The MomGate MG1

And now I need to get back into the habit of using the blogger. Not only is it stress relieving... it helps keep me on track with our budget meals and menus!

So anyway - this past week has been a really rough one, not only from the recent time change... (I hate 'springing' forward) but also a series of unfortunate events. They didnt come in threes this time... unless maybe they are multiples of three - I should count them and see if we had 6 or 9 sad issues this week. Yikes!

Well Caitlynn is walking now, when she thinks we aren't watching. She thinks she can get places faster by crawling, which at the moment is true, but she will quickly get the hang of this bipedal thing. She has claimed a lovie, thank goodness, and it is a silky and plush blankie that used to belong to Gabe. Luckily she isnt very picky so I can swap between four different blankets. However they are all plush on one side and silky on the other. Two green ones, a blue one and a recently purchased pink one. if she doesnt have them at naptime and bedtime she has a fit. Now to just convince Gabe to stop trying to steal them from her crib!

Anyway, this week our menu is very limited due to the fact we have to pay for a plumber... and a dehumidifier... and potentially a couple of new rugs... so it is mostly leftovers from the sweet potato soup I made last week. I did manage to snag some Chicken Paprikash leftovers from Ama and Jaggee's house Sunday so that will be tasty.

Tuesday: Leftover Chicken and soup
Wednesday: Take out day (after a day of grocery shopping/car maint./banking I dont want to cook)
Thursday: Pasta Primavera (Have a hankering for lots of veggies!)
Friday: Stuffed Porkloin with apples
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Lasagna

So now I am sitting here waiting for the plumber to call and hoping Gabe stops being a grump and takes a nap, goodness knows Caitlynn needs it!

This is the time of year I love the most. Crisp weather, leaves changing color... and of course soup season. For me soup season is awesome - not only because we get all the free bread we want to go with the soup, but because soup on average is a cheap filling meal. During the summer, who wants to eat hot soup? But during the fall and winter... I can eat soup practically every day, and a pot of soup lasts for more then on meal!

So this week I decided to only plan for three dishes. Two of which are soups and one is a thrifty hearty meal. So we are going to be having:

Taco Bean Soup
Creamy Potato Cheese and Leek Soup
Enchiladas

All of these make quite a large amount of food, so it will keep us sated through the week. Thinking of maybe cooking some in the crock pot this week.

Now onto WoW news... I hate Tuesdays in general. This is the day the kids sleep in without fail... and yet WoW servers are down for maintence. i swear its a conspiracy =) I'll cope of course, hopefully get some beads glazed to be strung. Friend of mine is a nurse and requested one to hang her badge on. So maybe if the other nurses like it they will put in orders. I can hope right? Anyway... back to WoW since I digress.

I got my paladin to 70 last night, and sure there are millions of people who can level faster then I can, but hey I have other things to do >.>. I admit I am addicted to the silly game, but where else can you find cheaper entertainment? And even more so since some WONDERFUL friends gave me a year game subscription card for Christmas last year (and I still have until I think June on it!) So now I am trying to decide whether I should stay in Outlands to level until I finish the last 3 zones, or if I should just head off to Northrend with everyone else to trya nd level as fast as possible. GRanted I only work on him when he has rested exp (which is dwindling at this point) but I bounce between him and my shaman. She just reached 65 and still has a level and a half worth of rested on her.

I made Chal mainly so I could have a tank, I have never played a melee class in WoW past level 18 (not including the druid I powerleveled with Chal) so I think I am lacking in some understanding on how tanks work. That and well, I like to know how other classes work for when I raid lead, if I ever get back to it since my last one failed due to extensive absences.

I have some good friends willing to help me out at least =) but I dont know if I wanna just jump into Northrend... maybe I should, because then I can tank for PuGs and not feel bad when I suck miserably. Of course first I have to finish leveling my blacksmithing. So I won't be leaving Outlands until I mine enough Adamantine to be able to use the Cobalt that is prevelant in Northrend.

Lucky for me, friends of mine bombarded Vegonna, my engineer 65 shammy, with materials to get her engineering and jewelcrafting past the magical 350 point. So I dont have to worry about her too much, once she reaches 70 - Northrend is her destination =)

So anyway... I guess I shall return to real life. Sounds like Cait is up and ready to start her day, which means Gabe will be bouncing off the walls as well shortly.

Well as I said in the last post our food budget was VERY low last week and yesterday was D&D day... and we spent more then we meant to on take out... so we are going to be eating leftovers tonight and probably tomorrow start the ramen menu. I am interested in trying this out as we have some various items in the freezer that need to be consumed before I have to start worrying about freezer burn. Not a fun thing for sure. I hate throwing away food because it just makes me wince from the cost.

Anyway - unfortunatly the slugs ate the majority of my garden... with DH not watering enough while I was in Vegas.. so alas we dont have the bountiful vegetable plants it looked like we were going to have earlier this summer. Very sad =( but maybe I can find some good deals at the farmers market in the next couple of weeks because I am planning on making Christmas Presents again this year and I make a tasty salsa =)

Monday: Leftovers from Takeout Sunday
Tuesday: Beef Ramen Pie
Wednesday: Sweet and Sour Pork Ramen
Thursday: Garlic Chicken and Ramen
Friday: Ramen Vegetable Stirfry

Well here goes for another week of budget friendly meals. As our stomachs are still tender from a very rough stomach bug it will probably be bland for many people's tastes.

Monday: Buttered Noodles with fresh steamed vegetables
Tuesday: Cheesy French Bread Pizza with a garden salad
Wednesday: Kiebalsa with Saurkraut and Cucumber Salad
Thursday: Shrimp Scampi
Friday: Creamy mushroom Beef with Noodles and steamed carrots

Most of these are recipes I have come up with on my own - mainly utilizing the scraps from my cupboard. With money so tight you really have to be careful not to overextend yourself. Therefore we do eat a lot of pasta - the trick is trying to find different ways to cook it. Next week I know I am going to end up buying a case of Ramen - as that is the cheapest pasta out there and DS LOVES the stuph. However I wont be adding the MSG seasoning packet but instead using my own seasonings. SO look forward to next week's Ramen Week!

Well I've decided to post my meal plans and my grocery lists because I know there are folks out there who do the same as I do... search sites for cheap and easy meals. I am not the only person out there struggling to make ends meet and hopefully I can help folks like other sites have helped me. I'll get my links sorted out soon so you can meet some of the folks who have helped me!

Anyway - onto the meal plan! I want to note that I do most of my shopping between Aldi and Walmart - depending on the grocery store sales... that is the only time I go in there... if they have a really good sale.

I also almost always have some sort of bread with each meal - usually with a flavored butter/oil. Hubby works for a bakery so we get all the free bread we can eat... needless to say I am kinda tired of bread ;)

Monday: Spicy Sausage and Pasta with a fresh tomato salad
Tuesday: Chicken Bruchetta with Steamed Carrots
Wednesday: Calzones
Thursday: Turkey Wafflewiches with fresh green beans
Friday: Shrimp Scampi over linguinie

Saturday and Sunday are usually left over days or we are visiting or being visited by Grandparents! We are lucky in the fact that both my and my husbands parents feed us when we visit or they visit us!

So today's meal... let me break it down:
Spicy Italian Sausage: $2.05 at Aldi
Piccolini Mini Wheels: $1.00 bought on sale
Tomato Sauce: $1.99 at Aldi
Fresh Tomatoes: From the garden

so it comes to $5.04 for this meal - I used half the pasta so I still have half a box to use later this week. The condiments for the tomato salad I had on hand which most do - just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt pepper and a little sugar.

My son ate the pasta but didnt want the sausage... which is fine - more for Hubby and me. And we still have a serving for lunch or dinner later!