12.03.2011

Monthly Eatin'

I've been MIA again I know for a while. Honestly I usually use the site to do my meal plan but don't really post it. Anyway, Starting in December I am attempting to drastically cut my grocery budget. Usually, I pay about $350 a month a the grocery store. That's $50 a week at the grocery store, $10 a week at CVS, and a $100 Costco trip. I know that it's not the cheapest deal ever but I know that we can live comfortably on this. However, We are well stocked right now and with the holidays I am 1. trying to say more money for extra expenses, 2. Just don't want to put all that time/energy in couponing. I'm going to be still getting produce from the grocery store and enough CVS so my bucks don't expire but other than that I'm taking a break from grocery shopping. I think it's a good way to celebrate the holiday. Anyway this is what we are eating this upcoming week:

Saturday dinner: Fajitas
Sunday lunch: Turkey burgers, boca burgers, sweet potato fries
Sunday night: Xmas party, cupcakes with cream cheese icing
Monday: Smashed Potatoes with broccoli
Crockpot: Minstrone Soup

Week 2:
Stuffed shells from the freezer
Fried rice, egg drop soup
rice/bean/chicken enchiladas
Sweet potatoes, barbeque chicken
Crockpot: Hoppin' John

Week 3
chicken fingers, french fries, green beans
Little Ceasars
Quinoa Cassarole
Crockpot: Corn Chowder

Week 4
Cream cheese spinach lasagna
Crockpot: Black Bean Cassarole

9.30.2011

Costco vs. Grocery Store

We have a Costco membership that we share with my mom. I recently found this website that. This woman basically looked at everything Costco sells and tells you what price you would need to find at a grocery store to make it cheaper. Love it because some things I know now to always get at Costco and some things just go ahead and stray away. Wanted to share the link with you!

See her lists here!

I am so excited to find Save Money, Live Joyfully!

9.29.2011

Baked "Ziti"


This is not the best picture ever but this is a great recipe. It's easy, healthy, affordable, and delicious. It's like the trifecta of food since it lives up to all my requirements. I had serious doubts about Mr. C eating it but he gobbled it down. I am super excited about this one and I'm sure I'll be making it again. I made 2 different casseroles. One with beef and without it for myself. i'm sure if you wanted more protein in the vegetarian one you could always add boca or other soy style crumbles but I just ate the veggies. This recipe is very forgiving. I'm sure any other spices/veggies you want to add would work great.

Here it is:

1 medium spaghetti squash
1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce 
1 cup of mozzarella 
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 lb of ground beef
parmesan cheese 
garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half. 
3. Scoop out all of the seeds.
4. Lay face down on cookie sheet and cook for 40 min.
5. Take out of oven, set the oven to 350, and let cool.
6. While it's cooling chop the onion and brown the ground beef
7. When it's cool with fork scrape out all of the spaghetti like you are raking. 
8. mix together all of the ingredients except 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
9. Sprinkle it on top. 
10. Cover with foil and cook for about 25 min. 
11. Enjoy!

I am linking this to Ultimate Recipe Swap: Pumpkins and Squash

9.22.2011

CVS this week



I made multiple trips to multiple CVSs this week because I have been hunting the elusive Huggies Slip Ons. There was a great coupon a couple weeks back. I had the same problem the last time they had a great deal and missed out on them. My normal CVS doesn't sell them so I went to one out of the way and they were out! Ugg. Anyway I finally went to the one by my work and I got them and did end up with fabulous deals. I probably could have skipped the sippy cups but I'm sure it'll be a product that we use.  

Spend $25, get $10 ECB
Buy 2 Huggies Slip On Diapers @ 18
2 playtex bottles BOG50% @ 8.24
2 Similac Ready to Feed Formulas @ 10
  • Use (2) $3/1 Huggies Slip On Diapers 9/11/11 SS
  • 2 playtex bottles- 2 $2 off coupons
  • Use 2 $3 off 15 from cpn machine
  • Use 2 $1 off Huggies CVS cpn from cpn machine
  • Use 2 $5 formula checks I got in the mail. G doesn't even use formula. We are giving these away.
For the baby deals that is like paying $8.24 and getting back 10 ECB. Yup a money maker on things we need!

Buy 1 Gold Emblem Candy Corn, Autumn mix or Pumpkins 8oz Get ECB @ $0.99

Buy 1 Revlon Super Lustrous Lip $5 ECB @ $6.49
I also got the diet mountain dew @ 1.77
-2 facebook cpn for free drink or candy
-.34 25% off cpn
= .57 money maker
5 2 packs of mandarin oranges on clearance @ .25 each= 2.25
-.71 25% off cpn
=1.54
1 travel container of qtips @ .57
1 nail polish remover @ 1.99

Total after coupons= 19.25
Use in ECBs 6.79, 1, .99, 5
Pay out of pocket 5.47 before tax. I have 28.69 left.

That’s like 3.74 for my purchases! I told you before I’m not sure I’m getting the best deals ever there but I know I am this week!

9.13.2011

Accountable Cvsing

I'm sorry to do this but I'm becoming one of those people. I've been doing the CVS deals for about 3-4 months and I'm not entirely convinced about the amazing savings due to my poor money managment skills. I think we are doing well but I need to keep better track of our money. So, I'm going to start using my blog to do that and keep me accountable. Here's what I got this week at CVS. I spent $70.28 (note the $50 itunes giftcards) and got back $29.50 in ECB to use on my next trip. I had $16 in ECB from last week that I used. And a $5 off $25 coupon along with a bunch of other coupons. My largest cost were the shakes and the bandaids both Mr. C asked for. I use a combo of SouthernSavers.com and Simply CVS for the matchup. Now this is not the smartest way to do these deals. I actually thought I could use ECB on giftcards so I did one LARGE transaction and planned on using them right away on the giftcard but found out that was not ok so I have ALOT to spend in the future but that's ok. I think it's a good jumping off point to begin blogging about it.



I by the way think I'm going back to CVS again for the Finish Dishwasher Detergent. I'll update again if I do.


UPDATE:
I by the way did go back to CVS. Got 4 Jet Dry and 3 Finish Dishwasher tablets for and only paid tax using my haul of ECB!  I wasn't sure if i was going to go but dishwasher detergent is definitely something we use. Lots of people were getting airwicks because they were free and gave you extra ECB  and I even had the cpns but knew that dishwasher detergent was a way better deal for us.

What we're eating

I'm trying to be more type A with our food. I thought we did really well but we have been eating out  alot. I'm on weight watchers and have been for a while and seem to do really well with the structured week but terrible @ home. So, I'm trying to do all of our cooking over the weekend so I do better during the week.

Friday: We had homemade pizza with salad. Not the healthiest but it was super tasty. I used whole wheat crust.

Saturday: Sweet potato fries, green beans, and chicken fingers. This is not really all that healthy but was quick

Monday: Ribs, barbeque tofu, corn on the cob, watermelon, whole wheat rolls and salad

Wednesday: Crockpot Indian food. Indian Spinach & Tofu and Tomato Curried Potatoes. The spinach recipe is one of the only crockpot recipes that my husband ever asks for me to make.

Thursday: (i'm crockpotting 2x this week because I don't have any leftovers for lunch!) Salsa Chicken tofu & black bean soup.


Great Deal

I wrote a post this week about cooking that isn't quite finished and haven't got around to putting up yet. You wouldn't believe the amount of blogging that I do that I never finish. Anyway, I really am trying to eat healthy and save money and just talked about it in this week's unposted post. Today's living social deal is a fabulous one for this.

Living Social Whole Foods Deal



Pay $10 and get $20 to spend at Whole Foods. Works at all US locations. I am super excited because we eat LOTS of produce but really have a hard time finding deals on it.

9.09.2011

My pledge

Without giving any details I need to tell you about a session I had that was eye opening. Let me backtrack a bit...

A couple months ago I read on an article about childhood hunger. Well, I assumed that with food stamps that most of the families that I work with are ok. Actually, no. Recently I had a session with a family and my client's mom told me that she is going hungry and only eating 1 time a day because she is barely making ends meet. Not to be too much of a social worker here but it baffles my mind that this can be happening. As president Obama said yesterday "We are Americans." But yes, she has food stamps and goes to food banks but it's still so limited that she only eats once a day.

So, I begin to question more and this is a pretty common story around here. It's a rural community with limited resources and when they're gone, they're gone. On top of that I think I recently read that 20% of food in most american households goes to waste. I think both myself and Mr C have always believed that you just shouldn't throw out food. But yes we are both guilty of it. No more. I can't solve world hunger but I can do my part.

Here is my pledge:
1. I am continuously working on only eating foods we have and buying foods that we will use.
2. I am planning on going through our pantry and if there is anything we will not eat. Lets donate it.
3. This is something I try to do and depending on the week I do better or worse about it. At the grocery store or CVS I spend about $1 extra out of our budget each week on items to donate. I'm sure you're thinking. Just $1. Well, it's what we can afford and after coupons my $1 a lot of times I think really makes a difference. So I am going to consistently spend my $1 on food and see where it gets me.

So, why don't you join me? Get a cardboard box and put it in your pantry. You can fill it each week with your finds. Go through the pantry and throw in there the raspberry chipotle barbeque sauce (guilty as charged). Next time you are at the grocery store pick up $1 worth of nonperishable food items. If you coupon pick up the stuff you don't want but is a great deal. If you don't coupon I'm sure you can find at least 1 item that is $1 or under. I know you are thinking one item isn't going to make a difference but it could if we all do it.

8.06.2011

Meal Plan

Hello,

Everyone needs to start thier day out with a little Miss. G (the baby).






You know I work with families so I totally knew that kids changed you. But I never knew how much. I'm amazed how I am a normally social, out going person who constantly wants to be doing something and now that she's here all I ever want to do is just hang out with her. But really who wouldn't want to hang out with someone so cute? This picture is from her 4 month photos. We did them on July 3 this year. In it she was actually one very unhappy lady but thanks to our wonderful photographer she just looks like she's playing around.

 Now onto food blogging...

I'm weight watchering it and it's really working. This past week I lost 5 lbs and my boss told me she thought I looked thinner. Things like that really make me push ahead.  Now, I didn't cook much this past week because my great aunt came to visit. While she was here she bought tons of farmers market goodies, cooked for us daily, watched Miss. G (the baby), and did laundry/clean the house. Having family support makes being a working mom so much easier.

So, we are pretty well stocked on food. I won't have to do too much cooking/shopping in the upcoming week. Here is what I do have planned for us. A couple quick, relatively easy and healthy recipes.


Too Easy Peach Cobbler


Roasted Veggies and Polenta


Greek: Barley Tabbouli with falafel/chicken pitas (not 100% on the recipe yet)


Green Pepper Tofu, I've made this before and substitued the chicken for tofu and it worked really well. this is a tasty quick recipe!

Miss G in Action

So, since my blog is about food I thought I'ld show you our newest family member's eating. Here is Miss G eating for the first time, we went with oatmeal instead of rice because her poor tummy has been upset. I wish I could figure out how to put the video in the box but I just don't have that so you'll have to do it like dinosaur times and click on it.


Miss G Eats

Now that was cute but we have couple more that are cute too. Not food related but I just need to share with you.

Miss G Bounces

Miss G Rolls Over

Miss G in Battle (with a plastic bug)

Miss G Flirts

Thanks to Mr. C he figured out all of this stuff last night and loaded these videos on youtube. If it were up to me she would be old enough to teach me how to work all of these before I figured this out!

7.31.2011

Creamy Quinoa

Have you tried Philadelphia Cooking Creme? It's kind of flavored cream cheese for cooking. On 2 different occasions Publix has had AMAZING deals on it, like free & $.25 w/ sales and coupons. So, both times I bought it. I used it tonight. I know I was really leery of it at first & no, I'm not getting any compensation for this recipe. I really just like it. We've tried all the flavors & I think the savory garlic is the best. I feel like it's so good because it has flavor but is versatile for a variety of recipes. I'm pretty sure when I buy it again I'm going to stock up on only savory garlic kind. This is another recipe that was SO good I wanted to blog so I wouldn't forget it. I didn't take a picture. I thought about it but it really wasn't that good looking. It actually looked sort of gross but tasted delish.

Ingredients:

1 packet of taco seasoning mix
1 can of rotel, undrained (if that's too hot I bet you could use any diced tomatoes)
1 can of corn, undrained
1 can of mushrooms chopped & drained
1 can of black beans, drained
3 cups of cooked quinoa
1/2 chopped onion
1 package of savory garlic Philadelphia Cooking Creme- I think you could use the Santa Fe kind and leave out the taco mix but we didn't have any.
2 TBSP of nutritional yeast

For Kyle I separately cooked 1 pound of ground beef.

This is so easy & good.

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions
2. Chop onion & cook until brown in skillet
3. Add corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, & black beans to skillet cook until warmed thoroughly
4. Add Quinoa
5. Turn off the skillet & add taco seasoning, nutritional yeast, & cooking creme. The heat from the burner previously being on will melt it.
5. Enjoy!

7.27.2011

Panzanella

I haven't blogged in 10,000 years & I didn't even take a picture of this. I did however have a baby. Enough said. Now I'm on weight watchers. This is sort of a recipe I got off their website. I actually made this for dinner last night. It was great. It’s quick & frugal summertime dinner. All the ingredients we had in our fridge. Some even came from Mr. C's container garden. I liked it so much I thought I would put it here.


1 loaf of french or italian bread.
2 english cucumber
2 whole tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 onion
3 TBSP olive oil
3-4 TBSP of capers

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 TBSP of garlic
30ish fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 TBSP of dijon mustard


1. Cut bread into 1 inch thick cubes
2. Coat bread cubes with 3 TBSP of olive oil
3. In skillet over medium heat brown bread, usually takes about 10 min.
4. While that is cooking thinly slice onions, chop cucumbers, & tomatoes. Combine & set aside
5. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing
6. Combine all ingredients together, making sure to coat bread cubes.
7. Eat right away. This does not stay good & the bread goes soggy if it stays out but if eating quickly it's super good.
I ate this alone as a main course but fed Mr. C fish with it.

3.13.2011

cassarole week

Hello! I'm here, still pregnant just in case you were wondering. I do tell Zeus daily that s/he can come any time now that I'm 38 weeks. Right now it's just a waiting game. I am happy to report we are doing ok on our budgeting and other things getting ready for baby. The nursery is finally finished and I think we have everything ready. I even already packed my hospital bag just in case.

Due to my new diet I didn't do much cooking this past week. I think I actually ate baked potatoes every day with some type of green veggie and boca patty. This is why you didn't hear about much cooking around here. I will tell you I made the baked potatoes in the crockpot and they were really good and really easy. 

I am however back on the blogging saddle again for at least this week.

So, lots of baby sites tell you to make ahead casseroles for at least the first couple of weeks because you will have zero desire to cook. On top of that they need to be low sodium and weight watcher friendly. Now, I've never really dug casseroles. I'll eat them ok but enchiladas are about the only casserole that Mr. C and I eat around here. I would rather eat fresh or crockpot. But never the less I'm going to attempt casseroles this week to prepare us for baby. I do actually see the advantage of pulling foods out of the freezer and cooking without thought during the first two weeks. I'll make two of each dinner, one to eat and one to freeze.

My cooking this week:

Saturday: I made no salt spaghetti sauce in the crockpot. I would post the recipe but it was just ok. Nothing really to write home about. I made enough to eat, use on the shells and still freeze 2 containers for future use.

Sunday: Stuffed shells

Monday: I'm going to try this tortilla bake recipe.

Thursday: Crockpot. Happy St. Patty's day! I have to tell you that although I'm Irish (I think) and enjoy celebrating it this is a mixed feelings day for me for a couple of reasons. 1. Exactly 4 years ago Mr. C and I had our first date. It's crazy (in a good way) to think we have been together this long. I think we've been having so much fun we didn't notice time flying by. If you would have told me 4 years ago I'ld be married and about to pop out a munchkin I don't think I would have believed you but I'm so happy where I landed I don't even know how to express it. 2. It's a little sad for me because last year Mr. C and I spent the day in San Fransisco with a couple of our favorite people in the world. We were actually on vacation with my two best friends in the world and their husbands for the week. It makes me sad because I miss them dearly and it's been a whole year since we spent that time together. Aww, how life changes in a year. Anyway I am crockpotting this cabbage and potato recipe. I've made it before and it was really good (not to mention my grocery store has cabbage $.29 a pound right now.)

So, for next week do you have any great freezer recipes? I'ld love to hear them.



2.28.2011

This week.

Since the last time I blogged we've had quite a few changes around here. I have had problems with my blood pressure and I am now on a seriously restrictive no sodium diet. You would not believe the amount of sodium that is in food we eat every day. Needless to say this is a new adventure in cooking. On top of that Mr. C is now on weight watchers. We tried to apply for health insurance and if Mr. C can lose 30 lbs we can save $20 a month for the next 30 years. This is a HUGE incentive for weight loss. So, our menus have changed quite a bit. Because of this our grocery budget had a change too. I think this bummed both of us out. I was not too happy about going over for the month but we make sacrifices for our children right?

I'm also slowing down the cooking because i'm getting to that point of utter exhasution. I was going strong until the last week. I even diluted myself into thinking maybe it wasn't going to hit me. But hit me hard it did. I don't think it's as bad as the first trimester but it's close. The great thing is that the end is near. A month from yesterday my friend is supposed to be here. I honestly can't even wrap my mind around that fact. Mr. C and I are both doing what needs to get done to get ready for baby but I'm not sure either of us know what's in store. Needless to say these are not my best culinary efforts but it'll do.

Friday night: Tacos
Saturday breakfast: eggs and potatoes. Little J will be here to help with the nursery. it's almost done and it's super cute.
Saturday dinner: Date night. We have gotten into the pattern of date nights lately and I really look forward to them. I think it's knowing that these are very limited in our future that we both really dig them.
Sunday dinner: Jambalaya, Zataran's has a lower sodium one that i've never tried before but I'm looking forward to it.
Monday dinner: Little J bought me a no salt cookbook and from it I'm going to make a potato frittata
Crockpot day: Year of slow cooking green pepper chicken, although I'm making green pepper tofu. YUM!

what are you making?

2.12.2011

http://fortunavirilis.blogspot.com/2010/01/crock-pot-curried-red-lentil-chickpea.htmlI fell off the blogon (blogging wagon) this week. We were very busy including having people over for the Superbowl. Obviously I didn't do well with meal planning since I didn't do it. I overspent at the grocery store. I even forgot to renew my library books and now owe $1.75, boo. It'll go better this week.

No progress was made in baby's room. We did the rest of the house cleaned and presentable. This weekend we are putting up these clouds that I LOVE.

So, I can now see how people fall off the resolution wagon in February. But not us, no this week we are getting back on it.

This week I can only spend $25 at the grocery store so we are mostly eating whatever we have around here.

Saturday: Chicken/tofu baked in the oven, mashed potatoes, salad using our free earthfare coupon!
Sunday: Tostadas
Monday: I have a special dinner planned but I don't want to tell you know because Mr. C reads the blog and I want to surprise him. But don't worry it's delicious and frugal.
Crockpot day: I am making indian. Never got around to it. I am using this recipe here.

=)

1.30.2011

My week

Hello, how was your week? We were very busy around here. I was out of town for part of it and it seemed like lots of other nights we just had stuff to do. Although I would say I've done meh at my goals but Mr. C has been a ROCKSTAR!

Let me show his rockstarness.



This is what the baby's room now looks like now. Last Friday the room was white, full of junk, and that crib and changing table were in large shipping boxes waiting to be assembled. See how the changing table is not only put together but all the diapers are stacked under it. Yup, that was my husband too! He's the greatest.

AND like I said I was out of town on Thursday. Well, Mr. C went to the childbirth class alone even after I said I wouldn't go if I were him many times.

Me on the other hand, I went WAY over the grocery budget. I got stranded at Costco for something like 4 hours on Monday waiting for Mr. C's car and no good came of that. On top of that I didn't stick to my $25 budget at publix. My list was just too long. I think I actually went a whole $100 over budget this month. EEK! So, I normally grocery shop on Sundays. I now have to decide for this week do I wait until Tuesday to do my shopping or do I go ahead and shop on Sunday from my February budget. Neither seem like desirable options, normally I would skip shopping but we're out of fruit and the only fresh veggies with have are carrots and onions. So, We'll see.

Now, I did do well with my returning library books on time. Even though I was crazy tired on Tuesday I went to the library so I wouldn't get any fines.

And the menu I did ok on. I followed it except for Crockpot day. I still didn't make the Jamaican soup. I'm not sure Mr. C will eat it. I did make this recipe instead. I was skeptical of rice in the slow cooker but it turned out great and we both really like it. This was SUPER easy and we had all the ingredients on hand the only thing I would do different is add more spices it was pretty bland.

Our menu for the week:

Saturday: Crockpot chicken and irish potatoes with steamed broccoli and homemade bread. I don't make the crockpot chicken on crockpot day because it dries out really easily and Mr. C doesn't care for it that way. The nice thing about this is he'll eat this today and then we'll clean off the rest of the chicken and freeze it and use it for recipes in the future. Lots of recipes I'll cook vegetarian and throw in chicken on the side. Definitely makes life easier with the meat/no meat compromise.

Sunday: No cooking today for lunch we're having leftovers and for dinner we're going out to eat with our life group.

Monday: Peanut butter noodles with dumplings. I said I was going to make this and never did and now Mr. C keeps asking about it. I think it's one of his favorite foods.

Crockpot day: Indian. I don't know what yet. I'll still have to find a recipe but both Mr. C and I agree that Indian food is just great in the crockpot and I bought a huge bag of Naan at Costco. By the way Naan is really cheap at costco but it's a huge bag. This time I bought it and separated each piece between wax paper and froze it. I'll let you know how it works but I do this a lot with tortillas and it works great with them. We can never use whole packages of tortillas so I separate them out and they don't go to waste.

Actually I am going to make to make here, here, or here

Finally, I've already done my baking for the week. I made pumpkin bread. This was good but I think it needs nuts or raisins or both maybe.

How are your resolutions?

1.22.2011

Meal Plan

So, far so good over here on the resolution front.

On the baby front let me tell you about my amazing husband and his wonderful parents. My amazing husband last night cleaned out the WHOLE baby room. This is amazing. That room was so cluttered before. He is great. Then today his parents came down and helped Mr. C paint the whole room for us.  YAY! It's a lovely shade named Neptune, very Huntsville appropriate. In case you are down with the latest paint colors from Lowes its a lovely shade of blue. Yup, blue and no we don't know the sex of the baby. 

We have not done terrible on saving money.We have not done amazing at it either but'll work on it next week.

I have not done great on my grocery shopping. 63.27+64.83+4.01+22.61+50ish+20ish= that's only $25.28 to spend on groceries for this week. Eek, it's ok. I can make it.

Saturday:Simple dinner: chicken wings/chick'n, homemade bread, salad, and sugar cookies (for my wonderful husband)
Sunday: Lunch: Quesadillas
Dinner: Bierocks and sweet potato fries
Monday: Moo Shu Chicken
Crockpot day: Jamaican Soup (we never made this last week because we never made the potato soup and Mr. C said he would rather have it.)


1.14.2011

Happy Birthday MOM!

 Today is a special day for not 1 lady in our family but 2. Yup, my mom's a twin. So, We say Happy Birthday to my Mama and G.A.G. (not gag but great aunt goof, my mom's twin). These lovely ladies are 29 again today and they are coming to see me tomorrow. YAY!



So, with no further ado...

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to mama and G.A.G,
Happy birthday to you!

Meal Plan Jan. 15-18

Resolution in progress week 2. We are doing well on our budgeting and using up extra random food around here. Now as far as my meal plan you may notice that I do it a little differently. That's because of my work schedule since I work 4 days a week. I cook 3 and crockpot 1 of those. We eat out on Thursdays and "scrounge" for leftovers the other two days. I find that this works for us. Lots of bloggers cook everyday of the week but I was doing this and it was WAY too much food. So here's what works for us:

Saturday: Peanut butter noodles
Sunday: Tacos for lunch, dinner with our life group
Monday: Lentil loaf, potatoes, broccoli
Crockpot day: Tuesday or Wednesday: Jamaican Pumpkin Soup


As far as the rest of my resolutions. Things are going VERY well. We have been snowed in so the house is actually cleaner than it has been since I moved in. And with the help with Mr. C I actually renewed my library books on time yesterday. yay!

How's the progress on your resolutions?

1.08.2011

Resolution in progress

So, I just wrote to you about sticking and keeping my resolution. And, one of mine is making a meal plan to use up random foods chilling around our cabinets too long so we don't waste money. I've done a meal plan in the past and I find that I actually do pretty well when I have it set out for me. So here is my resolution in action.

Saturday: Chicken thighs, veggie fried rice, dumplings, broccoli
Sunday:
 lunch- Homemade pizza (dough and sauce from the freezer)
 life group (aka dinner)- hummus with bagel chips, maybe a dessert to go with it if i have time
Monday: turkey/boca burgers with sweet potato fries
Tuesday: Crockpot day! Baked potato soup

Breakfasts: Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

New Years Resolution

I'm a little late on this but who cares really? I am READY for 2011. It's going to be a big year for my little family. I am one excited lady.

And when it comes to resolutions in general I'm a fan.

If you think about resolutions more as goals and actually take then seriously they can be broken down into smaller steps.

So, when I was joking around I thought "I am going to have a baby and survive the first year." But really this is a good, realistic goal for me.

Broken down this encompasses ALOT and so this is my plan.

1. Mr. C and I have to change our spending to be able for me to stay home for 3 months without pay with our new friend and then afford daycare and all the other joys having a new person. Actually, we have been working on this for a while. (actually Mr. C has more than myself). We've found ways to cut back on bills, refinance our house, retweek our budget. But we're not there yet for me to accomplish this I need to do better with my spending. Mr. C says groupon is going to be the death of him so I need to cut back on my groupon purchases. Continue to coupon at the grocery store AND make sure to use the foods that I get instead of them just hanging out in our cabinets forever. And finally this was a resolution last year. I did better with it but still struggled. I need to turn my library books in on time so I don't have to pay fines!

2. Neither of us are OCD about house cleaning. I wish we were but we are messy. That's going to need to change for a new person to come. Clean out the baby's room. Declutter our house in general. If we would organize some more it would probably help with the "surviving the first year" part.

3. We've already started this Thursday but it's still a resolution. Educate ourselves about having a baby. I have accumulated quite a few books/magazines about becoming a parent I'ld like to try to read. Also, We started classes through the hospital on labor and parenting a newborn. We need to continue with those.

4. Finally, I would like to start running again as soon as my friend is here. I had some trouble and quit at the beginning of my pregnancy. Consequentially I've gain WAY too much weight during my pregnancy and some day I yearn to run (but I doubt I could now). The Nashville Women's Half Marathon is Sept. 24 and I am loosely shooting for it to be my return to running. I'm not honestly sure how obtainable this is but I'm going to try.

I say this to you all to keep me accountable. I think it's easy to make a resolution but harder to follow through on it. Thanks for reading. Do you have any resolutions you really want do accomplish?