Fresh & Healthy: Lunch Box Meals
Lunch Box Goodies
School lunch box goodies for the kiddos! Today the girls picked out some delicious items for their lunch. After they went to bed I made them a homemade chicken salad sandwich and put it in a pretty princess bag for them. Here’s what they packed:
- Homemade Chicken Salad Sandwich
- Fresh Banana
- Fresh Cauliflower
- BBQ Chips
- Yogurt
- Shared a Honey-bun
- Juice Bag
Always something fun to eat in the lunch box.
Song: “Without Love” by Stacie Orrico
This song speaks about the love of God from 1st Corinthians. It is great to reminded of the greatest love we were given! Here are a few phrases from the song.
If I speak in the tongues of angels
But have not love
I’m only a resounding noise
If I have the gift of knowledge
And if my faith moves mountains high
But have not love I am nothing
Though I know the One who holds
The stars in the heavens
In the palm of His hand
And if I give all I possess
To the poor and the helpless
I’ll still gain nothing
Without loveWhat’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
It is a super busy week with a lot of additional activities going on but I have a menu planned out to make the evenings flow even more smoothly for the family. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef Entree): Special Event
- Tuesday (Seafood or Pork Entree): Lemon Pepper Salmon, Fresh Fruit
- Wednesday (Chicken Entree): Spinach Chicken Bake, French Bread
- Thursday (Pasta or Vegetarian Entree): Special Event
- 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
Last week we celebrated the girls 7th birthday (a wonderful highlight to our week)! The upcoming week it full of extra activities, but hoping to make a lot of progress with my goals as well.
Here is the update on last weeks goals:
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 weekGo on our Date Night with JakeCelebrate Valentine’s DayCelebrate Brina & Karlie’s BirthdaySpend time together as a family
Personal Goals
Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week- Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday – with the extra activities this didn’t get done
- Finish reading When Work and Family Collide by Andy Stanley – haven’t even started it yet….
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).- Packing “To Do” List – working on it
Home Management Goals
All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one dayWeekly Dinner Menu planned and written by MondaySpend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house- Dinner ready by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday) – had a couple later nights with appointments
- Spend time re-organizing and de-cluttering the downstairs Bookshelves / Desk / Dressers – started but not finished
Business Goals
Pay all bills that come in the mail this weekWork on ideas for upcoming blog postsSpend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my deskWrite a Guest Blog Post- Finish 2011 Business Taxes – items at Accountant so waiting for them to wrap up their piece
Ministry Goals
- Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests – didn’t get this done with all the other activities this week
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4- Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – working on it
- Complete our personal 2011 taxes – almost done, waiting for our business taxes to be completed before finishing
- Put money aside for upcoming trips – was able to do some
- Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – put some aside
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
- Go on our Date Night with Jake
- Spend time together as a family
Personal Goals
- Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
- Go to bed by 10:30 pm or earlier Monday to Thursday
- Finish reading When Work and Family Collide by Andy Stanley
- 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).
- Travel “To Do” List
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
- Spend 30 hour a day de-cluttering the house
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
- Finish 2011 Business Taxes
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
Financial Goals
- Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
- Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses
- Complete our personal 2011 taxes
- Put money aside for upcoming trips
- Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes
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
I Love You Sweet Girls!
I have always enjoyed this book and thought the quote was appropriate with today being the girls birthday. No matter how old the girls get they’ll always be my babies. Thankful for the opportunity to be a Mom to Brina and Karlie!
It is a risk to love…
Book: “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuck
In a recent trip with the family out to the midwest (Nebraska and Kansas) I brought the book Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk. My husband had picked up the book for me for Christmas. I enjoyed reading Gary’s book and was able to get through it pretty quickly while we were in flight.
Gary’s passion overflows into his book. The book is short, sweet and to the point. Not only does Gary encourage you to follow your passion he also reminds you that it takes time and a lot of hard work to accomplish your goals. He is honest and straight forward about how to create your own personal brand around your personality and passions. Everyday whether you realize it or not you market your personal brand.
The author gives a variety of ways to start building your brand as well as additional resources to check out. He discusses a variety of Social Media tools. Although he highlights the ways that work well for him he also recommends a variety of other avenues and suggests that you find which ones are most beneficial for you. Gary encourages each person to follow their dreams and “crush it” in their own way!
Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!
Happy 7th Birthday to Brina & Karlie! We love you sweet girls. It is amazing how quickly these last few years have gone by and we are thankful for the many wonderful memories we have shared. Wishing both of you many more awesome years of great times! 🙂
Recipe: Swedish Baked Potatoes
I had the family’s Valentine’s Day Dinner celebration pretty much planned out based off the items that I had in the refrigerator and pantry (steak, baked potatoes, fresh stir fry vegetables, fresh fruit salad, cherry limeade fruit punch from the girls birthday party, poppy seed french bread, and cheesecake). Since I had gotten potatoes on clearance at the grocery store earlier I wanted to do baked potatoes to go with the steak but was hoping to try a different recipe. I adapted this recipe from SeasaltwithFood and it turned out really well! Everyone in our family LOVED these potatoes (including the kids)! The girls even wanted to know if they could take the leftover potatoes to school for their lunches the next day they like them so much. The best part is they were pretty easy to do. They had much more flavor than regular baked potatoes plus we didn’t add any additional butter or toppings because they were so tender and tasty (which means they were probably healthier for us too). This one has become family favorite already!
Swedish Baked Potatoes:
- 4 large Potatoes
- Garlic Seasoning
- Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the potato on a cutting board and make thin slices down the whole length of the potato (each slice should go almost all the way through the potato). Put potatoes on a baking tray or in a baking dish. Sprinkle Garlic seasoning over each potato. Make sure some garlic seasoning gets down in between a few of the potato slices on each potato for extra flavoring. Spread butter over the tops of each potato with a butter knife. Brush olive oil on over the butter. Sprinkle the sea salt on top of the potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes on convection oven or 40 minutes if baking regularly (bake until potatoes are tender). When done the potatoes will be soft on the inside and the skin will be crispy.
You can put butter, sour cream, bacon pieces, and cracked pepper out as additional toppings for those wanting more flavor.
Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4
We had a birthday party celebration for the girls and Valentine’s Day this week but in between the fun I was able to make a quick trip to the grocery store. Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.
Groceries from Ingles, Dollar Tree, and Save A Lot | RiteAid
Ingles Groceries:
- $10.16 at Ingles for 2 bags Laura Lynn Bread, 1 container Portabella Mushrooms, 1 container whole fresh Mushrooms, 1 container fresh Strawberries, 1 loaf Poppy Seed French Bread, 1 bag fresh Bananas, 1 bag Romaine Lettuce, and 1 box Jimmy Dean’s Sausage & Biscuts. (All the items were on clearance, marked down or on sale. The produce was marked down on clearance.)
Dollar Tree Groceries:
- $14.00 at Dollar Tree for 2 jars Strawberry Jam, 3 boxes Applesause, 2 boxes Toast’ems, 1 Chocolate Frosting, 1 Vanilla Frosting, 2 containers Sprinkles, 1 can Canola Cooking Spray, 1 jar Vanilla Extract, and 1 bag Marshmallows.
Save A Lot | RiteAid Groceries:
- $7.76 at Save A Lot | RiteAid for 2 gallons Milk and 1 box Dannon Yogurts (yogurt was on sale).
We were able to stock up on some great items this week. Although we had the girls birthday party celebration and Valentine’s Day we were able to keep it within reason! 🙂
This week I spent $31.92 on groceries. I was over on my budgeted amount for the week because of the busy week with traveling, appointments, and upcoming celebrations so thankfully I have a little extra to cover the groceries this week. I was happy to find fresh eggs and great produce on sale that we can use for several meals. I hope that next week is better week, back to normal, 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.
