Menu Plan Monday - and Menu Plans in General

It's nice to have a place to store my weekly menu plans again. We have been eating WAY too much take out these last several weeks during the move so it's time to get back into planning on a more regular basis.

A few friends have asked me why I menu plan, thinking it was pain the you-know-where, but I am here to tell you that it is a simple and straighforward process that really saves me time and money. I have read lots of different blogs and even a couple of books on the subject, all of which have helped me to streamline my own menu planning process. Here are some of my tips:

First of all, I plan right here on my blog. That way it is posted for me to refer back to for the coming week and also into the future. I can also link to my recipes easily (I have most of the recipes that I frequently use listed in a Recipe index you can find up on the menu bar) and I don't lose it like I would a paper plan!

Truly, the process is simple.

I start by looking in fridge, freezer and pantry to see what I already have on hand(especially meats) and decide what I have available to cook.

I also look at the calendar to see what is going on and what kind of dinner is appropriate. This really depends on whether or not all four of us will be at home for the meal, whether we are having company join us and whether or not we have some kind of activity before or after supper.

Then I just list a meal I know everyone likes for each night. Lastly, I check to make sure I have all the necessary indgredients to make each meal and if I don't, I add those items to my grocery list - which is now much shorter than it used to be!

I used to look at the grocery store flyers on the weekend to see what was on sale and plan menus around that, but that did take a lot of time - perhaps more than the few dollars I ended up saving was worth. Where I DO save money is in two simple facts:
1) I have ingredients on hand to make a fast, nutritious and tasty meal at home instead of buying fast or prepared food which costs more.
2) I am only buying what I need and will use for the week so there is far less waste.

I also use coupons (although I am not a fanatic!) and shop sales to stock up - especially on meats and staples.

That's about it! Really, it's not difficult and once you have done it a couple of times it will only take you 15 minutes to plan your meals for the week. Why not try it? For 15 - 30 minutes of planning you get a week of peaceful evening dinners. Well...I can't guarantee that, especially if you have rambunctious boys like mine, but at least there will be a little less stress over what to serve for dinner!

So with all that in mind...here's my weekly menu plan:

Monday: Cheesy Tomato Fish Bake, Rice, Side Salad

Tuesday: Swim night - Chicken breasts done in the crockpot with some bottled BBQ sauce will be waiting for us to serve on hamburger buns along with a salad and raw veggies for the boys.

Wednesday: I am heading to visit my BIL's and (soon-to-be) SIL's new place for a ladies Home Decor Show and Party. I'll leave good ol' spaghetti with meat sauce (already made and in the freezer) for the boys

Thursday: Swimming (last night!!!) Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and carrot sticks will fill us up when we get home.

Friday: Homemade pizza and green salad

Saturday: We're hoping to go to Calaway Park for a couple of hours of rides and have a picnic dinner. I'll pack some bunwiches, juice boxes, some fresh fruit like cherries or strawberries and we'll get an ice cream at the park for dessert!

Sunday: Baked Ham, Schwartzies Potatoes, steamed Broccoli and Carrots.

For lots more meal planning ideas and inspiration, check out Orgjunkie every Monday! And if you try menu planning, I'd love to hear how it goes!

New News

Wow...it's hard to believe it has been over two months since I posted. So much has happened:

Move to new house? CHECK
Find tenants for rental property? CHECK
Hire a nanny? CHECK
Start new job? CHECK (Well, official start is mid-August, but I've already been a lot of hours put in!)

Yeah, it's been crazy, but good. It's nice to have a new start, and we have had our share of them lately. We love our new house and are busy settling in before nanny comes to live with us and I go back to work. And I decided to start a new blog to partly commemorate all this newness, but also for a practical reason. My new job is as an administrator of a large urban high school and although I won't be posting anything controversial or negative on my blog, I decided I didn't want my name in the title of a blog or website...a little more anonymity is in order. So, I have transfered all the content of my old personal blog for future reference and will start posting here on a more regular basis again. If you have my old blog marked as a favorite you may want to bookmark this one or follow it in your favorite reader. I will be deleting my old noreensmith.blogspot.com blog in a month or so.

I am excited to share our new home, new recipes, organizing ideas and of course bits and pieces of my cute little family with you!

What's for dinner?

So as of today this is what's in my freezer...

4 Steaks

2 pre-made Chicken Cordon Bleu
1.5 boxes Fish Sticks

8 pieces Salmon

6 Hamburger patties

4 lbs Ground beef

2 packages Chicken Thighs
3 packages of Chicken Breasts

2 Hams

1 Turkey

I NEED to clean out the freezer by the first week in June, so my challenge is to make dinners for the rest of the month without purchasing additional meat. By rough count I can make 21 meals, not including leftovers from things like the hams and turkeys. I may need to purchase the odd pantry item to complete a recipe, but I should be good.

We're having Pizza tonight and I am out Saturday so the boys will have Mac & Cheese, but I will start menu planning with just these items. We'll see how it goes!

Have you ever done an Eat from the Pantry challenge?

Gearing up for another move!

I have spent the last three weeks moving my Sharing Memories Scrapbooking website from Wordpress to work as a custom domain on Blogger. It's all working now, but it was a tonne of work! I didn't have time for any other blogging, that's for sure! But now that it's all OK, I am back, and now I have to start gearing up for another kind of move!

We are only 4 -5 weeks away from taking possesion of our new house, completing some small renos and moving in! Yikes!

There is still so much to do. (Hey...if you have any no-fail moving tips I am all ears!) I am determined NOT to move stuff like broken or outdated toys, too small clothes, old linens etc. I am in the process of getting rid of all those items and we are planning a mother of a garage sale later in the month!

I decided I better take that approach with food as well. I would love to be able to move an empty chest freezer and maybe only a small box of essentail pantry items...wouldn't that be great? SO just like back in January I need to create a month long use-up-what-we-have-eat-from-the-pantry-or-freezer-so-I-don't-have-to-move-it plan!

It might take a few days to write up the meal plan, but I am committed to just buying fresh dairy and produce over the next few weeks! There might be some pretty unorthordox dinners in there somewhere...just so I can use stuff up! Anyway, check back for the plan tomorrow or Wednesday and wish me luck!

Organizing the week

Is it really Monday again? I can't believe time goes so fast. It's a snowy morning here...perfect for staying in, making some lists and feeling a sense of accomplishment from ticking things off it. I am working on switching the boys clothes over from winter to spring and I actually will have a post about organizing kids clothes in the next little while.

I'm working on some other projects as well...Album kits for a group of ladies who want to start Faithbooking and new Page Paks for Sharing Memories Scrapbooking (I have new papers and goodies I can't wait to use in some new page paks!). And I am trying to get items sorted for a big Garage Sale in May prior to the move (and getting lots of tips and inspiration from Money Saving Mom's Clear the Clutter Challenge. I think I am going to have a purge party for my girlfriends when I have it all sorted...I have TONNES of candles and goodies from my days as a PartyLite consultant!

It's all good.

It's also...

...so here's the meal plan for this week:

Monday: Jambalaya ( I use Zatarains Jambalaya mix and add chicken, ham, sausage or shrimp - whatever I have on hand) with Veggies and Dip

Tuesday: Porcupine Balls with Rice and Mixed Vegetables

Wednesday: my poor little Sammy will be having minor surgery today, so food will be the last thing on my mind. It will probably be leftovers, especially from last night as the meatball recipe makes lots!

Thursday: Fish Sticks and Oven Fries, Veggies and Dip

Friday: Resuming Pizza night...it's been a few weeks since we've done a homemade pizza!

Saturday: Grilled Steaks (hot dogs for the boys since they won't eat steak), Baked Potatos, Asparagus and Caesar Salad

Sunday: Chicken and Stuffing Bake, Mashed Potatos, Steamed Veggies

Have a great Monday!

We're Back!

And what a lovely little break we had!

It was so nice to have a good visit with Shane's family, eat in restaraunts (no cooking and no dishes!), play and read with the boys without having distractions of house and home, swim in the pool and soak in the Hot Tub and generally relax and go with the flow.

On Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny paid us a visit (don't know how he found our hotel room, but he dropped off a couple of baskets with fun and yummy treats!)

We didn't have an Easter egg hunt since we were in the hotel, but the weather wouldn't cooperate anyways. (I am so envious of folks who can have outdoor egg hunts in shorts and spring dresses!)
The boys got dressed in their finest and I of course wanted a great brothers-in-matching clothes picture. Yeah...not so much...

First Grayson was "helping" Sam stay still, then I jsut couldn't get them to look at me at the same time. Oh well...

We had a great dinner (lunch) at Shane's aunt's house

and got to visit with Great Granny, Grandpa and other aunts, uncles and cousins.

As much as Shane and I enjoy visiting, swim time was always the highlight of each day for the boys! Grayson can stand up in the shallow end of the pool and Sam is fearless in the water. Both boys were leaping of the edge after a matter of minutes.

I was so pleased to have time to read my new book and catch up on podcasts for my Library of Memories class. (I am excited and reenergized to get back to my system to continue to categorize photos and make some new layouts. Stacy Julian is brilliant!)

Now it's back to laundry, cooking, cleaning and organizing. I have some big tasks ahead of mein the next few weeks...renting out our Dalhousie house, hiring a nanny for August and starting to get ready for our June move. It's a good thing I DID have a break!

Why I Relish Road Trips

We're heading out on the road tomorrow to visit Shane's family for Easter. Not everyone loves driving for six hours, but I do.

I LOVE road trips.

I love those six hours it takes us to drive to see Shane's family.

I can actually sit quietly and do NOTHING.

I am not obligated to fold laundry, clean my house or run after the kids.

I do hand juice boxes and books back to the boys and occasionally change the CD, but that's about it!
It's a lovely time to read, sit and think, take a catnap, listen to some music, or chat with hubby. It's something I really look forward to.

We head out to see the in-laws twice a year - Thanksgiving and Easter. Over the past few years I have come up with a few things that help us have a good trip.

1) Re-usable packing list. I keep it on my computer, update it with anything new/different, print it out and I'm ready to pack.

2) Food. For our road trip I always pack some bunwiches, juice boxes and water bottles, portable fruit like bananas & apples, baked treats like banana chocolate chip muffins and cookies, munchies like trail mix or pretzels, and a few candies or treat size chocolate bars that come in useful as bribes in the car! If the weather is good we stop for a picnic lunch at a rest stop about 2.5 hours into the journey. It lets the kids run off some steam. If the weather is crappy we simply eat in the car. I always bring lots of wet-ones and paper towels for those inevitable spills!

2) Travel toys. Grayson is allowed to take whatever toys/books he wants that fit into his backpack and I pack a selection toys/books for Sam.  I also try to bring a few new dollar store items to bring out when the boredom hits.

3) Comfort items. Grayson and Sam both bring a stuffed animal and a cozy blanket so they can rest a little bit more comfortably. Grayson doesn't nap at home anymore, but he will inevitably fall asleep in the car!

4) Music. We don't have a DVD player in the car but we listen to a variety of kids and grownup music, as well as books on tape. A change in music can change the atmosphere in the car.

5) Just for me. I usually pack a book I have been meaning to read, a magazine to flip through and my computer. I have been known to sort digital photos and digi-scrap in the car for sure! I also bring along earphones so I can listen to music when the boys are sleeping or listening to something different.

Those little things make a big difference in getting ready for, and having, a nice journey. And for more specific tips for traveling with kids, check out this post.

Whether or not you are traveling this weekend, have a safe and Happy Easter!