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Why I Don’t Fold Laundry Anymore

April 26, 2023 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I don’t fold laundry anymore. Here’s what I do instead.

 

Why I don’t fold laundry anymore

I’m currently doing laundry for 9 people every day. (There are 11 of us at home right now, but Elias and Malachi do their own laundry.) Meanwhile, I’m caring for 7 small children all day, so merely getting the laundry washed and dried is a challenge to keep up with.

So why don’t I fold the laundry? Because I could spend a lot of time folding small articles of clothing for 7 small children and babies, and after all that work, the clothes would immediately become unfolded. So I gave up trying, I save time and effort, and we just throw kids’ clothes into drawers!

I realize this sounds stressful to many of you who love tidy drawers and neat spaces. I like things tidy and neat too, but I hate wasting time and energy. Anytime a lovely helper comes into our home and assists me with laundry, try as I might to keep the clothing nice that they folded and put away for me, their effort turns into a mess in the drawers as we have to rummage through them to get the pants that match the shirt.

Three of our little girls all wear the same size, which is super nice! So we have one dresser for them to share, and we put all their jammies in one drawer, all their shirts in the next, and all their pants in the bottom. We open the drawers, we grab what we need, and we go.

Worth noting: It is actually much easier to see all of the items of clothing in their drawers when they are NOT folded. It is very tricky to distinguish which shirt is which when it is a tiny size 2T.

Also worth noting: Kids’ clothes don’t wrinkle. At least my kids’ clothes. So no one is the wiser that the outfit my kids’ are wearing were just tossed into a drawer after they came out of the dryer. :)

How I Fold Towels

I don’t. :) :) :)

Instead, we’ve found it easier to assign one special towel to each person. They come out of the dryer and get hung on hooks on the back of the bathroom door for easy access when we’re getting seven kids in and out of the bath, oy. Now that’s a big job – bathing seven children. I am exhausted and fairly soaked by the time it’s over, hahaha.

(I do have a couple of shelves of folded towels in our bathrooms for guests. We have our pride. Sort of.)

What about the grown-up’s laundry?

Well, Matt folds and puts his own laundry away. I personally only fold my jeans so that they fit into my drawer. :) Life’s too short to fold underwear, I say. :) So I just toss them into a drawer. Same with my socks. I can easily find a matching pair when needed.

I hang up my tops – when I get around to it, oy. And that’s that.

Dishtowels?

Sometimes we fold them, sometimes we don’t. They fit better in the drawer when they are folded, but our littlest girls often rummage through that drawer and mess it all up anyway, soooooo….

We are actually getting our 4, 7, and 9-year-olds involved in folding and putting those away, so that’s nice!

Odds and Ends

We have baskets and cubes for our kids’ socks and undies. I’ve long given up on finding matching socks for our littlest kids to wear each day – clean socks are good enough in my book. And having them unfolded and unmatched in a basket makes them much easier to access!

So back to why I don’t fold laundry anymore:

I’ve found that many of these unfolded laundry tips work better for us right now!

  • Clean towels are hung on hooks right by the bathtub.
  • Socks and undies are easy to grab in baskets.
  • Unfolded little boy and girl shirts and pants are easier to find/match when they are gently tossed into a drawer.

I don’t ever plan to change this system, even when my hands are no longer so full of babies! Why? Because as each of our kids get older THEY CAN FOLD THEIR OWN LAUNDRY. Amen and amen. Hallelujah.

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How We Find Energy to Raise a Second Set of Kids

April 23, 2023 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Long time reader asked these questions, and I assumed the rest of you might be wondering too! Here’s what Lissa said:

I’m always pretty astonished that your 4 sons are pretty much up and gone (and that a huge accomplishment) and now you’ve undertaken SIX more kiddos. Plus a new baby boy. I know God is giving you the wisdom and strength….but STILL….how do you find the energy? How old were you when you had Asa? We are close with 2 couples (now empty nesters) who each had 8 kids apiece and it was crazy for a long, long time. But they pale when I tell them about a couple who were so close to the finish line and then started all over. hahaha. A more serious question though, how do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage etc? Have you ever slept in? :). If I lived nearby I would definitely wash the dishes and pick a few chickens for you

First of all, if you did live nearby, I would 100% allow you to wash dishes and pick chickens for me. :) And perhaps that is how I can begin to answer these questions – to share that God has provided so much glorious help for us!

The truth is: Matt and I are tired. Is it because we’re not-so-young anymore? I don’t think so. I feel healthier and stronger now compared to when I was in my 20’s. (Oh, and we were 23 when Asa was born. We are 49 now, and holding strong because we have a newborn and I refuse to admit that I’m almost 50, haha.)

We are tired because this job – this beautiful, amazing thing God asked us to do during this season in life – is hard. Our seven littlest children all have some level of special need, though none of them (so far) is severe. The trauma some of them faced before coming to live with us has created difficult behaviors and overwhelming emotions that we are not equipped to handle. Matt and I seek God’s wisdom and professional guidance quite constantly.

So let’s see. What did you ask, again, Lissa? :)

Do I ever sleep in?

No. Shucks, right now I’m just looking forward to sleeping through the night. :) EVENTUALLY, we will sleep through the night and maybe even sleep in. I do crave a full night’s sleep but even without it, I am constantly amazed at God’s provision of rest for us. I do feel tired, but not like one would expect. So many mornings, based on the hours of sleep I got (or didn’t get), I feel like I’m not sure how I can possibly make it through the day – and then I do – as if I’d gotten a full night’s sleep. THIS IS GOD. There’s no other reason we would feel this way.

How do I find the energy?

Seriously, it’s God. Well, and green smoothies, hahaha. I truly don’t want to sound cliche’ as I smile sweetly and say, “Oh, our dear Lord and Savior gives me strength to do this…” But seriously, people. We have baby on top of baby at our house, plus trauma behaviors and tantrums and so very much laundry, plus a ridiculous level of messiness all over our house. I could go on and on. Every time I hoist not one but TWO double strollers into the back of our van (while kids hang on my leg and scream in my ear), I recognize what is true: God is doing this. It feels supernatural.

People say to us when they see us trying to herd all of our precious little turtles: “I just don’t know how you do it.” But the truth is that we aren’t doing it. God is doing it. It makes me cry as I think about His goodness, His provision for us, and truly the incredible energy He gives us to do this hard job every day.

So we have the energy to do this – somehow. I fall into bed every night completely exhausted, but knowing that God will give me the strength to do it again tomorrow. Matt and I live by Psalm 23:3: “He renews my strength” knowing that He does and He will. On our weariest days, we quote this to each other, to remind each other that God is giving us everything we need.

But back to the help…

Oh, how much help God has provided for us.

We have a young couple who has been coming to our home EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT for almost two years. We feed them dinner (it’s the least we can do) and they do everything from diapers to playing outside with kids to sweeping to dishes to helping us get our kids to bed. They are amazing and they are a part of our family now.

We have a friend who comes two to three mornings every week to watch the kids so Matt and I can have some breathing space. The babies love her, we love her, and she is a delight to our home.

We have teenage girls who come every Wednesday afternoon to care for all seven littles so Matt and I can work without interruption. I’m writing this post on a Wednesday afternoon, and if it wasn’t for these girls, you’d never read another post from me again, ha.

We have a friend who brings us chicken. Hahaha, this one is both fun and sweet and while she thinks it’s no big deal, it is a very big deal. Most time when she goes to Costco, she picks up a couple of their rotisserie chickens, takes the meat off the bones, and brings it for us to enjoy. I get several meals out of this chicken and I haven’t had to do any work. This is such a gift to us!

Friends drop off diapers, wipes, and any variety of needed items that God has put on their heart to give to us. With this many little ones, I can’t tell you how many diapers we have gone through in the past four years. At one point, we had five kids in diapers. We have surely gone through tens of thousands of diapers in four years. But we’ve hardly had to buy any. Our people are generous, loving, and not only has this been a financial burden lifted, I love that I haven’t had to think about shopping for diapers. I just go to my room and get another box.

Our older boys – and their wives or girlfriends – are very much a part of this journey. Our daughters-in-law come as often as they can and my goodness am I thankful for how well our boys chose when they chose wives!! Elias and Malachi are living at home and grab babies or toddlers or preschoolers whenever they are able. Elias (21) and Keith (4) are pretty much best friends and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

God provides help in so many ways, I can’t recall them all and I probably don’t even recognize them all. He is so good.

How do you and Matt find time to spend alone, to nourish your marriage, etc?

Now, there’s a question. :)

One huge blessing about our situation in life right now is that both Matt and I are both self-employed and work-from-home parents. God knew what we would need 28-years into our marriage! So He did His work through these years to secure us with income streams that would allow us to both be full-time parents. We teamwork throughout our days and spend many hours together. This isn’t alone time, but it IS together time. We love this.

During the afternoons while the four littlest are napping, Matt does work to maintain our rental properties in town and other various odd jobs, and I fit in a little blogging work if I can.

Then at roughly 8:08 pm, all the littles are in bed!!!!!!!! Well, the baby hangs with us at that time, but he doesn’t talk yet so Matt and I count this as alone time. This is glorious, needed, and precious time. It’s also quiet, glory hallelujah!

Did this answer your questions, or did it just leave you with more? Leave a comment to ask, and I’ll try to write another post to answer!

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What I Did With 30-Pounds of Hamburger

April 19, 2023 by Laura 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I just took advantage of a fantastic deal on meat! Here’s what I did with 30-pounds of hamburger…

Meat prices have been rising, so I’ve really been watching out for good deals on meat. I’ve cut way back on beef and have instead been buying more chicken or pork because their prices per pound have been much less. ($0.98/pound for chicken legs at Costco and Sam’s?? Yes, please.)

So when I found ground beef on sale for $2.49/pound, I bought 30 pounds!

Why Did I Buy 30-Pounds of Hamburger?

Well, $2.49/pound is pretty much incredible for ground beef!

Gone are the days when I limit myself to buying only top-notch grass-fed beef. I do know that the quality of other meat is not as good and I have chosen not to overthink or worry over this. It is still meat and meat is real food. We have a lot of precious mouths to feed at our house (currently 11) so I’m choosing to be thankful for ANY source of meat that offers us nourishment.

One of our local grocery stores was featuring 10-pound tubes of meat at a high discount, and the best bang for my buck was their 80-20 meat. I bought 30 pounds for a total of $74.70 and felt like I’d hit the jackpot! (I also scored a great price on strawberries and bought four pounds – a favorite snack at our house.)

What I Did With 30-Pounds of Hamburger

I’ve never bought a huge tube of meat like this before, much less three of them. ;) So when I got home I decided to see how far I could get with prepping the meat into meals so that I didn’t have to freeze such huge tubes and then thaw them again before doing something with them.

Our infant was napping, so I prepped a container of strawberries for our littlest girls (ages 1, 2, and 3) to munch on. We told Alexa to “play Jesus Loves Me” and I got to work while the girls ate and listened to music. :)

First, I got out two of my largest pots. I put an entire 10-pound tube into one and an additional 8-ish pounds into another. It browned while I worked on making hamburger patties.

I ended up with 42 hamburger patties of various sizes, which is perfect because our adults and elementary-aged kids can eat regular-sized burgers and our littles can have munchkin-sized burgers. :) Oh look, I was drinking a green smoothie while I worked, ha. I realized that I was getting hungry and thankfully, I had some ready-made nourishment in the fridge. So I grabbed it and drank it directly out of the jar.

I had three layers of patties on one cookie sheet and put it into the freezer like this. After the patties froze, I transferred them to freezer bags to thaw and cook as needed during the next few weeks.

From time to time, I continued to stir the meat that was cooking on the stove. I also took time to pour off the grease into another pot because this much meat cooking at once created a good amount that needed to be removed.

I took the remaining ground beef, put it into a large bowl, and turned it into meatloaf. I pressed this mixture into two large pans (but forgot to take a picture because by this time, Keith was home from preschool and the girls had long since finished their snack so I had to stop quite a bit to care for their needs).

We stopped and ate lunch somewhere in there. Then while the kids played again (and our three-year-old peed on the floor in the girls’ room), I scooped some of the meat into a freezer bag to use as needed. I saw the pee-floor situation so she and I took time to clean it up. (Don’t worry I washed my hands and) then I stirred Sloppy Joe ingredients into the remainder of pot #1.

I divided it into four meal-sized portions and they went to the freezer.

I then seasoned the big 10-pound meat pot with taco seasoning. Once it cooled, I transferred it to gallon-sized freezer bags to use for a graduation party late in April. Elias and Kelsey (Justus’ wife) are both graduating from York University this month and we plan to have a party with a Potato/Nacho Bar. Having this meat ready (and finding it for such a great price!) is a huge relief!


With any leftover taco meat, or with the meat that I left plain and froze, we can make:

  • 20-Minute Taco Soup
  • Beefy Enchilada Bake
  • Calico Beans
  • Calzones
  • Cheeseburger Macaroni
  • Cheeseburger Soup
  • Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats
  • Cheesy Beef and Rice
  • Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas
  • Chili
  • Chili Mac
  • Simple Crock Pot Taco Pasta
  • Crustless Pizza
  • Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip
  • Hamburger Sauerkraut Dip
  • Italian Pasta Bake
  • Lasagna Casserole
  • Meat and Cheese Burritos
  • Pizza 
  • Pizza Boats
  • Pizza Casserole
  • Pizza Pockets
  • Pizza Soup
  • Real Food “Velveeta” and Rotel Dip
  • Simple Spanish Rice Bowls
  • Skillet Taco Pasta
  • Sloppy Cornbread Muffins
  • Spanish Rice
  • Taco Corn Fritters
  • Taco Potatoes
  • Taco Quesadillas
  • Taco Rice Dinner
  • Taco Salad

This makes me incredibly happy because I LOVE BEEF and I’ve been holding back because of the cost. And now I have to decide, should I go back before the sale ends to get more??? :)

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Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf

April 16, 2023 by Laura 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This recipe for Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf is going to look incredibly similar to our Easy Meatballs recipe. That’s because it’s the same recipe. Shhhhh.

I grew up eating meatloaf every single week for eighteen years if I remember correctly. My mom made it with baked potatoes and probably green beans (because we didn’t eat a lot of veggie variety when I was growing up, hehe). This was one of my favorite meals. But just like I said in my Meatball post, Matt isn’t a huge fan of meatballs or meatloaf. So this recipe takes a backburner at our house.

I just got a fantastic deal on ground beef though, so I decided to go ahead and make a few meatloaves for the freezer. This is a great meat to serve kids and well, we have a lot of them!

How to make this meatloaf ahead of timeYum

Make this meatloaf and freeze it without the sauce. Then when you’re ready to bake it, thaw it, add the sauce, then bake. It freezes so well! I typically make mine in 9×13-inch dishes, but making it into an actual loaf – in a bread pan – works great. Fun fact: my mom always made ours in a casserole dish so I was a lot of many years old before I learned that meatloaf was supposed to look like a loaf.

If you don’t make your meatloaf ahead and freeze it, at the very least, I recommend making this quickly in the morning, refrigerating it, then baking it later at meal time. This makes dinner prep so fast and easy!

Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf

Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 6-10 servings
Ingredients
  • 2-pounds ground beef
  • 3 Tablespoons minced onion
  • ½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 Tablespoons rolled oats
  • Sauce for Meatloaf
  • ¾ cup ketchup
  • 2 Tablespoons minced onion
  • ¼ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, molasses or honey
Instructions
  1. Mix first seven ingredients together thoroughly.
  2. Press the mixture into a 9x13 inch glass casserole dish or a 9-inch loaf pan.
  3. Stir sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread over the meatloaf.
  4. Bake uncovered in at 350 degrees for one hour.
3.5.3251

 

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My Frozen Pizza Splurge is Still Frugal??

April 12, 2023 by Laura 7 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

So says my husband, as I was lamenting my pizza splurge on yet another very busy day with the kids. “Isn’t this frozen pizza splurge still frugal?” said he. And as it turns out, he’s right.

God bless him. He appreciates all I do, but he surely gets weary of hearing me verbally process our enormous grocery needs, my grocery spending, and my efforts to keep our grocery costs reasonable.

Here we are with nine kids at home, trying to keep our grocery budget to just $1,200 per month. It’s working, sort of, for now. But these are a precious lot of mouths to feed – emphasis on the precious.

Four of these pictured precious mouths feed themselves most days.
But we sure do love it when they come and we get to feed them too!
Also, this picture is already outdated as we’ve added another babe to the crew!

What’s this about my frugal pizza splurge?

Well, I try to cook from scratch most meals, seeing as ingredients are cheaper than ready-made foods. But alas, with so many littles, so many appointments, so much laundry, so many diapers, and a frightening number of tantrums to deal with each day, cooking from scratch isn’t always in the cards.

One night, after an especially challenging day, I told Matt, “Ugh, I think this is a frozen pizza night. How in the world do I stay frugal right now with all of this going on?” (I probably had a toddler screaming at my pant leg at the time. It’s possible I had one at each leg. The third toddler was likely mad that I’d run out of legs.)

But Matt looked confused (and kind). “Actually,” he said, “you’re doing awesome with staying frugal. Those Costco pizzas you get save a ton compared to ordering out. It’s a great frugal choice! Aren’t they just $3-something per pizza??”

$3.62 as a matter of fact.

He’s right. We can eat four Costco pizzas for the cost of one restaurant pizza. And four pizzas is the number we need to feed our huge crew.

Perhaps we need to rethink what “frugal” is.

Sure, making every food item from scratch is a great, money-saving option. But so is finding the “convenience” food items that keep us from needing to resort to takeout. NOT THAT TAKEOUT IS ALWAYS BAD EITHER!!! Goodness, we need to take care of our families and take care of ourselves. So whatever that looks like for your needs is what it looks like for your needs.

For our family, skipping takeout and getting out the frozen (frugal, thankyouverymuch) pizza is a fantastic choice right now. The pizza offers me a kitchen break, the kids all love it (which offers us all a tantrum break), and we eat salad and fruit with it (which gives us extra nourishment along with our treat).

In summary

Frugal can look like making 5 meals with one pork roast, making 10 meals with one turkey, or making frozen pizza instead of ordering out.

How lovely that we can take a sigh of relief and take care of ourselves while we take care of our families.

Three cheers for frugal frozen pizza!

What’s your favorite food to keep in the freezer to avoid having to order takeout? (Here’s a list of some of the other items I keep on hand.)

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Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups (5 Ingredients!)

April 9, 2023 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

These Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups are so easy and only 5 ingredients!

Why are these crustless? Because it’s easier that way and they taste just as good! I love blending the cheesecake ingredients together, scooping the mixture into cups, swirling in a little jelly, then baking as-is. These are such a good grab-and-go breakfast or snack!

Why not dessert? Well sure, they can be a dessert too! I just find them to be filling as a breakfast option also simply because they are low in sugar and high in protein. They are great with a cup of coffee in the morning!

Make a batch of these and keep them in your fridge for easy meal and snack options!

Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake CupsYum

Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup 100% fruit jelly (any kind)
Instructions
  1. Blend first four ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Pour into 12 muffin cups. (I use a silicone muffin "pan" for this and they pop right out once cooled.)
  3. Spoon a small amount of jelly into each cup and swirl with a butter knife.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
  5. Turn off heat, open the oven door, and leave the cheesecakes in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. (Cheesecakes will puff up during baking but deflate while continuing to sit in the oven.)
  6. Transfer cheesecakes to the fridge and chill for at least two hours before serving.
3.5.3251

How about Peanut Butter and Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups?!

Yes, please! Simply blend 1/3 cup of natural creamy peanut butter into the cheesecake ingredients along with an additional egg. Follow the rest of the recipe as directed!

 

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Costco or Walmart: Which Has Better Prices?

April 5, 2023 by Laura 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I love both Costco and Walmart (and Sam’s and Aldi, haha!) – but since Walmart is more convenient for me locally, I’ve been breaking down some specifics to see which has better prices!

This questioning all started in December when we brought another new baby home from the hospital. As a result of having a sweet newborn, I wasn’t able to make my typical monthly Costco run in January. Instead, I did all of our grocery shopping that month with Walmart Pick-Up. It made me wonder:

Since Walmart has its own store brand that is much cheaper than name brands, is Walmart cheaper overall compared to Costco? We know Costco has high-quality foods and offers great bulk deals. But are they the best deals?

I spent some time doing the math because I really want to do everything I can to save as much money as possible since our big family goes through so much food every month. Here’s what I discovered in March 2023…

Costco or Walmart: Which Has Better Prices?

Of course, I didn’t break down every single item, and beyond that, each store has features that the other doesn’t. Therefore, no matter what I will still need to shop at both. But here are some of the obvious prices I could compare to see what makes the most sense as I shop for my big family.

Chicken Legs at Walmart: $1.42/pound
Chicken Legs at Costco: $0.98/pound

48-ounces Daisy Sour Cream at Walmart: $6.28
Daisy Sour Cream at Costco: $5.29

Great Value Graham Crackers at Walmart: $1.98
Nabisco Honey Made Graham Crackers at Costco: $2.20 per box within a 4-count case

Great Value Salted Butter at Walmart $3.88 per pound within a 2-pound package
Kirkland Salted Butter at Costco: $3.07 per pound within a 4-pound package

Great Value Nitrite-Free Turkey Lunchmeat: $7.96/pound
Hillshire Farm Nitrite-Free Turkey Lunchmeat: $7.49/pound

Great Value Frozen Pepperoni Pizza: $3.98
Kirkland Frozen Pepperoni Pizza: $3.62/pizza in a 4-count box (and in my opinion, these taste so much better!)

Walmart Rotisserie Chicken: $6.98
Costco Rotisserie Chicken: $4.98

1-Pound Organic Spring Mix at Walmart: $4.98
1-Pound Organic Spring Mix at Costco: $5.49

Walmart NON-Organic Pears: $1.65/pound
Costco Organic Pears: $1.60/pound

Walmart Cantaloupe: $3.12
Costco Cantaloupe: $2.75

Walmart OFF-BRAND Rotel: $0.88
Costco Rotel: $0.87 (each can in a case of 8)

Walmart NON-Organic Fruit and Veggies Applesauce Squeezies $11.36/2-12 packs
Costco (Kirkland) ORGANIC Fruit and Veggies Applesauce Squeezies $11.99/24 count

Walmart Brand Shredded Cheese: $17.68/5 pounds
Costco Brand Shredded Cheese: $15.99/5 pounds

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At this point, after diving in and running numbers of so many of the items I usually get at Costco, and comparing them to the prices I find at Walmart, I stopped doing the math. Why?

Because almost across the board, Costco prices are better. And/or the price is very comparable but the quality is better at Costco (organic options at Costco for the same or close to the same price as non-organic options at Walmart).

Will I still shop at Walmart? Absolutely. I have to because I can only make it to Costco once per month at the most and I always need to supplement other grocery items throughout the month until I can make it again – especially when it comes to fresh produce!

And overall, while Costco prices are better, Walmart still has very good prices. For me, though, shopping in bulk as Costco allows me to do not only saves money but also time and energy since I can buy cases and big bags all at once!

What’s your grocery shopping preference? Have you found a local store to feature better prices than others?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

March 2023 Groceries and Meals We Ate (Big Family Food!)

April 2, 2023 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Here’s the big March 2023 groceries and meals we ate post we all love!

March 2023 Groceries

I had shopped late in February so we had a large stockpile of food heading into March. So we had a lot of groceries to work with as we headed into the month.

During the first half of March, I bought our girls’ WIC items (free to us, such a gift!) plus some meat that I found marked down. On my first trip, I found and bought two pork roasts that had been marked down to $1.79/pound. They were around $8.00 each and I plan to stretch them into 5 meals like this. AMAZING SAVINGS!

Another day when I went to get formula for Baby#11, I found ground beef for just $2.49/pound. That’s incredible right now! I bought 30 pounds, plus a few items of produce, spending $97 total that day. (I have a separate post coming soon to share what I did with all this ground beef!)

I got a Walmart pickup order somewhere in there, buying mostly fresh and frozen produce – but I forgot to take a picture!

Another day when I went to get more WIC items (we have four kids who qualify for WIC), I grabbed two pork loins marked down to just $4 each. It takes two of those to make one meal for us, but $8 for delicious meat!!

Because of the meat I’d bought in February plus the meat I picked up marked down early in March, I was able to mainly buy fruits and vegetables as needed and avoid the stores otherwise. It was kind of awesome! Toward the end of the month, I put in one more Walmart pickup order to get more fruits and veggies, plus cream, peanut butter, and apple juice.

I came in WAY under budget this month and we’ve been having a great time working our way through our pantries and freezers. But as always when I do this, I will likely go over budget next month when I make a Lincoln Costco trip to restock our staples. Look out April! OH, and we have an adoption party plus two graduation parties coming up, so April’s total is likely to be ridiculous, ha. At least I have some of March’s budget to work with!

A note about my grocery budget

I keep going back and forth about whether or not I can keep us at a $1,200/month budget for the 10 of us eating every day at home. This month gave me hope that I can make it happen!

There are some months that I go over, but then there are months like this one where I stay way under and make up the difference. Grabbing marked-down meat and focusing on fruit and veggie side dishes has really been a budget saver! Plus I’ve had plenty of ingredients on hand to make a variety of baked goods, which stretches our meals too.

So, for now, I’ll stick with my $1,200/month grocery budget goal. As the littles get bigger, I may need to adjust.

Ready to see all the meals we ate in March?

Meals we ate this month

Late February I put together three pans of lasagna. Two are in the freezer and we baked one early in March. We ate it with green beans and caesar salad (the big salad mix from Costco – so good!)

Around Thanksgiving last year, I picked up three huge turkeys for $0.98/pound. I thawed one early in March and baked it. We ate one meal from it that night and put away nine other bags of prepped turkey to use from the freezer as needed. Plus, the next day I made two and a half gallons of broth from the bones. Talk about a super good way to save money! From our $26 turkey, we’ll eat eleven meals! 

Matt gladly turned on an audiobook and deboned the turkey for me. :)

The night our turkey was fresh, I made mashed potatoes in the crock pot, roasted veggies, and turkey gravy, plus sliced fruit.

Last month at Costco I bought a huge bag of thin chicken breasts. I used these to make two pans of Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips – one for dinner that night and one for the freezer. I put the rest of the bag of chicken into freezer bags and poured on some of the marinades I had in the fridge. Those went into the freezer for easy meals later.

For lunch one Sunday, I used some of the turkey broth and cooked turkey I’d made and made Turkey Noodle Soup. I prepped it on a Saturday and we warmed it and ate it the next day with salad and fruit.

The kids had spring break this month, so we bought a year pass to the Lincoln Children’s Museum so we could enjoy a special outing. (The amount it costs to pay for all of our kids to go just once almost covers an entire year’s family pass – so buying a membership was a no-brainer!). After we played and played, we met Asa, Eva, Justus, and Kelsey at a Hyvee grocery store. They have a large seating area there, which was a good spot for us to all eat (14 of us there that day). I had packed peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixings and applesauce, then I ran through the store and bought some treats like juice and chips to go with it. Meanwhile, the grown-ups grabbed sushi from the prepared food options the store had available. :)

 

One day for breakfast during spring break I scrambled 15 eggs, made sausage links, sliced some kiwi, washed blueberries, and threw out some Gogurts. The kids gobbled it all up!


Malachi was in a homeschool melodrama early in March. It was HYSTERICAL seeing Malachi play “Grandpa.” These kids are so talented!

The other drama-mamas gave me a lot of grace this year since we have so many littles at home, including a newborn! But I did try to help with food for the melodrama cast as much as I was able. A friend of mine and I tag-teamed making a “Breakfast for Dinner” meal for the cast, crew, and directors so they could eat before a show. We made Egg Casseroles, muffins, and yogurt parfaits. It was a hit!

I also volunteered to make brownies for the concession stand (I made these). We won’t talk about how I also signed up to make rice krispie treats and then FORGOT!!! :( Praise God for my friend Jenny who bailed me out of that one. :)

Here’s a picture of my brownies as I was packaging them up for concessions, along with a box of individually bagged chex mix I made to go with our breakfast for dinner meal. Plus kiwi, plus our coffee pot, plus baby bottles, plus my marker board where I attempt to write meal plans for each day. I promise that we had more than “Guac” that Tuesday, haha!

I made two dozen Bran Muffins one day and the kids ate them in two days. I was able to enjoy a couple of them with my coffee those mornings also. :)

One of our former foster sons was with us for a week in March. There are a lot of foods he doesn’t like, but he does love muffins! So in an attempt to get him to eat something with meat, I made an adapted version of these Corndog Muffins. It didn’t work, ha – he didn’t fall for my schemes. But the rest of us enjoyed them. Ack – do you see my bottled ranch in this picture? {Laura hangs her head} Alas, I’m in the survive life by buying ranch season of life. :) :) :)

We also ate carrots with peanut butter, peaches, and Cream Cheese Salsa Dip with chips.

Another day, I made a second double batch of Bran Muffins and served them as a side dish with one of the pans of Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips I had made.

We go through these Mudballs like crazy for breakfast and snack options. One morning as I made this recipe x8 I took this picture of the peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips melted together in a pan before I added the dry ingredients. That’s one big pot full of goodness there!

Last month I bought 8 pounds of grass fed hamburger meat from Aldi (this was before I found that awesome deal I mentioned above on the 30-pound of ground beef!). I pulled the 8-pounds of meat out of the freezer one day and browned it like this in my Instant Pot. This is one of my favorite fast Instant Pot tricks. (From frozen to cooked – 8 pounds of meat – 30 minutes!)

After it was cooked, I crumbled it and poured off some of the excess liquid.

I bagged up 5 freezer bags and saved the rest for a casserole as you’ll see below.

I used some of the cooked ground beef to make a huge Green Bean Casserole. Here’s a picture of the cooked green beans, cooked meat, prepared cheese sauce, and stick-of-butter rice (minus the butter, hahaha, because I wanted to save the $) that I made to add to the casserole to make it stretch extra far. (For the record, it took me the entire morning to get all of this done. I made pieces of the casserole bit by bit as I had a free moment to start something else cooking.)

After I assembled the huge Green Bean Casserole, I covered and froze it to bake the next time we offer a college student lunch.

One lunch with just a few of us home, I pulled some Chicken Burritos out of the freezer and baked them. I was out of fresh fruit so we ate mandarin orange cups as a side dish.

I used some of our cooked turkey to make a Turkey Hashbrown Casserole. It turned out delicious, and we ate it with roasted broccoli.

I often pick up a 4-pack of Beef Smoked Sausage from Sam’s. I cut it and put it into a small crock pot to heat all afternoon. We ate it that night with baked beans, cream cheese corn, and peaches or pears. The sausage with the corn was SUCH a delicious combo!

One Friday evening, I made a dozen hamburger patties with some of the beef I’d picked up that day, so we ate cheeseburgers with grapes and carrot sticks. It was a perfect Friday night dinner!

I had a few minutes one afternoon while our four littlest were napping, so I made a triple batch of Pumpkin Muffins/Bread. ACTUALLY, after they turned out weird, I realized I x3 some of the ingredients and x6 some of the ingredients because my brain no longer works correctly. :/ Good thing my muffin eaters liked them anyway!

One day for lunch, I sent Brayden and our Bonus Girl (age 7) to school with a cup of peanut butter, sliced apples, carrots, and a chocolate spinach cupcake. Bonus Girl came home from school and declared those carrots to be extra delicious (likely because she dipped them in peanut butter). I share this to tell you not to give up giving your kids veggies. She hated all veggies when she first moved in and now she’s finding ways that she actually likes them or even claims them to be “extra delicious.” So exciting!

One Sunday I made a pork roast and a huge amount of crock pot mashed potatoes. We had the leftovers later in the week along with steamed peas, strawberries with cheesecake parfait.

My niece baked rolls and dropped them off one day so we also had those with our pork roast leftover meal. I cut them, buttered them, then warmed them in the oven.

One morning before school (poor kids have to leave for the bus stop at 6:53), I made “eggs in a nest” for Brayden and Bonus Girl. They each have time to eat 1 1/2 of these plus a “circle toast” as they rush out the door.

One of my favorite dinners this month was Bbq Chicken Legs, cream cheese corn, baked beans, roasted asparagus and carrots, and sliced oranges. We all devoured this and maybe I was just extra hungry that night but it all tasted incredible to me!

For lunch one weekday, I got crusts out of the freezer and made pizza. There were only six of us eating that day so we all ate our fill and I saved the leftovers to send in Brayden and Bonus Girl’s lunches the next day.

I made Breakfast Sandwiches for us to eat one Saturday morning, so while I was at it, I made an extra 17 sandwiches for the freezer.

Our friend had given us some pulled rotisserie chicken, so I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice and added salsa, beans, cheese, sour cream, chicken, and spices to make a bunch of Chicken Burritos for our freezer.

One afternoon while I was prepping dinner, I mixed together a triple batch of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars. These are so nice to have on hand for breakfast and snacks.

That night, I warmed up some of the above-mentioned rotisserie chicken (which the kids dipped in barbecue sauce) and served it with roasted broccoli, mac and cheese, strawberries, pears, and muffins.

We made breakfast for dinner one night with 18 eggs (with spinach), 20 hashbrown patties, sausage and bacon, clementines, and strawberries.

One morning, our big kids were at school, BabyBoy#11 was napping, and the three little girls were unusually calm. I decided to take advantage of the moment and see what I could get ahead on in the kitchen while they played. They eventually came in and helped (there’s no better help than a 3-yo and a 2-yo old who are eager to crack eggs, am I right?!). But the morning went much better than most so I was able to make not one but THREE breakfast/snack items to offer us some convenience!

  • Mudballs (multiplied x8)
  • Bran Muffins (x2)
  • Breakfast Cookies (x2)

My happy little helpers…

Remember those pork loins I had picked up on sale? We baked them one night and ate them with baked beans, corn, and green beans. SO GOOD. (And it might be apparent by now that we have a lot of corn and beans on hand because as we eat through the pantry, those keep showing up!!)

At the end of the month, I thawed the Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips I had stashed in the freezer. We made it with rice, peas, corn, and peaches.

I thawed another bag of cooked turkey (we’re enjoying that bird so much!) and made Turkey Ranch Cheese Melts with Smoothies.

Toward the end of the month, we enjoyed several guests one evening. There were 13 of us eating that night. I made a big batch of spaghetti and sauce, which we ate with roasted broccoli and carrots, corn, strawberries, grapes, and a few clementines that needed to get finished off.

We made it through the month easily with our big store of food, but it won’t be long before I’ll need a big Costco and Sam’s run. You can look forward to those details in May!

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Simple Bran Muffin Recipe

March 29, 2023 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Silly as it may be, I think this Simple Bran Muffin Recipe may be my favorite of all the muffins.

And trust, me, there are a lot of muffins. I have over 40 muffin recipes here, and many of them include chocolate chips or a cheesecake topping! So to say that these Bran Muffins are a favorite is saying something.

I believe it stems back to my college days when the cafeteria sometimes featured a muffin like this one. I didn’t love many of the cafeteria foods, but those muffins were a favorite and I always got excited when they were serving them!

These stir together easily and you can use any brand of Bran Flakes cereal you like!

Simple Bran Muffin RecipeYum

Simple Bran Muffin Recipe
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup brown sugar or rapadura
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 3 cups Bran Flakes cereal
  • ? cup raisins (optional)
Instructions
  1. Mix together flour, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. Add egg, milk, and oil.
  3. Stir in cereal until well combined (along with raisins if you like)
  4. Scoop mixture into 12 paper-lined muffin tins.
  5. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.
3.5.3251

One of my kids favorite ways to eat a muffin is if I cut them in half, smear butter on them, then warm them in our big air fryer. (We use our air fryer as a toaster oven as it works great to fill it with bread, bagels, or muffins and warm/toast them slightly. YUM!)

These taste great for breakfast, and also as a side dish with soup.

Are you an “add raisins to your muffins” kind of person or a “raisins don’t belong in muffins or cookies” kind of person? (Raisins are a no-go for me, except for snacks for the kids, ha!)

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Easy Meatballs with Sweet Sauce (Freezer Friendly)

March 26, 2023 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Ready to make these Easy Meatballs with Sweet Sauce?

This is a favorite recipe from our newlywed days. I’d given up on making them for a couple of reasons:

  1. Meatballs aren’t Matt’s favorite.
  2. I don’t have time to scoop out cute balls of meat anymore.

So I’ve been cheating and buying frozen meatballs at Costco. The kids LOVE those. But Matt (who doesn’t love meatballs anyway) and I (one who does love meatballs but NOT the frozen packaged kind) couldn’t stand it anymore. We would either go meatball-less, or I’d find a few extra minutes to make them myself.

Ah, and I suppose there is a third reason I haven’t been making meatballs as of late:

3. Ground beef has gotten pretty expensive.

We’ve been opting for more chicken and pork and less beef these days. Meatballs weren’t making the cut when it came to inexpensive meals we could make for our large family.

But doggonit, I was hungry for meatballs. The real kind. The good kind. And after the packaged variety, even Matt welcomed the homemade variety.

I’d “splurged” on some of the good ground beef one day at Costco, and I decided to use all six pounds of it to make these meatballs. This gave us three wonderful meals!! I baked two pounds the night I made them, then I froze the remaining 4 pounds of pre-made (unbaked) meatballs to thaw and bake another day. Wonderful!

This meal is a huge hit with our family, and having these meatballs premade in the freezer is a huge time saver!

Easy Meatballs with Sweet SauceYum

Easy Meatballs with Sweet Sauce
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • 2-pounds ground beef
  • 3 Tablespoons minced onion
  • ½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 Tablespoons rolled oats
  • Sauce for Meatballs
  • ¾ cup ketchup
  • 2 Tablespoons minced onion
  • ¼ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, molasses or honey
Instructions
  1. Mix first seven ingredients together thoroughly.
  2. Form into 1½ inch balls and place side by side in a 9x13 inch glass casserole dish.
  3. Stir sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread over each meatball.
  4. Bake uncovered in at 350 degrees for one hour.
3.5.3251

NOTE: I estimated our meal cost a total of around $22.00, which fed 4 adults and 7 kids that night, plus we had some leftovers. So a little over $2.00/person, even with “expensive” ground beef. Not bad! :)

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