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Lately my menus have been quite different than they have been in the past.  Also, my freezers are PACKED with meat that was either on sale, things mom mail-ordered, ice cream, etc.  So almost all I’ve been buying, as far as food goes, is produce and other perishables, and the odd staple that I run out of.  There are not a whole lot of deals to be had that way, but once in a while I find a few.  Highlights from this week:

Navel oranges – $.39/lb.  I have NEVER seen anything in the produce section that low since bananas several years ago on sale.  In fact, bananas right now are $.62/lb. and they’re almost always the least expensive item.  Also, there was a tear pad of coupons for $1 off any purchase of oranges over $3.01.  At those prices that would be almost 10 lbs. and I know we wouldn’t get through quite that many so I just saved a few for later and bought 3 lbs.

1 gallon of milk – $2.99 after a store coupon for $1 off.  Coupons on milk are few and far between, especially when not paired with cookies or something.

5 bags of Purina One Beyond dry dog food, 3.5 lbs. each – $2.99 each after 5 $5/1 coupons from a week or two ago, no size restrictions.

Overall original total: $145.81
Overall total paid: $117.02
20% savings

See previous Control Panel posts here.

It’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty, in determining what it will actually take to complete your goals.

First things first.  Choose five of your goals.  Which ones?  Why, the most important ones, of course!  You’ve determined which of these they were.  If you numbered your list, take the top five.  If you used ABC priorities, choose any five A’s.

Expand on your goal statement.  Break it down into a series of steps required to get you to completion.  For that matter, make sure you define “completion” clearly for yourself.  If you want to climb Mount Everest, for example, is it enough to simply reach the summit?  Or do you want to plant a flag, take photographic evidence, keep a journal of your progress, etc?

Back to the steps to get there; list everything you can think of that will be working towards your goal.  There will probably be things that come up later that you didn’t anticipate, that’s ok.  Plan what you can now while you’re sitting in your easy chair so you have fewer surprises that threaten to derail you.  Put the steps in a logical order, and assess time and resource requirements.  Then sit down with your Control Panel and fit these steps into your actual life.  Oh, you don’t have time for your big dreams in your life?  I “don’t have time” to write a novel right now either – I’ve got 4 kids and a myriad of other obligations myself – but I do have time to write a character backstory or a few pages at night when the kids are in bed and my chores are done.  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – and it continues that way too, one step at a time.

Have you heard the story about filling the chest?  You start with cannonballs, and a few fit in and it seems full.  But then you can fit some baseball-sized rocks in the gaps and it’s fuller still.  Even so, many pebbles can still be squeezed into the space between.  After that, a whole lot of sand can be poured into the chest.  What was full still had much space to be filled.  So it is with our lives.  I look at it two ways.  One interpretation is that if you start with the small stuff, the minutiae, the day to day recurrent nothing we fill our days with – the sand – there won’t be enough room for the important things, the big stuff – the rocks and cannonballs.  On the other hand, one could say that the things we already do are the cannonballs.  Life looks full and we say we don’t have time for anything else.  But our large goals can be broken down into small and smaller pieces to be fit in around our other activities, like the pebbles and sand.  Take it as you like, they both work.

For those first five goals, set out the steps to get there, starting with wherever you are.  Add those steps to your daily life so you are actively working towards things that are actually important to you.  Give yourself timelines and deadlines.  If money is an obstacle, and you can’t yet move forward, plan instead how to raise the resources, and plan to keep track of your monetary progress and work toward beginning your goal.  It’s all the same process, and it all takes small steps to reach large distances.

Nothing new to report.  Notes on last week’s outcomes are on the original post.

Monday: Pork chops with apple-almond pesto, and probably gnocchi.
reality: Exactly as stated. Nothing fancy with the pork chops, just a pan sear.  They were thin, didn’t need more than that.  The pesto was fine, nothing to write home about.  And I always love gnocchi.

Tuesday: King’s Arms Tavern Peanut Soup and spoonbread (mix)  I’ve been wanting to make this for a long time now.  Years and years (and years) ago I was in Williamsburg over Christmas and I remember liking it quite a bit.  A will run screaming from the room at the sight of peanut butter, so she’ll have to make something for herself.  She’s not allergic, just doesn’t like the stuff.
reality: Nobody really cared so they made their own and I’ll make the soup for lunch later.

Wednesday: Pork Chops with Apple & Cabbage from Weight Watchers One Pot Cookbook.
reality: I decided it was too close to Monday’s pork chops, and I wasn’t feeling well, and Chris got a job, so we had celebratory pizza.

Thursday: cheeseburgers
reality: Cheeseburgers it is.  Nothing with them, just burgers.

Friday: Asian glazed turkey loin from Eat, Shrink & Be Merry: Great-tasting Food That Won’t Go from Your Lips to Your Hips!.
reality: This week’s menu has clearly gone down the tubes. Leftovers and whatever was lying around. 

Saturday: Tacos from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.
reality: Bacon-ranch crusted turkey breast tenderloin and gnocchi. 

Sunday: Herb crusted chicken tenders from Ready, Set, Go! Cookbook (Weight Watchers).
reality: When I wrote this I forgot it was Super Bowl Sunday.  I made a variety of snackish foods instead of a “real” dinner.

*The book links to Amazon are affiliate links…as I’ve never had anyone use one before I don’t know what I’d get, probably a few cents.  Just a heads up to be fair.

View prior Control Panel posts here.

Now that your goals are on paper (or computer), depending on the kind of person you are they probably seem either more daunting or more doable.  Hopefully the latter.

Take your goals to be, do, see, and have, and spend a few moments prioritizing them.  It might seem a little silly or impossible to put gradient priorities on your dreams and goals, but I’ll wager they’re not of identical importance after all if you stop and think about it.  Isn’t it more important to you to visit your grandparents’ hometown you’ve heard stories of all your life (for example) than the fun beach resort you saw on tv last week?  They can both be goals, but when it comes right down to it and one has to be let go, you’ll rest easier knowing you let go of the less important one.

There are two basic ways to prioritize a list of items.  One is to number each one uniquely in order of importance.  Then you work your way down the list from the most important (#1) to the least (#104 or whatever).  This works for some people who can see all the infinite shades of grey – these are usually people who appreciate 20 buttons on a blender, if you know what I mean.  The simpler, in my opinion, way to do it is to use A, B, and C (or 1, 2, and 3 if you’re numerically inclined).  The way I read these designations is A *must* be done, B *should* be done, and C *could* be done.

If you use the number priorities (1 to infinity), the other choice to make is whether to number each list separately or lump them all together.  This is really a “whatever floats your boat” issue, but I’ll offer this: If most of your goals have some kind of money requirement, purchasing supplies, plane tickets, whatever, I would put them all on one list so you can better plan your resource allocation.  But that’s just me.

My apologies for the delay.

Meal Deal – Game Day Snacks (all locations) 1/25 – 2/7

• Buy 1 Farm Rich frozen appetizer, selected varieties, 20-32 oz.
• $0.75/1 Farm Rich Product, exp. 3/15/12 (SS 01/15/12 R)
• $1.50/2 Farm Rich Product, exp. 3/15/12 (SS 01/15/12 R)
• $0.75/1 Farm Rich Snack printable
• Get 1 Tostitos chips
• Get 1 Frito-Lay dip
• Get 1 Betty Crocker brownie mix

Buy 1, Get 1 Deals (locations as noted)

• Buy 1 Mentholatum ointment, 1 oz, get 1 free. (all)
• Buy 1 Halls drops, various selections, 20-30 ct, get 1 free. (all)
• $0.50/1 Halls Product, exp. 3/2/12 (ALL YOU, Feb ’12)
• $1/2 Halls Cough Drops printable
• Buy 1 pkg. pork tenderloin, get 1 free, equal or lesser value. (MSDFW)
• Buy 1 pkg. boneless eye of round roast or steaks, get 1 free, equal or lesser value. (MSDFW)
• Buy 1 pkg. Mama Rosa mini pizzas, get 1 free. (AM)
• Buy 1 lb. deli carnitas, get 1 pint each salsa, beans, and rice free. (AM)

Coupon Match-ups (locations as noted)

• Crest toothpaste, 6 oz. – $1.50 (all)
• $0.75/1 Crest Toothpaste, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $1/2 Crest Toothpastes or Liquid Gel, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)
• Ken’s salad dressing, 16 oz. – $2.00 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Ken’s Dressing, exp. 2/28/12 (SS 01/08/12)
• Old El Paso meal kit – $2.50 (UN, MSWT)
• $0.50/1 Old El Paso Product, exp. 3/24/12 (SS 01/29/12 R)
• $0.50/1 Old El Paso printable
• Old El Paso refried beans – $1.67 (UN, MSWT)
• $0.50/1 Old El Paso Product, exp. 3/24/12 (SS 01/29/12 R)
• $0.50/1 Old El Paso printable
• Old El Paso taco or tostada shells – $1.50 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/1 Old El Paso Product, exp. 3/24/12 (SS 01/29/12 R)
• $0.50/1 Old El Paso printable
• Snackwells bars – $2.50 (UN, MSWT)
• $2/3 Nabisco Honey Maid, Newtons, Ritz Crackerfuls, Teddy Grahams, Snack Well’s, Wheat Thins, 100 Cal and Triscuit, exp. 1/27/12 (SS 01/08/12)
• $1/2 Snackwell’s Bars printable
• Ritz crackers, Crackerfuls, Munchables – $2.50 (UN, all MS)
• $2/3 Nabisco Honey Maid, Newtons, Ritz Crackerfuls, Teddy Grahams, Snack Well’s, Wheat Thins, 100 Cal and Triscuit, exp. 1/27/12 (SS 01/08/12)
• Pringles super stacks – $1.50 (UN, all MS)
• $1/4 Pringles Super Stack Cans, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $1 off Coca-Cola Company Product AND Pringles Super Stack Cans, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12 R)
• $1/4 Pringles Super Stack Cans, exp. 2/29/12 (RP 01/29/12 #2)
• Sargento snack cheese sticks – $3.50 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/1 Sargento Natural Cheese Snack, exp. 2/12/12 (SS 01/01/12)
• $0.75/2 Sargento Natural Cheese Snack, exp. 2/26/12 (SS 01/01/12)
• Dawn liquid Hand Renewal, 19 oz. – $2.83 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/1 Dawn Hand Renewal, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $0.25/1 Dawn Product, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12 R)
• Lysol all-purpose liquid, 32-40 oz. – $2.00 (UN, MSWT, AM)
• $1/2 Lysol Bathroom, All Purpose or Kitchen Cleaners, exp. 1/31/12 (SS 01/01/12)
• Downy Unstoppables – $6.97 (UN, MSWT)
• $1/1 Downy Unstopables, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $1.50/2 Downy or Bounce Product, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $2/1 Downy or Gain Unstopables or Fireworks, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)
• $0.50/1 Tide Detergent, Downy Bounce or Tide Stain Release, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)
• $1/2 Tide Detergent, Downy Bounce or Tide Stain Release, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)
• $2/3 Tide Detergent, Downy Bounce or Tide Stain Release, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)
• Finish powerballs or gel pacs, 20 ct. – $3.97 (UN, all MS)
• $2.15/1 Finish Quantum Powerball or Gelpacs, exp. 1/30/12 (SS 01/01/12)
• $0.75/1 Finish Powerball Tabs or Gelpacs, exp. 2/29/12 (SS 01/22/12)
• Lysol kitchen cleaner – $2.00 (UN, all MS)
• $1/2 Lysol Bathroom, All Purpose or Kitchen Cleaners, exp. 1/31/12 (SS 01/01/12)
• $0.25/1 Lysol All Purpose Cleaner Pourable/Trigger, Antibacterial Kitchen, or Bathroom Cleaner printable
• NyQuil or DayQuil, 12 oz. or 24 ct. – $5.69 (all)
• $1/1 Vicks Product, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $1/1 Vicks Product, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)
• Delsym liquid, 3 oz. – $6.99 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Delsym Children’s or Adult Product, exp. 2/29/12 (SS 01/08/12)
• $1/1 Delsym Product printable
• General Mills cereal, selected varieties – $2.50 (all)
• $1/3 General Mills Cereal, exp. 2/18/12 (GM 01/08/12)
• General Mills cereal treats bars – $2.00 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/1 Lucky Charms Treats, Golden Grahams Treats, Chex Mix Treats or Milk ‘N Cereal Bars, exp. 3/3/12 (GM 01/08/12)
• Chex Mix, 6-8 oz. – $2.00 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/2 Chex Mix or 100 Calorie Snack, exp. 2/4/12 (SS 12/11/11)
• $0.50/2 Chex Mix or 100 Calorie Snack, exp. 3/3/12 (GM 01/08/12)
• $0.40/2 Chex Mix or 100 Calorie Snack, exp. 3/24/12 (SS 01/29/12 R)
• $0.60/1 Chex Mix or Chex 100 Calorie Snack printable
• $0.50/2 Chex Mix or Chex 100 Calorie Snack printable
• Charmin tissue, 18 double rolls – $9.97 (MSDFW)
• $0.25/1 Charmin Product, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $0.25/1 Charmin Product, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)
• Del Monte fruit cups – $2.00 (MSDFW)
• $1/2 Del Monte Fruit Cup Snacks, exp. 3/31/12 (RP 01/08/12 R)
• Kikkoman soy sauce, 10 oz. – $1.77 (MSDFW)
• $1/1 Kikkoman Product printable
• $1/1 Kikkoman Product printable
• Yoplait light with granola, 2 pk. – $2.00 (MSDFW)
• $0.75/1 Yoplait Light Yogurt With Granola, exp. 3/3/12 (GM 01/08/12)
• Jello refrigerated snack cups – $2.47 (MSDFW)
• $0.60/1 Jell-O Refrigerated Snacks, exp. 2/8/12 (SS 01/08/12)
• Solo Bare cups, plates – $2.50 (MSDFW)
• $0.75/1 Solo Cup, Plate or Bowl, exp. 2/29/12 (SS 12/04/11)
• $0.75/1 Solo Cups, Plates, or Bowls printable
• Pampers jumbo pk. – $9.97 (AM)
• $1 off Pampers Diapers or Pants, exp. 1/31/12 (P&G 01/01/12)
• $1.50/1 Pampers Diapers or Pants, exp. 2/29/12 (P&G 01/29/12)

View all previous Control Panel posts here.

With goals to be, see, do, and have set, the next step is to plan how to reach those goals.  Goals without a plan will just sit there and so will you.

Think about *how* you plan to achieve your goals, and how you plan to track your progress.  Lay the foundation for that by setting up a part of your Panel for such plans.  Will you need financial records and charts, blueprints, idea files, timelines, delegation charts, research files, shopping lists, checklists, weightloss charts or more?  Find or make a place for them now, before they become so much unuseful clutter.  Once that is done you can start incorporating action steps into your active Control Panel and increase your chances of completing them.

See previous posts here.

If you know what you want to be in life, then you can decide on some other goals.

You’ve seen lists people have of things to do before they’re 30, 40, 50, dead, whatever.  Bucket lists, they’re often called.  Do you have one?  Can you think of anything you’d like to accomplish in life?  Some adventure experience, travel, etc.?  Pick an appropriate benchmark for yourself and set some ambitious goals.  This is a place to dare to dream.

Next (or as part of the above), expand your horizons and picture places you’d like to visit.  Want to take your kids to the campground your parents vacationed at when you were young?  Want to see the Mona Lisa in Paris or the pyramids in Egypt?  Are you a sucker for the natural beauty of glaciers and virgin forests, or an urban explorer looking to hike the streets of San Francisco?   Ambitious enough to visit every country in Europe or Asia, or every state in the US?  Make your wish list today.

Now the materialistic side of our dreams: those things we want to acquire in life.  Not necessarily just the huge things either – need a new garage door opener?  How about a clothes dryer?   It’s not a pipe dream, but it’s too big for the weekend’s shopping list.  It might help you to walk through your home, triggering thoughts of what you’d like to have to fix or enhance each room.  Go ahead and pipe dream if that’s what you like – but I would caution you to keep in mind the concept of “enough”.  Is it really necessary to be a millionaire – and live like one – to be happy?  Not that I’d turn down a million dollars, mind you!  Far from it, but a million dollar portfolio isn’t on my goal list, because it’s not something I need for a happy life.  Only you know what your personal priorities are so I’ll only say be cautious of going overboard, and have fun dreaming!

Last week was hit or miss, but I’m liking doing things we’ve never done before.  They don’t always work out and they’re not always universally popular, but I can say I tried.  I took most of this week’s recipes out of books so I don’t have many links.  One thing I am going to try is from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.  The theme of the book is to add vegetable purees to other recipes so the kids don’t know they’re eating veggies.  I’m doing it as much for me as for them, as I’m not by nature a veggie person.  Time will tell if it works.

Monday: Beef Stroganoff was a request for this week.  I don’t really use a recipe for it, just throw it all together as I feel like.  If I find some non-ground beef in the freezer that’s great, if not so be it.
reality: I made it rather differently, but everyone liked it.  Instead of mushrooms and a cream sauce (or cream of mushroom soup) and sour cream, I used cauliflower puree in the beef broth to thicken and lighten it up.  It went over well, with noodles and a salad.

Tuesday: I was wrong last week.  I’m not out of buffalo burgers, they were just in a different freezer.  Now that they’ve been found, they can be dinner.
reality: McDonald’s

Wednesday: Pork chops with apple-almond pesto, also held over from last week.
reality: emergency meal: Frito chili pie

Thursday: A week or two ago I stumbled across Hillshire Farm smoked sausages for $.99 ea.  If you’ve ever bought smoked sausage, you’ll know that’s one heck of a deal.  The ever-helpful stocker at the store brought me out a full box to take home, so I have 16 12-oz. links sitting in the freezer.  I’m going to crack a couple of those open to go with the roasted root vegetables I didn’t get around to making last week.
reality: Tuesday’s burgers, with coleslaw.

Friday: Macaroni & cheese, from scratch for a change.  I’ve never made a really good one but I’m going to try again.
reality: Thursday’s sausage and root vegetables.  Verdict: meh.  The sausage was fine – though when I make 2 pkgs there’s not nearly enough but I made 3 and there’s easily a whole pkg left in there.  The roasted veg…took me and A an hour to get into the oven, almost an hour to cook, and I didn’t really care for it.  I’ve tried and tried to make myself like sweet potatoes, and I just don’t.  I’ve never liked cooked carrots though these were still crunchy enough to be ok.  The potatoes were fine.  The parsnips were under-done and even the smaller ones that weren’t…weren’t worth all the fuss and hassle to get them in the first place, imo.  I’m trying to eat more produce, and I’m trying to eat things reasonably in season, but this winter stuff is for the birds.  

Saturday: Herb crusted chicken tenders.  Another request, and I’ll probably make some gnocchi I found on sale at the store.
reality: Friday’s mac & cheese.  There was butternut squash puree in with the cheese.  It was good, it was creamy, the kids all liked it, but I think it needed a slightly sharper shredded cheese and less cream cheese.

Sunday: Roasted turkey legs with stuffing.
reality: Friday’s leftover sausage with rice and Thursday’s leftover coleslaw

Emergency Meal (something Chris can cook if necessary): Frito chili pie

Previous posts available here.

Now you have the bones of your Control Panel set up, your regular tasks filed neatly so you know what needs to be done when, and you’ve established flexibility in those parts of your Control Panel.  There is more to a Control Panel than things you have to do.  Much, much more.  Filing information so it can be referenced and found easily is the primary purpose of a Control Panel, and the next thing I want to cover that you’ll want to have accessible to you is a written set of goals.

Sit down with yourself and put into words what you want to be in life.  This is not the place for things to have or places to go, those will come later.  Right now articulate how you want yourself to be.  I think of it this way – When your children are grown (or when your obituary is written) what do you want to be remembered for?  How would your children, spouse, friends, acquaintances describe you in the ideal future?  What personality traits or habits do you want to foster, or conversely rid yourself of.  This is a day for introspection, so grab yourself a quiet moment and a nice drink of your choice and think for a while.  Then write a few statements that you can put in your Control Panel to refer back to when you need a little course correction.

I’ve hung on to this recipe for years.  I made it one year as specified, in jars for Christmas.  My mom said she fixed the soup one night and it was excellent, so I always meant to make it myself, straight from the recipe to the table.  Finally I did so, all this time later.  Here’s what I would use for a recipe without making it for gifts.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 3 tubs beef stock concentrate or the equivalent (fresh stock, broth, bouillon, base, etc)
• 1/2 onion, grated
• 1/2 cup dried split peas
• 1/4 cup pearled barley
• 1/2 cup dried lentils
• 1/3 cup long grain rice
• 1 1/2 cups mixed pasta (colored spiral or shaped, macaroni, whatever you like in approximately that size)
• seasonings to taste: salt, pepper, dried oregano, garlic powder, paprika (I wish I could tell you how much, but I almost never measure spices, just dump and sprinkle.)  This is the only spice or seasoning going into the whole soup, so make it stronger than you normally would for a pound of hamburger.

Directions:

1. Brown crumbled ground beef in large soup/stock pot.   Drain if necessary, but not totally dry.
2. Add dry seasonings and onion to beef.
3. Mix peas, barley, lentils, and rice in a bowl and empty into pot.  Stir well for a few minutes (I grated the onion while this was going on because I didn’t remember to do that first.)  This is like the beginning of a pilaf or risotto.
4. Add beef base, bouillon, concentrate, etc. plus 12 cups of water, or 12 cups of fresh stock or broth.
5. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add the pasta and simmer another 15 minutes.

Serve with a salad and bread or whatever else you like to have with your soup.

**Note after making the soup: The split peas could use a little head start in the broth, maybe 15 minutes.  12 cups of liquid disappear quickly into that many grains and legumes.  After everyone ate I put away the solids as if it were a skillet meal or casserole and there was barely enough liquid left to cover the bottom of the pot.  Also, it made A LOT.  There are 7 of us of varying ages and appetites, and I put away easily 6 cups of meat/pasta/etc. to have another day.