It's Monday again! Man, I feel like the weeks are going so fast! Although, ask me again on Wednesday and I might not feel like that. This week is going to be C-R-A-Z-Y! We have something going on every night but Thursday. My folks are coming in on Friday though, so I'm sure Thursday will be plenty busy. Because my parents are coming on Friday, I only meal planned for Mon - Thurs. Aaron and I will be at a youth function on Fri night so my folks will figure out what they will eat. Then once my folks get here we'll work out something for Saturday and Sunday. They're also watching thier calories so we'll all be eating healthy! Monday- Green Beans, Sausage, and Potatoes- This is one of Aaron's favorites and I like it because it's a crock pot meal! Tuesday- I'm going to be at a baby shower for a sweet friend at church on Tuesday, so Aaron will be taking the girls out for dinner for a Daddy/Daughter date night! Wednesday- Turkey Sandwiches- Wednesdays are always exceptionally crazy. Aaron comes home from work and picks us up and we head straight to youth group. Normally, I feed the girls before we leave and then I make sandwiches for Aaron and I to eat on the way there. Thursday- French Onion Burgers - I figured we need to have at least 1 regular meal this week. I like french onion burgers. They are an easy take on hamburgers and they are yummy! I just fix hamburgers in a skillet on the stove. When they're almost done, I add a can of low sodium french onion soup and let them simmer for a few mins. Plop on a bun, add a slice of cheese, and ta-da! Since it's a rather simple week, I was able to do all of our grocery shopping for about $65 dollars. I did some shopping at ALDI like I always do, then we hit up Meijer where they were doing the 10 for $10 sale. Then I finished up at Walmart. Disclaimer! Always make sure you check your prices before you jump feet first into 10 for $10 sales. If you aren't brand specific, a lot of time store brands are cheaper than the $1 price (ie- We got Meijer brand pudding for $.86 instead of $1 for Jello brand). Also, Marshmallows at Aldi were only $.76 cents instead of $1 at Meijer. The concept of 10 for $10 is great and we did get some great deals (Aunt Millie's Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins for a buck!) but sometimes it's deceiving! I'll leave you with this recipe I found on Pinterest this week. (Pinned here). I think this might be my post 5k reward after my race in Sept. It looks soooooo good! It's a vegan recipe too! I'm not a vegan, but I know there are great benefits to it. So, you can't really go wrong with this right!?
0 Comments
Well, we made it home from Toronto on Saturday around 8:30. It was an awesome trip and I hope to do a recap post tomorrow. It's been a challange getting my brain back into "home" mode. I feel like I forgot how to do things! We have a busy next few weeks coming up so yesterday I sat down and did our weekly menu and calendar, but also one for the rest of the month. I keep things written down in my planner, but that still in a suitcase somewhere. My folks left enough frozen meat in the freezer and fruit and veggies in my fridge that I don't have to buy any major groceries this week. I did pick up some bread, milk, and eggs for this week though. Monday- Brats Tuesday- Chicken Pot Pie Wednesday- Sandwiches Thursday- Sausage and cheese omlettes Friday- Shepherds Pie Saturday- eating out Sunday- Crockpot BBQ chicken On another note, our financial landscape has changed. Aaron and I started discussing 2 weeks ago giving up our truck. We were already far enough behind on our payments that it was close to repossesion. We've been in this place before and had discussed it with our loan company then, so we knew the process. We had a lengthy conversation, prayed a lot, and weighed the pros and cons and decided that, even with the downsides of reposession, we'd be in a better place in the long run. They came and got it last week while we were in Toronto.
In the tone of honesty that I value on this blog, I decided to share this with you guys. Some of you know me personally and would probably eventually ask me where the truck was anyways, but those of you that don't personally know me, I want you to know that this is real life. Stuff happens. We get behind on our bills. We struggle. Being a Christian doesn't mean that things aren't hard. Could we have managed our money better? Yes, definitely. Aaron and I made A LOT of mistakes early on in our marriage and now we're paying for them. Hindsight is always 20/20. I've done my fair share of "rescue praying" but there are consequences to every action. But, with that being said, realize that everyone you come into contact with has things happening in thier life that you know nothing about. Our financial struggles have taught me that you just never know. The mom's I see in Target that I assume are so put together could be the complete opposite. I've tried to live in a way that no one would assume things really were the way they were. If there was anything I learned this last week in Canada, it's that if you're going to live Christlike, then you MUST see people the way God sees them. If you don't, then you're opinion/judgement/perception of them is jaded by your own sinful assumptions. It's Menu Monday here at Definitely.Maybe. I grocery shopped on Thursday last week, so my menu has been done for a few days. This week we're having one of my favorite meals, Chicken Pot Pie! I used up the last of the gift card I'd been shopping with the last 2 weeks and this was a true pantry week, so I've got a repeat meal from last week. We'll be on the run on Wed, so I picked something easy. I'm only planning through Thursday because Friday is payday and I'll just go ahead and do my shopping on Friday because Saturday and Sunday are super busy days for us! Menu for June 18-June 21 Monday- Chicken Pot Pie- This is a super simple recipe. I use a bag of frozen veggies, a chicken breast that already cooked and chunked up, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, and 1 can of cheddar cheese soup. I mix it all together with some garlic powder and a little bit of oregano and pepper. I use Bisquick Heart Healthy Baking Mix for the top. It's a family favorite. Tuesday- Ham and Cheese Calzones- I have frozen loaf of uncooked bread in the freezer that needs to be used. I'll pull it out, let it thaw and proof, pound it out and then cut it into pieces large enough to fill with ham and shredded colby jack cheese. Then seal off the edges with a fork, cut 2 small slits in the top, brush with an egg white, and bake at 350 until golden brown. Also a family favorite. Wednesday- Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches- We'll be busy at campmeeting on Wed so I'm doing something quick. Thursday- Spaghetti- I already had all the ingredients for this, so it's an easy meal that I didn't have to purchase a thing for! Weekend Recap
We had a nice relaxing weekend around these parts. Saturday morning, I had breakfast with one of the girls from our youth group and then when I got home, I fixed the kids lunch and we headed out to to pool. We had a great time swimming and enjoying the beautiful weather! Later on in the night we noticed that Macie seemed to be having some trouble breathing. I packed her up and headed off to MedCheck. When we got there, it packed and they told me we'd have to wait almost 2 hours. I said no thanks and headed to the ER. 4 hours later and absolutely no answers I brought her home and put her to bed. She was exhausted. Yesterday was another nice relaxing day. We had a great time celebrating Aaron. He opened his gift from the girls yesterday morning before church. Then we headed out to church. After church I made pancakes for lunch, then we all took a nap. We grilled out later on for dinner then we all watched Toy Story 3 for the first time. Oh man, I thought it was a little intense for a kid at some points, but it was still good. Definitely cried at the end. After the kids went to bed, I spent sometime ironing and getting ready for the upcoming week! All in all, it was a great relaxing weekend! We enjoyed it. It will be a long while before we have that much free time on a weekend again! Well, this week is a little special. Normally, this is a big buy week and next week is pantry week, but because money is really tight for the next 2 weeks, this week and next are both pantry weeks of sorts. I did do minimal grocery shopping. I needed to spend less than $40 for this week and a friend gave me a few great suggestions on facebook. I only purchased a few things and ingredients from each meal will carry over to the next day. There is no new recipe this week. Didn't want to spend the money on a whole new list of ingredients. So, here goes, my menu for this week... Monday- Spaghetti - meatless with whole wheat noodles. First time I'll serve whole wheat so we'll see how it goes. Tuesday- Biscuits and gravy- I'll be making the biscuits and the gravy. I'm using Bisquick mix I already had for the biscuits and making the gravy from scratch. Wed- Grilled Chicken Sandwiches- This will be a somewhat special night. Aaron and I are heading to camp where our youth group is for the night. I'll be fixing the sandwiches ahead of time and taking them with us so we can eat on the way. Nothing special, just marinated grilled chicken breasts. Thurs- Sloppy Joes- A little generic I know, but I got just a plain old can of Manwich and a lb of extra lean ground beef. I usually make my own sloppy joes, but I didn't have all the ingredients and didn't want to buy them all. Friday- Mini pizza's- We'll be using the left over buns from sloppy joes, the pizza sauce from the spaghetti, and some of the sausage I'll reserve from the biscuits and gravy as topping. No one ever complains about pizza in our house. We eat it in every form. Saturday- grilled cheese- nothing fancy. Sun- pancakes- easy and cheap. Weekend Recap We had a great weekend! On Saturday we headed downtown for the PBS Kids Day in the Park. Characters from some of Emmy's favorite shows were there along with some cool games and exhibits. We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed the time together! Yesterday, we had a great church service (which you can listen to here). We came home and enjoyed a little bit of rest time and then got brave and decided to move Macie's crib into Emmy's room. She had been sleeping in our room still and we were ready to have our space back! We only have a 2 bedroom, so this was our only option. It took about an hour from them to fall asleep and in that hour Aaron and I were probably in there 10 times laying them back down and shushing them, but all in all I was surprisingly pleased with the first night. They both slept peacefully through the night and so did Aaron and I!
I typically try to have my menu planned out and my grocery shopping done by Sunday night. That way I can start the week prepared and with a plan. I use a print out of a weekly calendar with all of our activities and appointments for the week as well as what we're eating every night. So, I figured a good way to start the week off would be sharing my weekly menu with you! I've been trying to add new meals to our collection of recipes so we have a good variety. I also need to start planning more healthy meals for us or just trying to make what we eat now more healthy by substituting or omitting things. I'll also include a new recipe we're going to try every week.
Normally the week leading up to payday is a "pantry" week. I try to make as many meals as I can with what we already have. I typically try to only spend around $50 on groceries (give or take $10) on these weeks which typically works out to be mostly fresh produce. The next week immediately following payday, I try to spend around $100 on groceries. This normally effects how I menu plan. I don't have a specific method besides this. Most of the time I ask Aaron if there is something specific he wants me to fix and the rest is just whatever comes to mind. I've seen a lot of good ideas on how to add variety, such as writing all your meals on popsicle sticks or on laminated sheets of paper and pulling them out of a jar. If I ever find time to do that and the space to keep a jar like that I might do it, but right now, I'll use my non method. So, this week is a pantry week. Most pantry weeks include pasta and chicken. They are things I normally have on hand so they make an apperance a few times during pantry week. I'll add a disclaimer before I post my menu for this week. On most Wednesday, we meet Aaron for youth group at 7. He normally leaves straight from his secular job and comes straight to youth group. This leaves me and the girls alone for dinner. Our local Chick Fil A has kids night on Wed, so Emmy can eat for free. Normally I do this with the girls. It's kind of like our date night. :-) Not bad when 3 of us can eat for $8! Although, this week, most of the teens are on vacation so we aren't having youth group, so I have a meal planned. Menu for 6/4- 6/10 Monday- Chicken Fajitas Tuesday- BLT's (We actually eat BL's because nobody in our house like tomatoes) Wednesday- Stuffed Peppers with ground turkey Thursday- Chicken taco's Friday- Homemade pizza Saturday- Mexican Macaroni and Cheese. This is our new recipe this week. I'll try and "healthify" it a little more by add a few more veggies, using light cheese and skim milk, and using whole wheat pasta. Sunday- BBQ country beef ribs (I usually don't make a tight plan for lunch or I cook something in the slowcooker during church on Sunday) If you have recipes to share, please send them or post them in the comments. If you want recipes for any of the things I list in the menu, let me know and I can post them! I hope you have a blessed Monday! |
HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
Archives
August 2021
Categories
All
|