Menu Plan November 17th, 2008

Monday: Chicken Parmesan (bread boneless skinless chicken breast, cover with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese), bread and steamed cauliflower

Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie (with Mashed potato topping, mixed veg, ground beef and cheese)

Wednesday: Sloppy Lentil Joe's (using Ragu for the sauce), cheesy broccoli and Home Fries

Thursday: Creamy Potato Soup and Corn Muffins

Friday: out to eat to our favorite restaurant (Indian food...New Delhi! for our 4 year anniversary with a gift from Daniel's parents...Thankyou!!)

Saturday: French Bread Pizza, veggies and dip, hummus

Sunday: Chicken Tetrazini and Brussel Sprouts (all three of us love brussel sprouts!)

Christmas Baking Jump Start Courtesy of Walgreen's

If you're anything like me, the thought of the holiday season brings thoughts of baking lots of delicious things. Delicious things that you might not normally bake...Christmas cookies, pies...yum! This year, it certainly doesn't help that I am pregnant but the holiday baking bug has already hit. So far, all I've allowed myself to do are gift mixes, but this 2 day Walgreen's sale will certainly do me in:)




Walgreen's has another $5/$20 purchase coupon good today and tomorrow AND they have some really good deals on baking supplies! Its a great time to stock up! I am going to use the recent Nestle Morsel coupons (for $1.00/2 and $1.25/2) as well as stock up on baking powder, baking soda and salt. This combined with the Loreal Free After Rebate will bring my total right to $20!

Safeway NW Deals for November 12th-18th, 2008

The big news this week is the cheap turkeys! In my neck of the woods, Safeway is the first to have the cheap turkey deal.
Manor House or Safeway Turkey 17-22lbs $0.27/lb or 10-15 lbs $0.39/lb with a minimum purchase of $25 on other stuff.

Double your rewards at the pump when you buy $100 in gift cards. Might be a good way to get a few Christmas presents taken care of while saving money on gas!

48 hour only sale (Saturday and Sunday only):

Starbucks Coffee 12 oz. $5.99

Nabisco Crackers $1.88 select varieties

Progresso Soup $0.97 each (select varieties)
Use $1.00/4 coupon from 11-09 S
Final Price $0.72

Assorted Pudding Rings $1.99 each

Coupon Deals

Suave Shampoo, Conditioner or Stylers, 5.24 to 14.5-oz. $2.29
Use $1.50/2 coupon from 09-21 RP
Final Price $1.54

Swanson Broth, 14-oz. $0.60
Use $0.25/4 coupon from 11-09 S
final Price $0.54

Ball Park Meat Franks, 16-oz. (cpn for Angus Beef Franks if included in sale) $2.50
Use $1.00/1 coupon from 10-19 RP
Final Price $1.50

Barilla Pasta, 12 to 16-oz. (cpns for Piccolini & Whole Grain) $1.34
Use $0.50/2 coupon from 09-28 S
Final Price $1.09

General Mills Cereal 8.9 to 12.8-oz. selected varieties. $1.99
Use $1.00/3 coupon from 11-02 S
Final Price $1.66

Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage, 14 to 16-oz. -BOGO $2.25
Use $1.00/2 coupon from 10-05 RP
Final Price $1.75

Nestle Hot Cocoa, 10-ct. $2.00
Use $1.00/2 coupon from 11-02 RP
Final Price $1.50

General Mills Chex Cereal, 12.8 to 14.25-oz. $3.00
Use $1.00/2 coupon from 11-09 S
Final Price $2.50

Johnsonville Breakfast Sausage Links, 12-oz. $3.00
Use $1.00/2 coupon from 11-09 S
Final Price $2.50

Keebler Crackers, 4.44 to 16-oz. (cpn for 8.5 oz or larger) $2.50
Use $0.55/2 coupon from 09-28 RP
Final Price $2.23

Pillsbury Brownie Mix, 13.5 to 19.5-oz. $2.00
Use $0.75/2 coupon from 11-09 RP
Final Price $1.63

Kelloggs Special K Cereal, 12 to 14-oz. $2.99
Use $1.00/1 coupon from 11-09 RP
Final Price $1.99

Glade Candles, 4-oz. $2.50
Use $1.50/2 coupon from 11-02 S
Final Price $1.75

General Mills Chex Mix Snack Mix, 7.5 to 8.75-oz BOGO $1.89
Use $0.50/1 coupon from 11-09 S
Final Price $1.39

Betty Crocker Cookie Pouch, 17.5-oz. $2.00
Use $0.40/1 coupon from 10-19 S
Final Price $1.60

Betty Crocker Pop Secret Microwave popcorn, 3-ct -BOGO
Use $0.50/1 coupon from 11-09 S
Final Price ??

Campbells Cream of Chicken or Mushroom Soup, 10.75-oz. $0.75
Use $0.30/3 coupon from 10-12 S
Final Price $0.65

Dannon Activia 4-pack, 4-oz. $2.50
Use $0.50/1 coupon from 09-21 S
Final Price $2.00

Dole Tropical Fruit or Mandarin Oranges, 15 to 15.25-oz $1.25
Use $1.00/3 coupon from 11-09 S
Final Price $0.92

Homemaking Routine, Chicken Nuggets and Silly Girl

I try and try and TRY to get a routine to somehow materialize in my life and yet the routine fairy never visits! Well, at my own desire (and frustration!) and Daniel's desire for me to be organized I finally wrote down a cleaning routine for my week. I pretty much get these same things done without a routine, but it always seems I am a little behind, stressed, and playing catch-up. So we are into day two of this new weekly schedule and so far I am enjoying it! Just like meal planning, it offers a sense of calm to know what I need to do and exactly when to do it!

Mondays: Vacuum and Sweep entire apartment, clean bathroom

Tuesdays: Laundry including diapers, towels
clean laundry room and microwave as needed

Wednesdays:Sweep downstairs, clutter pick up and look for give-away items

Thursdays: Quick clean of bathroom and upstairs, clean window sils and dust

Fridays: Laundry including diapers and bed sheets, crib sheets, sweep house,

Weekends: Plan menus for the week, laundry and clutter as needed.

~every day I will do cooking and kitchen clean up of course~

And just for fun, here at A Year of Crockpotting is the chicken nugget recipe I am cooking for dinner tonight! I threw in acorn squash chunks on top and will be serving with a side of mashed potatoes and glazed apples.

M is at such a fun age (13 months). This past couple months have been such a blessing as a mom--she plays independently a lot and is more affectionate and fun. I hate to admit it, but I do have free time at this stage of life! I think I will be in for a wake-up call when baby #2 arrives!

Yep, those are ~ahem~ my shorts on her head:) She is going through a put dirty laundry on her head phase:)

Un-Sticking Labels from Jars and Baby Soup

I love homemade gifts and I love to make them. Unfortunately my talent and craftiness levels are quite low. But jar mix gifts I can do. The decorating of the the jars is still a work in progress, but that's coming along. The only problem is that jar mixes cease to be economical if you have to buy containers to put them in.

For a few months I have been saving jars from pasta sauce etc. but now I have jars with gooey labels on them...none too pretty for gift-giving. After much googling I have found a few tips that get some stubborn label goo off jars.

1. Soak overnight in HOT soapy water. I think this one is best to do right off the bat. Washing the jars and getting part of the label off and then trying this offers less stellar results.

2. Peanut butter and a scrubby pad (like steel wool or the like). and SCRUB!!

3. Hair dryer and a knife. But word to the wise...these are both weapons in the wrong hands:)

4. Goo Gone (from D!)

These work for me! Did I forget some?

Oh and since you are all looking for my recipe for baby soup, here she...um it, is:

Swinging in NC

Close to finished with our pics from NC. Whew! We had some fun times while in the metropolis of Waxhaw! We are excited to continue to pursue serving overseas with Wycliffe and JAARS! This weekend we had a great meeting with the elders and one of our church's pastors and they really helped us look at some things that we were concerned about in a different light. It is such a blessing to be a part of a church body that is so supportive and is willing to help us think through things from a Biblical perspective!

As you can see, M is a big fan of swinging. She cried both times we took her off the swing:(

November's Meal Plan (funded by Albie's sweet deals)

Since I had to use some of my precious monthly food budget early in order to take advantage of Albertson's buy $30/get $15 off your next order promo, I am trying to plan ahead for the rest of the months meals.

I have around 18 dinners to plan for to get us through the rest of the month. Here's what I came up with, the food from my Albie's sales will be bold.

1. Clam Chowder & Homemade Garlic Cheesy Biscuits

2. Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Chicken Tenders* and Baked Acorn Squash

3. Shepherd's Pie (with Mashed potato topping, mixed veg, ground beef and cheese)

4. Chicken Tetrazinni and Brussel Sprouts (all three of us love brussel sprouts!)

5. Sweet and Sour Chicken* over Rice w/ mixed frozen veggies

6. French Bread Pizza (the french bread was free after survey from Albies)

7. Cheese Enchilada Bake with broccoli and chocolate chip cookies for dessert! -I will need to make homemade tortillas because I didn't find any cheap ones-

8. Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

9. Sloppy Lentil Joe's (using Ragu for the sauce) and Home Fries

10. Macaroni Grill Linquini and Cheesy Broccoli on the side

11. Chicken* Parmesan and Brussel Sprouts

12. Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup (broth), Sweet Potatoes and Country Crock Sides Apples

13. Chicken Piccata over rice and sweet peas

14. Potato Topped Chili Loaf and Green Beans

15. Creamy Potato Soup and Corn Muffins

16. Hot Curry tuna Sandwiches and Lentil or Tomato Soup
17. Chicken* and Cheese Baked Pasta

18. Pizza with fresh veggies and dip

Looks like I should be able to get away with buying more chicken (*=Albertson's has a great sale on skinless boneless this week: $1.67/lb!) and some fresh veggies, milk and fruit and that's about it for the month! This is good because I am close to $130 already for the month:)

If you hit this sale, what's on your menu this month?