Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

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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Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough Bites (Naturally Grain and Gluten Free ~ High Fiber and Protein!)

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Is it too soon to start talking about Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough Bites? I figured we needed to get a jump start on fall.

I’ve kept a supply of Cookie Dough Bites in my fridge since school started. Why? Because they are a perfect snack to grab when we need something fast and filling. They are filled with protein and fiber, and are sweetened with honey, so I don’t mind if my kids grab two or three at a time to hold them over until the next meal.

Up until now, we’ve enjoyed these fun Cookie Dough Bite varieties:

Recently, I decided it was necessary to experiment with Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough Bites.

I usually make my own Pumpkin Spice to use from now through all the holidays. It’s fun, easy, and tasty. Now we can use it in these cookie dough bites!

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough BitesYum

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Dough Bites (Naturally Grain and Gluten Free ~ High Fiber and Protein!)
 
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Author:
Serves: 15-20
Ingredients
  • 1 cup natural almond butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Spice*
  • ½ cup coconut flour
Instructions
  1. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
  2. Roll the mixture into teaspoon-sized balls.
  3. Refrigerate for about one hour before serving.

*Find the recipe for our Pumpkin Spice mix here. Or substitute 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg in this recipe.

If you want to get fancy, roll your bites in coconut flakes, cinnamon, or crushed nuts. :)

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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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How to Cook Bacon in a Crock Pot

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Ever tried to cook bacon in a crock pot?

It’s not my favorite method, but it is a big time/effort saving method. So it’s worth sharing!

Why cook bacon in a crock pot?

Our family was given a huge box full (45 pounds worth!) of bacon, and I needed to do something with it. While I love making it like this for the freezer, I knew that 45 pounds of bacon would take hours and hours to bake. So I decided to try putting it in the crock pot and walking away. :)

It was frozen at the time, so it seemed completely full when I put it into the crock. A few hours later, it had cooked down to this, ha!

I drained it (saving the grease to use when I make green beans, so delicious!). And I froze the cooked bacon in baggies. Everytime we want to add bacon to a meal, I simply throw some in a skillet and rewarm/crispt it up!

How to Cook Bacon in a Crock Pot

  1. Put frozen or thawed bacon in a crock pot – as much as you can fit.
  2. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
  3. Drain, saving the grease for future needs.
  4. Freeze cooked bacon in freezer bags until needed.
  5. Rewarm/crisp bacon in a skillet before serving.

Sound weird? Yes. It kind of is. :)

But if you have a large amount of bacon you want to get cooked quickly, this is one way to do it!

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Back-to-School Breakfast Ideas

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Here we are again, starting another school year. Need some back-to-school breakfast ideas?

Whether you homeschool or send your kids off for the day, they need a high protein breakfast so that they can focus and learn. But most of us don’t have time in the morning for cooking meat or flipping pancakes. For that matter, we barely have time to sit down in the mornings!

Some high protein, QUICK breakfast ideas:

Here are a few of the menu items I’ve give my kids before sending them off. Keep in mind they only have about 10-minutes to eat before leaving to meet the bus (because I let them sleep as late as possible). So the portions are small and easy to eat (and I don’t allow any chattering between bites because oh my goodness that…sloooowwwwws…themmmm…dowwwwwnnnn).

  • Fruit. Any Fruit. Then I give them something like:
  • Scrambled Cheesy Eggs
  • Apple Slices and Peanut Butter (this gives them both their fruit and their protein!)
  • Apple Slices and Cheese
  • Banana with Peanut Butter
  • Sausage Patties or Links
  • Peanut Butter Toast
  • Bagel with Cream Cheese
  • Fried Slices of Ham
  • Ham on Toast
  • Sausage Sandwich
  • Egg Sandwich
  • Summer Sausage and Cheese
  • Oatmeal with peanut butter and cinnamon

Want to make instant oatmeal on the cheap?? Here’s a recipe!

Also, you might want to read this method for having an easy system for breakfast planning:

To save me from having to think too hard, I have created a basic breakdown of what I now make or serve each weekday:

Monday – Muffins
Tuesday  – Toast
Wednesday – Oatmeal
Thursday – Eggs
Friday – Granola or Cereal
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – Protein Bars (because some days there’s no time to stop and eat so I have to send the kids out the door with one of these)

With this skeleton plan, I can now make fun adaptations each weekday to keep our menu fresh and fun! (I save pancakes or waffles or other special breakfast ideas for Saturdays.) :) And now I will give you more specifics about how this works for us… Read all the details here.

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Make an Amazing Costco Salmon Meal for just $2.20/person

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This isn’t just any meal. This is a complete, delicious Costco salmon meal for just $2.20 per person!

I’m on a mission to share how we can still feed our families wonderful, healthy meals without breaking the bank – even with the cost of groceries on the rise!

Here’s a recent Costco meal I shared that only cost $0.99 per plate – amazing!

Today I’ll share how used Costco groceries to fill our plates with:

  • Smoked Salmon Burgers
  • Green Beans
  • Corn
  • Sweet Potato Fries
  • Blackberries

For just an average of $2.20/person! ($22.00 for ten people)

Worth Noting:

We fed 10 people this meal, but we only ate 8 salmon burgers. :) Our adults and our 8-year old ate full burgers but our littlest five kids shared halves and quarters of burgers we’d prepared. Then they ate their weight in sweet potato fries, veggies, and berries.

Here’s one of our babies’ plates. She ate this then ate some more, then ate some more. :)

Make an Amazing Costco Salmon Meal for just $2.20/person

Have you tried the Salmon Burgers from Costco? They are so delicious!

By the way, Costco doesn’t pay me anything to share their goodness with you. ;) I just love Costco and know that a lot of you do too. I’m excited to share these ways we can eat so well for such little money!

If you don’t have a Costco membership, I’m sure you can eat similarly wonderful meals at low cost. :)

I smoked our Salmon Burgers on our Traeger smoker, which makes them taste incredible. (Cooking them on the stove top also turns out delicious burgers!) While they cooked, I washed berries, steamed veggies, and air fried sweet potato fries.

The meal was easy and we love the fun variation these salmon burgers provide compared to our normal chicken or beef meals!

What are some of your favorite Costco meals to make? Have you ever done the math to see the cost breakdown? I think you’ll be encouraged!

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Easy Way to Make Freezer Food (Without Trying)

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Here’s a look at an easy way to make freezer food!

My husband is the women’s soccer coach for York University, and the season began early August. School started in mid-August, and so did our elementary kids’ soccer seasons. The days between August and November are significantly busier than the rest of our days, which is, of course, saying something. :/

During the days leading up to this very full season, I try to put some ready-made food into the freezer to help with the busiest of the busy days. The trick with this is that I can barely put a meal on the table as it is, much less work extra to get ahead. So here’s what I did!

Easy Way to Make Freezer Food (Without Trying!)

As I made meals and snacks in June and July, I made extra on purpose. Then, instead of eating leftovers in the days after we had originally eaten the meal, I immediately froze leftovers to pull out in August and September. Here are some examples of what I made:

Sloppy Joes

Our six littlest kids gobble up Sloppy Joes, which means that there’s no whining at meal-time when I make these! One summer lunch, I made a huge batch of sloppy joe meat, then froze the leftovers to use on a busy soccer night.

Lasagna

I made two huge lasagnas for a family reunion and had enough extra ingredients to make a 9×13 pan for our freezer.

Granola Bars

I made a quadruple batch of these bars and froze a bunch to use for quick breakfasts and snacks.

Hamburger Meat

I used my favorite method of cooking meat and cooked seven pounds of hamburger to use in any meal we need. (There’s a big list here of ideas for ways to use cooked hamburger meat.) I froze the cooked meat in baggies for the freezer.

Tator Tot Casserole

We had Tator Tot Casserole for dinner one night and I made a super large pan so that I could freeze a large portion of leftovers.

Breakfast Cookies

I made a batch of these breakfast cookies one morning and froze all the leftovers to use on a busy school morning.

In summary, I didn’t do any “freezer cooking” except for feeding my family regular meals and then freezing the leftovers for use another day. It’s the easiest way to fill the freezer without extra effort!

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Bake Strawberry Shortcake in the Crock Pot

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Want to learn how to bake strawberry shortcake in the crock pot? It’s an awesome method!

A few weeks ago, I shared how to bake cake in a crock pot. Why would we do this?? After all, it doesn’t save time!

Why it’s nice to know how to bake a cake in the crock pot:

  1. If it’s hot outside and you want to avoid using the oven, this is a great option!
  2. If you don’t have an oven for some reason, it’s fun to know that you can still do some baking in non-traditional ways!

Since this worked, I decided to use the same idea and try making my Strawberry Shortcake Recipe in my crock pot. It turned out amazing!!

In goes the batter:

On goes the funky lid set-up:

Two-ish hours later:

After it cools:

After you’ve eaten a good lunch. This is the rule at our house:

Strawberry Shortcake made in a crock pot is just as delicious, if not more delicious, than cake made in an oven. Try this!!

Bake Strawberry Shortcake in the Crock PotYum

Bake Strawberry Shortcake in the Crock Pot
 
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Author:
Serves: 15
Ingredients
  • 2⅔ cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground whole wheat)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup honey or 1 cup sugar
  • ⅔ cup oil (I use coconut oil)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup milk
  • 4-5 cups of fresh, sliced strawberries
  • Whipped cream (fresh cream whipped to form soft peaks, with a bit of stevia added for sweetness)
Instructions
  1. Mix together flour and baking powder.
  2. Add in eggs, honey, oil, vanilla and milk.
  3. Stir well (or mix well with mixer).
  4. Pour into a well buttered7-8 quart crock pot.
  5. Lay paper towels to cover the top of the crock.
  6. Place a wooden spoon between the paper towels and the crock pot lid to allow for venting.
  7. Cook on Hi for two hours or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  8. Once completely cooled, gently work the cake out of the crock with a spatula.
  9. Allow cake to cool completely. Top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

I have two crock pots; this one is my favorite. I’m loving the ways we can bake in the crock pot and avoid heating up the house!

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How to Get Dinner on the Table Fast!

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Busy school night? Here’s how to get dinner on the table fast!

I’ll write this quickly because we are all busy and need to just get right meat of to the “how to get dinner on the table fast!”

These are my tried and true tips – methods I use now more than ever!

How to get dinner on the table fast!

Here’s the simplified version, and I’ll elaborate below.

  1. Make anything you can, especially the main dish, ahead of time.
  2. At meal time, warm up simple veggie side dishes.
  3. Or get out greens and dressing for a salad.
  4. Wash fruit and put it on the table.
  5. Eat.

1. Make anything you can ahead of time.

This means, build your casserole when you have spare minutes and put it into the fridge to bake at meal time. It means smoke or grill your meat and put it in the crock pot to stay warm until dinner time. It means put something in the crock pot before you leave for work in the morning. It means put burritos together to warm up at dinnertime. Do anything you can when you have a few minutes to get ahead.

2. At mealtime, warm up simple veggie side dishes.

I always have frozen green beans, peas, and corn in my freezer. These cook very quickly! Fresh broccoli is easy and fast to steam while I’m getting everything else out for dinner. Or…

3. Get out greens and dressing for a salad.

I buy pre-washed spring mix and spinach and keep them in the fridge at all times. It’s ready to throw on the table to go with our meals, and it takes no effort!

4. Wash fruit and put it on the table.

Grapes, strawberries, blackberries, pears – whatever you have on hand – wash it and throw it on the table (or slice it if needed, then throw it on the table). This is one of the easiest side dish options you can provide for your meal!

5. Eat.

Because that’s it. Your meal came together so quickly!

Find all kinds of simple, fast main dish recipes here!

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