Meal Plan Monday - must be "Chicken" week.

I have a few holes I need to fill in... just haven't had time to really think of what sounds good. I've been trying to use up some things we have in our freezer for this weeks menu. 


Sunday 
B: Cereal 
L: Chicken Taco's 
S: Pizza


Monday 
B: Scrambled Eggs 
L: Leftovers from Sunday! 
S: Onion and Garlic Potatoes w/ Chicken 


Tuesday 
B: Oatmeal 
L: Turkey Sandwiches 
S: Chicken, Rice, and Steamed Veggies 


Wednesday 
B: Cereal 
L: Sloppy Joe's
S: Chicken and Wild Rice Soup 


Thursday 
B: Scrambled Eggs 
L: Corn Dog Muffins and Veggies 
S: Pork Chops and Green Beans


Friday 
B: Oatmeal 
L: 
S: Bacon wrapped Filets with Potatoes


Saturday 
B: Pancakes 
L: 
S: Veggie Soup 

Laundry Room Organization

I spent a little time this afternoon organizing the shelves in our Laundry Room. They were in much need of some attention. I had a few baskets available from when I organized our master closet & master bathroom. So, I put them to good use in the laundry room.

Before

After

Meal Plan Mondays

Meal Plan for the week of January 22nd

Sunday:
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Shake & Bake Chicken
S: Burgers

Monday:
B: Scrambled Eggs
L: Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches
S: Pizza

Tuesday:
B: Oatmeal
L: Cheese Toasties
S: Enchiladas

Wednesday:
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Left Over Enchiladas
S: JJ's

Thursday:
B: Scrambled Eggs
L: PB Sandwiches and Bananas
S: Spaghetti

Friday - Saturday:
TRIP TO KC!!!

Apple Crisp

A friend from church gave our family a grocery bag full of beautiful apples this week. This was such a blessing because I already had apples on my shopping list

for the week and her gift was now one less thing that I was going to have to spend money on.. It helped cut down our grocery expense for the week.

There were obviously way too many apples to get through within the week, so I decided to make some apple crisp using this recipe! It's amazing! I just wish I had some vanilla ice cream in the freezer! 

prepping the apples

added the crumb topping

 

hot out of the oven!

Monday Meal Plan

Sunday
B: Breakfast Bar
L: ?
S: ?

Monday
B: Scrambled Eggs
L: Homemade Chicken Nuggets & Apple Slices
S: Baked Potatos

Tuesday
B: Oatmeal
L: Chicken Quesadillas & Peaches
S: BBQ Meatballs & Steamed Veggies

Wednesday
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Bacon & Cheese Toasties with Peas & Orange Slices
S: Turkey Burgers & Chips

Thursday
B: Scrambled Eggs
L: Sandwiches, Carrots, and Apple Slices
S: Steaks, Potatos, Cheese Corn

Friday
B: Oatmeal
L: Corn Dog Muffins with Steamed Veggies
S: Ordering in Pizza

Saturday
B: Waffles?
L: ?
S: Maple Pork Chops, Rice, and Green Beans

*Special Treat* Apple Crisp or Homemade Apple Pie - a friend brought over a shopping bag full of wonderful apples! So I plan to put them to good use this week!

Selling Items on Swap Shop

One of my goals for 2012 is to clean out our basement storage and have a spring yard sale. This past fall I have regularly been selling items on our local swap shop facebook page. Alot of these items have come from our basement storage, or things that have just been sitting around collecting dust! Most of the money I have earned from doing this has been put towards past and upcoming trips and vacations. Some of the money has also been donated to our church.

You're probably wondering why I don't just save everything for my yard sale in the spring. The main reason that I haven't saved everything for the sale is because I can put a higher price on the items through the swap shop and accept offers. Where at a yard sale I would more than likely be pricing the items to sell at a lower price to just get rid of them.

Some tips on selling...

1. Photographs are great!
People want to be able to see the item before they make an offer. And more often than not they are going to want to see a picture before they make a trip to see it in person. So take a picture of that unwanted item of yours because it's going to SELL SELL SELL!

2. Details, Details, Details!
The more details you give in describing your item the better. This cuts down on unwanted communication and having to respond to lots of emails/messages.

3. Set A Time Limit!
I will only hold items for a customer for 24 hours. If they can't pick up the item within that 24 hour time frame, I'm more than likely going to sell it to someone else. Unfortunately with Swap Shop selling you can run into "No Shows" or "Stop Communication" people.. In the past I had held items for people for several days and ended up dealing with a "No Show" type of person. NOT Cool! If you give the person a time frame of when they need to pick up the item, it will show you how badly they really want the item.

4. Be Willing To Make A Deal!
If someone is only wanting to purchase one item, I am less likely to lower the price a little for them. But, if they are wanting to purchase multiple items, I am more than happy to cut them a deal. The most I will take off (depending on how many items) has been $5 or less.

5. Meet In A Public Place!
Think Safety people! Most of the people you will come in contact with selling via swap shop will be strangers to you. So, always have that in your mind. Protect your family, protect yourself, and protect your home. Have the customer meet you in a public place - I find that Wal-Mart's parking lot is a great place to make swap shop exchanges.

Since August I have made $400+ from selling items on the swap shop. I would definitely suggest doing this on a regular basis to earn extra cash and to clear out the clutter!

Meal Plan Monday

We have a pretty busy weekend coming up, so I have left Saturday & Sunday blank for now and will figure something out later.


MEAL PLAN
January 9-15, 2012

Monday
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Corn Dogs
S: Taco Salad

Tuesday
B: Oatmeal
L: Chicken Nuggets
S: Chili

Wednesday
B: Scrambled Eggs
L: Grilled Cheese
S: Grilled Chicken & Rice

Thursday
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Chicken Noodle Casserole
S: AJ’s in Macon

Friday
B: Oatmeal
L: Left Overs
S: Italian @ Vincents

Saturday
B:
L:
S:

Sunday
B:
L:
S:

Organizational Tip

I recently organized my side of the Master Bedroom Closet, as well as the cabinets and vanity in our Master Bathroom. I hope I'm not the only person in the world who seems to collect up to 8 storage baskets full of makeup (which I don't wear often), pedicure products, hair products, bath & body products, and the list just goes on and on! I was able to organize and purge the items going from 8 storage baskets down to 3! This is how I purged and organized...

Step 1.
I divided everything according to Makeup/Body Care - Hair - and Health/First Aid

Step 2.
Check dates!
I threw away everything that was expired or nearing it's end!

Step 3.
Sort, Sort, Sort!
I looked at everything carefully and decided what I really needed to keep and what I could finally just throw away because I obviously wasn't using it or had plans to use it.

Now, I still some how have ended up with 10 tubes of chap stick (I love chap stick and it's often given to me at Christmas, and I buy them randomly throughout the year). But (this is scary) I'm happy to say that I threw away a full trash bag of random stuff I had been collecting or holding onto for who knows how many years!

My clothes are now neatly hanging in the closet, shoes are put away where they belong, and there are only 3 storage baskets sitting on the shelf instead of 8! I have a pile of clothes to donate to the local Foster Families Thrift Store, and the vanity in the bathroom is clean and organized with everything in it's place.

Makes me feel good and I know my husband is probably thankful as well.

Meal Plan for Jan 1-7

Meal Plan for January 1st-7th
(we don't stick to the daily plan, but we do stick to the meals listed through the week)

Sunday
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Pigs in a Blanket with steamed peas & carrots
S: Homemade Pizza

Monday
B: Oatmeal
L: Tater-tot Casserole with Broccoli
S: Chicken Fettuccini with Corn

Tuesday
B: Scrambled Eggs
L: Chicken Nuggets with steamed veggies
S: Spaghetti with Green Beans

Wednesday
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Corn Dogs with mixed Fruit
S: Pork Chops & Rice

Thursday
B: Oatmeal
L: Grilled Cheese with fruit
S: Left Overs

Friday
B: Scrambled Eggs
L: Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Bananas
S: Steaks and Taters

Saturday
B: Breakfast Bar
L: Mac-N-Cheese with Hotdogs and steamed Veggies
S: Left Overs

Frugal Tip - Laundry Softener

I often have extra empty laundry detergent/softener bottles lying around (waiting to be re purposed). We make our own laundry detergent, but I was still trying to figure out what I could do to be more frugal with softener. I don't like to just use vinegar in my rinse cycle because I don't believe the laundry has the same outcome as when using softener. So, I recently decided to purchase a generic brand of liquid softener, poured half the bottle into one of my empty softener bottles, and filled the rest of both bottles up the rest of the way with water. In the end I've paid $4+ for two new bottles of softener. The softener is watered down yes, but the laundry still comes out just as soft and smelling great!

GOALS FOR 2012

GOALS FOR 2012

Family/Financial Goals

Berry Picking at the local Blue Berry Patch – June
Guard our days/time away from work as much as possible.
Pay extra on our monthly car payment
Read the bible to Kendall at bedtime.
Potty Learn Kendall by her 2nd birthday - October - if she starts to act ready

Personal/Spiritual Goals

Read a chapter a day/week out of selected books
o the amount and book will change throughout the year
o Spring - Chazown for Small Group (weekly chapter)
Self promote/advertize my freelance photography. Schedule at least 2 seniors and 4 families for the spring/summer.
Host a scrapbooking Crop - April & October
Host a “Girls Night” once a quarter, a.k.a. “Pinsperation Night”!
Complete K's scrapbook of her first year
Give my hobbies up to two hours per week (Photography & Scrapbooking).
Meet with a friend for Coffee once a month.
Monthly dinner/game night with Friends.

Health/Fitness Goals

Cut back on eating out.
Continue Meal Planning on a weekly basis.
Purchase only the foods listed on our meal plan (some snacks are acceptable).
Eat more whole foods and less processed
NO SODA
Work out at least three times a week
Gym Membership - Anytime Fitness

Family Travel Goals

Elmo Live in Kansas City - January
Pumpkin Patch in Iowa - October
Christmas Vacation in Florida
Visit Grandma Dorothy in Illinois

Marriage

Date Night once a month out of the house
Date Night once a week at home (after Kendall goes to bed).
Continue to pray for & encourage each other daily.
Weekend get-a-way for our Anniversary

Household/Yard Work Goals

Spring Clean & Organize Basement
Host a yard sale in the spring
Clean the oven!
Keep, Sell, Donate, Throw Away Toys twice a year. (keep ‘em organized!)
Install a clothes line in the back yard – cut down on the use of the electric dryer.
Make a database of Kendall’s clothing for the next year
Keep living room & kitchen 30 min. to company clean!
Create a recycling center in the garage.
Paint at least one room in the house (these white walls are making me crazy!)
Garden (Spring & Fall)
Plant a tree for the front yard