Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Big Family Food: Using Leftovers Creatively

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One of my favorite things to do is to clean out the fridge and put together a meal by using leftovers creatively!

With so many little ones now, I am finding that it is very easy to use up leftovers (if we have any at all). At lunch or dinner, we often pull out several containers filled with leftover peas, green beans, corn, or pasta from the day before. We warm them up and that’s our meal. Nothing is wasted and I haven’t had to spend extra time cooking.

Using Leftovers Creatively

But often, I find that I can create a brand new meal from leftovers found in the fridge. Here are some examples:

Cheesy Potatoes

One day, I dug two containers of cheese dips (variations of this recipe) from the fridge. Add added it to frozen hashbrowns and slow-cooked it all afternoon. It turned into a super delicious cheesy potato side dish! I served it with Sloppy Joes, green beans, and fruit.

Burritos

This is one of my favorite dishes to make with any Mexican food leftovers we have. No need to measure. No need to proportion. I simply mix together any meat, beans, rice, cheese, corn, guacamole, or sour cream and roll them into tortillas. (This is also a great way to use up small amounts from three open jar of salsa!) Usually, I freeze these to use for fast lunches that we warm up in our air fryer. This makes for super inexpensive burritos!

Apple Bread or Muffins

If I have apples that are starting to shrivel, I grind them up and make Applesauce Bread. Or Applesauce Cake!

Marinated Meat

We almost always have three or four almost-empty bottles of dressings or sauces in our refrigerator door. I love pulling all of these out and dumping them into a bag of chicken to marinate. This always makes for a fun-tasting smoked chicken dinner. And it clears out fridge space!

Soup

If I have any fresh veggies that are starting to get wilted, I’ll make broth or soup with them. Here’s how I add a lot of veggies to make broth.

Fried Potatoes

Any time I have leftover baked potatoes, I cut them and fry them in butter. If I want to make it a meal instead of a side dish, I add any leftover cooked meat we have in the fridge.

taco potato skillet 3

Pizza

Have random odds and ends of meat, cheese, or veggies in the fridge? Throw them on a pizza. Once, I was putting together pizzas for dinner and found two leftover grilled hamburgers from a few days prior. I cut them up and added them to two of our pizzas. See that spinach I “sneak” on there too? My kids eat it without question!

Spaghetti Bake

I had a big bowl of leftover spaghetti, so I stirred in cottage cheese along with shredded mozzarella and Colby jack cheese. It turned spaghetti into a “fancy dinner” that we all loved!

We save so much money this way!

I love how we can prevent waste when we use our leftovers creatively like this. I find it fun to see what meal I can put together with whatever we already have in our fridge!

What’s your favorite meal to make with leftovers?

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Big Family Food: More Ways to Save on Groceries. Maybe?

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I think we’re all looking for more ways to save on groceries right now. I’m finding that we are flying through groceries faster than ever with our growing family. And it won’t slow down! Our littles will turn into bigs and then we will really be eating through the grocery store.

Even with grocery prices on the rise, I’ve been challenging myself to stay under our $1,200/month budget. I’m not sure that I can and I’ve found that I have to get a little bit creative to try and make it happen. Some specifics about how I shop right now:

  • With so many little ones, I don’t have time or ability to shop lots of deals at several different stores. I know I’m missing out on lots of savings (loss leader sales) because of this, but I can get creative in other ways, right?
  • I stick with once-a-month trips to Sam’s and Costco, plus a Walmart pickup order every week or so as needed. (I’m looking into adjusting this though because I’m finding I might need to go to the warehouses every two weeks so I can keep up.)
  • We get some groceries from Azure Standard every couple of months, plus a few from Amazon.
  • We get milk and eggs from local farmers and friends.

Who I’m Feeding for $1,200/Month

Daily:

  • 4 adults
  • 4 kids
  • 3 toddlers

Here are some of the littlest of our crew:

Frequently:

  • some of our adult kids who don’t live with us anymore (Elias comes home from the University to grab food; Justus and Kelsey are over a few times a week)
  • babysitters (a variety of help at our house almost daily)
  • my kids’ friend
  • college students (Sunday lunches and then some)
  • company

I used to take meals to people often as needed, but that’s not something I’m able to do right now. Eventually, I hope to get back to being able to do that!

I’m thankful to be able to feed so many people every day. I delight in it and sometimes don’t care how much it costs, simply because feeding, nourishing, and loving people is such a joy. But at the same time, I have to care about the cost, especially when feeding so many.

Recently, I’ve been trying to share some great ways I’ve found to save on food costs. Like these:

 

I’ve been working on more ways to save…

More Ways to Save on Groceries

1. Skip the pre-packaged snacks.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but during this season in my life, I found that I was falling back on buying cases of little packages of crackers or other snacks at Sam’s or Costco. After all, I truly do need grab-and-go snacks for our kids to eat during walks, at the soccer field, or in the car.

Instead, though, I’ve been purchasing boxes of snack-sized ziplock baggies and letting my 6 and 8-year-olds help me package up snacks for these purposes. This is saving us a lot of money plus helping us choose healthier snacks overall.

Also, because of some extra helpers I’ve had during the past few months, I’ve also been a little bit more able to make snacks from scratch again. It feels so good to make more homemade goodies again!

2. Pack a lunch instead of buying a school lunch.

This might seem silly because the school lunch is very reasonably priced. But I can easily pack our kids’ school lunch for much less than the $3.20 that they charge. (Here are lots of ideas.) Plus, my kids don’t make great school lunch choices (eat the cookie, skip the veggies). ;) So packing a nourishing lunch for them saves quite a bit and helps them be healthier too.

3. Make meat a side dish instead of a main dish.

Instead of planning my meals around meat, I’ve started planning my meals around my fruits and vegetables and other sides. We have been eating a plateful of rice or potatoes, steamed veggie, bowl of fruit, and a little meat. Some meals we don’t have meat at all if we eat beans for protein.

4. Eat more fruits and veggies.

This truly is a money saver!!!!! Meat is $3-$8 per pound while fresh produce is between $0.19-$4.00/pound – with a lot in between. I love that we can eat such nourishing foods at such low cost. I’ve learned to fill my cart and not hold back, knowing that fruits and vegetables are much needed and extremely reasonable in price.

5. Do a little math.

If you take the time to do a price breakdown of some of your favorite meals, you might find, like I have, that many homemade meals cost very little to make. This doesn’t save money, necessarily. It’s just encouraging!! It helps me know that I really am feeding my family well for a very low cost per person!

Here are some examples I’ve shared here:

6. Buy turkeys on sale at holiday time.

I was shocked when I realized that I could make ten meals with just one turkey! I used that bird to feed company, to make soup, to create easy lunches – all for such a low cost! If we can take advantage of holiday sales on turkeys, then thaw and bake them throughout the year, we can really save a lot on great meat.

7. Don’t waste produce.

Here are details about how I buy and use all of our produce before it goes bad. This is a huge money saver!

8. Drink more water.

Ok, but don’t take away my coffee!! (<— which I make at home for only $0.35!)

Many of you probably already do this, and I used to be better at sticking with only water at our house. But as our older boys got older, I found that having Body Armor, Izzes, Bubblys and a few other fun drinks on hand was nice for when their friends came over.

I still plan to get some cases of drinks from Costco and Sam’s here and there, but it will save my grocery budget if I buy them less frequently.

9. Don’t overthink it. 

We need to eat and we want to eat well. So sometimes I just have to ignore the rising price and know that I need to buy it anyway, especially when it’s a nourishing need for our family. There are many of us, we eat a lot of food, and that’s that. (Still, it’s good that I’m considering splurges that I might be able to cut out while not worrying about the necessities.)

10. Recognize the huge cost savings compared to eating out.

Even when we’re eating something that has been pre-packaged for convenience, we are still saving an incredible amount of money by eating at home compared to eating out. Here’s what works for us and how much we save by eating at home!

Share your best grocery saving tips!

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How I Saved $480 on my Grocery Budget in September

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You’ve heard this tip before, but I wanted to share it again because practicing it gave us significant savings last month! Here’s how I saved $480 on my grocery budget in September.

I have a very large grocery budget, so saving $480 was pretty significant. We feed 9 people three meals every day, 2 additional people at dinnertime most nights, and regularly have guests and friends eating with us. So we typically spend around $1,200/month on food.

How I Saved $480 on my Grocery Budget in September

Every once a in while, I feel the need to focus on eating what we have instead of continually stocking up. This is a little bit tricky, simply because part of the way we save money is to constantly have a nice variety of food on hand so I can “shop” my freezers and pantry when I make meals and snacks. Running out can potentially mean a super expensive shopping trip to make up for all the food we’ve used up.

On the other hand, I reached that point most of us get to in which I needed to use up the random items lurking in the back of the freezer and pantry. There were plenty of great meals that could be made with what we had on hand; I just had to get creative!

And so, after huge stock-up purchases at Sam’s last month and at Costco early in September, I decided to see how long I could go without grocery shopping.

What I had:

Rest assured, I took the worst pictures ever to show you my freezer and pantry stockpile. I hate being unorganized, and yet, so much of the time I live in a state of disorganization while focusing instead on caring for so many littles.

Cringe with me while you look through my (unorganized) full freezers, fridge, and pantry so you can see that I truly had a lot of food to work with while I challenged myself to avoid grocery shopping!

Ack, here’s what my fridge always looks like right after a Sam’s or Costco trip: we just stuff the food in wherever it fits until we can regroup. :)

The cases of canned and jarred food go on a shelf in the kitchen.

While at Costco early in the month, I’d picked up three boxes of fruit.

As you can see, we had loads of food to work with! But…

What I’d still need

There’s no way for me to buy enough milk, fruits, or vegetables to last an entire month. So I still allowed myself to buy dairy products and produce as needed through the end of the month.

Some disclaimers

  • Three of our foster children qualify for WIC benefits. So each month, we are blessed to pick up around $180 worth of groceries (cheese, milk, produce, cereal, beans, and bread) at no cost to us. This is a huge help!
  • When I refer anyone to Azure Standard, I receive a small credit to my account. I let the credit add up for several months, then I place an order for a few free groceries about three times each year.

With so many mouths to feed, these two perks are a huge help to us and we are thankful for the bonus groceries!

What we ate in September

Now for the fun pictures! Here are many examples of food we made and ate during our weeks of eating from our stockpile.

I’d had a ham roast in the freezer for over two years (see why I needed this challenge?!). I think I had avoided it because I didn’t know what to do with it.

Solution: Cook it. Eat it. Hmmm, why didn’t I think of that sooner?

I simply put it into the crock pot in the morning to cook on low all day. Later in the day I dumped on some barbecue sauce. It was brainless and turned out super tasty!

Here are the plates I fixed for the seven littlest that night: ham roast, green beans, cheesy noodles, and sliced fruit.

I had a bag of fish sticks in the back of a freezer, so I air-fried them along with sweet potato fries one evening. We had corn on the cob, strawberries, and these smoothies to complete the meal. (I got my huge 10-quart air-fryer at Sam’s. It’s perfect for us!

I made these snacks to keep on hand for all the littles – these are a lifesaver! Mudballs, Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars, and Snickerdoodle Bites

Here’s a plate I fixed one afternoon for two of our toddlers to eat at our small picnic table while they played outside.

One night before our 6-year-old’s soccer game, we ate an entire double-package of tortelloni with sauce, spinach dipped in ranch, and a bag of clementines. (I forgot to take a picture, so I grabbed this one from my files!)

One Sunday, I’d run out of time before church to prep anything for our lunch so I just dumped some Costco meatballs into the crock pot with barbecue sauce. When we came home, I warmed up corn and got out a big can of peaches and some fresh spinach to eat with ranch dressing. It was simple and all the kids loved it!

I had a 4-pack of beef smoked sausages from Sam’s. So I cooked two (but needed a third one, so cooked that while we were devouring the rest!) along with a bunch of quesadillas, peas, and sliced pears.

I marinated a big 3-pack of chicken legs, then smoked them early one afternoon. I put them into a crock pot to stay warm while we headed to Malachi’s tennis match. When we came home I steamed broccoli, warmed up leftover corn, and opened cans of mandarin oranges for us to eat before we headed to a little league soccer game for our 6-year-old.

I had three small packages of different meat in my freezer that had been sitting in the back simply because not one of the packages was enough to feed my family a full meal. I decided one day to thaw all three of the packages at the same time and smoke them to make a meal. So, one big pork chop, four chicken thighs, and five beef ribs made us a feast that night! I served the meat with smoothies, steamed broccoli, and tortilla chips with this dip.

A dear friend gave us a rotisserie chicken from Costco, so I used some of the meat to create an amazing Chicken Alfredo meal. Matt, Malachi, the littles, and I all ate it. A family friend joined us. Then later that night Elias came home with two college buddies and they finished it off. :) :) :)

On Fridays, we often like to celebrate the end of a school week with “French Fry Fridays” at dinnertime. I didn’t have any frozen fries but had a big bag of potatoes so I experimented by making homemade fries in the air fryer. They weren’t difficult to make but it did take forever to cook them in the fryer compared to cooking store-bought frozen fries. The taste though? INCREDIBLE.

I had a double pack of brats in the freezer so smoked them for dinner one night. Justus and Kelsey joined us, which was a treat! Then Elias showed up – so everyone was here except for Asa and Eva, who live in Lincoln. :)

I served the brats with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, steamed green beans, several boxes of mac and cheese, and a few sliced apples.

We have a lot of company coming mid-October and I wanted to get ahead on meal prep one morning when I had help around to watch the littlest kiddos. I decided that our October guests would get to eat whatever I had to work with on this day, during the last week of September. Lucky for them, I had all the fixings for Lasagna and Chili. So those are ready and in the freezer to thaw and serve to the company (14-22 per meal).

 

I had frozen cooked turkey in the back of the freezer plus two jars of homemade broth. So one morning when I knew I’d be gone all afternoon, I made a big pot of turkey and noodle soup to warm up and enjoy when we got home. (Made like this, except that I’d bought a huge bag of egg noodles at Sam’s and used those.)

Here’s a look at a lunch I served to our four littlest kids, plus Malachi, Matt, and myself. I didn’t think to take a picture until after half of our lunch was gone! But we did go through an entire loaf of bread, lots of meat and cheese, and half a watermelon. And that was without any extra guests or our elementary kids at home. Grilled cheese is a favorite!

I discovered some chicken in the back of the freezer that I didn’t realize was there (woot!) and had all the ingredients needed to make White Chicken Chili, so at the end of the month, I put that into the crockpot to slow cook all day. It was perfect as we headed into fall!

As we reached the end of the month, I was pleasantly surprised to see that we still had about a week’s worth of great meal options left. It did help that I’d allowed myself to continue to buy fruits, veggies, milk, and cheese as needed. Still, we’d saved $480 on our overall monthly budget so I feel that this was a huge win!

Have you ever challenged yourself to avoid the store and eat only what you have on hand for a few weeks? It’s actually pretty fun and a great way to save money!

 

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Food I Often Buy at Costco

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Curious about what I usually buy at Costco? Here’s the list!

Perhaps I should start with the hotdog?

There it is, the monthly Costco-trip hotdog. As I’ve shared, shopping at Costco is a big deal for me, simply because I can only get there once each month and we have a lot of mouths to feed! I burn a lot of calories while shopping, and that hotdog keeps me on my feet. True story.

Here’s a refresher on how I shop Costco:

  1. Walk into the store, take a deep breath, and shop for all non-perishables. Clothing, paper products, canned goods, boxed snacks and chips, baking products, applesauce, and whatever else doesn’t require refrigeration or extra care.
  2. Check-out, load the van, then go back in.
  3. Take a bathroom break.
  4. Eat a hotdog and drink a big cup of water. This job makes a person need some major sustenance and $1.50 for the big dog/drink combo is pretty rockin’.
  5. Grab an empty cart again and fill it with all the fresh produce, frozen foods, refrigerated foods, and bread products that we need.
  6. Check out again, load the van again, open the box of Kombucha I just bought, and drink a bottle for refreshment and survival.

Indeed, I’ve found that I have to fill my cart twice when I shop at Costco. I’d take one of my big kids with me so that they could help me get the job done in one trip, but actually? My Costco shopping trips also involves “a day off for Mom.” Once each month, we make arrangements for me to head to Lincoln (about an hour from home) to have a day to myself. I take my laptop and work at Panera for hours. I shop at Sam’s, Costco, and any other place that has items our family needs. I come home refreshed and with a van filled with groceries!

Food I Often Buy at Costco

Beyond the hotdog, here’s a rundown of what I almost always grab when I’m at Costco.

1. Lots of fresh produce

  • apples
  • bananas
  • clementines
  • blueberries
  • strawberries
  • raspberries
  • blackberries
  • carrots
  • mixed greens
  • spinach
  • broccoli
  • potatoes
  • pears
  • grapes
  • melons
  • whatever else is in season

2. Frozen Food

I usually pick up frozen:

  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Hamburger patties
  • Pizza
  • Chicken nuggets
  • Sweet potato fries
  • Bacon
  • Tilapia

3. Refrigerated Food

  • Shredded cheese
  • Turkey and ham for sandwiches
  • Sliced cheese
  • White queso
  • Tortellonni
  • Cream cheese
  • Sour cream
  • Cottage cheese
  • Butter
  • Boneless chicken thighs
  • Kombucha
  • Avocado mash (our little girls love these!)

4. Snack Food

  • Applesauce squeezies
  • Tortilla chips
  • Granola bars
  • Occasional other individually packaged snacks to grab for the kids to eat at soccer games or on walks

5. Breads

6. Baking

  • Peanut butter
  • Almond butter
  • Honey
  • Brown sugar
  • Raw sugar
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Pancake mix

7. Other

  • Coffee
  • Canned tuna
  • Canned chicken
  • Pasta
  • Baked beans
  • Refried beans
  • Canned corn
  • Rotel
  • Canned olives
  • Spices
  • Mac and cheese

What do you like to buy at Costco?

P.S. I also shop at Sam’s, and my list there is similar. Which do I like better, Costco or Sam’s?? You can read my answer here.

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Costco Tortelloni Meal: Only $1.41 Per Person

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We all love this Costco tortelloni meal, and it only costs us $1.41 per person!

I almost always pick up this double pack of Five Cheese Tortelloni when I’m at Costco. It’s great to have on hand for an easy, quick meal and every person in our family loves it.

Side note: It is a very big deal to be able to say “every person in our family loves it.” With this many kids, and several of them picky, it’s so nice to have meals I know that everyone will eat without complaint!

Costco Tortelloni Meal: Only $1.41 Per Person

This particular night, we fed 11 people (5 adults, 3 kids, and 3 toddlers). I boiled both packages of tortelloni, warmed a jar of spaghetti sauce, warmed leftover veggies, and got out spinach with ranch.

Total cost for this meal was only $15.56. For 11 people, that breaks down to just $1.41 per person!

Our six littlest kids eat spinach dipped in ranch like finger food. :)

When we eat this tortelloni meal, we usually skip the sauce for the toddlers to avoid the big mess it would create! Instead, we scoop the cheesy pasta pockets into little bowls for them and cut them up with kitchen shears. They eat it and eat it and eat it!

And there you have it. Costco’s tortelloni, sauce, warmed veggies, and fresh spinach cost $1.41 per person. That’s fast food I can get behind! :)

2025 Update:

I was curious if my price breakdown still held true two and a half years later with so many grocery prices increasing. Be encouraged friends!

Tortelloni from Costco: $10.99
Organic Pasta Sauce from Aldi: $2.25
24-ounces Fresh Broccoli: $5.98

Total Cost: $19.22 / 13 people (6 adults, 7 kids) = $1.47/person

Only a few cent/person increase – awesome!

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How to Make Ten Meals with One Turkey

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Is it possible to make ten meals with one turkey? Indeed. I just made it happen. What a great way to stretch the grocery budget!

In an effort to save grocery money, I’ve been brainstorming ways to use the food I have in my freezer and to make it stretch as far as possible. It turns out that one turkey stretches really, really far! (Unless you host 25 people for Thanksgiving. Then you get one or two meals out of one turkey.)

But say you took advantage of holiday sales on turkeys and got an extra one or two to eat throughout the year after the holidays were over. How far could you stretch that bird?

Ten meals, perhaps? Even five is a great return on your turkey investment.

How to stretch that turkey!

I had a 20-pound turkey taking up room in my freezer. I decided in August to thaw it and smoke it on our Traeger. Delish!

Matt pulled all the meat off the bones for me (one of my least favorite jobs) and it produced two 9×13 inch dishes full of cooked meat.

At the time of this turkey extravaganza, there were eight kids at home (one has since headed back to college). Plus we fed a few extras here and there. Still, we were able to make ten meals with one bird! Because this was such a cost-effective and tasty way to feed so many people, I plan to stock up on turkeys this November when they go on sale!!

NOTE: We didn’t eat these meals one right after another. I froze quite a bit of the turkey in meal-sized portions to pull out and use as needed. So not only did this save money but having the pre-cooked meat saved time. Win-win!

How I made ten meals with one turkey

You’ll notice as you read my meal descriptions below that we were able to make our turkey stretch by eating only small amounts of it with each meal. We’ve found that it’s better to enjoy meat as a secondary dish, filling up instead on plenty of fruit and veggie side dishes to stretch the meat and stretch the budget. Fruits and veggies are actually a super inexpensive way to stretch your grocery budget!

Here’s the turkey meal breakdown:

Meal #1: We ate freshly smoked turkey with a lot of side dishes.

Meal #2: We ate some bites of leftover cold turkey in a chef salad. A little bit of meat is all we needed.

Meal #3: We made lunch plates filled with warm turkey with ranch for dipping, plus fruits and veggies.

Meal #4: We ate turkey sandwiches on rolls. It doesn’t take a lot of turkey to make a sandwich on a roll. We got out lots of different condiment options to make our sandwiches fun. Plus we had chips with guacamole and watermelon.

Meal #5: Right after we smoked and boned the turkey, I used the turkey bones and skin to make a huge batch of broth. I used some of the broth to make a simple noodle soup. I didn’t add any turkey to the soup, but instead boiled noodles in the flavorful, rich broth along with added veggies to make our meal.

Meal #6: I made a big pot of stir-fried veggies and tossed in a few pieces of shredded turkey.

Meal #7: I used some of the turkey broth to make rich potato soup. Incredibly good!

Meal #8: I made gravy with some of the broth (Matt’s request!). We then made mashed potatoes doused and enjoyed them with turkey gravy.

Meal #9: I made quesadillas for lunch with cheese, spinach, and bits of turkey.

Meal #10: We warmed the remaining turkey and served with it barbecue sauce for dipping, plus leftover cheesy potatoes and veggies.

As you can see, not every meal includes actual turkey. But the broth made from the turkey bones and skin is super nourishing and flavorful. That’s why I feel just fine about skipping meat in those meals. We are still completely satisfied. And if you take a look here at how I make broth, you’ll see how veggie-packed it is.

How many meals can you make with one turkey?

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How I Make a Grocery List (Without Making a Grocery List)

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This is how I make a grocery list without making a grocery list. It’s kind of like taking my kitchen to the store with me…

Have you ever been at the grocery store and wished you had looked in your fridge first to check on your bottle of ketchup? Do you see a sale on pickles but can’t remember if you are already stocked up for the next three years worth of picnics?

The most recent time I was heading out of town to do a great big Sam’s run, I started to write down everything I wanted to be sure to pick up. But with babies underfoot I really didn’t have an opportunity, so I decided to try this instead…

How I Make a Grocery List (Without Making a Grocery List)

I took quick pictures on my phone.

I know what goes where on my shelves. I know what a full pantry and freezer are supposed to look like for our family. So instead of taking pen and paper into the store, I had these pictures to reference! Then I could see what was missing on my shelves.

Did I need canned beans in any form? No I did not. But was my fruit shelf almost empty? Indeed. Was I almost out of corn and olives? Yep. Did I have to question these things when walking down the canned food aisles? Nope. There’s the picture I took that morning!

Freezer number one shows that I have pasta on the top shelf (yes, I keep it in the freezer because we have mice issues if I don’t store things well.) I’m good on pasta. The second shelf shows that we are getting low on frozen pizza but I prefer buying those at Costco, and today I am going to Sam’s. We’ll make do, ha. The third shelf shows just one package of chicken thighs and a package of chicken legs. That’s not enough to get us by until the next time I have a chance to stock up. Get chicken…check!

There’s a frozen turkey someone gifted us with and some bags of whole wheat flour…

In the other freezer, I can see meat from our local farmers, meat I’ve bought from mark-downs, frozen veggies and fruit, and some meatballs from Costco. Overall, that freezer is looking pretty good!

This is the inside of my second refrigerator, which is out in our storage room. We keep extra milk out there, and usually, it is full of extra cold food that doesn’t fit in our kitchen fridge. Yikes, it’s almost bear! So at Sam’s I will stock up!

My Sam’s Trip with my “Grocery List”

We were completely out of fresh produce, plus we were getting ready to head to Montana for Justus’ wedding: a 12-hour road trip. Snacks for littles (and bigs) were very necessary. So I bought packaged food I don’t normally buy in an effort to help our long drive be a little more fun. :)

The pictures I’d taken on my phone were super helpful so that I could reference what I already had and what I still needed to pick up. I’m telling you though, they just don’t make carts big enough for our monthly grocery shopping needs, ha!!

I barely made it out of the store without spilling this mountain of food. :)

It might be hard to tell the difference, but here’s our shelf once I got our canned foods restocked.

From here on out, I will definitely be taking pictures on my phone to the grocery store so that I can use this as my list. Technology at its finest!

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Sam’s or Costco: Which is Better??

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If you have a Sam’s or Costco membership – or both like I do – I’m wondering if you have an opinion about which is better. :)

My first membership purchase was Costco because I polled Facebook and the overall consensus was that Costco was better. So I joined in and love it!

A few months later, I came across a pay $45 for a Sam’s membership, get $45 back in gift card. So basically a free Sam’s membership! I took advantage of the deal simply because I live 45-minutes from Grand Island, which only has a Sam’s. And I live about an hour from Lincoln, which has both Sam’s and Costco. So I now have the ability to shop at either warehouse or both as needed!

Sam’s or Costco: Which is Better??

Well now, that’s the question, isn’t it?

I truly like them both for different reasons, and now that I have both memberships, I think I will keep them both for the long term.

My favorite aspects of Sam’s:

  1. Their Scan-and-Go feature. I absolutely love this! As I put items into my cart, I scan the bar code into my phone. It keeps a running tally of my order, then when I finish shopping I simply swipe to pay, then show my phone to the worker as I leave. SO EASY and a huge time saver!!!
  2. They offer a pick-up option. This is super handy if I want to avoid going inside to shop. Just like I do with my frequent Wal-mart pick-up orders, I can order my Sam’s groceries online and select a time to pick them up. Very convenient!
  3. They have a few fun food items that Costco doesn’t have. Now that I’ve shopped both stores for several months, I’ve found items that I prefer from each place so I make sure to grab them while I’m there. (Orange Chicken from Sam’s frozen section – a great convenience food I always pick up at my family’s request! And what is it about the delicious frozen Sam’s beef hotdogs??)
  4. Markdowns. Sometimes I find meat marked down. Sometimes they are clearing out items for huge clearance prices. It’s so fun to come across these steals!

I don’t have a fun money-saving code for Costco. But I do have this one for Sam’s and you’ll get a free $20 eGift card when you join!

My favorite aspects of Costco:

  1. Organic food. There is a much bigger selection of organic food at Costco – from fresh produce to frozen food to meat to cereal and coffee. I love this. So many organic items at such good prices! So overall, if I had to pick, I’d say I like Costco food better than Sam’s.
  2. Their clothes. Sam’s also has great clothes and I’ve found that with so many kids in our home now, I really take advantage of both stores when it comes to jammies, school clothes, and coats. But clothes for me and for my older sons – man Costco is awesome. Such a great high-quality selection (and you never know what you might find!) at such great prices.
  3. Gifts. There is always a really nice selection of items I like to look through to pick up as gifts for birthdays and showers. I have to be careful when shopping, actually, because their stuff is so cool, I find I want one of everything!

Is there a price difference?

The Costco membership costs more, especially since I got my Sam’s membership for free for the first year.

Of the items we can get at both Costco and Sam’s, I’ve found that maybe a few items here and there are a few cents or dollars different in cost. But there hasn’t been anything I’ve found to be drastic enough for me to say, “I’ll wait and get that at Costco (or Sam’s).” Both have great prices on bulk items!!

So in summary, I love both Costco and Sam’s and I’m glad I don’t have to pick one!

What’s your opinion on which is better, Sam’s or Costco?

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How to Save Money on Eating Out

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We save money on eating out simply by not eating out much. Boring, right?? To some, maybe. But we have fun with food in other ways, which gives us treats while saving a lot of money! Here are some fun ideas I wanted to share with you today!

A few weeks ago, I shared about how our family avoids eating out. We do this to save money, to avoid the hassle of taking a bunch of little kids into a restaurant (oy!!), and to keep ourselves from feeling crummy.

The irony

As I’m writing this post, I’m currently sitting just outside of Panera sipping something delicious, for which I paid $4.00. Earlier today, I ate a burger and fries at Culver’s. What do I have to say for myself?? :)

I have to say that I’m not against eating out at all! We just don’t do it very often, and when we do, it’s a big treat! Today – the day I’m writing this post – I am taking a day off, which I do about once every month if I can. I leave the kids behind with Daddy and big brothers and any other helpers we wrangle, and I go out of town to do a big grocery shopping and work day. These days are INCREDIBLE for my mental health as we care for so many high-need children in our home right now.

My day off always includes at least one meal out and usually a coffee treat. It’s a hot one today, so I am really enjoying my Charged Lemonade from Panera (while I write about avoiding Panera, hahaha). Anyway…

Why don’t we eat out much?

We’re the geeky people who can’t handle ordering an $8 plate of pancakes and eggs for breakfast at a restaurant because we are silently (ok, verbally) calculating the $0.90 we would have spent on that same plate of food had we made it at home.

Truly, we are a barrel of fun at a restaurant. :/

Awwww. Here we are back when we only had four kids.
This was our traditional back-to-school restaurant meal.
See? We are so much fun. Sometimes.

Today I will share some ways we eat fun food at home while saving a lot of money on restaurant prices!

How to Save Money on Eating Out

The short answer is this: We make restaurant-type food at home when we need a fast meal or when we want/need a night off from cooking or dishes.

Here’s a price breakdown to show you how much money we save when we buy convenience foods at the store compared to buying them made for us at a restaurant. (Obviously, you’ll save even more if you make these foods from scratch!)

Chicken Nuggets and Fries

I buy big bags of nuggets and fries at Costco. We cook them in our air fryer, slice some apples, and this makes a delicious fast food meal for $10.16 – total! For ten people (four adults, three kids, and three toddlers). This is huge savings and super fun for our family! We had a movie night on this particular “French Fry Friday.”

Burgers and Fries

Burgers cost a bit more to make, but even with high quality, pre-made patties that I pick up at Sam’s or Costco, our family can have a burger and fry night for a total of $15.34.

How much would burgers and fries cost our family at a restaurant? Our littlest kids would eat from our meals, so we’d probably buy four adult meals, and three kid meals. This would cost $47.03 at McDonand’s. And we’d have spilled ketchup everywhere. We’d rather spill our ketchup at home. ;)

Note: We do grab fast food while traveling sometimes! Usually we pick up a few boxes of 20-piece nuggets and a couple large fries for everyone to share. It’s a fun, crazy picnic!

Pizza

The best I can find for a take-out pizza right now is $10.99 for a one-topping.

Meanwhile, I can make a loaded pizza at home for $5.75. Or I can make frozen pizzas from Costco for $3.42 each. We need three large pizzas for our family, so we can either spend $33 total for take-out or $10.26 total for frozen. Take-out is fun, but so is frozen pizza! The kids love pizza nights!

Chicken Sandwiches

I don’t buy these very much, but when I do, we all love this!

I buy a bag of frozen chicken patties at our local grocery store – $4.48 for a bag of ten patties plus a package of buns for $1.29. This makes each sandwich cost $0.58. Currently, McChickens are $1.79. :)

Hotdogs

You know me, I always grab a hotdog while I’m shopping at Costco.

The dog/drink deal there is $1.50 which is awesome and it helps me survive my huge shopping trip, ha! If we ever took the family there (maybe someday when the littles are old enough to help!), I think this will be a perfect “meal out” to treat everyone to the hotdog and drink for just a buck fifty each!

Meanwhile, at home I make the awesome beef hotdogs from Sam’s, which cost $0.56 each.

Ice Cream

We don’t give our little ones much sugar yet, but not to worry, our big kids make up for it. And at the end of a long day after all the littles are finally tucked in, Matt and I sometimes have an ice cream date on the couch. :)

We’ve been getting the 48-ounce Wal-mart brand cartons, which is a Bryer’s knock off. These are made with slightly better ingredients than some brands, and they only cost $2.24/carton! What a fun date for just a few cents!

Those are some of our treats at home. What ways do you have treats at home to save money?

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Our $2.00/Plate Ham and Potato Meal – with Walmart Groceries

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I’ve been sharing fun meals we’ve been making recently with groceries from Costco. (Check them out here and here.) Since not everyone has a Costco membership, I decided to also share the cost breakdown of a meal I made using Wal-Mart groceries!

None of us really has time to break down the cost of our groceries to calculate the cost of each meal. But I have enjoyed doing the math for this series of inexpensive meals I’m sharing so that we can all see that while grocery prices are going up, we can STILL eat great meals at low cost!

This meal broke down to just $0.99/person!! —>

I challenge you to consider doing a little price break-down sometime with some of your family’s favorite meals. I bet you will be surprised at how inexpensive it is to eat great food at home with your family. :)

Our $2.00/Plate Ham and Potato Meal – with Wal-mart Groceries

I chose to do a price breakdown of a meal that doesn’t actually use the least expensive of ingredients: pre-made frozen hashbrowns, a package of diced ham, sour cream, and cheese. While some of the other meals I make costs less than this one, this Ham and Hashbrown Casserole shows a great example of how even a meal like this can still be made for only $2.00/person!

This meal includes:

Total to feed our 10 family members that night: $20.26

This averages $2.03/person with (4) adults eating more and (6) kids ages eight and under eating less. Our eight-year-old eats more than I do though, ha!

Nervous about spending money on fruits and vegetables? Do you skimp on these healthy foods in an effort to save money? Eeeek! Read this surprising post which shares how our family daily eats a lot of fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and veggies for a shockingly low amount per month.

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