Meal Plan #3

Monday:
Breakfast-Whole Wheat Toast with peanut butter and a Banana
Lunch- Lady bug Pizza's on whole wheat English muffins
Dinner- Baked Penne
Tuesday:
Breakfast- Cantaloupe
Lunch- Tuna Sandwiches on Toast with Tomato slices and lettuce
Dinner- Whole Chicken and Vegetables (whatever looks good & has a nice price. Throw in with chicken at end to cook. Think carrots, red potatoes, green beans, asparagus, squash, etc.)
Wednesday:
Breakfast- Cereal and grapes
Lunch- Scrambled egg and cheese quesadillas
Dinner- Jumbolia
Thursday:
Breakfast- Yogurt and blueberries
Lunch- Cucumber and tomato salad (I'll post recipe. This is amazing & super simple!)
Dinner- Leftover Chicken from Tuesday and a salad
Friday:
Breakfast- Raisin bread and apple butter (Not the best breakfast, but not the worst & super tasty!)
Lunch- Hard boiled egg, orange, and a side salad
Dinner- Chicken & Spinach Roll ups (Recipe on blog)
Saturday:
Breakfast- Cream of Wheat or Oatmeal (Only half of us love Cream Of Wheat)
Lunch- Spinach Dip, Veggies & crackers for dipping
Dinner- Free Choice
Sunday:
Breakfast- Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Toast, & OJ
Lunch- Leftovers from the week (I just put it all out there & let everyone grab what they want. If it looks like slim pickings, than I make peanut butter sandwiches an option.)
Dinner- Mushroom Burgers

Snacks- Grapes, low-fat cottage cheese, string cheese, and pretzels.
Dessert Item- Popcorn with M&M's on top for family movie night (We have a movie night once or twice a month on Friday.)

Potty Training Update 2

Hey, Just a little note to say that the potty training is going well. I bought her easy ups this week. She has started pooping in the potty now. Still doing the M&M method. I give her 1 for pee and 2 for poop. It is simple and so far effective. Hope she keeps it up!

Meal Plan #2

Monday
Breakfast- Fried Potatoes & Peppers with a scrambled egg on top
Lunch- Sandwich (We're doing Ham. Bella is doing Cheese.) & an orange
Dinner- Bar-be-que Chicken Legs & Ranch Black bean, tomato, & corn salad

Tuesday
Breakfast- Hot Grapefruit & Honey (This was on Rachael Ray last week & looked tasty! You just half a grapefruit, squirt honey on top, & put in oven or microwave until steamy hot.)
Lunch- Omelet with cheese, ham (leftover from sandwiches), leftover peppers, & spinach
Dinner- Rotini with red sauce

Wednesday
Breakfast- Cereal (leftover from last week) and Banana
Lunch- Left over Rotini & applesauce
Dinner- Fried Rice with chicken stickers

Thursday
Breakfast- Bird's nest (Cut hole in the center of a piece of bread. Place in hot pan and crack an egg in center. Cook until egg is cooked as desired.)
Lunch- Broccoli & Cheese Stuffed Baked Potato
Dinner- Vegetable & Beef Stew

Friday
Breakfast- Oatmeal
Lunch- Fish Sticks and Steamed mixed Vegetables (Steamed in the bag from the frozen section)
Dinner- Dirty Rice

Saturday
Breakfast- Pancakes and turkey bacon
Lunch- Vegetable egg rolls
Dinner- Free Choice (Eat out, take out, delivery ??)

Sunday
Breakfast- Egg & Cheese sandwich on toast
Lunch- Chicken salad sandwiches and a side salad
Dinner- Enchiladas with black beans and rice

Snacks- Hummus, Crackers, baby carrots, Rest of Broccoli (from potato lunch), and fruit (pears, oranges, & green apple).

PS. Sorry this was a little late! I was in Chicago. It was amazing! I will be writing about our adventures in the city on my travel blog over the next week. Hope you stop by and check it out!

Grocery List for Week 1 Meal Plan

• 2 boxes cereal (We did Cheerios (with coupon $2.00 & store brand Raisin Bran - $1.89)
• 4 Bananas (Half for each person on the 2 mornings, sliced with cereal) - $0.75
• 1/2 pound turkey - $3.50
• 2 loafs store brand bread - $2.00
• 1 box of Whole grain spaghetti - $1.25
• 1 box frozen spinach - $0.89
• 1 large can crashed tomatoes (I make my own spaghetti sauce but you could buy pre-made for around the same price.) - $1.79
• 1 loaf cheap bakery bread (went w/ two small Italian loafs because it was cheaper) - $2.29
• Box of frozen whole grain Waffles - $1.50
• Bagged Salad mix - $1.10 (Coupon of 0.40)
• 1 dozen eggs (we had 1/2 dozen leftover from last week) - $1.29
• 1 Salad Dressing - $1.49
• 2 tomatoes - $1.52
• 2 cucumbers (1 for salad, 1 for snack) $1.38
• 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast - $4.14 (On sale for $1.99 a pound)
• rice (already had)
• Frozen broccoli -$1.00
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese - $2.29
• Shredded Italian Cheese - $2.29
• Shredded Mexican Cheese (Already had but it was $2.00 a bag)
• Whole Wheat Tortillas - $1.39
• 2 pounds Ground Round - $5.28 (Had a Coupon for $1.00 off & it was on special this week)
• 1 Bag frozen tatter rounds - $1.89
• Swiss cheese left over from last week
• Hamburger buns - $1.00
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables - $1.00
• 4 Yogurt (2 yoplay (free w/ coupons) & 2 store brand for 0.40 cents each) - $0.80 for all
• 1 pack Kraft American Cheese - $1.99
• 2 cans of Tomato soup - $0.59 each
• 1 pack pork ribs - $3.77
• 5 pound bag potatoes - $2.49
• 1 can baked beans - $0.79
• Microwaveable Vegetable lasagna - $2.28 (super sale of the week & coupons)
• Pizza crust (already had)
• 1 bell pepper (green was cheapest) - $0.69
• 1 bag shredded pizza cheese - $2.29
• Pancake mix - $2.09
• 2 packs of whole grain Mac N Cheese - $1.50 for both
• 2 packs muffin mix - $1.00 each 
• small bag Grapefruit $2.50
• fish fillets (frozen) - $2.30
• 1 pot roast around 1 & 1/2 pounds - $6.00
• 1 pound red potatoes - $1.29
• 1 pound carrots (buy loose or "bulk" they are much cheaper) - $1.00
• 1 bag apples - $3.00
• 1 bag tortilla chips - $0.85 (had a 0.40 cent off coupon)
• Salsa (already had)
• 1 box crackers - $2.00
• 1 block cheese - $1.79
• 1 container ice cream - $2.50
• 2 gallons of milk - $1.25 per 1/2 gallon was best price so $5.00 for all
• Butter - $3.38
• Kraft miracle whip - $1.79

For a Grand Total of $97.55!

Feel free to ask anything else you would like to know. Hope that helps and Thanks for reading!

Photographs That Make Me Smile!



I looked over and Bella was wearing my high heeled boots!



Freebies of the Month!

This month I got a few freebies! I wanted to share with you. I got most of these because of signing up for customer appreciation memberships.

I got:

• Victoria's Secret purple cotton hip hugger underwear (Normally $7.50)
• Victoria's Secret purple leopard print miracle hip hugger underwear (Normally $8.50)
• $10 gift card to Kohl's (I used this to buy a dress that was on sale for $15.99 that was originally $39.99. That means I got a $40 dress for $6!)
• $10 gift card for JcPenney's (Hubby got an Adidas shirt that was on sale for $12.99. It was originally $24.99. We paid $3!)
• 2 single scoop ice cream's in a dish at Culver's (The girls enjoyed these!)
• Pack of regular Oreo's
• 2 containers of Yoplay yogurt
• large bag of Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream Chips
• 1 dozen large eggs
• 1 bottle of Kroger brand Ranch dressing

These are all coupons and gift cards that came in my mailbox because of signing up for things. I am on the customer appreciation list for Victoria's Secret, Kohl's and JcPenny. I have a Kroger discount card. If you sign up for one of these you receive coupons about once a month as long your card has been used. The Culver's coupons were given to my kids on one of our other outings. They were handing them out to drum up some business. The yogurt coupons were from YoPlay because we had gotten a cup of yogurt we were unhappy with. They sent us coupons for two as an apology. All is forgiven.

I would like to point out that we used many other coupons for items that were not completely free but still inexpensive, such as pickles for 88 cents a jar. I posted this because people seem shocked when I tell them we get things free or when we go places people ask how we afford it. We do many free or very cheap outings! It does not cost a fortune to have fun with your kids. There are ways to get most things cheap or even free if you are willing to try a little. Trust me I only try a little, lol.

Clay Penguins

Ivy made these super cute clay penguins I wanted to share!

She made a pilgrim and an indian!

Barnes and Noble in Florence, KY

I honestly just stopped by the Barnes and Noble in Florence, KY to get a book but it turns out they have loads of fun things for the kids to do. Enough to occupy them for an hour or two. They have this amazing train table. The kids played with it for a while. They have a stage in the back corner. They didn't have anything the day I was there but apparently they have free shows and story hours there from time to time.

They also have a huge Children's section! A fun place to take your children for a day outing. They can play for a while. Then you can let them pick out one book of their choosing. Be forewarned however that this could take a while because of the selection.

They also have a summer reading program. It's free to sign up. It's for children in grades 1 through 6. They simply read 8 books. Fill out the form with the titles of the books they read. Then drop it back off. They get to pick a free book off a list of age appropriate books. I highly suggest anything that gets kids to read!