Menu, week of Aug 11

Here is my menu for the week. Tonight we are going to a baseball game so we will be eating dollar hot dogs there(courtesy of my mom). We have had a crazy weekend and I am gonna tell you all about it as soon as I get a chance to have a longer time to sit here and type.
Tuesday-crock pot roasted chicken, baked pot., green beans
Wednesday- spaghetti and bread sticks
Thursday farmhouse chicken casserole
Friday-stuffed pepper casserole
Sat.- pizza
Sunday-BBQ sandwiches, garlic pot, green beans

$Broke$ But stocked up

Well after paying for the kids school tuition the other day and buying school supplies I sat and made out our monthly budget. It was a pretty sad looking situation:( But I am being optimistic because I can pay all of the bills that need to be payed, and that's whats important. After bills there wasn't much left over but after some good planning I have it figured out. I have to live on a $50.00 grocery budget for the next two weeks and that includes baby's formula and diapers and baby food. So the most important thing is that Emma has what she needs, so I went to Walmart last night and got her enough formula to last. I also got her some baby food but I will still have to get more of that. I got just a couple of things for us. Anyways I spent $30.00. So I have $20.00 left to last two weeks. I am not going to let this get me down. I can make it work! It will be a fun challenge. So this morning I sat and made a menu for the next two weeks(until next payday). I chose things that I already have on hand. See that's the thing, we arn' t rolling in the dough right now, but we have full cabinets, and meat in our freezer, so I"m not to worried. I can be creative when it comes to our food. No one will be going hungry. I am not going to stress over this, but my husband on the other hand will and does. I don't know why, because I am the one that handles the money and he still gets the same amount of money for the week (which is a whole entire weeks worth of pay from one of my babysitting kids, and I only have one right now so I'm more or less working so that he has money to blow!!!). Wooo, sorry didn't mean for that to come out....Anyways we are gonna be just fine. And one of the reasons is because of my lovely smarts when it comes to deals. In times like this I am sooooo glad that I stock up on things when they are on sale!!!! For example...We will defiantly have clean clothes because I have 4 1\2 containers of laundry det., 2 1\2 things of fabric softener, and 1 1\2 boxes of dryer sheets!!!

We will also have clean bodys and teeth(thanks to cvs)!!! All these were practically free!!!!
And we can wipe our bums and faces!( Also thanks to cvs)




Emma can also have a clean and dry tooshie! Actually these probably wont last 2 weeks.

So we are gonna be just fine. some may wonder why in the world I want to put this out there for everyone to know my business. I don't know, maybe this will help someone else. Maybe make them realize that even in tough times you can work it out.

So as of right now I have a positive attitude, if at any time you start to hear me complain or something like that feel free to remind me that it will all be okay. Just keep smiling!:)

Cookies!!!

This is what I did this morning while Miss Emma was napping.Chocolate chip m&m cookies.Mmmm....

This is part of my quest to save money and be frugal. I haven't been buying pre packaged snacks for the kids so I've been doing everything homemade!! Even our bread has been homemade. Its a lot of work, but its also fun, and makes me feel good that I know exactally what is going into the ingredients of the things I am making. I found out yesterday that our school lunches are going up in price. So guess what two kids are going to be packing their lunches more often:) I will just need to come up with some creative ideas for them to pack. Maybe if I make it fun then they will enjoy it more.

We are not usually so tight with money, but with all the doctor bills from having Emma and Ben's surgery its just about killing us. And unfortunately it will be awhile before we get them all payed off. :( But I am trying to make the best of it. I am truly blessed with what I do have. My family is great and we all love each other. We are healthy and happy, what more could I ask for.

Everyday life

Today was a nice day. We got to go sign the kids up for school and that is always very exciting. They found out who their teachers were. Jess was really happy cause her little friend is gonna be in the same class as her. Gary got the same teacher Jess had in 2nd grade. He wasn't thrilled but it will be fine. They start next Friday, its gonna be so weird not having them here during the day. Emma and my other babysitting kid will keep me busy, I' m going to start doing like preschool with her so that will be fun. For dinner we had Bennie's new favorite, BBQ pizza

and a really yummy salad


Poor Emma couldn't have any pizza but she seemed to enjoy her rice cereal and spring veggies, I cant wait til she can start eating the same food we eat!!!

She can get quite messy when she eats! Isn't she just a doll!! I cant ever get enough of her. So all in all it was a pretty good day!!

God's Coffee

This article was in the new hillbilly housewife's newsletter. I really liked it and wanted to share it with you.


GOD’S COFFEE
Author Unknown
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, someexpensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
“If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”
God brews the coffee, not the cups………. Enjoy your coffee!
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Makes you think doesn't it? We concentrate so much on looking good having the best of everything and worring about what others think. We need to all remember what matters most!!

Menu Aug 4

I am proud to say that this menu planning is sooo working! Didn't go out to eat not even once last week and probably not for the next month due to the extremely ridiculous cost of back to school everything! So here is the plan for this week, next weekend is very busy so we wont be eating at home very often but don't worry I wont be paying for going out to eat. Oh by the way, I'm going to try to start listing breakfast and lunch also:
Monday-B-yogurt, zucchini muffins ... L-leftover lasagna....D-hamburger zucchini over rice
Tuesday-B-yogurt, granola...L-homemade mac n cheese...D-taco soup
Wednesday-B-pancakes....L-leftovers....D-BBQ chicken pizza
Thursday-B-cereal...L-leftover pizza..D-stir fry w\ rice
Friday-B-smoothies...L-spaghetti o's...D-chicken paprika's

Lasagna and Green Beans

Happy Sunday All. Tonight instead of my scheduled meal we had lasagna and italian herb bread, that I put cheese on and stuck under the broiler. We also had green beans from the garden.







It was yummy. But my husband still managed to complain. He has been complaining about having to many green beans\zucchini\cucumbers\corn.....all the things from the garden. I try to explain to him that he should be thankful and not complain. But he just doesn't get it. Oh well.
I feel like I've been living in the kitchen lately. Every since I've been doing the homemade from scratch things I'm continually in there. And of course I feel under appreciated. Deep down I know they do appreciate it, its just not there nature to show it I guess. I do love doing these things for my family though. Lets give it up for the mothers and grandmother of long ago, that had no choice but to do things the old fashioned way... I can only imagine how tired and worn out they felt everyday. There has got to be a secret to it all. One of these day I will figure it out.