Menu Plan for First week of Feb, 2010!

I will be cooking for 4 adults and one toddler for the next three weeks-I love it! I brought a ton of canned/dry goods over with me to offset the increased costs of living with my folks for the next bit and I plan to do most of our eating from the pantry.

My dad loves red meat so I have to have some of that in most meals so I am looking for deals there. Yesterday my dad and I swung by Safeway and found ground beef marked down for $1.50 for 3 lbs! $0.50/lb is amazing! So we bought two and left a dozen others for someone else (but those were marked $2.50 each for 3 lbs-still an amazing deal!)

Breakfasts:
cold cereal, pancakes, scrambled eggs with mix-ins, french toast, homemade donuts on Friday (for my birthday-anyone have a fool-proof homemade recipe?)

Lunches:Leftovers

Dinners:

Monday: Roast, acorn squash, carrots in the crockpot, bread & leftover salad

Tuesday: Leftovers, soup (parents at Bible study tonight)

Wednesday: Thai Peanut noodles with leftover roast on the side for dad, frozen broccoli

Thursday: Chili and Cornbread

Friday: Red Robin for my birthday (free birthday burger-yay!)

Saturday: Meatloaf from freezer, mac n cheese, peas

Sunday: Enchiladas, green beans

Visit Orgjunkie for more plans!

Home Renovation part 5: the living room

And the end! When you have a 586 square foot house, the tour is rather short:) So this is where it ends, the living room. I already miss this room because it was so pretty when we had it all set up and finished and we only were able to enjoy it this way for a couple days really.

Ah well, I am learning a lot about not holding onto treasures on earth these days:)

Before:


After:


You can see the whole series if you look under the label "home renovation".

Livvie girl

She is such a joy to us. And she FINALLY began sleeping through the night again, after many months of weeping and gnashing of teeth. And one night where we did the dreaded crying it out (sort of on accident-she was inconsolable anyway because of a cold so we just kept checking on her after we figured there was nothing else we could do for her:( Liv doesn't crawl, she scoots. On her tush. From the front she looks like she's crawling, but she's dragging a (what looks like) bum leg underneath her. It looks hilarious but it works for her. I guess eventually she'll either figure out how to move the leg out or will learn to walk instead!!

Have you signed up for SWAGBUCKS yet?

I signed up for Swagbucks way back when and promptly forgot about it. Well, lo and behold I signed in last night and have enough for $20 in amazon.com giftcards! Whoohoo!

So have you signed up yet? If you are thinking about it sign up HERE!



Its basically a mindless way to earn points towards fun stuff like amazon gift cards while doing google searches you would do anyway. I wasn't super sold on it until I found out that I had earned so many points (especially because of nice friends who signed up through my link earlier:) Anyway, I am excited because we can order a book or two while in NC since we can't pack much. Sweet!

Home Renovation part 4: the kitchen/dining room

Before:

Notice how low the ceilings are above-very dark and closed in as well as the carpets and layers of previous wall coverings.

After:



The space now feels very open and bright. The cabinets are the same to save money but they were all removed and put back in a different configuration to make better use of space. A new (when I say new I mean new to this house!) stove, microwave, sink, (brand new:) counters, floors, walls, lighting, wiring...etc. etc. etc.! We lived in this room (literally-we've even slept in here!) for 6 months. Daniel did a great job and had lots of help from friends at church to finish this room.

Home Renovation Part 3: the bathroom

Before:



After:


My favorite part of this redo is actually not pictured-behind the door are a bunch of great cabinets that match the bathroom vanity. The bathroom is my favorite room redo by far.

Menu Plan for the newly combined household

We are praying and crossing our fingers-we think we found renters! If our renters check out we'll need to be out by next week. The girls and I are already at my parents' house in snowy E. WA (where we stay until missionary training end of Feb) so that Daniel can get the final projects done on the house and pack/clean without little people running amok. So...most of our food made a long trip over the mountains last night and I am the official meal planner extraordinaire while staying here. Here's what I am thinking we'll eat on the days we're home this week:

Breakfasts:
cold cereal, oatmeal pancakes, eggs

Lunches:Leftovers

Dinners:

Monday: Taco Soup, fresh tortilla chips

Tuesday: Pasta with alfredo sauce, green beans

Wednesday: Taco Salad

Thursday: We'll be traveling to my grandmother's funeral this day (in Marysville)

Friday: Funeral today -we'll be eating at family's house/at the church

Saturday: Frozen pizza or something easy since we may travel over the mountains today

Sunday: Whole Roasted Chicken with potatoes or rice on the side, broccoli

Visit Orgjunkie for more plans!

Weekly shopping and a whole lot more

Besides fruit and freebies, I didn't do much shopping this week. $2.63 for the below:

I also picked up a few things at Walgreens: hair dye (getting old stinks!), diet pepsi and some other things?

Its been a trying week or two and this next week is going to be hectic to say the best. We are doing our first check on potential renters, finishing the final million house projects and packing our whole lives up to move to my parents'/North Carolina for missions training. The girls and I are sick with colds Daniel and I are sharing our missions plans twice at church in the next two days.

So...we'd appreciate prayer to say the least!

In Memory of Grandma Beth

Grandma Beth and the girls, summer 2009

We love and miss you Grandma Beth! She's now walking face to face with her sweet Savior.

And she's off!

I'm running again! After a LOOOOooong hiatus I am running again. Well jogging or plodding is more accurate. A hard couple of weeks and a doctor's visit sealed the deal that I need to work on better health. Plus I'm coming up on Liv's 8 month birthday. I still feel way to post-partum for it to have been that long!

Every morning for the past three mornings we head to the track as a family and I jog a little, walk a little for a about a mile and a half. Not much but its a start and I am enjoying it a little even (minus the sore everywhere part:).

G'pa & G'ma G moving help & icecream shop

Hangin' at our newly renovated pad with grandma and grandpa G after they helped us load a bunch of stuff we are keeping for the time being (while doing missionary aviation training @ JAARS in NC). Just finished moving in and now we're moving out. Very disconcerting in lots of ways but God is giving us comfort and joy in the midst of our constantly changing circumstances.

M'ana looking pensive:

Liv and a ring toy:

Where is M'ana?:

Who you calling "Elmer Fudd?"

M'ana and the school(what she calls this cupboard for some reason) & Gramie:

Home Renovation Part 2: the laundry "room"

Before:

After:

My mom made the curtains, aren't they cute?!

New floor, new walls, new washer/dryer hookups, new shelves. The washer and dryer are used-from Habitat for Humanity and a garage sale.

Home renovation: Part 1 the bedroom

Before:


After:

Menu Plan for the week of 1/18/10

A few of last week's meals didn't get eaten because I often overestimate the amount our little family will eat (including leftovers). Even though we eat leftovers for lunch the next day I often eat soup instead for weight loss purposes. So we ate leftovers for dinner one (maybe two) nights last week? So several ideas show up again this week!

Breakfasts:
cold cereal, oatmeal pancakes, eggs, fruit, maybe super power muffins?

Lunches:Leftovers

Dinners:

Monday: Leftover baked ziti (good but made wayyyy too much)

Tuesday: Baked potato bar with chili and broccoli, cheese

Wednesday: Spinach Rice & Cheese Casserole (to use the free spinach from FM!)

Thursday: Meatloaf and Mashed potatoes (meatloaf from freezer), broccoli or veggie burgers and home fries

Friday: Homemade Pizza, veggie sticks

Saturday: Quiche or frittata

Sunday: Turkey Tetrazinni from freezer or Pasta with alfredo sauce, cooked carrots

Visit Orgjunkie for more plans!

Nice plans, ha!

I'll sneak a few cute kiddo pictures in here so the rest of this won't be a total no-fun read:)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21

Honestly, this has been a very difficult week for us. We have had no less than four things fall through that we were hoping for. Nothing that changes our big plans (to go to missions aviation training for 4 months this spring) has come to pass. But other relevant things we were praying about have come back to us as "no".

That said, we have much to be thankful for. We have had 5 people tell us they would like to partner with our mission efforts this week. That is a huge praise! Not only that but we sold our lazy susan for the same price we bought it-after a whole week of zero interest in it on craigslist. But the disappointment of those other "hoped for's" lingers. I am reminded that our trust and our hope is in Him and not in our circumstances. And that's a good thing.

Cheerio Chasin'

No Cheerio will ever be safe again...

Pulling herself up on when a tasty prize is involved!

A mouthful of fist helps the cheerios go down in a most delightful way!

Who me?

Eating from the pantry shoppinig

Posting my shopping early because I don't intend to do any more this week except to use up my $5 catalina at Albies at some point. We are actually packing again (pretty sure we haven't even unpacked everything from our last move!;) so there is no reason to buy food I will have to move, give away or eat before we go!

So...I just got some basics at:
Fred Meyer:
All detergeant $0.99 after coupons
milk $1.99
Fruit/veggies $7??
I spent just under $10, but got rid of my receipt so not sure on exact.


Albertson's: $.24Green Giant Potatoes $0.99
Huggies wipes $1.29 but used $1 coupon doubled
Puffs tissues $1.39 but used $1 coupon doubled
Bumblee tuna (used free coupon but it was $.11 over max amount) so $0.11
Cream of mushroom soup used $1 off coupon doubled
So I had overage to make the potatoes and tuna only $0.24!!
What did you buy this week? Any hot deals I should be sad I am missing:)?

High Protein Pumpkin Pie

This recipe is adapted (with changes) from "The Daily Bean" by Suzanne Caciola White.

High Protein Pumpkin Pie

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
2 eggs
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup sugar or other sweetener (I used some white sugar, some apple juice)
1 cup canned pumpkin
crust (optional-I did not use)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Puree the beans until smooth. Add eggs and process until smooth and creamy. Transfer bean mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the evaporated milk, and then beat to blend. Add spices and sugar. Mix well. Add pumpkin and stir again. Pour into pie plate or crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 then reduce to 350 and bake for 45-50 minutes or more (the "or more" was definitely my experience) until knife inserted comes out clean. Let cool for at least 2 hours. I actually did not like this when I first tasted it straight out of the oven. The next morning after refridgeration it tasted almost just like a pumpkin pie. Plus it fills you up in a way that regular pumpkin pie doesn't!

(thanks for the book mom-in-law Karen!;)

Working through toddler food battles

I can't complain too much, but my dear two year old is going through some food battles with us. There are certain things she will always eat such as eggs, yogurt, cereal, bananas, milk, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese (homemade or boxed)green beans and some others I am sure I am forgetting. But in our house we have a lot of "mixed" foods, like soups, casseroles, pastas with lots of different toppings etc. and she's starting to get picky. She'll start out great by eating 2 or 3 bites and then spend the next 20 minutes stirring, playing and generally not eating. I know she doesn't really like chunks of onions. Anyone have any tips to get the girl moving? We already have tried saving her food until later, but then she wants us to feed it to her! Silly girl.

And this one? She will eat anything including dirt on the floor. And hair. Gross. But she will figure out how to be picky in her own time I bet:)!

Enjoying a few more Christmas goodies

From Great Grandma B in Indy!

Checking out the animal puzzle together-and cooking with it too?



Liv especially enjoyed the tag:)

Menu Plan for the week of 1/11/09

I have a lovely 10# bag of potatoes to use this week that was $0.23 after double coupon overage! That plus using up the two bags of spinach and free salsa will help this week to be an almost no shopping week for me:)

Breakfasts:
cold cereal, buttermilk muffins, eggs, pancakes, fruit

Lunches:Leftovers, sandwiches when the leftovers are thin

Dinners:

Monday: Tuna Noodle & Zucchini Casserole (using frozen shredded zukes from this summer)

Tuesday: Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, green beans

Wednesday: Butter Chickpea Curry-just cooked a huge pot of chickpeas, so I am making this and probably walnut chocolate chip garbanzo cake:)

Thursday: Meatloaf and Mashed potatoes (meatloaf from freezer), broccoli

Friday: Nachos with bean dip, salsa, sour cream (need a deal on tortilla chips-any ideas?)

Saturday: Baked Spagetti, Italian Cheese Bread, green beans

Sunday: Spinach Rice & Cheese Casserole (to use the free spinach from FM!)

Visit Orgjunkie for more plans!

Loves me some grocery bargains 1st week of 2010!

Yes, I do indeed love a bargain. Last night was a very fun trip-thanks in part to Maygan, for sending me an envelope full of coupons (for winning a contest), many high value and some for free stuff! Thanks again Maygan! I made several mini-trips this week, to get a few things we were out of (rolls, cheese, veggies) and the rest were freebies that we will be needing soon. Now that Liv is starting on solids and M is eating more (2 large pancakes and two glasses of milk this morning!) we are going through more and more food:).

I have been discovering how great Fred Meyer's deals can be! Many can be found at Puget Sound Prudence.
Fred Meyer: $1.24 after coupons!!!
2 bags baby spinach
1 Kroger salad mix
4 jars free!! salsa (we go through this like water-plus I got paid $1 to buy it:)!
1 free international delight creamer
2 grapefruits
1 Kashi cereal
1 Star olive oil

Albertson's doublers trip $0.22 with overage on the Beechnut meal

Safeway/Walgreens $3.20 oop (used a catalina, got one back) -$1 steak, free crackers cookies and salsa! We needed the bananas, baking soda and tomato sauce

Albertson's $2.24 oop -just two things we were out of, used $0.75 catalina from earlier and in ad coupon for cheese

Albertson's/Fred Meyer: $13.82 but received $7.50 in catalinas which I used the next trip. The soup seems to violate my eat from the pantry project, but I was able to buy it cheaper than making homemade this time and I am almost out of the last bunch!:)

Albertson's: rolled that catalina $1.30 oop and got $5 cat back!

Liv will be eating cheerios soon and the veggies we need! The cookies...well other than having coupons for them they just helped me reach the $20 total-no excuse;)

Total for this week: $22.02
A lot higher than I would like for a pantry challenge week. My goal is to use the $5 catalina at Albies next week and less than $5 for other stuff the rest of the week.