New way of Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping!

Lately I have been meal planning and grocery shopping little different.  I used to be a super serious coupon shopper and while I still think coupons are great and I still clip those that I plan to use, I am not the serious coupon shopper I once was.  At one time, I went to 2 different stores 4 times to get cearl for 50cents each.  I ended up purchasing close to 30 boxes of cearl.  I shared some with friends and family and of course had lots of cearl for some time.  Then Abi came along and I just have not gotten back into it like I did.  I still have my price points that I stick to, meaning I do not like to pay more the $1 per lb for fruits and veggies.  I try to get pasta and rice for $1 or less per bag.  I rarelly pay full price for much of anyting. 

Lately I have done things a little different.  I have tried to only purchase for one week at a time.  I plan our meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner based upon what we have and also based on a few simple meals.  We usually have pasta, rice and veggies, beans and rice and potatoes, green beas and sausage once per week.  (more often if we want).  Lunch is simple leftovers, sandwiches, pasta or another simple meal that we have around.  Breakfast is pancakes, toast, eggs and occaisonally French toast when my hubby wants to treat us.  (He did cook French toast several times in the past few weeks!)  We have smoothies, yogurt, dry cearl, popcorn, chips and fresh fruit for snacks.  My husband has a sweet tooth, so we try to have dessert often.  I would like to make up some cinnomon rolls and freeze them so that he will have a quick dessert ready in minutes.  (we do eat little meat, I will usually buy ground turkey, chicken or steak when it is on sale, but we do eat many meatless meals)

Eating from our cupboards and only buying what we need has really saved us in the grocery budget department.  I also do not  necesarilly stick to the menu.  For instance if we planned to have rice and veggies tonight but I would rather have pasta I switch it up, it is that simple.  I do plan it out so that I can remember to defrost things but I am very flexible!  Also for lunch Zeke has had PB&J for the past two days so lunch has been pretty simple!  (he recently learned how to make PB&J all by himself!)

Here is a sample menu plan:

Sunday 
Breakfast - eggs & toast
Lunch - leftovers/sandwich
Dinner - Pizza (we get day old french bread from Jimmy Johns for 50cents each and add shredded chicken and spinach and a little mozzarella to make yummy pizza)

Monday
Breakfast - toast
Lunch - School
Dinner - Red Beans & Rice, fried potatos and green beans

Tuesday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Pasta/Sandwich
Dinner - Rice with Veggies, Cornbread

Wednesday
Breakfast - eggs/toast
Lunch - Pasta/sandwich,
Dinner - Potatos, sausage, green beans

Thursday
Breakfast - toast/banana
Lunch - Hot dogs, chips, fruit and carrots
Dinner - Chilli, with chips

Friday
Breakfast - toast/banana
Lunch - school
Dinner - Eggs & Pancakes ( sometimes I add spinach to our eggs if we have them for dinner)

Saturday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Leftovers/Sandwich
Dinner - Pizza, veggie or salad

Snacks - Smoothies, fruit, dried fruit and nuts, dried cearl, popcorn, chips

I am enjoying this simple way right now.  Having about 10 meals to choose from makes shopping and cooking so much simpler!  When I do purchase ground turkey or chicken I will cook lots up at once and freeze in small portions.  I will use to make pizzas, tacos, chilli, enchiladas, etc.  I also use my crock pot at least twice per week.  It is so nice to put stuff in crock pot and be able to come home and just eat! 

What have we been up to??

Well, the kids and I have been doing some homeschooling on the days we are not at Mother's Day Out!  Zeke is doing really well with his letters, numbers and sounds.  He is working on writing his letters and loves to draw/color pictures.  He is really quite good at making people!  I have been working with Abi on her colors, shapes, letters and numbers.  She is getting pretty good at her shapes.  She also loves to color/draw.  She has such a different learning personality than Zeke.  She is a little stubborn, so mommy is learning how to teach her in her style!  What a job this is.  This month we have been talking about the Days of the Week, Months of the Year and the Seasons.  We talk about this each morning and also watch a great video about the Seasons that we have had since Zeke was a baby.  He knows all the seasons and can quickly tell you what season we are in.  It will be interesting next week when we talk about it changing to Fall!  He knows Fall comes next!  We have also been talking about the weather so these rain storms and weather changes have been great for our learning.  For Bible we have been focusing on Zeke's Cubbies scripture memorization as well as reading random bible stories in their bible.  One that we have talked a little more about is Cain & Abel.  I have been reading the kids books about getting along and being kind to your brother/sister, sharing, etc.  At our library you can check out Reading Totes that include about 5 books and a video for different topics.  We checked one out on Sibling Rivalry.  It has been good.  We will get one on Weather next.  This week we did some painting and Zeke has learned to make his own PB&J!  He does really good!  He uses less peanut butter than I would so that's a plus.  He also eats it much better than if I had made it!  Not to mention the fact that my sweet boy who is growing up way faster than I would like is very proud of this new skill!  I can tell that it makes him feel very good about himself when he makes his own sandwich.  Abi is teasing me with her potty training.  One week, she will do very good and the next she will get lazy on me and peepee in her pants.  So for now, we are just waiting on her.  I have full confidence that she is capable and will fully train soon!  Below are a few pictures of our projects this week!

Zeke and Abi painted these and I wrote their names on them.  We have them hung by their beds!  Very simple.  (We used a paper bag to paint on and a pipe cleaner to hang them)  I may turn the sides under to make them look a little neater!

This is tye dyed with Koolaid.  It was messy.  You mix one koolaid pkg with 1oz white vinegar.  If we were to do this again, I would have doubled or trippled the recipe.  We quickly ran out of dye!  The website I saw  said to iron the shirt with a iron cover, to set the dye.  So we will do this later when the shirts dry. 

Here are two great books we have been reading relating to Seasons!  They are both wonderful.  "Pie in the Sky" has the recipe for Cherry Pie in it and "Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf" has directions for making a bird treat!  Lots of Fun!

We are having lots of fun learning! 

Birthday Present from my Sister!

For my birthday this year my sister gave me a night away in Sundance Square in Fort Worth!  We had so much fun!  We stayed in a hotel. 

Had dinner downtown in Sundance Square.  After dinner we walked around, then got back to the hotel so we could swim and watch some TV!

On Sunday morning we woke up, had yummy breakfast at the hotel and then went to the Omni hotel for our Spa day!  Here we are in our robes!

We both got massages and facials!  It was so much fun.  There was even Cucumber Water in the lounge!  After the Spa we had lunch at the Corner Bakery and visited a few shops. 

In one shop there was a display of all things Dr. Pepper.  Dr Pepper Jelly beans, Dr Pepper Cake and Icing, even Dr. Pepper Beef Jerky.  It was just so neat!

What a special birthday this was!  We have decided to make this an annual trip!  Thanks Tosh for such a special time!!  I love you!

Free Aveda Products for your Birthday

Do you like FREE stuff?  I do.  Last year I signed up to receive a few freebies from Aveda.  Aveda is a line of hair and skin products.  I was introduced to Aveda several years ago and have loved the products ever since.  Although they are way expensive so I never buy them.  Since signing up for freebies I get postcards in the mail for free samples of products (about 3-5 per year).  Also on my birthday I get a postcard for a Free full size Personal Blends purfume or body care product.  You choose the scent essential oil.  This is a $25 product.  For FREE!!!  Happy Birthday to me!  Last year i got massage oil, which I use in my baths to make them oh so spa like!  Not sure what I will get this year, maybe a perfume!  

If you want to sign up, go to http://www.avedabday.com/!

Enjoy!

LOVE YOUR MAN!!

There is a song on Country radio that has really got me thinking!  I love my husband dearly but there are too many times throughout our everyday lives that I am sure I have given him the impression that I would rather he just leave me alone. Of course I feel more than justified.  I am so busy with the kids, cooking, cleaning and just plain ol every day life.  He has become my "seconds".  This song has so encouraged me to do everything in my power to keep my sweet husband from feeling this way.  I love him and I need to make sure he knows it!  He is my first priority (after Jesus of course)!   Read these lyrics and tell me you do not want to just go hug your MAN!!!  I sure did!  ( I include a link to the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5GVa1yWYZM
DO I  by Luke Bryan


Baby, what are we becoming


It feels just like we’re always running

Rolling through the motions everyday

I can lean in to hold you, or act like I don’t even know you

Seems like you could care less either way

What happened to that girl I used to know

I just want us back to the way we were before


Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you baby

Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy

Do I have your love, am I still enough

Tell me don’t I, or tell me do I baby

Give you everything that you ever wanted

Would you rather just turn away and leave me lonely

Do I just need to give up and get on with my life

Baby, do I


Remember when we didn’t have nothing

But a perfect simple kind of loving

Baby those sure were the days

There was a time our love ran wild and free

But now I’m second guessing everything thing I see


Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you baby

Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy

Do I have your love, am I still enough

Tell me don’t I, or tell me do I baby

Give you everything that you ever wanted

Would you rather just turn away and leave me lonely

Do I just need to give up and get on with my life

Baby, do I


Still give you what you need

Still take your breath away

Or light up the spark way down deep, baby do I


Do I turn you on at all when I kiss you baby

Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy

Do I have your love, am I still enough

Tell me don’t I, or tell me do I baby

Give you everything that you ever wanted

Would you rather just turn away and leave me lonely

Do I just need to give up and get on with my life


Tell me baby do I get one more try

Do I, baby do I