This sauce is so, so good! My kids actually requested Red Pepper Pasta for dinner the other night, and since we are doing Fill Your Freezer February I figured I might as well put some away in the freezer while I was at it! It’s not spicy, but feel free to add red pepper flakes if you like some spice!
As a mom with many little mouths to feed, meal planning and cooking can become a huge, dreaded task. Creating a monthly meal plan takes away some of our weekly stress and can turn cooking into an enjoyable task instead of a dreaded one! I realized a few months ago weekly meal planning wasn’t working anymore. I was meal planning for one-two days between searching pinterest, looking through the pantry, and making a list and then taking another one or two trips to the store a week only to turn around a few days later to start it all over. I was burned out and frustrated. I started monthly meal planning and using this printable system and it has been such a relief!
I saved the best for the last: Kitchen Day!
You can call it meal prep, food prep, or make ahead, but whatever title you give it, it sure helps the rest of the week run {more} smoothly. A meal can come together a whole lot faster, thinking ahead and having a ‘plan’ for the week, and it gives last minute options if it’s been a long day or little time to be in the kitchen. (more…)
Have you heard of no-spend September?
I came across a blog posted written about it and then I went and youtube searched it: so many people do this! It’s genius really, lots of people have just spent money on getting their kids back into school with new clothes, supplies, and school fees and this helps get family’s back on track before the holidays come rolling in!
Everyone does it a bit different, but from what I saw mostly people:
-still pay all of their normal bills
-still put gas in their vehicles
-either lower their monthly grocery budget by $100 (say, $400 vs the normal $500) OR they only buy $100 worth of groceries every week.
and DON’T do the following:
-no drive through or eating out AT ALL the WHOLE month. (anyone else guilty more than they’d like to admit) *raising hand*
-no “fun” activities that COST money, of course free doesn’t count.
-no going to target (for us it’s Lowed!) without a list and buy $150 worth of stuff you really, truly didn’t NEED at this moment.
I cannot remember who now that I’m writing this, say they do this twice a year now. They do a no spend September and also one in January .. SO smart!
Although we aren’t necessarily doing a no spend September we are focusing on getting some debt paid. The Mr. has been working some overtime so we are making sure that isn’t just spend on random-ness! .. and I have made it a goal to spend $100 a week on groceries this month. I plan meals, but I really don’t stick to a “Monday is this” “Tuesday we are having this” strict schedule.. it’s more of a list and then I make what I feel like having, or cooking 😉
Breakfast:
banana muffins and smoothies
pancakes with PB and bananas, milk
cereal
egg sandwich- egg, cheese, ham on an English muffin
baked oatmeal
Lunches:
leftovers
sandwiches (usually PB& jelly)
homemade ham and cheese hot pockets
Dinner:
chili
tomato soup and grilled cheese
beef stroganoff, roasted carrots
nachos- beans, rice, lettuce, greek yogurt, black olives, avocado, salsa
chicken, rice, and a veggie
pizza – homemade
Happy Monday friends!
have you heard of No Spend September? if you’ve done it let me know how it worked out!?!!
Like a lot of wife/mom’s I am the primary grocery shopper.
Okay, actually if I let my husband shop we would be broke and hungry 😉 I kid. Kind of.
We have been talking a lot lately about getting back on the debt free road. Since buying the house last year and so many projects we’ve kind of fallen off track. Like we heard on a Dave Ramsey talk show session this last weekend “we are letting our money flow out of our hands like a sieve. ” And I have to admit our grocery money is all over the place.
Problems:
1. Multiple grocery trips (I do menu plan but sometimes we go with what we are hungry for vs what I’ve already planned out and therefore are running to the store more times than needed).
2. Out to eat. Which is partly my fault for not having food prepped. Naturally we are on the go a lot and ended up ‘losing track of the time.’
Solutions:
1. Decided on a GROCERY budget and keep receipts…to explain: I get a certain amount each month and out of that I use it for everything- groceries, amazon, out to eat, art supplies, etc.
2. Meal prep. Especially for the weekend.
3. Continue meal planning – with at least 2 ‘extra’ meals to switch out if needed.
4. Freezer cooking .
5. Costco.
I need to keep myself accountable so I’m typing it out here 🙂 Happy to have anyone join in if you need the challenge too, or share your meal plan in the comments.
Do you have a grocery budget? What is it and how many people are in your family?