Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Meal Planning


Another way we save money is to meal plan. This doesn't happen every week and there is not perfect way to do it. However, meal planning gives you a guide to follow throughout the week so you can hopefully avoid that last minute stop at the fast food restaurant!

There are several ways to do meal planning. Like I said there is no right or wrong way to do it. I personally just plan 1 meal a day for everyday of the week. Most time there is enough for leftovers, sometimes not. Either way at least having that one meal a day planned makes it easier for us.

Check out the post from Mom's Plan over HERE. She gives several different examples on how to meal plan and different idea's on how to do it.

A few of the subjects she touches on are
  1. Assign a Meal to a Day of the Week
  2. Make a Menu Plan Once a Month
  3. Choose Your Menu Plan Based on What Is on Sale
  4. Choose Your Menu Plan Based on What You Have in the Pantry
We have tried several of these. We find the one that works best for us is to choose our menu based on what is on sale. We have also occasionally done plans where we eat only out of our pantry for a week as well.

Making a menu plan for the month was one we tried and did not like. We only had to go to the grocery store once which was amazing! However, it was much harder to incorporate fresh foods and was something we were thrilled doing. We actually ended up spending more money on those months because we were trying to anticipate the little things that come up.

Do you menu plan? Which method do you use?
picture source

Monday, May 30, 2011

DIY Bubbles, Wands, and Blowers with Pie Birds, Buttons and Muddy Puddles

One of the blogs that I follow is guest posting today at HomeSpun Threads on how to make your own bubbles, wands and blowers as part of HomeSpun Threads' Summer Soiree.

There are a lot of other great ideas on how to have fun in the sun this summer with your little ones. This is so easy to do, and a very cost effective way to have fun with the little ones in the summers. She has a step by step instruction and picture's with each step! So go check it out! :)

What do you do in the summer to have fun with the kids AND save money while doing it?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Healthy SNACK * Protein PACKED

Unfortunately, I cannot take any credit for this amazing snack. I am doing my "simple" tone it up diet, and have been having troubles finding an afternoon snack. Mostly because I'm not a veggies person. I'm not suppose to have starch so this does go a little off of that, but I figured 1 TBL can't hurt anything!

Now, I'm not going to post the actual recipe, but this is where to find this amazing protein muffin.

I did make a FEW minor adjustments. I did use the applesauce instead of the pumpkin, because lets face it, there is no way I keep that stuff on hand. I also ended up using 1 TBL of mini chocolate chips because I didn't have the cocoa powder on hand. You could honestly get away with only 1 TSP if you aren't a huge chocolate person. Although, who isn't??

Anyway, this was seriously food-gasmic (borrowed this amazing word from fitnessista.com) mostly because it totally works here.

I did of course top it. There are a ton of different ways to top it. I chose almond butter because I LOVE it! You could also use agave syrup or pure maple syrup. I used a full serving of almond butter, but again you could probably get away with only 1 TBL to lower the calories. (which I will be doing next time for sure)

Without further ado, here is the picture. Mind you I made this in a cereal bowl and then put it on a plate. This was HUGE! Much bigger then I was expecting. PLUS very filling. I could have honestly been fine with only eating half. I even shared some with Madisyn and you all know how I like to share food ;)
Not the best picture, but DEEELISH! :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Been too long!

Have you ever been speechless? I have! I always want to do such great blog posts that I can't seem to find that perfect one! Therefore letting days go between posts! Not anymore! Why you ask? Well, I'm hoping that some of you who read this will comment on some different things that interest you! That's right, tell me what you want to hear about. I am going to give away a zipper pouch from thirty-one gifts if I have at least 10 people respond! All your names will go into the drawing.

If you are at all interested in hosting a party or order let me know! Anyone who orders that mentions this post in the next 30 days will receive a FREE gift from me! It will be a 31 gifts item valued between $12-$50.

www.mythirtyone.com/32467