I highly recommend signing up for your local grocery store’s mailing list.  My HEB sends out great coupons once a month.  Last month I got a pound of free sirloin and $1.50 off milk; this week, I got free frozen fruit bars, a dozen eggs, $1.50 off milk, and I still have coupons for FREE mayonnaise and grape tomatoes.

HEB also had a killer meal deal – buy 2# of ground meat, get a loaf of bread, shredded cheese, spaghetti sauce, and spaghetti noodles free!  It’s white bread and white pasta, but free is free!  I had a coupon for 1# of ground sirloin, so I only paid $8.27 total for this:

We spent:  $92.17 (June 1- June 7)

HEB #1 and 99 Cent store: $28.87

We got:

4.3# cherries, 3.4# bananas, 5.5# peaches, 2 red bell peppers, 6 green bell peppers, 6 cucumbers, 10 limes, 10 plums, 3# calabasa squash, 2# grapes, 4# carrots, 1 small rib celery, 1.5# red onion, 2.2# white onion, 4# tomatoes, 1 head Romaine lettuce, 1 seedless watermelon, 10# potatoes,

4 loaves of whole wheat bread, 2 loaves white bread (free!), 36 oz. generic Cheerios, 32 oz. generic Honey Bunches of Oats, 42 oz. oatmeal, 32 oz. regular spaghetti (free!), 48 oz. spaghetti sauce (free!), 64 oz. EV olive oil, 3# brown rice, 6# dried beans, 100 tea bags, 4 candy bars (one for birthday boy, one for me, and two for the labor bag!)

24 oz. parm/romano cheese (free!), 3 gallons milk, 1 doz. eggs (free),  2# ground beef, 2# ground sirloin (1# free!), 1 box Kashi waffles (free!), 6 pk fruit popsicles

HEB – trip #2  $39.31

Fiesta Mart: $23.99

We’re eating:

My due date is Thursday, and I’ve always been early in the past.  So the kids will probably be having pizza or takeout at some point this week while I’m in the hospital!

Sun, June 7: Spaghetti, salad

Mon, June 8: Sloppy joes, summer salad (cucumber, tomato, red onion, vinegar), red and green pepper sticks  (shhh!  Don’t tell anyone.  I picked my sister up from the airport tonight and dinner didn’t get cooked.  So I stopped at WalMart and bought hot dogs and roast beef, instead.  We still ate the summer salad, though.)

Tues, June 9: Taco salad

Wed, June 10: Creamy chicken and rice  skillet with spinach, calabasa,

Thurs, June 11: Pot roast, potatoes, carrots, chard

Fri, June 12: Curried chickpeas and sweet potato ragout, over rice (going to make a concoction in the crockpot this time)

Sat, June 13: eat out/take out

I’m glad the Kashi waffles were free.  I used to buy them years ago, before I got a waffle iron.  Now that I’ve been making my own whole grain waffles, the Kashi are gross! They taste like cardboard, even with butter and syrup.  Blech.

Final belly shot – still not starving! 

For more meal plans, check out Laura at OrgJunkie!

Tagged as: Food Stamp Challenge, frugal, groceries, meal planning, menu