June 8 - 14 Menu

I love Aldi. I do not get to go there as much this year as I have in the past. But when I do, I get excited at the GREAT prices! 

June 8
Lunch: We met the Hubs for lunch at Stadium BBQ before we went to Aldi. 
Dinner: Leftovers

June 9
Lunch: More leftovers
Dinner: Turkey Chili

June 10
Lunch: We are having potluck lunch after church to celebrate Vacation Bible School. Hubs made pasta salad. 
Dinner: Hot Dogs and leftover Chili

June 11
Lunch: Whatever was in the house 😀
Dinner: Parmesan Pork Roast with Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes (from mashupmom.com)

June 12
Lunch: Whatever we could find.
Dinner: Naan Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sandwiches (from mashupmom.com). I shall omit the tomato from mine. The kidlets will as well. Served with fruit. And I added spinach leaves. 

June 13
Lunch: Again, whatever we could find.
Dinner: Bible Study 

June 14
Lunch: Guess what it was......
Dinner: Creamy Gnocchi with Corn (Thing 2 ate this when he was 2 years old and LOVED IT! He was scooping it up in his hands. He LOVES pasta and likes corn, so we will try this again with him). I'm using spinach instead of arugula and milk instead of cream. Served with salad. 


Shopping List:
Original Naan Bread - $3.79
Green Grapes (2.04 lbs) @ $1.99/lb - $4.06
Fresh Mozzarella - $2.79  
Shredded Parmesan - $1.99
Roma Tomatoes 1 lb - $1.69
Ground Turkey 1.2 lb - $3.49
Pork Loin Bone In Chops - $2.82
Pesto - $2.19
Spinach Bag - $1.19
Milk 1/2 Gallon - $1.29
Seedless Watermelon - $3.99
Sweet Potatoes - $1.69
Mango - $0.99
Avocado - $0.89
Yellow Onions - $1.49
Strawberries - $1.29
Brussels Sprouts - $1.99
Cucumbers - $0.49
Blueberries - $1.99
Sweet Corn 2 ears - $0.50
Green Bell Peppers 3 pack - $1.89
Pure Olive Oil - $2.49               
Total: $44.99 (before tax)
Keep in mind, though, that we did not have to buy for Sunday lunch, and we have not bought whatever we need for Wednesday Bible Study. This amount does not cover our breakfasts, lunches, or snacks...nor does it cover what we already had on hand like gnocchi, basil, etc.

During this trip, our breakfasts, lunches, and snacks cost us:
Purified Water Bottles 2 cases @ $1.89 - $3.78
Large Eggs - $1.46 (breakfasts or boiled eggs)
Sliced Provolone - $1.79 (sandwiches)
Shredded Mozzarella - $2.49 (Thing 1 likes to make "cheese roll ups," which is a handful of shredded cheese rolled into a small flour tortilla, microwaved for 30 seconds. Thing 2 likes to make himself "pizzas" with a flour tortilla, pasta sauce, and cheese).
Bananas 2.80 lb @ $0.44/lb - $1.23 (for iced coffee protein shake and/or boys' snacks)
Pasta Sauce - $0.99
Unsweetened Almond Milk - $1.89 (shake)
String Cheese - $2.79 (boys' snacks)
Hummus - $1.99 (to recreate Starbuck's protein bistro boxes)
CinnCrunch Squares - $1.39 (boys' breakfasts and snacks)
Fruit Rounds - $1.29 (see above)
Flour Tortillas - $0.99 
Strawberry Toaster Tart - $1.45 (boys' breakfasts)
Rice Cakes - $1.49 (bistro box recreate - click on my recreations here) 
Gluten Free Pretzels - $2.19 (see above)

For a snacks, etc total: $27.21 (before tax)

Not too bad!

We CAN clean that playroom!

So the boys and I did get that playroom cleaned on Thursday night (2 nights ago). It took a LOT of coaxing and only 4 hours. Well, let's say it would have taken somewhat shorter if both Things 1 and 2 decided to fully participate. They took numerous "snack breaks," "oh! I forgot about THIS" breaks, "I want to play with Legos and not sort them" breaks, and "I want to plan this whole thing out" and waste time breaks. Boys. 

There are still a few things that we need to sort and conquer, but overall, it is finished!

Before - Ewwww

He's excited to be able to play!

A specific purpose for each cubby hole.

Legos to yet be sorted and those already sorted

Much better!

We still need to work on this.

CLEAN futon!!!!!!!!!

Hey, and a place to actually display completed Lego sets!

Let's hope this actually stays clean. Stay tuned. 

June 1 - 7 Menu

I despise menu planning. I like to look at others' blogs and Pinterest to find an already planned menu with grocery list ready for me to print and go. Ha. Not for my household. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are so picky, and a lot of the menus have fish (Hubs won't eat) or something that I won't eat. Plus, Hubs likes to cook. He has the ability to look at whatever we have at home and *POOF* come up with something edible and enjoyable. Me? Not so much. I require a recipe and a detailed weekly menu plan. Hubs says cooking is a stress reliever, so I say... go on ahead, dude. But there are times (like when we are on summer break) that I like to (ahem) help. 

I shall attempt to post what we had for the week. 

June 1
Dinner: We went to Food City to pick up some groceries to hold us over until med-week. We found they had a fruit and veggie tray on sale for $5 each. We got one veggie tray and one fruit tray. It was an automatic $8.98 savings for dinner! And it was quite filling. They looked like the image, but we had for the veggie: carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, and celery (no celery for me!), and for the fruit: pineapples, strawberries, red grapes, and watermelon. 

June 2

We were not feeling like cooking and got biscuits at Bojangles. 😏 

Dinner: Hamburgers

 

June 3

Lunch: Crockpot Stir Fry Steak with Rice

Dinner: Pancakes and Bacon

*I baked the bacon on a cookie rack on top of a cookie sheet on 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I also used applesauce in my pancake batter vs. butter. 

June 4

Lunch:  We ate random stuff around the house 😂

Dinner: Vacation Bible School week - We had "Walking Tacos" which consisted of taco meat, corn chips, toppings such as onions, cheese, tomatoes...all mixed up like Taco Salad. 

June 5

Lunch: Thing 2 had a dentist appointment, so we ate fast food. "Yay."

Dinner: Vacation Bible School week - We had pancakes, sausage, and fruit.

June 6

Lunch: We ate random stuff around the house again. We were super tired and woke up late. 😁 

Dinner: Vacation Bible School week - We had ham, mac and cheese, and rolls.

June 7

Lunch: We had sandwiches. 

Dinner: Vacation Bible School week - We had chicken strips, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls. 

Shopping List:

1 pound ground beef (on hand)
Pack of hamburger buns 
Weber's Grilling Seasoning (on hand)
Yellow onion (on hand)
Tomato
Spicy yellow mustard (on hand)
Sticky Fingers BBQ sauce (on hand)
Pickles (on hand)
Avocado (on hand)
Pepper Jack Cheese (on hand)
Premade Stir Fry veggies at Food City
Sirloin Steak
Precut Broccoli and Cauliflower package (on hand)
Soy sauce (on hand)
Orange juice (on hand)
Red wine
Salt & pepper (on hand)
Garlic (on hand)
Oregano  (on hand)
Rice (on hand)

Total: Well, we threw away the receipt. Bummer.

Hey June!

Today is June 1st! Woah, 2018 is flashing by. 

It is wayyyyy past time to purge *stuff* in this house. Since the kidlets were born, this house has exploded into a giant heap of *stuff* like kid toys, school papers, kid clothes, etc etc etc etc and etc. I thought at least when they grew out of the "big stuff" like high chairs, playpens, cribs, bouncers, and walkers that there would be more room in the house. However, those things quickly got replaced by game consoles, DVDs, games, big boy clothes, sports stuff, books, and Legos. OOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhHHHHhhhhhh, the ever increasing stockpile of Legos. I like Legos. I like them when they are put together....and they STAY together. Otherwise, you have random little Legos to welcome stab you in the heel of your foot or to be lost when you actually WANT to put the Lego set together. 

Mission for today: Find and sort Lego pieces. Yes.

Thing 1 was doing a pretty decent job at this, while Thing 2...well...he likes to make his own creations and not be TOO helpful. He says he's "too tired." Mmhmm. You'll see how "too tired" Mama is when you ask for lunch 😜. 

Good job, Thing 1!

The almost completed expected result

These are the types of things Thing 2 likes to create. This, ladies and gents, is the Solar System. 

What we have done so far is take apart the random pieces that we have found and sort them by color. We have red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink/purple, white, brown, light gray, dark gray, and black. I already had the containers from when I used to scrapbook. I had a Mickey Mouse head paper punch with which I punched the specific colors of paper to somewhat label the color of paper I had in that drawer. Well, with kids, I have had to put aside my hobbies and make space for the previously mentioned *stuff.* For example: Paper containers turn into Lego containers. It's alllllll good. 

This is a set that I hope to find and recreate soon.

It has a toilet, which I thought was hilarious. 

The goal is to have all the Legos sorted and around 80% of all of our Lego sets recreated and somewhat displayed. Where? I have no idea. But this is the goal regardless. 

Next: our goal is to tackle THIS. 

I may need a giant mug of coffee for this one. 

Ta ta!

Allyssa