Holy Exhaustion. It's 10:59, and we've just returned from our only grocery store trip this week. Thank God for the nice man that opened up a box of my children's choice of cookies for them to snack on. What a life saver. And while we're at it, God Bless Hy-Vee too. They're seriously always so nice to us there.

I wasn't so excited about my grocery store trip this week. The sale ads weren't that exciting. I didn't have time to look at my coupons before we got to the store. My husband's been complaining about what food we have/don't have. What's a mom to do?

Here is what we got --

1 lb of generic butter
2 Earthgrains sandwich thins
1 can of generic kidney beans
2 cans of generic black beans
2 cans of generic pumpkin
1 box of Little Debbie cupcakes (free)
1 bag of generic flour
1 4 lb bag of generic white sugar
1 Mazola cooking spray
1 small bag of generic slivered almonds
2 packages of Musselman's Health something or other applesauce
1 bag of Nestle chocolate chips
1 Orowheat 100% whole wheat loaf
1 Pepperidge Farm box of crackers
2 family sized tuna packages
1 bag of 100% whole wheat mini bagels
1 box of Kashi Island Vanilla (This is SO good.)
3.86 lbs of pears
3 8 oz generic cheddar bricks
1 package of Dole baby spinach
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
4.15 lbs of locally grown Macintosh apples
1 bag of Stacy's pita chips
1 Marzetti's hummus
1 gallon of hormone free milk
1 gallon of Hy-Vee orange juice (grabbed the one not on sale, oops)

I also bought a package of diapers that cost about $5 after coupons and rebate. My pre-tax total then came to right about $50. I saved about $17.50 with coupons, and I'm realizing that I ALSO forgot to give them my Upromise card, which sucks. I would have gotten a little more from that also. I'm definitely remembering why it is NOT a good idea to go to the grocery store when you're less than at the top of my game. Regardless, I did a pretty good job especially considering all of the other things I had on my plate this week.

Since the sale ads weren't that great this week, I was really focused on trying to get some different things that what we normally eat. We're all getting a little bored of the usual, so I'm working extra hard to think outside of the box. As far as what we'll be eating this week is concerned, the girls and I are going to be staying home tomorrow to do some cooking, relaxing and cuddling. We'll also focusing on refueling our bodies with not only rest but good homemade food. I'm planning on making confetti chicken casserole and red hot oatmeal cookies. Later this week, I'm hoping to bake some pumpkin bread and make some apple/pumpkin "baby's favorite."

See last week's trip here. See also LifeAsMom.

Join in the menu planning fun at www.orgjunkie.com.