Stretching My $$$$ - using what I have!

As you know we've decided to get 'frugal' mainly to start paying off our car loans a little earlier than planned. My main goal is trying to cut down our grocery bill and that means making my dollar stretch a little further. I've been reading a lot of 'frugal' blogs this week and learning how to use coupons at places like CVS and Target

This week despite the fact I made a menu plan on Monday I have actually changed it a little, I'll post more about that next week when I recap what meals we had. One of the meals I did make was the crockpot salsa chicken. I mentioned this in my Monday post but couldn't remember where I'd seen the recipe. It's simple to make though. . .

The recipe calls for an 8oz can of tomato sauce but my can was a 16oz size so I just used all of it! Add that with a cup of salsa to the crockpot and a tsp of cumin and a packet of Taco seasoning, then place your chicken on top. I used 3 large bone in chicken breasts that I got on sale a few weeks ago (I had in the freezer) and they were only about $3.50. Above is the chicken after 4 hours in the slow cooker, I had taken one breast out and already shredded it, then I did the rest and allowed it to cool. This made a huge batch which I will freeze for meals over the next week or so.

The next night I used some of the taco chicken and made enchiladas. I simply spooned some chicken in flour tortillas added a little cheese, then poured over half a can of enchilada sauce, topped with more cheese and baked them for about 30 mins til they were hot and the cheese had melted. There's plenty of chicken left to make at least another 2, or even 3 meals.

Also this week I made these. . . .

using these . . . . .

well, not all of them! Jason took a lot of the larger cucumbers to work for anyone that might want them. I don't think this variety is actually pickling cucumbers, but I used smaller ones to pickle because, well they'd probably go off before I got to use them fresh in a salad, so I followed THIS recipe and now I have some in the fridge for the next month.

On Wednesday night I was out wandering in the (overgrown) garden and noticed the apples on the tree were turning red, they were pretty large too.

I took pictures, then I thought I would pick some, they were so big I thought for sure they must be ripe!

I picked all of these! Don't they look wonderful.... do they taste wonderful? Hmmm, well to be honest I think they could have been left a little while longer, they seem to be a little dry, but I didn't want to waste them so I made . . . . apple sauce! I forgot to take a picture of the sauce but I only used 4 apples, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar and boiled til soft, then mashed them. Wow! they tasted really good. We tried it warm with a little sprinkling of cinnamon on top and a spoonful of vanilla icecream! I am going to use the rest of the apples today to make more then I will either make a pie or freeze some til later.

So much food and I've hardly spent a penny since I got groceries in on Monday (usually I'm at the store at least 3 times a week getting other odds and ends!).... and I only spent $55 when I did go to the store this week. I'm on a roll, and rather proud of myself for spending so little this week. I hope I can keep it up. I've allowed myself a budget of $300 for food this month (that will include cleaning supplies and toiletries/personal items), but I'm hoping I can drop it to $200 next month.

I'm linking up to Frugal Friday today at Life As Mom. Hop on over to read about some other great money saving tips.