmart and used no coupons. Thanks for playing along y’all and I hope you participate in more!

JANUARY WEEK TWO MEAL PLAN

To recap things you should know:

A couple of things you should know; 1) I have a family of 5 – me, my husband, 18yr old, 15yr old, and 5yr old.  We live in the middle of Texas.  2) Our beef is part of our income so we have a chest freezer full of it.  Most recipes will include beef but I’ll throw in chicken and such from time to time. 3) All the kids are in school so these meals are for our evening supper.  Me and the hubs will eat whatever we can find during the day.  If I have extras that need to be bought that week, I’ll post them as ‘ingredients’, which you’ll include in your total when calculating cost.  If I have coupons, I’ll let you know.

Week One, January 8-14 2012

Menu

1. Calzones
2. Baked Chicken
3. Brisket
4. Ghoulash
5. Combo burritos
6. Stir Fry
7. ‘find your own meal’ day lol

Ingredients to Buy

• Crescent Roll Pastries (probably 2 cans)
• 2 pkgs of Deli Ham
• Bottle of Italian dressing
• 6 cans of tomato sauce
• 5lb bag of flour
• container of mushrooms
• bottle of barbecue sauce

Extras to buy for the week

• 2 loaves of bread (we go through a lot of bread)
• Peanut butter/jelly jar (both mixed together)
• 2 pkgs of sandwich meat
• Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper (WE LOVE LOVE LOVE this!)

How much do you think those ingredients will cost?

In a comment below, leave your best guess of what you think these ingredients will cost.  The person that comes closes without going over, will win the Robin Takes 5 Cookbook; 500 recipes, 500 calories or less, 5 ingredients or less, 5 nights a week at 5:00pm.

You have until Friday evening of January 13th, 6pm CST to take a guess.  Good luck!  Also, if you have a budget friendly meal idea, please share along with your guess. I’d love to have more ideas for my future meal planning!

P.S. Again, congrats to Melissa Miller!  She was the winner of the Chef’s Knife!

One of the pains that I have to deal with here on the ranch, is the lovely hard-water spots on my dishes.  I was always looking for that next product to eliminate them but man, it can get pricey.   I was talking to a gal, probably in her 60′s, who was telling me that she had the same issue but that she simply used Clorox Bleach.  Now, when she first said it, I wasn’t quite convinced and was almost set-back by it but she explained her ‘parts’.  She filled her sink up with warm water and choice of dish soap; then she put 2 tablespoons of Clorox Bleach in the suds and swooshed around.

I honestly didn’t think JUST 2 Tablespoons would work but it did, it Bleached it Away.  There was a considerable difference when they were dry.  I guess you learn something new all the time from the wise, experienced ones.   This just shows me that you don’t need all those fancy cleaners and ‘special agents’, you just need Clorox Bleach!   Check out my Christmas plate!!  All you can see is the reflection of everything else because it’s so clean!

Guess what, you have the chance to win a Clorox Gift Basket and $50 Gift Card to Williams and Sonoma!  Woohoo!

How to Enter

Required Entry: Share a messy moment that happens in your kitchen! Tell me all about it, I wanna hear them!  If you need some inspiration, watch the video and see a fellow blogger and Mom share her messy moment.

Additional optional entries, leaving all in separate comments to count:

• Join the My Wooden Spoon’s Facebook Community.  I’m always giving freebies like ecookbooks over there!
• Follow @ACowboysWife on Twitter and tweet this giveaway with the URL to this post! (DAILY ENTRY-once per day)
• Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email. You must confirm your email subscription for it to be a valid entry! Coming soon, there will be special giveaways JUST for email subscribers! If you’re already a subscriber, simply leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve already subscribed.
• Go share your messy moment over on Clorox’s Facebook page and how you Bleach it Away!

This giveaway ends at 6:00 p.m. CST on 12/15/2011 and is open to all U.S. residents.

Disclosure: Clorox is providing the gift basket and gift card and I have been paid for my time & efforts to create this post.  As always, my opinions are my own. 

I already talked you about Walmart’s Ad Match policy and how I’d be showing you a video on me ad matching with no ad so that’s what this video is about.

I simply went to Walmart, found the item I wanted to price match, and checked out. I told her they were 5 for $5 at the competitor’s store. They were $1.78 at Walmart so by ad matching, I saved $3.98 and didn’t have to go to more than one store! I had my ad in my purse but wanted to see if they’d honor the price without the ad and they did, no problems! Watch the video!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

Let’s talk about Father’s Day!  It is right around the corner, so isn’t it a good time to go out and get something special for dad?

There are so many options and it is always tough to find the right gift.  Here is some help; Check out a site called MyCoupons.com.  This site compiles hundreds of coupons for all the top retailers.  They even have a link on the left side bar for Father’s Day.  Just click on the link and it will take you to some of the top deals for Dad.

Here are some of the offers, $5 off Kmart Coupons and  Sears Coupons, plus some nice 10% off Eastbay Coupons.  They simplify the process and make it easy by just letting you click on the offer and directing you right to the retailers website.  Search their site for a great deal and have it delivered right to the house. While on the site, might as well check out some deals for yourself along with signing up for their weekly newsletter.  CouponPros on the site put together some exclusive deals only found at MyCoupons.com and they even have a VIP List on Facebook that gives you access to weekly deals and prize giveaways.  Make sure to finish up my looking at the discounted gift cards section.  You can actually buy discounted gift cards to places like Bed Bath and Beyond for below face value and get Free Shipping.  Those are perfect even if you want to give those as a gift.  They have plenty of options and the site makes it easy to navigate and find the top online retailers.  Plus, if you want to take it a step further and make a personalized gift, they have a site, giftcards.com, where you can put a photo of your family on a prepaid card, and mail it out with a personalized greeting card.

Lots of savings and lots of fun.  Let us know what you find!!

Following is a paid guest post by MyCoupons.com

Okay, while that might not be a proven fact technically speaking, it holds true here in the Falcon household.  One of the first things my kids do is check the cookie jar and since I don’t always make them from scratch, I do try to always stock them with some our favorites regularly like Oreos (Double Stuff of course), Nutter Butters (my man’s fave), and Chips Ahoy (the soft ones).

I remember my great grandmother having this cookie jar full of huge sugar cookies.  They were the best.  It’s something I’ll always remember because she had cookies in there at all times so we always knew we’d get one.  I want that those kinds of memories with my own kids.

For TODAY ONLY, you can download a coupon for free cookies at Nabisco’s Facebook Fan page!  Simply buy one package and a gallon of milk and get your second set of cookies free! (limit one per househould) You can’t beat that if just to give you a cool idea for Summer, try buying the Chewy Chips Ahoy and some ice cream and create your very own homemade ice cream sandwiches. Kids love them and the cookies size is perfect for small hands.  It’s something me and my kids do during the Summer months.  If you’re adventurous, you could try say..nutter butters with chocolate ice cream.  {{drool}}

I’d love to hear if you have a family cookie story!  Share with us and be sure to fan Nabisco and claim your coupon!

Post is sponsored but my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.  Read my full disclosure for my blogging ethics.

Most of try to keep our grocery bill under control but what about our food bills for restaurants?  Whether you eat out occasionally or several times a week, I’ve got some tips to help reduce the cost of dining out.

1. CLIP AND SAVE

These days, you can get coupons for just about any store and even any restaurant so take advantage of it.  They are meant to be used.  Some restaurants like Logan’s Roadhouse will often send a $5 off coupon to their email subscribers.  I know that Dairy Queen sends coupons for blizzards. That alone will reduce your eating-out bills a great deal.

2. BUY DISCOUNTED GIFT CERTIFICATES

A VERY popular way to save money is to buy gift certificates to your favorite restaurants at a discount through Restaurant.com.   This is something you’ve probably seen but might not be completely sold on.  I know for a fact that it works well and is a common money saving tactic among the savvy frugal folks.  Basically you can get $10 certificates  for $3 and $25 certificates for $10.  This is especially useful on places that you dine out regularly and great when you want to try a new place but don’t want to spend too much money.  JuiceBoxJungle is showcasing the Restaurant.com deals over in my sidebar!  Check them out.

3. DRINK FOR FREE

Clearly drinking water is the best solution for a low bill total but there a couple of other things you can do.  Tea is cheaper than soda for restaurants and often include free refills so make that one of your top choices. If you are going to have an alchoholic beverage, either dine in during happy hour or sip it.  Many times that type of beverages are a miniumum of $6 and that can add up fast.

4. SHARE A MEAL

Oh man, this can really save you a bundle on the checkbook and on the hips.  Restaurants tend to serve their dishes in huge portions which are great for splitting in half with someone.  One entree for $13.99 vs 2 at almost $30 bucks and much less calories to put in your mouth.

5. KID-FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS

There are so many places that offer special deals when dining with kiddos.  Recently my good friend Alyssa fed her family of 4 for $13  over at  Mooyah Burgers.  How? Because it was a Kids Eat Free special which many eating joints offer.  This type of offer usually applies to kid eats free per paying adult.  There’s also a cool app if you’re an iPhone or Blackberry user called Kids Meals Deals.  A great way to find Kid-Friendly meal deals!

6. FILL YOUR TUMMY UP ON FREEBIES

One of our favorite things about Logan’s Roadhouse is that you get delicious, melt in your mouth, FREE bread while you are waiting on your food AND during your meal.  Not only that but they also offer buckets of peanuts to shell and eat as well.  Other places offer chips and salsa so when it’s free, get full on the free stuff and order your meal accordingly.

7.  DAILY SPECIALS

Many restaurants offer specials on the weeknights to help bring people in during their slower times. we usually  eat out on the weekends so we don’t take advantage of this but I know others that implement this into their eating-out routine and it saves them a bundle!

8. ORDER OUT

If it’s the food you love and not the environment, then you can cut your costs by ordering your food to go. Many restaurant offer pick-up and delivery, making it easy for you to get your favorite meals to go. This can save you a good chunk of change because you can skip the drink order entirely and also avoid having to pay a tip – a savings of 15% on average. OH YEAH!

9. BUY AN ENTERTAINMENT BOOK or MY PARENT REWARDS

Much like 1 and 2 above, you can buy an Entertainment Book that offers savings like 2-for-1 restaurant coupons and 50% off deals.   You’ll enter your city and buy the book for your area.  Initially you are spending the money on the book but in the long run, it will save you more, offsetting the cost of the book.

My Parent Rewards is fairly new and getting rave reviews.  Again, it’s a lot like the Entertainment Book but your coupons and discounts come on a card. Very convenient to use.  This is great for shopping, groceries, food and more.

10. ALL YOU CAN EAT

Great on the pocketbook, not so great on the thighs.  I highly recommend all you can eat restaurants if you have boy teenagers. For reals.  I don’t know how much yours can pack away but good lord mine can eat as much as an army!  Even at $10 bucks a person, you’re getting a great deal.  And our favorite Golden Corral, offers a salad bar, fruit, main dish food, BREAD, and desserts. That’s a LOT of food and you’ll save money not having to buy appetizers.

Bonus tip: If you spend less on your meal, then you’ll save even more when it comes time to tip! On average, you’ll save 15%.

IF YOU HAVE A TIP OF YOUR OWN, PLEASE SHARE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

This post is sponsored by JuiceBoxJungle and Restaurant.com. All views and opinions are of my own as stated in my disclosure.

Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day so please don’t skip out on it!  It’s what gives you that much needed boost to get going and last through the morning.  I know that everyone is still struggling due to the economy so here are a few budget friendly breakfast ideas to get you going.

1. Have a piece of casserole. It takes time to cook eggs and bacon for breakfast. No one wants to ruin their clothes with the mess it can create. On Sunday night, get breakfast done early. Put together a casserole using your favorite ingredients. Fewer eggs are needed in a casserole than when frying or scrambling them for breakfast each morning. Depending on the size of your family, the casserole may last two to three mornings.

2. Yogurt. Yogurt is a healthy breakfast choice. When you are eating on the run, grab a container of yogurt and some dried or fresh fruit. Cutting up fruit on top of the yogurt adds carbohydrates to fuel you for the morning in addition to the calcium and protein in the yogurt itself.

3. Breakfast shake. This is even quicker and can be ingested while driving without taking your eyes off the road or both hands off the wheel. Put together some frozen fruit favorites, ice cubes, frozen yogurt, and unsweetened juice in a blender. Pour into Styrofoam cups to keep it cold. Everyone can grab a cup on the way out the door. The nutritional effect is about the same as yogurt, but without the spoon.

4. Pigs in a blanket. This is the homemade version. Whip up a batch of pancakes and freeze them in short stacks of three. A package or two of frozen link sausage is needed to create this quick and economical meal idea. Thaw out a stack of pancakes. Heat up three sausages in the microwave. Wrap a pancake around each sausage. Voila! You’ve got an instant pig in a blanket. Eat it as you watch the last of your favorite morning show or as you walk to the bus stop. It can be eaten in the car without too much fuss or mess. For a sweeter taste and less mess, add a little maple syrup or honey to the batter when making the pancakes.

5. Breakfast sandwiches. In the evening, while you are getting things ready for the next day, grill up a few breakfast sandwiches. Choose whatever you like: turkey slices, ham slices, cheese, tomato, bacon, etc. When the sandwich cools, cut it into bite size pieces and put it in a container. In the morning, just grab a container; pop it into the microwave for fifteen or twenty seconds and breakfast is served.

Most of these ideas use basic ingredients that are kept in every kitchen so you’ll be saving money too.  Do you have a favorite budget friendly recipe to share?

Wow, what a steal folks. Taste of Home Magazine for only $2 for a whole year!!  Or, $4 for 2 years, $6 for 3 years, or $8 for 4 years. That’s just crazy!  It only lasts a few days so you probably need to act fast.  A big thanks for Tara for telling me about it so that I can pass it on to you!

I really love the magazine myself, of course, I suppose I could be bias since I was in it and all. (The quarterly subscription) *giggle*

EDITED: I told you this would go fast. It’s now over! Sorry for those of you who tried. Keep watching and I’ll update the next time it’s available!!

This offer doesn’t last long at all so you guys better hurry if you want this free kitchen idea book from Kraftmaid. For the do-it-yourself person or the professional, with tons of beautiful ideas that you can do right in your own home!
I’ll be editing/deleting this once the offer is gone! Click on the banner to get yours and hurry!

About Kraftmaid
KraftMaid Cabinetry has helped more consumers create the kitchen of their dreams than any other cabinet manufacturer in the world. Why? Because KraftMaid offers the best of both worlds. We provide a custom look, with the widest selection of styles, finishes, storage solutions and decorative enhancements in built-to-order cabinetry all without the custom price or lengthy custom lead times.

I thought I would share with you some of the fantastic foodie freebies and coupons this week!  I’m telling you folks, if you aren’t using coupons or taking advantage of all the freebies out there, you’re missing out and losing money.  I have saved so much since I first started and I love getting freebies in the mail, many of which are great for traveling!

PRINT AT COUPONS.COM

Some of the food coupons you’ll find this week are:

• Tons of cereal!!  Lots of variety there!
• Kashi Snack Bars & Cereal
• Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad (we love the classic!)
• Digiorno Flat Bread Pizza
• Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
• Fresh Express Salad!!!! GREAT ONE HERE FOLKS!
• V-8 Vegetable juice
• Icing

$10 Coupon Booklet which includes a coupon for a FREE bottle of Hunt’s Ketchup!

FREEBIES

Free CroisSonic Breakfast Sandwich (with the purchase of a large drink)

Bisquick Recipes via Newsletter

Ray & Terry’s Health Shake

Pillsbury Recipes for 2, delivered to your inbox.

Hidden Valley Original Bites Cookbook

Free Float from A&W Restaurants

Free mug from Tom’s Friend (you must confirm your email)

Join the eclub and get a free meal at Ryan’s.

DEALS

4 Bags of Boca Java Coffee for only $4.95 shipping

3 Bags of Coffee from Gevalia with a travel mug for $3.  Please keep in my that this enrolls you into an autoship program so be sure to cancel if you don’t want further shipments.

Another great one for Mother’s Day from Gevalia!  Get a single cup coffee maker and coffee.