My Food Storage Deals

I joined an online menu service about a month ago. Each weekly menu is planned around the advertised deals at Albertson's, Smith's, Macey's, Harmon's, and Ream's. I am pleased to say that it is actually working! We are saving money, stocking up on items that are on sale, and trying lots of new, tasty recipes! We usually budget $600 per month for groceries, and then when miscellaneous expenditures come up, we always go over our budget. But this last month, I only spent about $425 on groceries, which left $175 for all the miscellaneous expenses and even eating out! Some of our new favorite recipes include:

• Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Apple Walnut Chicken Salad
• Fettuccini Alfredo Sausage Pizza
• Taco Salad with Cilantro & Lime Dressing
• Turkey Tetrazzini
• Turkey Honey Mustard BLT Wraps
  
• Cake Mix Cookies with Peppermint Icing
• Pumpkin French Toast

My grocery budget this month also included a lot of extra baking items (I'm bringing a dessert tray to Thanksgiving dinner including Raspberry Thumprints, Lemon Butter Bars, Butter Pecan Tartlets, and Pumpkin Pie Tartlets). I'm especially excited that I had enough grocery money left to stock up on all the great Thanksgiving deals this week (butter, whipped topping, Stove Top Stuffing, pumpkin, cheese, cream cheese, broth, and turkey).

A couple of unexpected benefits we have received from trying this menu service:

1. Our kids are getting much better at trying new foods.
2. And, my husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers for our lunches.