October Month End Shopping Gone Wild!!

This month was a little out of hand.  If I take the crazy amount of chickens that we got out of the equation, it doesn't look as bad but I went crazy!!!  Check out what I got and what I spent.

Aldi $49.49

Harris Teeter $9.83

Harris Teeter $0.66 + $0.42= $1.08

Harris Teeter $31.31

Harris Teeter $19.98

 

Harris Teeter $34.37+ $7.89

This included 6 chickens that went directly in the freezer and I didn't get in the picture.

Aldi $13.19

Harris Teeter $6.87

Harris Teeter $0

These were two freebies if you went shopping on Saturday.  The great news is that after the soccer game on Saturday, we drive by this store on the way home!!!  We got both these for nothing!!  The chips were amazing and the cream cheese will most likely go into Christmas cookie press cookies or icing for cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.

Rite Aid $16.83

My husband was sick and needed to get some ibprophen and cold medicine so he went to the store that had the best sale without having a clue what he would find or spend but he bought what he needed even though it was crazy high.  I found some medicine in the cabinet when he got home but we have already used lots of this anyway.

Wegman's $29.05 +2.03 + 2.03= $33.11

I needed to get the flour that was on sale for $0.99 per bag (limit two so I did three transactions because the store is really far away).  I also got Ocean Spray for my husband because we were out!!! AHHH!!!  I was also totally out of vital wheat gluten flour and Wegman's is the cheapest local place that I have found it for $3.69 for a small box.  I normally stock up in Amish country but we aren't going there anytime soon so this will have to do.  We were out of lettuce and it looks better then Aldi lettuce normally so let's hope it is.  The only place that I buy ground beef so I figured that I would grab it while I was there to stock the freezer.  I got the brownies for a special treat which I haven't even made yet so we will enjoy them soon.  The bananas at Aldi are usually green so I got one at Wegman's in case my husband wanted one over the weekend...of course he didn't want them until Monday to take to work with him.

Aldi $33.91- 2.01 = $31.90

There was nothing left in the house and my husband was finally on the mend from a long sickness so he wanted some apples and bananas.  There was grapes on sale for $1.98 for two pounds so I got them too.  I went a little overboard with too many things but we have already used most of them.  I have plans to make the pumpkin gnocchi next week and the steak sauce is for my french dip sloppy joes that I just put in the freezer.  We are ready to roll for the upcoming month.

Harris Teeter $0 

Another great freebie which my husband enjoyed before I even got a picture.  We got it after the soccer game on Saturday.

Giant $4.07

The coupons were expiring at the end of the month so my husband ran up to the store after trick or treating to get these so that he could use the coupons.  He got all that the store had :(  I forgot to stop at a few different stores during the day when I was working so I was excited that we got to the store at all even though I knew we were really far over budget for the month.

Total Monthly Retail $564.11

Total Monthly Savings $304.19

Total Monthly OOP $259.92

I went a lot over my $160 monthly budget!!  By almost $100, I might have gone off the deep end with the 15 chickens but that is only about half of the overage!!  The great news is that I won't need a lot of protein in the coming months between that and the ground beef purchased.  I should feel worse about it but I really don't.  My husband was sick and I am just glad that I made it through the month in one piece without too much craziness.  We are also getting a little bit more on track with me going back to work so hoping that the coming months are going to get a little easier as long as we stay healthy!!!

How did your month go?? 

Menu Plan Monday 10/31

Monday- Chicken fries, Buffalo Chicken and homemade fries
Tuesday- Roast Chicken
Wednesday- Pasta with garlic bread and sausage
Thursday- Salsa Sloppy Joes
Friday- Lasagna
Saturday- Paninis with leftovers
Sunday-Waffles and hash browns with eggs

Last week was totally changed yet again because we ended up with leftovers on Tuesday and changed Wednesday to the Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken that we didn't have last week.  We moved the pasta meal to Thursday and ended up with Leftovers and Salad on Friday after a long week.  We went with the Chicken and Rice Casserole that we were supposed to have on Thursday to Saturday so I guess things were just moved back until I had the energy to make them!!!  We made it through mostly in one piece.  Hoping for a less busy week this week but I don't think that it is in my to have a slow week!!!  AHHH!!!

I really need to learn to say NO!!  I signed up to do a bunch of things last week like the book fair at my son's school and things that had me out of the house all day.  It is hard to catch up but I have plans to get lots of ground beef cooked tonight when making tacos to get some other meals ready and in the freezer for the coming weeks but I also committed to going to a Halloween Party for my son and then I have to go to work after so I have a window in between to get this massive cooking prep done.  I may have over scheduled again!!! 

How is your week looking??

Christian's Hope Book Review

I looked at the description of the book and thought it sounded interesting but it was a historic fiction so I wasn't interested.  I read the description a second time and decided that I still wanted to read it.  Christian's Hope (Return to Northkill) by Ervin R. Stutzman was the third book in the series that I hadn't read but I was eager to start reading it!!

When Christian Hochstetler returns to the Amish after seven years in captivity, he finds that many things have shifted. Captured as a child during the French and Indian War, Christian has spent much of his life among Native Americans, who cared for him and taught him their ways. Now that Christian is home, his father wants him to settle back into their predictable Amish life of farming, and Christian's budding friendship with Orpha Rupp beckons him to stay as well.
Yet Christian feels restless, and he misses his adoptive Native American family--who raised him as their own son. When faced with a life-altering decision, will Christian choose the Amish identity that his father desires for him? Or will he depart from his family and faith community yet again?
Christian's Hope tells the story of the younger brother of Joseph and son of Jacob, whom readers have come to love in the first two books in the Return to Northkill series. Based on actual events and written by a descendant of the Hochstetler family, Christian's Hope brings the sweeping epic of the Return to Northkill series to a soul-stirring end

I have not read the other books in the series so this was my first book getting to know these characters and what was going on.  It was a little of a slow start for me because I had to get to know all the history of the characters but I jumped right into it and couldn't put it down.  Christian is fighting between his birth culture of the Amish and the one that he grew up in with the Indians.  There is a lot of talk about how all of the "white" people hate the "savages" which I think was a little repetitive after awhile and I would rather be showed instead of told over and over.  The book was made up three parts and I felt that it got much faster paced in the second and third section.  After going through the whole book, it was a good read which I enjoyed.  I wish that I got to read the first two books in the series but I will have to add them to my reading list.  I hope that you check out this book soon and let me know what you think!!

**I was provided a copy of the book to read from the publishers but all opinions here are my own.

An Amish Family Christmas Book Review

I was so excited to have the opportunity to get to read the third and the fourth book in the Charmed lift series in a row because it is so hard to leave things unfinished and what could be better then a Christmas book!!!  Love the Christmas books because there is always so many things going on with the holidays and the families that you are never bored.  An Amish Family Christmas: A Charmed Amish Life Christmas Novel by Shelley Shepard Gray is the fourth book in the Charmed Amish Life series and a wonderful next step with the great characters.

Ever since his father died in a tragic fire, Levi Kinsinger has felt adrift. Newly returned to Charm, Ohio, Levi is trying to fit into his old life, only to discover he seems to have outgrown it.
But when Julia, his young widowed neighbor, asks for his help with a Christmas project, Levi finds a sense of purpose for the first time in months. She and her daughter are new to Charm and could use a friend, a job Levi takes personally. Soon enough, friendship grows into attraction, but Levi can’t help having doubts. There’s something about Julia that doesn’t ring quite true…

Like Levi, Julia Kemps has survived her fair share of hardships—but only by hiding the truth of her past. Being an unmarried mother in an Amish community was unthinkable. Feeling hopeless, Julia did the only thing she could do: she moved to a new town and pretended to be a widow. But meeting Levi, she’s hopeful for the first time. Little by little, she begins to imagine telling him her darkest secret, and eventually…perhaps even sharing her life with him.
Christmas is a time for family, and as the holiday draws closer, Julia and Levi will have to face their pasts together…in order to find the healing, support and love they so desperately desire.

I love Levi and enjoyed his homecoming to the small town.  He left after having a hard time dealing with his fathers death.  While living in Pinecraft, Flordia, he learned and grew a lot but came home as soon as he got the call from his family.  There was an adjustment to having all his family around him again with all their opinions so he moved out on his own to try to have a better start.  With lots of hard work, he was burying himself in the family business and still not making a life for himself.  He ends up meeting his neighbors and starts to fell connections to this new neighborhood beyond just his family ties.  I loved to watch both Levi and Julia grow in this neighborhood and begin to count on others again.  A wonderful holiday story that lifts the spirits and opens your heart.  I hope that you enjoy this book as much as I did!!  I know that if you check out this book and all the other books in the Charmed Life series, you will enjoying these page turning stories.  Make sure you pick them all up so that you have them all when you start because you won't want to wait to get started on the next book!!

** I was given a copy this book from the publishers but all opinions here are my own.

A Sister's Wish Book Review

I was so excited to see that the next installment of this great series was out because I really enjoyed the first two books in the series a lot.  The Charmed Amish life series introduces the third book in the series with A Sister's Wish: The Charmed Amish Life, Book Three by Shelley Shepard Gray.  I couldn't wait to get to this book and I love how it followed along with the theme of the other books in the series.

Amelia Kinsinger is the perfect Amish woman—at least according to her neighbors. And while Amelia takes pride in her role as homemaker, she’s also harboring a secret: She’s been in love with bad boy Simon Hochstetler for as long as she can remember. Too bad he’s about as far from “perfect” as an Amish man could get… but that’s exactly why she’s so drawn to him.

Life hasn’t been kind to Simon. He ran away from an abusive home at fifteen and things went downhill from there. Eventually, Simon landed in prison. But the experience changed him. Now back in Charm as a grown man, he’s determined to make a new life for himself and not think too much about his wild past…unless it pertains to Amelia.

He’s loved Amelia for years. To him, she represents everything good and kind in the world. When he realizes that she returns his affections, he starts calling on her in secret, even though her older brother Lukas—who just happens to be Simon’s best friend—has made it perfectly clear that Amelia deserves better. Simon disagrees and believes he’s the only one who can truly make her happy.

But when Amelia gets hurt, it sets off a chain of events that forces them to consider their future together—and face their past mistakes. There’s a chance for love… but only if Simon dares to trust Amelia with the secrets of his past.

It was a great next book in the series which started right where the other books left off.  I really liked the first two books but this book was so much better for me because it was many resolutions that you were waiting for after the first two books.  I enjoyed the relationship between Simon and Amelia and watching them both blossom.  The great characters and great writing really come to great resolutions in this book.  There are lots of twists and turns in this book including a hospital stay and finding lost siblings.  It was an emotional book that had me waiting to find out next.  I hope that you pick up this book and the others in the series to enjoy soon too!!  I think that you will love them as much as I have because my only complaint is that it was over too soon.  The great news is that the had the next book in the series to read next!!  Stay tuned for that review soon!!!

**I was given a copy of the book by the publisher but all opinions here are my own.

Cook's Country Eats Local Cookbook Review

I grabbed this book while I was at the library and I was excited to read it.  It quickly got moved to the bottom of the pile because I found so many recipes that I couldn't live without.  I had to start marking the ones that I wanted to copy down but I came up with so many that I actually made a few notes and added to my list of books that I might want to buy soon!!  Cook's Country Eats Local: 150 Regional Recipes You Should Be Making No Matter Where You Live by Cook's Country has lots of great recipes that you might want to check out for yourself.

150 Regional Recipes You Should Be Making No Matter Where You Live

From Maine’s hearty Joe Booker Stew to pineapple-packed Hawaiian Fried Rice, this collection of recipes brings bold local flavors and tried-and-true cooking techniques home—no matter where that may be. Home cooks will discover little-known spe- cialties and revamped classics in each of the four chapters: New England and the Mid-Atlantic, Appalachia and the South, The Midwest and Great Plains, Texas and the West. Colorful local history and anecdotes from Cook’s Country’s tasty travels bring the recipes to life, and illustrated maps and a list of test kitchen–approved hot spots show you where you can try the inspiring original dishes today. Step-by-step photography illustrates key techniques, and full-color photos for every recipe showcase the beauty of the collection. From tailgate staples like Southern Football Sandwiches and Wisconsin Grilled Brats and Beer to old-school sweets like Hollywood’s Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls and New York’s Bee Sting Cake, Cook’s Country Eats Local puts an array of flavorful, diverse American dishes within reach—no road trip needed.

I made a list of a ton of recipes that I couldn't live without and the top of the list is a Spiedie Chicken marinate which I hope to make soon.  I normally get a big bottle of the marinate from my parents as a Christmas gift because we love to enjoy it on the grill in the summer.  It makes a mess if cooked in the house so hoping that this recipe might be nice inside too!!  I guess we will see if it just adds to or replaces the other marinate!!  There are a ton of dishes that sound fabulous as well as a long list of desserts (because I always love the treats).  Some of the great meal recipes include Iowa Loose Meat Sandwiches, Crispy Beef Taquitos, Jo Jo Potatoes, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Dilly Casserole Bread, Ballpark Pretzels and New England Bar Pizza.  The desserts that shined for me was the Wellesley Fudge Cake, Summer Blueberry Crumble, Blackberry Jam Cake, Moravian Sugar Cake, Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls, St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, and Kringle.  I added it to my list of books that I might buy if my husband gets another free book through his job as a thank you gift because I didn't have book on my list last time and he missed the deadline so I was super sad!!  This is a great book even though the last thing you might need is another cookbook, check it out at the library so that you don't put it on your shelf but you just might end up buying it anyway when you make a list of the recipes you like!!  I hope that you check out this yummy cookbook and see some of these great recipes yourself.

Menu Plan Monday 10/24

Monday- Chicken fries, Buffalo Chicken and homemade fries
Tuesday- Pasta with garlic bread and sausage
Wednesday- Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken
Thursday- Chicken and Rice Casserole
Friday- Paninis and leftovers
Saturday-Breakfast for Dinner
Sunday- ?

Last week was terrible to keep on track because of my sick husband so I made notes on last week's menu with all the changes.  I ended up working every day last week including Saturday and Sunday.  I made french dip sandwiches on Saturday.  So we gave up and bought pizza on Sunday before I had to go to work.  We ended up with hash browns one day for lunch and pancakes for dinner so it was all over the place.  I was exhausted and just couldn't imagine doing any more cooking and we were really out of leftovers by the end of the week.  I am hoping that with my husband on the mend that we might have a better week this week.  Too much leftover lasagna from his parents visit so we are taking it off the menu this week because I don't want it again so soon!!  Hope you enjoy your week and have lots of tasty meals!