groceries etc

now that i'm a stay at home mom we are working really hard to stick to a pretty tight budget. we've done it before. we've lived on a lot less and had a lot less wiggle room than we do now. but that was when we were in student mode. nonetheless, i'm kind of enjoying the challenge. it's pretty fun to come up with recipes through out the week that are cheap cheap cheap and go to the store and bargain hunt for the very few items i need and i'm making recipes that are huge and cheap and then freeze the rest for weeks to come. this is how this week is gonna play out:
monday-whole fryer chicken in the crock pot with carrots and potatoes. all i need is the potatoes.
tuesday-chicken chili. mmmmm! all i need is lime juice and sour cream.
wednesday-empenadas that i made last week. i'll serve it with guacamole so all i need is the avacado and tomatoes.
thursday-chicken tacos. poor paul will be chickened out at this point but not me-i love chicken-and i love mexican. all i need is lettuce and more tomato, possibly more gaucamole.
friday-pizza night-i already made the crust, i just need cheese and i'll see what produce is on sale for the topping.
we already have deli ham left from last week for lunches. sweets will eat hot dogs and leftovers, i will eat leftovers and pb&j's so we're good to go for lunches. we have tons of cereal, i'll get bagels for variety. i already have various fruits for snacks and graham crackers and some cookies made so there's plenty of snack food for the week. and that's it.
i should get out of the store for under $35. woohoo! last week i did it for $45 and had tons to freeze! and if the newspaper is still having deals i'm gonna sign up for just the sunday paper for the coupons. i can't wait to start couponing. i am LOVING being a stay-at-home mom.

on wednesday sweet pea and i were making cookies when all of a sudden there was a huge CRASH at our feet between us. she was up on her step stool and i was kneading the empenada dough. i turned and looked at her and she was COVERED in flour. i looked at the floor and it was COVERED in glass!!! i made an awful "hold still" noise that was quite effective, i might add. i realized that while i was kneading she had been swooshing her arms back and forth and somehow in all the flour excitement and mess she swooshed the glass bowl straight off the counter and onto the linoleum floor. needless to say i needed a new mixing bowl so the next day i went to the thrift stores and found a set of 2 (metal this time-i'm a quick learner) mixing bowls for $4! that's a steal since my glass one was $10 by itself.

ooo-and i might add-since Paul never reads my blog-i got him his birthday present for a fraction of what he thinks it's going to cost and i got it in the mail today. i won't say what it is just in case he decides to finally read my blog-but his birthday is 2 weeks away and i have NO idea how i'm going to keep myself from giving him his present. i went to wrap it and realized we're out of birthday paper so i wrapped it in brown paper-it was the core from some christmas wrapping paper-and then i decorated it with my paintbrush markers so it looks super cute and birthday-ish. i even made a brown bow to go with it. LOVE saving money. he'll be so surprised-and it didn't cost me a thing to wrap it. heehee! am i embracing this or what? i feel so cheesy frugal!