large family Archives | Heavenly Homemakers

How I Shop and Budget for Our Large Family

March 12, 2023 by Laura 4 Comments

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

Everyone’s family needs and shopping options are different. Here’s how I shop and budget for our large family.

Who We’re Feeding

Here’s one of our latest family pictures, taken at our Boy #2’s wedding last summer. Our two oldest sons are married and on their own now. Boy #3 is a college senior and lives at home while he finishes his last semester. Boy #4 is a high school senior – and just about the time we thought we’d be empty nesters, God started to grow our family through foster care and adoption. The six littles in the picture are either adopted or will be soon. What a journey! You can read more about our family here.

Suddenly that picture is outdated as we welcomed another baby boy into our home early this year. :)

When you take a look at our large family’s overall grocery budget for the month, you might choke on your coffee. It’s large and possibly overwhelming to some. Here’s how we save in other areas so that we afford to buy all these groceries. And here’s a quick breakdown of our eating habits:

We feed 4 adults, 3 school-aged kids, and 3 toddlers – a total of 10 people – three meals every day. (Several days each week, one of our former foster sons comes over too.)
We very rarely eat out (approximately once every three months if we are on the road somewhere).
Our school kids pack a lunch to take to school; the rest of us eat lunch at home.
We feed a lot of guests – anywhere from 5-20 extra people per week.

How I Grocery Shop and Budget for Our Large Family

We live in a small town without a lot of grocery store options. So here’s what works for me when it comes to grocery purchases.

1. I hit Costco and Sam’s once per month to stock up on bulk items.

Costco and Sam’s are an hour away from us, so I make a plan for all the kids for the day, then I go stock up once each month. Read here about what I like to buy at Costco and Sam’s. You’ll see that I splurge on a few convenience items like frozen pizza and chicken nuggets. These purchases give me a night off from cooking without making us pay restaurant prices. It’s a perfect compromise!

2. Walmart Pick-Up

In our town, we have two local grocery stores that are rather pricey, plus Walmart. Two to three times each month, I place a Walmart pickup order to fill in gaps for our fresh produce and dairy needs until I can get back to Costco or Sam’s. Here’s a look at typical Wal-mart pick-up orders for our family.

3. Azure Standard

I get a few items every month or two from Azure Standard, and I like ordering items from them that I have a hard time finding other places. Here are some of the items I like to buy from Azure.

4. Local Farm Eggs and Milk

We are blessed to have friends with a farm a few miles away. They supply us with our milk each week. Our eggs come all the way from across the street where our neighbors enjoy raising chickens!

Our Family Eats Well for an Average of $4/person/day.

That’s how I shop, but how about how we eat?

All totaled, we average about $1,200/month for groceries. The great big budget number seems large, but it divides into just $4/person/day (less than that, actually, because we also feed guests from our regular budget). This includes all meals and snacks plus features many high-quality fruits and vegetables. I feel very good about this, especially since this budget number includes packed school lunches and ways we splurge at home instead of eating out. (UPDATE: I am currently working to see if I can keep our budget at this number or if I need to increase it. Stay tuned.)

Here are some examples of meals we eat at our house:

I made this simple Baked Chicken Leg meal for just $0.99/plate. It was a feast with chicken, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli, and fresh watermelon.

After a Costco trip, we often have Chicken Salad on croissants with spinach. We had this with fresh strawberries, raspberries, and carrots. The croissants are a splurge, but this is still an inexpensive meal!

Here’s one of our favorite meals: Smoked marinated chicken thighs – so easy and so delicious. On this particular day, we ate this with steamed green beans, buttered corn, baked potatoes, and grapes.

Breakfast for dinner is always a hit. This French toast meal served with eggs, sausage, and fruit is a favorite. The toast and eggs were flying off the plate and skillet faster than I could keep up!

I watch for mark-downs on meat and buy pork roasts when I can get them for less than $3.00/pound. I like to cook roasts overnight on Saturday to enjoy a meal like this on Sunday after church.

We’ve found that eating a lot of fruits and vegetables actually saves us money! Crazy but true!

More ways we save money:

But wait? You NEVER eat out??

Can you imagine taking this many babies into a restaurant? Here’s what we do instead. <— This post might give you some fun ideas for your family if you’re trying to eat out less. :)

High grocery store prices won’t get us down. What ways are you finding to save at the store?

Coming up next: Do I still buy organic food??

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How I’m Planning Christmas for Our 14 This Year

December 4, 2022 by Laura 1 Comment

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

I’m planning Christmas for our tribe and I thought it would be fun to process “out loud” while I work out details!

You know I love to go all out at Christmastime. But how I used to do Christmas when there were only six of us does not work now that there are 14 of us.

I’m looking for ways to have a lot of fun without spending as much money this year also. Here’s how I’m hoping to get away with spending very little out of pocket this year.

How I’ve been saving/earning “free” money for Christmas this year

I’ve spent time earning Swagbucks during the past few months and made my way up to $100 free dollars in gift cards! I decided to redeem them all to use at Sam’s, so now I have $100+ to use for gifts there!
I got a “check” from Costco as part of their cash-back program. I plan to redeem that for free gifts.
I’ve been saving the cashback that we earn from our Discover card and I can use that at Amazon for gifts.

Meanwhile, I’ve found some great deals here and there and have been buying and tucking away stocking stuffers for a few weeks.

How I’m Planning Christmas for Our 14 This Year

I’m looking into games that our entire family can play (which is a challenge since our kids are ages 1-25!) This Saran Wrap Ball Game is perfect though.
I’m putting together these Christ-Centered Christmas gifts for our entire family, which will be the main part of our Christmas day.
I’m focusing on consumable gifts again so that we don’t pile more STUFF into our house. :) Here are ideas for consumable gifts (not just food!).
We’ll plan a day after Christmas to enjoy with “just the grown-ups.” So much of our life is focused on the little ones, which is exactly as it needs to be. But two years ago we started a tradition of hiring sitters for all the littles for an entire afternoon and evening. We bigs all head to our church fellowship hall where we eat and play games for hours together. It is much needed and so much fun!

What about the FOOD?!

You might remember that our traditional Christmas dinner for the past several years has been Lasagna. I’m changing that this year because 1 out of 14 of us refuses to eat lasagna. NEVER do I ever cater to one person’s pickiness on a regular day. But this Christmas I’ve decided to. Why? Because our Christmas meal is supposed to be special, and if my daughter can’t possibly put lasagna into her mouth and it causes a fight at mealtime? No thanks. Not on Christmas. (This is my gift to me.)

So we’re having a Nacho Bar. Everyone can fix their bowl or plate the way they like and everyone wins. Plus, by the time we’re hungry enough to eat Christmas dinner after a big breakfast, it’ll probably be time to pull out games anyway. So we can munch on nachos and play games in the afternoon. It’s perfect!

What about that big breakfast? I’ll make an Easy Breakfast Casserole ahead of time and bake it while we dig into gifts that morning. I’ll serve it with fresh fruit and one or two of the following (I haven’t decided yet!):

Here are a lot of great Make-Ahead Christmas Breakfast Ideas to look through!

Do you have fun Christmas traditions or some that you’re starting this year? I’d love to hear!

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November 2022 Groceries and Meals We Ate

November 30, 2022 by Laura 6 Comments

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

Ready to see our November groceries and some of the meals we ate last month? Spoiler: We ate a turkey.

Early in the month, I had a huge stock-up day in Lincoln at Sam’s and Costco. Why not just one or the other? Here are reasons I love both. :)

I completely forgot to take a picture of my Sam’s groceries. :/ I got stocked up on grass-fed ground beef and a few other meat items, peanut butter, honey, chicken broth, tomato soup, mac and cheese, canned corn, cheese sticks, gogo squeeze applesauce, chips, brown sugar, ketchup, and cheese slices.

Later in the day at Costco, I loaded up on boneless chicken thighs, fresh fruits and veggies, frozen veggies, sour cream, shredded cheese, coffee, baked beans, beef hotdogs, ground turkey, granola bars, chocolate chips, frozen pizza, butter, half-and-half, and a variety of breads. And I remembered a picture this time!

When I got home to my dearest husband – who had held down the fort all day long without me (a huge feat with this many littles!!) – the babes were all in bed and the bigs were all out. So Matt took twenty-eleven trips back and forth from the van to bring in groceries while I worked to put everything away. Here’s just part of our haul:

I spent $957 on food that day. Oy!
$1,300 total for the month.

Meals We Ate in November

Here are some highlights from our kitchen last month!

I’d put in an Azure Standard order for a case of frozen hashbrowns. I didn’t realize I’d ordered the 30-pound box, and that all 30 pounds of hashbrowns would come in one enormous bag. Here’s what 30-pounds of frozen hashbrown potatoes looks like:

I spent time one morning dividing them all into gallon freezer bags. While I was at it, I put together several meals.

Hashbrown meal #1: Easy Breakfast Casserole. I made a great big one to put into the freezer and serve to company.

Hashbrown Meal #2: I made a big Ham and Cheesy Potato Casserole for the freezer. While I was at it, I made a tiny one to share with a friend who had surgery.

Hashbrown Meal #3: I made a big pot of Spicy Ham and Potato Soup to warm up and eat the next day after church. Then I put the rest of the potatoes into the freezer. :)

We celebrated Matt’s birthday early in the month, so of course, I made a Fruit Cobbler. This one had blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries in it because that’s what I had in the fridge and freezer. :)

For one of Matt’s special birthday meals, I made “Super Mama Waffles.” None of us can remember why our older boys started calling them that. :) Probably because they top them with fruit and whipped cream – so they are more than “just waffles??” Either way, I made sausage, bacon, fruit, and this waffle recipe x5 to have enough to feed our army. This is what we had left.

THEN, we had one more birthday meal for him with a few more of our kids joining. Apparently he likes breakfast for dinner! We had Biscuits and Gravy, cheesy eggs, sausage (for those who didn’t want sausage gravy), blackberries, blueberries, applesauce, and cuties. In case you’re curious, I think we went through 24 eggs for the 12 of us that night – I couldn’t keep up!

I had picked up several pounds of ground turkey at Costco in an effort to cut some costs since ground turkey is cheaper than ground beef. One morning, I cooked all of it and made it all into Sloppy Joe Meat. I froze the prepped meat in meal-sized portions for the freezer. Then for lunch that day, I made Sloppy Cornbread.

I’d never made this dish before for all of our littles, and I was glad that it went over so well!

One evening for company, I made a huge pan of pasta. I boiled two pounds of noodles, made a double batch of Alfredo Sauce, cut and cooked two pounds of chicken in olive oil with spices, then stirred it all together with a jar of spaghetti sauce. IT WAS SO GOOD.

I had bananas turning brown, so I made three loaves of Banana Bread one morning. It was all gone by that night. :)

A friend of mine reminded me of the joy of “Eggs in the Nest.” Somehow I’d forgotten about these! I started making them for my kids before they leave for school and they are loving it! (Side note: Our elementary kids have to leave the house for the bus stop at 7:01 so I let them sleep in as long as possible. This month I started waking them up just 5-minutes earlier than I had been so that they could get more good food in their bellies before they leave. This has been VERY good for them! And since we do the “get dressed the night before” trick, they still get enough rest.)

I had to be gone for three days when I went out of state for my Nana’s funeral. Before I left, I made a big pot of Chili for my family to eat while I was gone.

Here’s a simple meal I made on a cold day in November: Smoked Beef Sausages, peas, fruit, and this homemade bread. The bread baked while we ate the rest of our meal. Then we enjoyed “dessert” of fresh hot bread with butter and honey!

I’ve been experimenting with thermoses that I got from Costco to send a hot lunch with my elementary kids to school. I made a pan of Beanie Weanies one evening, warmed it up the next morning while the kids ate breakfast, then sent them on their way. The thermoses kept their food hot and they loved their lunch!

Another evening, I made a double batch of this Warm Chocolate Soother while I was making that night’s dinner. I let the soother cool, then refrigerated it. The next morning, I re-warmed it for my kids to drink for breakfast. It was perfect! They were warm and filled with nourishment as they headed to the bus stop!

Our little pre-school pumpkin thought it was a huge privilege to drink his Warm Chocolate Soother out of a “glass cup.” :) :) :)

Fun fact: If you make Warm Chocolate Soother for your kids but serve it with something else that is sweet, they may not like this delicious drink. The first time I served it to them, I had simply made some sausage links to eat alongside it. The next time I made it, I got out the cereal. The kids ate their cereal first (Cinnamon Chex) and then didn’t like the Soother. The third time around, I went back to serving a hearty protein with it and they liked it again. Phew, parenting is so easy.

One Saturday before Thanksgiving, I made Pumpkin Breadx4 (this recipe but without the chocolate chips), and I attempted to make a Cheesecake Swirl on top. The swirl didn’t really work, but it did taste good!

Shall we pause a moment to take a look at what my kitchen looks like on a regular basis:

Most days, I run my very full dishwasher three times, ha! It’s kind of nuts. And I kind of love it. My two two-year-olds think it’s great fun to help me unload the dishwasher (whether the dishes or clean or dirty, mmmhmm). But just think, in a few years I will have worked myself out of that job!

See that glass of Green Goodness up there in the picture? That’s what I sip (or chug, depending on how much time I have) each morning.

I decided to embarrass myself by showing you how full I stuff my blender while making these smoothies for the kids. Never try this at home, friends. Shoot, I hadn’t even added the milk yet.

It all works out ok though because while there is a lot of spinach in there, it blends down very quickly and doesn’t blow the lid off the top while it’s blending (as long as I stand there and hold the lid on with all my might).

Here’s a look at my Walmart Pickup grocery haul a few days before Thanksgiving. Turkeys were on sale for $0.98/pound so I ordered three of them. THIS IS WHY. Wow, doing this saves so much money.

Our eight, seven, and four-year-olds are becoming good helpers and they took multiple trips out to our van with Malachi (17) to bring everything in. Every time I go to the store I think, “Well, this should take care of us for a while!” And it does. For about a week. Then suddenly I need to shop again. How great that they are all becoming such good eaters!

When the van gets unloaded, everyone just drops the bags on the floor. This time, I was very impressed by how well Brayden and Bonus Girl (7) did with putting away groceries where they go. They might have been motivated to get the job done because I’d told them that if everyone worked together we could put the Christmas tree up that night. :)

The day before Thanksgiving, Kelsey (Justus’ wife) and I made Pumpkin Pies and a Chocolate Fudge Pie. Eva (Asa’s wife) was still in their home and she made a Pecan Pie to bring when they came. Meanwhile, we had a bunch of hungry kids who needed regular meals. For breakfast that morning I served Instant Oatmeal, Pumpkin Bread, and pears. I also made a huge batch of Mudballs for snacks.

Thanksgiving day was amazing, with 20 of us here. Justus smoked our turkey, which turned out amazing.

When we were cleaning up leftovers, we made a couple of plates to deliver to some sick friends.

The day after Thanksgiving, I made a huge batch of turkey broth like this. It turned out delicious! I used some that night to make turkey and potato soup.

I used four cups of the broth to make Stick of Butter Rice. Then I stirred it together with some leftover turkey and burrito fixins’ to make 24 burritos for the freezer. Our older boys ate a bunch while watching the World Cup one afternoon!

Our final “leftover turkey” meal was an experiment. I baked some potatoes, then smashed them along with sour cream, cheese, ranch dressing mix, turkey, and bacon. It was delicious!

I still have some broth that should give us three more meals also!

How was your November? Did you eat anything fun you want to tell us about?

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How We Avoid Eating Out (And What We Eat Instead)

June 8, 2022 by Laura 4 Comments

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

We try to avoid eating out if at all possible. I’ll share why we do it and how we do it!

First, why do we try to avoid eating out?

The cost. For our large family, eating out, even at a fast-food restaurant, can cost $60+. It just doesn’t feel worth it to drop that much money for one meal.
The mess. Maybe it sounds silly, but with six littles, all the wrappers, dips and drippy burgers are a huge hassle. Also, can you imagine what it would look like if we took alllll of our babies to a restaurant? I’m not sure there are enough high chairs in any facility to accommodate us, ha.
The gut. We know occasional eating out won’t hurt us since we try to eat well at home. But eating out frequently makes our bellies bloat. :)
The treat. We like to keep restaurant food as a special treat for our family. So when we do go out or grab fast food on a road trip, it’s super fun for all of us!

When do we eat out?

Here are some examples of times we enjoy restaurant food:

Matt and I occasionally go out for a meal and have adult conversation. Yes, we often talk about the kids when we’re out. There are ten of them; how can we not?
Our teen/adult kids grab food with their friends, of course. Malachi has the McDonald’s app so he finds reasons all the time to “get a good deal on McD’s.” It’s his hard earned money, so… ;)
When we are on a road trip, I usually pack food for our first meal or two (see details below). But after that runs out, we do something like grab a bunch of nuggets and fries for everyone to share in the van or at a park.
Matt’s folks give us a sweet gift at Christmastime to use for a meal out with our family. We save this to use when all of our kids are together, and it is such a fun treat!
Sometimes we order pizza if we find good deals. We do this sometimes when all of us are together so we can enjoy our family time. Or we might do it sometime if Matt is out of town and we want a special pizza/movie night to help us miss Daddy a little less.
We have a traditional “Back to School” meal at our local Runza. We’ve been doing this since our big boys were little – back when they earned free kids meals from the library during the summer reading program! While there are no more free kids meals, we have had fun treating our family to a Runza meal right before we all settle into a new school year. (This year we just did a big to-go order because again, can you imagine taking this crew into find seating? And ketchup? Oy.)

What We Eat Instead

Just because we almost never eat out doesn’t mean we don’t have fun treats at home. Also, as much as I love cooking, I need breaks too! Here are some our tricks. Maybe you can steal some of these ideas for your family!

We kind of like that we can get a couple of cartons of ice cream at the store for $3 each – spending $6 total for our entire family to have ice cream – instead of spending $40 for everyone to get a cup or cone.
When I grocery shop, I intentionally buy convenience foods that I can make on days I don’t have time to cook. I’ll share some ideas below!
We pack food to take to ball games and on road trips. This saves money, but honestly, I most appreciate that it helps us avoid messes and hassles. I have all of our food in a big cooler bag, we spread out on a blanket, and we eat. Yes, I have to do prep-work at home before we leave. But I find that this is SO MUCH EASIER than messing with a drive-thru or trekking back and forth to a concession stand with so many little ones. Here are some great ideas of different foods I’ve packed for us to eat at games and on the road.

Convenience Foods I Buy to Feed Our Family Instead of Eating Out

While shopping, I sometimes hesitate about a boxed/prepared item because it costs more than homemade food. But then I consider the comparison to how much it costs for our family to eat out.

For instance, spending $15 for a package of really tasty frozen tostadas at Costco feels like a big splurge to me. But then I remember that I’ll have them in the freezer to use on an extra busy night. So the $15 convenience food suddenly turns into a money-saver compared to the $40 I’d pay for ordering pizza.

With that in mind, now when I’m at Costco or Sam’s I pick up four or five ready-to-warm up items to keep in our freezer on our “no time to cook” or “don’t feel like cooking” nights. Here are some examples:

Frozen Pizza

Costco frozen pizza for the win. Am I right?

Five Cheese Tortelloni

Our entire family loves these and they cook in just a few minutes. I dump sauce into a pan to warm and eat with them. We eat whatever veggie and fruit we have ready to grab. It’s such a fast meal!

Frozen Meatballs

Our kids love these! I often put them in a crockpot with barbecue sauce to warm all afternoon for a fast meal at night. Or I’ll cook some to eat with spaghetti, which the kids think is fancy. ;)

Orange Chicken

We get this at Sam’s, heat it in our air fryer, and serve it with packages of quinoa/rice we get at Costco. Eat it with salad or leftover veggies, and our meal is fast and fun!

French Fry Friday

Often on Friday nights I make nuggets and fries in our Air Fryer and we put in a movie for the kids. They LOVE this!

I think the main key for me is to always keep our meals simple. If I regularly made complicated meals, I’d burn out quickly and want to resort to take-out. But Simple Meals and easy recipes help keep me sane in the kitchen as I feed our large crew!

When do you like to eat out as a family? What are some of your tricks for eating at home more often?

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Big Family Food: March 2022 Costco Trip

April 6, 2022 by Laura 5 Comments

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

I think I’m getting the hang of how to “do Costco” for my family. Here’s a look at my March 2022 Costco Trip!

Did you read My Big Costco Experiment? That is when I figured out how to shop Costco effectively for my family. It looks something like this:

My New Costco Plan

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.
Check-out, load the van, then go back in.
Take a bathroom break.
Eat a hotdog and drink a big cup of water.
I’m not even kidding. This job makes a person need some major sustenance and $1.50 for the big dog/drink combo is pretty rockin’.
Grab an empty cart again and fill it with all the fresh produce, frozen foods, refrigerated foods, and bread products that we need.
Check out again, load the van again, open the box of Kombucha I just bought, and drink a bottle for refreshment and survival.

Anyone else shop at Costco like this?

So, March 2022 Costco Trip Round 1:

2 bags tortilla chips
2 loaves bread
hot dog buns
hamburger buns
bag of veggie straws
bag of granola
case of tuna
box of granola bars (x2)
jars of peanut butter
quinoa and rice packets
case of canned chicken
bag of brown sugar
case of mac and cheese
a bunch of clothes and a bridal shower gift :)

Total for the food: $149

The much-needed hotdog (in case you thought I was kidding):

Then Back for Round Two:

bag of frozen meatballs
bag of frozen hamburger patties
bag of frozen corn
bag of frozen green beans
bag of frozen peas
goat milk cheese
2 gallons milk
tortellini
heavy cream
white queso
naked smoothies (x2)
avocado mash (x2)
shredded mozzarella cheese
shredded colby jack cheese
polish sausage
container of croissants
red grapes
blueberries
blackberries
raspberries
strawberries
spring mix
fresh spinach
pink lady apples
gala apples

Total: $265

Total Costco Trip (for groceries): $414

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Stay tuned for more Big Family Food posts, where I share all about how I make food for our big family! And read here to catch up on other posts in this series you may have missed. :)

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Big Family Food: Family Picnic

March 30, 2022 by Laura 2 Comments

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

Mid-March gave us the opportunity for a fun family picnic!

The more kids we have and the more adulty our older kids get, the more difficult it is for us to all find an opportunity to all be together at the same time. The stars aligned one day in March, and we were able to meet up in Lincoln for an awesome day at the park together! (Asa and his wife Eva, Justus and his fiance Kelsey, Elias, Malachi, Brayden, Keith, Matt, me, and our four foster girlies)

One of our goals when we get together is to find something we can do that we will all enjoy – from baby to toddler to preschooler to elementary kids to high schooler to adults. Oh, and it helps if we can find something that doesn’t cost much money. Of course. :)

On this particular day, we found a park with a fun playground for all the littles plus plenty of grassy areas for all the bigs to kick around a soccer ball. And the best part – we had packed the frisbee golf equipment we’d invested in one Christmas. So the boys set up our goal and created a course. After lunch, the bigs had fun playing frisbee golf for hours while the littles played nearby.

Also, it was a perfectly sunny, 67-degree day. Gorgeous!

I grabbed this picture of the big boys and in short, while we were together, I couldn’t stop staring at this scene. When our older boys get together, this is what happens. The four of them find their way into a square with a soccer ball at their feet. They kick around and chat without even realizing they’re doing it – it’s what they’ve always done. Be still my heart. God gave us amazing adult sons.

Meanwhile, the amazing babies.

Daddy was holding the littlest. These two had a blast on the swings. The other three were playing and playing on the playground (which I failed to get a picture of, phooey!).

Oh yes. And we also ate a super tasty picnic.

This ended up being a perfect lunch that was easy to put together and pack for an outing. Everyone got their fill and loved it.

The night before, I made a big bowl full of chicken salad.

I packed two bags full of chicken salad, croissants, grapes, applesauce, chips, salsa, and avocado cups.

I also packed water bottles, forks, a knife, napkins, and paper plates.

There was nothing fancy about our meal, but it was perfect for our needs that day!

Do you know how the Bible says that “Mary treasured all these things in her heart…”? That’s what I feel like I do on days like this. They are a gift, they are rare, and I love standing back and watching all my dear ones together. :)

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Stay tuned for more Big Family Food posts, where I share all about how I make food for our big family! And read here to catch up on other posts in this series you may have missed. :)

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

Big Family Food: My Recent Walmart Pick-up Orders

March 23, 2022 by Laura 9 Comments

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

To supplement my once-a-month Costco or Sam’s trips, I put in Wal-Mart pick-up orders every ten days or so. Here are a couple of pictures from recent orders!

Sometimes when I talk about how much I enjoy taking advantage of Walmart Pick-Up, I hear how some of your experiences with it have been less than positive. Shucks, I’m sorry! For me, it has been a lifesaver. Like, I think it has actually saved my life. Or at least it has saved hours and hours of my life and much of my sanity (which is actually already gone, doggonit).

Apparently our local Wal-Mart rocks in the Walmart Pick-Up department. On the flip side, ours has gone to almost entirely self-checkout which I reallllly struggle to do when I have a huge full cart and babies with me. Thus, my Walmart Pick-Up life-saving claim.

My Recent Walmart Pick-up Orders

I love that I can add all my needed groceries into my online cart in just a few minutes. Then I select a time to pick up that works for me. I take a kid or two with me for an outing when I go pick up, or I send a friend or one of my older boys. And then boom, my groceries walk themselves out to my van (with a little help from an awesome associate), put themselves into the back, TELL ME THANK YOU, and I go home. This is beautiful.

Here’s what I got from this particular pick-up order:

4 pounds strawberries
2 pounds spring mix
5 ounces fresh spinach
6 ounce raspberries (x4)
4 crowns broccoli
8 bananas
2 pounds grapes
18 ounces blueberries
bag of avocados
2 packages hot dog buns
family size caesar salad kit
5 pounds frozen tator tots
4 pounds frozen hashbrowns
3 pounds frozen strawberries/bananas
4 pounds frozen fruit mix
wheat germ
cocoa powder

Total cost for all this: $99.

I know grocery prices are on the rise, but truly when I see all I got for a hundred bucks, I’m very thankful.

Another trip I got:

2 gallons milk
2 packages hamburger buns
2 packages hotdog buns
3 pounds clementines
5 pounds shredded Colby Jack cheese
2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese
2 boxes lasagna noodles
6 jars pasta sauce
2 quarts heavy whipping cream
2 quarts half&half
coffee creamers
2 cans pears
1 can peaches
2 bags petite baby carrots
1 pound mixed greens
2 containers cottage cheese
3 pounds gala apples
2 pounds pink lady apples
4 boxes frozen hashbrowns
Totinos (ha, gross right? I get these for Malachi sometimes as they are his fav.)
3 bags tortilla chips
4 pounds strawberries
large tub sour cream
bag of meatballs
2 16-packs of beef hotdogs

Total cost: $168

Do you do Walmart Pick-Up? What has been your experience?

Stay tuned for more Big Family Food posts, where I share all about how I make food for our big family! And read here to catch up on other posts in this series you may have missed. :)

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Big Family Food: Ways I Can Cut Our Grocery Budget

March 2, 2022 by Laura 9 Comments

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

We eat big around here. Are there even ways I can actually cut our grocery budget?

This is what I’ve been exploring lately. What are some ways I can cut our grocery budget without causing more work or frustration?

I was so positively challenged by Reanna’s comment on this post:

If you are considering ways to save on your grocery budget you might consider buying more in “ bulk” and less single serving items. I’ve never bought individual applesauces, or other single serving items. I also only buy simple snacks such as fruit or crackers. We mainly concentrate on eating more during mealtime and not snacking as much. Snacks can be very expensive!

I 100% agree with her idea to avoid single-serve items, and I used to shop and serve food in just the ways she described. But with caring for so many little ones all while trying to keep up with our big kids (we’re planning another wedding, eeee!) – I have resorted to all kinds of convenience food items just to survive. (Our three littlest babies are each about 9-months apart in age, our three-year-old is potty training, and three days every week we enjoy our former foster babe, another three-year-old oy!)

My first thought when I read the comment was, “Yes, but not right now. Maybe after we get through this season.” But then I let her ideas simmer a while and I started to think about ways I could make some money-saving changes.

What I need to consider before I decide to cut our grocery budget:

Is the money-saving change worth the time and energy it will take to make up for the convenience?
Will it be worth the messes it might make? (We are already drowning in baby-made messes around here.)
Is the cost savings enough to make a substantial difference? (As in, will I spend $6.50 instead of $7.00 but create a significant amount of additional work for myself? If so, saving $0.50 will not likely feel worth it.)
Will any changes I make mean that we are eating less nourishing foods overall?

A word about snacks:

Well, three words about snacks: We eat them. A lot of them. Not all of us though – here’s how it works at our house!

Our three-year-olds, two-year-old, and one-year-old kids eat several snacks throughout the day. I would have some incredibly grumpy babies if I didn’t give them a mid-morning muffin (or something similar) and some berries. Sometimes I actually feel like all I’m doing is figuring out yet another good snack I can offer to truly hungry little ones.

I give them substantial meals, of course, but their little tummies can only handle so much at a time. We go through grapes, berries, apple slices, granola, cereal, and muffins like crazy – all eaten between meals.

Now, on the other hand, I almost never give our 6-year-old and 8-year-old snacks between meals. They are expected to eat their fill during meal time and I’ve found that if they eat a snack, they don’t eat a good meal later (which makes them need a snack later, which makes me want to cry later, truth). So the snacking is limited to the kids under 3 – and also to the hungry mom who rarely has time to sit and eat a full meal, thank you for understanding.

Ways I Can Cut Our Grocery Budget

I feel a little bit silly that I haven’t actually looked at cutting such obvious grocery spending options for so long. On the other hand, this mama is tired, has a lot of meetings, and hasn’t had quite enough sleep for approximately 1,460 nights in a row. So that’s why I’m so grateful that Reanna suggested that I consider a different way to shop and serve food.

I discovered peach cups and pear cups and applesauce squeezies a couple of years ago, loved how handy they were, and never looked back. And with that, I never really looked again at the price comparison either. Until I was challenged to consider the necessity of extra spending.

Pear cups cost $0.13/ounce. But a can of pears costs $06.7/ounce – half the cost of the convenient cups. Peaches? Same story. Half the price to buy a can instead of the little cups.

When we hit the road or need to pack food to eat at a soccer game or at the park, the cups will be wonderful and helpful with so many kids. But at home? I can easily open a can and dole out the peaches or pears in little bowls.

IT’S SO OBVIOUS. But I’ve been tired. So.

Meanwhile, the applesauce.

For the past three years, I have been buying cases and cases of applesauce squeezies. These gems are so helpful I can’t put it into words. And what happens when I give my littlest kids a bowl of applesauce? You don’t want to know, but I’ll tell you anyway. They paint with it. On their shirts, hair, feet, and under the table. I learned the hard way not to give them a bowl of applesauce, and there are too many of them eating (read: painting) at once to help them all eat it in a clean way.

Squeezies though? I can hand them out, and actually leave the room to go potty by myself. This is a miracle and though shalt not take my applesauce squeezies from mine house.

But do I need them forever and always? As it turns out, my 6 and 8-year olds are quite handy with a spoon. I can easily serve them applesauce in a bowl and save money on an entire case of applesauce squeezies every week. How about that? A jar of applesauce is $0.5/ounce while the squeezies are $0.15/ounce or more. Triple the savings! And if I’d ever get back to canning applesauce again, well, that’ll save even more.

What else can I cut or change?

I already buy almost everything in bulk. At Costco, at Sam’s, and through Azure Standard. And when I consider all the needs of our day, plus my lack of time to make more of our food from scratch, I’ve had a difficult time knowing what else I can cut.

But one thing I’ve committed to, besides buying fewer individually packaged fruit options, is to buy fewer individually wrapped items in general.

The only time I truly need individually wrapped snacks is when we go to tennis matches, soccer games, or other trips and outings. My goal right now is to keep items like this on hand but to save them for outings instead of resorting to handing them out at home during snack time.

Here’s a post filled with easy food ideas to pack and take to games and events.

What I don’t plan to change now (or ever?)

As I’ve shopped lately and done some price comparisons, here are some foods I’ve decided to continue to buy for the sake of convenience, even though they are a little more pricey.

Diced Ham – For $0.24/ounce, I can buy a package of ham that’s all cut and ready to dump into an egg casserole or this soup. A whole ham costs about $0.14/ounce. But I have to cook it and cut it (which is fine when I make a whole ham for a meal and use the leftovers in soup and such). Having the diced ham in my freezer ready to help me put a meal together in 5-minutes is worth the extra cost by far!
Frozen Shredded Hashbrowns – I buy 4-pound bags of Mr. Dell’s hashbrowns for $0.7/ounce. I can buy a bag of yellow potatoes for $0.4/ounce. Dude, gimme both. :) Those frozen hashbrowns save me so much time and make meal prep so very easy! They are delicious and the Mr. Dell’s brand includes only potatoes. So I feel great about using them for many of our meals. And whole potatoes? We use those too, and they are also an inexpensive convenience food in my book. But only when I make them like this or this.
Pre-Made Pizza Crust – I keep these in the freezer at all times. Do I know how to make pizza crust? Yes. Is it hard? No. But right now it’s fantastic to go to the freezer and grab crusts already made for me. I then grab a couple of cans of pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and whatever other toppings I have on hand. We quickly make pizza and it’s super easy. It’s also a lot cheaper than ordering pizza.”
Shredded Cheese – Talking about the shredded cheese for pizzas reminded me of the beauty of the gift of bags of pre-shredded cheese. I used to buy huge blocks of cheese and my kids would shred it in our food processor. Gone are the days. My bigs are either gone or don’t have time, and I have decided not to give my babies a cheese grater. Smart, eh?Grating cheese would never happen if I had to wait until I had time for the task. So bagged shredded cheese it is! Are there ingredients added to the bag to keep the cheese from clumping together? La-la-la! I can’t hear you, I don’t know what you’re talking about… :)

Well, I’m quite sure that as I consider ways I can save, I’ll be able to add to this list. Any other ideas you all want to throw out there?!

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Stay tuned for more Big Family Food posts, where I share all about how I make food for our big family! And read here to catch up on other posts in this series you may have missed. :)

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

Big Family Food: What I Feed Our Babies

February 13, 2022 by Laura 3 Comments

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

Curious what I feed our babies? While they don’t eat large quantities like our big kids, I still felt like this would be fun to talk about within our Big Family Food series! After all, there are a lot of babies at our house. :)

We currently have six kids ages 8 and under. Four of our kids are 3 and under. (Five kids 3 and under three days each week – I’ll explain below.) We have 3 exclusively in diapers, 1 who still sleeps in diapers, and 1 who comes over three days a week and is still in diapers. Five in diapers, you ask? Yep. We just line-em-up and change diapers (or run to the potty). All day long.

Our little ones’ ages are currently 8, 6, 3, 3, 2, 17 months, and 7 months. Here are five of the kids huddled around Daddy as he reads Brayden’s birthday card out loud.

The fella on the left (below) was our foster son for 18 months. He is reunited with his dad now, praise God! But because he is a relative of our current foster/adopted kids, his dad lets him come for frequent visits each week. THIS IS SUCH A GIFT. For all of us. :) :) :)

The picture below shows two of our little girls. Girlie on the left is 17 months old and not yet walking due to foot and leg issues we’re working on. She gets around though – up and down the stairs, into the cupboards and trashcans, and has the best belly laugh on the planet. :) Girlie on the right just turned 2 and has come so far since she moved in last summer! She is as sweet as she is stubborn and helps me be a “mommy” to all the babies in our house.

Aww, there they are again, busy as ever.

Matt, Malachi (age 17, but remember when he used to be my baby?!), and I took the kids to a Historic Farm for a fun fall festival they were hosting last October. I’m pictured here, holding our littlest girlie who just turned 7 months old. Her smile is as big as her face and she is pretty chill most of the time. I think she knows she has to be since she is the youngest of ten!

Never a dull moment?! That would be correct. Here’s Daddy holding our 2yo and Keith chugging down some juice while Brayden and Bonus Sister act out a play.

What’s more fun to look at? Kids or food?

Kids. Obviously. But let’s move on now to show you what our littlest kids eat. (And big kids too, just in larger quantities.)

Here’s a sample of breakfast plates I fixed for Keith (age 3) and two of our girls (ages 2 and 1). A breakfast cookie (plain, no dried fruit or chocolate chips), rewarmed Breakfast Casserole, and blueberries.

Another day, this was what their breakfast looked like. Bananas, pears, and sourdough toast (a special treat from a friend!)…

I buy applesauce squeezies, pear cups, peach cups, and mandarin orange cups in bulk. I keep a tray stocked with them at all times so I can open them up and hand them to babies and kids as needed for side dishes or snacks between meals.

I try occasionally to take one or two kids to the store with me. It’s a fun outing for them and gives us one-on-one time together, which is rare and precious since we have so many kids now. Here, Keith went with me to get fresh produce. It was fun to talk to him about all the fun fruit and veggies choices we were making, what Daddy loves, what sisters loved, and so on. :)

I recently told you about my favorite way to eat an apple. Turns out, it’s one of the kids’ favorites too! Often, I’ll cut really thin slices of apples onto a plate with this cheese. We go through half a bag of apples this way as the kids just keep reaching in for more. So good!

I use my Blendtec like crazy when feeding my family. This Orange Julius recipe makes a fun snack or “side dish” with our meals.

We go through a lot of eggs at our house! Keith loves to help me crack them as we prep for breakfast.

How sick are you of me talking about these smoothies? Yes, Laura, we know. You like to make these smoothies with greens in them so that your kids can drink salad and be happy about being so nourished. So I guess I’ve mentioned these before then?

Here’s a fun parent hack if you aren’t already doing this! Whenever we make Mac and Cheese for the kids, we dump frozen peas into the bottom of each bowl, like this:

Then, we put the hot mac and cheese on top of the frozen peas. Stir it together, and boom. The peas are cooked, the mac and cheese is instantly cooled, and the combo of mac and cheese with peas tastes really good!

While we most often blend our greens into smoothies like I shared above, our kids will also eat fresh spinach on a plate with a dab of ranch for dipping. They eat the spinach just like they dip carrots in ranch. And on this particular day, Keith also tried dipping his strawberry in ranch. Hmmm… Looks like a silly goose to me.

Muffins!!!! Oh my goodness, the muffins. We eat them and then we eat some more. It is my goal to bake and keep muffins on hand, even if I don’t ever get any other baking done. All the kids love them and they help to stretch our meals or to provide an easy-to-grab snack at all times. (Here are 40 muffin recipes I reference frequently.)

I’ll keep taking pictures of our kids’ plates during the next few weeks so I can share more!

What are your favorite meals for itty-bitties?

Stay tuned for more Big Family Food posts, where I share all about how I make food for our big family!

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Two Favorite Tips to Simplify Family Laundry

June 28, 2020 by Laura 17 Comments

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

Feel like your family laundry is a daunting, never-ending task? It doesn’t have to be! Here are my best tips to simplify family laundry. :)

How to Simplify Family Laundry

Laundry is an inevitable chore. But it doesn’t have to be one that overwhelms you. Allow me to share my 25+ years of homemaking, 23+ years of parenting, and 7 sons’ worth of experience to help you simplify!

1. Do not do it by yourself.

I cannot emphasize this enough. I know too many mamas who are constantly overwhelmed by laundry, but they don’t get their family members involved with helping! I learned long ago that it is important to get my sons involved in every single job that they are capable of doing, from laundry to cooking to cleaning. (And not to worry, my sons are led by my husband’s great example as he also pitches in every way that he can.)

The only people in the household who should get out of laundry duty are babies. And toddlers. Toddlers try to be helpful but they think that their job is to take clothes out of drawers and washing machines faster than you put them in. I should know. I have Toddlers x 2. They are doubly helpful:

They are so sweet though, and they are so proud of how well they ruin my laundry efforts.

But beyond babies and toddlers:

As soon as a kid is old enough/able to drag a basket of dirty laundry over to a washing machine, that should become their job.
As soon as a kid is old enough/able to put laundry into a washing machine, that should become their job.
As soon as a kid is old enough/able to switch laundry from a washer to a dryer, that should become their job.
As soon as a kid is old enough/able to fold and put away laundry, that should become their job. Start with washrags and towels, graduate to clothing items when they are ready.

And in my experience, somewhere around 3rd or 4th grade, a child is capable of being completely in charge of their own laundry. From start to finish. Their laundry basket is full? They wash their clothes. They dry their clothes. They put their clothes away. Your job here is done. :)

Teaching my older boys to do all of their laundry by themselves has been incredibly helpful! For years, I only needed to wash my laundry and Matt’s. Then God moved in our little boys and now I’m back to washing laundry for 5 people again! Not to worry – I’ve learned another great tip that helps me get through these loads more efficiently. So let’s move on to Tip #2.

2. Start folding the biggest items first

This may seem silly, but this tip helps me get through my laundry piles more easily every time!

Laundry piles for several people can look pretty big…because they are. :)

The pile you see here is just the result of washing/drying one load. Because we have 3 little ones, there are many tiny items of clothing within the load to fold and put away. Seeing it all together in a pile can make me feel like I have a big job ahead of me, especially if there are two or three loads that have piled up.

But I’ve found that if I start by pulling out and folding towels and baby blankets first, the pile very suddenly looks much smaller and less daunting.

The large items are easy to fold and make me feel like I’ve quickly completed half the pile! Once those are done, I move on to the little shirts and pants, which I pretty much just fold in half and stack. Easy peasy, laundry squeezy. Well, as long as my toddler helpers leave my pretty piles alone. :)

Review: Get your family involved. Fold big items first.

I will now reward your laundry efforts with two bonus tips!

Bonus Tip #1: I never fold underwear. Life is too short and wrinkled undies never hurt anyone.

I throw mine directly into my drawer, close it, and walk away without a second thought. I hand Brayden (age 6) his wad of his unfolded undies to put into his drawer and he stuffs them right in. And let’s be real – even if I would have folded them, they would have come unfolded by the time he made it to his dresser. You know I’m right.

Bonus Tip #2: I never sort laundry. And we are still clean and living to tell about it.

My apologies to everyone who is cringing over this admission. Some people are diligent laundry sorters. And some of us wash everything together in cold and don’t think twice.

The only time I care is if I have a nice white shirt that I don’t want to ruin. Otherwise, everything pretty much goes in at the same time. I kind of forgot sorting laundry was a thing.

The future wives of my sons may shake their heads at me for failing to teach their husbands to sort. But hey, I taught them to cook and clean toilets and so much more. They can take it from here. :)

And that’s how I simplify family laundry.

What are your best tips?

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