Menu:

• Monday: potstickers, eggrolls, sweet and spicy cabbage
• Tuesday: fajitas, rice, tortilla chips (also bringing to 2 other families in our church)
• Wednesday: chili over cornbread waffles
• Thursday: ravioli with sauteed zucchini, bread
• Friday: leftovers
• Saturday: breakfast - cinnamon rolls, dinner - artichoke and mushroom chicken
• Sunday: lunch - black bean burgers, dinner - super bowl party at friends, bringing bean dip and tortilla chips

Grocery-

Kroger: I took advantage of the buy-10-save-$5 mega deal last week, I did it 4 times in fact.  I got 24 packages of cheese.  Yes, you read that right.  But they ended up being .50 each, and I also got back 2 - $2 catalinas (the things that print for you at the end of the transaction).  So I got 24 packs (12 lbs) of cheese for $8.  Should last me a really long time.  I also got 7 lbs of meat on clearance - 2 packages of ground bison (buffalo), and 4 packages of ground turkey.  Then a number of other items.

• Spent: 49.42
• Full item value: 164.04
• Saved: 114.62 (70%)

Publix - I didn’t use a single coupon on this trip.  Can you believe that?  Well, I take that back - I used my $4 in catalinas that I got at Kroger, but it doesn’t really count as coupons.  I got almost entirely fresh produce, 2 gallons organic milk, and a couple canned beans.

• Spent: 38.78
• Full item value: 45.50
• Saved: 6.72 (15%)

Totals:

• Spent: 88.20
• Full item value: 209.54
• Saved: 121.34 (58%)

Remaining in Feb budget: 217.98

Our darling little girl turned 1 today.  I thought I would make her a pink caterpillar cake, since for a while she seemed to move around like an inchworm.  And I had found a cake a while back I thought would be so cute, but it was green and blue for a boy, so why not just make it pink for a girl?  Here’s the birthday girl:

And the cake:

She was very excited about the candle:

She actually tried to blow on the candle.  No idea how she knew to do that!

Can I touch it?

Cutting the first piece… Mackenzie gets the biggest one.

Her first taste of chocolate cake.  She enjoyed it!

Ok, I’m done!

Tired after a long day:

It still amazes me that my baby is 1.  On Friday (2 days ago) she started pulling herself up, and has started to figure out how to adjust her feet once she’s standing.  (Before now she would be in a totally awkward position and scream for someone to come help her.)  So progress… little by little she’s getting stronger, and I feel totally ok with where she is.

She continues to be quite the people person, and still has yet to have any ounce of stranger anxiety.  She loves anyone and everyone, loves to be held, and absolutely loves to be the center of attention (and will be extremely loud until she has everyone looking at her!).

Mackenzie, you have brought such joy to our lives this past year, I love you peanut!

(I went shopping today cause tomorrow is Mackenzie’s birthday and I’ll be working on her cake!!)

Menu for the week:

• Monday: shrimp and corn chowder, bread
• Tuesday: leftovers
• Wednesday: oven-grilled turkey sandwiches, chips, carrots
• Thursday: roasted chicken with veggies, stuffing
• Friday: Chick Fil A
• Saturday: over to friends house
• Sunday: baked ziti, broccoli, bread

I only made 1 stop this week, to Publix.  And I was pretty proud of myself in that I realized that my entire shopping trip except for 2 items was the perimeter of the store.  Those 2 items were applesauce (rain check from last week) and frozen corn.  The corn almost counts as a perimeter, as it’s basically fresh corn that was frozen.  Oh well, a technicality.  I didn’t save quite as much as I usually do, although I did decide to get organic celery and carrots, and I got a TON of vegetables - 75% of my list was vegetables.  Then I got 3 gallons of organic milk, shrimp, sour cream, and eggs.  That’s it!

• Spent: 54.60
• Full item value: 72.45
• Saved: 17.85 (25%)

I also did a trip to Target last week that I never reported.  While there I found the Starbucks Christmas coffee (in the Starbucks shop inside Target) was 75% off - one bag was 3.24!  I got 4 bags, that’s a better deal than even the Costco fresh-roasted coffee we usually buy.

Starbucks shop:

• Spent: 13.22
• Full item value: 51.80
• Saved: 38.58 (75%)

Target:

• Spent: 6.63
• Full item value: 6.63
• Saved: 0.00

Totals:

• Spent: 74.75
• Full item value: 130.88
• Saved: 56.43 (43%)

Remaining for the month: 2.17  - under budget, yeah!!

About a month ago a friend loaned me some file folders she had made for her kids.  They were done with them for the time being, so she thought Jackson and Morgan might enjoy them.  Basically they are these activities that you make out of a basic manila folder - the idea being they can pull them out and do them on their own, but also where you can teach different concepts in more of a ‘game’ form.  The kids really enjoyed the few she loaned us, but Jackson was constantly asking ‘are there any trickier ones?’.

So I went on the site she used to make them, File Folder Fun, and realized just how many were out there, completely free!  You have to download and print them, and they definitely use up some color ink, but I thought they were well worth it.  I started with a bunch I thought would challenge Jackson right now, and picked out about 4 for Morgan (in hindsight, I should have made more for her).  I printed them all out, then spent many nights cutting them out - it was over Christmas, so we had some family in town and we just sat on the couch sometimes and I would cut away.  Or I would cut while we watched a movie or something.

I then took out my Mod Podge, glued them all to file folders and attached a regular envelope on the back to hold the pieces.  Technically at this point they were ready to play with, but I want these to last through more than one kid, so I knew I wanted to laminate them first.  Yes, this was an extra step and involved a WHOLE lot more cutting, but I thought it worth it to do them well the first time around.  I went to Lakeshore Learning and as a homeschooling mom was able to get a teacher discount card, so I paid only $11 to laminate 39 feet (24 inches wide) of my file folders.  I think I made about 20 total.  After laminating and cutting out, I put velcro dots on the back to hold the envelopes closed.

So here is a picture of my file container, and a couple examples on the floor in front.  The one on the left is +1 addition for Jackson (which he can now do in about 20 seconds!) and the one on the right is matching the capital letter heart to the lowercase letter heart, a good one for Morgan.  I have a huge variety of them, including deciding whether something is a fruit or a vegetable, putting words in alphabetical order, even and odd numbers, following directions to deliver a letter to the right mailbox, deciding whether words begin with ’sh’ or ‘ch’, color matching (for Morgan), etc.  There are tons of them on the website.

I’m realizing I already want to do some more, and I’m looking forward to some of them that Jackson can grow into as he learns more.  They are all created by other moms and teachers, and are free for anyone to download.  Just a bit of cutting and gluing (laminating is optional of course), and it’s a great activity!

I thought I would give an update on our ticket system that we started a few months ago.  As a quick recap, Jackson earns tickets through doing jobs in our house or things I think he needs to do for himself as he gets older.  Each ticket is worth 5 minutes, and he can redeem them for any type of ’screen time’ - TV, computer games, movies, playing Gavin’s iPod, etc.

The system has really worked well for him, and has not gotten old.  He will save his tickets for a certain goal (although sometimes they burn a hole in his pocket!).  And it has totally grown with him as I had hoped from the beginning.  He no longer earns tickets for getting himself dressed or wiping himself on the toilet, as those are things I now expect him to do.  Here are the things he does get tickets for now:

- when he buckles himself in the car both ways, he will get 1 ticket (I was hoping to ‘retire’ this reward as well, but this is something we still have to push him to do)
- he is learning to take a shower on his own, so when he does he gets 3 tickets (we still have to help him rinse his hair, but he’s only done it 2 times so far, so I’m sure he’ll get the hang of it.)
- unloading the silverware in the dishwasher (usually every other day)
- matching all the socks for me on my laundry days (twice a week)
- clearing and wiping the table after each meal

He still gets a ticket when he cleans up his whole room which is often littered with legos, lite brite pegs, jenga blocks and all of his little cars.  He does a great job cleaning, usually.  Sometimes he will ask for extra things to do, but I will only allow this if he has actually done all of his chores for the day up to that point.  If he whines and complains about clearing the table and sacrifices a ticket, I won’t find an extra job for him to do to earn a different one.  But when he has earned all he can, I’ll have him wipe down my kitchen cabinets, dust the base boards, or something like that to earn more.

So, all that to say is that this system has worked great for us so far.  He has not watched a TV program since before Christmas, as he much prefers to redeem his tickets for an iPhone game or computer game.  But today he has saved up 18 tickets and will watch a movie he got for Christmas that he has only seen once so far, “Cars.”  Very exciting!

This morning when she woke up and got dressed, Morgan put on underwear.  I’m not holding my breath yet, but we worked on it all day Saturday, then the 2nd half of the day yesterday and she never peed on herself.  Of course we are taking her every 10-15 minutes, but she seems to *finally have an awareness of what it means to go on the toilet (versus asking for a treat because she went in her diaper.  Sorry kiddo… doesn’t work that way!).

Hurrah!!!

Will do an update later, but sure hope I can write soon that I am down to only 1 kid in diapers!

Tonight for dinner I made Martha Stewart’s Basic Chicken Soup.  I was a little unsure about it only because my kids generally don’t eat soup, and I’m not sure Gavin likes it as much as I do (he told me later he really does enjoy soup!).  But this was an absolute hit - the kids ate their entire bowls (Jackson had seconds), and we all truly enjoyed it.  I made a big loaf of my artisan bread to go with it, and it was a very delicious dinner.  It calls for so few ingredients, yet is so flavorful.  I had purchased whole chickens from Publix a couple weeks ago when they were on sale - my 4 lb chicken had cost me $2.83.  That’s a deal!

You can click the link above to get to the recipe, but I’ll post it here in case it disappears from their site at some point.

1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs), cut into pieces (a bit trickier than it looks! )
8 cups water
coarse salt
3 medium onions, thinly sliced (4 cups)
2 celery stalks, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
4 garlic cloves, crushed
6 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick

1. Bring chicken, water, and 1 Tbsp salt to boil in a large stockpot.  Skim foam.  Add onions, celery, and garlic.  Reduce heat.  Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

2. Remove breasts and set aside.  Add carrots.  Simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes.

3. Remove remaining chicken; discard wings (and back, if you put it in - I saved mine to make more stock later).  Let cool slightly.  Remove meat from bones, and cut into bite sized pieces.

4. Stir in chicken.  Skim fat if needed.  Season with salt.

Next time I make it I think I’ll add in some dumplings, that would be a great addition.

Menu plan:

• Monday: sesame chicken with broccoli and rice, bread
• Tuesday: enchiladas, beans, chips
• Wednesday: chicken soup, bread
• Thursday: leftovers
• Friday: chicken meatballs, egg noodles, steamed cabbage
• Saturday: spicy cabbage salad, potstickers, eggrolls
• Sunday: homemade pizza (friends over - Mackenzie’s birthday!)

Grocery:

Trader Joes (from last week):  lots of apples, bananas, 3 bottles of wine, and a couple other things.

• Spent: 24.99
• Full item value: 24.99
• Saved: 0.00

Target (from last week):  clementines (my kids are obsessed with them) and a couple other things.

• Spent: 9.38
• Full item value: 16.38
• Saved: 7.00 (43%)

Publix: 2 gallons organic milk (Mackenzie is now on whole milk), vegetables, goldfish crackers, english muffins, buttermilk, etc..

• Spent: 32.78
• Full item value: 51.46
• Saved: 18.68 (36%)

Kroger: a few random things - what I went in there for turned out to not be on sale, bummer.

• Spent: 8.73
• Full item value: 12.30
• Saved: 3.57 (29%)

Totals:

• Spent: 75.88
• Full item value: 105.13
• Saved: 29.25 (28%)

Remaining for the month (one week left): 76.62

It’s been over a month since I posted a roundup.  Mostly cause we ate out of our freezer for most of December and then things got hectic around Christmas and Morgan’s birthday.  Anyway, I’m finally back to it, so will post our meals and food purchases from the beginning of Jan.

Last weeks menu:

• Monday: mustard chicken, rice, broccoli
• Tuesday: quiche, hash browns, bacon
• Wednesday: salt and pepper shrimp with thai fried rice, sauteed spinach
• Thursday: leftovers
• Friday: homemade pizza (see previous post)
• Saturday: sichuan green beans with turkey, rice, homemade bread
• Sunday: date night for our anniversary (pasta for the kids)

This week:

• Monday: chicken and sausage gumbo, homemade bread
• Tuesday: garlic-basil shrimp pasta, bread
• Wednesday: monte cristo chicken, potatoes, broccoli
• Thursday: leftovers
• Friday: lasagna, salad, bread
• Saturday: Chick fil A
• Sunday: over at friends house

My budget for the month is 251.81.  Strange number, I know, but I had to deduct some from our budget for other things.  Two weeks in I’ve spent less than half, so so far so good.  Here is what I spent for last week and this week (I do still need to make a run to Trader Joes in the morning mostly for fruit and nuts).  I went ahead and consolidated all my runs into one listing for each store.

Kroger:

• Spent: 26.62
• Full item value: 51.06
• Saved: 24.44 (48%)

Publix:  This week was a really good week at Publix for me - I think I had over 25 coupons (all for items I actually wanted) - both store and mfr combined gave me bigger savings alone from what I spent, then I was able to add in what I saved from the store sales!  The savings below reflect both weeks, which when averaged out isn’t as good.

• Spent: 43.66
• Full item value: 96.53
• Saved: 52.87 (55%)

Costco:

• Spent: 21.78
• Full item value: 21.78
• Saved: 0.00

Walgreens:

• Spent: 1.14
• Full item value: 2.28
• Saved: 1.14 (50%)

Target:

• Spent: 6.11
• Full item value: 17.41
• Saved: 11.30 (65%)

Totals for the first 2 weeks:

• Spent: 99.31
• Full item value: 189.06
• Saved: 89.75 (48%)

Monthly budget remaining: 152.50

I got a new cookbook for Christmas that I had wanted, “Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day.”  I had read about it on a few blogs, and a couple friends from church had told me a couple months ago that they had it and it really is amazing bread.

So I got the book and it took me a few days to get around to putting the dough together (not sure why, it took all of 10 minutes) - then it goes in the fridge and I can use it over the next 2 weeks to make 4 separate loaves of the artisan-type bread - the super expensive kind in the grocery store with the crackly exterior and super soft inside.  (for the record, I am not using my ground wheat for this at the moment - I’m starting off with the all-purpose, and will maybe eventually see what I can sub in).

They also give a recipe for pizza dough, so I made a double batch yesterday (again, took about 5 minutes), and rolled out pizzas from it tonight (it was very easy to work with).  OH MY GOODNESS they were delicious.  I never really enjoyed the pizza crust made with the whole wheat flour - it just wouldn’t get crispy.  But this pizza was cooked at 550 degrees for only 10 minutes.  It was so good, it even looked like it came from a pizza place!  I am much more inclined to have family pizza nights often now that I know we have a good crust.  There wasn’t a piece left over.  Pizza also is a very frugal dinner when you make it yourself.

The trickiest part is shaking it off the baking pan onto the hot stone.  My first pizza lost some of it’s toppings before I could get it to budge, but the 2nd I was able to get to slide right off - the trick is LOTS of cornmeal.

I don’t actually plan to post the recipe - it’s a bit involved as far as doing things a specific way and I’m not sure if I should post it or not (although if you do a google search on it you will come up with at least one blog that has the recipe posted).  But the book gives all the specific instructions on how to transfer the dough, to turn on your exhaust fan because the oven is at 550 degrees and the cornmeal will burn, etc.

I do want to post a recipe for no-bake pizza sauce though.  It’s SO easy and delicious, and makes enough to freeze (or is easily doubled):

2 tsp dried oregano
6 oz can tomato paste (splurge on Muir Glen Organic kind, you won’t regret it)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
scant 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1 clove garlic, crushed or minced
1 pinch of sugar

Place the oregano in a small skillet and warm over medium heat until the oregano is very fragrant.  Remove from heat.

Mix all ingredients together, divide into 3 portions.  Use or freeze.

(the pizza in the picture was made with this sauce, mozzarella, spinach, mushrooms and pepperoni)

I’m making the first loaf of artisan bread tomorrow, will post the results (assuming it comes out good!)