Shopping While Pregnant

Going grocery shopping when you're hungry is ill advised, you'll have a harder time sticking to your budget. Go grocery shopping while you're hungry and pregnant, and you'll end up with 1.98 bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and 88 cent box of Cheese Nips in your cart.

Menu Plan Tuesday :-) February 9, 2010

Yea!! I'm back with menu planning. Not only am I grateful to enjoy food again, but our household budget was feeling the pinch from eating out more. I'm still going to pick up a few frozen convenience foods for the nights I don't want to cook. It costs more, but is cheaper than eating out....especially if I pick it up with a coupon. As my energy picks up, I want to start making more foods for the freezer.

Sunday: Superbowl! I made my chimichurri cheesesteaks using the pork carnitas recipe from Family Feasts for $75.00 a Week. This was a new way to cook pork. It worked well, but I did let it get too dark at the end. I trimmed off some of the burned spots. I served the sandwiches with applesauce.

Monday: Potluck, I brought banana chocolate chip bars for dessert.

Tuesday: Date night! (I planned tacos, but Ben is treating me to a dinner out instead.)

Wednesday: Late work night. I'm picking up a $5.00 8 piece fried chicken special at the local thriftway, and then I'll serve it with mac and cheese, applesauce, and possibly foolproof biscuits, for a KFC type dinner at home.

Thursday: Using the leftover pork for taco night!

Friday: Looks like it will be a rainy day. I'll make our favorite mashed potato soup.

Saturday: Leftovers or grilled cheese and applesauce

A Long Bloggy Break

Wow, since I started blogging, this is the longest break I've ever taken. Although, I do have a pretty good reason...more than just I'm too busy. I started this blog with intentions to discuss everyday events, but it has largely turned into planning my menu and posting favorite recipes. For the past three months or so, food has ceased to appeal to me. I had no desire to plan a menu, couldn't even look at other menus, recipes or food blogs, and was frankly too tired to do anything but get through my work day.

The good news is that, my appetite and desire for food has returned. This is a very good thing as I am eating for two! :-) Lord willing, at the end of July we will be having our first child! I just started the second trimester, my energy is slowly returning and I'm even showing a little. :-) Ben has been absolutely wonderful helping out a lot more around the house, going to the grocery store, not expecting a homemade dinner every night, and just taking care of me. I couldn't ask for a better dad for our child.

I appreciate all your prayers and hope to get back to blogging more regularly soon :-)

My niece drew this picture of me. Hopefully I don't get that big. :-)

Miserly Moms!

Last week, I was excited to hear Jonni McCoy, author of Miserly Moms, on a two day broadcast on Focus on the Family. If you missed it, I encourage you to listen to it here.

I've always had a saver mentality. I remember as a kid, I'd find an item I wanted at the store and then save up my quarters each week until I had the money to purchase it. However, her book was my first venture into truly learning how to keep a frugal home. I don't exactly remember how old I was when I bought it (probably getting ready to head to college), but I do remember how proud I was that I got a deal by buying the book on frugality used!


I read through it cover to cover. I learned was that it was possible to make convenience foods from scratch. It never occurred to me to try and make my own ketchup, sauces, or pancake syrup. I didn't know you could make baby wipes! I still rely on her cream of soup mix. I learned how to set a grocery plan, keep a price notebook and not assume everything at a warehouse store is cheaper. In addition to cutting the grocery budget, she gives tips on lowering your electricity and other household bills.

The negative reviews on Amazon share that this book is too basic, and the tips are common knowledge for people who have already studied or read tips on frugal living. Reading it again, I agree this book is most helpful for people just learning how to live on a tighter budget.

But, even though I've read it more than once, I still love to read through it again. First, it reinforces that it is possible for a family to live on one income. During the Focus on the Family broadcast, Jonni reminded viewers that before she chose to stay at home with their son, she didn't live a frugal mindset. They lived off half her income, and as she notes in her book "some yuppie amenities such as...kona coffee flown in from Hawaii, and weekends at a bed and breakfast on the coast." When she decided to stay at home, she realized either she cut the budget in half, or she and her husband move out of the big city of San Francisco, buy a house in the country, and require her husband to drive 2 hours each way to work! Determined, she cut their budget in half. She and her family still take vacations and have nice things, just not as much and not as often. Second, as much as I have learned about frugal living, it is still good to reinforce the basics and remind myself of ways I can be more mindful of my budget!

Jonni McCoy's Miserly Moms definitely Works for Me.

(ps, this is my first time participating in a Works for Me Wednesday hosted by Kristen at We Are That Family. Each week, there are a wide variety of helpful tips and how-tos.)

Menu Plan Monday November 16, 2009

Don't you love the new button Laura has available this week? It makes me want to decorate the house for fall even more!

Here's my menu for this week. It is a pretty straight forward week. I have quite a bit of meat in the freezer, so I am trying to use it up with some old standbys :-)

Sunday: Spaghetti
Monday: Chicken Marsala with Applesauce and Acorn Squash This is a great chicken recipe that is simple to make, but looks and tastes like you went to a fancy restaurant!
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Peasant Bread (actually, I won't have time to make it, so I'll pick up some garlic bread at the store.)
Wednesday: Ham Noodley Dish with pears
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner, hashbrowns, eggs, bacon
Friday: Honey Pecan Chicken with rice
Saturday: Leftovers

Check out more menus at Laura's I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday November 2, 2009

Last week, my menu plan got switched around the moment I made it, and I lost incentive to work on it further. However, I have a yummy recipe from the week before: Oven Fried Chimichangas from The Grocery Cart Challenge. These were tasty, a great alternative to tacos, and very filling. With side dishes, one is enough. I made them with chicken and ground beef. I prefer the ones with chicken. However, Ben and I want to try them with shredded beef too. My only tip is to watch them in the oven. The 25 minute cooking time was too long. I think it only really takes 18 minutes at the most.

Here's this week's plan...so far I'm sticking to it!

Sunday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Monday: Chicken Tetrazzini (from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook) and the Best Carrots.
Tuesday: Leftover Potato Soup with pears (Thaw meat for porcupines)
Wednesday: Porcupines (didn't get to them last time) with glazed carrots and parsnips, fruit salad and rice. (I tried making parsnips, a new vegetable to us, two weeks ago, but I burned them, so I didn't dare serve them to see if we liked them! Here goes attempt number two.) Thaw chicken and prepare rub for Thursday.
Thursday: Best Chicken Ever with Cheesy Potatoes (these are so good!) and applesauce or fruit salad and corn.
Friday: Italian Roast Wrap....without the wrap :-) with leftover cheesy potatoes and fruit.
Saturday: Pancakes or waffles, or oatmeal for brunch. Eat out for dinner.

For more great recipes and menu plan ideas visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday October 19, 2009

I was out of town last week on vacation (pictures and stories will come soon), so I missed the deadline to post my menu plan. I did have a success the week before: White Bean and Sausage Rigatoni from my Better Homes and Garden's cookbook. I wasn't sure about this. It looked yummy, but was different from what I normally make. Ben and I both agreed that this was a very delicious dish for a nice change of pace from my usual chicken or ground beef, but not something we'd prefer all the time. I'll add it to my 6 month rotation!

White Bean and Sausage Rigatoni from Better Homes and Garden's New Cookbook (2002)

Ingredients:

8oz dried rigatoni (2 Cups)
1 15 oz can white kidney, Great Northern, or navy beans, rinsed and drained.
1 14 1/2 oz can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
6 ounces cooked smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/3 c snipped fresh basil
1/4 cup finely shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese.

Make: Cook pasta, drain, return to saucepan. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan combine beans, undrained tomatoes, and sausage. Cook and stir until heated through. Add bean mixture and basil to pasta; stir gently to combine. To serve, sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Notes: I didn't have fresh basil, so I used dried. It still tasted great, but I know the fresh basil would've been even better. Next time, I'll cut back on the pasta...maybe to 6 oz. It overwhelmed the rest of the ingredients.

On to this week's menu.

Sunday: Hot dogs (prepared by my hubby!) and applesauce. I had time to bake some Peasant Bread from the Grocery Cart Challenge. This was a new recipe for me. It was delicious! Ben likened it to the tasty bread they serve at our local Italian restaurant. I cannot wait to add this to our cookbook.

After dinner to do: put ground beef in fridge to thaw.

Monday: Roast Chicken with stove top scalloped potatoes (a new recipe) and applesauce or pears.

After dinner to do: form porcupines.

Tuesday: Porcupines (another new recipe for me) from Finding Joy in my Kitchen. I'll serve this with pears or applesauce and glazed carrots and glazed parsnips. I've never had parsnips before, so I thought I'd give it a try. I only bought one just in case we don't like them!

after dinner to do: cook ground beef and cut up chicken for the Chimichangas. Thaw chicken broth for refried beans. Thaw meat for beef stew.

Wednesday: Oven Fried Chimichangas. I'm really looking forward to this new recipe from The Grocery Cart Challenge. It could be a nice change of pace from usual tacos. I may use both beef and chicken. I'll likely serve it with corn, a fruit salad, and possibly homemade refried beans if I get a chance to prep them in the morning.

Thursday: Crockpot Beef Stew with pears and applesauce and some more peasant bread (if there is any left : ))

Friday: Leftovers!

Saturday: Eating Out

For more menus and recipe ideas, visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.