Menu Plan for 3/29-4/2

I did not have to go to the store this week for any supplies for our meals. I have been trying very hard to come up with meals from what we have on hand or make a menu for 2 weeks when I go to the store so I have everything.  Grocery shopping weekly with two little ones in tow is just not my cup of tea.  Here is the menu:

--Chicken Azteca in the crockpot served over brown rice (another staple in our house)

--Creamy Spaghetti
        Basically spaghetti with a little bit of cream cheese in the sauce.  I have 4oz of cream cheese left over from last week that I need to use up. Thought this would be easy and the kids love spaghetti!

--Greek lemon chicken and roasted potatoes

         I plan to use an olive oil, rosemary, and lemon juice marinade for the chicken.

--For dessert one night (or a couple) I plan to make some rice pudding. I have about 1/2 gallon of milk to use up since today is milk delivery day.

And as for tonight, well, since I made a ton of food for the party yesterday I am taking the night off. Its Chinese takeout tonight for us! Yay!!!

Loving the outdoors

It has been very nice to finally have our backyard fenced in. I don't have to worry about the kids wandering off if I turn my back for a second, or taking the dog out on a leash. Plus, the kids love to chase the dog around the yard.  There have been some really great days this past month of nice sunny, warm weather. Perfect for letting the dog and the kids outside to burn off some energy. 

The boys have such a good time outside. We love to go for walks around our neighborhood every night that it is nice outside.  It wears the boys out and gives me some exercise.  Peytonn loves to look at the all the construction machinery from the new houses they are building. He is just so curious about trucks and bulldozers.  We also hope to get the boys a wood play center this summer for the backyard.  If anyone has one, where did you purchase it at, how are the materials, was it hard to put together, and would you recommend it?

What's for dinner?

I love playing this game. What's for dinner tonight at your house? Please include the recipe if you  can and what sides you are serving with it. This is a great way to get some new ideas for meals.

Tonight we are having Chili Cornbread Casserole.  Although I have some leftover chicken from a meal earlier in the week, so I will be using chicken in ours instead of ground beef.

I got this recipe from Mommy's Kitchen and here is the link to Chili Cornbread Casserole.

Lunch for the little ones

I've been home from work most of the week due to the babysitter being on Spring Break and I have been unable to find anyone with a free schedule to watch the boys. So, we've enjoyed the last two days at home, running errands, and playing outside. I don't really know why, but I was really struggling yesterday trying to figure out what to make for lunch. I started searching  Recipezaar and found a recipe for ham roll ups. I had made the baked ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner the night before and had a few pieces of ham left over.  Although, I didn't really want it to be the same exact thing that we had for dinner.  This recipe was great!! Take 8oz of softened cream cheese (I only used 4oz) and mix some chopped green onions with it.  Spread it on tortillas and place a slice of ham on the tortilla.  Roll it up like a cigar. 

Now, I'm not a big ham lunch meat person to begin with, but these were super yummy!!! The boys loved them and it was easy for them to pick up and eat.  And very little mess (unless you have a child like mine who decides to unroll it half way through to figure out what's inside!).

Here is the link to the Ham Rollups.
*Ok, after looking at the recipe, it says you put the cream cheese mixture on the ham slice and roll that up, no tortilla.  You can do it that way or put it on the tortilla for easy handling.

Meal Plan 3/22-3/26

It had been 2 weeks since we last went grocery  shopping and it seems like I could probably go a month without heading to the store, except to get some basic stuff like fruit/veggies, cheese, and bread.  I think I have stock piled so much that I almost feel overwhelmed at times looking at my pantry and chest freezer. My goal for April is going to be using up as much as possible from our pantry and freezer and making recipes/meals from ingredients that we already have on hand.

But as for this week, here is our meal plan:
--Mini ham and cheese sandwiches (AMAZING!)
--Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
--Homemade White Castle Sliders

If needed meals:
--Shrimp Scampi with pasta
--Smothered Southern Pork Chops

I had almost everything to make each of these meals this week. The only ingredients I got a the store today were ham, swiss cheese, velveeta cheese, and King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls.  Since it is just me and the two little ones for dinner, I try to double up on ingredients if I can. For example, I really wanted to make those yummy ham and cheese sammy's for dinner one night and the recipe calls for Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. Now, obviously the two boys and I are not going to consume 12 rolls in one meal. So, then I remember reading a post by my friend Melissa over at Committed Housewife that she had made these sliders for her family for dinner one night. I found the recipe and they also called for Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. Bingo! That gives me another use for the other half of the package of rolls. Buy one ingredient and use it twice, money and time saver!

The rest of the shopping trip was dedicated to the menu for Peytonn's birthday party this weekend. Total I think we spent just over $100 and we should be good for 2 weeks.  Also, Sunday is milk delivery day (yay!). The boys get very excited when the milk comes or when its our turn to go to the farm and pick up/deliver the milk. One of the families that we share the driving with is heading out on Spring Break this week.  They asked us if we would like some of their milk since they will be gone. ABSOLUTELY, I said! We usually go through 2-3 gallons per week and lately I have been forced to buy a gallon of organic milk from the store because by Wednesday or Thursday we are out of our raw milk. The nice family gave us an extra gallon of milk this week and for free!! Woot! The entire top shelf of my refrigerator is filled with jars of milk and nothing else. Love that and love free things from generous people! :)

New bag

I have been carrying the same Vera bag since July of last year and although I LOVE my bag, it's time for a new one.  I was searching blogs this morning and came across the Moms Need To Know blog. I was reading through her posts and then came to one about Vera bags and a discount code. Score!!! I went to the Vera website through my  Swagbucks homepage so that I could get the points for my purchase.

Select colors are on sale for $35 for the Vera Pleated Tote. I got this green color, I have seen it out in public and I love how vibrant the green is. Plus, it was on sale! Also, you can get another 20% off using the code save20sale at checkout. Total with shipping, mine came to like $38. That is super cheap for a Vera bag!!

I am really liking the pockets on the side, it will be easy to stick pacifiers in and cell phones. Plus it has a zippered top which helps keep everything secure. Heaven knows I have bent down to help one of the kids and here comes all of the contents of my purse all over the ground! I need a zippered top purse.  Not to mention, it helps keep the kiddos out of my purse. They are both chapstick stealers. :)

Any ideas?

I need some help. I received an Amish Friendship Bread starter and it is due to be made up tomorrow.  The problem is, when you make it you get like 4 separate starters to hand out. I was wondering if anyone had any variations for this recipe that would make it different or a variation where it will only make one loaf or enough for one starter? 

I think I have seen some recipes out there for variations, but I want to see what you all have in mind. Any help is appreciated! :)