Don't Forget Your Groceries

It finally happened. I'm always afraid I'm going to leave my groceries at the drive-up, and I actually DID yesterday. I felt SO stupid when I got home and realized it. As we were driving back, I even exclaimed. "I AM SUCH AN IDIOT!" My sweet 5 year old said, "Mommy, you're not an idiot. You're kind and smart, and you have a sweet little heart, just like me." How is that for righting everything that was wrong in my world?

Here's a picture of that kind, sweet little thing after her dance recital a few weeks ago,

Ok, now back to groceries....

Talk about an unimpressive holiday ad week! Oh my gosh! What a BUMMER! Here is what I got at Hen House and Hy Vee yesterday. My total came to right around $50 after tax.

I also purchased a gallon of milk at Hen House that I forgot to include. Again, they didn't have anything marked down, but I spent some time talking to a dairy supervisor about their mark down procedures. (I was at a different store from last time.) He also said that they are marking items down in the morning. I asked him if I called ahead of time to let him know I was coming if he could hunt down some "expiring" items for me. He acted like I was a little weird, but he said he'd do it! I also asked him to mark down a gallon of farm fresh milk that had a date of July 5th, and he agreed. My best advice to you is to make friends with the dairy man at Hen House! They have a hot deal going with these dairy mark downs, especially when you can pair it with a coupon!

I won't be doing a ton of cooking this week. (What is new?) I made a lasagna and pudding pops today. We enjoyed those for dinner and will certainly enjoy the leftovers. We will spend all of the 4th at my mother in laws. I want to cook something exciting, but cooking in the heat of July doesn't sound like great fun. Right now, the plan is to take all of those lemonade half gallons, a watermelon, and a bag of chips. I'm still waiting for a stroke of creative genius for something else. I predict tomorrow AND Tuesday will be sandwiches and fruit at the pool. On either Wednesday or Thursday night, I am planning on turning my big girl loose to make a quesadilla pizza on her own. As long as I manage the oven and baking time, I think she can handle it, and I know she will be thrilled and very proud! I'm looking forward to this winter because I'm thinking as she learns to read in kindergarten, she's going to be able to handle preparing even more dishes and meals. It will be such a wonderful help!