I'm going to start posting again

Be patient. I have tons of things to post about. Sorry I have not been around, but life is busy. Check back tomorrow (or tonight if I am ambitious) for a new post.

Menu Planning Monday 3-23

Monday: Pizza hotdish, green beans, fresh baked bread

Tuesday: Macaroni and cheese, spinach

Wednesday: Crispy chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberry

Thursday: Brats, chips, fruit salad

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: T-bone steaks, baked potatoes, salad

Sunday: Spicy grilled shrimp, crash hot potatoes, creamy cucumbers

Menu Plan Monday 3-16

Monday: Pizza hotdish (recipe follows), green beans, fresh baked bread, fruit salad

Tuesday: Guinness Corned Beef, cabbage, red potatoes, marble rye bread

Wednesday: Garlic lime chicken (recipe follows), brown rice, corn, fresh fruit

Thursday: Ruebens, chips, fruit

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: T-bone steaks, baked potatoes, salad

Sunday: Brats or italians, chips, blue cheese coleslaw

ETA:

Menu plan changes for the week:

Monday: We ended up having leftovers and tacos for the boys

Friday: We went to Mc D's (yuck!)

Saturday: Grilled burgers, chips

Sunday: Cranberry grilled pork tenderloin, baked potatoes, roasted asparagus, fabulous salad


Pizza Hotdish:
Brown 1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground chuck in an electric frypan. I season the meat with Mc Cormick's Pizza Seasoning Grinder and also add sliced mushrooms. Cook one 12 oz bag of whole wheat egg noodles al dente while browning meat. Once meat is browned drain any fat and then add one 15 oz can of pizza sauce and parmesan cheese to taste. Mix in drained egg noodles. You can also add sliced black olives if you like at this point. Top with 8 oz shredded mozarella cheese and cook until melted.



Garlic Lime Chicken

Mix together:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp thyme

Sprinkle mixture on both sides of:
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

In a skillet heat over medium high heat:
2 TB butter
2 TB olive oil

Saute chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side.
Turn down the heat, remove the chicken (keeping warm) and add:
½ C chicken broth
4 TB lime juice

Whisk up the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Keep cooking until sauce has reduced slightly.

Add chicken back to the pan to thoroughly coat and serve.

Serves 6. Per Serving: 343 Calories; 11g Fat (31.1% calories from fat); 55g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 612mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 7 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat.

Menu Plan Monday 3-02

Monday: Parmesan crusted pork chops , prince edward veg medley, salad, applesauce

Tuesday: My last night of grad class. YIPPEE!!!! Leftovers for the guys

Wednesday: Cheese ravioli, beans, salad

Thursday: BLTs, chips, sliced cucumbers, chocolate malts

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Greg's birthday dinner out at Bacchus

Sunday: Ham sandwiches, salad

Financial Peace University Week 3

We attended session 3 of FPU Thursday night.

Cash Flow Planning
Unlock the secret of developing a monthly spending plan that really works.

You can get more info on Financial peace universityhere.

I am really enjoying the program. I would highly recommend it for anyone married or single. I have been wanting to do this course for a few years now and it never was offered at a location close enough to us at a time we could attend. We go Thurs nights 6:30-8:30 and they offer childcare for only $4 a night for the three boys. The boys actually love going and have a great time with the kids who do the childcare.

Homework for this week:
1) Complete the financial snapshot
2) Create a zero-based budget
3) Read Chpt 19 and 21

Other items on my financial to do list:
1) Make a will
2) Order FP Junior for the boys

Menu Plan Monday 2-23

Monday: Glazed meatloaf baked potatoes, squash


Tuesday: Grad class for me (my second last one woo hoo!) Tovers

Wednesday: Steak fajitas w/ pico de gallo, chips and guacamole, fresh fruit

Thursday: Sloppy joes, chips, fruit

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs, sauteed spinach, chopped salad, breadsticks

Sunday: Celebrating March birthday w/ dinner @ my db's house

Menu Planning tips

There are tons of menu planning tips and tricks out there. Whole websites are dedicated to helping you plan your meals. The most important thing IMO is to plan your meals. You don't have to get all fancy and organized just write down what you will make and then make sure you have the ingredients to make your meals.

My personal menu planning style is to start with the weekly sale ads. I have four main grocery stores I shop at. I don't hit all four stores every week, but if there is an exceptional sale I try and stock up. I am fortunate because we have a full sized stand up freezer in our basement. We also have a small fridge in the basement that stores soda/beer and an overflow of any refrigerated items that don't fit in our main fridge. One thing I love about my chain stores is that they now do an online grocery list that I can click on items and then print out what to buy right from the sale ad. Easy peasy!

We have a decent sized pantry in our kitchen and a large pantry storage area in our basement. I try to stock up on things when they are on sale and also on things we use frequently. I tend to plan my weekly menu based on what is on sale that week or what I want to use out of the freezer.


Menus for moms is a great website for menu planning. They have tons of tips and links to check out. I also love to print out their menu planner for my weekly menu.

Organizing junkie's menu plan Monday is a link to hundreds (I am not exaggerating) of weekly menu plans that people have linked. If you are bored or looking for something new you could spend hours perusing people's menus. Many people post recipes or links to recipes. If you are looking for some menu planning inspiration start here.

All recipes is my favorite website to search for recipes. You can type in whatever ingredient you are looking for and it will show you recipes for that. I always have them list the recipes by rating and have never made anything with under 4 1/2 stars. If you find a recipe be sure to read the comments as they can be quite helpful. All recipes is definitely my go to recipe site. There are many other great ones out there. What is your favorite?

Hopefully this gives you some ideas as a starting point for your menu planning. Please feel free to add any tips.