Summer is almost here, and I absolutely love how renewed everything feels. The trees have new leaves. The little green lovelies in the garden are starting to get new shoots. There are baby birds and bunnies all over the place, and the closest farm now has calves roaming in the pasture. I love the edge of summer, and it is speaking to me metaphorically as far as our budgeting is concerned. We've had some dark moments through the winter, and we will be moving toward correcting them in the near future. We aren't perfect, by far, even though I write about money and budgets and the adoration of the Dave Ramsey. We have been slipping, and although I don't count any of my explanations as really valid (everyone can rationalize a solid excuse, right?), I think they're probably at least a little true.
Be is jobless, afterall, and unable to even seek employment currently because of the ridiculous unfortunate circumstances of his at work injury. There are far more complicated details than that which I'm prevented from talking about because of attorneys and judges and the like. I wish I could lay it all out there so others, if there are any, could know they aren't alone in the nonsense complicated process that is dealing with workman's comp disputes. This job prohibition, as I've mentioned before, coupled with my already irregular income makes for a budgeting nightmare. I can write the numbers down all I want to, but they don't really matter when the money doesn't show up when it's supposed to. There are great methods for budgeting irregular income out there, but we're in survival mode rather than a place where we can sock away a ton of savings to compensate for later shortfalls. Every minute is a darn shortfall, I swear.
When your money doesn't have a plan, it wanders off. When you don't make a plan for your money because you don't know when/if it's going to show up, it also makes a run at wandering off once you get it. It's all a big gross mess, and I cannot wait until the day we can go back to real (budgeted) life instead of this wandering craziness. That said, wacky inflow/outflow is not a solid reason for not being super cautious about spending. We have not been super cautious this month, or the month before that to be honest. I feel pretty awful about it this moment, and I'm trying to embrace the 'lessons learned' philosophy and let go of the guilt I'm carrying around for not paying better attention for the both of us.
And now, the numbers ...
EFund: $924.00 (See, I told you we'd have to use it eventually.)
Dream Savings: $0 (At least I used this first ...)
Jeep: $0 PAID OFF! YAY!
GP: $3742.14
C1: $236.02 (It's going back down at least ...)
AV: $0 PAID OFF! YAY!
VSA: $112.92 (Ah, the curse of minimum payments ... back in the snowball it goes.)
Welcome back, Menu Plan Monday. We had a menu last week, but I never got around to posting it. This week, I'm back at it and so are a bajillion others, which you can check out by visiting the Org. Junkie.
M: Dinner out for my brother's girlfriend's birthday
T: Grilled pork chops, sweet potato fries (hopefully with a tutorial later this week), and steamed carrots
W: Grill Night - hot dogs, garlic grilled potatoes, green salads
R: Breakfast for dinner - pancakes, eggs, and sausage patties
F: Crockpot whole garlic chicken,
S: Leftovers, "Survivor" Night (ie, find something on your own or starve)
Cut pasta with Meat Sauce x2 Pasta with Meatballs Fancy Mac & Cheese x2 Chicken Stir Fry Ham and Cheesy Potatoes Pork Chops x3 (this is the most popular meal we have, and the one of which the most still remains in the freezer) Corn Tacos x2 Grill Night x3 (Hamburgers x1, Hot dogs/Brats x2) Crockpot Whole Chicken Creamy Chicken Stew (from leftover whole chicken) Tip Steaks and Potatoes Broccoli Cheese Soup with Bacon Grilled Cheese Chicken Kabobs a la Med Pizza x2 Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage Sausage, Egg, and Potato Scrambles with Tortillas Baked Ham Steaks with Au Gratins x2 Oven Beef Loin Roast Sausage Dirty Rice Florentine x2 Leftover x2 (probably more, honestly, but we'll see ...)
Oh, Sundays, how I adore thee. I got up this morning and met a friend for church. We had an most amazing time. Then we hit up the local Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. I came home, checked on my pretty little garden friends, and read the newspaper. Mysteriously, my Meijer ad is missing, but having already seen the preview online, I'm none too worried. My brother's girlfriend and I watched a movie. I made some yummy spaghetti for dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and finished the dishes. That brings us to right now.
Ahhhhhhh, glorious Sunday.
The simple thing I love the most today is living life in the moment. So many times during the rest of the week, I'm distracted by 109 things other than what I'm supposed to be working on at that moment. I am guilty of the "Uh huh" in a conversation where someone would really prefer I be listening over pretending to. Most of my week is spent splitting my attention, never giving anything full strength, and being rushed around from one thing to the next. Sundays, by contrast, are "do what I want" days where I go at my own pace, getting done what I feel like getting done, and not feeling guilty about it. Letting go of that guilt for one day is the refreshment I need in a world where I'm not ready to make everyday into a "do what I want" extravaganza. I love my Sundays, my little breathers from the real world.
How about you? What simple treasure are you loving this Sunday? Feel free to comment and share!
1. This quick takes comes to you live from the university library where I am trapped before 8am on a Friday tabulating data for a research project. I do not like this library. I do not like tabulating data. I do not like 8am on Fridays. That's a lot of not liking in one paragraph. We are currently waiting for our third group member to arrive, and as the time ticks past her expected appearance time, I tend to get a little more irritated. Em does not like people who cannot read watches or plan in such a way as to not inconvenience others.
2. "Worry does not empty today of its sorry. It empties today of its strength." That's a Corrie Ten Boom quote, and a fabulous one at that. It came to me in an email, tucked away on a sidebar, not at all part of the primary message. It struck me the most though. I am a worrier, more so of late than usual. I get heartburn or pull a muscle in my chest, and I immediately start to get anxious about having a heart attack ... not so much in a hypochondriac way, but in an "I must evaluate and spend tons of conscious energy on every single possibility" way. I worry about our health, our money, the house, the tender little plants trying to take root in the garden, the economy, the environment, religion, relationships, burned bridges, potential opportunities, the pets, whether we'll end up with kids or not, if I'll have to walk to class in the rain again, zombie apocalypse, budgeting, aspartame, pesticide, GMOs, imperialism, skin cancer, world politics, my family, driving in the snow, and tetanus.
This is of course not an exhaustive list, but it is entirely exhausting. Corrie Ten Boom is absolutely correct, worrying zaps every bit of strength that could be better directed at accomplishing things, building relationships, loving people, and the like. I am trying to learn to give this anxiety away. Yea ... let's just say I need more practice.
3. I'm working on changing our diet around a little, hopefully to include the increasing availability of fresh produce and whole foods as the seasons allow. I'm trying to find a balance between sustainable practice (buying locally and in season) and increasing our regular intake of fresh whole foods. I do not know how to strike this balance when it isn't summer, so any of your suggestions (from those who hail from states covered in snow for what feels like 11 out of 12 months a year) would be greatly appreciated.
4. I am exhausted. I am not entirely positive why. I've been sleeping a solid amount, more than usual in most cases even though I've been getting up earlier. I start strong, but within a few hours I'm ready for a nap and by late afternoon I don't want to even think about moving. It's an all encompassing exhaustion ... don't even want to think about holding my head up anymore tired. I'm eating enough calories/protein. I'm sleeping ok. I've even been getting more exercise between walking and playing Farmer Em (which should increase my energy), and yet ... still completely zapped. Ick.
5. As promised, I must include another reference about hockey. The Adored Red Wings have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The first game is tomorrow, and the coverage should be on your local NBC affiliate. Really, you should be watching ... and rooting for the Wings lest you be drug into town square for tar and feathering. I suppose you could support the Penguins ... but ... eh ... I don't know if Pennsylvanians even do that. I kid, of course ... but not really.
6. I'm currently reading a biography of Maria Montessori (not the one linked, an actual book). Ah yes, love love love all around.
7. I have zero plans for the weekend. This is slightly unusual, and makes me nervous that I'm forgetting something. Maybe I'll spend some time napping or reading in the sunshine (assuming we get sunshine this weekend ...). Or, maybe I'll clean the office. I don't even know what to do with myself. It's one part terrifying and one part pure excitement. Do you have plans for the weekend?
As the title of the blog may have led you to believe, I take a lot of pleasure in the simplest things. I love staring at blue skies. I revel in the first sweet cherry of the season. I smile about the firt smell of fall (except I don't like at all that winter follows). Also on my list of amazingly simple pleasures is the magic that is gardening.
I absolutly love watching things grow. Those amazing little seeds that can go from dried and dead looking to bountiful producer of tasty goods fascinate me. I think just sprouted seeds are exceptionally awesome as their little green tendrals work through layers of dirt in search of sun, poking out little by little, and making me constantly fight the urge to rescue them by brushing off the last few pieces of dirt. We spent all day with hands covered in dirt and compost, sunshining on our faces, putting little green bundles of potential life into soil nourished by its former incarnations. So simple, so beautiful, such a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.
1. I turned down a job interview yesterday. Well, to be honest, I accepted it last week and canceled it yesterday. Although it is probably a rockin' cool job (which in my book means it directly serves the underserved and in turn makes zero monies ... haha), I had a terribly heavy heart about the whole thing from the moment I agreed to the interview. I also have another job, you see, working with high school kids. I love that job (even though it also pays something similar to zero monies ... ) in 100 different ways, and I had a conversation with the boss this week wherein he explained some really amazing expansion efforts that we will embark on in the fall. That = rockin'. This job that I love has a wacky schedule, though, one that is entirely contrary to having a regular 9-5 kind of place of employment. Every Monday and Wednesday, for example, I have to be at the high school from 3-530pm. Almost every weekend from September to February I have to leave with the kids for their weekend program at 10 or 11am. It's not impossible to make the schedules work, and it's what I did when I worked at the free clinic as well as had this high school job, but it nearly so. And then there's the guilt ... guilt about leaving one job for another, guilt about not giving the kids my full attention, guilt when my house falls apart because I'm gone 12 hours a day. Ugh.
So, I thought about it, I talked about it, and I spent a good deal of time in silence about it. The decision: Step out in faith that we will make things work some other way. I am absolutely called to work with these amazing kids, and who am I to stand in the way with my silly ideas that we have more income? Ha. Yeeeaaaa.
(ps, immediately after I cancelled, my brother whom I was unaware had applied for this position, nor did he realize it was the one I was interviewing for, got an email back from the boss indicating they would have an opening for him to interview ... niiiiiice.)
2. We are gardening this weekend! I am stoked. Be's dad is coming over to rototill (hooray sharing resources!), and then we're heading to the greenhouse to peruse the plant selection. I know, starting seeds indoors from last year's crop would be oh-so-sustainable and frugal, but ... well ... we didn't get around to that so much this winter. Oops. The plants will come out of a mini-windfall we didn't remember was on the horizon. Usually, I take them out of the grocery budget.
3. My father had open heart surgery a couple weeks ago, and as part of his recovery had to meet with a dietician yesterday to better plan his meals. While he was staying with us, we implemented a meal program per the instructions given by the doctor, and to keep track of all of it, I made him a handful of charts and exchange lists to make planning easier. Apparently, he took this to the dietician and she told him I "missed my calling". While I appreciate the compliment, I think my 'future dietary consulting' business would likely have to be completely by phone because I'm hardpressed to believe people take dietary advice from the ... uh ... not so svelte (fluffy? husky? squishy? well-insulated?). I'm still laughing about it.
4. I am off school for a whole week! The classes I'm in right now run Monday and Wednesday (mornings! boooo!). The campus is closed for Memorial Day on Monday, which means we last had class on Wednesday and won't have it again until Wednesday. This also marks the halfway point in the semester. Yes!
In other school news, my project group landed a solidly good grade in a field of otherwise not-so-good grades. I'm pretty stoked about it.
5. I don't like being undercover. Soon, very soon, I want to be able to scream from the rooftops about who I am. That time is not yet, I don't think, but any day now would be nice.
(ps, I am not a secret agent, nor delusional about being one, luckily. The vague quality is intentional ... hence, the 'undercover'. I wish to share with you soon, lovelies. Very soon.)
6. I am kind of mad at our compost pile. It didn't do anything wrong. I mean, it's a pile of composting food ... what can it really do wrong? I'm just irritated with the method we're using (the patented 'throw all your crap in a big ole pile in a corner in your yard and ... wait'), and that as the composting endeavor has grown, so too has the gigantic pile of decomposing goodness tucked in the corner of our backyard. I also don't like the turning in order to get to the good stuff nor the winged onslaught that you have to fight through to take care of it. I would really like to shift to a tumbler system, and I have some ideas for making it pretty inexpensive. Now, to fit a 50 gallon plastic drum into the backseat of a '96 Chrysler Concorde ...
7. I absolutely adore Be this week ... well, the last two days of it at least. I will spare you the mushy details.
I am grateful, every day, for something (usually many somethings). This week, those somethings are encapsulated in bullet points. I like lists a whoooooooole lot, probably more than anyone should.
I'm grateful for ...
... warm days. ... being only a weekend away from pretty green plants in pretty little rows. ... leaves! on my teeny tiny grape plants! the ones I thought I killed (somehow) over the winter! ... Barb, my 100 year old rhubarb root transplant who is now perfectly enormous and just waiting for strawberries to join her in a pie crust. ... good, dark, french pressed coffee. ... the smell of automotive degreasing hand cleaner (ok, I'm actually not at all grateful for that smell ... it wafts through my entire house and drives me perfectly crazy in its awfulness. Instead, I'm really grateful for Be and his automotive skills that keep us from having to run around finding mechanics or spending enormous amounts of money on repairs). ... Ed Dobson, whom I got to see live and in person last week, and who said the things I somehow knew he would ... in precisely the perfect way. ... pauses. ... la bibliotheque, home of the unending supply of thought provoking moments, all for free. ... you.
For more Gratituesday and all around good times, check out Laura's blog.
I really liked having a month's worth of choices each week, so we're going to try a second run at a the Month of Menus. Planning for the entire month also helped us use up quite a bit of our freezer stash so there was plenty of room for me to refill it with great deals this past week.
Month of Menus Rnd 2 ... Cut pasta with Meat Sauce x2 Pasta with Meatballs Fancy Mac & Cheese x2 Chicken Stir Fry Ham and Cheesy Potatoes Pork Chops x3 (this is the most popular meal we have, and the one of which the most still remains in the freezer) Corn Tacos x2 Grill Night x3 (Hamburgers x1, Hot dogs/Brats x2) Crockpot Whole Chicken Creamy Chicken Stew (from leftover whole chicken) Tip Steaks and Potatoes Broccoli Cheese Soup with Bacon Grilled Cheese Chicken Kabobs a la Med Pizza x2 Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage Sausage, Egg, and Potato Scrambles with Tortillas Baked Ham Steaks with Au Gratins x2 Oven Beef Loin Roast Sausage Dirty Rice Florentine x2 Leftover x2 (probably more, honestly, but we'll see ...)
That means this week's menu includes ...
M: Sausage Dirty Rice Florentine
T: Cheesy Ham & Potatoes
W: Fancy Mac & Cheese
R: Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes
F: Tip Steaks and Potatoes
S: Corn Tacos
U: Leftovers
What are you eating this week? this month? For more menus, check out Org. Junkie.
For more Quick Takes Fridays, check out the Conversion Diary. Good stuff, I promise.
1. I am so absolutely livid this very moment that I don't know if I'm going to make it through this post. To make a long story short, an organization was supposed to pay me a very large amount of money (ok, large for me ... probably not really at all that large for the rest of the world) in a very specific timeframe. When that deposit did not appear as promised, I called them on the day it was supposed to post (they're usually early, which is even more befuddling), and was told that they "Um ... er ... uh ... forgot." WHAT?! You forgot to do your job?! Your one and only job, to pay people, and you forgot to do it?! Awesome. Great. Fabulous. I was then promised it would be fixed right away and taken care of overnight. When I checked my online bank this morning, nothing. When I used my 'bank on call' phone number, thinking perhaps my online banking was less cool or up to date than the other (uh, wrong, by the way ... desperate times, etc etc), nothing. When I called my bank's customer service line to see if they perhaps could see something I could not (a super pending, not accesible to my screen yet something) and then sat on hold for 30 minutes while they dug through a million records and places looking for the deposit, still ... nothing. Now, no bill paying, no grocery shopping, no ... anything until this deposit shows up. Greeeeeeat. Thanks.
(insert elevator music or a dancing monkey show to entertain you during the time I've gone to calm myself down before all of my 7 Quick Takes turn into bitter rants about crap I don't like)
2. I had great fun yesterday chatting with an old friend over far too much coffee. There are nothing like solid friends, the people who know you (crazy or not), love you, and listen to your chaotic ramblings or not-so-hilarious stories. My thanks to him for the evening. It was a good reminder that even though we spend less time together than we did in undergrad, the friends made in college, in struggle, in intense circumstances, are still the best ones around. Good friends are good for the soul ... like chicken soup without the having to kill chickens part.
3. My next door neighbors are being foreclosed on, or at least that's what we hear from their insane screaming at each other (when they aren't running their semi-lucrative narcotics selling business, that is). There are four houses on this side of the block. The one to the left of ours has been empty for months, also a foreclosure. The one on the far other end has been empty since long before we moved here 2 years ago. It is owned outright, but the foundation is crumbling under an otherwise really nicely remodeled house, and the owners decided to move rather than spend the enormous amount of cash lifing a house and repouring a foundation would take. I suspect one day it may just fall over. Now, the house between that one and ours will be empty as well. We keep talking about how sweet it would be, if we had the cash, to buy one or the other of the lots next to us so that we would have enough acreage per the township zoning ordinance to keep animals here. I wonder how low the prices will go ...
4. Have you heard about the giant public debacle that was the 'Oprah Sends Millions of People to KFC for Free Chicken' event was? KFC stopped honoring their coupons, instead offering "rainchecks" for "later dates", which I suspect probably means ... never, because they "underestimated" the response. This is Oprah we are talking about here. When she says "Buy this (insert car, book, fashion accessory, etc)!, people do it post-haste. Did they not consider an even greater response if she said, "Go get this for FREE!"? This has spurred a hilariously wonderful selection of internet ramblings, especially between KFC and El Pollo Loco (which we don't have here ...). For your giggling pleasure ...
Oh! And!
Ahahahaha. I am endlessly entertained by corporations battling each other online. Nicely done!
5. Be was released from the care of his surgeon on Wednesday, after 18 months. He will continue on a 'maintenance regimen' at physical therapy to make sure he doesn't regress for awhile, but the PT has written his 'permanent restrictions' so they believe it likely that nothing will change much. On the one hand, a huge sigh of relief that he has healed enough after 2 surgeries and countless thousands of hours of physical therapy that he no longer requires the constant attention of a surgeon. On the other hand, mildly difficult for him to handle because it means the status of his knee is probably as good as it gets. This is not the same as before the accident (obviously), and he is having a bit of a time coming to terms with that. When he still had doctor's appointments, there seemed to still be a chance that the knee would somehow go back to the way it was, its strength, stability, functions, etc.
This release also means a number of other implications regarding courts and trials and lawyers, but nothing I can tell you about. Big ole complicated mess, it is.
6. The Red Wings (if you don't know who that is ... we may have to talk ...) won their series last night 4-3, meaning they move on to the conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks on their road to the Stanley Cup finals (Please note, when following that link, who is pictured holding the Stanely Cup last year ... oh yes, the Wings. Note also, the number of times they have won the Finals through the history of the cup. Yea, we rock.). Hockey is the only professional sport that I watch, because I am from Michigan, and it is required here by law that all residents watch, love, and defend the honor of our adored Red Wings. I'm more of a college sports fan, which also stems largely from being a Michigander and attending a Big 10 school. Go BLUE! As such, there will be much tension and anxiety as the Wings try to make it through to the finals. There will likely be cursing, popcorn throwing, and if we're lucky some jumping up and down. It is Stanley Cup season in MI ... it's what we do.
I just spend a solid 10 minutes trying to find you the YouTube of a hilarious McDonalds commercial that runs in Michigan which lists the things we love here. Driving cars, working on cars, snow, and our moms are all on the list. Hockey also appears ... 5 or 6 times in the course of the commerical, and is the only thing that is repeated. It's terribly funny ... er ... true .... er both, probably.
7. Did you know the US Postal Service hates recycling? Yea. They do. No lie. Apparently, they made it illegal for you to reuse a Priority Mail box for shipping other things, even if you turn it inside out or cover all the previous markings. That's annoying. Thanks for not loving the planet, Post Office. Thanks a ton. I'd suggest we all send them letters in protest, but if the rest of your local Post Office's are anything like mine, I doubt they would ever get delivered ... to themselves. The telling of the trials and tribulations of dealing with our local Post Office will be saved for another day, probably right after the next time I stop by to mail something and they are randomly "closed" because the 1 lazy, lonely guy that works in our tiny Post Office hates 1. people, 2. work, and 3. working with people.
What's going on in your life this week? Write a Quick Takes! It's fun times.
I may menu plan and rant up and down about how we need to stay on budget, but really ... I am easily persuaded away from the menu (I'm working on it, I swear!) by the slightest inconveniences sometimes. The primary of these is the "6pm Dinner Despair" moment when I realize everything I'm supposed to have cooking is still frozen. Grr. This used to mean dinner was pushed aside in favor of sandwiches or food from a can (eeewww!) or in worst case scenarios: take out.
So often we get hung up on the same missteps over and over again. When this happens here, I like to walk backward mentally through the situation in an attempt to find the source of the problem. Then, rather than saying, "I really need to remember to defrost things in the morning" or "I wish we could get this dinner thing figured out", I can find the real whatever that needs adjusting. In this case, the problem was not taking things out of the freezer. Remembering to do this every morning, especially when my chest freezer lives in the basement of our detached garage because our ancient house's electrical cannot handle it and the washing machine, was nary impossible. Worse, in the winter. Who really wants to trek through 4 feet of snow every morning to find that night's dinner parts? Ugh, no, apparently not me.
The solution?
Freezer Shopping!
Every Sunday afternoon, after I write the menu out, I make note of what I need from the outside freezer on a sticky note, grab a grocery tote and the pair of knit kids' gloves I keep stashed in a cubby on my desk (because I always finish the menu at my desk ... logical next step location for them ... and no one else makes off with them that way), and head out to pull out the items I need. I grab everything we will need for the week, and bring it into the house. Meats go in the drawers in my fridge to defrost as the week progresses. Veggies go in the regular inside freezer because they get weird if they defrost for too long before cooking. As the week progresses, everything is at least basically defrosted enough to use when it comes time for dinner prep. I'm loving it, honestly.
Now, I will need a new excuse for take out. Any ideas ...?
... sunshine filtering through the windows. ... springtime being (possibly) here to stay. It is Michigan, afterall, it could snow tomorrow. ... a pantry with more food than I literally know what to do with. ... the option to give when needed to those who are hungry, even on our tiny budget. ... tulips. Love them. ... pretty song birds congregating outside the front porch window. ... the great people who have lifted me up just through their powerful presence in the last day. ... a great group for my summer school project, on top of their tasks. ... providence. ... and you, for reading, for being a fabulous person, for just being you.
Ah, ItaliSoy Chicken ... yum. I learned this recipe from my stepmother. She used to make this marinade and plop pork chops in it, but I'm partial to its use with boneless skinless chicken breasts instead (probably because I don't eat pork so much ...). I think there may have been measurements when she started, but I neither like nor often pay attention to those kinds of things while cooking and have as such lost them along the way somewhere. If it isn't too weird, I honestly judge it by the color. If it's too light, more of one thing. If it's too dark, more of the other. It is a big ole complicated recipe with it's ... two ingredients.
The Starting Line Up
Uh, yea, that's right ... it's Italian salad dressing (oil based, not cream) and good ole whatever kind you have soy sauce. You couldn't tell from the witty name? It doesn't really have a name here, except sometimes we call it (my step mom's name)'s Chicken. I had to come up with some way to label it for you fine people ... hilariously to the point, right?
On an aside, please just use whatever ingredients you have on hand. Really, we don't use that many name brand ingredients unless I get them for nearly free (at least cheaper than the generic), so please do not be persuaded otherwise by the picture. You can use whatever kinds of these items you have. Honestly, once while desperate, I tore open what seems like 184 of those little take out packets because we didn't have any other soy sauce in the house. Now, we buy it en mass (and fill the little bottle for the upstairs fridge) because I have finally learned my lesson. You can even change the kind of salad dressing as long as it is oil based and has some acid and some spices in it. Then, of course, you'll have to change the name ... ahaha.
The Game Plan
I tried to measure as I went this time so "mix it until it turns caramel colored" didn't have to appear in my recipe post. From what I can tell, you'll need 1 and 1/2 cups of salad dressing to 1/4 cup of soy sauce. You can increase or decrease the amount based on how much meat you need to cover, but that ratio should be pretty close to magic. I put it in a little bowl and use my super cool wisk so it mixes together well (and so I have an excuse to continue owning a fancy wisk). It should be approximately a shade darker than the one in the picture as the flash on my camera kind of washed out the depth when I took the above shot.
The End Result
Oh, pretty marinading chicken ... how yummy you will be. If the chicken looks a little awkward, it's because it's still frozen solid. I had to beat the bag against the floor to knock the pieces apart. Frozen or fresh, it works just the same. I just dump the marinade over, cover the bowl, and let it hang out in the fridge overnight. Other times, I let it marinade for as long as it takes to walk from the kitchen, down the stairs, to the grill outside our basement walk out (this happens more often than the other, honestly). See all those little bits of spicy tasty goodness? Yes! That is why salad dressing is the coolest marinade base in the world! There's no need to buy fancy special "marinades". Psh. Salad dressing = perfect.
The Play By Play
1.5 Cups Italian Salad Dressing + 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce + Fancy Wisk (ok, or just a fork ...) + Chicken, pork, fish or your choice = Yum!
Oh, Meijer. How I like it when we get along like good friends rather than you trying to cause me problems. I went shopping both yesterday and today, and after a bit of a shopping hiatus, I'm pretty content with the way things went. Also, kudos to Meijer for getting rid of that lousy "one per transaction" wording on their Mealbox coupons. Thank you, thank you. We complained, and they heard us. Huzzah!
Trip 1 6 2ltrs Coke (3 regular, 3 diet): $1.49/ea (ouch!) 10 Kellogg's poptarts: $1.98 - $1/1 coupon = 98c/ea 1 Quilted Northern toilet paper: half price sale for $6.99 - $1/1 = $5.99 2 gallons Meijer milk: $1.98/ea - Meijer promo from buying 2 Oreos and 2 Wheat Thins = FREE! 2 loaves Aunt Millie's bread: $1.50/ea - 35c/1 coupon = $1.15/ea 2 Smart Balance spread tubs: on sale 2/$4 - $1/2 Meijer coupon - $1/1 coupons = 50c/ea (sweet!) 2 Smart Balance spread sticks: FREE! with coupon for buying tubs 2 Smart Balance peanut butter: on sale 2/$4 - $1/2 Meijer coupon - $1/1 coupons = 50c/ea (that's CHEAP peanut butter! And, if it's gross on sandwiches ... we've never tried it ... then I will use it for baking instead) 6 Kraft barbeque sauce: on sale $1 - 75c/1 coupon = 25c/ea 5 bags Earthbound Farms organic carrots: on sale $1 - 55c/1 coupon = 45c/ea 2 packages Oreos: on sale 2/$5 - $1.50/1 coupon when you buy Oreos and milk = 2/$2 2 boxes Artisan Wheat Thins: on sale 2/$5 - BOGO coupon = 2/$2.50
Plus Cats: 1. Kelloggs: Buy 10 items, Get 2 FREE movie tickets. The poptarts I picked out were the ones with the Star Trek movie tokens on the back, meaning the 10 boxes also net me 2 more FREE movie tickets! $9.80 spent on poptarts, and 4 movie tickets in return! Hooray!
2. Kraft: Buy 6 barbeque sauces, Get $3 OYNO. That sauce cost me $1.50 after coupons, which means the cat nets me an extra $1.50 plus FREE sauces! Double hooray!
Trip 2 1 container Meijer whey protein: $11.99 (because Be's physical therapist seems to think he needs to consume even more protein ... yikes!) 2 Nature Made multi-vitamins: on sale BOGO $9.59 - $1/1 coupon = 2/$8.59 (again, because of the PT guy ... he needs to come over and start paying the grocery bill, me thinks) 1 clearanced beef heart: $1.19 (can we say gross?! Be is apparently smitten with them, and this is what happens when I bring him to the store with me. Ick.) 5 boxes Jose Ole frozen taquitos: half price sale $2.49 - $1/1 coupons = $1.49/ea 5 boxes Jose Ole frozen quesadillas: half price sale $2.49 - $1.50/1 coupons = 99c/ea 10 boxes Kraft mac & cheese: on sale 10/$5 (plus a $2 OYNO for buying 6 ... I thought the trigger was 10 or I would have broken it up and gotten 2 cats by buying 12 instead ... er, oops) 10 boxes Kellogg's frosted mini-wheats: on sale $1.80 - BOGO coupon from Vocalpoint and - $1/1 coupons = 72c/ea (plus another 2 FREE movie tickets ... 2 for the price of less than 1 plus cereal ... good deal by me!)
Total: $46.37 Saved: $76.09 Wahoo!
Did you go shopping this week? Tell me about it, and stay tuned for more Meijer deals in the near future ... perhaps tomorrow after I get home from school.
Ah, menu. Last week's menu went remarkably well. Only 2 changes mid-stride, one of which being a substitution of pork chops instead of pork roast because I may have thought we had a roast in the bottom of the freezer when in fact it was a giant stack of chops instead. Er ... oops?
This week's menu is as follows ...
M: Spaghetti w/meat sauce, garlic breadsticks
T: Grilled Italisoy marinaded chicken (with a recipe coming Tuesday), sweet potato fries, broccoli with carrots
W: Glazed ham steaks, au gratin potatoes, veggies, biscuits
R: Fried chicken salads
F: Homemade pizza, green salads
S: Popcorn chicken & fries
U: Grilled fish, rice de Provence, mixed veggies
The Updated Month of Menus is then as follows ...
Crockpot Pork Roast x2 Seared Beef Roast x2 Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Spaghetti with Meatball Marinara Corn Tacos x2 Em Hash (recipe ... ) x2 Homemade Pizza x2 Crockpot Whole Garlic Chicken Chicken Pot Pie Casserole with Biscuits Ham and Potato Casserole Grilled and Glazed Ham Steaks x2 Venison Helper Soup and Grilled Bacon & Cheese Sandwiches Baked Pork Chops Grilled Marinaded Pork Chops Grilled Cod/Tilapia Chicken Mongo Sausage and Spinach Lasagne auce Your Own Meatballs and Potatoes Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage ItaliSoy Grilled Chicken Breasts (the easiest marinade in. the. world.) Popcorn Chicken and Fries (from a recipe at the Heavenly Homemaker) Fried Chicken Salads
... and that means we used them all up perfectly! Hooray!
It took us an extra week to make it through 30 meals because of the few course changes along the way, and because I didn't calculate planned leftover meals in the mix. My family is hit and miss as far as leftovers go sometimes. One meal when I think there will be plenty left for another go, they will eat every bite. Other nights, there are tons of leftovers when I didn't plan for anything. I cannot seem to nail them down, and in the next month of menus I will try to better accomodate the leftover conundrum. Overall, I liked having the month-long list to plan from. It limited down my choices so I didn't stare blankly at the menu with an entire world of possibilities, and it helped us use up a bunch of the freezer stash so there will be room for the summer and fall harvests. All around, it worked marvelously.
Is your menu planned? Do you use a month-long, a 2 week plan, or a week at a time? Whatever it is, if you're in need of inspiration, head on over to The Organizing Junkie for about a million ideas.
1. It's been a little quiet around here this week. There wasn't even a Gratituesday post (which are my favorites, by the way). The new semester started this week, and very honestly, the new 830am class is just about killing my time management ability. I am not an 830am kind of girl. 830pm? Sure. We are pals, but not it's early morning twin ... not at all. That and the shortened term (6 weeks instead of 15) have had me a little busy this first week readjusting my schedules and the like. The menu has been saving me, though. I managed to make 3 dinners on Tuesday night (Tuesday's, Wednesday's and Friday's for us, and another pan of each of Wednesday's and Friday's for friends whose baby was born on Monday) plus 3 trays of cookies in the span of just a couple hours. Of course, I had to burn the palm of my left hand on the last tray of cookies, because ... well, things just can't go that perfectly.
2. I have heartburn again. I am not liking it at all. I really should stop eating things that trigger it. I know what the triggers are (spicy food, grease, garlic, citrus, citric acid, and all things citric acid is hiding in, tomatoes, and on and on), but darn it if those aren't the things I like to eat most. Ugh. I do not like this feeling one bit, and I am hoping that one day I learn to stop doing it to myself.
3. Also on the list of things I should not do: watch the movie Deep Impact late at night by myself (which I'm doing right.this.very.second.). Not only is the thought of an Extinction Level Event enough to get my overactive imagination primed to bring a night's sleep full of awful dreams, but I cannot help but cry during the last few minutes during the exchange between mother and daughter on the crowded expressway. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it with Kleenex handy.
4. I feel like our gardening adventure may already be behind the ball this year. We decided not to start seedlings inside this winter because we hadn't figured out a way to prevent a repeat of last year's greenhouse disaster. We are still trying to decide if we're going to use in-ground methods or raised beds this year which means neither the rototilling nor the raised bed construction has started. I know we are at least a week or two away from the last risk of frost here, so I don't feel sooooo bad about not having a solid handle on the plan yet, but when others in the area start posting about their early crops going in the ground I start to get a little envious and a little more anxious. I spent the majority of this afternoon working on my canning knowledge so I at least felt like I was making some progress toward our garden goals.
5. Be and I finally had a solid conversation on faith this week. It went ... oh, about 100 times better than I thought it was going to. We have always been a little gun shy about discussing these things. Ok, maybe I've been a little gun shy mostly. I don't know why necessarily. I can't really explain whatever was compelling me to keep quiet way back when we started this adventure. Be was most amicable to talking and listening, sometime I'm hoping we'll be doing more of in the future. I'm still not really ready to talk specifics here, but know that it went really well and I'm happy about it.
6. I started putting $1 bills in a box when I clean out my pockets at night. In a cash only, zero based budgeting household, even $1 bills count, but I've been trying to discipline myself into putting whatever I have from the day's spending (usually one or two of them) in the box regardless. I am not yet convinced that they will stay in there forever, or even that they will make it to the savings account, but I have high hopes that they can at least be a mini-emergency fund for those little household things that come up occasionally. I haven't counted it, but in the last week or so I think I've put in at least $8 or $10. That's a start of something, for sure.
7. I have an entire month's worth of coupons that have been cut, but not yet put away in the coupon binder. How in the world did that happen? Wanna come over, bring your horribly behind coupon filing, drink coffee, and put them away together? It could be a party or some such ... a very nerdy, kind of crazy, possibly a little odd coupon-y party. I'm thinking ... is now good? No, probably not, as it's 3am and all. Tomorrow, then?
We are almost done with the Month of Menus, and although I'll reserve my final judgment for the end, I have to say I'm diggin' it so far. I like having to choose from a list of options rather than staring blankly at my menu because the 1876987 things I could possibly make are giving me brain freeze. Somehow, we have 8 meals after this week ... and 3 days until the "month" is over. Uh, oops.
(Yes, that's really my menu board. I love that darn thing. It hangs out in my pantry normally, rather than making its home on what looks to be a messy kitchen counter. Do not be alarmed, the messy part is an illusion ...)
M: Beef Tacos w/Spanish Rice and Toppings (It's not Cinco de Mayo yet, but its the only night this week when we're all home. Tacos are a family affair around here.)
T: Chicken Noodle Soup with Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwiches (from the leftover chicken on Sunday)
W: Ham and Potato Casserole, Veggies
R: Meatballs and Potatoes, Veggies (You pick the sauce night ... yay!)
F: Homemade Pizzas with Green Salads
S: Crockpot Pork Roast with Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions
U: Mother's Day Feast of Sausage and Spinach Lasagne, Garlic Bread, Salads, Veggies, and Dessert! (Now, to decide which dessert ... hmmm ... )
______________________ The Updated Month of Menus is then as follows ...
Crockpot Pork Roast x2 Seared Beef Roast x2 Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Spaghetti with Meatball Marinara Corn Tacos x2 Em Hash (recipe ... ) x2 Homemade Pizza x2 Crockpot Whole Garlic Chicken Chicken Pot Pie Casserole with Biscuits (from leftover whole chicken) Ham and Potato Casserole Grilled and Glazed Ham Steaks x2 Venison Helper (I still have the venison, we used beef instead, which may mean I run out of ground beef for the other menu items early ...) Soup and Grilled Bacon & Cheese Sandwiches Baked Pork Chops Grilled Marinaded Pork Chops Grilled Cod/Tilapia Chicken Mongo (so much fun ... hopefully with pictures when we get to it) Sausage and Spinach Lasagne auce Your Own Meatballs and Potatoes (you pick: sweet & sour, bbq, swedish, marinara ... I keep the sauces frozen in bags and knock a chunk off to warm up based on what everyone wants) Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage ItaliSoy Grilled Chicken Breasts (the easiest marinade in. the. world.) Popcorn Chicken and Fries (from a recipe at the Heavenly Homemaker) Fried Chicken Salads
For approximately 1 million more menus, check out the Org. Junkie.
Staples is running their Dollar Deals sale this week, starting 5/3. Bic pen 12 packs are included. There is a $1/1 Bic pen coupon in my coupons.com sidebar (immediately to the right, just click 'see all coupons' for the redirect to print them) which when used in conjunction makes them FREE!
It's a beautiful Saturday here in Michigan ... sun shining, blue skies, mid-60s temperatures. I love spring! Rather than write a big ole crazy entry today, I'm headed outside to play in the dirt and soak up the sunshine. But, first ... the winners are ...
Round 1: Bag 'o Sample Goodness
Comment #15 -- goldenecho
Round 2: Starbucks Chocolate Heaven
Comment #3 -- Sarah
These two ladies have 48 hours from now (so 5pm Monday, May 4) to email me at jesuisem AT gmail DOT com with their contact/shipping info to claim their prizes. After that, if there are no emails, I'll draw another winner.
Thanks so much for playing along, everyone! I loved all the comments, and hopefully you've found another cool place on the web to hang out. Thanks again go to Laura at HeavenlyHomemakers for hosting the Giveaway Carnival!
It's been awhile since I posted a TOTM review, and although I dig them a ton, I really only dig them when there is progress made. One month to another there isn't a whole lot of change here lately because of the temporary 1 (1/2?) income situation. Well, that's not entirely true. There's change, alright, but not always the good kind.
The numbers ...
EFund: $1000 This will diminish likely in the sooner rather than later unless Be's work comp problems are resolved in the next month or so ... or I get paid like I'm supposed to ... or we hit the lotto which we never play.
Dream Savings: $16 We have a new dream for the dream savings, and I'm still not telling you what it is. Haha.
Jeep: $0! PAID OFF! Yay!
GP: $3962.49 It's under $4K ... finally! We'll be paying this for awhile yet, but there's absolutely a psychological advantage to each $1000 mark drop.
C1: $486.02 Uh ... yea ... confession time. Someone used the only active credit card that's in my name. Someone who shall remain nameless ... because well, everyone has a relapse at some point and she doesn't want to talk about it. Rest assured she didn't spend it on things outside of the budget. She just used it in place of the budgeted cash amount when the cash wasn't there instead of changing the budget like a good girl would have. She will not do this again. She promises.
AV: $0! PAID OFF! Yay!
VSA: $110.70 Ugh. Someone else ... whose name shall also not be used ... has apparently been using his card repeatedly instead of the ONE TIME to keep it active. Grr. We're a whole ball of messing up this month.
*sigh*
I guess we all screw up occasionally. This half budgeted craziness with the non-regular income is starting to get to me. Income in, Expenses out, on a schedule is much more fun for me. Juggling sporadic income that is subpar in comparison to our barebones expenses is a little annoying. I suppose I can't beat myself up much worse than posting the numbers for the world to see, eh? I shall resolve to be a better steward this month than last. Resolve, resolve, resolve.
1. Mashed potatoes with cream corn on top may be the ultimate comfort food. I made some last night, and the leftovers are sitting in front of me now in a place I like to call carb heaven. Oh. My. Word. Pure looooooove.
2. I have to go back to classes next week. This does not make me all too excited, honestly. I'm just starting to get into the 'no class' routine of reading mass quantities of library goodness, making homemade dinners without the pressure of schedules, and enjoying the sunshine (if it would ever stop raining here ...). The thought of returning to the drudgery of non-expressive thought and unoriginal research makes my stomach turn. Please, no. This happens every time we have a semester break, because I have the time for my brain to start protesting the torture it endures the remainder of the year. My soul is not nourished by this program anymore and it tries to revolt and cast doubts on my continuing any time it has the chance. *sigh*
3. I picked up new library books on Wednesday. I have Plain & Simple and Everyday Sacred by Sue Bender, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, and The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra. I already finished the first Bender book, and although my intense fascination with the Amish remains, my curiosity was not at all satisfied by the style of her prose. It's fragmented in parts, more a personal journal than a published piece of literature, and it is kind of deterring me from reading the other one if her writing style is going to be the same. I'm also reading Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah at the same time. Babies killing babies often gets too intense and I need a less brutal literary break to recollect.
4. Speaking of books, I would really (reeeaaaallllyyy) like bookshelves in the office. I have 3 little cubbies on the hutch over my desk that currently hold my top 25 books, but the boxes and boxes of other favorites stored in the back of the office closet are aching to be out in the open as well. Book shelves, however, are not in the budget currently. Maybe I'll get garage sale lucky this summer and find a set in need of the touch of handy Be that will do the trick. Keep your fingers crossed for me, ok?
5. I'm thinking about trying out a new church experience. I hesitate to write about it because I'm not yet ready to explain it to the world (even though my neverending urge to write and be public about everything is fighting me) ... the choices, the possibilities, the reasons. Can a girl just do something new and not have to explain herself to everyone and their brother? Not here. Not in the CNK (the airport designation for my town if we were to get an airport ... haha). Not in this house for sure. The power of judgement and influence is strong, especially subconsciously, and although not an excuse really, is something I am desperately working to get over.
6. After 2 years of composting at this house, and after much complaining about the entire process, my little brother suggested today that we get a tumbler. Surprise! He is the last person on the planet I thought would advocate for composting in general, let alone in cooler manners than the giant pile method we use right now. Perhaps the green revolution is getting to him as well ... hooray!
7. 2 different rewards programs I really liked are either going away completely or changing so radically that they're much less fun than before. Walgreens has announced the end of the EasySaver Rebate program, and since we don't have a CVS nearby, here's hoping either the Register Rewards deals they come up with are amazing (though will be a lot of money out of pocket) or that I can get a grip on the Rite Aid Single Check Rebate program instead. Goodbye free and easy Walgreens fun. (sad face!) Speedway, in turn, is changing their Speedy Rewards program to increase the number of points required for gift card redemption as well as changing the kinds of things you can get giftcards for. Boooooo. Knowing this in advance, my whole family cashed in our 50,000+ collective points last night before the new system rolled out this morning. Hello Speedway cash, hello free money, goodbye program I liked a whooooole lot.
For more 7 Quick Takes Fridays, check out Jen's blogging at Conversion Diary. Just click the graphic at the top and head on over.
One girl, on a mission to be responsibly frugal and happy about it.
Printable Coupons ...
On Gratitude ...
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie)
On Simplicity ...
I have come to terms with the future. From this day onward I will walk easy on the earth. Plant trees. Kill no living things. Live in harmony with all creatures. I will restore the earth where I am. Use no more of its resources than I need. And listen, listen to what it is telling me. (M.J. Slim Hooey)
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. (Cicero)
On Frugality ...
Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. (Elise Boulding)
New! Track Our Spending!
Check the bottom of this post for updates through the month. Can we do it? Come find out!
