Maceys: $4.49 2lb Tillamook Cheese

Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I'd stop in at Provo Maceys.

They have their Tillamook 2 lb Medium Cheddar and Colby Jack on sale for $5.49 and there was a $1 coupon taped to the cheese. I like paying under $2/lb for cheese, but hey, it's Tillamook!

The sour cream was $.99, not an advertised price. I've been all out, unless you count the tablespoon or so that's in the bottom of the container my little sister left in my fridge like 2 weeks ago. I have your sour cream Ashley. Want it back?

Here's the grocerysmarts list for other items on sale

This sale ends Tuesday night.

Total Spent: $11.94

Money Left for the Month: $86.52

Smiths: Case Lots and Cheap Pepperoni

Smiths has the best prices on oil ($2 each), evaporated milk ($.65 each), mandarin oranges ($.33 each), and 5 lb bags of flour ($1.25 each). Keep in mind that you do have to buy an entire case to get the case price at Smiths. Check out the Case Lot Comparison Chart for more info.

FYI: I just read on PYP that Wesson oil is $1.99 at Winco right now so if you're heading there and don't want to have to buy a whole case, check them out. I'm not sure which Winco had that price though- sometimes they are different.

I'm splitting some of the evaporated milk and the oil with my sister in law but I'm way too lazy to just get a shot of that.

I love finding clearance stuff. Looks like I've got dinner covered tonight! Good. I can use a break from cooking after the last few time-consuming dinners I've made.

Couple items of interest:

• The gummy vitamins are still on sale, the Marvel ones, and Provo has the 180 count back in stock. With the $1 coupon from the 8/29 RP or coupons.com they are $6.49, reg. $14.49. The 60 count are $3.99 or $2.99 w/coupon, but the 180 count is a better deal.
• The Hormel pepperoni is on sale for $1 and there is a $.55/2 coupon here and here, making them $.73 each. They don't expire until February, so I'm thinking we've got pizza and sandwiches in our future. Maybe some Pizza Joes, we'll see.

Total Spent: $62.12

Money Left for the Month: $98.46

Comparing Case Lot Prices

Looking for the best prices at the case lot sales? Me too. This amazing woman at preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com has a price comparison sheet where she compares the case lots against each other and Winco, Walmart, Sams, Costco, the Cannery, and Emergency Essentials.

Even if you're not local and are looking to stock up on stuff, this would be a great comparison for the other stores.

I'll be heading to Smiths later for vegetable oil, evaporated milk, mandarin oranges, canned veggies, and flour. I love case lot sales!

Oops. Budgets are Overrated?

I am admitting to 2 things

1. I am not on top of anything in my life.
2. We bought a few odds and ends this weekend with family in town and didn't record it.

Sorry. I'm guessing it came to about $10, so we'll call it that.

Also I hit Buy Low yesterday for some produce. I love their produce prices, you can't beat them. The grapes are $.78/lb, bananas are $.25/lb. There's always some great deal there, especially on their extra produce days- Wed and Thurs. I'm excited to try this Roasted Garlic Cauliflower to use some of that $.50/lb cauliflower. We'll see how it turns out.

Total Spent: $8.13

Buy Low's ad is here if you're interested in prices.

And since I'm such a cheater, I'm rolling over my extra $28.13 from last month. I forgot to do that when the month started. I'm excited to have this extra money as it will mean I go less over budget this month with all the caselot sales.

That being said, I'll subtract $18.13 from the $28.13 (no way- they're exactly $10 apart!) and add $10 to my budget for the month.

Money Left for the Month: $160.58

Chinese Food Heaven

I was cooking for a while yesterday, but man, was dinner good. Is that braggy? I don't mean it to be braggy. Ok, that's a lie. Yes I do.

We had Sweet and Sour Chicken, Fried Rice, white rice, and Egg Drop Soup (super easy and fast).

It was the best Chinese I have had in a really long time and I would completely recommend each of the links. Of course I didn't make the Chicken or Fried Rice exactly as written. When has that ever happened? Which does occasionally make for "exciting" meals incidentally. This time it worked out.

Here's my interpretation of Sweet and Sour Chicken, the most complicated of the recipes, but SO worth it.

Oh, and if you want to mix it up a bit, the breaded chicken is really good on it's own and would make great nuggets to dip in ketchup and the Sweet and Sour Sauce would still be really good over non-breaded chicken.

If you're wanting to premake things a bit, the sauce can be made before hand and just reheated. Also, it took me a while to fry all the batches of chicken. The comments in the original recipe said that you can fry the chicken earlier in the day and then reheat it in the oven at 350 if you don't have time to do it right before dinner.

Breaded Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 recipe Batter (below)

1 recipe Sweet and Sour Sauce (below)

1 8oz can pineapple chunks, drained, juice reserved for Sauce!

2 green bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

reserved pineapple juice from can

2 drops orange food coloring or 1 drop red and 2 yellow

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup water

In a saucepan, combine the first 5 items and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Combine the cornstarch and 1/4 c water in a cup first (otherwise lump city!) and then slowly stir into the saucepan. Stir until mixture thickens.

Batter

2 1/4 cups self rising flour or 2 1/4 c all purpose and 3 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 egg

1 1/2 cups water

Combine everything except water in a large bowl. Add water gradually to make a thick batter. Add chicken pieces and stir until chicken is well coated.

Directions:

1. Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees F. My burner was on medium-high. Fry battered chicken pieces in hot oil until golden. Don't overcrowd the pan! It took me 4 batches. Remove chicken. I like to drain it on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet in a warm oven. Throw a few paper towels in between to help with cleanup. This is also a great way to reheat breaded things- the bottoms totally don't get soggy.
2. Dump the leftover oil, leaving a little bit still in the pan, and quickly stir-fry the bell peppers and pineapple.
3. I served this over white rice, put the chicken down then topped it with the sauce then peppers and pineapple.

Serves 8

It's About Time.

Hooray! A menu! I don't know who is happier when I post this, Matt or me. He loves new recipes and I hate coming up with them.

Main Dish:

• Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice and Egg Drop Soup
• BBQ ribs
• Oven Pot Roast
• Chicken Satay over rice
• Potato and Bean Enchilada
• Chicken Parmesan over Pasta

Other:

• Roasted Beets with Feta (thanks Mom and Dad for the beets!)
• Roasted Brussel Sprouts
• Fried Green Tomatoes
• Zucchini Bake with Feta and Thyme
• Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

To Buy for Menu:

• cilantro
• corn tortillas
• fresh fruits and veggies including cauliflower. I'll be hitting Buy Low for their produce deals either today or tomorrow- their extra produce sales now last 2 days.

I am cheap. I will not only admit it, but I am quite proud of this fact. It may drive everyone around me a bit nuts, but I HATE paying full price for anything. To avoid this, I stock up on stuff when it is cheap, meaning that I have a stockpile of food to make my meals from. That's the goal, anyhow. I'm also using some of the produce that has miraculously grown in my weed patch, I mean garden.

Springville Reams: Chicken Breast $1.59/lb

I drove out to Reams today to pick up chicken for my sister and me. I was so out of chicken. $1.59/lb is a decent price and one that I'm willing to pay with none in my freezer. You do have to get it in 20lb boxes for $31.80.

We're splitting one of these boxes.

Total Spent: $49.42

Money Left for the Month: $150.58

This is what the chicken looks like. It is in one big bag. The chicken is frozen individually and not in one big blob, but if you're looking for beautiful, perfect breasts, this is not the chicken for you.

The pieces are all in random shapes and sizes, not a big deal if you make a bunch of dishes where you cut up/shred the chicken. If you're getting it to primarily BBQ whole breasts then I'd skip this deal. I'm happy enough with it. There's enough bigger sizes to do whatever I'd want with them.

This chicken price is good only this weekend and ends Monday.