What's Cooking
Family Outings: A Walk in the Park
Brina and Karlie pausing “briefly” on our walk so I can snap a picture!
Every once in awhile when the girls are off school and it is a beautiful day we get to meet Daddy for a quick picnic and walk in the park. Legacy Park is pretty close to Jake’s work so he can pop over and meet us over his lunch hour. I think the girls get more excited about going for a walk around the park then eating, ha!
Legacy Park has paved paths for walking, biking or jogging plus a playground for the kids, beach volleyball, and a big open field perfect for flying kites or playing soccer. On those hot days they have plenty of shade and restrooms (which are very nice for little kids). I treasure these moments when we get get together over the lunch hour to grab a bite to eat, walk, talk, and play together as a family. I think it is important to have some relaxing times built into our schedules. Not only do we get a few extra minutes together as a family we get fresh air and some exercise which is beneficial for all of us!
Do you have a park you enjoy going to for a picnic or to play?
What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
These next few weeks are really busy in our household, we have a lot of extra activities going on around here. The first quarter of 2012 is shaping up to be one exciting adventure after another. I look forward to sharing more details with you! In the meantime I am grateful for a menu plan to help keep on schedule at least when it comes to our dinner time together. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef Entree): Mom’s Baked Steak, Wild Rice
- Tuesday (Seafood or Pork Entree): Ham & Cheese Pizza, Fresh Fruit
- Wednesday (Chicken Entree): Buffalo Chicken Ring, Fresh Veggies
- Thursday (Pasta or Vegetarian Entree): Vegetarian Cheesy Spaghetti Bake, Bread
- Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting
I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef entree, Tuesday a seafood or pork entree and so forth). It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned. I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.
Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family. On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home. As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes. If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).
As a family of four our life can get busy. What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget. Our family typically eats 6 to 7 dinner meals at home a week. We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat. Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family. Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day. Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends. The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety. We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.
Photo by Liz
New Coupon: Planters Peanut Butter
Planters Peanut Butter has a new coupon! Use $1.50 off 2 Planters Peanut Butter Coupon right now. The coupon is for a 16 oz jar of Planters Peanut Butter. With the sales at the stores this week the peanut butter a little over $1.00 each!
Publix
Planters Peanut Butter (16 oz) BOGO – $3.69 ($1.84 ea.)
Use $1.50/2 Planters Coupon
$1.09 each after couponWalmart
Planters Peanut Butter (16 oz) – $1.98
Use $1.50/2 Planters Coupon
$1.23 each after couponTarget
Planters Peanut Butter (16 oz) – $1.99
Use $1.50/2 Planters Coupon
$1.24 each after couponIf you don’t need peanut butter right now print out the coupon and hold onto it until the next $1.50 Planters Peanut Butter sale and get the peanut for $0.75 each! Great time to stock up on peanut butter with this coupon. These will come in handy with the school and work lunches.
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
It was a wild week, our family has a lot of fun adventures coming up so I am trying to stop on top of everything. Hopefully I will be able to share a little bit more about our upcoming plans before long. I was not able to get to the grocery store until late on Friday but thankfully was able to pick up almost everything I needed this week even if I did got a little over budget. Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.
Groceries from Save A Lot | Rite Aid, Walmart, Ingles, and Walgreens
Save A Lot | Rite Aid Groceries:
- $7.90 at Save A Lot | Rite Aid for 2 boxes Blue Bonnet sticks of butter, 2 boxes Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, 1 container Butter Spread (3 lb), and 1 bag Carrots (2 lbs). (All the items were on sale or clearance.)
Walmart Groceries:
- $0.00 at Walmart for 1 bag Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls (on clearance), 1 bag Everything French Bread (on clearance), 1 bag Chocolate Chips, 1 box Popcorn (8 count), 2 liter Mountain Dew (price matched), and 1 box Idaho Potatoes (free product coupon). (Bought items on sale or clearance and paid with a gift card so the total was zero.)
Ingles Groceries:
- $42.84 at Ingles for 1 jar Peter Pan Natural Peanut Butter, 1 can Tuna Fish, 1 Starkist Tuna Fish, 2 boxes Pop Secret Popcorn, 2 loaves Laura Lynn Bread, 4 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 2 blocks Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 2 Laura Lynn sliced Cheese (16 count each), 2 boxes Breakfast Biscuits / Pancakes (on clearance, 10 count each), 6 containers Fresh Blueberries (on clearance), 3 bags Snow Peas (on clearance), 1 container Cherry Chocolate Covered Pretzels (on clearance), 1 container Roasted Soybeans (on clearance), 2 bottles Bare Naked Fruit Drinks (on clearance), 2 Laura Lynn English Muffins (6 count each) and 2 sweet Yellow Onions. Not pictured 3 bags of chips we purchased to take over to a friends house. (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance. All the produce was marked down to $0.99 cents, I was able to pick up some more cheese on sale, and used some coupons for the items purchased!)
Walgreens Groceries:
- $0.65 at Walgreens for 2 dozen Eggs, 1 S6 Power Bar, 1bag Domino Sugar (4 lbs), and 1 two liter A&W Root Beer (everything was on sale, I used $9.59 in coupons, and I received $1.89 in Register Rewards back to use towards my next purchase.)
This week I spent $51.39 on groceries. Even though I was over on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on some items at the same time plus I had a little extra to spend since I had come under budget in previous weeks. I was thrilled to stock up on produce (blueberries) and diary items as well as other great fridge & pantry items this week. I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Recipe: Lasagna
Growing up Lasagna was one of my favorite meals. I didn’t realize that there was so many varieties of Lasagna recipes until I was cooking more on my own! This recipe is an adapted version from the one that my Grandma and Mom use. The main difference is that I use uncooked noodles which helps save me time and extra clean up. I will often make this meal to deliver to someone who has had surgery or a new baby or to put the extra casserole in the freezer for a later date since it is an easy one to double! 🙂
Lasagna:- 1 pound lean Ground Beef
- 1/2 chopped Onion
- 1 (28 ounces) jar Spaghetti Sauce
- 1 (16 ounces) container Cottage Cheese
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Egg
- 1 (16 ounces) box Lasagna Noodles
- 1 (8 ounces) shredded Mozzarella Cheese
In a large pan cook the ground beef, drain the excess oil. Add the onions and cook until the onions are transparent. Stir in the pasta sauce and heat until bubbly. In large bowl combine Cottage Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, and Egg. Spread a thin layer of meat sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pyrex dish. Place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles, a layer of cheese mixture, 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, and meat sauce. Continue layering until all ingredients are used (reserve 1 cup shredded cheese). Bake covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover and put the remaining mozzarella cheese over the top and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese begins to darken.
Save A Lot: Deals for the week of January 11 – 17, 2012
The Save A Lot weekly ad deals are listed below for your convenience. You can start stocking up on some great deals for upcoming Holiday cooking. Sign up for the Smart Shopper Club, by doing so you will get a $5.00 off of $25.00 coupon!
Meats and Seafood
Boneless Chicken Breast – $1.29 per lb
Boneless Pork Loin Roast – $1.99 per lb
Ground Beef (80% Lean) – $1.99 per lb
Boneless Chuck Roast – $2.69 per lb
Pick 5 for $19.99 promo on going: Pick any 5 specially marked packages of your favorite cuts of fresh, frozen or smoked meats and pay just $19.99 (about $2 per pound).
Fridge and Freezer
Milk (1 Gallon) – $2.99
Tony’s Original Crust Pizza, Supreme or Pepperoni (12 to 14 oz) – $1.99
Hungry Man Turkey or Salisbury Steak Dinner (16 oz) – $1.99
Banquet Pot Pies (7 oz) – $0.59
Michelina’s Pizzas Rolls (90 count) – $4.99
Snack-A-Tizers Pepperoni Pizza Bagels Bites (40 count) – $4.99
Blue Bonnet Spread (45 oz) – $2.49
Borden Shredded Cheese (8 oz) – $2.00
Coburn Farms Yogurt (4 oz) – $0.50
Coburn Farms EggZactly (16 oz) – $1.99
Produce
Biggin’s Potatoes (10 pounds) – $2.99
Red or Golden Delicious Apples (5 pounds) – $2.99
California Navel Oranges (8 pounds) – $4.99
Green Peppers – $0.50
Yellow Onions (3 pounds) – $1.29
Carrots (2 pounds) – $1.00
Dole Garden Salads (12 oz) – $1.00
Household
Power Cycle 2x Liquid Laundry Detergent (175 oz) – $5.99
Grocery
Maxwell House Wake Up Roast Coffee (34.5 oz) – $6.99
General Mills Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Trix, or Golden Grahams (10 to 12 oz) – $1.99
Use $1.00/2 coupon from insert 12/11 Smart Source (Expires 1/21/12)
Use $1.00/1 coupon found on some boxes (Expires 3/28/12)
As low as $0.99 each after couponSundia Fruit Cups (8 oz) – $1.00
Nabisco Oreos (15 to 16 oz) – $2.99
Dinty Moore Beef Stew (24 oz) – $1.99
Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce (15.5 oz) – $0.99
Old Orchard Apple Cocktail Juice (64 oz) – $1.99
Use $0.50/1 printable coupon from Old Orchard
$1.49 each after couponKaskey’s Lowfat Cream of Mushroom Soup (10.5 oz) – $0.89
Kaskey’s Lower Sodium Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup (18.6 oz) – $1.79
Medeiros Extra Virgin Olive Oil (17 oz) – $4.29
Rollin Oats Quick or Old Fashioned (42 oz) – $2.29
Morning Delight Sugar Free Pancake Syrup (12 oz) – $1.49
Nature’s Trail Chewy Fiber Bars (7 oz) – $2.29
Shelby Grove’s Fruit Cocktail or Sliced Peaches (15 oz) – $0.99
Portmann Ranch Salad Dressing (16 oz) – $1.49
Remember you can use the $5/$25 printable coupon to sweeten these deals! Plus you can earn up to 5 additional $5 off $25 coupons for sharing the coupon with your friends.
For more information about Save A Lot’s coupon policies go here. If you find additional deals or savings please let me know and I will add them to the list.
What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
Now that everyone is back to school and work our schedule is returning to our new “normal”. I am thankful for routines that are working well and for a fresh start to new goals for the 2012 year. Having a menu plan has been a great help for our family. I can plan the menu around items that need to be used first instead of standing in front of the pantry/fridge at 4:30 pm (I’ve been there before!) trying to figure out what to make when I should be helping the girls with homework plus it makes our schedule more efficient during the busiest time of day for us. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef Entree): Beef & Veggie Stew, Bread
- Tuesday (Seafood or Pork Entree): Shrimp Sesame Teriyaki, Steamed Veggies
- Wednesday (Chicken Entree): Curry Chicken, White Rice, Fresh Fruit Salad
- Thursday (Pasta or Vegetarian Entree): Easy Vegetable Bake, Parmesan Couscous
- Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting
I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef entree, Tuesday a seafood or pork entree and so forth). It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned. I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.
Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family. On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home. As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes. If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).
As a family of four our life can get busy. What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget. Our family typically eats 6 to 7 dinner meals at home a week. We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat. Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family. Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day. Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends. The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety. We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.
Photo by Liz
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
The week started off with some one-on-one time with Jake and I as the girls returned to school followed by some fun family time together. It is rare to have several hours at home alone with Jake so we spent some quiet time talking, relaxing, playing games and working on projects together. Having those few hours together was refreshing which helped jump start our 2012 year. I am ready to pick back up on speed with setting and following my goals, thanks for your encouragement and keeping me accountable.
Here is the update on last weeks goals:
Family Goals
Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everydayRead a book to the girls everydaySpend extra time with my family while the girls are on Christmas Break!
Personal Goals
- Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – didn’t quite make it this week
Listen to Dumping Debt by Dave Ramsey
Home Management Goals
All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
Business Goals
Pay all bills that come in the mail this weekWork on ideas for upcoming blog posts
Ministry Goals
Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
Financial Goals
Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4Pay off remaining debt– We made it, the final payments are being made on the last two items! Now we can start working on saving for our 3 month Emergency Fund
Here are my goals for the upcoming week:
Family Goals
- Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
- Read a book to the girls everyday
- Have each girl read 1 book to myself or Jake 5 days this week
- Set up a Date Night for Jake & I and a Date Night for the Kids
- Thank You notes written and sent for the Christmas Gifts
Personal Goals
- Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
- Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday
- Finish reading The 60-Minute Money Workout by Ellie Kay
- Read and listen to the next section of Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (our church Community Group is going through this book together).
Home Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
- Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
- Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
- Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the office
Business Goals
- Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
- Plan new implementations for blog
- Schedule client meetings at least 2 weeks in advance
Ministry Goals
- Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
- Write and send out Meeting Notes from our January Alms & Legs Team Ministry meeting
Financial Goals
- Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
- Emergency Fund – start saving 3 months worth of living expenses
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
I am back on schedule with sharing my grocery budget for those who asked if I was continuing (thanks for checking on me). While the girls were out of school for the Holidays and Jake had a few days off work I decided to take a break from posting my Groceries $40 for 4. I did stay close (I went over by a little bit) to our target budget but did not take any pictures since my priority was spending time with my family during the Holidays. Now that school and work are back to normal routine I plan to share regularly with you. Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.
- $30.04 at Ingles for 3 boxes Fiber One Blueberry Yogurt, 4 boxes Fiber One Key Lime Pie Yogurt, 1 box Laura Lynn Taco Shells, 1 bottle Eggnog, 1 container fresh Portabella Mushrooms, 1 container fresh Black Eye Peas, 1 container fresh Raspberries, 4 packs Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar block cheese, 4 bags Sargento Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, 4 bags Sargento Shredded Mexican Cheese, 1 box Laura Lynn Oatmeal, 1 head Caulifornia, 1 head Lettuce, and 1 bag Coleslaw. (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance. All the produce was marked down to $0.99 cents, the yogurt was marked down to 50 cents, and all the cheese was on sale! We should be stocked up on cheese for awhile, somehow we manage to go through a lot in our house!)
Walgreens Groceries:
- $3.58 at Walgreens for 2 gallons of Milk (the milk was on sale for $2.79 each and I used a $2.00 coupon)
KMart Groceries:
- $3.00 at KMart for 12 pack A&W Root Beer (on sale and a special treat for my husband since he works so hard to provide for our family I decided it was worth the “splurge” for him.)
This week I spent $36.61 on groceries. Even though I was under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on some items at the same time plus it allows me a little extra to spend next week if I find a great deal. I was thrilled to stock up on produce and diary items as well as other great fridge & pantry items this week. I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!
It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks! As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me. I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too. The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Family Recipe: Great Grandma Miller’s Ultimate Cheesecake
Jake’s Mom shared Great Grandma Miller’s Ultimate Cheesecake recipe with me before we were married. I love that this recipe has been in the family for years and it is a great base to many amazing cheesecake recipes. You can top the cheesecake with cherries, chocolate, strawberries or anything that you enjoy with cheesecake.
Great Grandma Miller’s Ultimate Cheesecake:
- 1 cup crushed Graham Crackers or Chocolate Cookies
- 1 tablespoon melted Butter
- 5 (8 oz) packages Cream Cheese
- 1 3/4 cup Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
- 5 Eggs
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Mix crushed graham crackers and melted butter then press into a 9 inch springform. Mix cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla at high speed. Beat in eggs and yolks one at a time until smooth. Beat in cream. Pour on top of the crust. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes and one hour at 250 degrees. Cool on rack for two hours. Top with your favorite cheesecake topping (strawberries, cherries, chocolate, blueberries, etc…).
