MPM

So its Monday again and I need to get my act together! We did...OK Last week. Could have done better but I know we will do better this week!

Mon Tacos
Tue Dinner at the kids school.
Wed Cheese Burgers on the Grill and Spinach Salad
Thurs Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Fri Roast with noodles gravy and carrots
Sat Spaghetti with meat sauce

Nothing Special..although my kids would say that the Tacos are special....LOL

Whats on your menu? You can check out LOTS AND LOTS of great menu ideas at http://orgjunkie.com/

Have a great week all!
Jeanne

WOW! Life has been crazy!

So I was going to do better at blogging I said...that was ummmm....4mths ago I stated that. OPPS! And now probably isnt the best time to take it back up but Im gonna try. Robby and Hannah have been back at school for about 3-4 wks already and things are going good. Hannah has had 2 MAJOR meltdowns at school. The first being the first day of school and the second just this past Friday. She has no real reason for not wanting to be there other than wanting to spend time with me. Well she got her wish this past weekend. Roger and Robby were at the cabin for a day and a half. Hannah and I had a good time of doing a lil of this and a lil of that. She has already read 15 books and the goal the school gives them is 25 a school year...well Hannah and I are gonna set a MUCH higher goal for her. Because I know she can do it we are going for 100. Now that may sound crazy BUT it totally can be done. I just need to make time for her to read to me every night. Since she is only in kindergarten we can do this! Robby is TOTALLY loving 5th grade and Roger and I are loving it too! Robby is out the door way early for school but he is so excited to go and do what is asked of him that Im ok with him leaving way to early..LOL He is on the safety patrol at school and takes it very seriously. He started playing the glockenspiel too this year. He started the drums in 3rd grade and this is just another part of the percussion section that he needs to learn. He loves his class room this year BIG time too...sounds silly but...the boy has a lap top and a smart board and all kinds of knew things I dont even know how to use..LOL

SO here is my BIG news...I got a job!!! I will be working at the kids school 5 hours a day between the classrooms and the cafe'. I am totally excited and cant wait to get started for real. I have been helping out since the second week of school and loving it! So thats why I said I dont no if this is the best time to start to blog again...but Im gonna try. Even if I only update or post twice a week..thats not so bad...is it????

So here is our menu plan for this week:

Mon: Roast, mashed potatos and peas

Tue: Breaded chicken, spinach salad and mac n cheese

Wed: FAIR FOOD

Thur: Frozen pizza

Fri: Sausage, potato's and green beans in the crock pot

Sat: a cook out at our cousins house for dinner <3

Sun: Two Cousins with friends after church.

Thats our simple yet functionable menu plan for this week of Sept 27, 2010

You can check out TONS more menus at : http://orgjunkie.com/2010/09/menu-plan-monday-sept-27th.html

Have a great week and Ill try to post some of our AWESOME summer happenings that were missed.

Jeanne

MPM for the week of May 24 2010

Hello! I have nothing really exciting on that requires a recipe for this week but Im just not feeling like cooking right now. Im in a funk! IDK..if its cause its nearing the end of the school year or because it is ending it and I dont have a full house of kids to watch like I thought I would before...UGH. Im worried about not being able to put enough back for pellets for our heat for next winter. MY BIG PLAN right now is to use only what we have in the freezer and cupboards for the next 2-3 weeks. I no we can do it! Its just a matter of doing it. I will need to order Angel Food for next mth the next time DH gets paid..but thats next mths groceries...IDK..maybe Im stressin and dont need to be. I keep telling DH that Woman do not stress by choice that its just something we do naturally. Hes not buying it...LOL
OK here we go with our simply menu plan for this week.

Mon- Smoked Sausage with sweet corn and fruit
Tue- Turkey Mignon (from Angel Food) noodles and peas
Wed- Baked Potato's with toppings and fruit
Thus- Scrambled Eggs, leftover potato's turned into home fries and sausage
Fri- Hamburger Helper
Sat- Spaghetti with meat sauce and a salad if I can get DH to run and get one because Im not going to the store!!! No way! ill get stuff we dont need.
Sun- OUT for lunch and then sandwiches for dinner

Thanks for taking the time to check out my Menu Plan for this week. Please stop by Org junkie for more great menus! Hundreds of them actually!

http://orgjunkie.com/

Take care
Jeanne

PS I do plan to blog about Angel Food this week...

Getting back on track with things!

So I just looked and I have not blogged since Feb 15 2010. Thats ummmm....3mths ago. WOW...wonder what that was about? LOL! I have been super busy but thats no excuse. I am still menu planning and working on going green around here so I need to keep up my blogging too! Ok in my mind it all goes together and I may be wrong but hey..IM BACK...

Whats been going on...hmmm Well DH and I both have been helping more at church. He works on the sound for the Kids Club and does lil stuff here and there like mowing the grass. I have been teaching the craft at kids club..since Feb and also helping in the Jr church with crafts too. I would love to take a break from Jr church for the summer but...we just dont have enough helpers to go around so I will stick it out for now. We have VBS coming up and DH is doing sound and I am...doing craft SUPRISE!!!! Im almost totally ready for it and I have a mth to go..this is an awesome feeling cause last year at this time we were still cutting crafts out the day of a craft...so I have it more under control than we did last year and Im loving it! LOL
This past week my DS was diagnosed with ADHD and OCD. I have been asking(begging) for help for YEARS for him and have finally found a counsler that is able or willing to help. He is struggling in school and he acts up at the stragest times and the school doesnt see him as a problem..well I dont see him as a problem BUT I do see him as a source of stress for us at times. DH and I both stop and count often before we respond to something he says or does because raising our voices dont do any good...and we no this but when you are tired from your everyday..its hard sometimes. We love him very much and want what is best for him and I have explained it to him and he seems to understand it. He is 10 now. WOW when did my baby get so old? I love that kid so much and only want the best for him.
Our DD is doing awesome in school. She is in K4 (preschool here) and lovin it. She still has anixity about stuff and I get that..and I no I enable her...but Im her mom and I want to protect her at all costs as I do DS....But over all she is doing awesome.
I am baby sitting a lil fellow "J" full time. I am learning a lot from his momma. She feeds him mostly organic. I think its neat and a great thing to do for our kids..BUT we arent there yet. We enjoy HamburgerHelpers and stuff that I no arent always the best for us way to much to give them up. LOL Plus the cost...Im strugglin to make ends meet as it is let along changing out habbits that drastically. Now I have changed our food budget GREATLY since I last blogged and Im so glad I was able to do so. We now order a lot of our food from Angel Food Ministries. https://www.angelfoodministries.com/menus/menu_2010-06_en.asp
I tend to order the main meal box and the kids boxes and an extra box of this or that. This month I am planning on getting there main box, the kids fruit box and the burgers grill box as well as the bit o blessings box. I order from Angel Food and then spend about $200.00 on the things we need that are not in that. I have read just today that if you spend about $25.00 per person per week on JUST FOOD not toilet paper, shampoos and what not..you are doing good...well Im thinking Im doing good. We are still going out to eat every Sunday for lunch and about once a mth DH and I are going out ALONE for dinner...such a treat! But I will blog more about Angel Food later because I am also a voulenter there where I pick up my very own food.
Have a blessed week and we will do more catching up later!
Jeanne

MPM for Monday Feb 15 2010

So in an effort to stay on track with my BUDGET MIND...LOL I went thru the freezer and came up with a list of what we have...So our next 2 weeks are planned out already! Here are 14 meals that we will be having over the next two weeks. I will decide in the mornings or the night before as to what we will have. That way I dont feel so closed in by NOT getting any grocery's for two more weeks (although we will get our boxes from Angel Food next Saturday and Im excited about them this is the first time I ordered them)
Here are the meals
1 Chicken Parm On Cor Meal
2 Salisbury Steaks
3 Chicken Corn Pie
4 Chicken Corn Noodle Soup
5 Ham Loaf
6 Spaghetti with meat balls
7 Cheese burger Meat loaf
8 Stuffed peppers
9 BBQ Pork Chops
10 Hot Dogs with baked beans
11 Hamburger Helper
12 Chicken Nuggets
13 Meat loaf
14 Breakfast (sausage and bacon in the freezer)

These are just the bases of the meals. I will add to them with fruit and veggies and a starch...cause I have a growing boy ya know...LOL (and a growing hubby for that matter)

For more great ideas on menu planning and organization tips go to http://orgjunkie.com/

Thanks for checkin out my plan for the next few days...Some sort of exciting blog to follow..Ill come up with something..IDK what yet..but you deserve better.
Jeanne

Budget

I got realistic...our budget of 200.00 a mth was not going to work for food! I raised it to 300.00 and feel better about it and it is working. I just realized that I never posted that that one blog said 200 then the next said 300 NICE right..LOL
So far her are my recipt totals for groceries
Weis 75.77
Aldis 105.38
and I still have half the mth left..so yeah I can do this.

Better Late than Never!! MPM on a Tuesday

IDK why I couldnt get this out on time...other than a mental block on what to make. I did good with going to the store. I have my budget at 300.00 a mth and Im at 185.00 and still have plenty of food. I might come under the 300 this mth BUT I still need to order the food boxes from Angel Food and I plan to get 2 of those for the end of the mth and begining of next mth. They are 30 a box so thats 60 and it takes me to 245.00 I might hit the 300 with needing some salads and fruit again in about a week. But thats ok. Its working and we are loving the menus I am planning or the food I am cooking since Im still working on this weeks menu...HA HA Maybe all the snow here in Lancaster is getting to me with another foot on the way..UGH whats 3 feet of snow in Feb....LOL

Monday IDK what to call it but Ill tell ya what was in it..HA Cooked Zitti Noodles, Ricota, Cooked Hamburger, Parm, and a jar of Rinaldi Sauce..I put it all in the crock pot to bake all day and then covered with cheese about an hour before dinner (mozzerlla cheese that is) and it was YUMMO..who needs stuffed shells this was just as good!!! (left overs were dished up for Hubbys lunches)
Tuesday Baked BBQ chicken covered in dried onions and chedder cheese with rice and corn
Wednesday Grilled Cheese and tomato soup
Thursday Hamloaf, mashed potatos and peas
Friday Subs and chips out...we still have lots of fundraiser coupons to use for subs
Saturday OUT with Hubby for dinner and a movie!!! Sorry Mom you get the kiddos..HA
Sunday light lunch of leftovers or sandwiches and dinner will be whatever we can find. I have my ladys comin over to stamp cards on Sunday so who knows what will happen.

ENJOY and for more AWESOME menu ideas check out http://orgjunkie.com/

Menu Plan Monday and some extras I felt like sharing..HA HA

So in an effort to stay on my $200.00 a mth food budget (HA HA HA HA HA HA) I just cleaned out my upright freezor...well..I think that I will totally be able to hold out until I take my neighbor for her groceries as well as my sister. Now one thing that I do plan to do that will totally go against my $200.00 budget is fill the freezer when I get my income tax return back this mth. I plan to stock up on LOTS of things that we go thru like butter, shredded cheeses, frozen veggies (except corn cause my Dear Hubby filled a shelf of our freezer with that this past summer LOVE HIM we still have 17 bags of that)french fries, onion rings, and meat...BUT I am also going to order 3 boxes of food from Angel Food this mth. Here is there link so you can check them out...you still have time to order and this mth..is an awesome menu!!! http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menus/menu_2010-02_en.asp Those boxes alone would have gotten us thru the mth for dinners. I would still have had to get lunch stuff and breakfast BUT my kids are both doing better at eating at school for those meals. This year there school is offering free meals to all...and that is awesome. I think there are lots of kids in our area that come to school hungry. I did read an article once about some local churches and a few of the Elementary schools in our area that do weekend boxes for the kids of very low income families..this was an article that made me CRY..and even talking about it again..makes me wanna cry...ugh..no matter how bad you think things are..they really aren't!!! It could almost always be alot worse.

Ok on with my somewhat boaring MENU for this week Feb 1st 2010
Mon Chicken Cheese casarole from freezer over noodles and peas
Tue Grilled Cheese and LO tomato soup from freezer
Wed BBQ pork chops also from freezer some sort of boxed potatos and red beets
Thur Left overs OR scrambled eggs w cheese toast and sausage links
Fri Fund Raiser Subs from our church

I keep thinking..if I stock up the freezer am I defeting what I am trying to prove OR am I getting ahead so that when I slow down on baby sitting come summer that we will be OK? I am totally torn...give me some advice and let me know what you would do...
Whats on your menu this week??? To see lots more GREAT menu ideas check out http://orgjunkie.com/2010/01/menu-plan-monday-feb-1st.html
Have an awesome week..I plan too <3
Jeanne

Menu Plan Monday EARLY..thats right EARLY LOL

Hello and welcome again to another installment of Menu Plan Monday...LOL It almost sounds like I have my act together doesnt it...HA HA well I dont...LOL but thats ok cause Im getting there God isnt finished with me I am still a work in progress. So I just looked back over my goals..and I actully worked on some of them last week and am excited to share them with you before we get to the MEAT of my blog post..HE HE
So I went to the gym 3 times last week, stayed with in my mthly grocery budget and got rid of the home phone and another bill that was costing us mthly charges that dont make sense..and...we are now...$90.00 a mth..I was gonna say richer..but if you have kids at home you know what I mean when I say...yeah it wont show yet..>LOL Still playing catch up and what not..and thats ok..FOR NOW..and only for now..OH OH OH and we almost made the only go out once this week...WAIT...maybe we did..LOL. We had McDonalds Friday night cause I just wasnt feeling cooking before kids club and we had lunch out with friends today BUT today could be the meal out for this week. SOOO with that said...I will cook EVERY meal this week! We are going to our cabin this weekend and Ill post pics next week of it cause...we should have either snow or mud..and those both make for some great pictures..LOL. OK on with my MENU PLAN!!!



Mon- Cheese burger Meat loaf, fries and peas
Tue- English muffin pizzas and carrots with dip
Wed- Grilled cheese and tomato soup maybe chips LOL
Thurs- Ham balls with pineapples, mashed potato's and corn
Fri- Shepard's Pie at the cabin
Sat- Scrambled Eggs, toast, sausage
Broccoli soup
Baked Grilled cheese and tomato soup chips and pickles.

I cant wait to see all the great meal ideas on MPM on www.orgjunkie.com there will be hundreds of blogs there for you to read and enjoy all of there awesome ideas!!!

Jeanne

Setting Goals for 2010

I saw this on another blog and fell in love with the idea. I am going to set some simple yet attanable goals for this year. We have so many projects going on around here that a list of goals would help get them done...I hope..LOL

2010 GOALS

*finish upstairs bathroom
*new back door and wood work in the family room
*finish upstairs hallways
*pay off small credit cards and then add that money to the BIG one
*stick to a grocery budget of $200.00 a week
*go to the gym at least 3 times a week to not only help loose weight but to help clear my mind of my daily stresses
*only go out to eat once a mth
*pay off Rogers truck in hopes of putting back towards a newer one
*get rid of the house phone and other things we have and do not need that are costing us mthly fees

I will revisit the list often and maybe add to it.

Stove Top Meatballs

Easy Easy....

Stove Top Meatballs
2lb ground beef
1 six ounce box of CHICKEN Stove Top stuffing
2 eggs
3/4 cup of water

Mix well and make into balls then place on a cookie sheet (with sides in case there is much grease in your beef) bake about 20 mins turning once about half way at 400degrees...

ENJOY! I love these and so do the kids. We have also made them into burgers and grilled them and topped with cheese and onions..YUMMO...

Jeanne

MPM on a Tuesday (better late than never right AGAIN UGH)

Ok...Im late...again! IDK whats up with me not getting time online on Mondays so I think this week Ill try for Sunday instead. IDK if I will get it done then either..but Ill do my best. I do have daycare kids here so this could be sloppy at best..LOL..and unedited. LOL



Mon- Baked Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup, chips and pickles. (babysitting for a friend w 3 lil ones over dinner time so going for extra easy this night)
Tue- Salad and Baked Potatos with toppings (odd daycare hours today so easy meal again)
Wed- Homemade Stove Top Meatballs w gravy mashed potatos and corn
Thurs-Chicken Parm, julianne potatos and peas
Fri- Pancakes and sausage (kids club so fast and easy it is)
Sat- Hot Dogs and mac n cheese

for more menu plan ideas please go to www.orgjunkie.com you will find hundreds of blogs there with great ideas. ENJOY!

MPM on a Tuesday (better late than never right?)

So I missed two weeks Im thinking...well...during Christmas break the girl and I were sick..so I missed that MPM and well Daddy made us Grilled cheese most of that week...LOL..He is the best. Then last week was Daddys birthday so I had a few guests over on Monday and we had lots of leftovers from that last week...plus a double cheese burger night...LOL BurgerKing has there double cheese burgers for a dollar...and well..I cant resist such a deal. We got 10 and had them twice last week...BAD I know but...

SO here is this weeks MPM!

Mon- Dinner the the Super Intendent of our School District
Tue- Hamburger Helper and green beans
Wed- Crock Pot Roast with onions carrots and potatos YUMMO!!!
Thu- Grilled Cheese and soup
Fri- either left overs OR scrambled eggs and sausage
Sat- Pizza here with friends..we are having a WII tournament..LOL..
Sun- Out for lunch and sandwiches for dinner

So I am working on using what I have...but that is hard when you run out of fruit, veggies and lunch stuff. So I went to Giant for some fruit yesterday and some snacks..and spent 95.00 NOT SURE HOW THAT HAPPENED! I still need veggies and I plan to get them at Aldis on Thursday when I take my sister for her groceries....sooo the goal for there is 30 or less!!! We have plenty of healthy snacks and lunch stuff for the next two maybe three weeks...so that helps but I cant believe I spent 95.00 on it. I need to re work that one cause I NEVER SPEND that much at once. UGH!

Visit Orgjunkie for more great tips...
http://orgjunkie.com/2010/01/menu-plan-monday-january-11th.html