Sale Shopping and a Few Recipes

Hi all. So, the economy is going downhill, and everyone is cutting back. Luckily for us, while so many people in the nation are having to figure out ways to save money at the grocery store, we had to start doing that a long time ago...when your family goes through job changes, one of you stays home, and one of you goes back to school for a year...yeah, you have to make some big cuts and learn how to eat good food as cheap as possible. We used to shop at Walmart...and I would buy everything on my food list, plus a few cute clothes for the girls that were on sale, plus that package of highlighters that caught my eye (I have a thing for office supplies), plus this, plus that. So, we started shopping at Dillons. It has saved us SOOOO much money. Some of their stuff is more expensive at Walmart, but I go over the sales ads and build my menu around that. I won't hardly buy something that isn't on sale. They have great meat sales often...like BOGO free chicken so I stock up then. We buy mostly Kroger-brand (Dillons off-brand) so that cuts down on our cost too. And, as I have said before, I shop for 2 weeks meals at a time because I spend way less money that way. So, here is the 2 week plan:

Monday: Stuffed Jumbo Shells (This recipe is for a 9x13,but I cook half and freeze the rest for another night), Vegetables
Tuesday: Green Salad with Chicken*; Grilled Squash and Zucchini
Wednesday: Tortilla Casserole (Same thing as the shells...eat half, freeze half), Vegetables
Thursday: Parmesan Chicken Tenders, Scallop Potatoes, Vegetables
Friday: Veggie Pasta Salad
Saturday: Brown Beans, Foil Packet Potatoes/Peppers/Onions, Cornbread
Sunday: Fend for yourself night
Monday: Chicken Enchiladas
Tuesday: Stuffed Jumbo Shells (from freezer), Vegetables
Wednesday: Pot Roast, Vegetables, Rolls
Thursday: Out to Eat or Order In
Friday: Company's Coming: Beef and Noodles (using leftover meat from pot roast), Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Rolls
Saturday: Tortilla Casserole (from freezer)

Shopping for these two weeks was so nice, and relatively inexpensive b/c I had bought a 5 lb. package on sale several weeks ago and froze it in 1 lb. portions. I had stocked up on chicken so I didn't have to buy any chicken for those dishes. I had bought 2 pot roasts on sale several weeks ago, so I didn't have to buy that either. Meat doesn't get bought in my house unless it is on sale.
We spent about $150 to buy ingredients for our meals, diapers, wipes, paper towels, toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, and laundry detergent. The bulk of our food cost was in fresh ingredients for the salads. For us, $150 for 2 weeks of food and several household items is a great deal. Plan, plan, plan, and shop those ads friends!!!

This is our absolute favorite salad of all time:
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
1-2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced
Some chopped tomatoes
1/2-1 chopped green pepper
Some sliced green onions
Some chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 lb. chicken, thinly sliced and chopped into fairly small pieces...marinate in big ziplock with some Italian dressing, a few squirts of the bottled lemon juice, some minced garlic, and a few shakes of pepper. Let it do it's thing for awhile in the fridge and then broil it on a rack over a pan. Let cool some and add to salad.

Get some white pita bread and slice into chunks. Spread out on cookie sheet and spray with olive oil spray, and bake until crisp to make croutons

Dressing:
The juice of a couple of fresh lemons
Extra-virgin olive oil
(I just eyeball it....squeeze in the juice, add some oil, taste, and repeat until it tastes right.)
I add a few dashes of pepper and garlic salt.

Very healthy, and Very Yummy.