Menu Monday & Current Happenings

Well, it is definitely a sign that I've not been blogging much
lately when I go to login and cannot remember the password for our
blog. The camping trip was a success and lots of fun.  I will
try my best to post some pics this week.  I know you want to
know about the "s'nores" and "smarshmellows."

Today we ended up car shopping and were gone most of the
day.  We didn't set out to buy a car today, but happened on a
great deal and now own a "new-to-us" GMC Yukon.  The
best part is thanks to Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University we
will have no car payments. Woohoo!  We also own 2 vehicles again
which is going to be very nice, though after sharing one for almost 2
years I feel a little spoiled owning two.  

I have had no time to plan a menu for this week, and the best part
of posting these on the blog is that it's holds me accountable to
getting it done (well, sometimes).  Menu planning doesn't take
me too long these days unless I'm in the mood to browse cookbooks. 
Without further rambling, here's our menu for this week,

• Spaghetti, Marinara, Italian
  Chicken Sausage, Green
  Beans with Bread Crumbs, French Bread




• Carne Asada, Black Beans, Yellow Rice, Guacamole, Sopapilla
  Cheesecake



• Sloppy Joes, Baked Fries, Carrots, Fruit Salad


• Grilled Chicken, Quinoa, Salad

Menu Monday - OOPS

Life has been a little crazy this past week or so. Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless.  I forgot to post the Menu Monday post last week and now I'm posting this week on Tuesday. We are going on our first ever family camping trip this weekend so I'll try to post an update with pics from that when we get back.

Here's what we've been and are eating this week.  There is very little cooking for me.

Sunday - Steaks, Grilled Shrimp, Baked Potatoes, Salad, Homemade French Bread

Monday - Leftovers from all that stuff on Sunday

Tuesday - We are eating with some new friends tonight & I'll be making the chili for the camping trip later tonight

Wednesday - Eating at church

Thursday - Camping Day One - Hot Dogs, Chili, Potato Salad, Carrot Sticks, S'mores

Friday - Camping Day Two - Shredded Beef Tacos

Saturday - Come Home from Camping  - Homemade Pizza or Spaghetti (we'll see what I feel like cooking)

Menu Monday 5.3.10

Last week, I went to Costco for the first time and fell in love.  It is clean, full of organic and healthy choices, and just plain wonderful.  The only problem is that I usually plan my menus before I shop and there I just shopped.  I do have meat to last us at least a month and lots of other goodies, but my menu planning was backwards this week.  Though I must say I kinda enjoyed doing it this way and just hope I don't let any of these bulk items go to waste.  Here's what we are eating this week,

• Tostadas with Black Bean & Mango Salsa, Yellow Rice, & Salad


• Pork Chops with Dijon Sauce, Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans


• Flank Steak Pinwheels, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Carrots


• Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi, Rice, Cucumber Salad (there will be chicken for a certain husband who doesn't eat fish)


• Grilled Hamburgers, Potato Wedges, Fruit Salad

Homeschooling and having fun

The question I get asked most often these days is "how is homeschooling going?"  (Well, I also get asked "are you all unpacked yet?" But for now let's just pretend there are no more boxes hanging around) Homeschooling is  going really well so far.  We've had a couple of difficult days where Cole didn't want to "do school today," but we are really enjoying it.  I love being there when he learns a new word or reads something for the first time.  Also, Connor is starting to read and gets so excited when he sounds a word out.  Caleb is mainly just along for the ride, but he does love to sit when we are reading and play with his brothers math blocks. I also love the flexibility it allows us too that we get to go do stuff on a weekday.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks,

Caleb getting our book to read

 

Cole working on his math

The boys lined up ready to head to the food pantry to help out.  

The "peady-cock" we got to see on our visit to the zoo.

Coupons are Totally Worth It ...

Especially if you have Walgreens and/or CVS nearby.  Today, I went to CVS and Walgreens.  I've been at home with a sick little boy these last few days, so I needed to get out of the house.  Otherwise, I usually do these drug store trips during the week, but today I got to go all by myself while all the guys were napping. It's always fun to get a few moments away alone, but especially fun saving money while I'm at it. I know I'm  little weird.

• 2 boxes Kelloggs Shredded Wheat Cereal


• 5 Betty Crocker brownie mixes


• 3 bags of jelly beans (these are hopefully going to encourage Caleb to potty train)


• 4 candy bars (these are hopefully going to encourage mommy to potty train Caleb  ;0) )


• 2 tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste


• 3 Nivea body washes


• 2 Nivea lip balms


• 1 Venus Embrace Razor


• 4 Reach toothbrushes


• 1 Revlon eyeshadow


• 1 Revlon nail clipper


• 1 Arizona Iced Tea


• 1 package of sandwich bags


• 3 bottles of children's Pepto Bismol


• 2 boxes of Kotex U tampons


• 4 bottles of Coffeemate Creamer


• 1 Softsoap body wash

I paid less than $15 out-of-pocket for all of this.  See Walgreens has these things called Register Rewards (RR) and CVS has Extra Care Bucks (ECB) where you basically earn "money" to spend next time you shop.  If you use this in combination with coupons clipped from the Sunday paper, you can save lots.  I spent $15 but I also now have $15 in Walgreens RR and $19 in CVS ECB that I will use next week when the new sales ad comes out.  We don't necessarily NEED all this stuff, but I get much of it for free or very cheap and figure I can give away what we won't use.

I've been using coupons for years, but am pretty new to saving money at these drug stores.  If you want to learn more, check out A Full Cup and Coupon Mom.