tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61556865181835570912024-03-05T15:30:18.556-06:00My attempt to balance lifebridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-81405790459048401032012-06-03T12:10:00.000-05:002012-06-03T12:10:15.938-05:00Weekly Meal PlanWe are overflowing with foods from the garden and fresh produce so our summer meals are simple and easy. I am more than happy to spend time with playing Miss. G more. Here is our quick and easy meal plan for the week.
Sun: BLTs
Mon: crockpot spaghetti sauce spaghetti with salad
Tues: burgers with sweet potato fries
Wed: pork tacos
Thurs: something from the freezer....
Friday: squash, bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-30006035232627777262012-05-11T16:06:00.000-05:002012-05-14T21:44:10.545-05:00(The rest of) May Meal PlanMay has been just shooting by. I can't believe it's already half gone. We have been very busy in our house. Ms. G went on her first caming trip last weekend and we have an upcoming trip to the beach.
As it happens most every spring I am now transitioning our meals around what's fresh and in season vs. the publix ad. I still use the publix ad but I am relying less heavily on it. I am continuing bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-74431547790867416082012-04-14T00:14:00.000-05:002012-04-14T00:14:56.151-05:00Reading through the alphabet: (D) The Dirty Life
So, here's the gist...Basically this is a book of a woman who gave up her NYC life and found happiness on a farm. The focus is her love of food and working with the more "simple" things in life, realizing simple is not always that simple, and happiness isn't materialistic.
I read this book as part of booking it with Life as Mom and I am still working my way through the alphabet. I had honestly bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-64796495304566211572012-04-01T22:18:00.000-05:002012-04-01T22:18:34.239-05:00April Meal Plan Meal planning and family changes:So, I have now officially started my new job. Yay! As I'm sad leave behind my kiddos and coworkers in Cullman, I am loving getting home at a regular time. To be honest I knew I was missing out on quality Miss G time but I had gotten so used to I didn't realize all I was really missing. I really enjoy just getting the chance to spend quality time with both bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-85394964071679593612012-03-04T15:47:00.000-06:002012-03-04T15:47:08.583-06:00Menu PlanSo, I had written out a beautiful meal plan that focused on pantry ingredients and only supplemented from the store that was a great idea until Saturday...
Saturday I was jogging with Little J to get ready for the St. Jude's half marathon & I hit a rock and fell face forward on asphalt, thoroughly scraping my knees and hands & twisting my ankle. I'm ok but taking it slow for the next bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-19547512841372875782012-02-20T17:54:00.013-06:002012-03-02T09:42:40.860-06:00Wisdom from my Pantry ChallengeThis is a little overdue but I would still like to share with you what I learned over the months of December and January...
So, I did the pantry challenge for both December and January and overall did not really save that much money. Can it really still be a pantry challenge? I think so. I did make a real effort to eat foods that were hanging around our house too long. I think I bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-31154985414892799632012-02-11T11:20:00.000-06:002012-02-11T11:20:58.239-06:00Reading through the alphabet: (M) Money Saving Mom's Budget
As I am reading through the alphabet I am following Booking it over at Life as Mom. Booking it is an online book club that each month we link up a selected read. This month was the Money Saving Mom's Budget.
I think only Crystal Paine, the Money Saving Mom could make budgeting inspirational and exciting. I have been reading her blog regularly for a couple of years bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-67158112739761737642012-02-11T00:48:00.009-06:002012-02-11T00:48:00.495-06:00Menu PlanLast week I spent $90 between Publix and a fabulous deal I found on real maple syrup on amazon.
I know it's a lot of money BUT
I did save 60% AND.
In my reading the Money Saving Mom's budget one of the ways she says to save money is to shop for 2 weeks. You will do much better with spending in one week and planning ahead. I thought this is something I could implement easily and actually bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-11589216304674849222012-01-30T08:21:00.000-06:002012-01-30T08:21:44.227-06:00Week 4 Wrapup
I DID IT! I passed my test. I'm now a LCSW and I think it's a pretty big deal. I really have to thank my husband and Miss G's baby sitter because they both really stepped up to help and watch her more so I could study. I am really proud of that. AND on Thursday night instead of going out to eat Mr C and I actually made dinner. Look at us sticking to the pantry challenge.
I'm also reallybridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-41864814435860547622012-01-22T21:57:00.001-06:002012-01-23T08:18:59.333-06:00Pantry Challenge Week 3
So, even though this month's goal is to clean out and organize our pantry for the Pantry Challenge at Good Cheap Eats my mom decided to contribute by cleaning out her pantry and sending food home with us. I did tell her it was ok and let her know that anything that wasn't eaten in the next couple of weeks is going to the food bank and she agreed. Therefore we got a large influx of food. I bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-13850770997970695422012-01-22T21:16:00.001-06:002012-01-22T21:18:00.322-06:00Pantry Challenge Meal Plan Week 4It's here. The week of my LCSW exam so this won't be a long blog. I spent $60 at publix on Sunday and $20 at CVS this week. Not a great week for savings but I guess that's about average for us now. At publix there were things that I thought about not getting but if I would have waited for another week well they wouldn't have been on sale so I just decided to go ahead. I am still planning our bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-26122015074887470332012-01-14T02:22:00.000-06:002012-01-14T02:22:55.515-06:00Pantry Challenge Week 2
So, we are still theoretically on the pantry challenge. I am really trying to eat from the pantry and follow my meal plan but life has been throwing me some serious curve balls this week. For example, I ate out twice on Friday...so here I was going to type to you an excuse about it being a long week but even sounded pathetic while I was formulating it. I honestly was not accountable tobridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-67126200287018257462012-01-12T22:11:00.003-06:002012-04-14T00:15:37.459-05:00Reading Through the Alphabet in 2012As I mentioned in my goals that I would really like to read myself through the alphabet. I think it would be a fun challenge for me to put down my computer and increase my time reading. This is going to be the post I update with my progress. =)
Reading Through the Alphabet.
A- A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
B
C- Clinical social work licensing examination study guide
D- The Dirty Life:A bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-78181407197603486342012-01-12T06:18:00.004-06:002012-01-13T05:56:20.919-06:00Reading Through the Alphabet Part of my reading through the alphabet is follow Booking it over at Life as Mom.
One bite at a time
I really went into this book thinking I wasn't going to like it. I am horribly unorganized at home and work. I wish I was better about it but really came away with a couple of things that I think I'll work on changing. For example, Eat that Frog, week 1 is really great...essentially bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-13901351573554982242012-01-10T17:41:00.000-06:002012-01-10T17:41:29.115-06:00Eating from the Pantry- Week #1 Fail
Since this is my second month of eating out of the pantry I knew I was going to have to go to the grocery store and shell out more than I did last month. Honestly we were out of pretty much out of everything at our house that is a staple, you know milk, produce, even our poor dogs were out of dog food. Even my husband, who thinks I have a grocery store addiction said it was time to go.
So, Ibridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-22723318070475291592012-01-08T00:03:00.000-06:002012-01-08T00:03:19.884-06:00Goals for 2012Yes, I know these are a little late to put out there but hey if I'm serious about them, they can be a little late.
So, I had quite a few goals that I wanted to do this year. I just got really inspired by everything I read on every blog and decided that I wanted to do that too...for example: reading, crafting, photography...things that I think are super pleasurable but not for me and this seasonbridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-21110869427308955232012-01-02T17:28:00.000-06:002012-01-02T17:28:49.587-06:00Pantry Challenge Part DeuxSo, last month I told you I was giving myself a break from couponing so I could focus on my family and celebrating the season (and to save a little cash). I decide to do this by only buying necessities at the grocery store. I have to tell you it went really well. We a lot of meals that had been hanging around too long and made a dent in our pantry. We are just about through our veggies both bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-70260483591053137902011-12-03T11:18:00.048-06:002011-12-03T11:18:00.524-06:00Monthly 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 bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-87824319342701553332011-09-30T19:55:00.004-05:002011-10-01T07:39:07.988-05:00Costco vs. Grocery StoreWe 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!
bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-11817959878919887012011-09-29T06:20:00.002-05:002011-10-20T09:32:55.146-05:00Baked "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 bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-39330815714505874622011-09-22T16:20:00.001-05:002011-09-23T20:38:23.253-05:00CVS 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 bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-26263480512886955672011-09-13T16:52:00.001-05:002011-09-17T07:02:15.035-05:00Accountable 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 $bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-11861402583703678982011-09-13T15:16:00.000-05:002011-09-13T15:16:42.510-05:00What we're eatingI'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 bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-27098806771109543732011-09-13T11:48:00.000-05:002011-09-13T11:48:48.935-05:00Great DealI 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 bridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155686518183557091.post-21850970535808073192011-09-09T16:10:00.000-05:002011-09-09T16:10:16.500-05:00My pledgeWithout 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 timebridgethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645791886470096592noreply@blogger.com1