Weekly Menu

First of all, I had success last week.  I did not run back and forth to the store!  It was so nice (for real) to not be running to the store every night.  This week I went on Wednesday since I only had one kid with me that day and I'm glad I did.  I had dental work done on Thursday morning and because he froze my entire head, I was wiped out.  (He did repair work on repair work a dentist did 20 years ago on a stain from my braces so my entire nasal cavity ended up frozen UUGG!) Anyway, I feel like I shopped well and I have the food we need to last until I shop next week.  The best thing?  We have this awesome Dairy Store that opened called Mooville where we get our milk now AND they have a drive through.  So, when I need Darryl to grab a gallon of milk, he doesn't even have to get out of the vehicle!!

Friday - Homemade pizza and chips

Saturday - I have two options on the menu.  We will either eat out/bring it home or I planned steaks, sweet potatoes, and bread.  It just depends on what we do on Saturday.

Sunday - Our main meal is after church.  A roasted pork loin, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad and biscuits.

Monday - Pork Chops, breaded cauliflower and salad.

Tuesday -  Taco Tuesday!

Wednesday - Darryl has practice so the boys and I usually get a pizza.

Thursday - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Broccoli.

I acutally planned and shopped through Friday night dinner so I know I have food without feeling stressed about shopping but still plan to do my shopping on Thursday.

The Week in Review

One of the things I enjoy doing with this blog is sharing what we do - especially related to school, learning and other various activities.  Some weeks we are boring and some weeks we are not but either way, looking at the week in review is a good thing.  Every year I think about doing a photo challenge related to taking one photo a day so I'm going to attempt to incorporate that idea into this week post.  I'm sure I will miss days and that's ok but if I can get most days I'm doing better than I've ever done before!

I decided on this topic/the photos on Wednesday, January 4th so that's where I'm starting.

 On Wednesday we focused on playing.  I think it is funny to see what they play with - Nate pulled out old school Mr. Potato Head.  Josh worked on some Legos.  Nate had almost completed this one but had one section left so he asked Josh to do it for him so he could start another one.

 Thursday we focused on games.  This is a game that Nate got for Christmas called Suspend.  It is an awesome game.  It is a game of startegy and is fun for kids and adults.

 This is just a picture of Harley the cat because he is so cute.

We ended our week with taking down the tree.  The needles were literally just dropping off so I figured it was time.  The boys helped despite the prickly needles.  Vacuuming it up was crazy.  I will say my vacuum is super clean now too :-)

As you can probalby figure out, we are not back into school yet.  Technically their online school started but I told Darryl that if I was doing my own curriculum, we would not start school until next week so that's what we doing.  The semester doesn't end until the 20th and we will actually be done with lessons close to a week early as it is.

Weekly Menu

Well, it's back to cookin'.  I thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks of little to no cooking (when I did cook, I kept it simple).  My sister-in-law made wonderful meals for us including breakfast and lunch.  What is better than being served food you didn't have to make that is super tasty three times a day?  It made me almost want to cook breakfast at home ;-)  (If only my kids would eat it, I would!)

This year, within my goals, I have a few specifics when it comes to menu planning.  One goal is to limit the number of times I run to the store.  I'm a once a week shopper - I've tried shopping for two weeks at a time and it is literally overwhelming not to mention I still go back for milk and fresh stuff AND spend more money.  Anyway, my goal is to go just that one time a week.  No special trips because I "need" something.  Darryl can always swing by our new Dairy Store which is opening in a few weeks, for a gallon of milk as needed.  I found that I was using the store as an excuse to get out of the house, which is fine, except instead of just buying a gallon of milk, I'd come home with 17 other things.  So, I told Darryl, when I need to get out, I'll say I'm going to the bank (which I will do) and then stop and eat a junior Frosty and read my book for 15 minutes.  :-)  I'm trying to plan better for the whole week and, in the long run, save some expense in the grocery budget.  The other goal is to establish a better month meal plan.  Even though I don't shop for more than a week at a time, by doing the basic month meal plan, I can pick up things that are on sale - especially meat!  The last area is my shopping day.  I'm going to try and stick to Thursdays.  The reason being is that Darryl often takes Thursdays off which means I can shop during the day.  I also like having a full fridge over the weekend since we all snack more :-) (I  say that and yet I already know I plan to shop on Wednesday next week since the boys will be gone HA! )

After saying all of that, this week is different because the boys will be at my in-laws for a few days which  means (wait for it . . .. ) I don't cook HA!

Here is our meal plan:
Friday - BBQ Cups, Tater Tots and Salad

Saturday - We have a family Christmas on my husbands side of the family today so we are all bringing snacks and salads.  I've finally decided on Taco Salad, Meatballs (Darryl's request), Cheese and Crackers (requested by both of the boys) plus No one mentioned dessert so I think I'll just make some brownies and M and M bars.

Sunday - Darryl and I are getting a rare treat - a day with no kids and no work for him so we are playing hooky (I know, don't judge) from church and spending the day together.  We both got money for Christmas and have some things we need/want so we are going to do a little shopping, enjoy some dinner out and just have fun.

Monday - Here's something we haven't done since this summer - we will eat at Applebee's.  Not sure if they still have the 1/2 priced burgers or 1/2 price appetizers but either way we'll still eat there.

Tuesday - I'm going to have Darryl bring something home - maybe Tacos from our favorite place.

Wednesday - The kids are home!  I'm planning spaghetti with stuffed meatballs (in the crock). The kids love Spaghetti and it is super easy :-)

Thursday - I love my crock-pot.  Tonight I'll throw a pork loin in the crock for Balsamic Brown Sugar Pork Loin, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans and Rolls.

Sounds yummy to me!

Welcome Back

It's 2017 and this is what I have to say:

 I didn't carry my computer with me as we traveled and then all of a sudeen it is January 4th.  

In the coming weeks I plan to share about our Christmas, my goals, and our school work and activities as a family.  I'm hoping to get back into the habit of blogging again even if just 2-3 times a week.  

So for now, may you have a blessed and WARM week (It is bitter cold here!) 

Christmas Fun

This past weekend we had big plans.  Plans that had been on the calendar for months and months.  It was the weekend of Nate - the weekend to celebrate his birthday which is the 22nd.  But, we live where it snows and snow it did.  Friday night into Saturday followed by some freezing rain and well, all of our plans changed!

I had enough warning though that on Thursday night (So much time to plan HA!) I picked up the supplies to make some simple gingerbread houses and the supplies to make Christmas cookies.

 I found a great video tutorial on Facebook from The Penny Hoarder that showed how to make a gingerbread house for less than $5.00.  It was pretty close.  The base is a box of Gold Fish crackers (like a milk carton we all used to get in school) and then use Graham Crackers and Frosting to build the house.  I got most of the supplies at the dollar store so it was really in expensive.

For first timers, their houses turned out great.  I learned a few things this year and I think next year will be even better.

We also had fun watching some movies.  I had recorded Frozen when it aired on one of the channels a few weeks ago so we watched that and then we watched Elf.  The boys laughed and, quite honestly, are so enthralled with Santa right now that they loved the whole premise.

Finally, the boys cut out and decorated cookies today.  This was also a first.  I did take photos but, considering that both boys were in underwear while doing it (they are crazy) I decided not to share HA!

So, even though our plans have been delayed - we still ended up with a great weekend with lots of Christmas fun.

Ironically, just this past week I was feeling like we've been too busy this year with other things to really enjoy the fun Christmas things.  Last year I really worked hard to "protect" our Christmas and made sure we enjoyed the season, this year I felt like we were pushing to get through the basics and that was it.  So this weekend was really a great, unexpected thing and it reminded me of the importance of stopping and just enjoying life as a family.

On a side note, Nate will still get his day - we will be celebrate this coming week :-)

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming.  Can you believe it?  

Isn't that pretty?  Nope, not my house . .. but it is beautiful!

I finished up the last of the shopping on Thursday night.  Most of the gift buying was done but I still needed to get the odds and ends like batteries, bows, and balloons for the birthday boy! 

So now, it's time to wrap, gather and pack.  I have my list and I keep checking it (twice, three times and more!) trying not to forget any detail.  (If only I could find that extra set of keys that I put somewhere that I could easily find but haven't seen them in two months!) 

Another snow storm is supposed to drop another 6-10 inches this weekend.  I love a good snow storm.  I picked up the supplies to make some simple "gingerbread" houses with graham crackers and supplies to decorate Christmas cookies.  

I don't have a menu to share - it's pretty simple the rest of the weekend and then, I don't have to cook for awhile.  We have wrapped up school and are on break already (well, I said . ."I'm done!" so we are on break HA!  We do have a few odds and ends to wrap up - hopefully tomorrow!) 

So, Christmas is coming.  Family time will be a-plenty and we are all looking forward to just that, for sure.  

Now, if only my 6 (almost 7) year old would STOP changing his Christmas list . . .. every five minutes! HA! 

Weekly Menu - It's been awhile

We've been busy.  That's all.  With the holiday, Christmas things kicking into gear and planning for the holidays, I've been hoppin'!  Plus we've been pushing hard with school to finish a little earlier than planned for Christmas break meaning I have less time to get stuff done during the day since I'm spending more time on school.  I finally took time today, Friday, to plan out our menu from now until we leave for Christmas so I thought I'd share it.

Friday (Today) - Chicken and Dumplings.  My kids are not fans of Chicken and Dumplings (the tradgedy!) so the kids get Chicken Nuggets and Fries.

Saturday: We are going to finish up all Christmas shopping Saturday afternoon with the boys and then grab something to eat in town.

Sunday: After church will be a quick meal of Chicken Noodle Soup (I always use the leftovers from Chicken and Dumplings to make my Chicken Noodle Soup!) and French Bread.  Later in the evening, everyone can choose from the fridge/freezer for dinner.

Monday: I'm going to try a new recipe - One Pan Balsamic Chicken and Veggies.  I'll serve it over some pasta with garlic bread.

Tuesday: Creamy Chicken Burritos, Rice, Beans, and Chips and Cheese

Wednesday:  Darryl has practice and, quite honestly, I don't like cooking when he isn't here HA! The boys and I have been grabbing a pizza from Little Ceasers the past few Wednesdays.  It's cheap and we all like it!

Thursday: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Biscuits

Friday: Tonight we are meeting my mom to celebrate Nate's birthday with her.

Saturday:  And today we get to eat out at Nate's choice of resturant to celebrate his birthday!

Sunday: I have a concert and Darryl is working - the boys are going to my Mother-In-Laws after church and will eat lunch with her; I'll grab lunch on the go.  A busy day!

Monday:  - It's time for vacation :-)  Yeah!  No cooking for me for over a week!