Faith, Family, and Frugality

Menu Plan -

2012-01-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

I did really great last week on my menu plan. Actually did what I had planned. :) Let's keep up the tradition. :)

Monday - Monterey Chicken
Tuesday- Salsbury Steak, green beans, rolls
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Sloppy Joes
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Cheesy Chicken an Rice Bake
Sunday - I have more chicken recipes, if needed, but I think that we will probably do something that can grow with a crowd :) I believe it is Superbowl Sunday :)

The Wild West meets Victorian England

2012-01-29T11:25:00.001-08:00

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck was a humorous book that had me laughing immediately. It is an interesting combination of wild west and Victorian England. One of the stories even included a display Buffolo Bill put on in Englad. It is (of course) a love story in a world and time where marriages were often arranged to be convenient to both families involved. Charlotte is a strong minded woman, longing for the opportunity of both education and business experience. She's young, strong willed, and, perhaps, self-centered. Alex Hambly on the other hand is also intelligent, mature, and by nature prone to put others ahead of himself. The meeting of these two independent thinkers will keep you amused as will every encounter thereafter. Thanks WaterbrookMultnomah for providing me with a copy to review. My opinions are my own.

Blogging for Books - The Canary List

2012-01-25T12:25:00.000-08:00

My most recent read from the "Blogging for Books" program was The Canary List by Sigmund Brouwer. It is the story of an unloved foster child and the world she gets wrapped up in. It is a fictional look at the Catholic church, and all the inner workings of the Vatican City, complete with how it might be affected by that same foster child.
I enjoyed the book, but some of it was a little to close to home, and other parts were completely far fetched. I know that the Catholic church isn't perfect, as much as I know that there are both good and bad men that have become priests. Some of those men who have not made Christ the center of there lives may have even worked themselves up in the hierarchy of the church, but this author takes it to the extreme. The book as interesting, viewed as a work of fiction, but I am sure some will be offended by the portrayal. That being said, you may enjoy it :). I'm going to give it a 3 out of 5 star rating.
You can check out the book here. You can even read the first chapter while you are there.
Thanks to WaterBrooks Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy for me to review. My opinions are my own.

Menu Plan Monday 1 -23

2012-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

It is a new week, and time for a new menu. I am going to try a lot new this week if everything goes according to plan, and I am really looking forward to it. I also was able to squeeze in a mini freezer cook day and I am hoping to squeeze in another one before week end.

Freezer cooking session (completed) -
Chili
Sloppy Joes
Chocolate Peanut butter Oatmeal

Freezer cooking session(planned) -
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins
Some kind of dinner roll

And now for the menu...
Monday- chicken pasta bake (ok, I really just want to clean some veggies out, so I'll cook up some chicken and throw it in a bunch of pasta with all the veggie leftovers, add a little bit of olive oil and cheese)
Tuesday - Slow cooker Fajitas
Wednesday - church
Thursday - Monterey Chicken
Friday - family night
Saturday - Sloppy Joes (from freezer - I will make rolls that day to put the sloppy joe filling in).
Sunday night - salisbury steak

Should be a fun week. We will see how it all goes. For more great ideas check out http://orgjunkie.com

Booking It January 2012

2012-01-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

I love to read, and I have loved Booking It, because it not only reminds me to take time to read, but also makes me a least sit back for a few moments and think about what I have read. This month (and over Christmas) I read a few books, but I have a couple in progress right now that I can't wait to tell you more about next month.

Naturally Skinny: 100 Organic Recipes under 350 Calories
This was a cookbook - there are some interesting recipes in it that I will try, but I was glad that I got the free kindle version - I'm not sure that I would use it often enough for it to pay for itself. That being said, it is always nice to get another viewpoint on dinner, and this has great snack and breakfast recipes as well. I'm sure it will see some use in the upcoming months.

O Little Town
I love Christmas books. I love the nostalgia, and even the craziness and sadness of things not going the way it is expected to. It took me awhile to get into this one because it jumps around from character to character at the beginning, I was sucked in as soon as I saw their lives intersecting, it just took me a moment toget there. It showed fragile, imperfect people, trying to make it through life regardless of circumstance, and I loved it. It was a story of forgiveness- Forgiveness both given and received.

The Cheapskate's Guide to Grocery Savings
This was a very quick read. There were a lot of suggestions to help cut grocery spending, and I felt like I already do most of them, however I can pass up a book of this title on the offchance that they may have one more trick up their sleeves. It is also great to have a reminder of things that I should be doing to help keep down my costs - It's a great motivation to keep on keeping on - It is also FREE at amazon right now for your kindle if you want to check it out.

I also started a new bible reading plan this year and have actually stuck to it for 3 weeks - it helps that there is a built in day with no reading. I've made it to Genesis 50 - now if I can just continue with that great pattern - I always get a lot out of it- It is God's word, and it will not return void - I just need His help to carry through with my good intention. :)

Menu plan Monday

2011-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

We have to eat, and I have to plan. Here it is!

Monday CranberryPotRoast

Tuesday MontereyChicken

Wednesday church

Thursday ChiliCheeseDog

Friday - Family night.

Saturday - AppleCiderPulledPorkSandwich

For more great plans check out orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday

2011-12-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time! Last week we baked and baked and baked some more. We made snowball cookies, chocolate chip pretzel cookies, hot cocoa cookies, and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and they were all wonderful. My husband brought them into a lot of the folks that he works with, and we were able to bring them to our neighbors as well. This week we'll make a few batches of cinnamon rolls (some for us, some as Christmas gifts) and maybe do one more round of sweet stuff. We don't actually have a ton of time at home this week, so I don't have to prepare a bunch of meals, but I have food that we'll need. We do have to prepare for lunch this week, so I have to keep that in mind.Monday - family gathering and birthday partyTuesday - family night outWednesday - shrimp and grits, rolls, saladThursday- roast, rice, green beans, rollsFriday - more familySaturday- spaghetti, garlic bread machine rolls, green saladSunday - Christmas! I think we'll be eating with family.For more great menu plans check out orgjunkie

Booking it!

2011-12-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

I just haven't been doing a great job about posting my reading for booking it this year, and part of that is because my computer hasn't been working quite right, but most of it is because I have been lazy. This month I read a lot, and found most of it enjoyable. I came home from the library with a stack of books and I have been working my way through them one book at at time. I had chance to review two books for Waterbrook Press and one audio book for oasis and the review for those are linked in their titles below.

The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

Ashes, Ashes

The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall

I also read these books by Thomas Kinkaide and Katherine Spencer

The Wedding Promise - The wonderful story of a young couple going through the wonder and hurt of building a life together, woven together with the story of the woman that runs the inn they want to be married at.

A Christmas to Remember - Jump in between a present day Christmas season and a 1950s romance @ Christmas - It gave a lot of depth to the Lillian Warwick character if you have read any of the Cape Light Books

A Christmas Visitor- Kinkaide and Spencer are masters at various story lines being woven into one book, and I think this is my favorite one of the series. All story lines were equally interesting to me and it felt as though I were just talking to neighbors to hear what was going on in each story. It didn't feel jumpy to me, I thoroughly enjoyed each line.

I am Currently reading A Christmas Angel and am loving it.

Obviously I needed some Christmas reading this month:) I enjoy reading Christmas centered stories and it helps me get in the mood for the season.

Check out what everyone else is reading @ LifeAsMom.com

Another Amish Adventure - The Harvest of Grace

2011-12-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

This month I recieved my second Cindy Woodsmall book, The Harvest of Grace. I loved it. It was a wonderful story of Failure and then Redemption. The book focused primarily on the farm of Michael and Dora Blank and all that occured there, but wove in stories of several different couples and relationships throughout. It not only was a story of flawed people that got together after allowing forgiveness in, but it was also a story of how a daughter forgave an absent father after years of hurt and anger.
The Amish way is different then how I live my life (obviously, I am going to guess that they don't blog!) but sometimes when you see an idea from another's eyes it brings new meaning or perspective to your own life. I felt that way as I read this book.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

Audio Book Review - Ashes Ashes

2011-12-06T03:57:00.001-08:00

A while ago I was given a copy of an audio book to review for Oasis. The book was Ashes, Ashes. The idea was an interesting one to me, horrible, awful things happen to the world and most of the human population is wiped out. How do the ones that are left survive. While I enjoyed the book on some level I found it to be slow at the beginning, and then as soon as it really got started I could pretty much predict the end. The caveat here is that the book was written for teenagers, maybe they wouldn't have found it to be as predictable as I did. The book was an interesting concept for sure and written about a scenario that I hadn't thought much about. What would we do if there was a major pandemic? Would we as a society handle things the way that they did in the book? Would I try to survive on my own, or would I look for a group of people to share the burden with? The book does give food for thought. If you enjoy asking yourself questions like that, and end of the world dramas this may be the book for you.

The audio was well put together, I liked the narrator and it moved along at a reasonable pace and was pleaslant to listen to. The breaks for the CDs were at chapter breaks and were at good points in the book which made it easy to listen through breaks. The music that signaled the switch always surprised me, but I don't think that's because it was a poor music choice, I think I was already jumpy because of the subject matter. I think that it was a well designed audio file with a book that I found somewhat predictable, but still interesting.

Thanks to Oasis for providing me with a review copy. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Amish Romance at Christmas time

2011-11-21T09:52:00.001-08:00

I love a good Amish story. I don't know why, but the culture, the tradition, and the lifestyle all fascinate me. Cindy Woodsmall does a great job with the Amish stories, and from what I understand of the culture I think she writes it fairly accurately. This story is called The Christmas Singing. It follows characters that Woodsmall created a long time ago, but you don't need to know any background to enjoy the story. It is a story of broken hearts, lies, and the mending of broken lives. I really enjoyed my venture back into amish country.

If you want to check out the first chapter of this book, look here.
If you prefer to watch a short video you can check it out here.
Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

Menu Plan Monday October 24th.

2011-10-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Monday - Lasagna, Salad, Butterhorns
Tuesday - Chicken Tacos
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Sloppy Joes
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Chicken Alfredo, Salad, Butterhorns

For more great menu ideas check out orgjunkie.com

Kitchen Extras - Mini Freezer cook

2011-10-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I tried (tried being the operative word) to get a little bit ahead of the game. The plan was to get a lot of things done, but very little actually got done. By the time I got going I only had time to get 1 lasagna, a batch of butterhorns, and attempt some cocoa cookies.

The lasagna went great - but I only had the stuff to make one and we promptly ate that for dinner :)

I made a batch of butterhorns - we ate 8 of the 32 for dinner.

Then I made cookies, I made a double batch, but I forgot to add the double batch of flour - made for some tortilla style cookies :) My daughter thought that she was waking up from her nap to brownies. They tasted ok, but next time I'll make sure I have the flour. :)

Blogging for Books ~ The Corruptible by Mark Mynheir

2011-10-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

I love a good detective story, but I often have a hard time finding a good story that I feel is both "lifelike" but still clean. Obviously if you need a detective then something unseemly must have happened, but I want to read and solve the crime, but not be covered in the detail of the crime or being overcome by curse words. The Corruptible had this for me. Their was an interesting crime that took brains to figure out, but I wasn't dragged down by language or sordid detail. This is a "Ray Quinn Mystery" and I thought Ray was an enjoyable character.
I enjoyed working at the office of Ray Quinn and seeing his colleagues in action. As a private investigator that had retired from the police department he got to work the case with all the help the police department could give him, but with out all the red tape they have to go through. I really also enjoyed getting to know his associate Crevis. Crevis seemed to be a man that was loyal to a fault, and I loved it. Loyalty is an amazing motivator.
This book was a great read. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-10T03:44:00.001-07:00

Welcome to a new week!

Last week I didn't do anything I planned to do - I accidentally linked the green bean and beef recipe to the hawaiian chicken recipe and then couldn't find it, so we had Stack ups (Taco ingredients stacked up on Fritos). Wednesday night we didn't make it to church and had sloppy joes out of the freezer. Thursday night I had planned on that Hawaiian chicken, but the hawaiian marinade that they sold at my store made me do a double take - The first ingredient was High Fructose Corn Syrup. The Very First Ingredient!!! Needless to say we changed that night too - We had a sandwich bar night - everyone got the toppings they wanted - it worked out great. Then Saturday we were invited to a friend's home, and we brought the lettuce for Tacos.

So - a new plan for a new week :)

Monday - Spaghetti and Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Tuesday - Baked Chicken, Corn, salad

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - blanco chili

Friday - Family night

Saturday - Chicken Parmesan and Green Beans

For more great menu plan ideas check out http://www.orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-03T07:35:00.001-07:00

I have been a slacker for the last few weeks, I have totally missed posting my menu plans and even have avoided some of the more fun posts like Kitchen Extras, Freezer cooking, or even any of my reading posts - I read a lot of great stuff, but I'm so far behind in that (my real life took over - and it's all good) that I will just have to start over again with what I am reading now. :)This week we have a great plan - Sunday - Chicken Tortilla Soup (neighbor's providing) and grilled cheeseMonday - Steak (again my neighbor is cooking - she likes to cook, and I like to eat!) I'll bring a salad - a good spring mix with some pecans and cheese in it. Yum!Tuesday - Ground Beef Green Bean SkilletWednesday - Church Thursday - Hawaiian Crockpot ChickenFriday - Family NightSaturday - Poppy Seed ChickenFor more great menu ideas check you http://orgjunkie.com.have a great week guys, and here's to a great week.

2011-09-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

I have great neighbors, and this week I shouldn't have to cook a whole lot thanks to them.

Monday - Roast (made by my neighbors), yeast rolls (made by me)

Tuesday - Tacos

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Neighbors are taking us out

Friday - Family night - We can have something at home, but we will most likely go out.

Saturday - Crockpot Chicken of some form.

Sunday - Grilling out

We'll do leftovers, hotdogs, and sandwhiches for lunch, and then breakfasts will be cereal, oatmeal, or pancakes.

Menu plan

2011-09-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

This week, I will have a menu plan! And, as a bonus, I will post it in a timely fashion.

Monday - popcorn chicken, rice, peas
Tuesday - alfredo chicken- I'll do a bit of a cheat on the sauce and use cream cheese
Wednesday - church
Thursday - tacos
Friday - family night
Saturday - baked chicken and couscous
Sunday - spaghetti

For more great ideas check out orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday August 22

2011-08-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

I had a great week last week, and only ended up cooking once. My mom was here for a few days and she took care of a couple of meals, and my in laws took care of a couple as well. This week I will probably not cook a lot this week either.

Monday - Chicken Casserole - My Neighbor is actually making dinner and we are bringing it to another friend. I am mainly the transportation :) She is also making a key lime pie and I'm making brown rice.

Tuesday - It's one of my nephew's birthdays, so hopefully we'll see him.

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Haburger Casserole, salad

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - Chicken something, any one have any ideas?

Sunday - a big pot of spaghetti, garlic bread, more salad :) Any strays are welcome for dinner :)

for more great menu plans check out http://www.orgjunkie.com

Booking it August

2011-08-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

This month I read a lot of books, but I haven't been keeping track of all of them (and I wish I had done a better job, because some of them had great points and I totally don't remember the name of the books).

My Favorite book this month was Fiddler's Green by A.S. Peterson. This was the sequel to Fiddler's Gun, and it was really good. I actually think it was better than Fiddler's Gun. I liked the way the ends were tied up and I liked to how Fin Button was transformed from orphan girl to Full Grown Woman. This story follows a crew that have turned pirate through a series of bad turns and are given the option of pardons from the American government if they will just complete a seeming impossible task all the way at the other end of the world. It is an amazing story of daring, friendship, courage and more.

I also read a series of Kathy Herman books called the Seaport Suspense novels. They were all good, although not phenomenal. I was a little annoyed with the second book of the series - it seems like this author uses stories where the married couple isn't one hundred percent honest with each other and lets things get out of control - even when nothing has really happened other than lack of communication - a lot. I am finding that I get annoyed with that story line very quickly and tend to spend most of the book being frustrated by that. I think I will check out another one of her lines of novels, because she does have interesting twists in her book, but I will put it down if it goes back to that story line again.

I also read a book about the lunch system in the US that was really good (and I can't remember the name of it). It was interesting to know how school lunches started and what they have done over the years. The really interesting part to me was what some school districts and schools are doing now to make it better. Some of the districts in NY use all local food, there were schools that grew there own food at the school, and schools that are trying to shake up there old routines.

I'm going to be reading a lot this next month, maybe I should start writing them down :)

Menu Plan Monday - and Crockpot Week 3 :)

2011-08-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

Last week I pretty much didn't do anything that I planned on doing, but it turned out ok. One Caveat - I totally didn't get to my crockpot meal last week so my crockpot focus is already been messed up. Oh well, I'll try again this week.

I did make some great finds last weeks - I finally got around to making these "fancy brownies". They were time and labor intensive, but they were really good. I also have been searching for great cheddar biscuits (think Red Lobster) and I haven't liked any that I have tried, but this week I think I finally found them! The thing that was different was these was you cooked the biscuits, pulled out the biscuits and poured your garlic butter over them and then put them back in cooked them some more, and then added butter again as you pulled them out.

This week I am going to try and stick to a plan :)

Monday - Birthday Party for SIL
Tuesday - BBQ Chicken (Crockpot from last week)
Wednesday - Dinner with Friends
Thursday - Apple Sauce Chicken (Crockpot from last week)
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - spaghetti and garlic cheddar biscuits
Sunday - hamburgers

For more great menu plan ideas orgjunkie.com

Menu plan

2011-07-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am linking up to
http://www.orgjunkie.com
So glad that my neighbors are feeding me tomorrow, because I am burnt out. None of my family members enjoyed dinner tonight, and that is making it difficult to get motivation to plan. I did do a couple of fun things this week. I made pumpkin muffins and I made some Graham crackers and both turned out really well, so I did have some positive reinforcement.
Here is the plan for this week.
Breakfast -
Pumpkin muffins
Cereal
Cinnamon rolls

Lunch -
Leftovers
Hotdogs

Dinners-
Neighbors
Tacos
Church
Barbecue chicken - this is my crockpot meal for the week
Family night
Spaghetti
Battered chicken sandwich

10 weeks of crockpots

2011-07-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

So I have been reading a few crockpot websites and I decided to try a mini experiment of my own. For the next 10 weeks I am going to use my crockpot at least once a week. Nothing like the 365 crockpot websites, but enough that I can experiment a bit with mine and maybe make better use of it in the future.

Week 1- cranberry pot roast

Menu Plan Monday - July 25th

2011-07-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

We have been cleaning out the pantry and freezer and this week is going to be the tough week. I went to the store and picked up a few gallons of milk (my family goes through a lot of milk!), flour, oil, and some taco shells. This week we have a lot of chicken left and not a lot of anything else - and to top it off, that's not hubs favorite meal. So - creativity is what is called for.

Sunday - Chicken Rice Casserole - basically I take whatever leftover rice, chicken and soups I have and chuck it all in a pan and cook :) yum!
Monday - Family night
Tuesday - Roast, sweet potatoes, and veggies (I dug it out of the freezer, yay for not chicken).
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Friends - probably spaghetti
Friday - Family
Saturday - Chicken Mac Bake - Chicken, pasta, cheese - need I say more.

We will survive!
For more great menu plans check http://www.orgjunkie.com

Blogging for Books - Love Food & Live Well by Chantel Hobbs

2011-07-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

This week I received Love Food & Live Well from Waterbrook Press. I choose to review this book because I would like to lose a few pounds and I thought I might get a bit of a jump start with the help from the book. Chantel's story is motivating. She has lost 200 pounds and kept it off for ten years all while managing to be a wife, mother, and author. I loved hearing her story and a the few personal stories in the book, but if you are looking for a meal plan and scripted exercise then this is not the book for you. Well over the first half of the book was about getting your head and heart right and then the last 3 or 4 chapters had a few recipes, an interval training plan, and a strength training plan.

The book serves a purpose, but I found it to be more motivational than helpful for planning for weight loss. While I did find useful information, I felt like I there was more reading about general information than setting out my personal weight loss plan.

If you need a broad, informational startup for weightloss then this is the book for you. Complete with motivational stories. If you are looking for a scripted plan, you will find yourself disappointed.

You can read more about Chantel Hobbs and her books at her website http://www.chantelhobbs.com/

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own

Menu Plan Monday - 7/11

2011-07-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

We are back from all of our galavanting about the country and we are ready to get back into the swing of things. I am still trying to cook from our pantry and freezer, but I am missing a lot of things that I will need to finish meals and definitely need to buy some produce, because I have been doing better about using fresh produce I have less stocked up in the pantry and freezer than I have in years past.

Breakfasts this week:
Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Cheerios and Milk
Blueberry Muffins (from the freezer)

Lunch:
Grilled Cheese
Tuna sandwhich
Apples and Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter sandwhiches
and if I get around to making Carrot Bread - then we'll have that as well

Dinner:
Monday - Tacos
Tuesday - Salisbury Steak over noodles served with Green Beans and a salad
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Battered Chicken Sandwhiches - We never got to these last week
Friday - Family Night
Saturday- Sloppy Joes
Sunday - Italian Mac and Cheese

For More great ideas check out http://www.orgjunkie.com

*** For whatever reason my blog isn't letting me comment, but we love the peanut butter oatmeal and actually bake up big batches and freeze it - we prefer to eat it frozen. We are also excited about trying out the Salisbury Steak***

Princess Birthday!

2011-07-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

My little girl had a birthday this last week, and a request for a princess cake :)

Pantry Challenge :)

2011-07-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

I decided I was going to join up with the pantry challenge as soon as I heard about it, but then Publix had there gas card deal. (If you buy $25 worth of groceries you get 10 off of $50 of gas.) I of course "had" to go and buy. Of course I bought staples (which in our house includes milk (a lot of it), flour, and chocolate chips and then bought 4 cases of sprite because it was on sale buy 2 get 2 and although it takes us awhile to go through that much soda it won't go bad anytime soon and it got me to my goal of $25.)

We did manage to eat a ham that I had stockpiled since easter (and it was good). I tried made some good use of beef that we bought earlier this month (spaghetti, tacos, and we have sloppy joes planned).

Menu Plan Monday

2011-07-03T05:14:00.000-07:00

The 4th is this week, my daughters birthday, and a family reunion, and on top of that both my daughter and I are sick! Should be fun :)

Sunday - Chicken/Salsa, rice, cheese, and cookies!
Monday - 4th of July - We'll probably grill out with the family.
Tuesday - Chicken Sandwhich.
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Sloppy Joes
Friday - Birthday Party!
Saturday - Family Reunion

I'm hoping to also get a few other things done this week.

When I cook the sloppy joes I want to make a few batches so we have them later.
-Hamburger Buns
- Cinnamon Rolls This is my favorite recipe, I just make them up and freeze them. The night before we'll eat them I pull out as many as I'll need and leave them out on the counter overnight to rise.

Convenience and yumminess!!

- Banana Bread

For more great menu plans check out http://orgjunkie.com

Summertime Pantry Challenge

2011-07-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

There is a great pantry challenge going on at Good Cheap Eats and I've decided my family should participate. We have a lot of food in our freezer right now (including 10 lbs of ground beef) and we need to eat that up. I have also been wanting to put aside more into our savings acct, so I hope I can just add the majority of my grocery money for the next few weeks straight into the savings acct. My hope and plan is to clean out the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and make sure we don't let things go to waste. I also want to do a freezer cooking day soon, so I need to make sure that the freezer has room for my favorite meals. I'll try to post weekly about how it is going. :)

Another Dragon Tale - Blogging for Books

2011-06-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

A Review of The Dragons of Chiril by Donita K. Paul (previously printed as The Vanishing Sculptor)

I have been participating in a program that allows me to preview and review books and I have really enjoyed it. Through Blogging For Books I have been introduced to the author Donita K. Paul. I love to read, and will read almost anything, but do not typically choose fantasy books. Donita K. Paul may have changed my mind.

I really enjoyed The Dragons of Chiril. It is the first in a series about the land of Chiril and it's introduction to the Creator - Wulder. It is filled with stories of people all of different races and temperments and their introduction to the idea of a God that created them and loves them. If you read the Dragon Keeper Chronicles it has a couple of my favorite characters from there (Wizard Fenworth and the librarian Librettowit) that have travelled away from Amara and are helping to solve a dramatic problem in Chiril.

The story revolves around a young lady who has had to take over care for her family's estate (with help from a trusted friend) because her mother is a bit out of it, and her father hasn't been seen in years. To help provide for her family she has begun to sell her artist father's artwork one piece at a time. She soon finds out that her father has not been seen because he is stuck and she can help save him, but to do so she has to hunt down 3 specific pieces of his artwork.

The story is full of twists and turns and is perfect for the fantasy lover at your house. Did I mention it even has dragons? I have really enjoyed getting to know this author and hope you do too.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

Menu for a New Week - 6/19

2011-06-20T04:17:00.000-07:00

We had a great week of vacation last week (and thus no great plan to write home about), and enjoyed father's day yesterday. Here is our plan for this week .

Sunday - Spaghetti, garlic toast, and I bought my husband's favorite pie (pecan) at the store as a nice treat for him.
Monday - Batter-Dipped Chicken Sandwhiches
Tuesday - Better than Olive Garden Alfredo
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Sloppy Joes
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Baked Chicken

For more great menus check out www.orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan

2011-05-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

We have a new week and here we go with a new plan :)

Sunday - Our friends had us over for dinner and it was wonderful!
Monday - Sloppy Joes , salad, and Cookies :)
Tuesday - I got a free Philly cooking cream a few weeks ago, and I am going to try it this week in a quick pasta dinner - I'll cook up some pasta, chicken, and stir fry veggies and mix it all with the cream and milk. I'll let you know how it goes.
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Cranberry Pot Roast, rice, green beans, butterhorns
Friday - Family Night -
Saturday - Spaghetti

For more great menu plans check out http://orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan - May 16

2011-05-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

MENU PLAN!!

It is time for a new week and a new plan for our food. Let's see if we can stick to it this week.

Monday - We never got around to the chicken and mushroom from a few weeks ago, but I'm going to try again - Chicken and mushrooms, peas, rice

Tuesday - MIL Birthday! I just have to bring the beans :)

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Dinner with friends

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - Tacos

Sunday - Pizza!

For more Great menu plans check out http://orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday

2011-04-25T05:05:00.000-07:00

It's time to try again! This week we have to get back on the eat at home band wagon. Last week we did something we never, ever do. We ate out twice, and even ordered pizza one time after that...talk about an expensive week! That's ok though, we needed a break. For everything there is a season, right? We are also having some work done on the house and have two guys coming to present bids this week, on those nights I'm going to need something that can be taking care of itself while they are there, because I'm just not going to feel like doing anything when they're done (that's what happened last week). So, here's the plan...

Monday - Easy Lasagna - I have a simple lasagna in the freezer, so I'll make it tonight with some bread and green beans.
Tuesday - Hawaiian Chicken (crockpot) - I'm not sure what to serve with this yet....any ideas?
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Lemon Pepper Chicken
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Chicken Tenderloins w/ mushrooms, rice, peas
Sunday - Spaghetti
For more great plans check out Orgjunkie.com

Blogging for Books - INDIVISIBLE by Kristin Heitzman

2011-04-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

This month I read Indivisible by Kristen Heitzman for "Blogging for Books." I had heard of Heitzman before, but had never read anything by her. I think after this I will have to try some more out. The books centers around a small colorado town and the characters who live there. It is a suspense or thriller type of novel that all starts with finding two racoons that have been sewn together. Who would do such a thing, and will they escalate to crimes that will involve humans? Police Chief Jonah Westfall is on the job, but he is also trying to rid himself of his own demons. Each character was multi-dimensional and interesting (although some you just want to smack over the head and tell them to get a life and talk to the others). Beyond the search for the culprit of the crime the author takes the time to introduce you to several characters and what is going on in their lives. There is of course a good romance (or two) involved, but also the story of community and loyalty. I really enjoyed it.
You can read the first chapter for free and find the book here or here.
You can follow Kristin Heitzman online at http://www.KristinHeitzman.net
Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

Booking it!

2011-04-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

This month the "assigned reading" was Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I liked it, but didn't love it. I tried a few types of bread, and they were good, but not great. It also was a little frustrating to have to start bread the day before I needed it, and still have to remember to get it out in time to rest and cook. I think I prefer my bread machine. It still takes me near 3 hrs, but I think I am just comfortable with that time frame at this point. :)

I read Dragons of the Valley by Donita K. Paul for blogging for books and loved it. You can check out my review by clicking on that link.

I also got to read the The Divvies Bakery Cookbook it's an allergen free cookbook. My daughter has a friend who is severly allergic to Eggs, Milk, and Nuts and so I've been more interested in finding ways to cook without those things. I loved the book. It was well written, and the stuff tastes good! If you have an allergy sufferer in your circle, this is worth the money!

I have a couple of books that I have started this month, but haven't had a chance to finish yet, but I've had a lot more time to read this month. Hopefully next month I'll have a lot to share.

Menu Plan 11-11

2011-04-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

It's a new week! Our grocery budget is beyond tight this week. - We'll have to do with what is in the fridge/freezer/pantry. I did stop by the store and get 2 gallons of milk (we only have 2 milk drinkers here, but they cruise through milk!) one pack of chicken breasts (on sale for $1.99 - if I had more money I would have bought more) and shrimp (shrimp has been requested a lot lately, and if I am going to get the rest of this food into my family I am going have to make some sacrifices - the shrimp was on sale also - and I can make the 2lb bag into 4 meals.).

BREAKFASTS -
Oatmeal - We use the giant canister and add powderd milk, cinnamon, brownsugar and sometimes fruit :)
Baked Oatmeal
Granola

LUNCH -
Leftovers
PB&J (or PB & Honey)
Carrots
Apples

DINNER -
Sunday - Easy Lasagna this is actually not the recipe that I made last night, but really close. I mixed my noodles, cream cheese, sour cream and beef together. I did a sauce layer and a noodle layer repeated until my dish was full then topped with mozerella baked at 350 covered 45 minutes and then uncovered for another 10 minutes - it also froze really well.

Monday - Shrimp Alfredo

Tuesday - Popcorn Chicken, veggies, bread

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Family Night

Friday - Spaghetti (or possibly Tacos)

Saturday - Shrimp and Grits - maybe - I have been craving this meal, but it isn't my husband's favorite, if I have to switch things around I will.

For more great ideas check out orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan

2011-04-04T04:12:00.000-07:00

It's again that time of the week. Time to take stock of what we have at home, and what we need from the store. Time to plan for another week of cooking.

For Breakfast:
Baked Oatmeal
Granola
Oatmeal

Lunch:
Leftovers
Sandwhiches - Dad is home this week, so I actually bought lunch meat. :)
Peanut Butter and Apples

Dinner Plan
Sunday - Hamburgers - After my hobo dinners last week my husband decided if that was what we were having he'd rather have it on a bun, and once he started thinking about burgers he was not to be dissuaded, so burgers it was. We just broiled our burgers with a bit of montreal seasoning and season salt. I went to the farmers market last week, so we had tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes, lettuce and all the fixings. Yum!

Monday - Shrimp Alfredo and peas

Tuesday - Spaghetti

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - SeaWorld

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - Easy Lasagna Casserole - This isn't exactly how I make mine (mine also has sour cream) but it is close enough that you can get the idea. :)

For more great menu ideas check out http://orgjunkie.com.

Blogging for books - Dragons of the Valley by Donita K. Paul

2011-04-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Donita K. Paul is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. I had never heard of Paul before I started Blogging for Books, but I have loved every minute getting to know her. Dragons of the Valley was great, I wish I had realized when I started reading that it was part of a series, because I had a hard time getting into at first (I had a lot of characters to keep straight in my head).

This is a story has everything fantasy lovers will enjoy. Princess, prince, reluctant hero, not to mention wizards, dragons and even Kimen (these guys are cool!). The land of Chiril is on the brink of war and this band of heroes has to keep a treasure safe and learn how to defend themselves. I love the way spiritual truths are interwoven in the story. Like CS Lewis used the land of Narnia and Aslan to teach spiritual truths Paul uses Chiril and Wulder to do the same.

Once I figured out the characters I really enjoyed the book. If you are interested in purchasing the book you can find it here or here.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

Menu Plan!

2011-03-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Are you guys ready for a new week? We are. Our life is still a little insane, but we will persevere :)

Monday - Hobo Dinners! - I've seen these a few places lately, and I am going to do a slightly different version myself, but I am excited. Our plan is to "clean out the fridge" with ours. They should be great.

Tuesday - Birthday Dinner - Cooking out!

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Spaghetti, butterhorns, greenbeans

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - baked chicken, bread machine rolls, sugar snap peas

Ugh - The Drugstore game at Walgreens

2011-03-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

I had a rough time today at Walgreens. It seems like everytime I try to "get the deals" at walgreens I have a problem. Today was one of those days, and even though I had an understanding cashier I ended up causing a lot of people to wait (I was the only one in the store when I started, and there were five waiting when I was done...I kept apologizing, but I felt awful!) I did manage to make it out for a little over $20 with swim diapers, floss, pads, emergen - c, and a pack of silly bands. :) Meanwhile...I don't think I'll be going back to Walgreens anytime soon. (Nor do I think they want me back :( )

Menu Plan Monday

2011-03-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

I've found that planning a basic menu tends to save me at the grocery store. We generally have granola, oatmeal, or baked oatmeal for breakfast and leftovers or something with peanut butter for lunch.

Dinner requires a bit more variation, but it is still simple.

Sunday - Sloppy Joes
Monday - Cranberry Pot Roast, rice, Mashed potatoes, green beans, butterhorns
Tuesday - Beef Burgundy, salad
Wednesday - church
Thursday- Chicken Pot Pie or Chicken Tetrazzini
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Spaghetti

For more great menu plans check out http://orgjunkie.com/

CVS - The Drugstore Game

2011-03-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't been playing the drugstore game like I have in the past, but this week I decided to get back to it. It was a decent week to try it again. I am a complete and total toilet paper snob, so I do try to look for deals on Charmin, but am completely willing to pay full price when necessary. This week they had a proctor and Gamble deal that included charmin - I got 3 of those packs for $30 (not a phenomenal price) but did get back $10 ecbs. Then I bought hand soap and Tena pads (I have an older friend that will be thankful to get them) and used the $10 ecbs and a $2.50 coupon from the pads and $.35 for the soap. I ended up paying a little over $3 for that and got back $3 from the soap and $9.99 from the pads. Then I bought from their baby deal $20 on pampers (have a baby shower to go to next week) and $5 for 2 packs of wipes. I had a coupon for the pampers -$2 and then the ecbs $3 and $9.99. So I paid about $10 for all of that and got $10 ecbs for next week. So in all I spent $43 (a lot for one week) but I got a lot that I needed. We'll see how next week goes.

Kitchen Extras!

2011-03-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to get some baking done this afternoon, and I took advantage of it. I often use powdered milk for baking, and generally make up a quart at a time, the only problem is it goes bad within a few days, so you need to use it quickly. Today I made up a batch of Peanut Butter Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, and a batch of White Bread. We also tried the Chicken Fried Rice tonight and it seemed to be a hit. The only problem I ran into was that I used a rotisserie chicken from a few nights ago and my husband did not like the way it was seasoned, so...we'll do it again, but not with that chicken :)

Menu Plan

2011-03-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

So, like always I didn't stick to last weeks plan, so you may see some repeats. No one's perfect, right ??

Sunday - Spaghetti, butterhorns, green beans
Monday - Chicken Fried Rice (Here is our review)
Tuesday - Dinner with Friends
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Chicken Pot Pie
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Homemade Pizza (Dough from FishMama's Recipe and I wanted to try out this white pizza that I saw recently, but honestly will probably just do Pepperoni for DH and brocolli and olives for DD and I.
By the way you should check out that article that is linked to the white pizza. I am really wanting to try to do dinner the way she did soon, but I am still cleaning out a few things from my freezer. Soon though....you can look for it.

We also will try to get a few kitchen extras done this week so that we have them later.

For More Great Menu Plans Check Out http://orgjunkie.com/

Recipe Review - Cranberry Pot Roast - 5 Stars!!

2011-03-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

We loved the Cranberry Pot Roast from our freezer day! Last night I served it to both my immediate and a good portion of my extended family and it was wonderful. It was sweet, and good, and did I say wonderful. It was a simple recipe 4 ingredients and I just stuck in the crockpot all day long. We served it with both mashed potatoes and rice (since I really, really, don't like potatoes) and both ways were a resounding hit. As much as we liked it, I totally forgot to take pictures because it was inhaled before we could do anything about it. :)

Project Simplify - Wardrobe

2011-03-09T04:29:00.000-08:00

Simple Mom is hosting project simplify this month to help get our spring clean on and this weeks project is wardrobe. I'll admit I was a little disappointed that this was the task this week, becuase I felt like I already had a handle on mine, but I am one to stick to a plan. Yesterday I dumped all my clean laundry, my dresser drawers, and my one little stack of shorts from by my bed all in a pile and got started. I totally forgot to take pictures. I was completely set on getting the job done, and just got sidetracked.

I found out that I had more in there than I thought I did I was able to get rid of a box full of clothing that was outdated, too small, or just old. Miracle of miracles, my dresser is the right size again! I have plenty of room in there for everything that I wear. That stack of shorts by my bed made a move back into the dresser. Yay for spring cleaning! I'll put my after pictures up later, for now, you should go get started on your project. It feels great!

While Technically this is not a BEFORE Pic - It is all the stuff I cleaned out of my drawers and closet :)

After

My side of the closet - After - I did remove that random hanger after the pic :)

Menu Plan

2011-03-07T04:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a new week!
Monday - Chicken pot pie
Tuesday - Dinner w/ friends
Wednesday - church
Thursday - Chicken Alfredo - I have been making my own alfredo (because it's yummy!) but this week I have a jarred sauce. If you want to make your own I recommend this recipe.
Friday - Family night
Saturday- cranberry pot roast (we never got to it last week)
Sunday - sloppy joes

So that's it this week. Hope you all have a nice week!
Check out more great plans at orgjunkie.com

A favorite easy meal.

2011-03-06T04:27:00.000-08:00

Do you have a favorite meal that you pull out for nights you are on your own?

Most nights my husband can be home for dinner, but occasionally, for whatever reason my daughter and I eat on our own. On those nights she and I tend to stick to a vegetarian fare, mostly because we never get to eat that kind of stuff when Daddy's around. Our favorite is ravioli or tortellini. We serve it differently everytime because there are a ton of combinations that you can have and still have it be wonderful. It can be served with a tomato sauce, an alfredo, a pumpkin cream sauce, or even with crazy bits and pieces from the refrigerator, or freezer. Last night we just had plain cheese ravioli covered with broccoli and pecans, and it was delicious. What's your favorite "easy" meal?

Freezer Cooking for March

2011-02-28T10:53:00.000-08:00

I have been missing my freezer cooking, money has been super tight, so I didn't feel like I could buy any meat ahead of time, so I have been delaying my cooking, but this week I'm back. I'm going to get a lot of baking done and a few easy meals in the freezer for later.

Sloppy Joes x 6 - 6 lbs ground beef, Tomato soup, mustard, brown sugar.

Cranberry Roast x 2 I'm checking this one out if we love it we can stock up on cranberries or cranberry sauce later.

Chicken Pot Pie - I'll make two up the night I have it for dinner.

Carrot Bread x 4 - This is from Frozen Assets it's a simple mix and match recipe.

Baked Oatmeal with Peanutbutter and Chocolate Chips - My Cooking buddy does not like this, so this one is just for me and my sweet toddler:)

Cinnamon Rolls x 2 - YUM!

Butterhorns x 2 - These are great with dinner.

Menu plan!

2011-02-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

I think this is the last week of CRAZINESS, well at least the last of it from my husband's job. Hopefully next few weeks will be calmer. We'll try to stick to our menu plan this week :)

Sunday - Spaghetti and Crescent Rolls - This is our go to meal for easy prep. :)
Monday - Pork Sandwhiches - A few weeks ago Lloyds was on sale B1G1 so I tried it out, but I have to say, I'll be glad to have it gone. :)
Tuesday - Ravioli
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Chicken Pot Pie - the Rotissere Chicken's are on sale at publix this week, so we'll eat off of it a few times, one night it will be a pot pie, chicken, mixed veggies, cream of chicken, and grands on top.
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Cranberry Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad

For more menu plans check out http://orgjunkie.com/

menu plan monday

2011-02-20T04:27:00.000-08:00

We have a lot going on this week, so I won't have to do a lot of cooking. I do need to use some chicken quarters, and I have a lb of ground beef to use.

Monday - I saw a crock pot recipe for chicken today, and I think I'll try it out if I make it to the store to get a lemon :)

Tuesday - Tacos

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Simple Supper - Just us girls, so we usually have a meatless meal when Daddy's not around. We will probably have a simple pasta meal, pasta, broccoli, maybe alfredo.

Friday - Birthday Party! Happy B-day to my BIL

Saturday - PIZZA!

For more great plans check out http://orgjunkie.com/

menu plan monday

2011-02-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

We actually stuck to the plan last week! yay for us! I also managed to blow my grocery budget between the superbowl and a baby shower I helped with, so eating what we have this week :)

Sunday - Pork Sandwiches and cut fruit
Monday - Lasagna and green beans
Tuesday - Fried Chicken
Wednesday - church
Thursday - Chicken Pot Pie
Friday - family night
Saturday - ravioli and broccoli

Easy week for the "chef" :) For more great plans check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/

Blogging for Books - God Gave Us the World

2011-02-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

God Gave Us the World by Lisa Tawn Bergren; illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

I recieved God Gave Us the World by Lisa Tawn Bergren; illustrated by Laura J. Bryant as part of the Blogging for Books program yesterday. My Daughter loves it (She's two). I love that it shows God's creativity in a way she can understand. The book is written about a polar bear family where "Little Cub" is learning about God's creativity by learning about how different bears live. A bears around the world exhibit ends up being a great jumping off point for questions and answers. My kid loves the pictures of different types of bears and loved following "Little Cub." If you have a bear lover in the family, it is a great way to introduce them to God's creativity. You can get the book here or here.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own

Bookin' it - February

2011-02-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

It's time to report again. I hated book reports in school, but now I know they keep me on track. :) I'm linking up my report to http://www.lifeasmom.com/

This month I read The Happiness Project (assigned), Desiring God Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper (this is from my blogging for books projects) and then The Inn at Angel Island by Thomas Kinkaide and Katherine Spencer (for fun). I also got to read a kid's book for my blogging for books called God Loves Me More Than That by Dandi Daley Mackall.

The Happiness Project was a lot of fun for me. I didn't know whether or not I would enjoy it when I started it, but I loved the way she wrote. Gretchen is a woman I would love to meet. :) She got me on an anti clutter kick, and made me think about the way I treat other people, and also why we treat them that way. If you want an uplifting non fiction book this is the one for you.

Desiring God was a lot more difficult for me, but I think that reading it in conjunction with the Happiness Project was "God Ordained" Piper's writing gave me a Christian framework for what Rubin had to say in the Happiness Project. You can read more about what I thought about Desiring God here.

The Inn at Angel Island was wonderful! I didn't know Kinkaide wrote books until my brother gave me some of his books. I thought the writing was good, the story amusing, while still thoughtful and overall well thought out.

Finally God Loves Me More Than That, was amazing. My Daughter loved it. You can read more about that one here.

Menu!

2011-02-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

I love my Menu Plans - I almost never stick to them 100% but it gives me something to aspire too. :) It also gives me a plan for the week, so I don't have to worry about feeding my family take out. One of the meals I planned for the week will surely work. The last two weeks have been refreshing and tiring, wonderful and horrible, amazing realization of God's amazing plans, and an understanding that I will never understand his "big" plan while I am on earth. I welcomed a neice to the world and was able to celebrate a life well lived with another. We lost a great friend here, but I'm sure he is impressing the other saints with his mississippi humor. He had been fighting cancer for a long time we know now he had been healed.

Because of all of the chaos of the last few weeks we have a pretty similar menu. Maybe this week we can eat a few of these meals :)

Sunday - Superbowl party - we're eating pizza and chips and normal superbowl fare.

Monday - Crispy Oven Roast Chicken (I have some extra chicken quarters hanging around and I'm pretty sure I can adapt this recipe to that) corn, salad, bread machine rolls

Tuesday - Cheesy Broccoli, rice, and chicken (Dinner in one dish, yes! As a bonus we can use any excess chicken from Monday in the casserole.)

Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Popcorn Chicken, Green Beans, Salad, Whole Wheat Butter Biscuits (The biscuits are new for us, but I'm excited to try them).

Friday - Hanging out with Friends!
Saturday - Baby Shower and Dinner

I'm linking up to orgjunkie.com - check it out!

God Loves Me More Than That - Book Review

2011-02-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

I got my new book from Waterbrook this week and it was a children's book. God Loves Me More Than That by Dandi Daley Mackall and Illustrated by David Hohn. My Daughter and I (2.5 yrs) both loved it. She loved the pictures (especially one that had the ABC's in it) and I loved the sing-songy way the wording flowed. We read it over and over the day we got it, and she wants it to be read to her again and again. It gives great metaphors for how much God loves you. You can get the book from here.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

No Menu Plan

2011-02-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry Guys, there is no way I'm menu planning this week. I was awakened Saturday to the news that a good friend had passed away. I've spent the entire week up visiting with his family (my best friends). So, I'll get on the band wagon again next week. :)

Menu Plan Monday

2011-01-23T04:16:00.000-08:00

Yet again, the plan is thwarted, but this one was for a great reason. I am an Aunt again! I left town rather unexpectedly because of that, so we will do a few repeats from last week and then get on with the plan.

For Breakfasts we'll have
Baked Oatmeal (Peanut Butter, Chocolate)
Oatmeal
Cheerios
Rasin Bran

Sunday - Sloppy Joes and whatever veggies I can convince the family to eat on the side.

Monday - Popcorn Chicken, Green Beans, Salad, Whole Wheat Butter Biscuits (The biscuits are new for us, but I'm excited to try them).

Tuesday - Crispy Oven Roast Chicken (I have some extra chicken quarters hanging around and I'm pretty sure I can adapt this recipe to that) corn, salad, bread machine rolls

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Cheesy Broccoli, rice, and chicken (Dinner in one dish, yes! As a bonus we can use any excess chicken from Tuesday in the casserole.)

Friday - Family night

Saturday - Tacos or Hamburgers - Something really simple!

Book Review - Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper

2011-01-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

John Piper’s book can be summed up in one sentence. You should strive to find joy and happiness in God. I loved the point of the book. I loved that he went a little bit more in depth when looking at stories where people were suffering to show that ultimately they were striving to find happiness and that God not only honors that, but desires that too. Psalms 37:4 says “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” For me that was the whole crux of the matter.
With all of that being said, I did not love this book. I did love the idea of the book, but I found it to be too long and in depth to hold my attention for long. I didn’t need all the extras, and even found it to be tiresome to come upon the defense of the term Christian Hedonism again and again. I did not need the term defended, I don’t love the term, but understood Piper’s reference the first time he explained it. I think it would be a great study resource, but for me there was too much minutia to dig through. I would recommend the book to people who love to study and cross reference, but if you are looking for light reading this is not the book for you.

You can find this book here or here

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

Kitchen extras!

2011-01-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

This week I want to get in some extra stuff in the kitchen to make life a little bit nicer.

I'll be making two "cookies in a jar" recipes - I'll get them posted soon. It's great for when you want cookies fast, all the measuring is done, just add the wet ingredients when you're ready to bake them.

I need to do another round of Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal - That is my Toddler's favorite breakfast food (although for some reason she calls them muffins).

Cinnamon Rolls! - We are out of Cinnamon rolls in our freezer, and they are a great "special treat" for us.

I'd also love to find a great "main dish" recipe to add to my freezer this week, but I haven't found one yet that meets with what I have on hand, and that I think every one at this house will eat. So I'm still looking. If you have a favorite let me know maybe I'll try it out. :)

Menu Plan

2011-01-18T06:18:00.001-08:00

We have been sick off and on for the last week and a half or so, so I missed my posting deadline again. The good news is that I did actually plan a menu on Sunday and it is hanging in the kitchen, so my family is still eating :).

Our breakfasts this week will be finishing off our last batch of carrot bread, raisin bran, cheerios and oatmeal.

For lunches I just serve leftovers or "snacky lunches" (fruit or veggies and spread or cheese) for myself and my toddler and my husband is on his own at work.

And here is the dinner plan -

Sunday we had spaghetti. It's a quick and easy meal, and you can spread it to fit any number of people, so when my brother in law and sister in law stopped by it was easy to add more spaghetti to the pot and they even brought some garlic bread.

Monday - Penne Rustica - This is one of my all time favorites, and I found one in my freezer from november, so it looked like a good time to use it. :) We served it with green beans and garlic bread.

Tuesday - Sloppy Joes - I'll make a big batch for dinner tonight and freeze the left overs for later. I bought hamburger buns yesterday, but my toddler and I needed a project this morning, so I made rolls in the breadmachine also. (Ok, my recipe was slightly different but same idea, I did use half unbleached flour and half whole wheat flour)

Wednesday - Church night

Thursday - Chicken Pot Pie - Leftover chicken and cream of chicken soup, all the extra veggies I can find stick it in the oven until bubbling and then just top with grands a cook another 20 minutes or so.

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - I had planned on trying a new recipe this weekend, but the budget didn't allow, so Osso Busco Beef is going to have to wait. We will either have chicken jambalaya or tacos.

I also plan on doing a few kitchen extras this week.

Bookin' It!

2011-01-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

It is the time of year to share reading plans and goals. I love to read, and I am just giving myself a little bit of structure to keep myself on track. This year I'll be participating in the "Assigned reading" from Life as Mom (at least most months) and I'm hoping to have at least two other books to comment on each month. I also joined Blogging for books and will be reviewing books for them as well that I will be adding to my write ups. Since the last booking it in December I have actually done a lot of reading.

I read Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul and loved it. You can read my review here. It was a quick, fun read.

Fiddler's Gun by A.S. Peterson - This was a great book and Fiddler's Green just came out. I am looking forward to getting a hold of it. It is a historical fiction book and I loved that it focused on a strong female lead. I am already looking forward to how Fin Button will change and grow in the next book. It is written during the civil war and includes ship life and even pirates. Check it out!.

The Last Mango in Texas by Ray Blackston - I love Ray Blackston. I found him by accident because his books were next to Terry Blackstock at my library. He is funny! I really enjoyed Flabbergasted and went and tracked down the other books he had written outside of that series. This one is all about boy meets girl and boy pursues girl. I love how the book follows the lead and what he is thinking.

I've already started reading 3 books for next month I'll be reading The Happiness Project (assigned), Desiring God Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper (this is from my blogging for books projects) and then The Inn at Angel Island by Thomas Kinkaide and Katherine Spencer (for fun). Can't wait to see how it goes. :)

Menu Plan Monday

2011-01-09T13:02:00.001-08:00

Welcome Back!!

It is a new week and time for a new plan. I need to be a little tight with budget this week, so I'm going to try and eat from the stockpile, but I also found a great new shrimp recipe I'd love to try, so if shrimp is reasonable when I go to the store this week I'll try it out too.

Monday - Lasagna, salad, rolls. I'm going to do 2 at the same time so I can stick one in my freezer for later. I'm sticking with my standby recipe, but I saw this cool recipe for a zucchini lasagna that you may want to try. :)

Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie- chicken, cream of chicken soup, and veggies all warmed up in the oven, and then put refrigerator biscuits on top and cook for another 20 minutes or so at 350 degrees.

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Tacos w/ lettuce, corn, and beans on the side, or in your taco.

Friday - Tortellini in a pumpkin cream sauce

Saturday - Family night

Sunday - shrimp (Maybe?) I think I will do grits if I get to make shrimp. Got to love shrimp and grits!! If I can't buy any shrimp or decide to just keep eating from my freezer I'll be doing Chicken Parmesan.

I am also going to be making carrot bread at the request of my toddler, and maybe some other baked goods. We'll have baked oatmeal, oatmeal, and of course cheerios for breakfast this week, and leftovers for lunch.

PS Last sunday we tried this macaroni, cheese, and chicken bake and it was great. It'll go on the family favorite list :)

Menu Plan

2011-01-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is so late...I debated not putting it up at all, but that doesn't seem like a great way to start the year. :)

So...

Breakfasts for my toddler and I will be:
1) Cinnamon rolls
2) Pancakes - I have a favorite recipe. 1&1/2 c flour (I use Whole Wheat (spring wheat)), 3&1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspon salt, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1&1/4 milk, 3 Tablespoons butter, and 1 egg. It is great!
3) Oatmeal
4) Cheerios

Lunches:
Leftovers

Dinners:
Monday - I grilled my first TriTip Steak yesterday and it was yummy! We just did a dry rub of Kosher Salt (2 T), fresh pepper(2T), and garlic powder (1/2 T) and grilled 8 -10 minutes on each side. It is pretty hard to mess this one up, so I recommend it, even for beginners. :) Use a meat thermometer to check doneness and let it sit under a foil tent for a few minutes so that all the juices can go back into the meat. I made some rice and green beans to go with it.
Tuesday - Broiled Chicken (From Mark Bitman's How to Cook Everything Essentials)
I'm using chicken breast. You can pound to a uniform thickness if needed
3T olive oil, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic slivered, salt, freshly ground pepper, and a lemon. I have a veggie medley to go with it, a salad, and maybe some bread or rice.
Directions: 1) Heat Broiler to Med Heat with rack 4 in from heat. 2)Put chicken in pan w/ oil and garlic and then add salt and pepper. You can cover and set aside this for up to an hour to let the flavor develop) 3) no more than 3 to 4 minutes on each side, turning only once. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve.
Wednesday - Church :)
Thursday - I'm going to do a Balsamic Chicken from the South Beach book (you know, resolutions and all that!)
Friday - Family night!
Saturday - I will be doing something with beef. If the hubs sticks to his work out plan I may reward with hamburgers :)
Sunday -

For more great menu ideas check out orgjunkie.com

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-01T04:37:00.001-08:00

I am so glad to see your bright shining face, 2011! There is something fresh and new about a new year. This year I have a couple of goals that I'd like to accomplish.
1) Participate in Bookin' It every month. I want to stay on track with the 11 books listed as well as reading at least one of my own every month. I love to read, sometimes I just need to be reminded to make room for it (or reminded to turn off my tv).
2) Loose 10 pounds. I am putting a number on it, but I won't really be watching the scale. My goal is just to incorporate more fruits and vegetables and get more activity.
3) Spend time in the word. This is really what I want to be my top priority. I decided that this year I can do it in two ways. First, I can read my bible, and second I can listen to it. I got some speakers for my ipod and I set it up in my kitchen so that I can listen to a daily reading. Hopefully this will help :)
4) Continue to plan my menus and watch my budget.

Here is to another great year!

Two Tickets To the Christmas Ball- Donita K. Paul

2010-12-21T05:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I read Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball, and it was wonderful. I loved that the book was not only the typical romance, but that it involved family relations as well. While neither family highlighted was a carbon copy of mine, it was not hard to relate to them and their relations to each other. The author did a great job of including Wonder and Mystery while making sure to give God the glory for things miraculous and remarkable. Some will cringe at the first mention of Wizards and a "Wizard Ball," but the distinction is made between sorcery and witchcraft and the original meaning of the word wizard (wise one). Overall I was impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the book. What a great Christmas time book.

Here is a link to a video trailer for the book.

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing a free copy of this book for me to review. My Opinions are my own.

Menu Plan -

2010-12-20T05:15:00.001-08:00

This week is already not going as I planned since my daughter's illness means we aren't going on our little mini vacation, but we still gotta eat. :) I'm going to have to run to the grocery store, because I ate everything that I had planned for next week during the two christmas parties/family gatherings that I missed last week because of sickness.

Monday - Spaghetti, salad, bread

Tuesday - I'm going to look for a good beef deal while I'm at the grocery store, I'll either do some sort of pot roast, or if I can find a good deal some steaks. Hubby deserves something nice for missing his family vacation. :)

Wednesday - Probably a family dinner night :) !

Thursday - Shrimp Alfredo, salad, bread

Friday - Off to Grammy's

Saturday - Christmas!!! Big Christmas dinner and bonus, I probably won't have to do anything except follow orders :)

Smoked Turkey and Pasta

2010-12-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

Another Leslie Sansone hit at our house!
We tried this pasta recipe and it was great. (Well, I tweaked it with what I had available)

First I roasted a pack of grape tomatoes and 1 vidalia onion in olive oil, salt and oregano at 450 for about 20 mins.

While that was cooking I boiled a pot of pasta and cut up a few ounces of Gouda cheese and some smoked turkey. I just went to the deli and had them cut a smoked turkey about a 1/4 lb in one thick slice and then there was no extra cooking. By the time the tomatoes and onions and pasta were all done I threw it all in one big pot and stirred it together until the gouda started to melt (YUM!) I added a little red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and then a little bit more olive oil. It was great. My daughter loved it (of course on hers I covered her pasta in parmesan cheese) and so do my friend Mrs. Hazel (she's in her eighties) so I think I covered all age spans. Try it out! It was great.

Tortellini in a pumpkin cream sauce w/ toasted walnuts and dried cranberries

2010-12-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

This was a recipe we got out of Leslie Sansone's EAT SMART, WALK STRONG book and I loved it. Now the rest of the house could have gone either way, and I would say that it meets the "fru-fru" food test at our house. It isn't something that we normally see and it doesn't have meat, therefor my husband classifies it as "girl food" or "fru-fru" food. It was really filling and I never missed the meat, but you could do it with a chicken tortellini or ravioli if you wanted it.
Here are the basics -

Cook your tortellini or pasta (about a pound)
Toast your Walnuts (1/2 cup) at 400 degrees for around 3 minutes (until you hear it sizzling) and set aside.
Meanwhile, melt 1 Tbsp Butter in a skillet on medium heat
Once it's melted add minced garlic (I think the recipe said 2 T but whatever you like is probably fine) and saute about 1 min.
Then add a bit of sage (2 t dry or 2 T fresh) and saute for another 30 seconds or so.
Once you can smell all of that cooking add 1 can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie!) and about 1/2 cup of milk and heat until it is bubbling.
At this point add milk until it is your desired consistency and salt and pepper to taste.

Combine pasta and sauce and sprinkle with the walnuts and dried cranberries.

I served my two year old with everything separate and told her that the sauce was dip. Works for us. :)

Meal Plans - The rush before the holidays!

2010-12-13T03:21:00.001-08:00

This week is probably the last "normal" week before the craziness begins at our house, but by Friday we will already be starting to get crazy :)

We are trying out a couple of new recipes this week, and we'll let you know how they go.

Last night we tried tortellini in a pumpkin cream sauce with toasted walnuts and craisins. It was from the Leslie Sansone book that was free on amazon a few weeks ago. I loved it. My husband (who was eating dinner elsewhere, and therefore didn't try it) looked at the stove while it was cooking and wanted to know what in the world I was doing. If you have picky eaters it may not be a great thing to try, it has a very pumpkiny orange color that may freak out (or maybe delight) your picky eaters.

Monday - Spaghetti

Tuesday - Turkey w/ roasted tomatoes and onions over pasta w/ gouda :)

Wednesday - Tacos

Thursday -

Friday - Family dinner (Happy Birthday, Gramma!)

Saturday - Another Family Event

Bookin' It

2010-12-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

I didn't get anything read from start to finish this month. My husband worked all but 4 days in November, so I didn't get many breaks, even on the weekends. I have made a great start on A.S. Peterson's Fiddler's Gun and I love it. I hear that the second in the series Fiddler's Green is coming out this week. I did read a cook book that I enjoyed Everyday Italian. It was pretty simple and easy to understand, and there weren't a million ingredients, so I could actually cook the recipes. I probably won't get a lot read before the end of the year, but I will be raring to go for 2011. :)

Menu Plan with Freezer cooking thrown in. .

2010-12-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

My loving husband surprised me with a late anniversary/early Christmas present and it was AMAZING!! It is a bright red Kitchen Aid Mixer! I haven't been able to stop using it, so I used it and my bread maker to do a little freezer cooking this week.
I made butterhorns, cinnamon rolls, banana muffins, and probably 6 dozen cookies. Between my bread maker and my mixer it really didn't take a lot of time at all.
So since we couldn't just eat baked goods this week I did have to do a little bit of extra cooking, so here's the plan.

Sunday- Shrimp Alfredo
Monday- Hamburger Casserole -
I can't find where I saw it last, but I got it from five J's, it was really good. It was basically egg noodles, ground beef, tomato soup, and cheddar cheese soup altogether and then baked it for a few minutes with more cheddar cheese on top. If I find the actual recipe again I will post it. :)
Tuesday - Tacos - you know how to make tacos, I'm sure.
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Penne Rustica - we ended up substituting a pot pie last week instead, so we'll have it this week.
Friday - Family Night
Saturday - Chicken , I'm not sure what I'm going to do to it, but I have a few chicken quarters to work with. Maybe I'll try this...

For more great ideas check out Orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday 11 - 29 -10

2010-11-29T09:42:00.000-08:00

Monday - Tacos

Tuesday - Steak! (Steak was on sale this week, so we are indulging!) green beans, bread

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Shrimp Alfredo, Veggies, bread - cook the shrimp in a little bit of balsamic vinagarette and then garlic and make a simple alfredo with cream cheese.

Friday - Family Night! (and a family birthday celebration)

Saturday - Chicken Pot Pie - We used leftover chicken from last week, cream of chicken soup and a dash of milk, and then a can a veggies heat it up until hot, and then top it off with biscuits and cook it a few more minutes.

Sunday - Penne Rustica

Menu Plan 11 - 22 - 10

2010-11-20T14:25:00.001-08:00

It's the week of Thanksgiving here in the US, so of course that helps shape the menu this week. My husband is not a huge fan of turkey, so I didn't take advantage of all the turkey specials this week. So you won't see any turkey or turkey leftovers on our meal plan this week :) (I know, weird!)

My kiddo is feeling a little under the weather today (Saturday) so our plans to join our church for a huge harvest banquet on Sunday are probably not going to happen, so that adds one more night to plan, but luckily hubby actually made a request for a dish this week, so I'll put it in there.

Sunday - Chicken Rice Casserole (by request) - I'm going to put chicken quarters on top of rice, and cover that with cheddar cheese soup, cream of mushroom, and cream of chicken

Monday - Pecan Crusted Tilapia , veggies, and salad

Tuesday - Tacos and corn

Wednesday - Baked Chicken Parmesan

Thursday - THANKSGIVING - We'll be joining the in-laws and the only thing I am bringing is a Peanut Butter Cup Pie. I also picked up sandwhich makings for later in the evening when my husband and daughter forget that they had a giant meal at 1:30 in the afternoon.

Friday - Is usually our Family Night out, we'll see how that goes after we are all together on Thursday.

Saturday - Burgers or Pizza - Whatever we can eat while watching the football games :)

Chicken Fried Steak Results

2010-11-16T16:00:00.001-08:00

So, the results are in on my Chicken Fried Steak experiment, and I would say they were mixed. The multiple dippings definitely made for more crunchy sticks, but I could have done with a bit more flavor in my strips, and I don't really know how to fix that. We all ate them, and they didn't take that long, but I am not sure that I will make them again. Have you tried these before? What were your results?

Menu Plan Monday 11-15-10

2010-11-13T11:19:00.001-08:00

It's a new week!

We need another new plan :)

Sunday - There is a special olympics fundraiser, and we'll be supporting by eating dinner over there :)

Monday - Country Fried Steak, green beans, bread - I've wanted to try this for awhile, but I'm actually going to try it this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tuesday - Baked Chicken (Just chicken in Italian Dressing) corn, salad, fresh bread

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Tacos

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - Football Night - Pizza with good stuff on it :)

For More Great Menus Check Out Orgjunkie.com

Books read in October

2010-11-09T16:42:00.001-08:00

My "fun book" was The Bishop by Steven James. If you like suspense and murder mysteries you may like this series (this was the fourth book), but let me forwarn you that I may not have started the series if I realized how much detail was in the "dark" side of the book. The author is a christian, and although it isn't a "christian novel" it is interesting to see the characters wonder and work through things in their spiritual lives. That is by far my favorite part of the books.

I have also been reading 365 Games Smart Toddlers Play. It has a lot of fun quick games to play with your toddler, and it doesn't take a lot to read. The games are fun :)

The book that I have been reading slowly but surely is Parenting: from Surviving to Thriving by Charles Swindoll. Thus far I have enjoyed what he has to say, the only downside is the need to "marinate" each thought. I only find myself finishing a few pages at a time. It is a library book, and by the time I am done I am pretty sure the library will be calling collections on me :)

Freezer update. :)

2010-11-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

I have been making some great progress on my freezer cooking this week and I am already feeling better. I have 2 penne rusticas in the freezer ready to go (of course I love it, but after I made three my husband let me know that he wasn't sure it was his favorite meal. I guess I'll have to wait awhile before I serve it :) ). I have an entire pan of baked oatmeal and right now I have loaves 3 and 4 of carrot bread in the freezer. I bought a few pounds of beef so I want get the sloppy joes done and a couple of lasagnas and I'll feel better. :)

Menu Plan Monday!

2010-11-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

A new week, a new plan.

Since I am splitting up my freezer cooking this month I am going to try and get a lot of it done this week. I already made a pan of Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal this morning to freeze and I am going to try and get some muffins or bread done tomorrow.

Monday - Penne Rustica - I'll double and freeze one.

Tuesday - Salmon, Rice, greenbeans - I got a super deal a couple weeks ago on some salmon filets that were frozen in a marinade, so we'll finish those up this week.

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Lasagna or spaghetti (If I have time I'll do the 2 lasagnas and freeze one of them, we'll see)

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - Football - I have pizza dough ready to go, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll get to use it. :)

Sunday - seems a long way off....I never got around to Mushroom onion chicken last week (I caved and got fried chicken from Publix) so maybe I'll do it this week . :)

For more great menu ideas check orgjunkie.com

Freezing - Again :)

2010-11-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

I have absolutely got to have a freezer plan this month. I am out of pretty near everything, cooked, uncooked, prepared, or parts, so I have a lot to do. I won't be doing this all in one day, but hopefully I will get it done. I have talked with my buddy about doing another cooking day together, but I don't know whether or not we'll make it work next week. Thanks to Jessica at LifeasMOM for helping get me motivated by getting the post up today :)

Breakfast Plan:
Baked Oatmeal - Peanut Butter and Chocolate for breakfast, need I say more?
Carrot Bread - Simple mix and match recipe
Banana Bread - Simple mix and match recipe
Oatmeal packets

Dinners:
Sloppy Joes x4 - Beef, a little bit of brown sugar, a little bit of mustard, and a can of tomato soup. Super Easy!
Lasagna x2 (or possibly 4 smaller ones)
Chicken Pot Pies x2
Penne Rustica x2 (probaby 4 smaller ones)

I'm ready for some new recipes, but I haven't found any that I've been interested in (and that my husband will eat) recently. Any ideas that will get me out of my rut?? Post a comment here :)

Menu Plan Monday - November 1st

2010-11-01T03:52:00.001-07:00

Wow, can't believe it is November all ready! Need to get a move on for Christmas presents. I have started, but I always drag my feet on a few, and it is no different this year.

This week should be an easy week for menu planning, since I only really have to plan 3 meals, but still I drag my feet :) So....here's the plan.

Monday - Spaghetti, salad, homemade garlic rolls

Tuesday - Mushroom Onion Chicken, green beans

Wednesday - Dinner Out with the family to remember my husbands sister that passed away.

Thursday - Chicken bake (I'm going to put chicken quarters on top of rice, and cover that with cheddar cheese soup, cream of mushroom, and cream of chicken), salad

Friday - I'll be on the road

Saturday - visiting my family

Sunday - on the road again :)

For more great ideas check out orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday 10 - 25 - 10

2010-10-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

A new week a new plan. This week is going to be a little crazy because my hubby is not working his normal schedule, so somedays he is home when he normally isn't (I have to think of a real lunch option - not leftovers) and he'll be gone when he is normally home (I can have "girl food" for dinner).

By the way, I experimented with making my own cheese crackers this week. I think it counts as my frugal failure for the week. My 2 year old (who will eat anything) took one bite and handed it back to me. I tried again a few times to see if she just wasn't hungry, but nothing doing. My husband told me that he thought I was torturing her by offering them again and again after he tasted them. Oh well, better luck next time. Have you tried this recipe before?? Was this user error, or do we just not have a taste for these??

Monday - Lunch - egg salad sandwhich
Dinner - Going out!

Tuesday - Lunch - Tuna
Dinner - Sloppy Joes

Wednesday - Lunch - Sandwhiches
Dinner - Popcorn Chicken, Green beans, homemade bread

Thursday - Lunch - ??
Dinner - Chicken Pesto Wraps

Friday Lunch - ??
Dinner - Family night

Saturday - Pizza

Sunday - Spaghetti

For more great menu planning ideas check out orgjunkie.com

CVS Savings

2010-10-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

Savings!

Our CVS trips this week were kind of crazy this week, but when all was said and done I think we did OK. We had $5 ECB’s from last week to work with, but I forgot the first time I ran in, because we were out of band aids and CVS was just the closest place. We managed to get 2 boxes of 60 for $7. Not great, but not bad either. Then the next day my DH ran out of deodorant (I didn’t even know he was lowJ ). I had a B1G1 for the kind he uses and had the $5 ECBs, so I spent a total of $1.80 on that trip. Then on the way home from something else the same day DH wanted chocolate milk so we stopped there on the way home. To my surprise (and joy!) regular milk was not only on sale ($3.19) but had 1 ECB back, so I got 2 reg milk and 1 choc and spent a total of about $7. Then this morning (Sunday) I went in for my regular Sunday shop and was able to get 2 cans of Tuna, 2 bottles of laundry detergent, and 2 boxes of dryer sheets for $10.45. I spent more than I would normally spend in a week (thanks to all of the separate trips I am sure) but all in all it was a lot of great deals, and needed items, so …Success!

Bookin' IT! ~ My Version

2010-10-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

I have been reading a lot recently, but haven't been so good at keeping up with what I have read.
I finished Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology - by Eric Brende and I loved it. It made me think a lot about how I use technology and how technology uses me. :) It really is a good read, but slow in some parts. Basic idea is this a MIT student and wife move to an Amish style community to see how things work for the families in the commmunity. It's really interesting to see how they use "labor saving devices" with out using electricity or technologies that we might use every day.

I started reading Amish Grace and so far it has been really interesting. It starts with the tragedy at Nickel Mines where the 5 amish girls were shot and killed at school and talks about the Amish community and how they forgive. I haven't finished it, but thus far it has been really interesting. It talks about how the Amish community's reaction to the gunman's family and how they reached out and helped them in their time of tragedy. I'll let you know later if it is worth the read

My for fun book this month was Stranded in Paradise by Laurie Copeland and it was fun! Think of everything that could possibly go wrong for someone and that is where you find our heroine 3 minutes into the book :). I love a good "easy read". Something that doesn't really make my mind work, but will amuse and entertain for awhile, and Christian fiction is where I usually go for that kind of book.

I read a few others, and I am still working on my "Bible in 90 days" idea. Ok, I am probably 120 days in and still in 2 Samuel, but I'm sure I will eventually get there. :)

Menu Plan Monday 10 -18 - 10

2010-10-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

If you want to see pictures and what actually happened last week at our house you can check out this last post. Here's the plan for next week, we'll see how it goes.

Monday - Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday - Mushroom Onion Chicken

Wednesday - church

Thursday - Popcorn Chicken, green beans, rice

Friday - Family Night

Saturday - Sloppy Joes

Sunday - Spagetti or Tacos

I already know I'll have to shift this around, because I know I won't want chicken 4 nights in a row and beef 3 nights straight, but I don't have beef at home right now. For more great plans check out orgjunkie.com.

Super Savings :)

2010-10-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

I spent about $35 on monday at publix, and another $18 Friday and we shouldn't have too large of trip this week for groceries. So that shouldn't be too bad on budget. My big score last week was my free feta cheese, it was B1G1 and I had a B1g1 coupon, so free fore me :)! My CVS trip today was pretty cool too. I went in for the Schick Razors that were on sale with the 5 ECB's back. I had a $4 coupon, $2.99 ECB and the coupon machine spit out another $1.50 ECB, so my purchase was a big $1.01 and I got $5 back! SCORE!

Frugal Friday (Night)! - Mop Pads

2010-10-16T03:28:00.000-07:00

Last week I found a link to a site where a woman made tops for her swiffer mops that she could throw into the wash instead of throwing them away. When I saw it, I had just cut out coupon for the rubbermaid version of the same thing. I was feeling pretty frugal for having a coupon, but when I saw the post I realized I could do better. FREE is a lot better! The process was fairly simple, cut a burp cloth down to size, sew on pockets from the scraps, and clean. Only one problem - I am not a seamstress, in fact I couldn't remember the last time I had used my machine. :) But, nonetheless I was fearless, I got everything out and pressed ahead. I'm glad no one was awake to see the carnage, but the end result was two great mop covers and the pride of accomplishment. :)

Menu update

2010-10-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here's how my menu is going so far this week.

Sunday - Stuck to the plan and ate lasagna.

Monday - We tried the Chicken Broccoli casserole, and I didn't love it. It was good, but I don't know that we will make it again. It was still pretty though :) Tuesday - I planned on Shrimp Alfredo, but the in-laws called and had Sonny's at their house, so off we went to their house.
I have had a chance to work on some of my kitchen extras, check out my pound cake.

Today's Wednesday, I'll update the rest as I go. :)
Wednesday we ate at church.
Thursday we had our family night with extended family.
Friday I was too tired to function, and Hubs was working, so Chick-fil-a with my toddler. :)
Saturday I was ready to go back to eating at home, but just as I was pulling stuff out of the fridge my MIL called to say they had extra burgers and fajitas, and did we want to help them finish them? So, again we ran from the house and enjoyed dinner with them.
Sunday I finally got to make shrimp alfredo. I cooked the shrimp for just a few minutes in balsamic vinagrette w/ 2 cloves of garlic (minced) and then did half of this alfredo recipe. We all enjoyed the dinner. I highly recommend it.

Shopping and Saving!

2010-10-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

I only spent $35 at my publix shopping trip on monday, but I didn't have to buy any meats. My excitement for the week was my two CVS trips. On Sunday I went and just bought the Toothpaste that had the extra bucks and used a coupon to make a few cents on it. Today I went back with the $2.99 ECB and $10 from last week. Today I bought all of this below and used my ECB's, a CVS coupon for $1, a pampers coupon for $2, and another coupon on the candy for something I don't remember how much. All told, walked out for $3.91. Yay! PS Mom, if your reading, the candy isn't for me I promise. It is to donate to the library at church.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

2010-10-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

I found a hot chocolate recipe on the back of my powdered milk and made it this week, and it is pretty good.

It is just 2 cups Nonfat Milk Powder
1 Cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1.25 t salt.

Just mix 1/4c of the mixture into 1 cup of boiling water.

Great with those little marshmellows. :)

A few fun kitchen extras this week!

2010-10-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am going to get a few fun kitchen extras done this week, at least that's the plan.
I'm going go make
1) Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix.
2) a Pound Cake
3) Mix and Match Bread (probably Carrot) - I'll get the recipe up soon. It's from Frozen Assets.

I'd also like to so some other basic breakfast meal set up like
1) Oatmeal Packets
2) Baked Oatmeal (Peanut butter and Chocolate)

Menu Plan Monday ~ 10 - 11

2010-10-10T04:14:00.000-07:00

I am thinking that I should really post my "what actually happened last week" so you could all see my...um....creativeness :). This week I'll keep track and update by monday next week :). I really need to buy some meat this week, because I really have very little left in my freezer, so some of this may really change depending on what I can find by way of meat at the store.

Sunday - Lasagna, salad, and homemade garlic rolls. These Garlic Rolls are great and they don't take a lot of effort (even though they do take a lot of time). They should be a great complement to the meal.
Monday - chicken broccoli casserole, salad
Tuesday - Hotdogs, salad, chips, baked beans
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Shrimp Alfredo
Friday - Family night
Saturday - Game night, something easy- Tortilla Pizza's are a good bet - just put pizza toppings on a tortilla and bake in oven or toaster oven for 5- 10 minutes at 350.

I also want to get a few fun kitchen extras done this week. I'll let you know how I do.

For more great menu ideas check out orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday 10-2-10

2010-10-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

I love having a plan. I don't always love making a plan, or following a plan, but I love having a plan. So here is the next plan, and I am starting to think up ideas for my next freezer day, so if you have a favorite let me know, maybe it'll make the plan :)

Sunday - Spaghetti!
Monday - Chicken Pot Pie
Tuesday - Burgers, baked beans, and salad
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Steaks
Friday - Family night
Saturday- I'm planning on tacos, but it is game night, so...who knows. :)

For more great plans check out orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday 9-26-10

2010-09-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I did better on the plan last week, but I forgot to buy cheese when I went to the store. Let's just say that Lasagna did not happen that night :) I went back the next day and made my lasagnas, but they are just in the freezer now waiting to be eaten. I also started marinating my pork chops just in time to get a call from in-laws wanting us to eat with them, so they are all "snuggled up" in my freezer next to my lasagna. So, with that in mind :)

Sunday - Lasagna from the freezer
Monday - Pork Chops - In a great marinade - I'll post it later, rice, greenbeans, and maybe a salad
Tuesday - Chicken, rice, greenbeans - I haven't done the mushroom-onion chicken in awhile, so probably I'll do that.
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Burritos
Friday - Family night
Saturday - Football night - pizza??

For more great plans check out orgjunkie.com

Menu Plan Monday 9-20-2010

2010-09-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last week we ended up with my in laws almost every night, so needless to say the plan was out the window. I did make the chicken pot pie (and took it with me one night) and we made the shrimp alfredo last night.

This week we are going out of town one night and have football another night, so we are going tohave to be a little flexible. Here is the plan.

Monday - Tacos

Tuesday - Lasagna (and I'll make an extra for my freezer), garlic bread, salad. This is the BEST lasagna recipe ever. You should all try it. :)

Wednesday - Church

Thursday - Pork Chops - I haven't decided what I am going to do with these yet, so if you have ideas let me know. I just know they were a lot cheaper than the steak I wanted to have. My parents are coming, and I want it to be good. :)

Friday - out of town - We are going to Disney, so I am going to make some baked oatmeal, granola bars, and maybe one other snack to take with us. Does anyone know if frozen peanut butter and jelly can handle a ride in my packed back pack??

Saturday - Game day - We'll probably have hotdogs or hamburgers this night...anyone with favorite game day foods??

Sunday - Chicken, rolls, green beans, salad, mashed potatoes.

Menu Plan Monday - 9-13-10

2010-09-13T03:43:00.000-07:00

Another exciting week, although this week we nay have some extra time, so the plan reflects that.

Monday - Salmon (baked with dill and brownsugar), broccoli, rice
Tuesday - Chicken Pot Pie
Wednesday - Church
Thursday - Tacos
Friday - Family
Saturday - Shrimp Alfredo
Sunday - Pizza (homemade).

Sorry there are no links this time, but they are all simple family meals. :)

Yum - Baked Oatmeal with Apples.

2010-09-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I love oatmeal in the mornings, especially baked oatmeal. When I saw this version I had to try it. We both loved it the first morning, and I was able to eat it for a few in a row, even after she had tired of it. I'll post my picture later, but here is the link.

Modified Freezer Week

2010-09-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

I see out there in blog world right now that it is freezer cooking time again, and I want to participate, but I don't think I will get in a full afternoon with my buddy this month. So here is my alternative plan. I will probably wait until I get with bud to do the main meals, but we need some snack and breakfast stuff.

Baked Oatmeal - I love this and my daughter asks for them all the time. I think it is great. Granted it has chocolate in it, but it also has protein and whole grain. :)

Quick Bread - Mix and Match Recipe from Frozen Assets. We will probably try to make an applesauce version, carrot version, and possibly a banana version.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

mmm....love chocolate. :)

I also did a couple of sloppy joe batches last night. (It is really just ground beef, tomato soup, brown sugar, and mustard.)

Chicken Pot Pie - I just put leftover chicken, mixed veggies, cream of chicken soup and a little bit of milk in a pan ready to go for whenever we want to have it.

Finally, I will probably do either a lasagna or a penne rustica next week. I will decide when I set up my menu plan and will just make two at once.

I guess that's enough to keep me busy. Have fun everyone.

For more ideas check out Money Saving Mom's Freezer Round Up