Sunday, February 6, 2022

Menu Planning Week 5

I am really doing well this year on the menu planning. 

This week we only had one change, since I had a Doctor's appointment on one side of town and we had a coupon I brought home take out. Also we had one day that the boys and the husband were home all day while I was at work and they chose to order subs.

Sunday- Pulled Pork - I cooked up a large pork butt we had and then we had some for dinner and I have three more bags put away in the freezer for quick meals.


Monday - Chicken Patty Sandwich


Tuesday- Pizza

Wednesday- Taco's

Thursday- Beef Pot Pie - from the freezer. This was the meal that was switched out for take out .

Friday- Hot dogs and beans and this was the day that the Boys ordered subs.

Saturday-  Chicken Noodle Soup


Hope that everyone has had a great week menu planning. 








 

Goal Update Week 5

 I have had a great year so far in working on meeting my goals, I hope that I can keep it up the rest of this year.  

  

1 ) Work / Life Balance- Work Life balance has been going great, it is making me a better person at home and also at work. 

  

2) Menu Plan - Believe it or not for this time of our lives, planning a week at a time is perfect. We have done so many different types of menu planning over the years, so I have learned what works for one stage of life does not always work for other stages.  

 

3) Blog More- I have actually blogged for 5 weeks this year, I hope to keep this up. I really need to start jotting down ideas of what I want to write about.  

  

4) To Do List- Need to start working on this. While my notebook method for menu planning is going well, it doesn’t seem to be working for the to do list.  

  

 5) Game Time- We played Ticket to Ride again, it is quickly becoming a family favorite, today I am hoping to fit in a game of Labyrinth with the boys. What is really helping with this is that I bought a card table and we just set it up in the living room for game time, and then take it back down when we are done.  



 6) Personal Goals -  

 a) Get Up and Move- Had a lazy week, a few snow days. 



  

b) Drink More Water- Feel like a fish. 

  

c) Fast Food- We had takeout one night for dinner. Of course, I got all the way home before I noticed that my hamburger was not in the bag, so I had to drive all the way back.  

 7-a) Clean Kitchen before bed- I have been doing great at this, so I am adding another habit. 

  

7-b) Make my bed every morning – I did this 6 out of 7 days, and on that day the hubby was still in it when I left for the day. 


 8) Garden- Did plan on ordering seeds yesterday but ended up doing something fun. So today I will get the seeds ordered. Or I will end up having to buy plants from the store.  

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Shopping - Week 2-4

 Shopping this month, outside of the big trip as mostly been bananas, milk, some fruits and lettuce and tomatoes, and eggs lots of eggs. We did have a bit of illness so not shopping was easy, but we did have some family that doesn't live at home bring us some things we needed.

I will need to do a big shopping trip again in the next week or two, but have enjoyed just stopping at the store for just the little bit we really need.



Walmart- 27.11 ( 2.57) - eggs, milk, bananas, onions, turkey, apples

Walmart- 13.76 ( 1.34) - Tomatoes, tea, cookies, torilla

Walmart- I don't have the receipt, but it was milk, bread, eggs, bananas . so lets say 20 dollars.


475.07 for the month plus 45.02 in sales tax- so 120.09 over budget.

Time for another month and a hope that I can stay on budget.


Menu Plan 2022 Week 4

 Surprisingly this keeping to the menu, is working out. In fact this week we had only one day when someone got take out for dinner. That was because that child doesn't like any part of stuffed peppers so he bought himself panda express.

The plan for Week 4 was: 

                                                    Sunday- Pizza and Wings





Monday- Chicken Cranberry w/ egg rolls

                                                 


                                        Tuesday- Hamburgers- Made by Aidan

                                                

                                                  Wednesday- Chicken Wraps


                                               

                                               Thursday- Waffles w/ sausage

                                               

                                                    Friday- Stuffed Peppers

                                               

                                                    Saturday- Soup ( potato)

                                               


It was another of week of delicious on budget meals.

Goal Update - Week 4

 I have had a great year so far in working on meeting my goals, I hope that I can keep it up the rest of this year. 

1 ) Work / Life Balance- This is going surprisingly well, I don't know if it's because I have made it a goal and therefore am keeping it a priority. Or if just after a few difficult years, the current mode at work has become the new normal. But I give work my energy from  7 to 3:30 and outside of that  I haven't.

2) Menu Plan - What seems to be working is I am only planning one week at a time, and I am making the menu from what we have in the house. This is helping us stay on track and also to help empty out some of the odds and ends from the freezers. I am actually enjoying cooking, I just hope that this keeps up. 



3) Blog More- this week I only managed the blog entries on Sunday, but this coming week I do have Ideas for things I would like to write.


4) To Do List- I did make 6 different doctor appointments and completed some cleaning of the garage. 


5) Game TIme- Didn't get any games in, but we are having family dinner again on Tuesday so we should be able to play a quick game. 


6) Personal Goals - 

a) Get Up and Move- I did work at a kitchen one day, worked in the garage and also did some outdoor stuff since it was so nice out.

b) Drink More Water- DIdn't do so great at this goal this week, will make more of effort in the coming week.

c) Fast Food- Only one day, and even felt a little guilty, 

7) Clean Kitchen before bed- I have been doing great at this, so I am adding another habit.

7-2) Make my bed every morning - If I can get in the habit of clean kitchen before bed i can do the same for making the bed in the morning.

8) Garden- Just some pick up, need to order seeds and a mini green house to get things planted. 

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Pizza Making

Let's talk about pizza. We have pizza about once a week and have done so for more than 20 years.

It hasn't always been a pretty experience, just ask my kids. They can tell you some good stories like the gooey pizza  or the day the pizza made mom cry.

 We have done many different things over the years for pizza night. They include ordering pizza which gets pricy quick, english muffin pizza which always seems more like a lunch then a dinner. Then there was french bread pizza a step in the right direction. There were the times we tried to make dough from scratch, that didn't go well for many years but every so often we would try again. One thing that did work when we had the freezer space was buying par baked pizza crusts by the case from Sam's Club. We used to get them from the bakery department.

Then finally we managed to make pizza dough at home, and turn it into a delicious pizza. I think splitting the jobs is what made it work. I made the dough, but the actual rolling and making of the pizza was someone else's job. This was our son Conner's job at about age 12, and once he went to college Aidan took over at about the same age.

Does the pizza come out perfect each time no it doesn't, sometimes the crust gets a little crispy, or the dough doesn't roll out just right. But that is ok, we learn something new each time we make it, it's a team project and we have fun doing it. 

Now that Conner and Shadow live locally again they come home one day a week to make pizza and do laundry. I make the dough, but since I work full time outside the house I make the dough in large batches about once a month and freeze.  

Here is the recipe that we use to make the dough:

2 cups warm tap water

2 tablespoons yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

All of these are placed in a bowl or I use my kitchen aide mixer. Mix and let sit for a little bit till it looks foamy and smells yeasty. 



Then add about 4 cups of flour, it can vary based on how dry/ humid the air is.



Add enough flour to make a dough, knead until it forms a ball. Let it rise till doubled about 1 hour depends on the temp of the room.



Then it's time to make the pizza, this recipe will make one 3/4 sheet of pizza or 1 with a bit of a 16 inch round pizza.

    This time we made a 3/4 sheet pan the biggest that will fit in a normal oven. I like to spray the pan before rolling out the crust. This year we just got these two handy little tools. Wish we had found them years ago, the wooden roller works perfectly at rolling out the dough quick and easy. And the white one I can poke holes in the crust so much faster then with fork. 


On the other hand Conner does enjoy tossing the pizza first.



Time to add the toppings, whatever your heart desires. This one was a jar of alfredo sauce, one can of chicken, a hand full of diced bacon, mini peppers and broccoli. Along with parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese, and seasonings.

We baked it at 425 with the fan on in the convection oven for 8 mins ,check to see if the crust is able to be lifted from from the tray, if so then turn the pan and about 8 more min to make sure that the top cooks. If we are cooking 2 pizza's at the same time, we also rotate the pizzas at this time, so that they don't burn on the bottom.
The first time you make pizza in your oven keep a close eye on it so that you don't burn it.








Menu Plan 2022 Week 3

 The menu plan for the past week was :

Sunday- Meatloaf- From Freezer

Monday- Easy Mostly Homemade Chicken Soup



Tuesday- Ham and Cheesy Potato

Wednesday- Waffles w/ sausage - this was the only change to the menu we ended up serving leftovers instead of the the waffles.

Thursday- Instapot Beef w/ noodles



Friday- Teriyaki chicken w/ rice



Saturday- Steak and cheese quiche


And with being home all week, and not feeling all the great we ate scrambled eggs pretty much every day for breakfast/ lunch.



Goal Update- Week 3

 1 ) Work / Life Balance- Well it was an interesting week to say the least, it started as a short week do to a holiday. Then the district added 2 more days off due to the amount of sickness making its way around. Of course our whole house ended up being added to those who were sick, so we also stayed home on Thursday and Friday. So there was no outside the home work, but there also wasn't much going on here at home as we rested and did what needed to be done to survive.

2) Menu Planning- Since we were home all week , the menu was followed.



                                             

3) Blog More- this week I managed to write 2 Blog entries, and take lots of naps.


4) To Do List- Most days the list was to just feed the family, sleep and do one chore. I feel that this upcoming week really is going to be one that needs to to do list.


5) Game TIme- We played Ticket to Ride again, this time Aidan was the winner. We will start rotating the games we play but since most of us were coughing we didn't want to play a game that we had to talk a lot or that would take to long. 




6) Personal Goals - 

a) Get Up and Move- We spent the week sleeping, I did spend a few hours working in the yard yesterday as I was feeling better.

b) Drink More Water- I did drink water this week, lots and lots of water and tea anything to help my throat.

c) Fast Food- Since we didn't leave the house this week not much of a temptation. We did pick up hamburgers and chicken sandwiches on Saturday for lunch just as a treat.

7) Clean Kitchen before bed- I have been doing great at this, I am thinking of next month of adding another little habit,


8) Garden- I was able to get outside and lay down some cardboard, I am going to win against the weeds this year. I also was able to refill the bird feeder, so hopefully some of the song birds will be back.