Menu Plan Monday 10/28

Chili with Corn Bread
Pasta
Chicken and Potato Casserole or Chicken and Rice Casserole
Fried Rice and Egg Rolls
Leftovers
Breakfast for Dinner
Chicken Fries, Chicken Wraps and french fries

Totally didn't even post the menu plan last week but I had a little bit of a plan but it was a busy week with book fair at school.  I was excited to have dinner on the table every night.  Monday was Cheese Ravioli with Sausage Sauce.  Tuesday was leftovers...not really sure what I created from them or what I added.  We had Tacos and white rice on Wednesday.  Thursday was Fried Rice for my husband, Nachos for me and Chicken Fries and bananas for my son before Trick or Treating.  People were worried about the weather so we were going to start early but the weather held out so we got to have a meal first.  Friday was Pizza Hut after the busiest week and I was so excited to get it and not have to cook.  Saturday was Spaghetti with leftover sausage sauce and garlic bread. Sunday we had Chicken Fries, Chicken Wraps and homemade fries. 

This week we are going for an easy week and I made sure to take a quick inventory of the things in the fridge and the freezer to plan the rest of the month.  I cooked up and packaged up some ground beef that we just bought and made a big batch of chili and froze the cooked ground beef for Philly Cheese Steak Pasta.  I think that I have most of the things that we need to have for the rest of the months meal plan.  I am going to do my best to clear out the freezer with the use of the turkey and all of the chicken and ground beef.  I have a ton of chicken broth in the freezer so I know that I will have that too but I hope to defrost the freezer at the end of the month of the beginning of next month.  Hopefully I can put the ingredients to the best use and make sure that I use enough to defrost finally!!

The Christmas Key Book Review

I picked up this book at the library because it had a great cover and I have never read the author or the series before but I was interested.  The Christmas Key: A Twilight, Texas Novel by Lori Wilde was part of a series and this showed as the new release so I figured that I would get to read some new books if I liked this Christmas story.

There’s a legend in Twilight, Texas. If you sleep with a kismet cookie under your pillow on Christmas Eve, you will dream of your one true love. She saw him in her dreams . . .It’s impossible! Naomi Luther was standing face-to-face with the man she’d dreamed about over a year ago. Was it the magic of kismet Christmas cookies that brought him to her? Or is there an even greater force at work? All Naomi knows is she is falling, hard and fast, for the one man all good sense says she should not have.

She was his buddy’s sister . . .Rebellious Mark Shepherd found order in the Marines but chaos on the battlefield. In a mission gone wrong, Mark is injured and one of his fellow soldiers loses his life. Haunted by guilt, he arrives in Twilight to keep a solemn promise. But when the Luthers mistake him for their handyman, he’s swept up in playing Santa to his buddy’s orphan son . . . and falling hard for Naomi’s irresistible bright spirit and sweet, sexy smile. But what will happen when she learns the truth?

I picked this book up and had trouble putting it down.  Naomi Luther is the daughter of a pastor and the sister of a solider.  Naomi makes cookies for the local charity fundraiser, works on every volunteer opportunity and is raising her brothers child after he died in battle.  She is an amazing women who puts all others ahead of herself to make sure that they have the best life that they can.  She works hard to be a member of her small community of Twilight and be the best for everyone else.  Mark Shepherd comes into the small town because he was sent by her brother to deliver a Christmas key but he is quickly assigned as the handyman of the church.  Mark gets involved in the family and the town and ends up being Santa for all the kids of this small town.  Naomi grows close to Mark before learning the truth of why he is really there and who he really is.  Find out what happens if she finds out the truth.  It was a great story and a quick read.  I hope that you check it out and like it as much as I did!!  I will be looking for more in this series for sure!

Menu Plan Monday 10/21

Sausage Lasagna and Spaghetti
Chicken Paninis and Turkey and Rice Soup
Mini Tacos, Taquitos, and rice
Philly Cheese Steak Pasta
Fried Rice and Egg Rolls
Breakfast for Dinner
Chicken Fries, Chicken Wraps and french fries

I feel like every week has been busier and busier but this week is actually a slower week.  I made two lasagnas last week so we had one for dinner and one went into the freezer because of a sale on canned tomatoes.  I started taking an inventory of the pantry last week and cleaned out the upstairs freezer this week to get more of a handle on the things that haven't gotten used.  I defrosted some turkey to make turkey and rice soup and pumpkin to make pumpkin bread.  I took all the bread bits and cut them up and toasted them in the oven to make bread crumbs and stuffing.  I made rolls and bread to have some of our basics.  It is like jam packing everything into a week because you have time to do it.  I also bought some berries to make Strudel Topped Muffins this week.  The best thing is that the weather finally got colder so it isn't horrible to turn on the oven because we haven't turned on the heat in the house yet.  Lots more baking going on in the coming weeks and hopefully cleaning out the freezer more.

Middle of the Month October Budget Update

I work to maintain $160 monthly budget with using sales, coupons and deals to get as much as I can as low priced as I can.  I make as much of our food as I can from scratch and use the items from the pantry and freezer to stretch the budget as far as possible.  Making our own bread, rolls and baked goods means that I am not running out of things and going to the store to get one thing that means that I get more then we need.  We also work to maintain a budget of $40 for eating out.  The total for both is $200.

The trips to the store are detailed below with the amounts and break downs with a picture of everything that I got.  The bottom has the total retail and the total savings with the total out of pocket spent so far this month.  Check out how I did against my monthly budget and what I got for that amount.

Harris Teeter $8.10

The rice was free and the chicken ended up free because it rang up wrong.  The pasta was $0.25 per box. The Children's Motrin was $2.99 each which is a huge discount off the $7.99 shelf price.  The salsa was $1 and there was a Ibotta rebate for $0.50 back. I got back $1.10 in rebates.

Harris Teeter $10.97

I got the same thing from the last trip which is free rice, $0.25 pasta, $1 pace salsa and $2.99 Children's Motrin.  I also grabbed peas because they are on sale for $1.25 and we were out and only had frozen corn left.  I like peas in my fried rice.  YUM!

Harris Teeter $1.04

I just got one salsa for $1.

Harris Teeter $9.63

 I got $0.25 pasta, $1 pace, and $2.99 Children's Motrin and put in the Ibotta rebate for $1.10 for the pace and any item.

Target $1.52

I got a gift card from Swagbucks and went to the store to use it up and the new Target cartwheel replacement didn't work right.  I was hoping for very little out of pocket after coupons.  I went to customer service to get a little bit back that didn't come off but they gave me a $5 gift card instead of cash back that would have come off this total.  Way more money so it will work out later.

Aldi $9.19

I went to the store to get a few things that we were out of before vacation so we didn't need too much.

Harris Teeter $15.42

I went to the store to get some lettuce and my free Taste and Tell ice cream. I saw the evic specials with the tomatoes for $0.37 and the sugar for $0.97.  With all the tomatoes, I decided to grab sausage to make lasagna which was on sale for $2.50 each.  I got the limit on both but the tomatoes didn't ring up correctly so I got it fixed at customer service and my Taste and Tell didn't come off either.

Aldi $32.01

After vacation trip to the store to get lots of things that we were low on or out of.  I wasn't planning on chicken but I figured that I would grab it to cut and add to the freezer.

 Total Retail $244.28

 Total Savings $156.40

Total OOP $87.88

Eating Out

We got Pizza Hut take out and went out at Cracker Barrel while on vacation but my parents paid for it because I made all the dinners in the room and packed lunch and snacks.  When we got home, we bought Chinese food for all of us to have for dinner for $40.12.  We got take out pizza after a soccer game but I used points to get it for free.  We only went over budget by $0.12 so I would call that a win.

Good Ones Book Review

I went through the library new release shelves and found this book.  The Good Ones (Happily Ever After) by Jenn McKinlay was on the display.  I wasn't sure where it was in the series but I decided to check it out anyway.  The amazing thing is that it is the first book in the series and the second book isn't released yet.  I guess I am ready to start my Christmas book reading since the weather is getting a little cold outside. 

A romance bookstore owner finds her own happily ever after with a single dad in a new romance series from the New York Times bestselling author of Every Dog Has His Day.

Ryder Copeland is an accomplished architect and one heck of a father...not to mention tall and sexy. He's everything a hero should be, and Lord knows, Maisy Kelly has read enough of her great-aunt Eloise's romance novels to recognize one when she sees one. But like all fairy tales, Maisy can't help but wonder if this Prince Charming is too good to be true...

Ryder is drawn to the shy, curly haired professor who hires him to convert the Victorian house she's inherited from her aunt into a romance bookstore. Attracted to a woman for the first time since his divorce, Ryder finds himself wishing for a future with Maisy that he knows is impossible. Ryder has never wavered from his plan to leave the small town of Fairdale, North Carolina, so he can give his daughter the life she deserves. But suddenly he's not so sure. And the closer he gets to Maisy, the harder it's going to be to walk away...

Ryder is living as a single father and trying to make the best life for his daughter.  He is working his last job as an architect in the small town before getting another job to pay his daughters way through private school.  Maisy is an college professor who left after a failed relationship with another professor who turned out to be married.  Maisy was living in her aunt's house and deciding to renovate and turn it into a romance bookstore.  She hires Ryder to do the job and build her a turret that was in the original plan of the house.  There is an immediate pull between the two and they are quickly in a relationship.  It is fun to watch the house get renovated and the relationship change at the same time.  Maisy is looking for a long term relationship but Ryder can't provide that because he is leaving.  There are some interesting twists and turns but you have to pick up the book and find out for yourself.  I am going to have to look for more from this author.  It was super entertaining and a quick read and I can't wait for the next book in the series!!

The Second Worst Restaurant in France Book Review

I saw this on the new release section at the library so I put it on reserve.  I wasn't sure if it was part of a series but I figured that I would enjoy checking it out.  This was an interesting and amusing story that turned out to be a series.  The Second-Worst Restaurant in France: A Paul Stuart Novel (2) (Paul Stuart Series) by Alexander McCall Smith was the second book in the series after the Italian Bulldozer.

In this delightful sequel to the best-selling comedic novel My Italian Bulldozer, Paul Stuart's travels take him to a French village, where the local restaurant's haute cuisine leaves a lot to be desired.  Renowned Scottish cookbook writer Paul Stuart is hard at work on his new book, The Philosophy of Food, but complicated domestic circumstances, and two clingy cats, are making that difficult.

So when Paul's eccentric cousin Chloe suggests that he join her at the house she's rented in the French countryside, he jumps at the chance. The two quickly befriend the locals, including their twin-sister landladies, who also own the infamous local restaurant known to be the second-worst eatery in all of France. During their stay, the restaurant's sole waitress gives birth mid-dinner service and the maître d' storms off after fighting with the head chef. Paul is soon drafted to improve the gastronomy of the village, while Chloe, ever on the hunt for her next romance, busies herself with distracting the handsome but incompetent chef. Could he be husband number six?

With all this local drama to deal with, Paul finds it next to impossible to focus on his writing, and that's before he learns that Chloe's past is far more complicated than he'd ever imagined. Paul will have to call upon al his experience—with food and with people—to bring order back to the village. And he may just learn something about family—and about himself—along the way.

 This amusing story was another travel book where Paul moves to a small French village with his cousin Chloe.  Chloe is an interesting character and she is getting Paul into the local culture and neighborhood.  Paul has come to avoid his ex-girlfriend and try to get his next book written before his deadline.  Chloe and Paul are really enjoying the small country town and Paul walks to the local bakery to get croissants in the morning so that they get to eat the treat warm for breakfast.  The landladies recommend the local restaurant but then quickly turn around and tell them that it is not really good.  Paul and Chloe go and the menu is super limited, the service is horrible and the food ends up making Paul sick.  It is a horrible place but they get in the middle of it to try to help turn the restaurant around.  As it happens in all the books, there are a few unexpected twists that I wasn't expecting but worth reading to find out what happens.  I hope that you check out this fun series and you laugh a little at the funny situations in the Second Worst Restaurant in France. 

Beyond Summer Book Review

I had this book on my shelf for me to read so I was excited to start it. Beyond Summer (Blue Sky Hill Series) by Lisa Wingate was the next book in my pile to read after I read all the books that I had from the library.  I hadn't read anything by this author but I thought that it sounded like something that I would be interested in based on the summary.

When eighteen-year-old Tam Lambert learns that her family’s upscale home is in foreclosure, the life she's known is forever changed. Tam and her family must move into a tiny house in a changing Dallas neighborhood called Blue Sky Hill...

New resident Shasta Reid-Williams knows nothing of real estate schemes when she and her husband purchase a home in Blue Sky Hill. To her it’s the perfect place to raise her children. Better yet is getting to know Tam, who lives right across the street. When neighbors realize that a corrupt deal could force them from their homes, friendships and loyalties are tested.

Over the span of one summer, two young women discover the strength and maturity to do the impossible. They find that even in Blue Sky Hill, life-altering relationships and amazing possibilities can begin to blossom...

I read this book a long time ago and didn't write a review because it didn't have to go back to the library so it sat on my side table until I took the time to get it done.  It was a little bit of a review because I wasn't even sure what the description summary of the book was about because there was so much more happening in the book.  Shasta and her husband buy a house in the neighborhood as their starter home when they should be living in an apartment because the real estate people make it seem like such a good deal.  She finds out after getting into the house that they are involved in a big scheme where the prices are quickly inflated and many people have been thrown out of their houses and lost everything because they can't afford the increase in the cost of the house.  The house ends up back with the developer so that they can do it again to another family.  Shasta becomes friends with her neighbor across the street, Tam.  Tam moves into the house because her father is part of the real estate scheme and other companies that are being raided and investigated by the FBI so they have all their assets frozen and have nothing left.  A friend of the family moves her into the house and leave them there to figure it out for themselves.  Tam's step mother can't deal with things and shuts down so Tam is left to raise and watch her half brothers and sisters.  The two grow closer and work with the local church to help teach English and feed the more poor people in the area.  It is interesting to see how the very different lives have ended up in the same place and how it makes them stronger.  I think that this was a great book and I am going to look into more by this author and in this series to see what it is all about.