Goal of the week: May 12-18

I have decided to give myself some goals this week.  I have the bad habit of getting super overwhelmed by the BIG picture.  So this week I am going to try things differently.  I am sitting down with my calendar and giving myself a list of goals for the week.  I have already printed out lists of cleaning things to do.  I will check off as much as I can before 4pm.  Then it is time to relax and spend time with my family and have some me time.  Hopefully by doing planning out my weekly menu, to do list, etc around my calendar appointments than I can cut down on forgetting things and wasting time and money.  I'll let you know how it goes.  What are your goals?

 Here is a sneak peak at my week:

Monday-Laundry day

• Dr. apt in the morning
• Laundry and daily cleaning in the afternoon
• School with the kids
• Stick to menu plan

Tuesday-Kitchen day

• Babysitting all day
• Semi-deep clean the kitchen and daily cleaning items
• Make ahead a few items
• School with the kids
• Stick to menu plan

Wednesday-Office day

• Do my office paperwork, phone calls, cleaning etc.
• School with the kids
• Stick to menu plan
• Daily cleaning 

Thursday-Cleaning day

• Dr. apt in the morning
• Bible study in the morning
• School with kids
• Cleaning day list and daily cleaning items 
• Stick to menu plan

Friday-Errand day/Field Trip day

• Run any errands to the store, around town, etc.
• Field trip with the kids (parks, museums, etc.)
• Daily cleaning
• Stick to menu plan

A great resource is a book called Large Family Logistics. It helped me label my days (office, errand, etc) so that I wasn't running all over doing everything at once.  I also follow a blog that focuses on organizing.  She has a facebook page as well. Great info there!!!

paper, papER, PAPER!!!!!!

Tomorrow is trash day and so I decided now was as good a time as any to get shredding some of the paper and old mail I have been avoiding for forever!  So far I have filled an entire trashbag and 2 walmart bags full of shredded paper.   Did I mention I am STILL not done!!!!!  Ugh!  To think this is us having no paper bills either!  Any ideas how to STOP getting junk mail?

Oh well break over, back to shredding! 

HAPPY THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!

Freezer Cooking 8/15

Today I had a freezer cooking session.  My main focus was breakfast and at least one part of my dinner list.   I did this while my son took a nap.  I was not smart about it because I didn't take any breaks during that time.  My feet are currently paying the price.  So if you decide to take up freezer cooking at least give yourself a 15 minute break here and there.

I made:

• Blueberry Pancakes using a recipe I found at The Mom 100 cookbook.  (As of today there is a free sample of her cookbook here.)  I used this website for hints about how to freeze the pancakes.

•  Then came the french toast using this recipe.  I added cinnamon to mine though.  I froze them using the same method as the pancakes.   

 

 

• Mini muffins.  I used 2 of the bags of mix I found at the store a few weeks ago on mega sale.  You can make homemade if you choose.  I do that also.  Today I just wanted to use what I had in my house to save money.
• Homemade mac-n-cheese to go with the ham I bought.   It is really simple to make.  Boil your macaroni for a few minutes in salted water until it is almost done.  (like maybe 4 minutes if that) Then you layer the macaroni and cheese slices adding pepper to each layer.  Cover with tinfoil, label and freeze.  When your ready to cook just thaw in fridge the night before; add milk and bake at 375 for 35 minutes covered and another 10-15 uncovered.  Until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Menu Plan 6/28-7/4

Today I went grocery shopping for the week.  My budget was $150/week.  So far I am under budget with what I got. 

Here is my meals for the week:

• Today:  Roaster Chicken (done in crockpot w/rosemary and garlic seasoning, onion and chicken broth) served with Stuffing and corn.
• 6/29:  Ranch Cheddar Burgers w/watermelon
• 6/30:  Mac n Cheese w/steamed veggies
• 7/1:  Homemade Pizza 
• 7/2:  BBQ Chicken w/steamed veggies
• 7/3:  Chicken Apple Bacon Sliders
• 7/4:  Italian Chicken w/couscous  and a 3 layered Red, White and Blue Cake (or maybe cupcakes...I haven't decided yet!)
• 7/5:  Spaghetti w/salad and garlic bread

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal
• French Toast Stick Kabobs
• Sausage Casserole
• Cereal
• Muffins

Lunches:

• Turkey sandwiches
• Lunchables
• Hot Dogs
• Leftovers
• Grilled Cheese w/Tomato Soup

Menu Planning 6/3-6/14

Here is my menu plan for the first two weeks (roughly) of June.  We are going on vacation and I wanted to plan my meals and hopefully save some extra money to make sure we can have a really good time when we do go later this month.  So here is what I have come up with:

Today:  Breakfast for dinner w/mango and peach smoothies

6/4:  Chicken Fajitas w/black beans, rice and Fruit salad

6/5:  Sausage Pear Quiche w/steamed broccoli, biscuits

6/6:  Brat Stew

6/7:  Meatball Soup w/french bread

6/8: Sweet and Sour Keilbasa w/rice and salad

6/9:  Grilled Hot dogs w/fruit and mini corn on the cobs

6/10: Homemade Pizza

6/11:  Beef stir fry w/rice and biscuits

6/12: Pork Chops w/rice and veggies

6/13: Grilled Cheese w/tomato soup

6/14:  Leftovers

Menu Planning hates me.

So in my never ending quest to bring a peaceful flow of organization to my home I set out to come up with a basic menu plan.  This menu will have 31 dinners (some repeated) with a full list for grocery shopping.  The idea behind this is so that all my families favorites are on it and that I can use this to know what to stock up on for my pantry so I can make a dinner on the fly if need be.  You know for those days when everyone is going crazy and the house took over.  The problem I am having w/this menu plan idea is remember what the heck we like! LOL! 

Here are things I have come up with:

• Italian Chicken (crockpot dinner..repeated)
• Sandwiches (cold cuts, roast beef, subs, grilled cheese, etc)
• Homemade Pizza (repeated)
• 2 Cup Casserole (repeated)
• Kabobs (repeated)
• Burgers/Hot Dogs (repeated)
• Meatball Subs
• BBQ Chicken
• Brat Stew
• Chili
• Sloppy Joes
• Tacos/Fajitas/Quesadillas
• Breakfast 4 Dinner (repeated)
• French's Chicken
• Baked Mac-n-cheese
• Spaghetti/Baked Ziti/Lasagna (repeated)
• Stuffed Peppers
• Meatloaf
• Chicken Alfredo
• Quiche
• Roast
• Whole Roaster Chicken
• Pork Loin
• Ham/Turkey
•  

Those are the dinners on my 31 day basic menu.  Now to make a list of ingredients that I would need to have.   Things I would have for pantry stocked items would be stuff like:

• pasta noodles (elbow, lasagna, ziti, etc.)
• pasta sauce (alfredo, tomato)
• Meat on sale (chicken drum sticks, whole chickens, ham, turkey, etc)
• bags of pizza crust mix
• flour
• sugar
• spices
• frozen fruit
• frozen veggies 

How do you menu plan?  

Thursday night dinner!

Tonight we had French's chicken.  (Look on the back of the can/bag for directions) With it I served cantalope and salad.  Talk about yummy!  I ate and was actually satisfied.  AMAZING!

What did you have for dinner?  Do you blog about your menus if so please link it to me in a comment so I can check it out!

Happy Thursday!!!!!