Menu Plan Monday- July 28th!

Back to a normal menu this week! Hubby comes home Monday afternoon and doesn't leave again until the following week! Next week there won't be much of a plan because the girls and I will be headed to Mammoth while Jason is out of town.

For this week, I'm trying a bunch of new recipes! I'm hoping to still be able to keep my grocery bill down to $60-80 though I need a ton of ingredients for our dinners. Most I can get store brand though so I think it'll be fine.

I'll review the recipes next week! Now onto the menu plan!

Breakfasts: Waffles, whole wheat pancakes, bagels/cream cheese, eggs/bacon or sausage, Carnation instant breakfast, fruit

Lunches: Chef Boyardee, BLTS (turkey bacon), Tuna, PB&J, hotdogs, leftovers, fruit/veggies

Dinners:

Monday 7/28- Easiest Chicken and Biscuits

Tuesday 7/29- Stouffer's Manicotti, bread

Wednesday 7/30- Crockpot Potato Chowder, FF Cornbread

Thursday 7/31- Swedish Meatballs and homemade mashed potatoes

Friday 8/1- Potato Chip Mac & Cheese, Homemade Chicken nuggets, green beans

Saturday 8/2- Out with my dad for my birthday! Probably a steak place!

Sunday 8/3- Turkey/Mushrooms burgers with Homemade Buns, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Tortilla Chips

Monday 8/4- LEFTOVERS!

Head to Laura's for more great menus!

Tag! I'm It!

Here are the rules:

1. Link the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

I was tagged by Elizabeth at Our Small Town Blessings

My Quirks:

1. I love the sound of running water. Since I was a kid, I've been known to sit in the bathroom with the shower running to relax and read a book. Such a waste of water but I can't help it!

2. I ama list junkie. I'm constantly making lists of random things (menu plans, cleaning lists, bills, gifts, etc.). I only use some of them for an actual purpose. The rest are more of a way to organize my thoughts!

3. I love grocery shopping. I used to go with my mom as a kid and got really excited about it. No idea why. I just think it's fun!

4. I read multiple books at a time. I'm constantly reading one of the Harry Potter books and at least one other fiction.

5. I am obsessed with timelines. I want things (like finishing school, having another baby, buying a house) to happen at specific times in the future. It frustrates me to know end if I don't have any control over the schedule.

6. I am horrible at cleaning/organizing. I lack motivation. However, I am an obsessive organizer when I finally do it. I organize clothing in closets by type and socks by color!

Tag! You're it!

Kylee at The Kerby Family
Lorie at Honey, I Shrank Myself
Kari at C'est la vie
Emily at Little Home
Laura at Heavenly Homemakers
Teresa at A Life At Home

Menu Plan Monday~ July 21st!

I can't believe July is coming to a close soon! This year is flying by! I'm already planning A-babe's first birthday... :(

I realized I haven't been blogging much (considering my last post was last week's MPM!) and my goal for August is to post one blog a day. And a picture every day as well! Anyone have any favorite memes they'd recommend I try?

Now onto the MPM!

Last week's menu went pretty well! The homemade tortillas (I'll find the recipe and post later.) turned out pretty well! They were fun (and cheap!) to make too! The only problem was the Weight Watchers points (2 each). Normally I use low carb 1pt tortillas. I'll make them again though!

I was also able to keep my grocery shopping to $60 for the week! It's definately feasible and I'm going to try and stick to it!

Homemade Hamburger Buns are on tomorrows menu. I'm hoping I can make them in the morning because we're going to my sister's in the afternoon to visit since she had surgery Friday. That way all we have to do is grill up the turkey burgers when we get home.

This week's menu is a bit off because DH is gone Tuesday-Monday so it's just me and the girls. I'm also getting my wisdom teeth out Friday so we're staying at my mom's Thurs-Sun (so I can have help with the girls and because she's watching them when I work Sunday). Meals are up in the air those days since I'm not sure what I can eat!

As always, my plans overlap because I shop on Wednesdays.

Breakfast

Monday 7/21- Whole wheat pancakes, fruit, turkey sausage
Tuesday 7/22- Work- Waffle, Carnation Instant Breakfast
Wednesday 7/23-
Thursday 7/24- Whole wheat pancakes, fruit, turkey sausage
Friday 7/25- Starbucks breakfast sandwich and coffee! Kids at Nana’s!
Saturday 7/26- No idea…depends on how I’m feeling.
Sunday 7/27- Work- Waffle, Carnation instant breakfast
Monday 7/28- Work- Egg white burrito
Tuesday 7/29- Work- Egg white burrito

Lunch

Monday 7/21- Grilled cheese, soup, carrots/dip, fruit
Tuesday 7/22- Work- Tuna sandwich, carrots/dip, pears
Wednesday 7/23- Mac & cheese, carrots/dip, fruit
Thursday 7/24- Out to eat at the mall.
Friday 7/25- Kid’s at Nana’s! Nothing for me. Getting my wisdom teeth out! L
Saturday 7/26- Depends on the teeth!
Sunday 7/27- Work- Boston Market
Monday 7/28- Work- Lean Cuisine, carrots/dip, pears
Tuesday 7/29- Work- Leftovers

Dinner

Monday 7/21- Hamburgers (with homemade buns), corn on the cob, oven fries
Tuesday 7/22- Sandwiches, chips, fruit (DH out of town)
Wednesday 7/23- Pizza!
Thursday 7/24- At Nana’s!
Friday 7/25- No idea…probably soup!
Saturday 7/26- At Nana’s!
Sunday 7/27- Breakfast for dinner! (Eggs, pancakes, turkey bacon)
Monday 7/28- Easiest Chicken and Biscuits (New recipe!)
Tuesday 7/29- Cheese Manicotti, bread, broccoli

Check out Laura's blog for more fantastic menus!

Menu Plan Monday~ July 14th!

I can't believe it's already going to be Monday again! The week just flew by! I've been trying to do a lot of baking lately and am going to take it one step further this week in my quest to stick to a low budget ($80 a week plus an extra $100 a month for formula until September.). I'm going to attempt to make my own tortillas and hamburger buns. That'll save me a bit extra this week! I hope they turn out well!

I'm not sticking to WW very well lately but I'm going to try again this week! I really want to get down to my pre-preg weight soon! I'm going to try and have low point breakfasts/lunches and "normal" dinners like I used to. I'm not doing a day to day plan for breakfast/lunch tonight but I'll probably add it tomorrow.

Breakfasts will be whole wheat pancakes, Bagelfuls, eggs/turkey sausage, fruit etc. Nothing fancy this week! I do have a recipe I'm planning for the next week I think though...

Lunches will be leftovers, tuna sandwiches, fruit, carrots/dip, homemade chicken nuggets etc.

My dinner menus are going to start overlapping. I shop on Wednesdays at this point so dinners for the first Monday and Tuesday were technically last weeks menu. :)

Monday 7/14- Shake N Bake chicken, rice a roni, broccoli, rolls

Tuesday 7/15- Frozen pizza, carrots/dip, fruit

Wednesday 7/16- Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, fruit

Thursday 7/17- Pepper Bellies (Frito Pie), fruit

Friday 7/18- Tacos (with homemade tortillas)

Saturday 7/19- Crockpot Spaghetti (made last week and froze), bread

Sunday 7/20- Leftovers

Monday 7/21- Hamburgers (with homemade buns), corn on the cob, oven fries

Tuesday 7/22- Sandwiches, chips, fruit (DH out of town)

I'll post some of the recipes if all the new stuff turns out! :)

Visit Laura's blog for more MPMs!

Enjoying Being a Homemaker!

Less than a year ago, I was unemployed (for over a year total), struggling with having a toddler and a newborn and just feeling like I wasn't cut out to be a SAHM. I started working PT in January and am off 7 days out of every 14. After I got used to working again, I realized I really enjoy being home on my days off. I'm still not the best at housework/cleaning but most days I don't really mind cleaning. It's nice having a clean house when we go to bed! I'm meal planning like crazy and have even starting baking/making new meals every week. The kis and I go to the library every Thursday and I try to do new projects with Hannah. I'm finally enjoying being a homemaker!

I've realized my problem last year was that I was under so much stress trying to find a job that I just couldn't focus on enjoying being home. Now I have more of a plan and I'm really glad I decided to go back to school to be a nurse. Not only will I be doing what I love (hopefully working with babies in the NICU) but I'll be able to be with my kids and trying to give them the best home life possible!

I feel so much better that I'm at least heading in the right direction. It's not easy having kids so young (I had just turned 21 when I had Hannah.) but I think I'm starting to finally figuring out how to balance things!

Though I gotta say, you have to have a lazy day once in a while...hence the pile of clean laundry sititng next to me waiting to be folded while I write this!! LoL

MPM July 7th!

A bit late but at least it's here! We tried the Bubble Up Enchiladas this week and they didn't turn out well. I'm not sure what happened but it was all doughy in the middle. Ugh!

No set breakfast/lunches this week. Just can't get focused enough to plan them. Breakfasts will be Breakfast cookies, pancakes, eggs/sausage etc. Lunches are sandwiches, leftovers, mac&cheese, veggies/fruit etc. Might make some whole wheat cookies this week also.

I have my menu planned through next Tuesday since I do my shopping Wednesdays. I'll only post through Sunday though...

7/8 Tuesday- Homemade pizza or Stromboli
7/9 Wednesday- Ham and cheese omelets, toast, fruit
7/10 Thursday- Chicken parmigiana with pasta, bread
7/11 Friday- Homemade chili, FF cornbread
7/12 Saturday- Mac and cheese with hotdogs, veggies/fruit
7/13 Sunday- Crockpot Spaghetti, salad, bread

Visit Laura's blog for more great menus!