Monday Menu Post

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Here is to the hope that I am going to start blogging again regularly. I hope to share more this week about what has been going on and where we are at.  But let’s start with this. Sunday afternoon/ evening we planned the weeks meals and actually got 2 of them all prepared.

Breakfast- Saturday-Bacon, eggs and biscuits  Sunday-Pancakes   Monday-Bagels Tuesday-English muffins Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Left-overs   Sunday-Panda Panda    Monday-Tomato soup Tuesday- left-overs Wednesday- more left-overs   Thursday- broccoli cheese soup Friday-lunch out!

Dinner- Saturday-More left-overs   Sunday-Dippin meal and/or left-overs   Monday Pepper Steak in the crockpot   Tuesday- Chicken casserole Wednesday- Breakfast for Dinner   Thursday- Chicken Burrito Soup   Friday- Pork Fried Rice

Fall Gardening

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It feels like we are finally catching up on some projects and finding a rhythm to life these days!!!!

  • Matt has installed the automatic chicken door and so far it has worked perfectly. We are continuing to check to make sure that everyone makes it inside at night but this will make everyone’s life alot simpler!
  • The strong winds that we received form Ian a couple of weeks ago tore the plastic that we have been using for the greenhouse, originally our plan was to purchase plexi glass to cover the windows as we did with the one in the back.

But because the size of the other windows is odd, we were looking at $100 to purchase and repair. That was just not doable. So, we reused the plexiglass that had previously been a chicken door on the side facing one of the buildings and just used scrap wood on the other side. Matt also used scrap wood to fill the rest of the hole. Total cost $0

  •  The benefit of Ian is 225 gallons of rainwater stored.
  • The garden is starting to end. We still have some tomatoes ripening on the vine, green peppers are the most abundant they have been all year!  Zach harvest all the sweet potatoes this past weekend.

     

  • I have planted carrots in the sweet potato bed to see what we may be able to produce over the winter. I have cabbage, broccoli, and several varieties of lettuce all growing as well

Five Things Friday

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  1. The weather is so strange this year. We kept the air conditioning on until the first day of fall (9/21). Since that day we have not had a hard freeze, but the temperature has stayed below 70 degree most days. Today was 80 and tomorrow is forecasted to be 58*. We have turned on the heat and I am just hoping to keep the bill as low as possible. The good news is that our house holds heat, so we are very fortunate that way.
  2. Tomorow, we have a college visit with Lily. Decisions are hard and some just appear to be impossible College is a huge decision and honestly, I think that it is a little more difficult for Lily.
  3. I am absolutely LOVING my digital pressure canner!  I have been purchasing jars as I find them.  I have already canned 5 pints of split pea soup, broth, red beans, white beans and pear sauce.
  4. In true Give a Mouse a Cookie fashion, I now need to find a better storage area for the cans. After thinking about it. I am going to clean out the hall closet, move all the food to it and have Matt add some shelves so that we can store lots of stuff!
  5. I have one more week at work before the new person starts. “I think I can, I think I can…..

Monday Menu Post

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It appears that I am catching up on things. I want to significantly reduce our grocery budget from now until December. Planning and preparation are going to be a must!

Breakfast- Saturday-Breakfast bowls Sunday-Breakfast leftovers   Monday-Bagels Tuesday- Breakfast burritos Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.
Lunch- Saturday-Costco Sunday-Longhorn Steak house   Monday-Tomato soup Tuesday- left-overs Wednesday- lunch out for me Thursday- broccoli cheese soup Friday-leftovers

Dinner- Saturday-Chicken, scallop potatoes and green beans   Sunday-Broccoli Cheese soup. Monday-Rice and Kielbasa that got skipped last week.  Tuesday- Left-overs Wednesday- Taco Rice   Thursday- Hamburger helper   Friday- Torella

September in Review

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We started September off with a bang… a quick 4 day trip to Florida that included time with Haley and her family and the Disney “Not So Scary Party.”  We also spent a long weekend camping at the beach after doing our first campus visit with Lily!  And the best new… I am staring to feel like myself!

Groceries– budget amount is $700 Met! $273.23 which included a $165 Amazon order! This is a huge positive as it included some extra items for camping!! Hoping to stay the course and get our average down the rest of the month.

Auto/ Gas. My goal is $400 a month. NOT met! $ 330 was spent which does not count our Florida trip or gas for the beach camping. . Just going to leave this there

Cash Envelope system- Nope not this month… I am going to get back on track with this!

Blogging- 15 post per month. This is post number 11 so not horribly bad for the month.

Exercise days-  Day at Disney, day at UNC-W and my watch tells me I am meeting my exercise goal every day at work so that should count!

No Spend Days-No idea!

Five Things Friday

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  1. Hurricane Ian is upon us in North Carolina. This is a huge storm and we have actually been experiencing some of the wind and rain for the past 24 hours. Luckily, we have not lost electricity or internet yet (9pm).
  2. Both the school districts and the Community college all declared remote learning days today.  Everyone was able to spend time working on school and work assignments. I am actually excited to have the time to get my paperwork caught up!
  3. I am loving my new electric canner. I have been able to do a bath of pear sauce, a batch of kidney beans, a batch of navy beans and a batch of mix kidney and navy beans.  I had one can not to seal!  This is awesome. I am planning to make some split pea soup next.  My goal is to get really comfortable with the canner, start to empty out the freezers a little so that next year, the canner will be used for all my spaghetti sauce.
  4. Because I was at home, I actually prepared three meals today. Bacon and biscuits for breakfast, pigs in a blanket for lunch and homemade tomato soup for dinner. Kendall made a pumpkin cake which with grilled cheese was dinner to remember.  I tripled the recipe for the tomato soup, so we have lots for future use!
  5. Because of the storm we decided to leave the chickens in the coop today.  I purchased a second feeder. Zach has been to check on them twice.  Braxton also decided to spend the night.  This is the first time he has asked to spend the night so we are all so excited!

Wordless Wednesday- Camping Fun

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Campus visit for Lily at UNC-W was the reason for this trip

Golf carts are always fun!

Carolina Pines has an awesome mini golf course! We all enjoyed getting to play!

Water park and Lazy river are also part of Carolina Pines.

My favorite part was the hour I spent sitting on the beach. Kendall was the only one to play in the water.

Matt’s favorite part of the trip was ‘Smores”

Our form of camping was fun!

Tuesday Thoughts

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  • As you have probably realized, we were out of town this weekend. Lily, Matt and I went on a campus tour of UNC-W on Friday. We drove down on Thursday and stayed until Sunday.
  • I spent an hour on the beach, we all enjoyed the lazy river, kids played in the pool. Putt Putt was enjoyed as well as a campfire and a couple of card games.
  • We also went to the outlets and enjoyed several hours of shopping
  • We have cleaned and winterized the camper. This includes using it as storage for coolers and plastic totes.
  • I started a batch of pear sauce and have plans to use the new electric canner this week.
  • We are staying very busy. I am still overwhelmed at work. Hopefully this will improve in October.
  • My health is improving, and I am hopeful to avoid a second surgery this year.
  • We have finally turned off the air conditioning which is very late for us. I would love to go any entire month with needing heat or air but the chances are very slim at this point.
  • After returning we have opened the rest of the chicken coop. The chickens are enjoying the extra space and practice flying from one end of the other. We have a automatic door to install but that is down the list.
  • My goal for the remaining three month include reducing the grocery budget and working our way through the freezer and pantry. I would love to do a no shopping challenge but not sure I am ready for that additional stress.
  • The garden is changing as well. We have added the rotating bottoms to the green stocks, we need to dig out sweet potatoes and plant that with carrots. The green beans are finishing and I need to purchase worms to add for the end of summer as well.

Monday Menu Planning

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This week is going to be significantly busier than last week. The weather is starting to change. I need to get our pears preserved along with several other things. So you will notice alot of pre-prepared foods.  We did camp from Friday to Sunday so we used the Blackstone for most meals during this time!

Breakfast- Saturday- Big breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast or English muffins Sunday- sausage and pancakes Monday- Find your own. Tuesday- Pear Baked Oatmeal Wednesday- Homemade Everything Bagels Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Cheese Quesadillas Sunday-Chicken nuggets and green beans.   Monday-I had chicken salad Tuesday- left-overs Wednesday-eat out   Thursday- salad   Friday-not sure what it will be at this point.

Dinner- Saturday-Ate at the outlets Sunday- Cowboy beans   Monday-Chicken pot pie and pear sauce.   Tuesday Million Dollar Spaghetti Pie.  Wednesday-Pulled pork sandwiches   Thursday- Chicken and Broccoli Casserole Friday-Kielbasa and rice.

Monday Menu Post

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Planning and prepping are working well. This week, I have alot of things already prepped so it is heat and eat!

Breakfast- Saturday- Big breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs and toast. Sunday- bagels with choice of toppings. Monday- Find your own. Tuesday- Homemade everything bagels.  Wednesday Thursday and Friday- find it oatmeal, cereal and milk, French toast sticks, bagels, breakfast burritos and pancakes.

Lunch- Saturday-Cheese Quesadillas Sunday-Little Italy.   Monday-I had a salad Tuesday- salad.  Wednesday-eat out   Thursday- left-overs, Friday-chicken bacon ranch pasta salad

Dinner- Saturday-homemade pizza Sunday- Salsa chicken soup (new recipe)  Monday-Spaghetti and Garlic Bread   Tuesday Hamburger Helper.  Wednesday- Chicken nuggets   Thursday- Taco Bell   Friday-Hot Dogs.