monday menu garbage

i keep seeing those menu planning monday banners all over the place. i cannot plan every single meal & snack husband and i will eat, because i'm way too lazy to think that far ahead. but, this whole grocery shopping pimpness that has become my hobby lately is saving us money. and planning dinners ahead of time will do the same, seeing as it cuts down on those pesky $20 trips.

this week i was able to make my menu post-shopping (well, shopping round 1, because triples is still to come) with things i have on hand. before this new style of shopping? i never had things "on hand". i always thought rachel ray and her "ya know, whatever kind i have on hand" comments were bull. but it's incredible, the things you stock up on when you get them for nearly-free.

yesterday, i got my first free item. granted...it was sort of "cheating", because it wasn't that i mixed a sale & a coupon....it was that i had a coupon that literally said "free". i decided to go ahead and get it now, because i figured with triples coming it would be cleared out of there. it was...a bottle of french's worcestershire sauce (did i spell that right?). there are so many recipes that call for a dash of that stuff, and i've always just skipped it because i never thought to buy it.

i have yet to enter the world of overages. and i hear lowe's doesn't honor them during triples. so, possibly during the november HT triples.

oh, oh! another deal. have you heard of those febreze candles? they were on the shelf at lowe's originally priced around $7.50 if i remember correctly, and it was closeout priced at $5.00. i had a $.75 coupon (that doubled, taking it to $1.50 off)...so i got it for $3.50 - not bad. i thought about waiting until wednesday or friday, because the coupon would triple instead and then cost me $2.75 - but i figured there will be a lot of couponing ladies in the area that hung onto that coupon & would scoop up the closeout priced candles. soo, i took a chance. if i could find that coupon again, though...i'd get another. i got the apple spicey whatever it's called candle, and we lit it last night - it smelled like an apple pie was baking. sooo yummy!

oh, right, the menu...

monday: steak, baked potato, green beans
tuesday: pork chops, homemade mac & cheese, broccoli, homemade applesauce
wednesday: ham steaks, mashed potatoes, corn
thursday: spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread
friday: pierogies, fries, corn (subject to change based on triples trips)

i'm not thrilled about the steak tonight, because you know...me and beef = enemies. but, it was freaking $3.50 for a huge one at the store yesterday (and i eat such a small portion, that i just hack a chunk off and it still sufficiently fills husband's belly). plus...ya know, the whole iron thing. boo.