Meal Plan Monday - 5/20

Strawberries have been on sale for the last couple of weeks and since it is probably the lowest price of the season in our area, I bought several pounds.  We have been enjoying them sliced over our cereal, in pancakes and as a snack.  I think they will also be delicious in this Raspberry Oatmeal Casserole recipe and I think the boys will love these Strawberry Popsicles for a special treat this week.

Much to my surprise, canned tuna fish and macaroni was on sale which will make a very inexpensive tuna casserole.  They are both on sale again this week so I will buy more to stock up.  I also have lots of shredded chicken in the fridge that I need to use up and I was able to get a fairly good price on ground beef last week.  I froze the ground beef by the 1/2 pound and often when a recipe calls for a pound of ground beef, I will only use a half pound to make it stretch farther.

Here's our meal plan for the week:

Breakfast
Cereal, Bananas
Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets
Strawberry Pancakes (from freezer)
Strawberry Oatmeal Casserole (Subbing strawberries for raspberries. I don't have nuts so I am going to add a little bit of coconut in place of the nuts.)
Scrambled Eggs, Toast

Lunch
Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks 
Graham Crackers w/SunButter, Strawberries, Yogurt
Pasta w/Butter, Parmesan Cheese & Peas, Carrot Sticks
Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Applesauce, Carrot Sticks
Baked Whole Wheat Parmesan-Herb Tortilla Chips w/salsa for dipping, Carrot Sticks, Grapes
Dinner Leftovers

Dinner
Monday:
   Chicken Stir-Fry, Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits

Tuesday:
    Tuna Casserole, Leftover Biscuits

Wednesday:
     Chicken Ranch Pasta, Tossed Salad

Thursday:
    Chicken Cacciatore, Veggies

Friday:
    Leftover Night

Saturday:
    Spanish Rice w/Ground Beef, Veggies

Sunday: 
    Bean & Rice Burritos made w/leftover Spanish Rice


$5 Dinners has a wonderful grocery shopping list with meal plan form and a few other printable planners that you might find helpful in meal planning {not to mention some great money-saving recipes!}.

Get more menu planning ideas at Menu Plan Monday. 

{photo credit}

Simply Saving Saturday

This weekend we took the boys to a local park where we followed the walking trail,

enjoyed a picnic lunch that we brought along,

the apple blossoms,

and some beautiful views.

Here are some other simple savings from this week:

**After a very warm week last week, this week turned a little chilly.  Many mornings we woke up to frost on the ground.  Instead of turning the furnace on, we wore sweaters until the sun was able to warm the house up.

**I used a small amount of dressing that was leftover from making Ranch Chicken Salad BLTs to make egg salad sandwiches.  It was so good I think I will continue to make my dressing this way!

**I made Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana pancakes (using this recipe) with strawberries that I got on sale.  I flash froze them on a baking sheet and then stored them in a freezer bag in the freezer.  It makes a really nice quick and easy breakfast (I just warm them up in the toaster) and the boys enjoyed something different for breakfast.

**I used a very ripe banana that no one wanted to eat to make Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.  To make the recipe a little more frugal, I left out the nuts and used vegetable oil instead of coconut oil.

**I spent a lot of time the last few weeks learning more of Photoshop Elements (a program that came with our laptop) and creating a new blog design.  It's not fancy, but I didn't have to spend a lot of money to have someone else do it for me.

**Earned $3.00 for taking a survey.

**Bought bread and hot dog rolls at the bread store for $.67 each.

**In my mailbox: 2 free magazines.

**When we got our phone bill this week, I was shocked to see that it was about 3 times more than what we normally pay.  I gave them a call the next day and had to make another phone call to get the situation cleared up, but I think it's been worked out and we will only need to pay our regular payment.  It was a bit of an inconvenience, but the extra time on the phone saved us quite a bit of money!

Our on-going savings:

**Follow a weekly meal plan.

**Earn Swag Bucks for Amazon gift cards that I use to buy gifts.

**Earn Recyclebank points for gift cards, coupons and free magazine subscriptions.

**Keep thermostat at 60 during the day and at night.

**Husband takes lunch to work everyday.

**Turn lights off when not being used.

**Use cash to buy groceries.

**Use scrap paper for notes and lists.

**Drive to town once a week for shopping and errands.  

**Buy less cereal and eat oatmeal several times a week.

**Reuse plastic and paper shopping bags for small trash and recycling.

**Save bread ends for the freezer.

Note: Some of the links in this post are referral links. When a new member signs up using my referral link, I receive bonus points for that referral.

Clutter-Busting Challenge Week #3: This Week's Total - 37

This month I'm joining the clutter-busting challenge hosted by Money Saving Mom.  Crystal is challenging her readers to get rid of 7 things every week day in May.  That's 161 things!  Here's what I found this week:

May 13:  Nine hair clips.

May 14:  Getting rid of my own clothing is very, very hard for me.  I must admit that some things went into this pile only to be taken out a few minutes later.  That might explain why I found a 10 (maybe 12?) year old pair of skorts that have been worn maybe once.  I just knew in the last 10 or so years that I would need them.  Do people even wear those anymore?  I'm definitely not a fashion expert, but I'm pretty sure my pink, white and purple plaid ones were a little out of style.  

I also found 1 sweater and 4 shirts and I decided it was time to get rid of an old pair of black shoes (not pictured) since I had 4 others (2 summer and 2 winter).  Black goes with everything doesn't it?

  

May 15:  A few more things from the kitchen: 2 old Jif jars, a thermos with no straw, a pan, an old muffin pan, a storage container and a ceramic halloween/thanksgiving basket.

May 16:  Our youngest son doesn't like wearing overalls.  He calls them "bib pants" and informed me that he isn't a baby anymore and is too old to wear them.  After helping him at least a half dozen times to readjust them, they went in the clutter-busting pile.  I also found 2 shirts, a toy, a pair of baby booties, an eyeglass case, and Wallies wallpaper shapes.

May 17:  I found some odds and ends: 1 candle, 3 magazines, 2 sheets of stickers and an empty box.

Week #1: 37

Week #2: 57

Week #3: 37

Total items to date: 131

Clutter-Busting Challenge Week #1

Clutter-Busting Challenge Week #2

A New Design for Vanessa's Values!

For the past couple of weeks I've been working on a new design for Vanessa's Values and installed it this weekend.  Please excuse the mess while I make a few more changes and work out a few kinks.  Thanks for your patience!

Meal Plan Monday - 5/13

Breakfast
Cereal, Bananas

Granola, Greek Yogurt
    Make it frugal:  I use what I have on hand to make granola - this week I will leave out the nuts and use coconut and raisins.  You can also make your own yogurt!

Strawberry Pancakes from Freezer
Scrambled Eggs, Toast

Lunch
Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks 
Strawberry Walnut Muffins (leftover from last week), Pear Slices
SunButter & Jelly Sandwiches, Applesauce, Carrot Sticks
English Muffin Pizzas
Dinner Leftovers

Dinner
Monday:
   Baked Potatoes and Sausage (using leftover sausage from last week), Peas, 
Super Easy Whole Wheat Biscuits

Tuesday:
    Chicken Macaroni Casserole with added veggies, Leftover Biscuits

    Make it frugal:  Use sharp cheddar cheese.  Because of the stronger flavor, you can use much less.  I only add about 1 cup.  I also only add about 2 cups of chicken.

Wednesday:
     Roasted Garlic Chicken and Potatoes, Corn

Thursday:
    Baked Ravioli

Friday:
    Leftover Night

Saturday:
    BLT Pasta Salad

    Make it frugal:  I will use only about 1/2 - 3/4 lb. of bacon.

Sunday: 
    Breakfast Pizza w/bacon


$5 Dinners has a wonderful grocery shopping list with meal plan form and a few other printable planners that you might find helpful in meal planning {not to mention some great money-saving recipes!}.

Get more menu planning ideas at Menu Plan Monday. 

{photo credit}