Weekly Menu - The new plan

*I forgot to post this on Friday so I figured I would post it now for Make it Monday! 

I put my new menu plan into place this past week and I'm really happy with it.  I went to the grocery store on Saturday was so happy with myself because I stayed in budget.  When I got out to the truck, I realized I forgot the mozzarella cheese for dinner so we ran back inside and picked up the cheese; when I got home, I figured out I forgot to buy chicken for Monday night dinner so I ended up going back to the store to get chicken; (wait there's more) while cooking some soup for Sunday evening dinner, I realized I forgot the cheese I needed (the worst part? I had put it in my cart and then took it back out because we weren't having tacos . .. HA!)  So I had to have Darryl stop and pick up cheese!! THEN, I went to make the Lasagna and I had no ground beef!  I had the ground sausage but not the beef.  I happened to have some frozen cooked ground pork that I could use but still!!  No WONDER I was on target for budget HA!

I still plan on sharing our weekly meal plan because there will be slight variations along the way.

Saturday - It's Valentine's Day!  It's also Pizza Night :-)  We are expecting some "record breaking" cold temperatures over the next few days so I am planning all meals "in" - if we happen to venture out, I can always save the meal for another time!  Tonight I decided to make BBQ Chicken Pizza.  We really liked it when I made it a few months ago :-)  I'll also add a good salad. 

Sunday - Again, those cold temps - it is possible we could have "air temps" of 35 below zero - we won't go anywhere if that is the case!  So, today it is Sunday Swiss Steak, Mashed Potatoes (Josh's ultimate favorite food!), Corn, and Biscuits.  Than later, for our simple dinner in the evening it's Amish Breakfast Casserole and Homemade Cheese Danish

Monday - Enchilada's!  Yum!  "Mexican" salad (Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, and Black olives to eat with the Enchiladas), and Rice.

Tuesday - Hamburger Strogenoff with Noodles, Green Beans and Rolls

Wednesday - Hot Dogs and Fries

Thursday - Today starts Darryl's Birthday celebration and one of his favorite meals is Dill Shrimp Pasta so that is what we'll have!  Along with some good garlic bread and maybe even roasted asparagus since he loves that so much too!

Friday - Normally this is taco night but, the kids are at Papa and Nana's so Darryl and I will get to eat out :-)  We might might go to Applebees or we may head to town and get something really good :-)

That's it :-)  I'm already loving my new menu plan because it makes it easy to . . well, plan.  I'm not digging through my recipes each week to find something to make instead it is already written out and ready to go!

Teaching Tuesdays - I've lost track of the week #.

We hit school full force this week.  We are making great progress but this time of year I feel like I'm dragging my feet a little.  I'm not thrilled with the Math Book Josh is going through but we are still pushing through it for the year and I've already picked out what I think will be a better fit for the boys next year.  Our Phoics/Reading curriculum I LOVE but I think I need to push Josh a little more on it so we get a little more done each day.  I'm beginning to realize that it may be more of a two year curriculum than just a K-5 curriculum - which is ok :-)

 Nate absolutely loves mazes. I just bought him a new book called My Book of Mazes: Animals - he was so excited to find it in his daily drawer on Monday. 

 This past week in Math, we worked on some basic measurements.  Josh used 1 cm blocks to both measure and also to estimate the size of various things in his book.  We also talked about Handspan, Paces, and using our feet to measure things.  One of the reaons I'm not thrilled with this book is because it is meant more for the classroom - there are only one or two problems on each page and there is tons and tons of discussion.  At home, hands on activities are much better - things that the student can lead themselves once they understand the concept.

We've been working on some supplimental worksheets related to Pirates this past week as I am planning to take the boys on a field trip to see a Pirate exhibit at our local museum.  I found this great Pirate pack over at Homeschool Creations

Nate and I have been reading lots of books lately.  One of our favorites and, quite honestly, one of the most fun kids books I've come across, is "Pout Pout Fish".

 And then another book we are enjoying is "Stream Train, Dream Train."  Nate loves to list all of the train cars and try to remember what order they come in throughout the book.

Finally, Nate is "reading" to us as well.  He can read, from memory, the entire book "If Everybody Did."  He reads it almost every night at bedtime. 

 This makes me smile.  Nate has decided that he likes to display ALL of his work.  So, when he remembers, he tapes every single item on the wall.  He loves seeing the display. 

This little gem is my new pencil sharpener.  It is not electric but works fabulous.  It came with great reviews from Amazon.  I will admit I do kinda need to watch a youtube video because I don't have it masters and almost every review said . . .watch the video :-)



This week we are working on Valentines and will get a field trip in as well :-)

Make It Monday - Menu's and Pizza

Recently I read a great, simple, to the point blog post that was posted at Money Saving Mom.  In the article, the author gave some real-to-life things that she learned about making a grocery budget and sticking to it.  It spoke to me because I understand every point she made!  I'm great at making the grocery budget but then I "forget" about the 2 (or 3, 4 or 5) extra trips to the store and how that impacts my spending.  Through the years I've tried all kinds of creative ways to save money from shopping for two weeks at a time - which never works because you ALWAYS have to go back to the store many more times to get milk, veggies, etc AND you tend to eat more food because, well, it's there - to trying to plan the menu for the month so I can shop ahead and more.  Well, I finally decided to do something I've wanted to try for a long time.  I created a set menu.

How did I come up with this?  It's pretty simple.  I went through my recipe book and picked out the recipes that we truly love and could actually eat every single month without question.  I was afraid I'd have way too many but I didn't!  Then, I added in those things that are consistent - We have Tacos every Friday night that we are home.  Saturday nights are one of two options - it's either Pizza night (ordered in, eaten out, or homemade) OR Darryl brings home dinner if he is working.  Wednesday night are simple kid friendly meals since Darryl normally has practice and it is just the boys and I - Pancakes and Waffles with Sausage, Biscuits and Gravy (My kids love the biscuits) and Hot Dogs round out the month.  Another new tradition we have added is that the first Tuesday of the month we go out to Applebees.  Why?  Kids eat for $0.99 so we can eat there for about $20.00 - they have really good burgers :-)  That left me 15 other nights.  I did leave 4 days as "Cook Choice" so I can pick the other recipes that we like or try new things.  So what made the list?
Sunday Dinner - Roasted Pork Shoulder, Stuffed Shells, Sunday Swiss Steak, and Roast.  Great meals to cook while we are at church.  I also planned our Sunday evening dinners - Sloppy Joes, Soup (I can pick various soups that we love) w/Simple Ham Sammies (Yeast Rolls and Ham Steak), Quiche or simple breakfast casserole, and Little Ceasers Pizza :-)

Week Night Meals:  Amish Baked Chicken, Enchiladas, Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, Lasagna, Beef Tips or Beef Strogenoff, Pan Fried Pork Chops or Chicken Fried Steaks.  Then I have a blank for Chinese Choice - I have several recipes we really love from Egg Drop Soup, Fried Rice and Egg Rolls to a Shrimp Stir-fry.  Then there is also a Slow Cooker Slot - again, I have lots of slow cooker recipes that we enjoy.  Techingally there are only 2 true cook's choice nights but I'm counting the Slow Cooker and Chinese Choice as my choice too because I can always do something else!

Winter vs. Summer - I can tell you that my set menu will change sometime in May and I'll switch out quite a few items for things that aren't so "hot" (i.e. I don't make Lasanga or cook roasts in the summer!)

So, with this in mind, I made a new pizza recipe this past Saturday and thought I'd share the recipe along with my attempt at Little Ceaser's Breadsticks.

 For a long time I've been wanting to try Garlic Bread Pizza and I finally did it!  They are so simple.  It's just frozen garlic bread slices.  Put a small amount of sauce on each slice, followed by mozzarella cheese and your favorite toppings.  Cook at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. 

The breadsticks had the flavor of Little Ceasers but they were flat and slightly crunchy verses being big and soft.  It was just a tube of pizza dough cut into "sticks".  Once cooked (425 for about 10 minutes) brush with garlic butter (2 tablespoons of butter melted with 1/4 teaspoon of Garlic Salt) and sprinkle with Parmason cheese! 

Things My Kids Say

* We struggle in this house with breakfast.  I've recently started fighting working with the boys on making breakfast choices such as cereal, waffles, or yes, even a poptart.  Josh, especially, struggles because he loves to eat Popscicles for breakfast.  Well, one day last week as we discussed choices, he opened the freezer and pulled out a small Ice Cream Drumstick (I buy the mini size).  He then informed me that he could eat it for breakfast because it was just a cracker (the cone) and some milk (ice cream).  THEN he told me that he learned that from Papa :-) LOL  Thanks Dad!

* I recently made a gourmet  dinner of Hot Dogs and Cheetos and was informed that it was the best meal I've ever cooked.  Seriously.

Family Fun - Superbowl, Snow, and Playdough

We enjoyed a great superbowl Sunday last week.  Not only was it the culmination of our favorite sport, we also had a fabulous snow storm and got dumped on!

 This is our Superbowl Spread!  Lots of fun snacks.  Someday, this will all get eaten . . . but for now, we ate it all week long HA!

 My "super" boys!  Yes, Josh is shirtless on a cold, snowy day.  Darryl cranked the heat and Josh got very hot HA! 

On Monday the boys finally got to play in some measurable snow!  Josh was "stuck" in the snow.

 This is a photo of Nate jumping into the snow.  We ended up getting a total of about 14 inches of snow so there was plenty to play in!

One of the things the boys - and especially Nate - have always enjoyed is playdough.  Nate gets it out almost every day and can play for hours.

Weekly Menu

Last weeks menu went nothing like planned.  Well, that's not true, we did enjoy our Sunday Superbowl foods.  The rest of the week, not so much.  When I made the menu, I forgot Darryl had a concert on Tuesday (which he didn't end up going to because of a severe headache) so instead I decided to take the boys to Applebees (they eat for $0.99 each and I can get a burger for $9.00 so it is cheaper than going fast food!)  It ended up working out for Darryl to meet us there on his way home (and it was still cheaper than eating fast food!).  Wednesday, Darryl had a doctor's appointment so we literally passed each other on the street as he was coming home and the boys and I were leaving for AWANA.  The boys and I had Mac and Cheese and I don't even know what Darryl ate HA!.  I totally forgot to take out a Turkey so we had chicken and Fries on Thursday :-/  Oops! 

Here's what is (hopefully) on the plan for this coming week!

Saturday - Darryl is working today.  As is usually the case when he works, he'll bring something home.

Sunday - Darryl has a concert today so he will either grab something on his way home or eat lunch with his sister (since the concert is at a church just down the road from her house).  The boys and I will grab Little Ceasers on the way home from church - it is cheap and easy.

Monday - My plan is to cook that turkey.  I need to get it out of the freezer today!  We'll have mashed potatoes and gravy and green bean casserole along with rolls.

Tuesday - I have a meeting tonight so that means we need an easy dinner.  I think putting together a big crock of Chili might work.  Then it's just a matter of cooking up some spaghetti (Darryl likes it with his Chili and the boys just like Spaghetti!)

Wednesday -We have a family day planned.  The boys have dentist appointments in the morning and then we plan to take the boys out for the day to do things that we didn't get to do for Nate's birthday in December which include a trip to the museum to see the special display on Pirates.  Depending on time and weather, we may take the boys to walk on one of the big pedestrian bridges that they see on the news or we will go to the mall to play in the playland, which they love.  Naturally, we'll eat dinner out - most likely either at Smashburger or Red Robin as they both love those places.

Thursday - Total left over night.  Chili or Turkey and the fixin's. 

Friday - Tacos, of course! 

February Goals

There are 11 months left in the year :-)  It seems like a really long time until Christmas but my kids are already telling me what they want for both their birthdays and Christmas and they cannot wait for those months (Oct and Dec) to arrive!  So, I figure that I had best get busy on my goals :-)

Home
1. Basement - Ok, I need to tackle this project this month.  I picked up a great shelving unit on sale at Menards at the end of January to help with organization in the laundry room.  I also picked up two packs of the rubber flooring I want to put in the playroom side - I will need more but I wanted to put the first 8 pieces in to see if it will really work.  (It's inexpensive - about $8.00 for a four pack) So, really, I just want to spend about 20-30 minutes 4 days a week on it until it is done.  This includes going through bins again and cleaning stuff out, getting rid of junk that just keeps sitting around, and fixing up some chipped paint on the floor to reseal it all.

2. Bedrooms - This month the deep cleaning rooms are the bedrooms and the playroom.  This just means a lot of dusting, touch up paint, cleaning out closets and organization/clean out of toys.

School
1. Curriculum for 2015-2016 - I have my list and now I just want to use February to go through it and narrow down my choices as well as come up with my budget plan.  My goal is to have all of our curriculum purchased by June so that I can use June/July to plan and prep for the next year.

2. Paper Organization - clean out the filing cabinet and organize the drawer by kid/grade.  I want to have a basic portfolio of their work put together in the case we ever need to put them in regular school.  Just to show what we've done and how they learn.

3. Friday Fun - plan fun activities for Friday based on the seasons and holidays. Also, plan field trips.

Daily Routines
Continuing with the daily routines that I put into place in January.


Family
1. Still want to get that membership for the Children's museum.
2. Take the boys to the Pirate Exhibit - we actually have this on the calender in February already :-)
3. Vacation planning - need to really do some planning, as well as reserve some camping spots.
4. Play games, play games, play games :-)  And, if we get some good snow - take them sledding.
5. Write down the serial #'s from electronics.
6. I need to take time to go to the eye doctor :-)  It's been 7 years and I think my contacts have reached their limit HA!  I'm thankful that so far, Darryl and the boys all have good eyes!  
7. Plan and do a small overnight trip for Nate - we kinda missed doing something special for his birthday and he hasn't forgotten that fact.  I want to take him to a hotel with a water park - he really wants to go to Chicago but that will have to wait ;-)
8. Take the dog in for the couple of shots she is due . . .
9. Get the boys birthday photos done (yes we are a little behind) . .. before they start losing teeth!

Holidays
1. I still need to recap Christmas for myself.  I also need to plan a budget for 2015 so we can not be stressed this year when we hit December INCLUDING budgeting for Darryl to take extra days off. 
2. Set up a Christmas Present storage plan.  Here's the deal.  I already have a Christmas present for Nate.  A friend of mine was selling it so I picked it up for next to nothing.  So, what I want to do is take a photo of it, put it in a folder on my computer with a #, then wrap the gift and the same # on it.  Then have a bin in the basement to put those gifts in.  That way, I CAN pick stuff up along the way throughout the year.
3. Darryl's birthday is the main focus this month - I have a plan in place, just need to get the details all perfected.
4.  Make some St. Patrick Day fun plans.  Just the normal green themed ideas.
5. Birthday Board plans.  I would like to accomplish one task for our birthday week plan.  Last year I pretty much just did the Birthday shirt and pillowcase but now I want to add more.
6. Pick up 4 objects for the Christmas Countdown - this can be a big expense because even buying $1.00 items means $50.00.

Misc.
1. Quiet time - continuing on with my daily devos and prayer journal.
2. Finances - Plan the February budget, set up savings funds, put my planned amount in the boys savings account.
3. Music - practice piano.  Looking specifically to have at least 2-3 songs ready to go.  Also need to find a good Easter song just in case I have the chance to sing ;-)
4. Scrapbooking - I've lost my focus a little, which happens when I don't get to crops on a regular basis.  So this month I want to wrap up 2013.  I also want to order 1 set of digital prints to work on my goal of getting all of the digital pages printed.  I need update my goals and projects.  I need to refocus on what I'm missing such as page protectors and albums to complete projects.  AND set up my scrapbook stuff so that I can grab stuff and work on it when I have time.
5.  "Just One Thing" - I'm implementing a new thought this month and it is called "Just one Thing".  I've made a list of random things I would like to get done this month - everything from changing out some art work in the Kitchen and Hallway to plan a simple month menu that rotates every single month to make shopping easier.  I won't share the whole list here but will share it in March when I accomplish it all (hopefully!)

6. Misc - I continue to have my 4 goals that I'm not sharing :-)  So, I just want to continue work on those too.