And there you have it! Was that the wimpiest Super Saturday ever, or what! I think my DRS is going through a slight remission period- that, or I am so beyond busy that I have had to slack up in my blogging lately.......... or maybe a little of both. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Sonday Sunday's in June

Sundays will continue to focus on the Captivating review.

Familytime Friday in June

Where to begin?...... I have GOT to do better with this one! Yep, that's my plan- do better. enough said

Thrifty Thursday in June

My plan for Thirfty Thursday's in June is to get at least Kroger, Target, and Walgreen's Deals posted every week. I am also hoping to do a better job with deal alerts throughout the week.

Wildcard Wednesdays in June

So today we took the For Sale By Owner sign out of the Yard because we found a sweet young couple who want our house- woopie!!! Anyways... with the sign out of the yard I officially have NO motivation to keep this house neat and clean. Sooooooo I have come up with a plan.... a plan that I am pretty darn excited about..... it is not an original plan......... no, I stole the idea from a really famous Arkansas Blog- KellysKorner.com. You see, currently every Friday kellyskorner.com is hosting "Show Us Where You Live" where she provides a Linky on her blog for readers to post pictures of their homes. And let me tell you she had over 400 people link to her blog last week alone!!!!

So here is my thought: If every week I commit to posting pictures of at least one room in my house, then at least one room of my house will get clean each week. PLUS, it is only a mater of time before I am no longer living in this home, and this will serve as a nice scrapbook of pictures to help us remember our old home.

Now here is the really exciting part.... YOU CAN PLAY TOO!!! Each week I will announce the theme room early enough in the week to give you plenty of time to straigten up (or not, whatever), grab your camera and take some pictures. Then use the Mr. Linky to post your pictures on Wildcard Wednesday. Doesn't that sound like fun!?! Oh, I do hope at least one person will play with me!!!

For a while I am going to go with KellysKorner theme room so that I can link to hers on Friday sooooo the first Wildcard Wednesday Room will be: Office

June's Master Cleaning Schedule

Effective Dates (Tuesday - Monday); Zone; Supplies

June 2-8; Bedrooms and Closets; Windex, Dusting Spray, vacuum, Wet and Dry Swiffer (we have stained concrete in our bedrooms), paper towels

June 9-15; Bathroom and Living Room, Windex, All-Purpose or Bathroom cleaner, Toilet Cleaner and Brush, Tilex or other soap scum and mold killer, Mr. Clean Dry Eraser, Swiffer Wet or mop, Dusting Spray, vacuum, paper towels

June 16- 22; Office and Playroom, Windex, Dusting Spray, Electrical Appliance Cleaner, All-Purpose Cleaner or other Sanitizer, Swiffer Wet and Dry or mop and broom, vacuum, paper towels

June 23- 29; Outside, Garage, Laundry Room; All-Purpose cleaner, broom, mop, leaf blower (optional), windex, coins for the car wash, vacuum, trash bags, containers to sort: donate, garage sale, keep, etc., paper towels

Remember to check out flylady.net for the ultimate cleaning plan.

Tidy Tuesdays in June

Last week I confessed my lack of motivation for keeping the house in "zone" order. Well, I'm afraid that is not going to get any better until I am moved in to our next house BUT I have thought up a clever little plan to get at least one room in order every week.......... I'll tell you all about it on the Wildcard Wednesday post. In the meantime, I am still planning to post the zone cleaning schedule each week so those that have remained "in the zone" can keep it up.

June's Month of Meals

Week 1

• Beef Stroganoff over Whole Wheat Noodles with Green Beans (crockpot)
• Baked Sweet Potatoes with Vegetable Salad
• Fish Tacos with Pepper Packet
• Oven Fried Chicken with Squash Casserole and side salad
• Chicken Tortilla Soup

Week 2

• BBQ Pork Sandwich with Baked Beans and Side Salad (crockpot)
• Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Catfish N Chips with Greens
• Black Bean Chicken Pizza
• BLTs with Carrot Chips and Ranch

Week 3

• Lemon Garlic Chicken (crockpot) with Rice and Green Beans
• Stuffed Green Peppers
• Tilapia Puttanesca with Rice
• Taco Roll with side salad
• Steak with Baked Potato and Side Salad

Week 4

• Asian Shredded Beef with Cabbage and Rice (crockpot)
• Artichoke and Spinach Lasagna
• Stir-fry Shrimp with Cheesy Grits
• Southwest Egg Rolls with side salad
• Turkey Burgers with Chips and Salsa

Mealtime Mondays

Mealtime Monday's in June are going to incorporate some recipes from past months as well as some new ones. I also gave more thought in planning each week's menu to ensure that I am out of that kitchen in an hour and a half or less. Hope ya think it looks tasty!

Super Saturday

Today is Super Saturday and boy am I not prepared! Currently I am writing this intro post at midnight Friday night and I have a metabolism party in the early morning so I'm not sure how many posts will get prepared before I poop out and go to bed. But before the weekend is up- You will have the complete June Master Plan! So hang in there.....

Learning Time

For Learning Time today we SHOULD go to the library because our books are soooooo overdue. BUT I know we won't make it to the library because we are going to jump zone instead. So basically I wrote the previous two sentences as both a confession and a reminder to eventually get by the library. thanks

What I am thinking we will really do for learning time today is good ol' flashcards. Yep, what says learning time more then flashcards. Colby has some basic reading cards and we will just keep reviewing animals and shapes with Cohen.

Craft Time

This weekend I am throwing a shower for my sister-in-law (same baby you all helped pray over earlier this year) Sooo I am having a "garden themed" shower and thought the boys and I might try making tissue paper flowers. Not sure these will be a part of the official decor......but I'm not ruling it out.

Go here for the directions.

Devotional Time

Today we are going to look at "Being Cheerful and Kind" in our Our Together-Time Bible.

The memory verse for this lesson:
Do not forget to do good to others. And share with them what you have. These are the sacrifices that please God. Hebrews 13:16

The bible story that illustrates this lesson is found in Genesis 24: 15-20. This is the story of Rebekah when she cheerfully and kindly gave water to Abraham's servant and his camels.

Familytime Friday

Seems like it has been a looooong time since we have had a real quality Familytime Friday. Not sure that today will be the day that turns around for us, but we do have some fun things planned. For one, we will be attending play group at Jump Zone today, that should account for at least 1.5 hours of activity and should sponsor a GREAT naptime for CoCo. I am also hoping (not promising) to get in a little devotional time, learning time, and craft time with the boys..... we'll see. I'll go ahead and post a game plan for these times, just in case!

Super Saturday is Coming! maybe?

Wo, I just remembered that this Saturday is SUPER SATURDAY!!!! AGHHHHHHH it has totally snuck up on me. Not sure what is in store or when exactly the full June Master plan will post but I'll be sure to get busy on it- might end up being a Super Weekend instead of just Saturday (good thing ya'll DRSers are so forgiving).

I'd love some ideas for our June Menu. Any favorite recipes you'd like to share. Any ideas to get me motivated to clean my house in June.... yeah that would be nice.

Deal Alert- Target

Go here to print the Target Printables I reference below:

Here are my favorite Target Deals this week:

Vitamin Water on sale $1

Use $1 off 1 from 4/5 SS

Final Price: FREE

remember this deal is also available at Walgreens this week.

Kashi GoLean Crunch Cereal and Granola Bars on sale for $2.88

Use $1.50 off 2 from a recent coupons.com printable (no longer available)

Final Price: $2.13 each

Kelloggs Cereal on sale $1.99

Use $1 off 1 from a recent coupons.com printable (no longer available)

Final Price: $0.99

Quaker True Delights Granola Bars on sale for $2.50

Use $1 off 1 from 5/10 RP

Final Price: $1.50 each

Quaker Fiber and Omega Granola Bars for $2.50

Use $1 off 1 4/19 RP

Final Price: $1.50 after coupons

Note: This is one of my favorite high fiber bars these days, just thought I'd share!

Gift Card Deal:

Get a $5 Target Gift Card when you purchase a combo of 5 of the following products: Kellogg's Pop Tarts, Cheez-it Crackers, and Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies at $2.33 each

Coupons available:

Poptarts: $0.50 off 1 Target Printable AND $1 off 2 in 4/5 RP

Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies: $0.55 off 2 in 4/5 RP

Best Scenerio (from a $ standpoint NOT nutritional standpoint, anyways...):

Buy 5 poptarts, Use 5 Target Printables and 2 RP coupons

Final Price: $2.15 for 5 boxes after all coupons and $5 gift card

Other Deals

Banana Boat Sunscreen Trial Size for $0.99
Use $1 off 1 from 5/3 RP
Final Price: FREE

Plus go here to learn how you can get one of these movies PLUS a ticket to see Disney's UP AND 2 packages of Rayovak Batteries for just $10.99!

Deal Alert- Kroger

Last week I think I only used 4 coupons so I was excited to see a few more deals this week.

Here are the deals that stand out to me this week at Kroger. As always, check in with thegrocerygame.com on Sunday (or late Saturday night) for a complete list of match-ups.

Blackberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, and Strawberries on sale for $1.97

Gala Apples on sale for $0.99 lb

Green Beans, Yellow Squash, and Zucchini on sale for $0.97/lb

Kroger Grade A Eggs on sale for $0.88

Kroger Milk or Orange Juice 1/2 gallons on sale for $1.29

USDA Choice Boneless Chuck Pot Roast on sale for $1.97/lb

Kroger Bar or Shredded Cheese on sale B1G1 Free

All Laundry Detergent on sale for $3.99

Use $0.40 off 1 from 5/10 RP

Final Price: $3.19

10 for $10 Sale (remember you don't have to buy 10)

Cool Whip

Use recent $1 off 2 from coupons.com (no longer available)

Final Price: $0.50 each

Country Time Lemonade

Hurry and Print your $1.50 off 2 coupon from the coupons.com sidebar

Final Price: $0.50 for 2 BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE:

Catalina promotion: Buy 2 Country Time drink mixes between 5/29 and 6/11, and you will get a $1 Catalina good on you next order.

Therefore Final Price: FREE plus $0.50 overage!!!

Green Giant Vegetables

Use $0.50 off 2 from 4/5 SS (expires on Saturday!) or this $0.50 off 1 printable

Final Price: FREE or $0.50

Cattleman's BBQ Sauce

Use this $0.50 off 1

Final Price: FREE

Dial Bar Soap or Pumps

Use this $0.55 off 1

Final Price: FREE plus $0.10 overage yeah!!!

Deal Alert- Walgreens

Not too impressed with the deals this week. Not only that but I also found that some of the coupons used in match-ups found on other coupon blogs were not found in our regional newspaper inserts- bummer! Here are the confirmed BEST match-ups for our neck of the woods.

Vitamin Water at $1 each

Use $1 off 1 from 4/5 SS (can't confirm value of coupon in our paper because I already used it but there is for sure a coupon in the 4/5 SS)

Final Price: FREE

Dial Soap on sale 2 for $3

Use this $0.55 off 1 printable

Final Price: $0.95 each

Note: this would double nicely at Kroger, personally I think I will hold on to it and use it at Kroger.

Adidas deodorant on sale for $1.99

Use $1 off 1 from 4/5 RP

Final Price: $0.99

Hawaiian Tropic Sun Care line is on sale B1G1 FREE (prices start at $8.49)

Use 2 $2 off 1 from here

Final Price: $4.49 for 2

REGISTER REWARDS RR

Buy 2 Reach Ultra Clean Toothbrush or Floss at $2.50 each, Get $3 RR

Use B1G1 from 4/26 RP AND $.50 off 1 from 3/15 SS

Final Price: FREE plus $1.00 overage with coupons and RR

Buy 1 Colgate Wave Total Toothpaste at 2.49, Get $1.50 RR

Use $1 off 1 from here OR $1.50 off 1 from March All You (pg. 41)

Final Price: FREE and possible overages with RR

Buy 1 Tropicana Orange Juice at $2.99, Get $1 RR

Use $1 off 1 from 3/15 RP

Final Price: $0.99 after coupon and RR

May RR

Buy 1 Bayer Breeze or Contour Blood Glucose Meter at $14.99, Get $5 RR

Use $30 off 1 from 3/1 or 3/22 RP (coupon will adjust down)

Final Price: FREE plus $5 in overage from RR

Buy 1 Bayer Quick Release Crystals at $2.49, Get $2.49 RR

Final Price: FREE after RR

Big Thanks to MoneySavingMom for help with the match-ups this week!

Thrifty Thursday

Well DRSers the coupon usage has been pretty dry the last couple of weeks for this girl BUT I'm feeling pretty good about some of the deals this week. Have you found any good deals lately?

Deal Alert

After spending so much time in the hot sun with your garden why not treat you and a buddy to a Frosty at Wendys. And how about using this B1G1 FREE coupon!

Once a Year Gardener

Last year when I ordered Blogging for Dummies off Amazon.com I also purchased Landscaping for Dummies. That book has remained unopened BUT I have high hopes of cracking it open at our next home. As for now, the only gardening this girl does is once a year I put flowers in our porch pots. I checked this task off my to-do list this past weekend:

Can I let you in on a little secret? The tall plant.... it's not real! Don't tell.. ok? The other plants are real but I have no idea what they are called.

Donna, Donna- How does your garden grow?

I don't know! DH is the gardener in this family. BUT I thought for this Wildcard Wednesday I would show you some pictures of our Garden. Although I have NO advice on how to grow a garden, I do highly recommend you getting one. Last year was the first year for our garden and let me just tell you, it was so much fun. It was so exciting to see the first blooms of our vegetables and my oh my how much better home grown vegys taste!

Every night while I prepared supper I would put out a relish tray of all of our garden grown vegetables for the fam to munch on while dinner cooked. It was because of this Colby developed a love of tomatoes and green peppers. Maybe it will work on Cohen this year......

Last year DH started the garden from already partially grown plants (not sure what the official term for this is called, but anyways....) BUT this year all but the blueberry bush were started as seeds! Talk about a thrifty tip. Each packet of seeds cost less then $1 and contained tons of seeds.

What's up with the fuzziness in all the pictures?

This is our leaf lettuce and Spinach.

This is a picture of the corn popping out of the ground. How cute is that!

Our lowly blueberry bush. Don't think we'll get any out of her this year.

DH also planted: tomatoes, green beans, squash, zuchinni, green peppers, and jalepeno peppers.

Woops!

Ok, all you DRSers who checked in between the hours of about 3pm till about 5 minutes ago- you walked in on a HUGE mistake. I accidentally posted the Target Deal Alerts today, on TIDY TUESDAY!!!! instead of Thrifty Thursday. Wow! I sure hope that didn't mess with your heads. Don't worry the issue has been resolved. Once the mistake was brought to my attention I swiftly removed the post from the blog. Life can resume as normal.......

For those of you who did not get a chance to print a copy of Target Deals they are scheduled to repost on it's proper day at around 1pm.

Zone 1- Kitchen

Odd Months
Day 1- Tuesday

• Clean Fridge inside & Out
• Clean Light Fixtures
• Shine Sink (I use the turtle wax to shine my sink)

Day 2- Wednesday

• Clean and organize all cabinets
• Clean and organize all drawers
• Clean outside of cabinets

Day 3- Thursday

• Clean oven
• Clean stovetop
• Clean all knick knacks (everything that sits on top of the counters ex: coffee pot)
• Clean Microwave

Day 4- Friday

• Clean and organize pantry
• Clean Floors
• Clean behind Fridge
• Clean baseboards

Day 4- Saturday

• Detail highchair
• Dust Buffet and Cookbooks
• Clean inside and out china cabinet
• Dust of polish table

Sunday and Monday- OFF

Tidy Tuesday

Can I just tell you that for now, zone cleaning is on hold at my house. It is only a matter of time before my family moves to our next home (first have to find one, but anyways....) but my heart has already moved on. The only time I am motivated to clean this one is when a potential buyer wants to see it, which lucky enough has been at least once a week so the house hasn't gotten too out of hand...... yet. I am still going to post the zone schedule just in case some of you are still following it, I am just not going to join in. BUT let me tell ya- nothing fuels the zones like a new (new to me) house, so just you wait, in a matter of months I'm going to be on fire for cleaning again. Aaaaaand a new to me house means TONS of labeling opportunities, oh I can hardly wait!!! Good times, up ahead ladies!!!!!

California Roll Salad

Remember when I was in Vegas and I tried California Rolls? Wouldn't it be fun if we could make our own?!?! Well, that is a little out of my culinary comfort zone but I found this recipe that I thought might fool my taste buds into thinking they were getting the real deal!

Update: I wrote the intro to this recipe before grocery shopping. Lump Crab Meat was priced at around $16.99 and Wasabi Powder was priced at $11.99........... we are NOT having this salad at our house this week! But if you are interested below is the link for the recipe and a nutritional analysis. If someone out there tries it let us know!!!

Go here for recipe

California Roll Salad

Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
Meal Plan: 264 Calories, 1 meat, 1.5 starches, 1.5 veg, 1.5 fats

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas? Sounds yummy! Tons of recipes to choose from. I chose this one but if you have a recipe you love please share!


Go here for recipe


Chicken Enchiladas
I used light sour cream, fat free cottage cheese and only 1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese.


Nutrition Information: (provided by allrecipes.com and does not reflect modifications! I bet you could easily knock off at least 100 Calories with modifications)
Serving Size: 2 enchiladas
Meal Plan: 550 Calories, 4.5 meats, 2 starches, 4 fats (less fat with modifications!)

I am going to serve these with black beans and a side salad.

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 Potatoe Fries.

UPDATE: DH is wanting to stretch his culinary skills this evening so he has gone to Kroger to gather ingredients to doctor these burgers up a bit! No telling what he'll bring home- but I did hear him mention something about an avocado- yummy!

Whole Wheat Overnight Pancakes

These were really yummy last time, so I am excited they are on the menu again this week. I recommend making extra to freeze so you can have your own frozen pancakes ready to microwave on any given morning.

Whole Wheat Overnight Pancakes

Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1/8th of recipe (I have no idea how much this makes but I'm sure 8 is a minimum)
Meal Plan: ~180 Calories, 2 starches

I am going to serve this with fresh fruit and Redi Whip. Yum Yum!

Mealtime Monday

Well it took me about 40 minute to prepare this week's menu. Now before you get too excited about that prep time I must confess two things. One I did not preprep the burgers- I knew today I would have extra help around the kitchen so I did not bother preparing them last night. Second, I ended up not making the California Roll Salad- the other family was not adventurous enough to want to try it AND when I went to purchase the ingredients for the salad I realized I could easily order real California Rolls for less then it would cost me to make the salad! Sooooo all I prepared last night was:

• 2 Pasta Fagiolis
• 2 Chicken Enchiladas
• 2 Dry Ingredients for Whole Wheat Pancakes

Here is the prep and eating plan for this week:

Monday- Memorial Day cookout. I am going to prepare the lean hamburgers for our cookout.

Tuesday- Whole Wheat Pancakes. To prep I went ahead and mixed the dry ingredients and stored them in a ziplock in the fridge. Tuesday morning I will finish recipe and store in fridge until time to cook the pancakes (remember the batter needs to sit in fridge at least 8 hours)

Wednesday- Pasta Fagioli- I dumped all but the pasta sauce, beef broth, and pasta into a ziplock bag (simply because it wouldn't all fit) and stored in fridge (this recipe could have easily been frozen). Wednesday morning I will transfer to crockpot and add broth and pasta sauce. Instead of cooking pasta in crockpot I think I will prepare on stovetop and then add to soup before serving.

Thursday-Chicken Enchiladas- I fully prepped this dish and stored in freezer. Wednesday I will transfer to fridge to allow thaw time. Thursday night I will pop into oven to finish!

Friday and Saturday- Out or leftovers

Sunday- Question Mark! (This is when I was suppose to have the California Roll Salad) Sounds like a good day for a pantry challenge.

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope you have a great day with your family. Food is cooked I just haven't had time to write about it yet, but I tell you what...... Your recipes and prep schedule will post before the clock strikes midnight tonight!

Sonday Sunday- Captivating Reflection

I have only read chapter One of Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge and I can already tell this book was written specifically for the woman with DRS! I mean just read what Stasi Eldredge confesses within the first few pages of chapter one:

I somehow believed that upon saying, "I do," I would be magically transformed into Betty Crocker (we know she meant to say Donna Reed, but anyways). I imagined myself baking fresh bread, looking flushed and beautiful as I removed the steaming loaves from the oven. No matter that I hadn't cooked but five meals in my entire life, I set about preparing dinners, breakfasts even, with determination and zeal. After two weeks of this, I lay on the couch despondent, announcing that I didn't know what was for dinner and that John was on his own. Besides, the kitchen floor was dirty. I had failed.

Hello! Is that not a textbook description of DRS. Anyways....

I felt a real connection to this author when she went on to describe the guilt and shame all Women feel in the shadow of that infamous Proverbs 31 Woman. And how most women feel a "nagging sense of failing to measure up."

The authors challenge us to take our focus off the actions of what we feel a woman ought to do and be and rather focus on the heart of a woman. For the heart represents the core of who we are. In Genesis we learn that "God created man in his own image... male and female he created them." therefore if we understand the heart of a woman we will better understand the heart, or desires, of our God.

This book is going to look at three desires that are common to every woman and show how they reflect God's own heart: To be Romanced; To play an Irreplaceable Role in a Great Adventure; and to Unveil Beauty.

Isn't it neat to think about the fact that our deepest desires that are unique to women are not only given to us by our God but also shared desires of our King.

This week as I dive deeper into the study I am going to reflect on what it means to be made in the Lord's image and specifically I am going to look for passages that mention the heart. Do any verses come to mind?