Slightly Imperfect...
A delightfully irregular life in progress
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Grocery Savings - The Challenge Continues
Sunday, June 19, 2011
On another note, it's Father's Day. Our two oldest have moved out and while we won't see them today, we will probably hear from them. That will be nice and Daddy will be happy. We miss our kids who are away. And we miss our own fathers who don't live near by. Fathers are so influential in our lives and we're so blessed to have some of the best ones around. Here's hoping that your Father's Day is terrific and that you get to celebrate with a special guy in your life.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
A Grocery Challenge - OMG What Am I Thinking??
- Plan the menu - every single meal. Nothing goes unplanned.
- Use sales and coupons to extend my dollars. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING more gratifying than when the cashier tells you how much you saved.
- Evaluate the pantry and try to use everything available.
- Buy fresh, in-season produce. Summer in Florida means tons of that. LUCKY!
- Get the boys involved in food preparation. They can cook and bake and they don't hate it.
- DO NOT let my husband go to the grocery store. He's not into the challenge and he isn't good about grocery spending even on the best of days.
Throughout the next four weeks I'll post my weekly menu plan, my grocery spending amount and if I make up something that turns out good, I might even post a recipe. This first week includes a lot of things that are already in my pantry. That's part of the strategy - use it up. Here's the menu plan:
Breakfast
Cereal (we'll have that two mornings)
Homemade Chewy Granola Bars (using all items from my pantry)
Fresh Fruit Smoothies
Waffles
Muffins and Fruit
Pancake Sausage Sandwiches
Lunch
Chef Boy R Dee Ravioli (I had two great coupons and this was on sale at Publix so it was nearly free)
Sub Sandwiches
Chicken Quesadillas
Hot Dogs
Shredded Chicken Sandwiches
Left Overs
French Bread Pizzas
Supper
Slow Cooker Rotissierie Chicken
Slow Cooker BBQ Pork Ribs
Stuffed Peppers
Chicken Enchiladas
Slow Cooker Roast Beef
Grilled Pizza Puffs
Chicken & Broccoli Braid
I spent a total of $113.96 ($11.04 left over) for everything needed to make all of the meals above, and I'm certain that I can make some snacks along the way as well. I'll try to do that pretty much out of my pantry. Oh, and my total savings with sales and coupons was $38.21.
One other tip - I brought my 11 year old with me to the grocery. He's great with the calculator and had a lot of fun trying to help figure out if I was getting a deal. He'll definitely be my grocery partner throughout the challenge. Thanks AllYou Magazine for great motivation to make it happen. I normally spend twice that much or more each week on groceries because we have pretty much meal planned on the fly and shopped every day. I'm planning to use the money I'm saving to help pay down the credit card bills.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Welcome 2010!
I have a few simple wishes and goals for 2010. First, and definitely the most important of all is to relinquish control to God. I'm the kind of gal who likes to manage things myself and over the years I've come to believe that I can work through anything. 2009 taught me that I cannot manage EVERYTHING no matter how hard I work and no matter how determined I am. Next, I am going to make significant strides to get out of the red. 2009 didn't make that any better, but I have hope, and a plan, for 2010. And finally, I would like to make more of the moments I have. I will endeavor to show a little more love to my family and friends. I will endeavor to immerse myself in the things that make my heart happy. I will endeavor to share the Good News a little more often. I am a realist - I know that I'm still going to spend entirely too much time stressing over things that just don't matter when I could be smiling and laughing with my kids. But I hope to be able to catch myself and spend just a few more moments living fearlessly.
I'll get some pictures posted soon, and I am planning to post some information on a pretty fun game I put together for my middle school sunday school class. And I made so many Christmas gifts that I'd love to share. I'm about to get working on Valentine gifts as well, so over the next few days I hope to have a bit more to share.
I hope that you are looking forward to 2010 as much as I am and that you, too, will embrace the idea of living life fully and fearlessly.
Until next time...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
A Marine, A Smart-icle and Holiday Photo Shoot
DS #1 is now, proudly, a United States Marine. Congrats Pvt Cannon. We have enjoyed 10 days of 'boot leave' with our new Marine. Fun times. Check out this handsome fella
We cheered, cried and laughed and talked and had a wonderful time. Of course, in the true tradition of our family we had a little car trouble up on Parris Island. Nothing we couldn't resolve, but it did mean a little more time on the Island than we originally anticipated. Still, the entire experience was incredible. Ooo Rah! The Marines are amazing and my heart swells with pride just thinking about all of the boys and their amazing families. These young men are strong, confident and determined. Their families are proud and honored to have them serve. It is like nothing else.
Not to be out done, DS #3 had an honor roll assembly this week as well, where he was honored for having straight A's. He is our smart-icle boy. We are equally proud of his accomplishments. Check out this little cute-y.
We had fun with him, and of course all of his friends and their parents. We've come to really enjoy time with these kids and their Moms and Dads.
But that's not all. This weekend, because it will be quite some time before we see DS #1 again, we decided to take some family pictures. Well, I decided to take some family pictures and everyone went along. Everyone DID NOT go along happily. There were angry words, tears and one storming off episode. That would be the slightly imperfect part. But in the end we have some nice pictures to use for Christmas.
We have some very nice parks near our home. We tried a couple of them and made one trip home to change shirts. One of the really great things about living in sunny South Florida is that you will almost always have good weather for outdoor events like photo shoots. Although I'm not much of a photographer, the kids made up for it with their adorable smiles and beautiful faces. Even though the whole thing was slightly imperfect, looking at this picture makes me smile.
I managed to get a little paper crafting in this morning, too. I haven't made a scrapbook page in ages, so it took a long time. I wasn't comfortable at all with the color combination or the other elements of the page, but it was very gratifying to make a page. I'm hoping it will help me ' get going' and make more. I've got lots of plans for Christmas that include paper, and plenty of pictures that need my attention so I was glad to get something done.
As you can see, I work in a very small space and I'm not particularly tidy. I don't care. I love to have all of my little bits of paper. I love that my stuff sits out waiting for me in a happy little corner of my bedroom. I love that if I want to work on something it's all right there. I used to have to put everything away. No more. Now, I'm off to get ready for an early Thanksgiving with the family. We'll be celebrating on Sunday because DS #1 leaves Monday morning.
Here's hoping that your weekend is filled with laughter and fun and the love of family. Even if it includes some yelling, tears and one stomping off episode. In the end, you'll only remember the important parts and everything that was slightly imperfect will be forgotten.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Eagle Globe and Anchor
This morning at about 7am our DS#1 completed The Crucible and is now a Marine - or at least we pray that is what has happened. We will know some time during this coming week. I am so proud of him and so anxious to see him. He will have only 10 days liberty so we'll have to take advantage of every second. Please, if you are so moved, keep everyone in our Armed Services in your thoughts and prayers. These are brave men and women who sacrifice much for our country and the things we take for granted. They are sons and daughters, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, friends and patriots.
I'm off for now. There is a JUGS challenge that looks quite intriguing I have just enough time before DS#4's baseball game. Besides, I need a thank you card. Bye.