Updates, Give Aways and More!

So much has been going on here in our household. Nothing that God can't handle and for that I'm thankful.

First up, the reason I have not posted much is because ever since I've had my son, my health has been very up and down. Praise the Lord for his guidance as to what needed to be done. I'm still building myself up but I'm doing much better. The kids and I had been very sick for a couple weeks as well (not nearly as bad for about 9 of those days). I'm hoping the creeping crud stays away now. lol!


Most interesting is that my son, Joshua is such a joy. He's an amazing little boy with such a great personality. He's always so happy and LOVES to talk. Him and his brother will have so much fun as they get older, I just know it. HE's so in love with each person in our family. Lyshie plays like a little mommy and takes good care of him when I need her for a few minutes. They sure love each other!

As a family we're learning a verse per week. I found this adorable site that has what they call a Children's Scripture Memory Alphabet. Jon has already learned his first verse. That really warms my heart. I wasn't sure if he was ready for it or not but it seems he is! Yeah! Our first verse is..

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray....

The first day Allysha and I read more of the verse. It looks like the pair them down when needed for little one's which is fine. Lyshie and I will just read further into it and get the full meaning. Please pray for me that I will always teach my children of the Lord. It seems at busy/hard times in our lives I sometimes slack in that and I hate that feeling.

I've been on some great online sites lately that I'd like to share with you. Have fun clicking below.

1. Each day Amazon.com has a free mp3 Christmas download. They've proven to be great for the most part. They also have other downloads for free. Check them out!



2. I check out For the Love of Cooking every day to see what new and yummy recipes she has posted. Talk about amazing food! I made her rolls for Thanksgiving and they were loved by all - even my mil who is a bread fanatic. I was very pleased with the results myself. I made the dough in my bread machine which made things that much easier.

3. I stumbled across Organic Food Coupons the other day and was so pleased I did. Here's to saving money on organic foods. Yeah!

4. My last freebie I'm posting for today is a site that has free downloadable creation movies. How sweet is that? Here's the link.

Have a great day!

Monday Meal Plan

Here is my dinner list for the week. Breakfast and lunch is always simple and leftovers so I don't know for sure what we'll be having. Just a little bit of this and a little bit of that:) I am finding that if I prepare things for dinner at lunch time while I'm making lunch, things are so much easier later one. Plus I get to relax more with my hubby!

Monday:
Taco Salad

Tuesday:
Brats and baked potatoes w/veggie.

Wednesday:
Japanese (type) Stir Fry and Chicken Egg Rolls - you can get msg free at Aldi!

Thursday:
BBQ Chicken w/Baked Potatoes and rolls

Friday:
Pizza

Saturday:
Potato Soup, homemade bread and soup.

Sunday:
Breakfast for dinner

My Aldi Shopping Trip

I used to shop at Aldi a lot more frequently than I have been. So, as a "test" I thought I'd get everything but my milk, meat and cleaning products there. Here is what I got today for only $93.75!!! Needless to say, I'll be doing most of my shopping here once again. It was a good day. :)

Dairy:
Eggs
4 lbs butter
3 packages cream cheese

Produce - which by the way, the selection and quality was GREAT!:
2lbs carrots
Romaine Hearts - 3-pack
1 packages flat leaf spinach
3-pack green peppers
1 package mushrooms
1 package celery
1 cucumber
6lbs golden delicious apples - only a couple were bruised
3 pack roma tomatoes
3lbs onions

Misc:
3 plastic aldi bags
1 brown paper bag
Gallon freezer bags - 20 pack
2-pack sponges

Meat:
Cheddar Bratwurst

Frozen Foods:
1lb peas
1lb whole green beans
2 boxes of French Bread Pizza (4 pizzas)
1 package chicken egg rolls
1 container frozen white raspberry and grape juice 100% juice

Bakery items:
2 loafs whole wheat bread - good stuff, not fluffy stuff.
2 packages flour tortillas
1 package hot dog buns
1 package of individually wrapped cream cheese danish

Boxed, canned and bottled items and cooking supplies:
Oats - large container
100% cranberry and raspberry juice - large bottle
pancake syrup - for dh - ick! lol!
10 pack of koolaid type mix - we use this for homemade pedialyte
1 box onion soup mix packets
1 package Italian dressing mix
3 packages taco seasoning
2 packages chicken flavored stuffing
16oz minced garlic
1 container baking powder
12oz can black beans
1 whole pepper mill grinder with pepper in it.
1 package chocolate bark
1 package real bacon bits
2 cans corn
4 cans chunk light tuna
16oz natural peanut butter - only contains peanuts and a bit of salt.
1 package corn muffin mix
1 package seasoned croutons
large jar mild salsa
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 large jar of salad dressing (knock off miracle whip)
Gingerbread specialty cake mix

Pastas and rice:
wide egg noodles

Snack and chip items:
12oz raw almonds
1 package nacho tortilla chips
2 packages organic tortilla chips
1 box graham crackers

Meal Plan Monday

Here's a picture of Jon with homemade yogurt and frozen blueberries for a snack. He LOVED it!

I thought this would be neat to start after seeing it on another blog. I'm still not great about lunch planning so I'll skip that for now. We usually do either leftovers, some kind of sandwich or soup and bread.

Monday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal and homemade yogurt.
Dinner: Roast with carrots, onions and potatoes

Tuesday
Breakfast: Breakfast scramble and toast
Dinner: Macaroni helper with veggies

Wednesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal and homemade yogurt.
Dinner: Beef and noodles (with leftover roast) and mashed potatoes

Thursday
Breakfast: Eggs and toast
Dinner: Chicken, stuffing, veggies

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal and homemade yogurt.
Dinner:Homemade pizza and salad







Here's my dinner menu from last week:
Monday: Chili - made extra and froze half of it.
Tuesday: Baked spaghetti with meat and cheese
Wednesday: Grilled chicken, cheesy potatoes, and salad.
Thursday: Corn dogs and potato wedges
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Wet burritos

I used the chicken carcass from Wednesday to make homemade soup for Friday's lunch. It was very yummy! I'm going to try to keep up more with posting recipes. Look out for yummy recipes and tips on how to make things like yogurt, kefir, etc...

Christmas is coming!

We have about 1 1/2 months till Christmas. How crazy is that? To be easier on our budget, I try to purchase gifts year round as I see them on sale or for a good price. That also keeps us from spending $100's at one time when we wouldn't have it. I also like to save money where I can. This year one of the $$ saving tips I'm passing along is paper shredding. I got out a huge stack of Christmas scrapbooking paper, folding them in accordion style and shredded them in my paper shredder. I'm using this instead of tissue paper. While it probably wouldn't be cheaper if you went out and bought the paper, it sure was for me because it was just sitting around. You could do the same with any kind of newspaper, or other papers you may have lying around.


My two wonderful children and beautiful nieces 2 years ago for Christmas. How time flies!

I thought I'd give you a peak into what my family does yearly. Here goes....

1. Have a birthday cake for Jesus as well as sing Happy Birthday.

2. Let our kids know the 25th is the day we celebrate even though it is not the actual birth date of our Lord.

3. Bake - we love holiday baking and sharing those with others. Keep checking back as I will be posting some of our favorite holiday recipes!

4. Give each child 1 gift they'll really enjoy, 1 gift for all the kids to share and 1 gift for them to give to someone in need. We also do stockings - that's more for me. rofl! We cut back on gifts a couple years ago and it has been wonderful. The kids really focus on Christ more. My daughter who had gotten many gifts from us before then never had a hard time transitioning. I was so proud of her.

5. Draw names on both sides of our family for our siblings. I think this is a great idea since getting for everyone is just not in the pocket book. However, sometime I hope we can all make things for each other instead. That would be the ultimate for me.

We try to rotate years that we spend Christmas Day with each side of the family. This year it is with my family. I can't wait!!! I've missed at least the last two years with my Grandma and Grandpa Good and it's heartbreaking. Every year as a child I would go to their house on CHristmas Day afternoon/evening and spend the day with them. We never missed a year. They have been such a Godly influence in not only my life but all those around them. How grateful I am to them.

May your Christmas this year not only be filled with fun, good food and gifts, but the joy that only Christ the Lord can bring.

Make Ahead Breakfast Skillet Meals

Picture taken from Jimmy Deans link below.


Now and then I will pick up a Jimmy Dean breakfast skillet recipe because of lack of time in the mornings on the weekends. Today I decided to make my own:) I usually pay between $4 and $5 for each frozen bag. Then to that you add 6 scrambled eggs. Well, not anymore. Here is a cost comparison for you:)

Cost and ingredient break down. This will make 3 frozen bags of breakfast skillet starter.
1lb sausage or turkey sausage $2 (on sale)
2 peppers - $.58 (again on sale)
2 onions - $.20
1/2 bag frozen hashbrowns - $.75
Total - $3.53

Jimmy Deans cost per bag - $4-$5
My cost per bay - $1.17

So here's what you do. You take the pound of meat and cook it like you normally would - crumbled up of course. Let that cool. While it's cooling cut up 2 peppers and 2 onions. Fill 3 freezer bags each with 1/3 the peppers, 1/3 the onions, 1/3 of the cooked meat and about 1 cup frozen square hashbrowns (or more) from your local freezer section. Place in freezer.

When you're ready to use them, put a bit of oil in the bottom of a warm skillet and dump in your baggie. When everything is heated through nicely, add in 6-8 scrambled eggs and enjoy! We sometimes use this and put it in the middle of tortillas with cheese. A very filling breakfast!

Remember for your body to function well during the day do the following....

Eat like a King for breakfast.
Eat like a Queen for lunch.
Eat like a pauper for dinner.

Doing this helps better stabilize your blood sugar and is better for your digestive enzymes.

Debt Reduction

I'm sure most of us have debt that we wish we did not have . Unfortunately it cannot be wished away. For those thinking of bankruptcy, I'd caution against it if at all possible. Many places are willing to work with you - you just have to take the time to call them.

Anyway, we've hit a point where another round of student loans are coming in - over $200 more per month. Talk about a huge hit on the budget. Through it all though, even though we are going to be able to have no extra money to spend on eating out (which we love to do) or other things, we're so grateful our bills are at least getting met. It's times like these that cause a family to be more creative in what they do for meals, entertainment, etc... It's also times like these that we look more towards the Lord - what else is there to do.

Take this time, before the holiday season to look over your budget and make it work for you. Yes, a lot of us have to sacrifice many things but isn't it worth it in the end? Being wise stewards of what God has given us is so important to use and we're learning more and more all the time. IF you have other debts such as credit card debt like we do, see what you can cut out of the budget in order to not just meet those minimum payments, but get them paid off as quickly as possible. With the new laws our president has put into effect for credit card companies, the credit card companies are now raising their interest rates very high to re-coop costs from the presidents new bill. Even if you have to make minimum payments now but can take your tax returns and instead of blowing it, paying off debt, that's another great option. Do what it takes:)

Most importantly, stop using credit! For those out there who are used to using credit cards for Christmas only to have to pay them off with working overtime the whole next year - is it really worth it? See how you can pare down your Christmas giving. After all, we celebrate Christmas as a time that we remember what our Lord did for us and his birth. IT should not be about a big expensive gift list that we have to go buy or make others angry by not doing it. How far from the true meaning of Christmas have we come over the past 50 years. Worse yet, with getting our children everything they want now is not only setting them up for being credit users as adults later, but teaching them to be very selfish. If you are a Christian, our main goal as parents is to lead our children to the Lord first and foremost. Are you doing this with your children? Remember, they see what you do - your actions speak much louder than words.