Menu Plan Monday, 1/18, from the pantry

Once again, everything this week is coming from the pantry and freezer. I also go back to work tomorrow, so lunches aren't on the menu.

Breakfasts: cold cereal, oatmeal, eggs and toast, bacon.

Suppers:
Monday: Chicken Pepperoni and Green Beans

Tuesday: Hamburger Helper, Mexican Sytle Veggies

Wednesday: Chicken and Dumplings, Peas

Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs

Friday: Cheesy Chicken and Potato Bake

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Steak and Baked Potatoes


For more menu plans, Visit I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Daily Schedule, Spring 2011

Once again, its that time of year. The time where my daily schedule changes. Below is the current schedule:

6:30 am: Up and at 'em. Wake Jacob, he gets dressed, feeds the dog and cat, and eats breakfast. I unload the dishwasher and toss in a load of laundry.
7:25 Jake gets on the bus. I begin exercising.
8:00 Quick shower, then fix breakfast for myself and Steve. Toss the wet laundry into the dryer. Eat, then do hair and makeup. Fold the laundry and put it away. Fix my lunch to take with me to work. Steve's on his own for lunch.
10:30 Go to work.
3:15 Come home. Jacob gets home at 3:40.
4:00 Start supper. Jacob does his homework. Spend about 30 minutes in the current zone.
5:30 supper time! Eat, then clean up the kitchen. Start the dishwasher.
7:00 I do my homework.
8:30 Jake has his shower and starts winding down. His bedtime is 9:30 on school nights.
9:30-11:00 time with hubby, then go to bed. Hopefully sleep sometime or another.

Pantry Inventory, Part 2: The cupboards

Most of these items are usually kept in the basement. I have 2 large shelving units that my dad made in one corner so I can keep like things together. Anything marked with an * was home canned last summer.
Sauces, Condiments, and Jams:
Pasta, tomato, pints*
Salsa, pints*
Cheddar cheese sauce
Alfred sauce
BBQ, Sweet Baby Rays
Pizza, pints*
Pancake syrup
Green tomato relish*
Italian dressing
Ranch dressing
French dressing
Mustard, yellow
Ketchup (must be Heinz, we don't like the others)
Strawberry Jam*
Apple Butter*
Blueberry Peach Jam*
Blackberry Jam*

Pastas, Grain, and Helpers: (I keep these upstairs, since they are in boxes)
Stove top stuffing
Garden rotini
Spaghetti
Lasagna
Egg Noodles
Couscous
Chicken Alfredo Homestyle Helper

Fruits:
Cocktail/Mixed Fruit
Pears*
Peaches*
Pineapple
Mandarin Oranges

Meats and Beans:
Tuna
Chicken
Salmon
Grillin Beans
Chili beans
Northern Beans
Refried Beans

Veggies:
Green Beans*
Pumpkin
Potatoes (I keep canned potatoes for quick mashed potatoes when I'm in a hurry)
Corn
Mushrooms
Dill Pickles*
Mixed Veggies
Peas
Tomatoes, quarts*
Diced tomatoes, Italian style

Soups and Assorted Ingredients:
Chicken Noodle Soup
Vegetable Beef Soup
Bean and Bacon Soup
Ramen Noodles
Turkey Chili (For quick chili-chees hot dogs or Chili-cheese baked potatoes)
Diced green Chilis
Chicken broth
Beef Broth
Cream Soups (I think I'll try making my own when these are gone)
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste


Pie Fillings (all of these are home canned):
Peach
Cherry
Strawberry
Blueberry

Baking Ingredients:
Chocolate Chips
Hershey's cocoa powder
All purpose flour
Self rising flour
Whole wheat flour
Granulated sugar
Brown sugar
Powder sugar
Assorted spices, flavorings, food color, etc



We only have a couple of grocery stores around here, including Kroger, Wal-Mart, and Save A Lot. Our Save A Lot is just a dirty store, so I very seldom shop there. Wal-Mart is too high on most things. I buy frozen veggies, soups, and meat at Kroger when there is a good sale. Otherwise, I drive about an hour 3-4 times each year to a larger town, where there is a Sam's Club and an Aldi, and stock up. I very seldom buy ingredients for a specific meal, instead stocking my pantry well and then menu-planning based on what I have on hand.

Pantry Inventory, Part 1: The Freezer

I like to keep a large stock of food, to use in lean times. Since this year, I plan to pay off at least $7000 in various credit card and doctor debt, I thought I'd share my pantry inventory, as I will be using the pantry a lot over the next few months.

This is what I keep in my freezer. The number after each item is the amount of meals each will make for the three of us. Tomorrow, I'll share the cupboard inventory.

Beef:
Meatballs (2)
Steak (9)
Ground beef (7)
Hamburger patties (1)
Stew meat (4)
Roast (1)

Other meats:
Pepperoni (4)
Kielbasa (2)
Cooked turkey (2)
Ground venison (5)
Italian sausage (2)
Corn dogs (4?)
Chicken (10)
Cooked, shredded, BBQ pork (2)
Whole turkey (should be able to get at least 6 meals out of this, including the stock)
White chili, cooked (1)

Fruits:
Mixed, 5 pound bag
Strawberries, 10 oz. bag

Veggies:
Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Carrot Mix (1)
Stoplight peppers, 2 cups
Shredded zucchini, 2 cups
Stir fry veggies (1)
Mixed veggies (3)
Veggie Soup Mix (5)
Mexican Style (1)
Italian Style (1)

Counting my Blessings

1. The love, grace, and acceptance of Jesus Christ
2. My amazing, funny, hot hubby
3. My intelligent and zany son
4. My home. It's not perfect, but it is (fairly) clean, spacious, and abundant.
5. Electricity.A few years ago, there was a massive ice storm in my area. We were without electricity for 10 days.
6. My job. I work part time hours and recieve full time pay and benefits. I also have the freedom to work from home between semesters for extra pay if I choose to.
7. My pets. Patrick and Mittens add so much joy to our lives.
8. A full pantry and freezer. This week's menu plan was made completely from on hand items.
9. Books to read. I have a wide assortment of fiction and nonfiction, and usually have at least one book going.
10. The smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies coming from my kitchen.

Menu, Week of 1/10

Monday: Chili with hot dogs
Tuesday: Tijuana Trainwreck, steamed carrots
Wednesday: Homemade pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms
Thursday: Turkey/gravy (purchased, frozen, nasty...this is the last one of those, and I won't be buying them very often. Steve and Jacob love them. I'd rather bake a real turkey and not eat cardboard covered in goop).
Friday: Salmon patties and potato soup

Airing My Dirty Laundry...

I'm not perfect. For a long time, I've tried to be. It's not working out so well.

My house is a hot mess right now. Part of it is because we're switching Jacob's room and the craft room, but part of it is just because I'm lazy that way. I have 7 totes of craft junk stacked in my bedroom right now, waiting for a new home. Half of Jacob's furniture is in one room, half in the other. Oh, well.

I cannot stay on a schedule with laundry or the dishwasher. I ran the dishwasher 3 times today, and the sink still has a handfull of dishes in it.

We're looking for a church. We've been drifting for a while, trying to find one where we feel comfortable. There are 100+ churches in this town, it shouldn't be that hard.

I'm still having difficulty dealing with my miscarriage. Today, I yelled at Steve for no real reason, then burst into tears. Some days I don't think about the miscarriage, other days I can't think about anything else.

Jacob isn't paying attention in school for some reason. I think he's bored with the work. We moved about 2 years ago, and his old school was much further ahead. No child left behind, my big toe. I wish I could get Steve on board with the idea of homeschooling.

I'm procrastinating writing a paper about the effects of advertising on the entitlement mentality of generation Y. Yeah, it sounds boring to me, too.

I ate 6 lindor truffles today, and they were good. I didn't even feel guilty for more than a second.

I'm ticked off at Apple. Jacob got an Ipod for Christmas, and it won't hold a charge. I shipped it back, and got an email today saying there was nothing wrong with it, they're shipping it back as is.

I did manage to cook 2 meals today. 3 if you count the toast I made to go with the yogurt for breakfast. Hamburgers and homefries for lunch, salisbury steak, mac n cheese, and green beans for supper.

I also managed to clean out and inventory the pantry and freezer. Only tossed a 1 box of Ritz crackers that were expired last May, and some shrimp that had freezer burn, so I've done okay on rotating our stock. I think we're up to about 4 months of supplies at the moment.

I paid all the bills, painted 3 shelves to go in Jacob's new SpongeBob themed bedroom, and did a couple loads of laundry. I have been productive, yet I feel like I've accomplished nothing.

I think far too often bloggers only want to present a rose-colored picture of their lives. I've read some of my past posts, and see that I have done that, too. I need to stop. I'm not perfect. I'm not SuperMom or SuperWife. But I'm pretty darn good at both of those jobs. Yes, I do get impatient. I lose my temper and sometimes I yell. But overall, we have a lot of fun together, our little family of 3 humans and 2 critters. And I shall focus on that, and not worry about having a perfect house or perfect anything. Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be home.

Cause let's face it. That whole perfect...it ain't happenin' here.