Menu plan

Last weeks menu was awesome, I followed it to the tee, and everything tasted so good! We loved the Mexican lasagna!! This week I am trying something new. I will be making some dried beans in the crock pot, then separating them into individual meal sized bags to have ready when I need them. Dried beans are so much cheaper than canned, and beans are so much cheaper than meat. So even though beans arnt really my families favorite food I am trying to find new ways to use them. Times seem to be getting tougher for everyone and the more frugal ideas the better!! With my beans this week we are going to try bean taco bake. So here is the whole menu:

dinner at moms

bean taco bake

chili, cornbread

meat loaf, fried potatoes, corn (Bennie b-day choice)

pork roast, potatoes, veggies

tater tot casserole

un-stuffed pepper soup



For more great menu ideas visit menu plan Monday on.. orgjunkie.com

Great weekend spent with family

We had a pretty nice weekend. Friday night was spent at home just relaxing. Saturday morning the kids and I stayed home while Ben was at school, he had to give 2 speeches and did well on both, so that was a relief for him to get out of the way!! Then once he came home we had lunch, the potato and sausage soup recipe that was a new one and it was wonderful!! Then I made some chocolate zuchinni bread to take over to my cousins house. We went to my grandmas while Bennie went hunting, he didn't get anything but at least he saw a couple this time. It was nice to visit with grandma and grandpa, then once Ben came in it was off to my cousins house for game night. We had a great time visiting and playing games. We have all known each other since we were babies. Its so weird that we are all grown with our own families and different lifestyles now. Its also funny how you don't realize how much you miss your friends/family, til you see them. Then for me anyways it makes me wish that we got together more often. Good times.... the kids also had a fun time playing with the other kids, Emma did wonderfully, I was a little worried about how she would react to all the new faces but she smiled and laughed for everyone!!

Now today, we are going to celebrate Bennie's birthday with my moms side of the family. He is napping now, then I will wake him up and we will go over there for dinner and cake and ice cream. He is turning 33 on Wednesday!! It's weird, we are all really growing up. Time just keeps passing by, faster and faster, whether we want it to or not. We all need to cherish every moment that we can and just remember what matters most to us! Hope everyone else had a great weekend also!

A little braging on myself :)

It's been a long day today. I dont see much of hubby on Wednesday because he sleeps through the day, gets up to eat, goes bowling, then straight to work without coming home.:( No fun!

I just deal with it though. I've decided there isn no point in whining about all the little things, they arnt likely to change anyways. I have really been focusing on my job as a mother and wife. Not to brag on myself, but I really have come far in the homemaking aspect of my life. And I love it. I never go to bed without my kitchen being cleaned anymore. And years ago I would do that quiet a bit, now I just do it. I would rather be a little tired and spend 15 minutes in the kitchen cleaning after dinner than wake up to all that dried disgustingness in the morning first thing. I am not a morning person and looking at a mess is defiantly not the first thing I want to see!! I like my nice clean sink:) (That might be the flylady coming out in me though).

I do laundry every day, with the acception of maybe sometimes not doing it on the weekends. Its pretty much always caught up, if I dont do it, it just piles up to fast, then people are saying,,, mom I dont have any jeans, or Jill wheres my work pants???? I hate to hear that!!! You know your doing well in the laundry department when you have to tell your hubby and kids not to wear that because they just wore it yesterday, then they say but it was clean and in my drawer..:) Now thats keeping up with the laundry.....

God knows I am defiantly not perfect but i have came quiet a long way......:)

A quick money tip.....

I have found the answer to my money problems.....

DONT GO SHOPPING.....
Or more like dont go into stores unless absolutely necessary. Seriously, the only stores we went to over the weekend was Aldi's. And that was for groceries. And guess what, the only money spent over the weekend was at aldis, besides the bills that I had to pay online!! it may seem obvious to some, but to me until recently I guess it never hit me that if I stay home I wont be spending any unnecessary money!! Dahhh.

Now when I do go out I am going to have a list and stick to it. Christmas is around the corner, so every extra dime I have is going to go to that. Christmas is one thing that we always splurge on for the kids, and I think that is okay. My mom always did for us and so I guess I have just followed suit.

I realized that my husband is making almost twice as much a year than he was making when we first got married. That is pretty good, I dont know how we even survived back then. Really we didnt. My parents bailed us our more times than I would like to admit. But now we are self sufficient and I am sooo proud of that! I feel like we have come such a long way! Dont get me wrong, money is still extremely tight, but I make it work, and I pay all of our bills. I have learned so much over the years. I am still learning. Now I am really trying to get smart about things, I want a savings!!! I want no debt, besides my home. Thats a long way off, but I am really trying, and as for now, its not going to happen until I get all these doctor bills payed off that I have payment plans set up on. So I'm really trying to pinch my pennies.

What are some of your money tips?

Menu plan November 2

That's my yogurt. I turned out well, and made a lot!! I'm excited about my menu plan this week, we've got some yummy things that we are having and 3 new recipes!

Sunday-hamburgers, curly fries, cottage cheese and applesauce

Monday- Mexican lasagna, salad (this is a new one)

Tuesday-easy chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, corn(new recipe)

Wednesday-spaghetti, garlic bread

Thursday-easy potato sausage soup, cornbread(new recipe)

Friday-pancakes and sausage

Saturday-homemade pizza

Halloween costumes and home made goodies

Here are all 3 little ones in their Halloween costumes. Jess was a fairy princess, Gary a boxer, and
Emma a ducky! Isn't Jess just beautiful,,, I think so, but maybe I'm biast:) Gary didn't want to smile for this picture.

And here is some of the after affects of trick or treating. Don't worry, we didn't let Emma eat the candy, she just played with it a little bit.

When we got home tonight I made my new granola recipe.

And here is my yogurt all nestled up and ready for bed. I'm up for anything you can cook in the crockpot and this recipe you let it sit over night. So only morning will tell how it turns out...

Yogurt

I am going to make home made yogurt tonight for the first time. I am very excited to see how it turns out. Everyone accept my husband likes to eat yogurt, and its fairly healthy for us. I don't get nearly enough dairy. I am also going to make home made granola to go with the yougurt. I have done that before, its sooo yummy. I am trying a new recipe though. I'll post about it and let everyone knows how it turns out. Also I need to post our Halloween costume pictures, the kids were so cute. It was fun. Later though... I need to get some things done right now...