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Meal Plan #4

Monday
Breakfast- Cereal and yogurt parfaits
Lunch- BLT on toast, Substitute turkey bacon for the B
Dinner- Baked Fish (whatever has a fair price, season with lemon pepper), 3 pepper rice ( http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeDetail/483/Three_Pepper-Rice_Pilaf.aspx I use 1/4 of each color.), and green beans.
Tuesday
Breakfast- Whole Wheat Toast with a tablespoon of Peanut Butter
Lunch- Turkey Sandwich on Whole Wheat bread and an orange
Dinner- Stuffed Chicken Breast (I stuff mine with spinach, Italian cheese, and a slice of tomato.), and a Salad
Wednesday
Breakfast- Whole Grain Waffles
Lunch- Chicken Strips (1-2 per person), Carrot Sticks, and Fruit Salad
Dinner- Beef Stir-fry with broccoli, the rest of the peppers from Monday, and Portabella Mushrooms
Thursday
Breakfast- Cereal and Banana
Lunch- Hamburger and baked fries
Dinner- Grilled Swiss Cheese and Tomato Soup (You can do a chunky, more home style canned or make this http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-tomato-soup-10000000349286/ Except swap the basil for a tablespoon of dried. You can also leave out the lemon.)
Friday
Breakfast- Oatmeal
Lunch- Chips and Salsa
Dinner-  Pork Chops, Homemade Applesauce, and Bread
Saturday
Breakfast- Pancakes with Homemade Applesauce on top
Lunch-  Kentucky's Hot Brown (This is a traditional KY recipe! http://southernfood.about.com/od/kentuckyrecipes/r/bl10424b.htm ) Try a little Kentucky Down-home at your place!
Dinner- Free Choice
Sunday
Breakfast- Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon, Toast, and OJ
Lunch- Leftovers from the week (Sandwiches if there are none.)
Dinner- Chili

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!

Potty Training Update

The second day with her potty chair is going well. She has gone three times on the potty today already and it is only 4pm!! She has had two accidents. I'm so proud of her. Not even 2 and doing so well on the second day of actual potty training! I'll give you an update in a few days.

A Little Pink Potty

A little pink potty has made our house more colorful. We began with Bella just going occasionally on the big tiolet. She has started to get more in control of her urges to go so we got her a potty chair this last weekend. We put the potty in the bathroom. She has ran to the bathroom many times in the last couple days but she always goes before I can get her clothing off. Last night she was playing in her room while I wrote. I hear her coming back down the hall. I look over and she is carrying her potty chair to me. I hurried over and started yanking off her pants. She pooped right as I was taking off her diaper. I cleaned her up and let her sit on the potty anyway. That's when I realised that the problem for the last couple of days is the fact that it is in the bathroom. I moved it by her bed this morning. She got up, yelled for me, got on her potty, and urinated!! YAY Bella!! We will now be keeping the potty a little closer.

We are doing the M&M method. She was super happy to get an M&M for her troubles! I'll give an update on how it is going soon.

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!

Weekly Meal Plan

I have decided to start including our weekly meal plan on here. I was inspired by the "Cooking for your family" group on Baby Center to do this. I will try to include it every week.

Monday-
Breakfast-Cereal & Banana
Lunch-Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner- Spinach Spaghetti & Italian bakery bread

Tuesday-
Breakfast-Waffle
Lunch- Salad and a hard boiled egg
Dinner-Chicken, Cheddar, & Broccoli Casserole

Wednesday-
Breakfast- Cereal and a banana
Lunch-Chicken (made the night before) & Cheese Quesadillas
Dinner- Swiss Burgers, Fries, and mixed vegetables

Thursday-
Breakfast- Yogurt & choice of fruit
Lunch- Grilled Cheese & Tomato soup
Dinner- Pork spare ribs, baked potato, and baked beans

Friday-
Breakfast- Eggs & Toast
Lunch- Vegetable Lasagna
Dinner- Mediterranean Pizza

Saturday-
Breakfast- Pancakes
Lunch- Whole Grain Mac N Cheese
Dinner- Free Choice (We tend to go somewhere every weekend)

Sunday-
Breakfast- Muffins & Fruit
Lunch- Fish sandwiches, Broccoli, and pasta salad.
Dinner - Pot roast, red potatoes, and carrots

I got fruit, tortilla chips & salsa, and crackers & cheese for snacks. I also get the kids one dessert item a week.  I let them pick. Ivy chose Baked Dutch Apple Ice Cream. It looks so good I may have to cheat a little!
If you want the recipes for anything just leave it on a comment and I will post them.

Broke 5,000 Hits Today!

I cannot believe this blog broke 5,000 hits today! With only one follower at that, lol. Whoever you are readers, Thank YOU!!!! Keep it coming!

Photographs That Make Me Smile!



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



Crystal's Travel Journal

My travel blog is starting to take off! It has been up for just over a month. I am really excited! The only problem is that I am running out of photo room. I may need to remove the travel photographs I put on this blog. Many of them repeat on the other one. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I will put a link to the other blog for the photographs. I really hope all my readers follow me over to my new place. I will still be using this one as my journal. Thanks for reading!

http://crystalstraveljournal.blogspot.com/  Please Join Me Here!!

Mommy & Daughter Photographs

  Those are some of the photographs of my beautiful girls and me. The ones at the top are more recent and get older as you go down the page.