Menu Plan June 17-30

My experiment over the weekend with making hot dog buns along with my hamburger buns was a success! It's good to know that works.  For the second half of the month, I planned out all three meals for each day.  Maybe I was feeling ambitious, or maybe trying to figure out lunch each day is just getting rough.  Either way, I planned all 3 meals.  I assigned specific meals to breakfast and lunch each day, but if those get switched around, it's no big deal.

Monday, June 17
Breakfast: Eggs and Leftover English Muffin Bread
Lunch: Italian Pasta Salad (if I get to making it and the broccoli is still good)
Dinner: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Tuesday, June 18
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: English Muffin Pizzas (on leftover English muffin bread)
Dinner: Mini BBQ Chicken Pizzas

Wednesday, June 19
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dried Fruit and Nuts
Lunch: Leftover Italian Pasta Salad
Dinner: Dinner out to thank my mom for visiting and helping this week

Thursday, June 20
Breakfast: Pumpkin French Toast Bake
Lunch: Turkey Cheese Pinwheels
Dinner: Stir Fry

Friday, June 21
Breakfast: Leftover French Toast Bake
Lunch: PB&J Sandwiches
Dinner: Pepperoni Pizza Muffins

Saturday, June 22
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner: Pancakes with Apple Topping, Sausage

Sunday, June 23
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Turkey Cheese Pinwheels
Dinner: Dinner at Church for Jesse's Ordination

Monday, June 24
Breakfast: Eggs & Toast
Lunch: TBD
Dinner: Black Bean Taco Salads

Tuesday, June 25
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dried Fruits and Nuts
Lunch: PB&J Sandwiches
Dinner: Black Bean Taco Salads

Wednesday, June 26
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: TBD
Dinner: Crockpot Bean & Sausage Stew

Thursday, June 27
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner: Leftover Stew

Friday, June 28
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Dried Fruit & Nuts
Lunch: PB& Banana Tortillas
Dinner: Mini Cheeseburger Pot Pies

Saturday, June 29
Breakfast: Apple Muffins
Lunch: TBD
Dinner: Sour Cream Beef Casserole

Sunday, June 30
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: PB&J Sandwiches
Dinner: Dinner with Family

What I'm Reading...

Food Is Not Entertainment. (The Minimalists)

Fighting My Octopi-Like Tendencies. (Work Your Way)

If You Don't Like The Way Things Are, Why Are You Still Doing Things The Same Way? (The Simple Dollar)

Capitulation. (Simple Mom)

Help! What Do You Do When You're A Saver Who Is Married To A Spender? (Money Saving Mom)

Weekly Coupon Shopping

Walgreens

There were a few other deals I wanted to take advantage of (cheap Nivea Shave Gel and free Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaner Kits), but they were out of those things.  Still, I picked up a few things that we like.

• Clear Shampoo and Conditioner: $4.99 each.  Used two $1/1 printables (no longer available) = paid $3.99 each, got 2000 points.  Not the cheapest for hair care, but I really love this brand, so I might as well get it for half price.
• 2 Nutella: $3.00 each.  Used two $1/1 (RP 4/14/13) = paid $2.00 each.  Cheap for Nutella!
• Fanta 1.25 liter: $0.99.  Got 250 points.  Jesse added this to the cart.
• Spent $14.52 with tax, got 2250 points.  

I'm not a huge fan of the points system, since I only occasionally shop at Walgreens, and haven't even gotten my 5000 points for a $5 reward yet.  But they'll add up eventually.  

With moving and baby, I've taken time off from couponing.  Now, as I learn the policies for a few new stores in the area, I'm still focusing mainly on products we use rather than catching the deals, but I am starting to cut coupons again.  That's probably better for my grocery budget anyways. 

Menu Plan June 10-16

For awhile now, I've been doing weekly menu plan posts on Mondays.  But since I actually plan menus twice a month, it makes more sense to me to switch to posting my menu plans twice a month too.  With moving and getting our new apartment set up, things have been pretty hectic, but we are starting to slow back down into a routine, including regular meals at home. 

Here are our dinner plans for the rest of the first half of the month:

(10) Monday: Chicken Fajitas, Fresh Fruit
(11) Tuesday: Eggs with Veggies, English Muffin Bread, Fresh Fruit
(12) Wednesday: Pizza (Sausage, Mushroom, Olives, Peppers)
(13) Thursday: Cheesy Chicken Rice Casserole
(14) Friday: Leftover Casserole
(15) Saturday: Black Bean Burgers, Homemade Buns, Crockpot Baked Beans
(16) Sunday: Hot Dogs, Homemade Buns, Leftover Baked Beans

I'm going to attempt to make homemade hot dog buns (a first), and since our hamburger bun recipe always makes too many, I'm going to split it and do half hamburger buns and half hot dog buns.  I have no idea if that will work, but it's worth a try.

A new town equals new grocery shopping options.  Our little town only has one small Piggly Wiggly (although it is right across the street from our apartment complex), but the bigger town 10 minutes down the road has the Walmart and Aldi that I'm used to.  I discovered that there are certain things the local store doesn't carry (like my favorite brand of coffee, or 1 lb. rolls of sausage), but some of the sale prices in the ad were really good, and they have a points program that gives gas rewards, so I'll be splitting my time between that and "in town". 

What I'm Reading...

I'm back! Did you miss me?  I would love to say I've missed blogging, but the truth is that I've been so busy that I've barely had time to think, let alone formulate readable thoughts.  I finally got the chance to sit down and catch up on my blog reading over the past few days.  Here are some good finds...

The Best Time Management Advice I've Ever Received. (Money Saving Mom)

Why Parenting And Relationships Are Hard: Happiness Doesn't Mean Feeling Good. (Offbeat Home)

5 Tips For Baking In Bulk...With Toddlers. (Andrea Dekker)

Seven Ways We Effectively Reduce Our Food Budget. (The Simple Dollar)

10 Types Of Yard Salers. (Little House Living)

Love & Coffee. (Gidget Goes Home)

May Goals Update

Food:

• Try not to fall off the bandwagon of healthy, mostly homemade eating with a new baby in tow. We did pretty well with this.  We did eat out a few times, and we had a few convenience snacks, but overall, I still cooked most of our meals.

Personal:

• Have a baby! She's a cutie!
• Attempt breastfeeding, and if it's not working out, at least pump a few times a day so Hannah still gets some of the benefits of breastmilk.  So far, so good.  I feel a lot better about how this is going than with either of the other kids.
• Not freak out over Call Day assignments on May 15! And then start planning our next steps (moving, housing, budgeting, etc.) We are moving to Wisconsin!  Actually, we are moving to Wisconsin in about 3 days! Internet might be questionable for a week or two, but after that I'm hoping to be back here more frequently.

Crafts:

• Make something with felt. Even if it means Christmas ornaments in May. Since we ended up planning our move so soon, I didn't make time for this craft project.  I figured packing might be more important...

My goal for June is to get everything unpacked and get us settled at our new place.  Beyond that, if anything extra happens, it's just a bonus.

What I'm Reading...

Frugality Binge. (The Simple Dollar)

You Matter. (Simple Mom)

5 Cloth Diaper Problems That Haven't Sent Me Running Back To Disposables With Tears In My Eyes...And One That Might. (Kitchen Stewardship)

Can You Go Minimalist With Potty Training? (The Minimalist Mom)

A Letter To My Friend, About To Be A Mom. (The Happiest Home)

What A Week Of Groceries Looks Like Around The World.  (FStoppers)