Groceries!

So, I have more of a menu figured out for the next month.  I am really excited!  However, I did just make my grocery list for the month and I am a little frightened!  I will put the list here, and then put the grand total on tomorrow of how much I spent according to my list.  Here we go!  It is laid out according to how our local grocery store is laid out.  Hopefully I won't miss anything!

Stewing Beef - Family Pack
Ground Beef -  Family Pack
Roast Beef
Beef Sausages (We like beef...)
Chicken Breasts - Family Pack
Shrimp, Prawns and Scallops (For a pasta dish)
Pizza Meat
Milk
Eggs
Sour Cream
Chips
Lunch Snacks
Knorr Veg Soup Mix x2
Broccoli Soup Mix
Tomato Soup
Alfredo Sauce x2
Spaghetti Sauce x4
French Onion Soup Mix
Spaghetti Noodles
Linguini Noodles
Long Grain Rice
Instant Rice
Butter Chicken Mix
Canned Corn
Green Beans
Canned Tomatoes
Water Chestnuts
Tuna x3
Perogies
Frozen Juice
Frozen Fruit
Frozen Veggies
Frozen Spinach
House Hold Cleaning Supplies
Cereal
Bread Crumbs
Jam
Katchup
Miracle Whip
Cabbage
Fruit
Potatoes
Gravy Browner
Cheese
Margarine
Bread x4
Green Onions

(NEXT WEEK)
Swiss Cheese
Black Forest Ham
Green Onions

Any guesses to the final total???  Hope I have enough cash!  Until then...

The Menu

So, I still have a few more days before October starts and I have the first two weeks ready.  Also, I was given a GREAT idea today at the grocery store, by a good friend.

October at a glance!
1- Hungarian Goulash
2- Alfredo Linguini
3- Fried Rice
4- Perogy Casserole
5- Cabbage Rolls
6- Slop (It actually isn't gross)

8- Stir Fry
9- Spaghetti
10- Chicken Cordon Bleu
11- Soup & Sandwiches
12- Roast Beef Dinner
13- Beef and Noodles (Made from leftovers)

So far that is all I have!

And now, the GREAT idea!  So, last night I made rice, and I accidentally made WAY too much, so I have left over rice that I need to use tonight for dinner.  I didn't know where to start, and my friend (seeing me lost in the meat isle at the grocery store) suggested frying it up with some meat and whatever veggies I have, so I am making sausage fried rice tonight with my left over rice!  WAHOO!!!!

So, keep the ideas coming, and tomorrow I will post a lot more recipes so you know what I am actually making!!!!

Zzzzzz

So tired... must sleep!

Menu for a Month

Hello all my followers.  I have a goal for the month of October, and I really would like to actually meet this goal, but I am going to need a little help.

For the month of October I am going to make a full meal plan and NOT go out to a restaurant for dinner for the whole month!!!  It is a pan for us to not only save money, but to eat healthy.  I have PLENTY of recipes that I will post for the month, but it would be nice to not have to double up too many times.  There are 31 days in October and minus the Sundays (we eat at Sean's parents' house) that leaves 27 days to plan for, and one snack for MAPS on Halloween.

So, here is my request.  If you could comment some recipes that I don't have on my list that I could add that would be AMAZING!!!!  There are a few days missing in my menu, and I just need some more ideas!

Butter Chicken:
2-3 Chicken Breasts (bnls sknls)
1 Onion
1 can diced Tomatoes
500ml whipping cream
2 Packages of Butter Chicken Mix

-Stir Fry the chicken and onion in a pot or deep skillet.  Once cooked, add tomatoes, whipping cream, and the butter chicken mix.  Serve with rice or potatoes.  Serves 8

Spaghetti:
1 lb of Ground Beef
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
Pasta of your choice!

-Scramble fry the ground beef in a pot of deep skillet.  While beef is browning, season to taste with garlic and onion.  Add sauce and cook on low for as long as you want.  Cook your pasta just before serving.

Perogy Casserole:
1 Pkg of Perogies
1 cup of Sour Cream
1 Can Mushrooms
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cans of Mushroom Soup
2 cups of Grated Cheese
Onion

-Put the melted butter in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish and add the frozen perogies.  Mix up the rest of the ingredients into a bowl and pour over perogies.  If you like, you can add cooked bacon as well, and you can top with more cheese.  Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour!  Serves 8

So these are just some of my recipes, and I will post some more tomorrow.  Along with a partially finished menu... of course waiting for your recipes!

Today is my official last day of work at the Three Hills IGA.  My goal for the day is to finish well.  As a woman of God I am called to do my best to honor God.  It is very difficult though.  In today's day and age us young'uns are not respected because we don't tend to show respect!  Well, I am not going to fit the mold.  I am going to break it.  I am going to work with joy and I am going to work hard.  When I am done my shift tonight I am going to know that I have finished WELL!!!  So that is that!

Now for tomorrow... I am going to start going through all my baby clothes that I have from Jenni.  I have approximately 20 boxes of clothes to go through.  I am going to sell some of the clothes that I don't think I will use, and I am going to start moving Jenni into her "big girl room".  I have five cupboards full of stuff that NEEDS to be sorted through.  Most of it is clothes for Maria that just needs to be sorted into boxes according to size.  But there is some stuff up there that needs to be sorted and put into Jenni's closet for her to grow into.  I am so thrilled that she is going to have a proper closet.  Sean has to clean that out tonight too... lol!

But right now I am feeling VERY motivated, so I am going to sign off and put my get up and go into good use!

....

Two Hours Later

....

GUESS WHAT???  I actually got something done.  I got something from my list of stuff to do... DONE!!!!

Sean and I have been talking about moving Jenni from the Nursery to upstairs into her big girl room.  Sean painted the room back in May and she was never really keen on sleeping up there.  Mostly because it was too hot, and also because her crib was set up still.  Well, tonight Sean is going to put the toddler bed in the basement, on Saturday it will be gone, and then there will be no other option for Jenni but her room upstairs.  This is a very good thing.

I also managed to clean off my old PC computer that someone has asked to buy MOTHNS ago.  So, it is all ready for them to pick it up and call it their own.  One more thing out of my house that I don't need!  Wahoo!!!


Next on my goal list is to shower (sweet!) and then start de-cluttering the main floor... starting with this darn computer desk.  Nesting, here I come!!!!!

Fresh Face

It is almost officially autumn, and I never thought I would be so excited.  Any other year, or time in my life, I will exclaim that my favorite season is summer, with late spring being a close second.  Unfortunately, this year I have found, especially the summer season, to be much, MUCH too hot.  As to why... here is photographic evidence.  Picture #1 is at 14 weeks, #2 is 20 weeks and #3 is 26 weeks!

For this year I am very thrilled to enjoy Autumn and Winter.  I have never in my life been so excited for snow.  I am excited for the cute outfits that come with the cooler weather, and the hats, scarfs and mittens that go with it.  Jenni will get to have a new snow suit, and I will have to pray that my winter coat still fits around my mid section.


So, in honor of my new found love for the cooler seasons I have changed my blog to reflect the beauty that is Autumn.  Please, enjoy!

BEST VACATION EVER!!!

BEST WEEK EVER!!!!

The whole thing started out on Friday morning getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to get into Calgary for my 20 week ultrasound.  Let me tell you that driving to Calgary with your bladder full is NOT fun, but it was worth it.  We found out that we are having ANOTHER girl!!!!  Yay for us!  Her name is Maria Solveig (Sol-vay).  We now have EVERYTHING we need except a double stroller.  Everything that Jenni wore that was super cute gets to be REUSED!!!  Wahoo!  You know how people refer to a family with a boy and a girl as a million dollar family?  Well, let me tell you, we will be closer to the million dollar family with two girls because we already have everything we need except diapers.  That will cost WAY less money!

Well, Sean took the day off to come to the ultrasound so we decided to make a date of it.  So great!  We went to the mall right after the ultrasound for lunch and then we booked it to Country Hills to go watch the new BATMAN movie.  We had a gift card so it only cost us $5.00 to get into the movie and get a bag of nibs.  Then after that we went out for a nice sit down supper and then Sean dropped me off for a wonderful pampering experience of a mani/pedi in Airdrie.  After that we went to Superstore and picked up Maria's first outfit.  So cute!!!  We got her a little sleeper to bring her home from the hospital in.  Then we stopped at Starbucks, got complimentary carmel fraps and drove home.

Sean packed up the vehicle Friday night because we were leaving the next morning early and didn't want to do it all Saturday morning!

Saturday morning we work up bright and early to get a move on with travel.  We did actually leave the house at 7:08am and it was awesome, but we also stopped in to see my very close friend in Airdrie and then had to get some breakie, so at 9:27am we were finally again, on our way.
Let me tell you, the drive from Three Hills to Yakima, WA is a very VERY long one!  Jenni did really well, but we had to stop in Radium, and that is where we met up with Sean's parents (now officially referred to as "mom and dad") and Sean's younger brother, Bryce.
After a lot of long driving, a pull over for vomit, and plenty of sesame street later we finally arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's (G&G's) around 11:26pm pacific time.  So it was after midnight in my brain.

Sunday morning we just kind of putzed around at G&G's.  Jenni and I had a great nap, Sean, Bryce, mom and dad all picked apricots from the tree, and when Jenni woke up Jenni and I set the pool up in the back yard to play in the water.  There was a big family dinner at G&G's and we got to see as many of the cousins as we could.  It was really nice.
After the big meal I worked really hard at getting all of our stuff together so that we could leave as early as we could on Monday morning to get to Easton Lake where G&G are members of a campground.  So sweet that we could stay there for $1.00 a night!  Normally it is $35.00 a night, so it is a pretty SWEET deal!  Around 9:00 Sean and I went with mom and dad to Fred Meyer's and we got some REALLY cute stuff for Jenni.  It was great!  Such cute clothes for such a low price.  We also got some food and snacks for camping.

Monday morning came all too soon.  After a lot of packing up and waiting around, we finally left G&G's to go to the camp.  Sean, Jenni and I went with mom and dad first (there were two trailers and only 1 pickup truck) and the old trailer to get it set up for us to use.  We got there, and mom took Jenni on an adventure around the campsite to know where she was going.  I worked hard to set up our beds and make the trailer a little house for us.  Mom and dad left shortly after dad got the trailer for us to get the rest of the stuff and G&G.  Sean and I went for a walk to get some lunch, and then we came back to the trailer for a nap.  So great being able to just sleep for the afternoon.

This was inside our trailer, and the only picture I have until Wednesday because there were so many other cameras around.

After we woke up from our nap we took Jenni to the outdoor pool.  It was so fun.  The pool was too deep for Jenni, but she wore her water wings, and had an absolute BLAST!  She loved being in the pool with daddy, and whoever else would come in with her.  Mom and dad got back to the camp just as we were going to the pool so they got to see her swim too.

Now, I do consider myself a veteran camper, but for some reason, in my head, it was going to be SUPER hot all the time like it is in Yakima... not freezing cold in the evening after the sun started to set.  Needless to say, Jenni only had 2 pairs of pants, and 2 long sleeved shirts.  Now, thankfully we did pack a warm coat for her because we didn't know if it would rain, but I only had 1 really lame flimsy sweater, and I was so cold.  Grandma thankfully had a sweater that I was able to use that night, and Jenni was warm enough, after she warmed up from swimming.  Note to self: camping in the Cascade Mountains is not much different than camping when I was a kid...Sweaters, hoodies, coats, and warm pants are a MUST!

Tuesday Jenni woke up SUPER early, and then climbed into bed with daddy.  She did go back to sleep, but not for very long.  Finally we did get up and head over to G&G's trailer.  Jenni got to have some breakfast and then we just kind of putzed around the campsite until it started getting warmer.  Jenni wanted to go swimming again, so we took her to the pool and sat there.  The water was FREEZING at this point in the day, so I just sat by the pool in my cute belly-showing swimsuit and let Sean and Jenni play in the water.  Now, one thing with this cute, belly-showing swimsuit, is that my belly hasn't seen the sun this summer at all.  So, I have quite the funny triangle shaped burn-turned-tan-line on my tummy.
After a while, I went back to the campsite to get lunch ready for our little family, while Sean got Jenni all dry.  We ate lunch and Jenni went down for a nap.  I went back to the pool side for about half an hour and then I decided it was nap time too.  Ahhhh, praise the Lord for nap time!
When I did finally resurface Sean's cousin, and my very good friend, Chantelle was at the camp with her two beautiful girls, Brookelyn and Nicole.  The five of us girls went to the little playground area and the little girls got to play together.  It was lots of fun!

So, one of mom's requests was that Grandpa would make his home-made clam chowder.  Grandpa, loving his children all very much, gladly obliged.  It was delicious!  Uncle Greg, Uncle Gary, and Aunty Debbie all came out for the afternoon and for supper.  Uncle Gary is really big into making animal sounds, and Jenni really took to him.  Tuesday was the last night that we were able to have a fire because a fire ban was going to take effect at midnight that night.

Sean and I went to bed around 10:00 and apparently Aunt Becky and Uncle Curt did come that night and set up.

Well, there will be more to come, but I do believe that this is enough for right now.