Tonights Goal

Ok, here is my goal for tonight. I am NOT going to bed until I finish that Thrifty Mama Post! I just needed to write that out loud for accountability! Thanks for letting me pretend someone out there cares. Ok, Ok enough procrastinating I must get started......

Deal Alert

I just got back from Kroger and wanted to tell you about some of the best deals I found. Remember these deals will only be available until Tuesday night.

Of course I am still pumped about the Laura Lean Beef I wrote about earlier. I hope you all took advantage of this deal.

Product, Kroger Sale Price, Coupons Used and Source with Date, Final Price

Boneless Chuck Pot Roast, $1.88 lb (normally $3.79 lb)

I went ahead and picked this up for next weeks Roast Meal

Boneless Top Sirloin Steaks Family Pack, $2.99 lb (normally $7.49 lb)

Wonder Whole Grain Bread, $1

Not the bread I usually get but it was whole wheat so I went ahead and picked up 4

Multigrain Cheerios, 3/$8, Use either $0.75 from coupons.com or $0.50 from 1/18 SS,

Final Price: $1.67 or $1.92

Kellogg's Fiber Plus Bars, $2, Use $0.75 from coupons.com (see sidebar) or $1 from 1/18 RP,

Final Price: $1.25 or $1

French's Worcestershire Sauce, $1, Use $0.50 from 1/18 SS, Final Price: FREE!

Green Giant Frozen Vegetables, $1, Use $0.50 for 2 from 1/4 SS, Final Price: $0.50 each

Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks, $1, Use $1 for 1 from 1/18 RP, Final Price: FREE!

My Favorite deal of the night: Rolaids, $1.59, Use $4 for 2 from 1/4 RP,

Final Price: You make $0.82 Yippie!

Pork Loin was also on sale, I'm sorry I don't remember the price, but I went ahead and bought it instead of the pork tenderloin for the pork dish this week.

Note: I did not take advantage of the deals that required the 1/18 coupons, I'll have to go back for them before Tues if I want to take advantage of those deals.

Note: Kroger doubles all paper coupons up to 0.60
* Your newspaper inserts come from 3 different sources: RedPlum (RP), Smart Source (SS) and Proctor and Gamble (PG)
** At Kroger.com you can load your Kroger Card with coupons from 3 different sources: shortcuts.com (s.cuts), P&G esavers (esaver), and cellfire (cf). When you check out you should see the discount on your receipt.

These are just some of the deals that I found this week. For a complete list I strongly recommend joining thegrocerygame.com and checking out other coupon blogs.
More on couponing and my total trip $ on Thrifty Thursday!

Garage Sale Update

I just wanted to let you know that I did NOT sell the homemade play dough or the hair color for Men. If you are interested in these products they can be found at Goodwill.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The good news: I reached my $ amount goal for the garage sale! Yea! I would definitely say from that stand point it was worth it to have a winter garage sale.

The Bad news: After loading up a truck load to take to Goodwill, I still brought a truck load back to our house. DH not happy!

The Ugly news: As I sit at the computer and look around at my surroundings I am faced with a harsh truth- "With the garage sale behind me, I no longer have an excuse for my house looking like it does?" Shoot! Must get busy.......well, maybe tomorrow!

10 Tips for a Successful Garage Sale

10. Have a designated Garage Sale station/container - Throughout the year as you run across things you want to get rid of or declutter; simply price and store in your garage sale container.

9. Set a Date- I will usually "think" about having a garage sale for months before I actually get around to doing one. To help prevent this procrastination I find it is helpful to pick a date and mark it on my calender 1 or 2 months prior to the event.

8. Get a Buddy- Having a Garage Sale can be quite torturous, but it is a little more bearable when you can do it with a friend. Plus you can split the cost of advertising.

7. Start Pricing Early- I usually try to price a little every night in the weeks leading up to a garage sale so I am not so overwhelmed the week or night before the event.

6. Plan to open early- the professional garage sale people are up at the crack of dawn so I usually like to open around 6am. (This garage sale we decided to open at 8am, since there is not too many competing garage sales this time of year)

5. Display your items. Someone once told me that their Grandmother would display her garage sale items on white table cloths. I remember thinking "Wow, Donna would so do that." I have NEVER gone that far but I do think it is helpful to display like items together.

4. Price it right- not to high, not to low. I can't seem to get this one right. I once did a garage sale with a friend who was selling the exact SAME t-shirts as me. She sold hers for $3 and I sold mine for $0.50, and guess what- SHE SOLD MORE THEN ME! So the next time I had a garage sale I priced all my items high and my garage sale friend (different friend) priced hers low. Guess who sold more- you guessed it- My friend!

3. Advertise- Put your garage sale in the paper. The night before place signs and balloons out pointing garage sale patrons in the right direction.

2. Have a garage sale in the winter! I had a professional garage sale shopper give me this advice. Today will be my first winter sale so I'll have to let you know if there is any truth to this tip later.

#1 Tip: Don't follow a word of advice I give you regarding garage sales! I have NEVER had a truly successful garage sale! But in true DRS fashion- I keep trying!!!

Thompson Family Fun Fact

This is the FIRST garage sale in the history of my marriage that my DH did not offer to pay me $$ NOT to have a garage sale. Too bad, because when I heard what the temperature was supposed to be today, I was fully ready to accept any offer that came my way.

Deal or No Deal

I am always fascinated by what people buy at garage sales. One man's trash is TRULY another man's treasure. This year I decided to plant 2 test items in my garage sale just to see if anyone would actually buy them: homemade play dough and Touch of Gray Hair Color for Men. The play dough we made for craft time about 9 months ago and the hair color I picked up free at Walgreens. What's your bet? Will they stay or will they go? (Go ahead and sing that last question)

Thompson Family Fun Fact

I usually have at least 1 garage sale a year, some years 2. How does one family accumulate so much stuff?

My only regret is that I did not take a picture of my garage prior to hauling all the junk away to my friends house for the sale. I guarantee if you got to see a picture of my presale garage, You would all feel much better about the current condition of your own garages.

Scrapbook Saturday

Good Morning. By the time you read this email I will be a human Popsicle! That's right, today is GARAGE SALE DAY!! Let me just go ahead and write what your thinking "Am I crazy? Who has a garage sale in the dead of winter?" Yeah, that would be me!

My co-garage seller told me that we are one of only 3 garage sales in town this weekend. So, that tells me that we are either really stupid or we are going to have the sale of a lifetime. Of course I am hoping for the later but am fully prepared to claim the first in the event our sale flops.

Stay tuned throughout this Scrapbook Saturday for the latest from Garage Sale Headquarters!

End of Day Update

Well, most everything is priced and ready to go for the Big Garage Sale in the morning. It is going to be ccccccold! If you come to the garage sale I will be the one dressed like marshmallow man.

As far as today goes.....The boys and I did get to have a fun craft time and devotional time but learning time didn't quite fit into our schedule. Daddy took the boys to our local high school basketball game while I worked on the garage sale- so at least they were able to have some family fun time tonight. House is still in shambles but hopefully I will have time and energy to tackle it after the sale. We'll see!

Deal Alert

For those of you who live close to a Kmart, they are having double coupon days until Tomorrow- and the cool thing is they double up to $2.00. The closest Kmart to me is 30 miles away so I have never taken advantage of this sale- but maybe one day I will!

Learning Time

For Learning Time today:

Colby and I will play Leap Frog Dominoes. Colby got this for Christmas, and I have to admit that I have not had a chance to play this with him yet. He has watched Daddy and me play dominoes before and wanted to join in, so I think he will enjoy it.

The neat thing about this dominoes is that you can change out the picture to work on: colors, shapes, numbers, counting, rhyming, or reading. Learning while playing got to love that!

Cohen and I are going to spend some extra reading time together and continue working on finding his nose!

Craft Time

Craft Time: In honor of this extremely cold day, we are going to attempt a winter time craft: Paper Plate Snowmans. Isn't he cute! I found this craft at http://www.kaboos.com/.

Maybe we will even have hot cocoa with Reddi Wip on top! Yummy!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Oh wait a minute, what am I thinking.... tomorrow I am having a garage sale...... Bring on the sunshine.

Devotional Time

I have to admit that I have not been too impressed with the devotionals (only done 2) found in this book. I am not going to give up on it yet, but I think today we will review Colby's Awana Cubbie book since he missed last week when he was sick.

I also want to try to teach Colby part of my memory verse for the week. It is amazing what a 4.75 year old can memorize.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6: 5

Familytime Friday

Today is Familytime Friday and I have to be honest with you- It it wasn't for the accountability of this blog I can guarantee familytime would be very limited second to the impending GARAGE SALE! But because I can count on so many of you checking in on me, I am determined to make our "times" today a priority. So I thank you and my boys thank you too!

Devotional Time, Craft Time, and Learning Time will post throughout the day. I want you to know that the posts were written last night as I was planning out my day, so I can't promise that any of the "times" will go as planned or go at all for that matter. But I'll let you know.

End of Day Update

I'm pooped! No Zone Work, No Day Tasks, No AM, Afternoon, or Bedtime Tasks.
I did get most of my pricing done for garage sale! I did get 4 packages of Laura Lean Beef! I did eat Bean Burritos! I did get to Read Colby one of Dave Ramsey's Children's Books (more on that in the future) And guess what!!! It is just a little after 9:30pm and I am shutting the blog down for the night and GOING TO BED!!!
I'm not quite ready to ask for sleep accountability, but I feel it is coming very soon!
Thank you so much for your support! You are making this so much fun for me!

Budget Countdown-Update

Ok, so I went back to Kroger and they had lots of Laura Lean Beef. I had 4 coupons (used printer at work to print 2 more) and so I got 4 packages of 4% fat ground beef. I am way over on my $96/week budget but again, I felt like I could not pass this deal up and will simply make up for the overages over the next couple of weeks.



Total Spent: $15.16
Total Saved: $8.56 (not bad for meat!)
Total Spent to Date: $236.59
Total Saved to Date: $180.54
Total Left for Year: $4763.41

Deal Alert- Kroger

Huge News from Kroger!

Laura Lean Beef is on sale 20% off!!! woo who!!!

Plus you can go here to print 2 $1 off coupons after you sign up for her newsletter.

Let me tell you how exciting this is- Last year I can remember this beef only going on sale 2x at the most! This is Kroger's leanest organic ground beef they offer! I would stock up if I were you.

Warning: I went last night to stock up and they were already out, but the meat man said they would be getting more! I tell you what- this is going to be one sad mama if I don't get some beef!

Deal Alert

For those of you who can get to a Pottery Barn Outlet Location- this is a great sale!
From Thursday 1/15 to Monday 1/19 they are having a 30%-75% off ALL Furniture Sale! Wow, really wish I could take advantage of this. The closest Outlet from our home town is Memphis, TN.

Deal Alert

There is a GREAT coupon booklet out by Home Made Simple. I took advantage of this deal last year and let me tell you I was able to snag some great deals because of it. The booklet offers $27 worth of coupons for products such as Dawn, Cascade, Mr. Clean, Swiffer, etc. Click here to get your booklet before they are gone.

Deal Alert

Where do I get all my coupons? Over the coming months I am going to let you in on all my secrets; but right now let me introduce you to ALL YOU magazine. This magazine found at Walmart is FULL of great coupons. I currently have a subscription to this magazine and will often pick up another 1 or 2 when I am at Walmart (or my sweet Mom picks one up for me- thanks Mom!). The coupons inside way outweigh the cost of the magazine. This magazine is also sold through Southern Living at Home so if you know a consultant I am sure she would be excited to hook you up. If you would like to try the magazine for free sign up here for 2 free issues.

Thrifty Thursday- annual budget countdown

My last Saturday night grocery trip to Kroger put me a little over my $96/week target budget- but I'm not worried. Close to $30 was from chicken that will be used over the next 6 to 7 weeks.


After coupons and Kroger card savings my Total was: $121.49 (for 56 items)
Money Saved: $83.37
Money Spent to date: $221.19
Saved to date: $169.50
Left: $4778.81

Last night I did run to Kroger to get toilet paper. I got 2 packages of Cottenelle TP and 1 roll of paper towels: Total was: $0.24

Total Saved: $2.48; Money Spent to date: $221.43; Saved to date: $171.98 Left: $4778.57

Deal Alert- Walgreens

Here are the deals I hope to take advantage of this week at Walgreens:

Revlon Cosmetics on sale BOGO (excludes Matte Collection)
Use 2 $2 for 1 or $1 for 1 from 1/11SS
Final Price: cheap to FREE

Aquafresh Toothpaste on sale for $2.99
Use $2/1 from Easy Saver Book
and $0.75 off 1 from the 1/4 SS
Final Price: $0.24

Colgate Total Toothpaste on sale BOGO (Buy One Get One) at $2.79 (Walgreens coupon)
Use 2 $1 off 1 from the 1/4 SS
Final Price: $0.40 each

Oust on sale BOGO
Use 1 BOGO coupon from 1/4 SS
Final Price: 2 for FREE

Windex Glass Cleaner on sale BOGO for $3.79
Use 2 $0.40 off 1 from 1/11 SS
Send in the mail in rebate form from 1/11 SS
Final Price: Free plus overages after coupon and MIR

Register Rewards (RR)

Fiber One Bars on sale 3 for $6; Buy 6 and get $2 RR
Use 6 $0.50 off 1 from 1/4 SS or $1.00 off 2 from recent coupons.com printables
Final Price: $1.17 each after using 6 coupons and RR

Dark and Lovely Hair Color $5
Earn $5 in RR
Final Price: Free after RR
(I am so going to get this and then sell it in my garage sale!)

January Free-After Rebate Deals- Each month the EasySaver Book has at least 1 free after rebate product. I always buy these when they have those $5 or $25 or $10 off $50 coupons I told you about because it helps me get to the $25 or $50 amount and yet I will get that $ back when my rebate check comes in the mail.
Revlon Matte Collection Blush or Eyeliner at $9.99 or Revlon Matte Collection Lipstick for $7.99 or Revlon Matte Collection Eye Shadow at $4.99
Use $2 off 1 or $1 off 1 from 12/7 SS and other recent inserts
Final Price: Free plus $1 - $2 overages after coupon and rebate

Orajel Cold Sore Medicine for $8.49
Use $1/1 from 10/26 SS
Final Price: Free plus $1 overages after coupon and rebate

AutoExpressions Vent Fresh Elite Auto Air Freshener for $4.99
Send in for full manufacturer's rebate here
Final Price: Free plus $4.99 after both rebates


Note: If some of this Walgreen coupon lingo seems like a foreign language to you- I recommend reading Money Saving Moms Walgreens 101 Post.

Thrifty Thursday

How did you do last week? Did anyone out there experience their first coupon high? I would love to hear about your deals. If your like me when you get a great deal your dying to tell someone- so here is your chance. Please comment off this post about your grocery shopping experiences or any great deals you have found this week. Stay tuned today to find out about some great Walgreen sales going on this week and some very exciting news from Kroger!

Don't forget the Beans!

If you are following my meal plan, then tonight we are having bean burritos- yummy! Don't forget to put your pinto beans in the crockpot before you head off to work!

End of Day Update

Let me just tell you- I am losing control of this house! I did get my zone work done and I am excited to report that the laundry is done but the rest of the house is a wreck. But us DRSers never give up! We always believe "where there's a will, there's a way" and girls- I got the WILL and my DRS plan is the way. Sooooo maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow but one day I will earn my Donna Reed Badge- in the mean time I would settle for a nice clean dining room table!

PS Thanks for helping me out with my fashion dilemma today!

Garage Sale Countdown

I am excited to say that my junk is no longer sitting in my dining room! It is now sitting in the garage of my friend's house. You should have seen our truck, it looked like Sanford and Son, and the sad thing was it was just the first load. Load 2 and possibly 3 will head out tomorrow. Tomorrow also brings the fun task of starting to price all that junk because I never got around to doing it while it sat in my dining room. Fun times!

Fashion Dilemma

Ok, so I have two questions.
1. Why do women insist on wearing ridiculous shoes in the name of fashion? I mean I have a horrible back and have no business walking around in these Jessica Simpson boots, but that is exactly what I'm doing today- so dumb! Any thoughts?

2. Am I too old to be wearing leggings? (For that matter are leggings even cool anymore?) I always feel a little silly when I put them on but here I am wearing leggings once again. I know, Lets take a vote!

Product of the Week

There is not too many weeks that the Mission Carb Balance Tortilla is not sitting in my grocery cart (coupons or not!). This is the perfect product for fiber week. Depending on size and variety each tortilla will give you anywhere from 80 to 200 Calories for 6", 8" or 10" tortillas. And, are you ready for this......... (please read the following enthusiastically) anywhere between 7 and 21 grams of Fiber!! That's right folks, one 10" Carb Balance Tortilla can meet 100% of your fiber needs for the day!!!


Deal Alert: There is a coupon for mission tortillas in your January 4th newspaper inserts- a rare find. Use it or pass it on to your favorite DRS coach!




Extra Side Note: I spelled enthusiastically right even before spell check!!!

Wellness Wednesday

How are you doing getting in your 8 eight oz glasses of water? Are you finding you are getting a lot of extra walking in on your trips to the bathroom? Well, while you are already frequenting the bathroom let's go ahead and talk about .... Fiber! (Yes, I did just write that.)

Depending on which guidelines you are looking at (American Heart, Cancer, or Dietetic Association) the recommendation for fiber is around 20-35 grams per day. The typical American only gets about 10-15 grams. A simple guideline for your children is age + 5 grams, so if your child is 4 years old you would want to shoot for at least 9 grams of fiber per day.

Now I will agree that even 10 years ago those fiber recommendations would seem a little lofty especially if you were not a good fruit and vegetable eater, but these days you have no excuse. Our food manufacturers are adding fiber to just about everything. From cereals and tortillas to pop tarts and even ice cream, fiber is everywhere. I challenge you this week to start looking at your food labels for fiber. Are you getting enough?

Warning: You will read much, much more about fiber on future Wellness Wednesday posts!

Biggest Loser

Are you all watching NBC's Biggest Loser this season? I'm telling you it is some quality television. I don't miss an episode (or should I say my DVR doesn't miss an episode). I will tell you that although I definitely think the exercise is extreme, the nutrition information has greatly improved since season 1. If your new to Biggest Loser, get your tissues- I don' think I've watched an episode yet that I haven't cried!

Exciting News and Prayer Request

I have some potentially very exciting news. The Thrifty Mama (you know- one of my absolute favorite blogs- I've told you about her before, anyways) has asked me to write a guest post for her Blog. SCREAM!!! I know!!! Now before you go thinking I'm extra cool or anything, I need to let you know that I contacted her first! BUT SHE DID WRITE ME BACK! I mean you would have thought Tom Cruise* had written me when I saw my email!

Here is the problem and where I could really use your help. I am having a major writer's block trying to prepare for this post. I can write all day to you guys on this blog but I've been trying for 4 nights to write a simple post for the Thrifty Mama and I can't seem to get it done! I have until this weekend and I really hate to miss this opportunity so I am begging you to please say a quick prayer for me. Thank you so much. I will let you know.

*I am not a fan of Tom Cruise, he was just the first famous person I could think of.

Fiery Fish Tacos...

Doesn't that look Yummy! Well it was! It was a lot of starch (tortilla, beans, corn) but it was all very high in fiber- my colon is whistling tonight!

Day 1 Zone report

I don't know about Donna, but Flylady would be soo proud! It truly only took me 14 minutes to do my zone work today. I was able to whip it out on my lunch break. Feels Good!

Note: I only clean the inside of my windows- outside hasn't been touched for years- and I'm ok with that.

Super Cheesy Chicken Parmesan- Verdicts In

After consumption from 2 different families the overwhelming response was..... delicious! I am so pumped this recipe worked out- now I can get fiber from chicken! Hope you enjoy!

Tidy Tuesday

Are you ready to start another week of zone cleaning? Is your kitchen still tidy from last week? Isn't it refreshing opening up your cabinets and seeing your dishes all neat and organized? Don't you love knowing your 6'5" tall brother won't be seeing dust on top of your refrigerator when he walks by? Doesn't your food taste better now that your not cooking with out of date spices? Want that feeling again? Join me this week as we tackle: Bedrooms and Closets!

End of Day Update

How did I do today on my DRS plan? Not to Donna's standards but not bad for this sleep deprived mama.

• Mealtime Monday Prep Day- Check
• Zones- N/A
• Mommy Day "Times"- all but Learning Time
• Day Tasks- Did not make it to library because boys are still sick
• Water Intake- Check
• Quiet Time- Check
• Garage Sale Prep- Don't want to think about it
• Morning Routine- Not really
• Afternoon Routine- Check
• Bedtime Routine- 75% Check

See you tomorrow! I would love to hear from you!

Reality Check

With much regret I have to inform you that the "book of the month"- just ain't gonna happen! I still plan on reading "The Shack" there is just no way on earth I am going to be able to get it done by this Saturday (3rd Saturday). When developing the master DRS plan I way overestimated what one human could get done. So sorry to disappoint- I blame Donna!

Do my children remind you of someone?

Wilson, is that you? I'm not sure you have noticed, but I have not posted any pictures of my boys faces on this blog. I don't want you to think that I'm not proud of my children- quite the opposite is true. It's just that my Mom, the boys Gammy, has made me really paranoid about posting pictures of my family on the Internet. Just thought you might want to know.

Decisions, Decisions

Looking around at my house, I've got a decision to make. I could either get off the computer and get busy with my DRS plan, or I could sit here and blog about my DRS plan. Hummmmm? What would Donna do? Better get busy.....

Deal Alert

Money Saving Mom just told me (and the other millions that watch her blog) about another link for more Free Toilet Paper- Woopie! Follow this link for the TP coupon and other great savings. You can print 2 coupons per computer.

By the way, Who got all my toilet paper on Saturday night? Kroger was all out!

Painting with Yogurt- check

Well I finally got to use that out-of-date yogurt. Both boys really enjoyed the craft although I practically had to beg my 4 year old to try it because, as always, he had his own ideas for craft time. He felt today would be the perfect day to make a turtle catcher and he said finger painting with yogurt would be "boring" (Big thanks to Playhouse Disney's Imagination Movers for teaching my child the word "boring"! can you sense the sarcasm). After agreeing he could make the turtle catcher while baby was napping (and I was cooking) he finally got on board with the yogurt.

Cohen finger painted on his highchair tray and Colby on a cutting board mat. Colby enjoyed mixing the colors to see what new shades he could come up with and turning his hand into the "Incredible Hulk" when soaking it in the green yogurt. Cohen seemed to like the craft too, but kept trying to eat the yogurt- funny, if he had eaten the yogurt before it went out of date we wouldn't be doing this craft today. All in all I would say our craft time was a success and Colby asked if we could do it again some day.

Meals Done- well almost!

Well I am at 54 minutes and at a stand still. I left my can opener at my cooking demo last Friday (hazard of the job)- so I am waiting for my neighbor to get home so I can borrow hers to finish up the tortellini soup. Don't you just love those cans that come with the lid pull back systems- don't you wish they all did? Anyway- I do not predict it will take more then 6 minutes to finish up the soup. Soooo I can safely say you can easily prep for all 5 meals in 1 hour or less this week. No picture today of the finished meals because my table still looks like it did last night.

Side note: I also cut off the extra fat on all of of my chicken I bought Saturday night and divided it up into freezer safe ziplocks. I have enough chicken for 7 more meals! Woo Hoo!

Spinach Tortellini Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. Don't you just love soup in the winter. This soup packs in the folic acid!

Spinach Tortellini Soup
49 oz Chicken Broth
9 oz package of Buitoni 100% whole wheat 3 cheese tortellini
2 cans diced stewed tomatoes
10 oz package of Frozen Spinach
1/2 tsp Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Bring all but the Parmesan Cheese to a boil. Serve topped with a little Parmesan Cheese

Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1/4 of soup
Calories: 300 Meal Plan: 1.5 meat, 2.5 starches, 1.5 veg

Lean Hamburgers

Nothing special here folks. Just thought my family might enjoy hamburgers and having them at home is a much much healthier option!

Lean Hamburgers

1 lb Ground Sirloin (or extra lean ground beef)
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
Cavenders to Taste
Whole Wheat Buns
Lettuce, Tomato, Onions, other

Mix all of the above together and then form 4 patties. (The breadcrumbs help hold the extra lean beef together, otherwise might fall apart on grill) Grill to desired doneness. Add bun and fixens

Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 burger with bun
Calories: 390, 4 meats, 2.5 starch, 1/2 vegetable

I am going to serve this with Baked Sweet Potatoes.

Pinto Bean Burritos

Knock out your fiber in one meal with this recipe! Those new to fiber beware! This is one of my favorite meals. Embarrassingly quick and easy and oh so cheap!


Pinto Bean Burritos

at least 2 cups Dry Pinto Beans (I like to make extra to be used in future recipes or for leftovers)
1 TBS Ham Bouillon
1 TSP Cumin
Lite Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese
Mission 10 oz Carb Balance Tortillas

Place desired amount of beans in crock-pot. Add enough water to cover beans by 1 inch. Add bouillon and cumin. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high 4-6 hours. (All crock-pots are different so you might have to experiment with settings and time.) Place 1/2 cup cooked beans in center of warmed tortilla add 1/4 cup cheese, roll up and enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 Burrito

Meal Plan: Calories: 275 Calories, 2 meats, 2 starch, 1/2 fat

I am going to serve this with a side salad. To add to the Mexican Flavor I am going to add some taco seasoning to lite ranch for my salad dressing.

Fiery Fish Tacos with Crunchy Corn Salsa

Again- haven't tried it yet, but sure did sound yummy! Please follow link to allrecipes.com for recipe. I substituted the corn tortillas with Mission Carb Balance Tortillas and omitted the cilantro (sorry I just don't like cilantro).


Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
Meal Plan: Calories: 330, 4 meats, 2 starch


The original plan was to have this meal with rice and beans; however, after reviewing the recipe I realize that is a lot of starch for one meal so I will probably substitute the rice for a green salad.

Super Cheesy Chicken Parmesan

I've got to be honest- I have never tried this before. But how could I turn down a recipe that called for bran cereal! I'll give it a try and let you know. This recipe was found in my last issue of Better Homes and Gardens so please go here for the recipe. It might ask you to register before it will allow you to access the recipe but don't worry it's free.


Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1/4th of recipe
Calories: 566, 7 meats, 3 starches, 0.5 vegetables

I did not buy the sweet red pepper for the recommended pasta. But I will serve this with whole wheat pasta and a green salad.

Mealtime Monday

Round 2 of Mealtime Mondays coming at you! Your recipes will be posting soon. Once again I will use today to knock out most of the the prep work for the week of meals. I think this weeks meals will take even less time to prep then last weeks. Forgive me for planning 2 Mexican dishes in the same week- don't know how that one slipped by me- but the plan must go on! Following is the order I plan on serving the dishes and how I will prep and store until ready to finish and eat:

Monday: Super Cheesy Chicken Parmesan- I will do steps 1 - 4 this morning and then will place both chicken and sauce into the fridge until tonight. (Because this recipe requires an egg I would not want to prepare this dish more then 2 days in advance.)

Tuesday: Fiery Fish Tacos- Today I will sprinkle the spices on the frozen talipia and then place in fridge to defrost until tomorrow night. I will also prepare the crunchy corn salsa in a large ziplock and store in the fridge.

Wed: I am going to mix all ingredients except the tortellini in a ziplock bag and place in fridge until Wed night. Wed night I will transfer ziplock to pot and add in tortellini.

Thurs: Pinto Bean Burritos: No prep today. All I am going to do for this meal is Wed night wash and place beans in crock-pot and leave out on counter so I am reminded to fill with water and turn on Thurs. am.

Friday- Out or leftovers

Saturday- OUT- reward for all my hard work getting ready for the garage sale.

Sunday: Hamburgers. I will prepare my patties today and then separate them with wax paper and place in freezer until Saturday. Saturday morning I will hopefully remember to transfer to fridge to allow them to defrost until Sunday after church.

Oops! Grocery List Addition

So sorry I realize I left out 4 ingredients for this weeks meals.
1. For the Super Cheesy Chicken Parmesan the recipe calls for a sweet red pepper. I am just going to make it without it, but if you haven't gone to the grocery store you might want to pick one up.
2. The Firey Fish Tacos call for cilantro. I don't like cilantro so I'm leaving it out.
3. My hamburgers call for Worcestershire Sauce and Dry Bread Crumbs.

Sorry about not catching this before!

Garage Sale Mayhem

Well, I have spent all afternoon getting ready for next weekend's garage sale- and I don't feel any closer to being done. It has been a sad day! Not only am I depressed to see my once (and only once) nice and empty dining room table once again covered in clutter; but this trip down memory lane sorting through all the boys outgrown clothes has nearly brought me to tears. My babies are growing up! It just seems like yesterday my 4 year old was wearing the little duckie onesie with the matching booties. And I can't believe it has been a little over a year since my baby wore the same.

It didn't help when my 4 year old came into the dining room to give me his take on the situation. He kept asking "Why are you getting rid of all brother's clothes? Aren't these clothes precious, Mommy? Just precious! Don't we have a precious baby, Mommy? When are we going to have another baby, Mommy? Aren't baby's precious." He probably said precious 50 times which was just well.... precious, but it was hard to explain why we couldn't keep ALL of Cohen's old clothes and even harder to explain why we probably wouldn't be having any more precious babies.

Update coming soon!

Sorry to leave you hangen all afternoon. I will post asap, I am charging my camera up because you have GOT to see what my dining room looks like right now!

Sonday Sunday

My 4 year old is a little sponge- as I'm sure is true for all preschoolers. It is amazing what he is able to understand and pick up on. I have been shocked by things that have come out of his mouth that undoubtedly he learned from DH or myself and yet we didn't even realize he was even paying attention. This has been both a blessing and a curse.
For example- last night when we were playing Wii; I heard the words "Ah Dang it" come of out of my innocent child's lips when he got Lightening McQueen stuck behind a rock. As soon as he said it, I looked at him and firmly said "we don't say that word;" but even as the words were coming out my mouth I knew he had probably learned that word from me! Ouch!

Then there are those "treasure chest" moments. I will never forget the time my then 3.75 year old was sitting at the bar eating lunch when he said "I bet God likes it when we eat?" I had no idea where this was going but I quickly agreed and added "especially when we eat our vegetables." Curious about what was going on inside this little boys head, I followed up my vegetable sales pitch with "Why do you think God likes it when we eat?" I couldn't believe my ears when he answered "Cause when we're eating we are STILL." Who would have thought that months ago when we had talked about being STILL before God in one of our rare "devotional times" he was even listening much less able to understand the concept! Wow!

So with the later in mind. I want to get in the habit of taking EVERY opportunity to teach my little sponges about God's ways. That is why my verse for the week is Deuteronomy 6:5 -7. I can't wait to see how often the Lord whispers this one to me this week!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6: 5-7.

End of Week Report Card

I always loved report card day at school (I was such a NERD). My Dad would always pay me $5 per A and then I got a bonus if I got straight A's. Once Spelling was no longer part of the curriculum- I always got the bonus!
Now, I know that I am bragging, but can I just say that those straight A's have got me nowhere in life! Not one time have I been asked "What was your grade point average? on a job interview. When potential patients are calling to find out about my program they don't ask "What grade did you receive in BioChemestry?" And quite honestly, I don't think my husband even knew my academic history when he asked me out on our first date? But... I am sure you will feel much better about daily tuning into this blog knowing that your DRS leader had many, many years ago been a 4.0 student.... probably not!

Regardless- I thought a fun way for me to sum up my weekly DRS progress would be with an end of the week report card. So here goes:

Sonday Sunday- A (I loved loved loved how the Lord used my memory verse all week to remind me about my attitude- thank you Jesus!)
Mealtime Monday- A (Was that not wonderful not having to worry about "what's for dinner?" all week long! And the actual making of the meals was not bad at all)
Tidy Tuesday- B minus (All of my zone work for the Kitchen is completed but, as I write, the rest of my house looks like a train wreck)
Wellness Wednesday- B plus (I got my water in all but today)
Thrifty Thursday- E plus (E for effort- I worked really hard to keep my Kroger budget in check this week and I had good intentions for a great Walgreens trip; it just didn't work out as planned)
Familytime Friday: C (even though we didn't get to do any of our "times" on Friday the week was not a complete failure. The boys got plenty of hugs and loves all week long)
Scrapbook Saturday: N/A

Wonder if Dad will still pay me for my As? That could really help the ol' budget. What do you say Dad?