Add some veggies and pasta to it and make soup!

Ok! is it super fatty though? I can't use last nights as I let it sit too long but I have more wings.

Can you do this with beef too or better with chicken.

I am a crock pot newbie LOL

We spent $206 on groceries this month. The next 2 weeks will need to be under $40. DH went to the stock up store Friday and he does that every other month. This week our regular store has a gal of milk for $1 and several other items we use for $1. Our biggest expense next week will be fresh produce for salads. Produce is expensive in the midwest this time of year.

DH used the last of our garden onions last week. We have a lot of garlic left and will give some away. DH wants me to plant more onions this year. Soon our garden will only have tomatoes, onions and garlic.

Our menu for the week is planned. I will have leftovers for my lunches. Tues I work from home and eat a pbutter sandwich for lunch.

Sun - Steak w sweet potatoes
Mon- Salad with ham and turkey
Tue- Haddock and asparagus
Wed- Beef stroganoff, peas, pickled beets
Thu- Chicken wings, creamy coleslaw
Fri- Lasagna from the freezer
Sat- Beef veg soup from the freezer

Diane: Leave the broth in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours). This will cause the fat to solidify on the top. Then, you can remove the fat and toss it. The remaining broth will not be so fatty then.

Frugal: What a great price on the milk!

Liz, soo thoughtful of you to help the neighbor, and now you have a new item for your rotation too!

Diane/Juju, I went to Aldi's as they had canned clams for $1.19 each(everywhere else $2.59) and got milk @ $2.29 and red grapes at $1.69, spending 10.37.

So I did my steak trip.....87.34.....got the last 2 they had. came home and trimmed one up and sliced it. SO's son spent the nite Sat(not his weekend so yeah for SO), and when he went home Sunday I suggested to SO we send home steaks for dinner for the family. SO gave me a weird look then smiled and said what a nice thought(his ex gives me the look of death everytime she sees me). 4 steaks sent home and then I packaged and froze the rest and also did the same with the second strip loin. Got a total of 36 nice sized steaks out of it so it comes out to $2.33 per steak versus ridiculous costs eating out, and we had them for dinner last nite with leftovers for lunch today.Best price in area for steaks right now is 6.99 and these were just 2.99.

Also got canned clams on clearance and made a pot of clam chowder, taking a big bowl to SO's friend's and came home with a big bowl of split pea.....pretty cool as she makes awesome pea and my chowder is really good.

Over the weekend we were with the same friends. I picked up my FoodSaver system for $65, going through the storage areas I found all the bags and also realized that I also have a set of 6 storage jars and a couple other accessories as well.

We picked up mussels and treated our friends to dinner on Sunday. We buy and they cook.....soooooo yummy. we had been over to their house for Superbowl and were told not to bring any food so this was a nice payback. We also all went bowling, first time in about 8 years for me. I broke a hundred both games so I was happy(I am a really bad bowler and 100 is good for me!!)

I've been waiting for sugar to go on sale again for $.50/lb. as it is time for me to stock up. I was happy to see that this week's grocery ads showed C & H cane sugar, 4 lb. packages, on sale for $1.97 at one of the neighborhood stores. The ad didn't indicate a limit, so, I will stock up and buy 5 or 6 packages (20-24 lbs.) I know that Costco has 10 lb. and 25 lb. packages of sugar, but the last time I checked, the cost came out to more than $.50/lb. I'll pay full price for sugar if I had to, but I'd much rather buy it when it goes on sale.

Last night we went to a store that had a great deal on NY Strip steaks - $3.99/lb. The best we've seen to date is $5.99 and they are usually $7.99 on sale.

Thing is you have to buy the whole tenderloin and they will cut them for you. Well they close early and the butcher closes even earlier than the store. We got there 30 mins before the butcher closed and all his machines were shut except for the one that would cut the NY Strips.

The girl told me on the phone the tenderloins were 8-10lbs and she was way wrong - the smallest I found was 16 lbs. So I grabbed it and the butcher said it had a lot of fat if I wanted to grab another. We looked quickly but the others were at least $10 more and I just didn't know how to pick "less fat" - to me they were all a lot of meat, blood and fat on one side.

But he was right, there was a huge chunk of fat curled around the end but it actually had some meat on it too.

He trimmed some fat off after he cut it but he didn't re-weigh it, so we still essentially paid for all the fat.

Is there a science to picking this stuff out when it's vacuum sealed in plastic and just looks like a bloody chunk of red and white? If we do this again I'm going to try and go during the day and hopefully I can find someone kind enough to help.

I also think I should have them cut thinner, we said 1" but I think we should go down to 3/4". In any case we got 14 huge steaks out of it. Going to cook 2 up tonight and I think it will easily give us supper and lunch for me tomorrow even with all the fat.

Well, I watched a movie documentary about being obese and nearly dying. So with the info that I received from it, I decided to go on a juice fast at first. But you know how expensive vegetables and fruits are? So I decided to stick with the juicing part of the plan, but I am going to watch what I buy. I will only buy what is in season and on sale to keep the costs down. After the detox phase, I will then start to gradually add things to my diet. Since I am going to clean out my kitchen and start with a clean slate, I will be able to restock my cabinets and pantry with fresh good foods.

DianeD, nice price on the steaks. Yes, when they sell it by the whole loin, you will pay for the fat even if they trim it for you as the pricing is a bulk price. If you cost it out, it is still way better than buying what the store sells. The few times I have had the butcher trim and slice it for me, I have asked for the fat as well because I always find enough red meat within the fat that I will trim out at home, bag up and use for stir fry, sometimes as many as 3 or 4 meals worth.

Now when I buy the whole loins, I bring it home and do the trimmming and slicing myself so that I can cut multiple thicknesses. (Since I am not a big eater, I make a thinner one for me and a thicker one for SO then package them together to freeze). I have been using freezer bags, but just got myself another FoodSaver vacuum sealer to replace the one that died a few years ago, and this is the best way to freeze, esp meats.

As far as picking out the meat, yes they look red and bloody and fatty. You only want the fat layer on one side. Feel it with you hand to estimate the thickness and go for the thinner ones. You also want to look at both ends at the meat itself to make sure there's not too much marbling. Lastly, look at the other side. You want minimal fat here to give you an idea of what the meat looks like.

If you don't mind investing the time at home, you can do the trimming of the fat and the cutting of the steaks yourself. It may sound hard, and yes it does take a while to do(I plan for an hour to trim cut and package/freeze), but you can get the exact trim level and the size of steaks you want this way. And all you really need is a large sharp knife and a cutting board for when you slice the steaks(I do the trimming right on the counter top)

Wheretostart....have you seen the latest issue of O magazine. In it Dr. Oz(I love his practical advice) has a 2 day whole body detox plan detailed that didn't look like it would be hard on the budget either.

Since the weekend, no major shopping.Hit Aldi's and just picked up the grapes and grapefruit that were on sale, under $5 total.

Am pulling out some pork western style ribs from the freezer that I need to use up. SO is not a fan so I am going to parboil them, then put them in the crockpot til they fall apart with onions, water and garlic. When its done, will drain off the liquid, toss the excess fat and bone, shred it and add a bottle of bbq...easiest and tastiest way to do pork(pulled pork sandwiches) ....then the guys can have it for dinner tomorrow(expecting a houseful of teen boys) and I will take for lunch. I love it on a salad too. Leftovers will be frozen. The best part is that everything is already in the house.

Thanks BL! I will check all this out later tonight. Great tips! the NY Strip is SO's favorite so I didn't want to pass this up.

Wheretostart, I just did a carb intolerance test. I eliminated all carbs from my diet for 2 weeks (and I did pretty good at it). I lost just about 10 lbs. I am re-adding and that's not going as well, the weight is coming back on. (seriously - grapes???) So I will be cutting back again to see if I can stabilize.