How I Choose My Menu

When talking about couponing a lot of people naturally ask if we eat the cheapest stuff I can find each week.  The answer to that is yes and no.  Yes I look for deals, but no I don't always go with the cheapest items on sale for that week.  Like most people I try to make sure my family eats a well balanced diet like Michelle Obama's new Food Plate...

A lot of times I find some really good deals on junk food.  Even though the junk food is really close to free, I rarely purchase it because I know I'll be paying for it in medical bills later.  I've found that my kids stay healthier when they are well fed with their fruits and vegetables.  Okay, I didn't mean to get off on that tangent, but it sure did came out didn't it?



When choosing my menu for the week this is what I do...

{Please don't judge me on my dirty pantry.  It needs some TLC.}

• First, I do pantry, freezer, and fridge check.  I take note of what items I have that need to used and/or can be used for the next week's menu.  I have a gigantic binder of recipes that I sometimes reference if I can't think of anything to make with what I have.
• Next, I check the local sale ads for what's on sale.  If there are lots of fresh vegetables on sale, you can bet our meals are full of veggies...casseroles, grilled veggies, roasted, etc.
• My final step for completing my menu is a little more difficult.  Since I'm familiar with what prices are for the groceries I typically buy, I begin to piece together meals that fit within my weekly grocery budget.  For example, if there's a new recipe I want to try and I don't have any of the ingredients, then I have to see if I have it in my budget to make it for that week.  Sometimes I have to do a little internet searching for recipes until I find what will fit within my budgets and standards of what I would normally feed my family.

All this does take a bit of time, but like anything you get faster and faster.  It takes me about 10 minutes to make my weekly menu now, and it reaps great benefits.  For one, I already know what we will eat each night so there's no last minute fast food pick ups that compromise what we like to feed our kids.  Don't get me wrong, my kids have had McDonald's.  However, we try to make those outings as treats instead of the norm.

If you are not a menu planner, I really encourage you to try it out.  You'll save yourself a lot of frustration and money.  Doesn't that sound appealing?

Now, for all you seasoned menu makers.  What's your secret?  Anything I'm missing that you could help me with?

Another Randomness Post

It's late and I have not one brain cell left from this day.  It was a good day, but busy.  Lots of items got checked off the to do list, and a nap happened thus you get a Randomness post.  As Little Man likes to say, "Sorry 'bout it."  Here it goes...

• Even though I took a 2 hour nap, I'm still tired.
• It's almost 10 pm and I failed to make the pizza dough for tomorrow night's meal.
• Nevermind.  I just did it.  It was grating on my nerves.
• If you haven't tried Mel's Kitchen Cafe's Sweet & Sour Chicken, it's a must.  Perfect doesn't even describe that Chinese dish.
• I think I'm getting fatter.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the 3/4 cups sugar the sweet and sour sauce contained.
• At least I'm telling myself that.
• Obviously I don't learn from past lessons.  A few weeks back I purchased an old sewing table for $15 to turn into a side table.  I thought I'd knock that project out in 2 weeks. 
• Have I even started on my sewing table project?  Noooooooo.
• Steven is sitting across from me at the table preparing for his training tomorrow.  He doesn't have a shirt on.  He's just plain hot.  Firguratively, not literally.  He actually looks cold.  I can see it on his nipples.
• Those naps I've been taking are really cutting into my time to get stuff done.
• The pool is also cutting into my time to get stuff done.
• Let's be honest...If something more fun than house cleaning comes up, I'm gonna do it.  My house is a pit right now.
• Even though the Sweet & Sour Chicken was superb, my house now smells like fried foods.  I hate that.  Not even Scentsy is knocking out that funk.
• My best pal, Jackie, got me Scentsy for Christmas.  I love that girl.
• Steven just popped up to go to bed, so I'm headed there too.
• Hopefully you'll get something intelligible from tomorrow's post.  Ya' know, somethin' ya' can learn from.
• Get real.  It's just me.  You only stop by here to feel better about yourself.  I can read your minds through the computer.  The thoughts say, "At least I'm not as crazy as Amanda."  It's okay.  I understand.  The voices in my head say the same thing.

I'm Gonna Find Out: A Lesson About the Tooth Fairy

Last Friday I was teaching a Coupon Class (with a great bunch of ladies) when some moms started talking about the tooth fairy.  It reminded me of this story from my last year of teaching. It's funny and mean and conniving and well deserved.  Enjoy.

My last year of teaching before staying home was a doozy.  My class was full of fun-loving stinkers.  Precious but ornery.  I loved teaching all seven years, but the last one was challenging to meet all the emotional/behavioral/educational needs of the students.  This has little to do with the story except the stinker of all stinkers is involved in this story.  I still can't believe I did this, but Stinker Stinker Pants had it coming...

8:40 am My Classroom

Mrs. Torres, Mrs. Torres (seeing I'm ignoring him because I'm helping someone else with questions from homework)  Mrs. Tooooooorrrrressss.

Sweet heart, hold on one minute.  You are interrupting.

But this is waaaaay more important.  I lost a tooth.

Go ahead and go down to the nurse and she will give you a tooth holder.

(Stinker Stinker Pants leaves to the nurse's office and returns a few minutes later).

Okay, Mrs. Torres.  Can I tell you now since you wouldn't listen to me earlier?

Yes, you may.  However, I will not listen when you are interrupting.  You have to wait patiently for your turn to speak.  We've talked about this.

I know, but it was an emergency!  Losing my tooth is an emergency. Anyway.  I'm going to find out if the Tooth Fairy is real or not.

(This part was my absolute favorite.  Stinker Stinker Pants was one of the cool kids who sometimes had issues with bullying.  The other kids were tuning in because it's pretty unusual for a 10 year old to still believe in the Tooth Fairy)

You are?  How are you going to do that?

I lost my tooth on the way to school this morning so my mom doesn't know about it.  I'm not going to tell anyone, except you.  Then if I wake up in the morning and there's money, I'll know the Tooth Fairy is real.

Wow, Stinker Stinker Pants.  That's a really good plan.  You'll have to let me know how that works out.

I will!

THE NEXT DAY...

Good morning, Stinker Stinker Pants, what did you find out about the Tooth Fairy?  Real or not?

Oh totally real!  I had five bucks under my pillow this morning.

Good to know!

END OF CONVERSATION...

I bet you're wondering how his mom found out.  Well, that's where I come in as Queen Stinker Pants.  I emailed his mom about his intricate plan.  I know, it's awful, but did I mention what a little stinker he was in class?  He had it coming.  I'm wondering when he'll figure out I pulled a fast one on him. I doubt in 7th grade, he still believes, but who knows?  He could have had another ornery teacher like me.

I would like to say that no matter how stinker-ish my students were, I loved them no less than my own children now.  Kids are kids and some have a few more battles than others. It's just fun to be able to play with them once in a while.

Menu Monday

I cannot believe this is the last week of June.  The older I get the faster time flies by me.  My babies aren't so much babies anymore and my 6 pack abs, well, those were two kids ago.  Man, that was the good life.  Walking around with a great set of abs.  Now I do my SIL's trick of pulling my pants over my belly roll when I sit down, and pretend there wasn't anything hanging over to begin with.  I bet you weren't expected to get all that when you directed yourself over here today.  Honestly, I can't believe I just divulged that information so freely and within the first paragraph.  Oh well.  It's just you and I'm just me.

This week's menu has one of the items I posted last week that I wanted to try.  A few comments left by some lovely readers attested to its yumminess (yes, I just made that word up), so we will be having here at the Casa de Torres.  I hope you all have a great week full of sweating to death since it's gonna be a doozy of a week here in our area!

Monday-Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole, Fresh Green Beans, Italian Bread
Tuesday-BBQ Meatballs, Corn Casserole, Peas
Wednesday-Pizza (using this dough and sauce) and Salad
Thursday-Killer Club Sandwiches and Homemade Sweet Potato Fries
Friday-Hamburgers/Hot Dogs and Corn on the Cob
Saturday-Sweet and Sour Chicken, Brown Rice, and Broiled Peppers and Onions
Sunday-Dinner at my mama's

The Last One

I promise this is the last vacation photo.  Finally I've reached the point of acceptance.  Acceptance that I am back to my everday life, but this last photo does my heart a world of good.  All I know is my husband loves his children so deeply.  Little Man is definitely his mini me, and Little Miss has him wrapped around her little finger.  Every time she asked him to go for a walk, he would spring up from his relaxing beach chair to take her.  Precious.  Truly precious.

I wish everyone moments like these.  Happy Friday!

Recipes I Want to Try

I have this ongoing list in my head of food I want to try.  Since I'm such a thoughtful gal, I put the list together for you.  If you try one please let me know your thoughts on the dish.

Spicy Pasta Salad

{via Pioneer Woman}

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

{via Pioneer Woman}

Sweet & Sour Chicken

{via Mel's Kitchen Cafe}

Spaghetti Squash

(sorry no photo or recipe...directions straight from a friend)

So apparently I don't have a long list.  Whew!  It feels good to get things down on paper--er--the web.  It made me realize  my 'To Cook' list really isn't lenghtly at all.  It's doable, man.  Totally doable!

Doing a Vacation on a Budget

Never, ever did I think we would take a vacation once I stayed home, but we did.  We took the most amazing vacation.  What can I say?  I'm blessed. 

About a year ago, Steven and I started looking into taking a vacation just the two of us.  The longer we searched we both felt like we would be missing out if we left the kids at home.  Our main goal right now is raising our kids and building a strong family.  Even though a solo trip would have been nice, it just didn't fit our goals.  I'm so glad we made the decision to take the little munchins because they are the ones who made the trip.  Seeing them learn about a new part of the world through all new experiences was simply awesome.  We loved every minute of watching them.

Getting back on track, here's how we saved...

Our Lodging:
We knew we wanted to beach it for the week so once we found a perfect little condo on the beach we took it.  The price was just right at $1350 for the entire week, and my mom and her husband asked if they could join us.  Uh, YES PLEASE!  Who can turn down an extra set of hands and splitting the costs?  Not me!  Since we booked  early we received a discount that brought the condo down to $1050.  There were a few extra costs associated like tax, cleaning fee, and damage deposit (which we will get back), but that's it.  Not to mention the condo supplied all the necessary beach items...towels, umbrellas, chairs, toys, wakeboards, boogie boards, etc.  That saved us on renting or purchasing new.

{Little, but cozy}

Our Meals:
My mom and I  both like to cook so we got together and made a menu for the entire week.  We pulled together what we already had and took most of our own groceries instead of purchasing once we arrived. I'm glad we did, because like we suspected, the grocery prices were outrageous.  We only ate out 3 times.  Mainly because we stayed on the beach all day and didn't leave time to clean up and go into town for dinner.  This saved us also.  The restaurants aren't exactly inexpensive.  One meal of burgers and fries was $60.  Not what I'm used to paying.  We even had 3 ice cream cones that cost $24.  Worth the experience, but I had to resist asking if they had any available coupons ;)

Our Entertainment:
Did I mention we were on the beach?  I realize some people can't do the beach thing all day every day, and my husband is one of them so we rented bikes for 2 full days.  This proved to be the smartest thing we ever did.  We had a blast, got in some much needed exercise, and saw many gated communities that we couldn't just drive through.  It was nice to see how the millionaires live!

{Me, Little Man, Steven, Little Miss, and Michael checking out a new beach after a ride}

 {The coolest little wooden plank riding area.  It was like going on a roller coaster. 

Well at least on the way down.  The way up was a bit more challenging}

Our Travels: 
Brace yourself, folks...we drove!  Yes, we drove the full 15 hours, and it wasn't bad at all.  We broke the trip down to two days down and back.  The kids were mini rock stars during the drive.  Our only stops were for gas and food.  No extra pee stops...except once.  Flying all four of us down to FL would have cost us a little over $2000, plus a rental once we arrived.  Our fuel and hotel (for two nights) cost for driving was only $500. 

 {Now that's some good car sleeping}

{Little Man a little tired}

That's it.  I don't have any other secrets or tips.  Most of the stuff is common knowledge, but it's nice to know you can still take a family of four on vacation for under 2 G's (another Steven-ism...it means 2 grand or $2,000).