budget and menu

We went and did our shopping this weekend,and we did pretty good we started out with 100.00 for the week and then 68.00 for Thanksgiving and we went over 21.60 which was all mostly chicken breast from sunflower market. So for the rest of the month the budget will look like;

29-dec6-89.20
7-15-89.20

If I can find some more itty bitty turkeys after Thanksgiving I will pick up another (or 2) but we'll see what there is.

Here's the menu
Monday- southwest surprise from Hungry Girl Cook book 1 cup is 3 pts
Tuesday- Chicken pot pie from Hungry Girl cook book 1/4 pie is 5 pts
Wednesday Sweet and Sour chicken stir fry from Biggest looser family cook book 5
Thursday- Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings
Friday- turkey green chile tacos from 20 minute ww cook book 2 tacos is 8 points
Saturday- turkey and corn quesadillas from 20 minute cook book
Sunday Hoisin glazed pork chops from biggest looser cook book 4 points

I love when I have all of our meals planned, it makes life a thousand times easier!

turkeys and grades

Last night we went to Walmart to return some things and pick up some things so I thought I would check out the turkey deals that they had.
I ended up getting my 2 turkeys, one for Thanksgiving (10.21) and the one for later (5.22) and an 8 pack of mini 100 grand for Snow White since she got all A's and 1 B+ and all 5's for behavior on her report card. S the new budget is below, after thanksgiving I may pick up one more turkey, just to have in the freezer.


*22-29 93.78
*Thanksgiving 57.79 I think this is WAY over budget but since we are cooking for 10 I thought I would rather be safe then sorry
*29-dec 6 100.00 (probably over budget here too since we are going to be eating alot of leftover turkey)
*7-15 100.00

Grocery budget

Our shopping goes from the 15th-15th since thats when I get paid so here is the shopping trip from this week, and the budget for the rest of the month;

Smiths
4 lbs chicken breast 6.96
cool whip free .88
5 bags frozen veggies .88 each
3 can tomato .53 each
2 dole salad manager special .75 each
2 # baby carrots .79 each
2 bunches green onion 1.00
2.54 # cabbage 1.27
1 bunch cilantro .44
4 VERY LARGE green peppers 2.00 (these were 2/1.00 so I always look for the biggest to get the most for our money these are like softball size if not bigger)
8.14# spaghetti squash 3.99
6.42 # banana 2.50

total 29.82
and we earned a 5.00 coupon from Smiths new rewards program that I will get in the mail @ the first of the year

Albertsons
2 packs baby back ribs 2.99#
total 16.20
we cant have these to often since they are pretty high in points but once in a while wont hurt, we had one rack last Sunday and then there is one more in the freezer.

Walmart
10 Cucumbers (price match) 1.00
roma tomato .68
limes (price match) 6/1.00
lettuce 1.24
3.58# pears 4.19
orowheat sandwich thins 1.50
orowheat double fiber bread 1.50 (this bread is HUGE and worth the 1 point per slice. there is 14g of fiber in each slice)
canned pumpkin (price match) 1.88
mushrooms 1.50
deli buffalo chicken 2.50
deli pepper ham 3.00
flat out wraps 2.48
WW cream cheese 2.48
4 WW yogurt 2.24
fajita seasoning .78
100 calorie cookies 4.38
100 calorie Reese's snacks 2.78
and a mystery item 3.66

total 38.12

For the rest of the month our budget will look like this
*22-29 100.00
*Thanksgiving 68.00 I think this is WAY over budget but since we are cooking for 10 I thought I would rather be safe then sorry
*29-dec 6 100.00 (probably over budget here too since we are going to be eating alot of leftover turkey)
*7-15 100.00

I know that 100.00 a week seems like alot to spend for 3 people just for food, especially since I love coupons and use to be able to do it for 60.00 or less, but we have changed the way we are eating, we are buying a lot of fresh produce, hardly any boxed side dishes. And instead of generic snack foods we are buying name brand since they are better for us (low calorie, and high fiber) I am using up mostly meat that we already have in our freezer and then we will be switching to ground turkey or chicken, and lean cuts of pork. Thats why you wont see too many meat purchases for the next few weeks, unless I can find a really good sale. I am hoping to get an extra turkey again this year so I can cook it @ March and we can have another week of (cheap) turkey meals we'll see how cheap I can get them for this year. Usually Grumpy gets a voucher for a turkey in November and then a 200.00 grocery gift card in December, but with the economy being what it is we arent going to count on either of those, which sucks, but a bi-weekly pay check is better.
I really need to start on my Thanksgiving menu, I guess I will go start that now, I dont know why I am procrastinating.... oh well

W 4

We weighed in yesterday and I am just getting around to posting. So here are the results

Grumpy lost 2 lbs and 1.5 inches, for a total of 12 lbs and 11.5 inches since 10/18!
She reached her first goal and is working on #2 so I will put new tickers in the side.

I lost 3 lbs and 2 inches for a total of 10 lbs and 11 inches since 10/18!
I also reached my first goal and am putting a new ticker for my second one.

See you next week!

Because I am sick thats why!!

Yeah I am sick, I dont know if it "the flu" (you know the one...) or just a virus that i picked up from babysitting. Either way I feel blah! My throat hurts, my head hurts, my right ear is starting to hurt and I just want to hibernate in bed. So I am sick and thats why;

*I am not going to the gym tonight

*I am not really caring that I eat all my points. I dont want to get out of bed and make food if Im not really hungry.

*I have a load of laundry in the washer, one in the dryer and 2 loads on the floor (oops)

*I ate 13 itty bitty tootsie rolls after my lunch (pita with 2oz chicken, mushrooms, bell pepper and onion with melted cheese... I am sure that it was really good, but I couldn't really taste it) it was still only 3 points and I added them into my tracker.

*I will be going to bed at 430 pm and try not to get up unless necessary. (you know a sighting of a Zhu Zhu hamster!)

so with that said... goodnight!

(2 new WW soup recipes coming sometime this week)

Weigh in and then some

Our goal is to go to the gym 3 times a week, last week we nailed that we went 5 (well actually 6 but one day we just went and played around in the pool)! And it totally helped out on our weigh in, (which is now on Sunday) I lost 2 more pounds and to more inches, and Grumpy lost 4 ponds and 3 inches!! We had some really good meals this weekend too lemon pancakes, this time with blackberry sauce (still SO good) and then Carne Asada tacos with guacamole (recipe at the end) last night, heres some pictures;

Pancakes (3/4 of the way eaten)

Tacos and black beans, there were 3 but I keep forgetting to take pictures)

And my new Hungry Girl Favorite Holy Moly Guacamole

And yes it is mostly a whole can of peas, but it is really good and you cant even taste the peas, We didn't tell Snow white until after she was all done eating 3 tacos, and she said that it was good, and she would eat it again! And 1/3 of a cup of this is only 1 point!

PIZZA

This is my new favorite healthy lunch we had it on Halloween and I have been thinking about it ever since! Today I used leftover chicken from dinner a few nights ago, heres the points breakdown;
1 whole pita-2
1/4 cup pizza sauce-1
2 oz chicken-2
2 tablespoons cheese- 1
and a whole lot of veggies-0 (this time I used thin sliced zuchini, onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms)

So 6 points total, and it will keep me full for a while, also later I will eat a fruit, and carrots, and probablly a yogurt before dinner (taco salad). I think next time just to save a point I will just stuff all the toppings into a pita and microwave it for a few seconds...

Stir-fried Beef with snow peas + update

I made this last night for dinner and the cook book (Weight Watchers all time favorites) says that it is 2 point for 1 cup, but when I entered it into the recipe builder on Weight Watchers.com it came up as 5 so I went with that.

3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced and peeled (eww I hate ginger so I left it out)
3/4 # boneless sirloin steak trimmed and cut into thin 2inch slices
1/2 # fresh snow peas (i used frozen)
1 cup canned sliced water chestnuts (I didnt have any)
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat on high, add scallions, garlic, ginger and stir fry until fragrant, about a minute. Add beef until brown, then add snow peas and cook for 1 minute. Add water chestnuts, soy sauce, oj, and bring to a simmer (at this point I added about a cup of sliced mushrooms, because i love them).

Stir together, cornstarch and water in a separate bowl, and once combined add to the stir fry, cook for 30 more seconds!

that's all 1 cup is 5 points, add pasta for a noodle bowl and it ups that whole dish to 9... unless you use whole wheat pasta, then I don't know what it is.

Our goal is to go to the gym 3 times a week (Sunday-Sunday) so far we have already gone our 3 times and have a trip planned for tonight, and tomorrow! I hope Mondays weigh in will show all of our hard work...

Making things a little easier

This new way of life has proved to be very time consuming with all the chopping and slicing. Especially with a teething 7 month old around the house in the afternoon, so on Monday I started showering 15 minutes earlier, and spending the extra 15 minutes before the grouchy teether gets here prepping our fruit and veggies for the day. It is making things a whole lot easier. And I am more likely to eat it if its already ready. On tonight's menu Stir-Fried Beef and Snow Peas (1 cup is only 2 points) I will add the recipe after the taste test.
And because I think this is such a cute picture... here's Coal

Lemon Pancakes with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

here is our new weekend breakfast...

1 cup raspberries
1/4 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) container fat free plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg (we used just the whites)
1 tablespoon canola oil (I left this out on accident and it didnt change anything)

make the raspberry sauce, combine raspberry, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice in a small sauce pan, and set over medium heat cook for about 6 minutes, intil a chunky sauce forms.

then mix flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the yogurt, milk, egg, and oil in a small bowl add yogurt mix to flour mix and stir until combined.

spray a skillet and cook like you would regular pancakes, using only 1/4 cup of the mix per pancake.

Makes 12 pancakes, a serving is 3 plus 3 tablespoons of sauce for 6 points

I will add a picture, next weekend

W4

Our second week of WW went pretty good, I added new trackers on the side to show our latest goals which is 5% we are both getting close! this week Grumpy is down 2 pounds and 4.5 inches (total since 10/18- 7 inches and 6 pounds) and I am down 3 pounds and 1.5 inches (total since 10/18- 7 inches and 5 pounds).

We made these delicious lemon pancakes with raspberry sauce over the weekend I will have to post the recipe, so look for that soon, they were SO good!