Menu Plan Monday

WOW, what a week we had last week. I am repeating most of my menu from last week because life got so busy we ended up doing light and easy for most of our meals last week, we also had a couple meals out last week. I don't have much grocery shopping to do this week, as I already have everything in the freezer!

Here is our menu plan for this week:
(The words on the document in blue are clickable recipe links)


Weekly Menu Plan



For more great recipes and menu plans visit: Organizing Junkie

Menu Plan Monday

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Works for Me Wednesday

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about My Favorite Recipe Sites and Tools. I have been using those methods and sites for a while now, and will continue to do so. I recently found out about a favorite new site for Menu Planning that is truly amazing!!

Saymmm is a fairly new site that is an "all in one site". You can meal plan, store recipes and recipe links, find new meal ideas on the site, create a grocery list(both printable and for your mobile phone), and more. You can do all this for FREE!! (there is a Premium Plus version that does cost money, but the FREE version has plenty of FREE features)

I signed up for Saymmm about 3 weeks ago and used it for the first time this week. It is very user friendly and easy to use. I like that you can do a menu plan by the week or by the month. Saymmm generates a grocery list based upon the recipes you are using. You can add or delete from that grocery list or create your own. You can add your recipes or recipe links to your favorite recipes and organized them into categories. You can view your account from any computer or internet enabled cell phone. This is a great feature if you are away from home(at work or other place) and need to be reminded of dinner plans. The grocery list is also viewable on any internet enabled cell phone, so no need for "paper lists". They have some awesome features for Bloggers. The features include being able to clickable/printable grocery lists and recipe links! 

The only "Downfall" of Saymmm and I hope they add this ability in the near future, is that it only allows for planning for one meal a day. I plan all our meals each week(breakfast, lunch and dinner) and I can only use Saymmm to input my dinner plan. I hope that in the future they allow for inputting more then one meal plan per day. 

Check out all the great features of Saymmm:

1. Plan Meals with Ease
2. Grocery Shopping List
3. Recipe Organizer
4. Ideas for Meals
5. Share with Friends
6. Mobile Phone Access
7. Using Saymmm on your Blog

I will probably continue to use my Menu Planning document until Saymmm adds a feature that allows for inputting more then one meal a day. I will be using Saymmm for a Recipe Organizer, Grocery List Creator and other aspects!! Saymmm is an excellent Menu Planning Tool and it Works for Me!!

For more great hints and tips visit Kristen over at We are THAT Family.

Works for Me Wednesday

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Simple Womans Daybook 2/8/11

 

 
Outside my window...  Lots and lots of snow on the ground, street is very slushy. The sun is finally shining after about a week with no sun!

I am thinking... about how much I am looking forward to my afternoon out for Library Day. 

I am thankful for... the blessings of extra funds coming in the week so we can  pay a couple of monthly bills. 

I am wearing... Grey Jogging pants and a Purple Shirt.  (house clothes)

I am remembering...  today is the 1 month anniversary of blogging on here.

I am creating... Nothing! I don't have any creative juices flowing right now. LOL

I am going... to the Library and to run some errands this afternoon when DH gets home from work.

I am reading.... blogs and newspapers. I will be changing my sidebar reading list this afternoon after I come back from the library.

I am hoping... that my husband gets a call that his check is ready today. It was supposed to be ready on the 3rd.

On my mind... not much. Just want to reorganize some things in my life.

From the learning rooms... Doing our regular studies this week!

Noticing that... I haven't been experiencing SAD(Seasonal Affective Disorder) as much as I normally do in January and February. So very glad for that.

Pondering these words... Philippians 2:4  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others

From the kitchen...  Here is our Menu Plan for 2/6-2/12

Around the house... We are trying to get our house reorganized and decluttered. We have done most rooms, just have toy room and boy's bedroom to finish. 1 room a day is the best way for us.

One of my favorite things~    Spring Pad.  I wrote about it a couple weeks ago and since then found a couple new uses for it! I used it and created grocery lists with it this week and used the Android app for Spring Pad to be able to view the lists via my phone. I was able to check off items as I put them in my cart. I am creating a book list of books that I want to check out at the library today in SpringPad and will view the list on my phone while getting books! SpringPad is so versatile and very helpful!

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Today is Library Day. Tomorrow we have AWANA and Mid week church activities. Thursday my 6yr old Daniel is having his tonsils and adenoids taken out. Because of that we won't have much planned for a few days after Thursday.

A picture to share:

A slideshow of a few of the many pictures taken during the Chicago Blizzard last week.

Are you a blogger? Go on over to the  Simple Woman's Daybook and join the blogging and read what others are doing!

Simple Womans Daybook 2/8/11

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Menu Plan Monday

Welcome back to another week of Menu Plan Monday! I am completely prepared for this week. I did my plan on Friday night, made my grocery shopping list on Friday night and went shopping Saturday morning. I hit 4 stores in 3hrs and got everything we need for this coming week.I left my apartment at 6:45am and went to Sam's Club, Super Tony's, a small local ethnic store and Aldi's. I arrived back home around 10am. I was able to stay within budget for our weekly stuff. I spent $90 on our weekly groceries, out of a budget of $100. I also had "pantry stock budget" of $75 and I was $9 under on that! So I am $19 under for the month so far!

I have some carry overs from last week because we had a wild and crazy week last week due to Blizzard Shuts Down Chicagoland.  My 6yr old son was supposed to have his tonsils out last Thursday, but that didn't happen. It is rescheduled for this Thursday, thus the plan to eat out for 2 meals on that day.


Here is our menu plan for this week:
(The words on the document in blue are clickable recipe links)
Weekly Menu Plan 2/6-2/12


For more great recipes and menu plans visit: Organizing Junkie

Menu Plan Monday

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Library Day

Libraries are an awesome place! We have so many libraries here in Chicagoland that I have access to! I really like that you can borrow books and then return them. No cost to you and no bookshelf after bookshelf piling up of books that you only read once and then piling up "looking pretty" in your house or apartment.

I really look forward to my Library Days!! I really  Enjoy reading and love libraries, but I especially like the Oak Lawn Public Library. They have a large selection of the genres of books that I like to read and a wonderful staff! The Oak Lawn Library is not my "home" library and I love the staff at my home library which is Berwyn Public Library. The majority of the staff at the Berwyn Public Library know me by my first name and are extremely helpful and nice!


I get the majority of my books from the Oak Lawn Library and then quite a bit more from the Berwyn Library, most of the time I have about 40-50 books checked out on my card at at time. I usually have about 15 books that we are using in our homeschool studies, about 20 or so Christian Fiction and then the rest are books in the other genres I enjoy. Both libraries allow for 3 week check outs and 1 3 week renewal, so ultimately I have the books for 6 weeks. This works especially well for the Oak Lawn Library as it is about 10 miles from my place, although very well worth the traveling every 6 weeks!

I have books due back at the Oak Lawn Library this Thursday the 10th, but I won't be able to go that day, so I am going to go either tomorrow or Tuesday. I would rather go Monday, as the rest of the week is going to be frigid cold, but I might not be fully prepared to go tomorrow. I have to do my research and get my list ready and I don't really want to stay up late and get up early to complete the list. I also want to be able to do some shopping while I am out in that area(my favorite thrift stores are near the library) and I think our State Refund will be deposited on Tuesday so I would have some spending money then! I also have a coupon for a FREE combo meal at Corner Bakery, so when I go I am going by myself and will probably have dinner by myself after the library and then so some shopping!

Library Days are awesome and I really look forward to Library Days!  

Library Day

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Exhaustion and Cabin Fever

Well one thing about the "Chicago Blizzard 2011" is sure helped me accomplish a lot this week, but now I am exhausted and have major cabin fever!! 

I have been making so much progress of getting things accomplished this week, that today I was crabby and exhausted! I have been doing so much on all by myself, no help from hubby or boys, so I just wore myself out. I "quit" around 2pm today and have just been relaxing. 

I got all the laundry in the house washed, folded and put away. It took a couple of days, but it is DONE! I also got our kitchen all nice and cleaned, even the upper cabinets. Lower cabinets are getting done early next week. I cleaned our pantry throughly this week. I thought it was only going to take 30 minutes, but it took 3hrs due to a big mess we found in there! My front room is looking very decluttered!! I now have to focus on some computer stuff that I need to get organized and get on track with. I will accomplish that over the next few days!

The boys and I will be experiencing cabin fever for a few more days yet! Hubby has to work Friday and Saturday in the afternoon, so we will be "homebound" staying safe and warm. They really need to get out for  a couple of hours. I am hoping that if it is warm enough tomorrow or Saturday that maybe hubby will take them sledding in the morning time! I can't do outside winter activities due to a major sensitivity to cold air. I usually stay home and get hot cocoa ready for when they come home! I am getting bored being in the house all the time though. I love the outdoors, but not in the winter time! 

THANKFULLY our landlord hired someone to come and clear out the parking spots and clear the back alley so we can get out and go places tomorrow! I think I might run to the store and do some grocery shopping tomorrow morning! I need an escape from the confines of these 4 walls of this apartment!!! 

Exhaustion and Cabin Fever

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Blizzard Shuts Down Chicago-Land

I had been hoping and wishing all since the beginning of January for a storm that would have us "snowed in" for a couple of days. I don't mind because I don't have to go out much since we homeschool. I also am always prepared for the most part for something to happen! My husband kept telling me "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it". Well we sure enough "got it" over the past 36hours. Chicagoland has been blanketed with 20.2" of snow!!

The Meteorologists on the Chicago news had been predicting and warning everyone about the pending storm since Saturday, so everyone was forewarned and had time to plan accordingly. Many weren't believing the hype, but I did. I went shopping on Monday evening at SuperWalmart and purchased boots for my 8yr old Joshua and for myself. We also did some grocery shopping while there. We were shopping around 10pm and the staff was saying they had a "mad rush" earlier in the evenings and the shelves certainly showed proof of that. I took some pics of the shelves as I had never seen anything that crazy:

I purchased what I could at SuperWalmart and got home around 12midnight. Harlin(my DH) had to work yesterday from 6am-2pm and the storm was just starting. I had texted him a couple of lists to stop and get some more groceries from the local Fruit Market and from Aldi's. He did some shopping before coming in for the night. He got in just as it started getting really bad outside!!

It started in full force around 6pm last night and we had around 5" by midnight, around the time I fell asleep. I woke up around 6am and it it must have snowed 2" an hour overnight because it was crazy outside. I grabbed my camera and got some pics from by the front door. I got up and began cleaning and doing laundry and woke the rest of the family up around 9am. We all had breakfast and the hubby and the boys went outside to shovel, dig out our van and have fun. Hubby took plenty of pics while he was outside.

Tuesday afternoon I started seeing posts on my Facebook page from local Chicago area and suburbs Libraries, Zoos, Museums, and more that they were closing early on Tuesday and would be staying closed until normal opening time on Thursday. Chicago Public Schools actually called a SNOW DAY for today also. I went to Chicago Public Schools my entire school life ('77-'90) and we NEVER had a weather related day off of school. Basically if it wasn't a necessary service like Police, Fire, Streets and Sanitation, Hospitals, Hotels and such, it was closed today. Some grocery stores were even closed today. Chicago Public Schools have already called another SNOW Day for tomorrow as did all the other schools in and around Chicagoland. Some businesses and services are opening back up tomorrow, but some are staying closed. I actually hope for the kids sake that all the schools stay closed until Monday! We are taking "Snow Days" until  Monday with our Homeschool!

Blizzard 2011 pics:

We will be "Snowed In" for a few days!! My husband doesn't have to report back to work until Friday afternoon at 3pm. I hope that our city has plowed our back alley by then, as it is our only way to get our van out of our parking spot and into the streets. Chicagoland is also going to be FRIGID cold tomorrow. High barely reaching 10° Great day to stay inside and "hunker down".

I am praying for any who has been affected either by the Chicago area Blizzard or any inclement weather anywhere in the country. Stay safe and warm everyone!!  

I think I will be careful what I wish for in the future! LOL!!

Blizzard Shuts Down Chicago-Land

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