All You Challenge Week 2

Time to check in for week 2 of the All You Grocery Challenge! At the beginning of the week I had to fill up our refrigerator since we were on vacation for three weeks. Because double coupon day is Wednesday, I tried hard to not go to the grocery store until then. However, I did stop at Aldi to pick up some milk, eggs, ham, and fruit. Otherwise for meals we used what we had in the freezer and pantry. I'm so thankful I shop ahead to keep my pantry stocked and sometimes cook enough to freeze for later! This way I know there is food in the house even after I return from out of town. If you'd like some freezer tips and recipes, click here.

Our meal plan for this week:
Breakfasts: Cereal, bananas, Eggo products, blueberries, egg sandwiches, strawberries, pancakes and sausage, milk
Lunches: PB&J, applesauce, string cheese, ham and cheese wraps, strawberries, leftovers, chips, grapes, yogurt, milk or juice
Dinners: Mahndu and "Healthified Fried Rice" and tomatoes from our garden; Lasagna, Garlic Bread and Salad; Culver's, Alfredo Pasta and Broccoli; Red Robin; Barbecue Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Asparagus; Frozen Pizza; Tacos, Quesadillas, and chips; milk

We celebrated H's birthday this week by going out to Red Robin for dinner. We saved some money by using 2 coupons (free kid's meal from the birthday club and $2 off from filling out a comment card at a previous visit), ordering water for the adults to drink (which we usually do) and Ted and I split a meal. H and G got kid's meals (one was free) and for M and F we ordered 2 sides of grilled cheese for $1.29 each. This was a tip that a Red Robin server passed on to me several years ago, and their grilled cheese sandwiches are SO good! Because it was H's birthday, the server brought 4 free ice cream sundaes for our family to share. H also got some free ice cream from Baskin Robbins and Cold Stone Creamery for her birthday for signing up for their birthday clubs, which you can do here and here. Another day we went to Culver's for some Butterburgers during their anniversary celebration. Not everyone wanted one, so Ted picked up three on his way home from work and we supplemented with broccoli and noodles we had on hand.

Aldi: $11.37
Groceries: $49.73
Red Robin: $21 including 25% tip (she did a great job!)
Culver's: $3.15
Candy at the mall: $4.27 (a splurge after family pictures)
H's birthday ice cream: $0
TOTAL: $89.52

So even though we splurged a bit on eating out this week, we were still well within our All You weekly allotment of $150 for a family of six!