Thrifty Thursday - on a Friday morning

Yesterday got a bit out of hand between a early morning dentist apt, helping at school, Girl Scouts, and life in general. So here is Thrifty Thursday on a Friday.

Last week I talked about what to pack lunches in, this week some ideas on what to pack in the lunches.

The main idea is think big and pack small.

The average lunch in our home has one sandwich ( 2 for active teen boys), a fruit /veggie, a snack, and sweet.

Sandwiches- I asked the kids what the like to eat in there lunches as far as sandwich fillings, and as much as giving them the same sandwich each day makes me cringe, that is what they want. So for bread we use the white whole wheat, and filling options are PB and Jelly, Bonogla, Ham, Turkey, and on some days tuna fish or egg salad. Right now the lunches are Dad- Ham, Conner- Bologna, Sarah- Turkey, Nolan - PB and Jelly, Kat- likes to change it up between tuna, ham, and peanut butter. In order to keep lunch meat fresh, when I buy the big pack of turkey or ham I only place what will be eaten in one week in the fridge the rest of the package heads to the freezer.

Fruits and Veggies - this includes carrots, celery, salad, apples, bananas, grapes, pears, applesauce, oranges and so on. For fruits like apples and bananas I buy the smallest ones I can find, for things like applesauce buy the big jar and then package small for lunch. Oranges cut into slices and then use a 1/2  a orange for each lunch.  We also eat the fruit that is season or cheapest. So in the spring when strawberries are out the children will find strawberries in there lunches, and in the winter when citrus is cheaper more oranges.

Snacks- once again buy the big bag and give the kids a serving size, so for example the average bag of pretzels is bought for 1.29, and has 11 servings in the bag. We use pretzels, tortilla chips ( with salsa in a small cup), sometimes chips, popcorn, graham crackers, and so on in this category.

Sweets- this is yogurt , pudding, a cookie, jello,quick bread once again bought big and repacked small. Yogurt is bought in the quart size, pudding I buy in the large #10 can from Sam's for about 4.00, and that makes about 22 smaller servings. Jello buy the big boxes and make your own in smaller cups.

If school lunches are 1.70 a day for grade school, and 1.80 a day for the older children and a husbands lunch out is 4.00 ( if he sticks to the dollar menu ), and on average it costs me 1.00 or less to pack there lunches. The weekly savings alone is over 30 dollars a week, over the course of a year that is a tidy bit, and worth the time for me to plan and get up a little bit before them to help in the lunch making.

Works for Me Wednesday - Teacher Gifts

Yesterday I sat down and counted all the teachers the children have between school and church and to comes to about 30 and I am sure I missed someone. With this many people to say thank you for the time and energy you put into my kids and with my kids that is a lot of energy, what to do for gifts that won't break the budget.

In the past I have done coffee cups, with hot coca packets, and chocolate dipped pretzels, marshmallow snowmen, and cookies on a stick. But this year since the number of adults involved has grown, we are doing cookie plates. Just simple paper plates piled high with goodies, wrapped up, and delivered with a smile and probably a hug if you are one Aidan or Kat's teacher.

On the plates are going to be sugar cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, snicker doodles, chocolate dipped graham crackers, chocolate covered marshmallows, chocolate covered coconut cookies, crusciki, and whatever else catches our eye.

Recipes and pictures to follow on Saturday once these are all made and ready to go.

This post is also linked at Works for Me Wednesday

And here is the link to all the recipies Teacher Box Cookie Recipies

Dutch Baby- Recipe

Yesterday we tried a new recipe in the house and for the most part it went over well, being my first try it wasn't very pretty but it did taste great. Nolan loved it, Conner liked it , I enjoyed it, Don ate it, and the younger two each tried it ( I think if it had looked better they would have eaten more), and in this house that means you will find this on the menu again.

This picture is not the one I made, mine wasn't picture worthy, as I think I mixed things up to much.

Dutch Baby, German Pancake , or just about anything else you might want to call it.

8eggs
2cups milk
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 475, melt butter in pan in oven

Beat eggs, add milk, stir in flour and cinnamon pour on top of melted butter. Bake for about 20 min.

I used to glass pans, next time I will try my cast iron, or maybe my cupcake pan.

Menu Plan Monday

This is my first Menu Plan Monday

Dinner Plan

Monday- Dutch Baby w/ applesauce this is the first time I am making this and if it turns out as I hope it does then I will post the recipe on Tuesday.

Tuesday- Three bean Chili w/ rice , cornbread w/ honey butter

Wednesday- Potatoe / Corn Chowder w/ home made bread

Thursday- Chicken and gravy, over bisquits w/ veggie

Friday- Family movie night and dinner out at school. 

Saturday- Chicken Taco's w/ Mexican rice and beans

Sunday- Roast Beef, Applesauce, potatoes, green beans, bread

Breakfast Plan

School Days- cearl, bagels w/ cream cheese

Saturday- Homemade Waffles w/ strawberries

Sunday- Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins


And of course this month I am trying to prepare most of our meals out of the freezer and pantry, to free up space for the big re-stock shop in January / February, and this menu plan does that. Except for the cearl, milk, eggs, all of this is from the freezer or pantry shelves.

The meals highlighted  are freezer meals that are pre- cooked and quick to the table.

This post is linked at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Aidan's Intro

I thought that it would be a good idea to introduce you to our family one by one, starting at the youngest and working our way up.

So Aidan is the youngest in our home, he is full of energy, and loves to explore the world around him. In the last few months he has learned to write his name and likes to refer to himself by his full name, first, middle, and last. He is always ready for a game of hide and go seek, chase, or tag, once in a while he can even be found looking at books or coloring.

He really wants to be one of the big kids and will tell you each day that he is getting taller, just like his brothers. He will help you with any job you ask from sweeping to shoveling.

Next up Kathryn

It's Sunday time to plan

What to blog about on Sunday's, I guess plans for the week sounds good for today.

My upcoming blog entry's will look something like this :

Monday- Menu planning for the week
Tuesday- Recipes
Wednesday- It Works for me
Thursday- It's all about thrifty ideas
Friday- It's all about the freezer
Saturday- It's all about books

And as far as real life we have some doctor appts, baking, caroling, youth game night, a family movie night out, plus the regular cleaning, laundry and after school activies. I am also looking to fit in some gift wrapping, family dinners, Christmas cards , and maybe even a nap.

So what do you have planned for your week ?

Saturdays are for Books

In keeping with the idea of a theme for each day so that I will keep on writing, sort of like the journal prompts that teachers use in school, Saturdays theme is going to be books. What I am currently reading, children's books that we love, and some book reviews.

We have a book that was given to us by a friend at church who saw it and thought about our family when he saw it. It is called The Seven Silly Eaters written by Mary Ann Hoberman and iillustrated by Marla Frazee.
It is a story about seven children added to a family one by one and how each one only likes to eat a certain food, and how over time the mom gets very tired trying to make each child happy. But in the end the children learn to help there mother and the family learns to work together.

I really like the illustrations in this books, they really show life in a larger then normal family the good, the bad, and the fun. The illustrations are very detailed, from the pictures on the fridge, to the kids hanging on the door knob, the pictures alone tell a story.

If you have a chance to buy or check this one out from the library you will surly enjoy it.