I had such hope that spring was on it’s way to Minnesota.  This is our view this morning….I hope we didn’t miss Spring under all this snow!  I certainly could use a few more sneak peaks at Spring! 

 

April 23rd in Minnesota

The weather is suppose to warm up this weekend so I hope the snow melts quickly, but not too quickly, flooding won’t be much fun either.   I am heading to Northern Minnesota for the weekend, which I think will have even more snow.  The City of Duluth has had over 50 inches of snow in April so far. 

I have a feeling my time in Duluth will include alot of hotel time and room services!  I am sure the snow on Lake Superior will look lovely through the window from under my heating blanket 

Wishing you all a wonderful Spring Day!  If you happen to see Minnesota’s Spring….please send it to my house!!  I want to start planning my garden.

Happy Spring!!

 Spring has not yet reached Minnesota.   We keep getting little sneak peaks of Spring…soon to be followed by snow!  It is April 22nd and is suppose to snow again tomorrow.  I am finding it harder and harder to find the beauty in the newly fallen snow.   This morning I can see grass in the front yard.  Tomorrow it will be covered in snow.  I am ready to feel the sun warming my face!   The robins have returned and are confused, but are weathering our weird weather.

Tommy and I spend time in the morning enjoying the Robins in the crab apple tree.  They are eating last years berries and hoping for spring as are we!!  

 

Tommy is continuing to enjoy taking pictures.  We discovered this odd looking robin at least we think it is a robin.  He has a odd speckle head and he was pretty mean to the other robins.  Have you even seen a robin like this???

  

The next day the ducks came to visit to eat some bread we left in the front yard. 

Our weekend was very enjoyable, but much too short.  Tommy, Daddy and some friends went to MN United FC vs. Edmonton game on Saturday afternoon.   MN won 2 to 0.  Tommy loves his soccer games.   We finally found time to even buy Tommy new cleats, which we have been meaning to do for weeks. 

 On Saturday evening, we celebrated Grandpa’s 87th Birthday!

 

The Birthday Boy!

He enjoyed his requested birthday meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage and his party with family, but was pretty tired and headed right to bed after the party. It brings him so much joy to be surrounded by his family! Certainly the highlight of the weekend.

 

Our great nephew, Ryan came over to visit and celebrate Great Grandpa’s Birthday. It was great to see him. We had not seen him since Christmas. He is getting so big!

I just realized we will be having our first Great-Great Niece this year.  My nephews daughter is having a baby….it is amazing how families continue to grow.  Family is such a blessing.

Saturday was our day to run errands, purchase groceries and prepare for the upcoming work week. Seems the work week has arrived so I better get Tommy up and ready for school. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend with your families and chin up, I hear Spring might make an appearance this coming weekend. 

Blessings,

 

 

Menu Plan Monday
April 21st – May 5th

 

Sunday – 21st – Rotissere Chicken, Stuffing and Corn

Monday – 22nd – Chicken Ceasar Crossiants, Grapes and Chips (Emeals 477)

Tuesday – 23rd – Beef & Cheese Enchiladas, Tortillas Chips & Salsa (Emeals 477)

Wednesday – 24th – Poppy Seed Chicken with Rice, Green Beans and Strawberries (Emeals 477)

Thursday 25th – Italian Casserole / Salad (Emeals 477)

Friday 26th (Dad Cooks) Chili Dogs

Saturday 27th -(Dad Cooks) Grilled Hamburgers

Sunday 28th – (Dad Cooks) Grilled Pork Chops

Monday 29th – (Dad Cooks) Pizza

Tuesday 30th – (Dad Cooks) Pot Pies

Wednesday May 1st – Tomato & Bacon Chowder, English Muffins (Emeals 477)

Thursday 2nd – Biscuits and Gravy/ Scrambled Eggs

Friday 3rd – Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

Saturday 4th – Chinese Pork Roast (crock 6 hours) , Steamed Rice and Broccoli (EMeals 475)

Sunday 5th – Chicken Risotta, Veggie

 

For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie. and participate in Menu Plan Monday. More menu planning fun can be found at The Organised Housewife.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!!!

Happy Cooking!!

 

 

Recipes to try:

Pink Lemonade Ice Cream

Strawberry Chip Coffee Cake

Cool and Easy Strawberry Pie - could be made sugar free

If you are new to the budgeting/debt-reduction lifestyle, then step 1 is usually the maddening struggle to find your “Wiggle-room“. Wiggle-room is that extra corner you can cut somewhere (anywhere!) in your current spending to begin your snowball. It is vital to find your wiggle-room quickly, in order to sock away your emergency fund and then get that snowball rolling! Where is the best place to start? Well, for us it was: The Grocery Budget. You might be amazed at the amount of wiggle-room you can find by doing some smart shopping.

1. Plan your meals.  (emeals.com – a great site for menu planning inspiration)
2. Plan to do your own cooking.
3. Make and stick to your shopping list
4. Shop where the prices are lowest.

Note: To make our life easier in this area, we have completely eliminated the biggest headache of them all: The Coupon Dance. We Clip Zero Coupons. None. Nadda. Not a single one. Never, never, never ever. We’ve simply decided we will assign none of our precious evening or weekend free time to this.

So, First begin shopping where the prices are consistently lowest.

For us they are (and in this exact order)

1. Aldi, and if it’s not there,
2. Walmart, and if it’s not there,
3. Sam’s Club.

If you don’t want to take our word for this, then spend a bit of your free time doing a research project. (and this is actually kind of a fun and very eye-opening motivator for frugality!) Pick 20 common items you are likely to consistently buy that can be found at any grocery store. Price-check those 20 items at Aldi, Walmart, Cub, Rainbow, Festival, Kowalski’s, Byerly’s & Lunds. (Leave Sam’s Club out of this, unless you’re ready to play with a calculator for an extra hour. We go to Sam’s Club mainly because they have very good produce for the prices.) Trust me though, your end result will quickly reveal your wiggle-room. (Spoiler Alert: We’ll see you at Aldi )

Next: Figure out what might be an appropriate amount to budget for groceries for your family. (Pick a goal, any goal, then challenge yourself to beat it over time)  Recently I was reading a blog that recommended budgeting about $100 per person each month.  So for our family we should budget about $500 per month.

I decided that for the month of April I would track our grocery expenses to see how close we are to this amount. We shop only twice a month for grocery related items.  One of the shopping trips is usually larger due to when items run out, etc. 

4/6/13

Aldi – $67.67
WalMart - $ 40.76
Sam’s Club – $52.72

Two weeks’ total On Food – $161.15 

4/21/13

Aldi – $ 142.41
WalMart – 102.15
Sam’s Club – $ 57.64

Two weeks’ total on Food = $302.20

Total for month of April – $463.35

Based on our totals for April, I find the $100 per month per person to be a fairly generous amount to budget for groceries. This month our totals were a bit higher as Jen is going out of town for 5 days next week, so we bought more convenient things for meals prep while she is gone. 

So if you are new to budgeting, and need to find that wiggle-room to create your emergency fund and then start your snowball, I would start with making your monthly grocery budget be $100 per person in the family and start shopping where the same foods are cheaper in price. I think it is a very easy place to start.  As you get better at cooking and frugal shopping, that amount will probably decrease, but this is a very good starting place. 

Happy Budgeting!!

Paul and Jen
Joyfully Living Below Our Means!

 

 

Other Articles in our FPU Series:

Financial Peace University
Our FPU Story: That was then…..This is now
FPU: Leap of Faith
Budgeting…Time to Make a Plan
FPU: Inside Our Weekly Budget Meeting
FPU: Sink Your Debt with a Sinking Fund

  

 

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Hi Everyone –

We hope you are all having a great week!   Did you get a chance to make your budget??  Remember it is a work in progress.  You may need to tweak your budget for a few weeks or even a few months until you find what works for you.  This week we thought we would expand a bit on our sinking funds and how we organize our finances.  It is very important to know where your money is and where you need it to go.  A sinking fund is kind-of like a lay-away account where you sock away a little money each week to pay something that month, (or year, etc.)    In addition to your budget, this micro-planning and saving for future monthly, quarterly, biannual and annual expenses will keep you on track to debt-freedom.  We do this by maintaining two checking accounts we utilize to organize our funds.

1.  Household Account – This is the account we initially put all of our weekly income into and pay out all our expenses for that week. This is simply an in-out account and we maintain a very low balance here throughout the week.  After our our weekly budget meeting today, we have $ 7.83 in our household account.  This account is very close to zero based budgeted….we leave very little unaccounted.  

2.  Freedom Account - This account is absolutely VITAL to our success.   This is a holding account, (or sinking funds or “layaway account”) for our funds that must be earmarked for future expenses that we know are going to come due eventually.   We maintain a spreadsheet naming every dollar in this account and fully funding every expense we have or will have.  The funds in this account come from 2 main sources.  1) We move funds from our household account into this account when naming all our dollars at the end of our weekly budget meeting.  2) The other source of these funds is our tax return, which we due tend to receive a good size refund each year because we both claim single-zero for the year..  While Dave Ramsey would not advise this, it works beautifully for us and has kept us on-track and ready for even the largest expenses. It also actually forces us to live below our means, (which is what people with debt REALLY have to do! This. Way. Works. It is the most iron clad way to save our money and not spend it!) 

 The following is a list of the categories or line items in which we have earmarked funds in our freedom account.  

Emergency Fund – we maintain $2,000 to assist us in an emergency so we aren’t tempted to use a credit card.  This is for *real emergencies like car or home repairs. Funded as much as possible with weekly pay and if not at 2000 come tax return time, it will be put back there with tax return money.

House Payment- we save 1/4 of our house payment each week to fully fund our mortgage before it is due each month.  It is easier to come up with a little each week than to come up with the full amount when it is due…and a lot less painful. This is funded with weekly pay.

Tuition - we save 1/4 of our son’s elementary school tuition each week to fully fund by the due date each month. This is funded with weekly pay. While tuition is not a large expense, it comes due at a time of the month when a number of other things are also due.  Having this item saved in advance helps us to meet all our obligations during that time of the month.   

Snow Ball - once we have funded our weekly amount due into the house payment and tuition, the rest goes into the snowball.   We collect all extra funds and when our credit card comes due, we pay everything in this line item onto this bill.  

Car Insurance -  We pay our car insurance twice a year to receive a discount.   Every 6 months we are prepared to make our payment.  This ended our days of being surprised that the car insurance was due again! This is fully funded with tax return money.

Christmas - we finally have figured out that Christmas will happen every year.   We agree upon an amount we will spend on Christmas food and gifts.  The agreed upon amount is moved into the Freedom account from our tax return.  We have enjoyed a cash only Christmas for the last few years.   What a relief! (and fully funded way back in March with tax return money.)

City of WBL – this is another of those bills that can sneak up on you since it is only due every 3 months.  We set aside enough funds to cover a years worth of this bill from our tax return.  We are never surprised and this item is always fully funded.

Camp - Tommy will be going to camp this year, which we set aside funds from our tax return to cover this expense. 

School Fundraiser - Each year our son’s school has a fund raiser – we set aside a set amount each year to purchase a table at this event and to donate to a cause very dear to our heart, the Christian education of children. 

Our Freedom Account is what Dave Ramsey would call our sinking fund.  A sinking fund is simply a financial strategy that will make a huge difference in your life!   Sinking funds are reserve funds set aside for a specific purpose. If you can set up a spreadsheet with every expense you will be paying over the year, track your saving for each of those expenses in advance and deposit that money into your Freedom Account you will avoid the gotcha’s of irregular expenses.  Back-to-school time, Christmas shopping and Summer getaways are no longer capable of derailing your budget  (…and Yes, if your sinking funds are funded and you’ve saved a little cash for a hotel or campground stay, you CAN occasionally go!) Oh, and back-to-school, Christmas, birthdays and mini-vacation are never an emergency, right?

Since we are still working on paying off debt our sinking fund is limited to monthly and annual bills for the most part.  Once we are debt free these categories will be more fun and include new furniture and vacations…..until then, we limit our sinking fund to annual, quarterly or monthly bills.  Trust me, we frequently dream of that vacation and how great it will feel once we are debt free.   Only 2 years, five months and 2 weeks……but who’s counting!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Blessings…

Paul and Jen
Joyfully Living Below Our Means!

 

 

Other Articles in our FPU Series:
Financial Peace University
Our FPU Story: That was then…..This is now
FPU: Leap of Faith
Budgeting…Time to Make a Plan
FPU: Inside Our Weekly Budget Meeting

 

 

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Above the comment box is the heading SIgn in to Comment -
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Menu Plan Monday
April 6th – 21st

Sat 6th – Country Meatloaf, Potatoes and Corn

Sun 7th - Rosemary Pork Roast, (Taste of Home Best Loved pg 522) Roast Lemon Garlic Roasted Carrots, Mushroom Rice (Simple & Delicious Cookbook pg 151)

Mon 8th – Chicken Parmesan, Perogies, Veggie

Tues 9th – Easy Pizza Quesadillas, Sliced Apples (Emeals 476)

Wed 10th – One-Dish Chicken Meal (EMeals 474)/ – Veggie

Thurs 11th – Grilled Pork Chops, Tabouli, Cantaloupe

TABOULI SALAD (good)

2 cups water
1 cup coarse bulgur wheat
1 bunch scallions, sliced
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 Kirby cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 bunch Italian parsley, stems removed
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon jusice
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Boil water in a small saucepan. Add bulgur wheat, cover saucepan, and turn off heat, leaving saucepan on burner. Allow bulgur to steam until all the water has been absorbed, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, slice scallions, tomatoes, and cucmbers. Place parsley and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped. When bulgur is finished, place in a large mixing bowl and add scallions, tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, and garlic. Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice into the bowl and toss thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Either serve warm or put in refrigerator for 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.

Fri 12th -  Grilled Salsa Burgers, Salsa and Chips (EMeals 474)

Sat 13th – Eating at the Gala / Leftovers

Sun 14th – Out for Evening../ Early Dinner  – Cheddar Bacon Quiche and Strawberries x 2 (EMeals 473)

 

Mon 15th – (Book Group?)

Tues 16th  – Breakfast Pizzas, Cantaloupe (Emeals 475)

Wed 17th – Chicken Tetrazzini – Green Beans (Emeals 473)

Thurs 18th – Beef Pannini’s (Emeals 475)

Fri 19th – Sloppy Joes and Fries 

2-1/2 pounds of ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/4 cups catsup
1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoons chili powder
16 to 20 hamburger buns, split and toasted

In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.

In a 3-1/2 to 4 – quart slow cooker combine catsup, sweet pepper, celery, water, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder. Stir in meat mixture.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours. Spoon into toasted buns.

Sat 20th – Chinese Pork Roast (crock 6 hours) , Steamed Rice and Broccoli (EMeals 475)

Sun 21st – Chicken Risotta, Veggie

For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie. and participate in Menu Plan Monday. More menu planning fun can be found at The Organised Housewife.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!!!

Happy Cooking!!

 

RECIPES TO TRY:

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

2 lbs chicken tenders or 4 large chicken breasts
… 2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup whole milk
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoon butter

Crush crackers. If using chicken breasts and not tenders, cut each chicken breast into 3 large pieces. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the salt and pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Then press the cheesy coated chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in.

Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.

In a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

Chicken and Black Bean Casserole

Mom’s Sizzlin’ Steak Marinade

Homemade Chik-Fil-A Nuggets

Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

Savory Yogurt Chicken Breasts

Baked Steak Fries

LemonHead Cookies

Inside Look at Our Weekly Budget Meeting –

Many people have asked about our Weekly Budget Meeting.  What we do each week to keep on track and keep our financial house in order.  Usually each Saturday morning hubby and I have a date…….to pay bills and discuss the budget.   It isn’t nearly as painful as you may think; actually it is one of our favorite activities each weekend.   We have been having this date every week since October, 2010.

We get paid on alternating Fridays so it is pay day for us every Friday, (which means budget meeting every Saturday.)  We pay bills that are due for that week plus 4 days.  Last Friday was March 15th so we pay all monthly bills that are due through the 26th of March.  

We start off with Jen taking her place at the computer and reviewing the bank accounts online to make sure our check register and bank balance are the same.   We have two accounts we work with each week.  The first is our Household Account.  This is the account that every bill is paid out of.   The second Account, we call our Freedom Account.  This account is where we “Sink” funds each week for upcoming expenses.

Paul grabs a chair and his columnar pad to begin our weekly budget meeting.   He will read off what our carry over was in the account last week and quickly check if any additional was spent our of it over the course of the week.    Carry over is the unallocated money in the account.  We don’t quite do a zero based budget., (but we’re always very close!)  Last week we had a carryover of $16.27.  (What was left in our account after paying bills and filling our envelopes.)    Jen’s answer was that nothing was spent of the $16.27 , which is usually the case, but we feel safer having a little bit in the account.

Income
Next we list the income for the week.  Last week this included Jen’s Payroll, Brother in Laws rent and our $16.27 in carry over.   We total this up and this is what we have to work with for this week. 

Monthly Obligations On our columnar pad we have a list of all our monthly bills listed in order of their due dates for the month.  Currently, we have 10 monthly obligations. (When we started there were 16!) This includes items like our mortgage, credit card, student loans, cable TV and Cell Phones. It just so happened that last week we did not have any monthly bills due during the time frame of March 15 – 26th.  This is the BEST part…as time goes by and debts are paid off you suddenly have weeks where NOTHING is actually due!  Snowball time!

Weekly Obligations

Next we move on to our weekly budget items.    Our weekly items include:  Gas, household, Grocery, Church, Fun Money, Tommy’s pay, any new credit card charge over the week (Always paid off completely each week)  and extended day.    We purchase gift cards through our church for gas (SA) and household expenses (Walmart) .  We purchase the same amount most weeks; $100 for gas and $100 or $50 for household expenses, depending on the week.   We use the envelope system for Grocery, Household and our Fun Money!   Fun Money – this is a marriage saving Financial Peace item!   We each get a set amount of money each week which is ours to spend or save as we see fit.  No discussion needing to be done to approve those expenditures.    Weekly Credit Card, we do have one credit card that we use frequently throughout the week or for online items, and some small items that are autopaid like the vet’s plan for our dogs and unplanned expenses.  The balance of this card is brought back to $0 each week.  

Sinking Funds (Absolutely VITAL)
Once all our obligations are paid, we usually have some funds left over.   Those funds must also be accounted for.  Sinking Funds is a term used to describe setting aside money for a specific purpose.  Think of it as ”Rainy Day” fund or “just in case” money.   Our sinking funds are placed in our Freedom Account and stays there until needed. Since we had no monthly bills due last week, it was our week to focus majorly on our sinking funds.  In the past this would have been money we would have probably spent on something we probably could not afford.

Mortgage or rent – your mortgage is probably one of your biggest expenses.  This is a sinking fund for us.  We try to put ¼ of our mortgage into the Freedom Account each week.   So that by the due date the item is totally funded.   So last week we moved money into the Freedom Account to fully fund our mortgage payment, which we will be paying this week. It is such a feeling of peace to have those funds all set aside already for our mortgage. 

Tuition – our son goes to private elementary school so we sink those funds too.   That payment is due on the 15th, but we added the last few dollars to full fund that item as well.   So the money for tuition is in our Freedom Account ready for when that payment is due! 

Snowball – whatever is left at this point is paid onto our snowball.   Last week we left more money in our account than usual, we pay everything onto the snowball account, which is currently our Affinity Plus Credit Card.  We left only $20.73 in our checking account, which is high for us!   Snowballing is simply paying more on that item in an effort to pay it off.   We will blog more about this item in the future. 

Our weekly budget meeting is a time of reflection and planning.   We discuss future goals and plan how we will be spending our money each month.   We have a common understanding of where we are and where we want to be.  Together we plan the path to get where we want to be, Debt Free!

Recently we have started identifying our weekly victory on Facebook after completing our weekly budget meeting.   This energizes us each week and helps us to focus on what is going well for us.  Some weeks it is harder than others to come up with these victories, (some are small, some are bigger) but it is a good way to keep us motivated and on target.

While our weekly budget meetings sound like they go pretty smoothly and currently they do, they didn’t start out like that.   We had never shared in the paying of bills and making financial decisions together so it took a while for us to work this out and to come up with our budget, months actually and we still tweak the process from time to time.  So just start and know it will get better each week as you continue to work together.   Get all your monthly cots written down and recognized.  Don’t forget to add in those weird time-frame ones like the water bill and the twice a year car insurance payments.  Those can sink you if you ignore them.  Sink THEM instead with your freedom account.  Forget the past and together embrace the future!!

If you want to be successful at anything in life, having an accountability partner will highly motivate you and keep you inspired when you want to give up. Your spouse is a great accountability partner. If you are single finding someone to be your accountability partner is key to success.

We are very excited for your journey and wish you the very best!

Blessings…

Paul and Jen
 Joyfully Living Below Our Means!

 

Other Articles in our FPU Series:
Financial Peace University
Our FPU Story: That was then…..This is now
FPU: Leap of Faith
Budgeting…Time to Make a Plan

 

 

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Click on the “add comments” link under the post.
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Menu Plan Monday
March 23rd – April 7th

 

Saturday, 23rd – Beef Enchiladas and Quick Spanish Rice (Taste of Home Best Loved Recipes pag 471) (Rice Good)

Sunday, 24th – Saucy Pork Chop Skillet= (Taste of Home Feb/Mar 2013) (Good)

Monday, 25th (Soccer 7:45) – Grilled Salsa Burgers, Salsa and Chips (EMeals 474)

Tuesday, 26th (soccer 7:00) – One-Dish Chicken Meal (EMeals 474)/  - Veggie

Wednesday, 27th (off) – Taco Soup  (didn’t like this recipe – too thick)

Thursday, 28th (1st Communion) – Leftovers – Eating at church

Friday, 29th - Cheddar Bacon Quiche and Strawberries x 2 (EMeals 473)  (didn’t make)

Italian-Dijon Tilapia (EMeals 474)/ Risotto/Veggies (VERY GOOD)

Saturday, 30th – Pesto Caprese Chicken, Rice and Veggie (Very Good)

Sunday, 31st (Easter) – Ham

Broccoli Cheddar Casserole  (good)

* 3 heads broccoli, cut into florets
* 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
* 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese,
divided
* 2 cups crushed saltine crackers, divided
* 10 oz can cheddar cheese soup
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 large egg
* 2 teaspoons minced garlic
* ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
* ¼ teaspoon pepper
* 5 tablespoons butter, melted
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place broccoli and onion in a large Dutch oven.
3. Add water to cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes, or until tender; drain well.
5. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups cheese, 1 cup crushed crackers, soup,
sour cream, egg, garlic, seasoned salt and pepper.
6. Stir in broccoli mixture, and spoon into a 9×13-inch baking dish coated
with cooking spray.
7. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese evenly over the top.
8. Combine butter and remaining 1 cup crushed crackers; sprinkle over
cheese.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly browned.

Potato, Parnip and Cauliflower Mash (Good)

* 3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled, cut in1-inch
chunks
* 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
* ½ lb parsnips, cut into ¾-inch pieces
* 2 teaspoons salt
* ¾ cup sour cream
* ¼ cup butter
* 1 teaspoon garlic salt
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Instructions
1. In a large Dutch oven, combine potatoes, cauliflower, parsnips and salt.
2. Add water to cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, or until tender; drain well.
4. Add sour cream, butter and garlic salt to pot.
5. Beat with a mixer to desired consistency.
6. Stir in chives before serving.

Monday, April 1st (CDCS 6:30) – Chicken Tetrazzini – Green Beans (Emeals 473) (didn’t Make)

Tuesday, 2nd (Soccer 7:00) – French Dip Sandwiches – Caesar Salad and Chips (Emeals 474)

Wednesday, 3rd – Lasagna and Garden Caesar Salad (Emeals 473) (very good)

Thursday, 4th – Chicken Tostadas – Refried Beans (Emeals 473) (Good)

Friday, 5th – Sloppy Joes and Fries (Ddidn’t make)

SLOPPY JOES

2-1/2 pounds of ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/4 cups catsup
1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoons chili powder
16 to 20 hamburger buns, split and toasted

In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.

In a 3-1/2 to 4 – quart slow cooker combine catsup, sweet pepper, celery, water, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder. Stir in meat mixture.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours. Spoon into toasted buns.

This makes a large bath. We freeze the remainder for another time.

Saturday, 6th – Country Meatloaf, Potatoes and Corn

Sunday, 7th – Roast Pork Loin, Roast Lemon Garlic Roasted Carrots, Mushroom Rice (Simple & Delicious Cookbook pg 151)

Roast Pork Loin

* ¼ cup extra-light olive oil
* ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
* 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
* 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
* 5 lb boneless pork loin roast

Instructions
1. In a large zip-top bag, combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary,
mustard, salt and pepper.
2. Add roast to bag, seal and squish to coat it well.
3. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days.
4. Remove meat from bag and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes;
discard marinade.
5. Place roast on a rimmed baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
6. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30-45 minutes, or until internal temperature
reaches 145 degrees F.
7. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing

For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie. and participate in Menu Plan Monday. More menu planning fun can be found at The Organised Housewife.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!!!

Happy Cooking!!

 

 

Recipes To Try:

Oven Fried Chimichangas
Pepperoni Roll Ups

 

What is it about the word budgeting that gets people all worked up??   I hear, “we wrote a budget, but we didn’t follow it.”   Do you make plans to go out with your friends???   That is all a budget is.  It is a monthly “plan” of where you decide to spend your money.   That is the thing, you are in control!  You tell your money where to go each month.   There is no perfect budget or a perfect month.  So you will have to develop or tweak your budget each month.

  Dave Ramsey on Budgeting:

Remember last week I suggested you get all your financial statements/bills together?? It is time to grab that stack and get down to business. Let’s figure out what your monthly bills are. Make a list of each monthly payment and their due date.

Due Date	Expense
1st	Mortgage
1st	Xcel Energy
8th	Credit Card
10th	Student Loan
13th	Cable
28th	Credit Card
30th	Cell Phone

Add up the minimum amount due on each of these bills to get an idea of how much is due each month. 

Next decide on an amount for weekly expenses, such as Gas, Entertainment, and Groceries. These most likely will be your categories in which you will place cash in envelopes. (It is also not an exact science…you’ll have to live a bit while doing this to gauge your overall weekly/monthly needs.) We use cash or gift cards for most of our weekly expenses.   Our categories include Gas, Household, Groceries, Church, Our Fun Money and Tommy Pay.  We have weekly expenses because one of us is paid each week.  You might plan your expenses weekly like us, every two weeks or monthly depending on your pay frequency. More-often works best for us! (Keeps us honest before a shortfall can become a problem) 

Once you have your monthly and weekly/bi weekly amounts totaled, you now know how much money you need each month to remain living at your current level without incurring additional debt. If you don’t have enough money it is a good time to take a close look at your expenses and look for ways to cut your expenses and debt. It is also a good time to look at your monthly interest payments on that debt and imagine where you could be better spending that money! Obviously, we could also save money if we canceled our Cable TV. 

As scary (or enlightening) as it may be, you have just taken a huge step in changing your financial future by facing your debt.  Knowledge is power! It is now time to come up with a budget with your new knowledge.  Gone will be the days of wondering where your money went at the end of the month.  You will be intentional with your money and tell “your” money where to go!

This is a vital process and can be tense if you have not talked about finances alot in your relationship.  Stick with it, stick with each other, DO THIS TOGETHER, be kind to each other and tweak your budget each month until you come up with a workable plan.  

Here are some excellent forms we have found over time to help you get your start

Budget Forms from Dave Ramsey

Free Family Budget Form from Vertex 42 (Ecxel Document)

Free Monthly Household Budget from Vertex 42 (Excel Document)

 

We are excited for your journey!

Blessings…

Paul and Jen
A normal family trying to live like no one else!

 

Other Articles in our FPU Series:
FPU: Leap of Faith
Our FPU Story: That was then…..This is now
Financial Peace University

 

 

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Grocery Shopping Weekend - We shop every other week for Groceries.  I find the less often I am in the store the less I spend!! This is how we feed 4 adults and 1 child for around $125/week.  See our weekly menu for an idea of how we eat.

First Stop……the bank to get cash for our various envelopes for the week. Funds put into the Grocery, the Fun and Grandpa’s envelope.

Next stop….the Library!! I love flipping through books that I read about or hear about. Much better than buying the books or hanging out in Barnes and Noble for hours!This week the following books came home with me…

 

As you can see from the titles, I am still on my personal finance kick.  That seems to be how my reading goes…I have a few areas of interest and will switch between them throughout the year.  Must be my season for personal finances. 

 

Grocery/Household Supplies Totals

Bread Thrift Store         $ 14.12 (3 loaves bread, 2 buns, 2 hoagie, English Muffins and Bagels)

Aldi                               $ 98.24

Sam’s Club                    $ 82.58  (Paper Products, Corned Beefx2, Banana’s, Protein Drink for Grandpa) 

Walmart                        $ 41.51  (mostly food, but $8.00 for vitamins)

TOTAL for 2 Weeks    $236.45  /$118 per week

 

MURDER MYSTERY PARTY!!!!!  WHO MURDERED ANGEL WOOD?????

 

 

What a group….shaking hands over a dead body!  Poor Angel Wood.

SUNDAY

A much needed quiet day at home after church.  Planning on cleaning a bit, blogging and reading!  Have to prepare for a busy work week.  Even found time to sneak in a LONG nap!

 

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!!

 

Blessings..