Wordless Wednesday- Baseball
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Monday Menu Planning
Last week did not go at all as I had planned on Monday. The weather turned really cool and we decide to change things up. The good news is that we did not eat out extra(1 time on Saturday) and we had everything we needed here. School deliveries were a pleasant surprise with lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. My pantry and freezer are officially stocked up but I will continue to replace things we eat all of and add things as I find them on sale.
Breakfast– Saturday-Sausage crescent rolls Sunday-bagels Monday- , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, sausage, pancakes, oatmeal, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos, breakfast pizza or omelets
Lunch- Saturday-Bad Daddy Burger Sunday- Left-overs. Monday- corn dogs (school) Tuesday- sautéed zucchini and squash with other dipping veggies Wednesday-(ham and cheese sliders school). Thursday- Salad, Friday- left-overs
Dinner- Saturday-veggies and fruit Sunday-quesadillas using left-overs Monday- Chicken Sandwich with left over French fries Tuesday- Olive Garden Chicken pasta Wednesday- Egg Roll in a bowl Thursday- Cheesy corn dog muffins Friday- Spaghetti and meatballs.
Saving on Saturday
I finally feel like I have a couple of ways we saved to share this week!
1. We turned off the air conditioning for 4 days. Saving approximately $20 for the week. Our electric bill came for this week and the only difference is use of the air conditioning. It jumped $80 from last month. I am going to use that figure of $20 a week as what it cost to run our air conditioning.
2. Buying conditioner and body wash at the Dollar Tree. The girls were out of conditioner (which neither Matt nor I use). So I made a stop at a Dollar Tree. I was able to purchase 3 bottles of conditioner for $3 as opposed to $3.99 a bottle anywhere else. I also picked up Zach and Matt a bottle each of body wash. Again saving at least $3 each on these purchases. On a side note, I usually buy shampoo, conditioner and body wash at CVS when I can purchase for less than $1. We have used all of our stockpile so instead of spending even $2, the Dollar Tree is a great option.
3. Ate at home for all except one meal this week. We have gotten into a habit of grabbing breakfast out on Saturday mornings. We keep the cost low at around $15 but this week, I made a plan for Saturday breakfast and saved that money. I also have been very focused on using up left-overs instead of cooking anything. We received lunches and breakfast from the school in addition to a few items from the garden. It is important that we use these items instead of letting them go to waste. I am excited to say that this week, we have eaten at home and eaten out of the refrigerator.
4. Order glass for Lily from Zenni. I was able to get a pair of glasses with transitional lens for $108. Lily has a stronger prescription and most places will not make her glasses for this reason so to be able to order for around $100 is a huge money saver. In comparison, I also purchased glasses for Zach this week as well. I used a BOGO deal at vision works and spent $410 for two pair of glasses or $205 each. This puts me at saving at least $100 on Lily’s glasses.
5. Purchased for $1 a 30 day supply of contacts for Kendall. We are going to try these out. My vision insurance starts again on July 1st and I will be able to order more regular contact for her but these should help us bridge the gap of what I can order and a true year’s supply.
6. Moved both Lily and Kendall’s braces payment from our regular account to my Medflex account, which renews on July 1st. This money is tax free! We saved $267 a month by moving these payments.
7. Purchased polo shirts for Matt at Costco for $9.99 for 2 shirts. We purchased a total of 6 shirts for a savings of at least $50 even finding items on sale.
Friday Update
- The Garden- Because of our strange weather here, the garden has been all over the place. We are still finding 5-10 ripe strawberries a day. We seem to be on the last of our snap peas but have been able to enjoy on a very regular basis. This week, we are enjoying zucchini and squash. It appears that my cucumber plants are actually alive! They have started to produce blooms and I am hopeful for some in a couple of weeks. We have tomatoes growing and I am really excited that it appears that all the plants have survived and are starting to produce. I was able to purchase a peach tree that if lives will finish up the eatable border in the back yard.
- The weather- CRAZY! For the first time ever in June, we turned off the air conditioning for 4 days this past week. Our average high is 85 but we had 3 days in the 60’s. Unfortunately the humidity got us on the the four day and it is back to the air.
- Food- I am very excited and pleased that our school lunch deliveries have improved significantly for the summer. I am thankful for any and all food but this past week, we received lots of raw fruits and vegetables that the kids love. Breakfast food switched from donuts to cereal and pop tarts. My kids are big breakfast eaters so a single donut or muffin is a snack but a bowl of cereal will last several hours. I am now very comfortable with our food storage. My plan for the summer is to continue to replace what we use and what I can find on sale but I am no longer afraid of running out even if I stopped shopping completely.
- Summer Break- I am officially on summer break until August 10th! The weather has limited my ability to enjoy but I have been able to read 4 additional books this week.
- Budget- We are continuing to save money on gas! I am going to do a budget rearranging in July due to the changes in health care cost. I am most excited to see our debt numbers decrease! I am planning a post this week with lots of details!
Monday Menu Planning
I am on summer break!! I am so excited to finally have some guilt free down time and hope to enjoy every second of it! However today the weather is not cooperating so I may even have to change up the menu plan to add a soup! The goal this week is to use up left-overs. The kids will begin receiving 6 breakfasts and 6 lunches from the school starting this week so we need to make some space!
Breakfast– Saturday-Biscuit King! This is become a favorite and I am not upset with that idea! Sunday-Toast, bacon and eggs Monday- , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, sausage, pancakes, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos or omelets have been added for the next couple of weeks.
Lunch- Saturday-left-overs Sunday- Seafood from a local restaurant. I ate out today (Monday) and Matt will eat out (Friday). So depending on what the kids get from the school we may just eat left-overs the rest of the week. I am also planning to add it what ever we can harvest from the garden!
Dinner- Saturday-BBQ salad using left-overs Sunday- left-overs Monday- Pork Fried rice (all left-overs) Tuesday- Quesadillas using left-over BBQ chicken or pork. Wednesday- Italian Spaghetti Salad (depending on weather) or left-overs or soup Thursday- Cheeseburger pizza Friday- Olive Garden Chicken and pasta!
Recipe Challenge 36 and 37
I have decided that since I am doing so well on this challenge that it would probably be best aka make my life easier if I plan to go ahead and finish the challenge during my summer break. This way, when we start back to school and our crazy busy life, I can enjoy some new favorites! The second reason is that it allows me to keep up with my goal for blogging as well! I also want to get my recipe book and folders cleaned and organized this summer as well.
I decided to try this first recipe AppleSauce BBQ Chicken for a couple of reasons. I wanted a good easy meal with chicken and second I still have some baby food from Braxton that I need to use, applesauce is one of these. The recipe is from one of my new favorites websites One Hundred Dollars a Month. I have only been reading for about a year but it is a wealth of information. This chicken turned out perfectly. I had 5 random piece of chicken breast left in a bag so I decided to go ahead put it all in to make room in the freezer. I was worried about enough sauce but I had plenty! The recipe is a freezer meal but I just added it all to the crockpot, chicken first, onion and then the sauce. I decided to go ahead and shred the chicken prior to serving. It was a huge hit. Definitely a repeat but will likely cut the recipe in half next time because it made two additional meals. The first is below and the second is chicken sandwiches on Sunday.
After dinner I place 3 cups in a bowl for the second recipe BBQ chicken salad. I got the idea for this from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures but really made it my own. I simply add a bag of Cole slaw mix and 2 tablespoons of lemon to the chicken. Mix it all up and put in the refrigerator. We took this to the pool and enjoyed for dinner on Saturday. Another hit! The original recipe said you could use canned chicken and I may do that next time.
Two repeats in a row! Fifteen more recipes to try sounds very doable at this point! This is the reason I want to finish the challenge finding lots of good and simple meals for the winter! The official count is
Repeating 18
Maybe 8
No 11
5 Things Friday
- Next week should be the most normal week since March. Monday is my last day of work for the school year!!!!!! The kids have swim practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Piano is scheduled for Wednesday. Zach has baseball games on Tuesday and Friday. And finally on Tuesday, Kendall finishes her oral surgery! Never thought a crazy busy week would cause this much excitement!
- The square foot garden is awesome! We are currently harvesting zucchini and snap peas. I have small tomatoes and green peppers! The cucumbers are flowering finally so I am so thankful and excited!
- The school system benefits reset in July of each year. Because of the ability to place even more in my flex spending account this year which is pre-tax. I was able to move our braces payments from the regular account back to the medical flex account which gives us an extra $267 a month. I will need to use at least $100 of this each month for other medical expenses but it is still a huge savings.
- This past weekend, we decided to have a yard sale. We have been slowly cleaning out different parts of the house during COVID-19 so I was anxious to finally get rid of the excess. I am very pleased that we made a profit of over $200! Even better is I had a lady come and purchase all the remaining clothes at the end of the day. This was huge and saved us a trip to Goodwill.
- I was very excited to find Suddenly Salad marked at $1 during my last trip to Walmart Express. I was able to stock up ! We will have these at least once a week for most of the summer! I am also excited to try several new salad recipes that I found on line! I have decided to try and complete the 52 recipe challenge over the summer! I am afraid that once we go back to school, we need to stick to easy and recipes we are comfortable with!
Wordless Wednesday- by Lily
Monday Menu Planning
6 DAYS! That is the official count down for my work! This week we have added baseball games and practice. Next week, we start swim team practice. I can’t tell you how overall excited I am! We do have more summer meals and crock pot meals as it is getting much warmer around here!
Breakfast– Saturday-Sausage biscuits (during the yard sale) Sunday-, bacon and eggs Monday- , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, sausage, pancakes, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos or omelets have been added for the next couple of weeks.
Lunch- Saturday-Burger King from yard sale profits Sunday-Chinese from Panda Panda The kids will have school delivered lunches for Monday and Tuesday only this week, Matt has 2 days of chicken sandwiches and 2 days of hamburgers I am going to return to eating at least one salad a week and also continue with some left-overs on other days.
Dinner- Saturday-Pasta salad with lots of extras Sunday- Hamburgers and Hot Dogs Monday- Left-overs Tuesday- Chicken enchiladas Wednesday- Creamy Chicken Spaghetti or Left-overs depending on the refridgerator Thursday- BBQ chicken Friday- Meat Loaf
Recipe Challenge 33,34 and 35
A couple of things have slowed us down on the recipe challenge. The first of which is the weather, it is finally summer time weather in North Carolina. I am definitely a seasonal eater, give me soups and casseroles in the winter and salads and sandwiches in the summer. Another reason, is that we are trying to eat and use up the items we are given from the school lunch. The kids usually get an apple juice, a chocolate milk, a fruit, a vegetable along with a lunch item and breakfast items. Given all this it may be a very good thing that we are WAY ahead on trying 52 new recipes this year.
#33- Pioneer Woman Mini Strawberry muffins- These actually were really good however they stuck in my mini muffin pan. We used a spoon to eat each individual muffin. I am going to label this a no because I don’t know what went wrong or how to fix it!
#34- Strawberry Coffee Cake. This is from my favorite recipe site Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures! It was awesome, we shared with friends and they had to have the recipe to make themselves. I did make a couple of changes, used fresh strawberries, mix the sugar and strawberries together for the filling and finally topped with Cool Whip.
#35- Creamy Ranch Chicken Casserole Recipe- I am not sure where I found this one as it came out of my drawer. It appears to be from Tasty? but I am still unsure. Lily made this for dinner on Monday. Our chicken was not unthawed completely so it took a long time to bake. Kendall LOVED it and it was all eaten. I am going to give it a definite maybe. Lily followed the directions and kept the chicken whole. I am thinking I would like to cut the chicken up to smaller pieces so it will cook quicker but also so that it will be more of a casserole and the flavors will blend better!
Official Count of Recipe Challenge
Repeating 16
Maybe 8
No 11