Meal Plan Week 4

I'm on week 4 and I am still going strong with my meal plans and sticking to them! 

A few things I have noticed since starting this. We tend to have less garbage at the end of the week (or beginning. Garbage day is Tuesday.) I'm not really sure why. The only thing I can come up with is that there is no fast food garbage any more (or very little) and well that takes up space! Also I am doing loads more dishes. This stinks but I know its for the best, so I'm sucking it up!

In the past I have gotten a subscription to E-meals and we have loved the recipes we have actually made. I don't think I have made a bad one. I'm seriously contemplating doing this again. Along with cooking and baking at home, I find that I am gaining weight. Boo!! I don't know if its because I feel the need to have lots of stuff on the table every night instead of a main meal and veggie or fruit. So I was looking at the low carb meal plan. I also think my kids might eat better if it wasn't casseroles and meat smothered in sauce.

Now my only concern with doing this, is that it's all new recipes. I love new recipes, but sometimes (okay, most of the time) it's easier to just put together something that you already know how to do. So I fear that I will get away from making the meals and resort to fast food again!

On the plus side the menu plan is prepped for as well as the grocery list. So that part is a breeze and if I choose a store in town (walmart) the plan the weeks meals around sales at that store. So win win on the spend less resolution!

If you are thinking about trying e-meals too click here for my referral link.

But for now, here is my meal plan for this week.

Meal Plan Week 3

A day late, but it's getting posted, so that is a win! We had company in town this past weekend so the meals on Saturday and Sunday were a little mixed around. I was still able to stick to schedule pretty well though! I really am loving having a plan for supper everyday. It's also helping with my spend less, save more resolution. Much less eating out and wasted food. Bonus I have awesome food for lunches with having left overs!

My kids on the other hand are not probably liking this as much as I am. They are all huge supporters of fast food and choosing what they get to eat. Having to sit at the table and be told this is supper, if you don't eat it you don't get a snack before bed, has been a harsh reality for them. I have been doing amazing at holding my ground against the whining though!

Here is this weeks menu. I decided I better put pizza for one night. I think my kids were going through withdrawal. I'm surprised Papa Johns hasn't called to make sure our family is okay since we haven't ordered in weeks!

Meal Plan Week 2

The first week of 2017 is over and I am happy to report that I kept up with my meal plan everyday except one. I ended up not making Saturday's meal, but it was only because we were invited to a dear friends house for supper.

Here is this weeks meal plan. We are trying one new meal I found on pinterest and I let Belle choose a new dessert to make. She wanted cake, but I talked her into cupcakes. We still have cake left over from her kitty party. More on that to come this week!

I was able to purchase all the additional groceries I needed last week when all three were in school, so that was a win! And I think I only threw a few additional items in the cart!

On a side note, I have been to Target 2 times this last week and I have walked past the dollar section both times with nothing added to my cart! That really is no easy task! Especially when they are putting out all the cute valentines things!! I love to decorate for the holidays!

Wish me luck on a second week of meals!

New Year, New Things to Attempt

A new year is upon us, a clean slate! Today is the day for resolutions right. I make some every year and some I stick to halfheartedly and others are abandoned within days/weeks of the new year. I won't say that this year will be different and I will stick with them for the full year, but it's worth a shot right!  All I can do is try!

One of my biggest resolutions this year is having a plan for meals. I have been terrible about cooking the last few months (full year maybe). Because of this my kids have survived on Mac and Cheese, PB&J sandwiches and whatever is found in the fridge that evening. There's been an occasional meal maybe once a week, twice if we're lucky. But this year I plan to change that. I plan to write up a weekly meal plan. I ordered a Meal Planner notepad from Shutterfly. I got it when it was one of their sales and for $7, hopefully the cuteness can keep me on track! With a plan I feel it will be easier to actually produce a meal for the table. And grocery shopping once a week. For this week I ordered the groceries online. It's cold here and the kids are all home for Christmas break and it was by far easier. I struggle every time doing this. There is always something I need that I can't find in the online catalog of food and once it arrives it seems I am always disappointed in something that came. I'm picky about fruit and meat and just need to pick it out myself! But alas for this week it was for the best and we will make due!

I also want to start cooking more because I have a cupboard (and some counter space) full of cookbooks and printed out recipes. These either need to start getting used or need to go away. So we will be trying some new recipes this year. Hopefully 1 a week. This week I stuck with tried and true recipes (except for the dessert the first day. I hope to make 1 dessert a week. I LOVE to bake! So this one is new.), we'll branch out more next week! I hope to post my meal plan here every week in hopes that it will keep me on track and I will be held to it! If you have any excellent recipes your family loves please share them!

That leads me to my next resolution. CLEAN out this house. We just have too much stuff here and I've decided it makes me crabby. I'm much happier when I can see the floor and the counter. So I hope to go through every closet and corner in this house over the course of the year and purge. Some things will be saved for a garage sale in the spring, some will be thrown and the rest will be donated! I really can't wait!

Along with the less clutter resolution is the spend less, save more! Now you may wonder what that has to do with less clutter, but let me tell you that Target dollar spot sucks me in every time and although I have gotten some very useful items there, most of the time it is stuff that we don't need and it just adds to the junk!

So here's to an amazing, clean and delicious new year!

Resolutions

2015...Already?!? How can this be. With the start of the new year, it always makes me think of a clean slate. Which then makes me think about cleaning/organizing. Which is something I really need to get a handle on at our house. The stuff is starting to take over and some of it I couldn't even tell you was here. Lets face it, it's probably closer to half! I'm pretty sure there are still a couple boxes that are unpacked from when we moved in 3 years ago.

So resolution #1: Organize more this year. I know, I know, super cliche right. 

Well then you will LOVE me when I tell that resolution #2 for me is start exercising. Something, anything to get my body moving a little more each day. My plan is to start going back to the gym (sadly it's been like 2 years) and start running again. And if you're not thrilled with my resolutions so far, just think of the poor people at the gym. The ones that have been working out all year and now have to deal with the influx of people just like me that make a resolution to start working out.

Resolution #3 and the one that I hope to work on the most this year. Stop yelling so much. My kids can be a handful and daily it gets the better of me and I end up yelling. I don't want to be remembered as "the yeller!" So far I have done pretty good with this. Which is amazing due to the fact that I have all 3 kids home during Christmas break and it is FREEZING outside!

#4, not a resolution, but something I want to continue is my Project 365. I plan to do a digital one this year, so we will see how that goes. I do love the feel of actually scrapbooking paper, so the digital version may be difficult for me at first.

In light of #1, I am starting in my closet. This is a long overdue project and one that I have been wanting to deal with for a while. I have way to many clothes that I don't wear, yet I can't seem to get rid of, because I might wear it. Sound familiar? I know I'm not the only one. 

We have a very large closet in our bedroom and so I was able to move all of my clothes away from the spot I typically keep them. Once an item gets washed and worn, it will move back to the spot where I keep them. I'm starting with 3 months and I am going to see where that gets me, I may give it 6. Hopefully after that time I will be able to clean out all that I don't wear. *Exception: It is cold and winter here now, so any tank tops and capris/shorts are exempt from my initial purge and will face the  same wrath in the summer months!

This is where my clothes will go once worn!

 

And as you can see, I have ROYGBIVed my closet! I highly recommend it to everyone! I find I spend far less time looking for clothes in the morning when I can just go straight to that color. Before the one thing I was looking for always seemed to get lost, sandwiched between two other items of completely different color, so I would skip right past it. 

Wish me luck on my resolutions!