Menu Planner
Breakfast Plan
Please note - not all of my recipes have been listed on here yet...it's a work in progress. Since I'm not eating grains anymore, I don't make all of these recipes anymore.
Ala King (chicken or turkey)
Baked Pork Chimichangas
Beans (cooking dried beans)
BBQ Sauce
Buffalo Wings
Chicken and Beans
Clam Chowder
Crepes
Curried Meatballs
Cold Tomato Soup
Fried Rice
Granola
Healthy Ice Cream/ Smoothie
Iced Coffee - the Updated Version!
Jambalaya and the Updated Version
Omelets
Meatza!
Pancakes
Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Pork Chop Marinade
Refried Beans
Roast Beef
Salsa
Sausage - I use ground pork when we have it
Sauteed Veggies
Skillet Cooking
Spaghetti Sauce and Variations
Stupid Easy Sausage and Potatoes
Taco Omelet
Taco Omelet Bake
Taco Salad
Taco Seasoning
Yogurt
Menu Plans:
Week A
Week B
Week C
Week D
Week E
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Friday, September 16, 2005
Homemaking: Random Tips
FLYing!!! - definition
Hotspots
Homemaking Habits
More posts about FLYing
Sunrises and Kiddos - Making Flylady Work for YOU!
The Zones
Live an intentional life by planning your days...
Homemaking Plan
Self (put self first - God created me first....)
- exercise AKA move daily
- time by the creek 3X per week
- 10 minutes every AFTERNOON "Still Water Time (Psalm 23:2)"
 |
| Spearfish Creek - LOVE LOVE LOVE it here! |
- Say/do something nice for my husband every day (boy this is hard!)
- 1 love language per day.
- "Cuddle time" with kids every day (not literally since they aren't fond of that, but alone time with them)
- LISTEN when they talk
Others
- walk with a friend
- 15 minutes in zone Mon-Friday
- Stick to blogging schedule!!! I'm learning all kinds of behind the scenes things, but spending too much time on it. I say that I'm in the College of Johnlyn....cheap but slow LOL!
Thursday, September 8, 2005
Routines
This is more for my reference, but you might be able to get some points. Check out http://www.flylady.net/ for a ton of information!
Routines are so important for me. Once a routine has been established I don't have to work so hard at planning my days.
Everyday:
sweep & mop one section or vacuum/dust, 1-2 loads of laundry, swish and swip bathroom, 5 minutes in zone
Monday:
- STAY AT HOME!!!
- bake 1-2 loaves of bread and cinnamon rolls
- plan out menus for a few days
Tuesday:
- errand day -dr appointments, library, bank, etc
- once a month to Walmart/Sam's Club
Wednesday: nothing planned - hubby is home! Yeah!
Thursday: STAY AT HOME!!! plan out menus for a few days
Friday:
- volunteer at school
- enter budget stuff in microsoft money
- not sure what else
Grocery Details
October 2010: Wow have things changed in a year! I'm not longer writing on my "Groceries101" blog...just not enough to write when you are not running after loss leaders anymore.
Following are the major changes we've made over the past year that I've been blogging:
Note: November 2009 details are at my other blog: Groceries101
Back in the day, I used to spend $600-$1,000 per month on groceries for two adults, a two year old and a baby. Groceries were a lot cheaper back then too! I'm almost embarrassed to write that, but you can see how far I've come!
Today, for our family of four (two adults, one teenager and a ten year old) I currently spend approximately $300.00 per month on groceries and another $50.00 per month for supplies like shampoo, toilet paper, soap, etc. I use very few coupons, shop mostly loss leaders, and buy in bulk to save money. I rarely buy what I really want to eat…I cook/eat whatever is on sale. Currently, I shop weekly at Safeway and our small grocery store, and then at Sam’s club and Walmart once per month.
The $300 food budget does NOT include the following:
After reading Gayle's website where she spends $60/week CASH to feed a family of six, I was inspired to try this for our own family. I started out with $75 per week and was absolutely sure I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I was completely amazed at how little I could spend! I found that I could go as low as $40/week. I MADE myself go to two stores every Wednesday and spend $40 on food for the week for our family and $20 stocking up on items needed for my pantry.
I love having a well stocked pantry... I owe my understanding of the pantry principle to the wonderful people on Frugal Families! Therefore, in August I decided to join Sam’s Club and buy some bulk items. I don’t believe we are saving money by going to Sam’s, but I do have peace of mind by having a lot more food in the house. My goal is to get our monthly total down to $216/month or $50/week.
For reference:$40/week = $173/month
$50/week = $216/month
$60/week = $260/month
$69/week = $300/month
Loss leader – items on the front page (sometimes the back page) of a store’s ad that is cheap and used to entice you to shop at their store instead of somewhere else.
Price book – write down items you buy often so you know when a sale is really a good deal. For example, a whole chicken normally cost $1.49/lb at our store but on sale that price goes down to $.99/lb. It is at this time you buy enough chicken to get you through until the next sale (often times every 6 - 8 weeks).
Following are the major changes we've made over the past year that I've been blogging:
- I rarely serve grains anymore. I feel horrible (stomach issues and hypoglycemic issues) when I eat them so they are not the main part of our diet anymore.
- I am supporting our local businesses by buying beef and pork locally.
- I use Azure Standard as a food co-op and get wonderful produce and other goodies from them.
- I rarely shop at Safeway due to the number of errors that I saw during the past year.
- I occasionally buy organic vegies (never say never :-)
- I serve vegies a lot!
- I don't have to spend as much time cooking as I used to. Occasionally I forget that and spend way too much time in the kitchen trying out new recipes.
- Due to these changes our food budget went from $260 per month to $400 per month. Our health is worth every penny!
Note: November 2009 details are at my other blog: Groceries101
Back in the day, I used to spend $600-$1,000 per month on groceries for two adults, a two year old and a baby. Groceries were a lot cheaper back then too! I'm almost embarrassed to write that, but you can see how far I've come!
Today, for our family of four (two adults, one teenager and a ten year old) I currently spend approximately $300.00 per month on groceries and another $50.00 per month for supplies like shampoo, toilet paper, soap, etc. I use very few coupons, shop mostly loss leaders, and buy in bulk to save money. I rarely buy what I really want to eat…I cook/eat whatever is on sale. Currently, I shop weekly at Safeway and our small grocery store, and then at Sam’s club and Walmart once per month.
The $300 food budget does NOT include the following:
- Occasionally we go out to eat, which comes out of the entertainment budget. If we don’t have money in that envelope then we don’t go out to eat.
- My gardening supplies do not come out of here. Right now it’s a hobby for me. Hopefully some day I’ll save money or at least break even!
- Dog food comes out of the dog budget.
- Any alcohol we buy comes out of the entertainment budget.
After reading Gayle's website where she spends $60/week CASH to feed a family of six, I was inspired to try this for our own family. I started out with $75 per week and was absolutely sure I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I was completely amazed at how little I could spend! I found that I could go as low as $40/week. I MADE myself go to two stores every Wednesday and spend $40 on food for the week for our family and $20 stocking up on items needed for my pantry.
I love having a well stocked pantry... I owe my understanding of the pantry principle to the wonderful people on Frugal Families! Therefore, in August I decided to join Sam’s Club and buy some bulk items. I don’t believe we are saving money by going to Sam’s, but I do have peace of mind by having a lot more food in the house. My goal is to get our monthly total down to $216/month or $50/week.
For reference:$40/week = $173/month
$50/week = $216/month
$60/week = $260/month
$69/week = $300/month
Loss leader – items on the front page (sometimes the back page) of a store’s ad that is cheap and used to entice you to shop at their store instead of somewhere else.
Price book – write down items you buy often so you know when a sale is really a good deal. For example, a whole chicken normally cost $1.49/lb at our store but on sale that price goes down to $.99/lb. It is at this time you buy enough chicken to get you through until the next sale (often times every 6 - 8 weeks).
My Story
I thought I could have it all. Husband, kids, a job and time to myself. After working outside the home for eight years I realized that I just couldn't do it all and have peace in my home. Some people seem to make it work, but I couldn't do it. Everything was suffering.
In February 2000, I happened to stop by the book store and pick up a book called "Getting a Life" by Jacqueline Blix, David Heitmiller. That book TOTALLY changed my way of thinking and my life. In the book, they ask the question, “If you didn’t have to work to pay your bills, what would you do with your life.” I immediately said that I’d quit my full time job and stay home with my babies.
I devoured every book I could on finance and the frugal lifestyle. At that time we had a few student loans to pay off as well as a truck loan. We cashed out a mutual fund and began the snowball principle in getting rid of the debt. Nine months into the journey we sold our house in Colorado and moved to Montana. One year later I was able to quit my part time job and realize my dream of staying home.
My life line over the years has been the forums at frugal-families. I love that community of frugal-minded people!
I have no plans to return to a job outside the home any time soon. My husband brings home the paycheck and my job is to stretch that paycheck as far as I can.
In February 2000, I happened to stop by the book store and pick up a book called "Getting a Life" by Jacqueline Blix, David Heitmiller. That book TOTALLY changed my way of thinking and my life. In the book, they ask the question, “If you didn’t have to work to pay your bills, what would you do with your life.” I immediately said that I’d quit my full time job and stay home with my babies.
I devoured every book I could on finance and the frugal lifestyle. At that time we had a few student loans to pay off as well as a truck loan. We cashed out a mutual fund and began the snowball principle in getting rid of the debt. Nine months into the journey we sold our house in Colorado and moved to Montana. One year later I was able to quit my part time job and realize my dream of staying home.
My life line over the years has been the forums at frugal-families. I love that community of frugal-minded people!
I have no plans to return to a job outside the home any time soon. My husband brings home the paycheck and my job is to stretch that paycheck as far as I can.
Thursday, September 1, 2005
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