we're still here, just a little under the weather

the cold and flu season struck our house a couple weeks ago, and has yet to leave. when matt and i got sick too last week, it pretty much put an end to just about everything around here, including trying new recipes. that's why i haven't been posting. i don't have anything to write about. we have made some recipes over again. the chocolate-hazelnut smooches, buttermilk pancakes and chicken pot pie are still awesome, even with a raw throat. my daughter and i also tried making the pumpkin bread again, but something went wrong. i'm not sure what, but it ended up dense and not like bread at all. we were bummed, to say the least.

anyways, matt's back at work today and i'm starting, some moments i think so at least, to feel better. there's a chance for new recipes this week, so don't count me out. in fact, i'm going to turn on food network right now and see what's cooking. until later, my friends...

oh, wait, one more thing. we finished our month-long no eating out challenge this weekend. we made it! i was, however, disappointed that we only saved $200 on our food budget from the previous month. we still think it's too high and are trying to figure out how we spend so much in this area. yesterday i went to the grocery store and bought enough chicken and ground beef for the month because they were both $1.99/pound and that's cheaper than what we've been paying. i separated them out into meal-size portions and froze them all. if i only buy meat when it's on sale, that should help a little more, right?

if anyone has any money-saving tips on grocery shopping, i'm all ears.