This Week's Menu Plan: 2/5-2/11

I thought I would post my menu plan again this week.  I don't plan on doing it every week, but it is good accountability for me and I hope to encourage you to give it a try!  If you haven't jumped on the menu planning bandwagon yet, give it a try.  Not only does it save $$$ on my groceries, but it also saves my sanity at the end of the day when I know what I am preparing and in many cases, I have already prepared it!  Tonight we had an enchilada casserole that I prepared during nap time and put in the fridge.  To make it even easier, I used pulled pork from a recipe I made last week.  Thinking ahead and having a plan is making my evenings go MUCH more smoothly.


Sunday
Breakfast: Blueberry Muffins
Lunch: Lunch in Laurel w/ Hal's parents
Dinner: Hamburgers & Chips for Super Bowl

Monday

Breakfast: English Muffins & Kefir Smoothie w/ Strawberries, Bananas, and Blueberries

Lunch: Leftover hamburgers and Veggies

Dinner:  Enchilada Casserole & Homemade Salsa (casserole made w/ leftovers from last week)

Tuesday

Breakfast:  Toast & Eggs

Lunch: Leftover Casserole (L&H)/ MMO (D)

Dinner: Zucchini Tomato Frittata & Salad

Wednesday

Breakfast: Cliff Bar/Luna Bar

Lunch: Cafeteria (H) Salad (L)/ Chicken & Veggies (D)

Dinner: Veggie Turkey Chili (Pulled from the freezer from a few weeks ago)

Thursday

Breakfast: Peanut Butter Muffins

Lunch:Cafeteria (H)/ MMO (D)

Dinner: Oven Baked Fried Chicken, green beans, & yellow squash

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs w/ Toast & Kefir Smoothie

Lunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly, veggies, and fruit

Dinner: Hamburger & Veggie homemade pizza

Saturday

Breakfast: Daddy and Drew donut date

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Chicken Quesadillas & homemade salsa

What is your family eating this week?

Muffin Man

While working on my menu plans for the last few weeks, I have been searching for more quick, healthy breakfast options.  This recipe from my friend Heather has been a hit for us!  Drew and I even made a second batch during Brooks' morning nap yesterday.


Muffin Recipe

•non-stick cooking spray

•1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (or equivalent brown sugar/splenda

blend)

•1/2 cup natural peanut butter

•1/2 cup vegetable puree (carrot or pumpkin works great!)

•1/2 cup fruit puree (or double up on the veggie puree if using a sweet veggie like carrot)

•1 large egg

•1 cup whole wheat flour

•1 teaspoon baking powder

•1 teaspoon baking soda

•1/2 teaspoon salt

•sprinkle cinnamon (optional)

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line

with paper baking cups.

2.In a large mixing bowl, mix 1/2 of the brown sugar with the peanut butter, the purees

and egg using wooden spoon.

3.Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir

or shake to mix. Add to the bowl with the peanut butter mixture and stir just to combine

(the batter will be a little lumpy - do not overmix). Add the remaining 1/2 brown sugar

and stir once or twice.

4.Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake until the muffins are lightly browned

and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, appx. 20 minutes.

Heather Richmond RD

with aid from Jessica Seinfeld ‘s Deceptively Delicious

Do you have any healthy breakfast options you can share?

Money Saving Mom Book Review and GIVEAWAY

***Congrats to Jennifer for winning the book!  Email me so I can get it to you!***

I have followed the Money Saving Mom blog for quite some time.  Of course I love the deals Crystal posts on the site, but more than finding a fabulous bargain, I love her focus on stewardship of the home and finances.  I have found recipes, coupons, and organization ideas and have been challenged by her goal setting and focus on budgeting and using cash instead of plastic.  When I found out she was releasing a book, I was super excited to see what she would include.  It was released yesterday and I read it yesterday.  Below are a few of my favorite take aways from her book.

• CASH: This totally goes against everything I know as a bank marketing director where we want to put debit cards in peoples’ hands because they make a huge amount of $$$ for banks, but she reinforces the cash only system.  We have tried this a few different times and always end up going back to the card.  I know from our personal experience that we spend way less when we use only cash.
• COUPONS: I used to laugh at my mother for clipping and using coupons thinking that $.50 really isn’t that much, but wow was I wrong.  I have been much better in the last year at using coupons, but I still have not been super consistent. Crystal gives a down to earth approach to couponing and helps you identify what is a good bargain and what is in not.
• CLUTTER: She comments that if your life is cluttered than you are going to have a hard time meal planning, budgeting, and couponing.  Her chapter on clearing out your house and life motivated me to get up and work on my closet.  Even though it hurts, I need to admit that I am probably never going to fit in the dress that I wore to my rehearsal dinner ... time to get rid of it. :)
• CLARITY: I don’t know about you, but I can get way overwhelmed when I read blogs or books about all that different women do to run their households efficiently and cost effectively. From making their own tortillas to dishwashing liquid, there are a TON of ideas out there to save money and time.  I often think I should be doing more and there are probably a lot of areas I could be doing more.  She talks about looking at the cost savings per hour of different tasks to see if the cost savings are really worth the time investment.

I am going to be giving away a copy of this book either on your Kindle or a hard copy in your mailbox! 

You can enter the contest twice: 1) Leave a comment on this post 2) Leave a comment on the Rubies & Rewards Facebook page and tell share your goals for 2012 in regards to home management, couponing, or budgeting.

Be sure to enter the contest by Friday at midnight and I will announce the winner on Saturday!

This Week's Menu Plan (January 7th-14th)

Menu Plan

This week I got started on one of my goals for the year.  For the last several years, I have been planning our dinners out for the week, but my goal is to take it a step further by planning all 3 meals each day.  I am also trying to make sure that we are including leftovers in the plan.  Once I get rolling, I am hoping to do this for two weeks at a time to cut down on the number of trips to Kroger!  Fewer trips to Kroger and having a plan will hopefully help us keep the grocery bill down.


I used this menu plan format from Desiring Virtue.  There are tons of resources like this out there and I am going to try several until I find what works for us.  I like that this format has a shopping list.  After we got home, I put it on the fridge to remind me what we were doing all week!

Grilled Pineapple Chicken w/ Pineapple Salsa

We are still working on eating more "whole" foods and less processed stuff around here.  I found a resource on The Better Mom that has provided me with a ton of recipes.  Several of the recipes linked below are from The Nourishing Home.


Saturday
Breakfast: Daddy & D date for donuts
Lunch: Eat Out
Dinner: Burgers w/ Green Beans & Roasted Potatoes


Sunday
Breakfast: Sausage Roll from the freezer (Ramsey family recipe I will have to share soon)
Lunch: Grilled Cheese
Dinner: Grilled Pineapple Chicken & Pineapple salsa w/ Quinoa and salad

Monday

Breakfast: Eggs w/ bacon

Lunch: Leftover hamburgers and Veggies

Dinner:  Beef Drip sandwiches & chips (BCS National Championship party)

Tuesday

Breakfast:  English Muffins w/ Peanut Butter & apple

Lunch: Leftover Beef Drip (L&H)/ MMO (D)

Dinner: Lemon Garlic Chicken w/ Green Beans and Salad

Wednesday

Breakfast: Cliff Bar/Luna Bar

Lunch: Cafeteria (H) Salad (L)/ Chicken & Veggies (D)

Dinner: Veggie Turkey Chili

Thursday

Breakfast: English Muffin w/ Peanut Butter & banana

Lunch: Leftover Turkey Chili (H&L)/ MMO (D)

Dinner: Grilled Cheese sandwiches & Salad

Friday

Breakfast: Eggs w/ Toast

Lunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly, veggies, and fruit

Dinner: Turkey Taco Salad

Saturday

Breakfast: Pancakes, turkey bacon, & fruit

Lunch: Grilled Cheese & other leftovers

Dinner: Eat Out

Do you use a menu plan?  How do you keep your meals organized?