So...yesterday was my birthday! It was a great day that began with me picking my husband up from the airport after he was away for a whole week! (that's why I didn't have a menu last week.) We decided to go for my birthday lunch at our local restaurant that's famous for free birthday meals. Yum! Finally to bring the day to a slow close, we drove to a nearby town for my husband's first outdoor soccer game of the season. It was a bit cold for me, but I always enjoy watching nonetheless!
You're probably not here to hear me talk about my birthday are you? Okay, on to the menu!
Monday: BBQ flavored ribs in the slow cooker (I actually use pork chops)
Tuesday: BBQ beef stirfry thing (the recipe is out of my new Kraft's What's Cooking)
Wednesday: Chicken pot pie (I'll be making two so I have one to freeze)
Thursday: The famous weekly requested Stirfry
Friday: Greek chicken, Greek salad, potatoes
Today I will also be making some buns and I'll be trying a new recipe for chicken burritos to put in the freezer for lunches.
For more wonderful menus go to I'm an Organizing Junkie!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Menu Plan Monday - April 7
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Magnesium - It Helps you Sleep!
I've heard that magnesium especially combined with calcium can help you sleep! So... I did a bit of research and found that this is true!
I quite often have trouble sleeping. Not so much falling asleep, but staying asleep! On a bad night I wake up about every hour. It's really quite frustrating! Especially when I know that sleep is a blessing from God! He wants us to rest and sleep!
Apparently magnesium helps induce sleep. A deficiency in magnesium can cause nervousness that obviously, makes it hard to sleep. Also, if you happen to wake up in the middle of the night with your leg in a painful cramp, magnesium could be the answer! So eat your bananas, almonds and cashews!
Calcium too, can aid in a better sleep, especially when contained in food. Sometimes before bed, I like to heat up a glass of milk and add a bit of honey and vanilla. Yum!
Now I guess I'll be off to take some calcium and magnesium!
Do you have any sleeping tricks that work for you?
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Do I need to Have a Title?
Don't worry, I'm still around! (I'm sure you weren't worried!) I just don't have much to say for myself! I've been working full days at the golf course, coming home tired, then trying to be a good wife by keeping the house tidy and a home cooked meal on the table! Obviously, blogging has been on the lower end of my priority list!
I don't even have a menu for this week! (I've got good reasons.) But I did manage to accomplish a lot this past weekend. Saturday started out early with my garage sale. I must admit I think it was a great success! It really amazes me what people will buy and how much those things add up! I only came home with a few boxes that I hope to try selling again when my Mom has a garage sale. My Aunt and my Mom set up a great system for selling my Grandma's stuff. They gave each item a sticker, either red, blue or yellow. Then my Aunt printed out a few signs stating what the price of each sticker colour meant. Either .25 or .50 cents or $1. It was great!
Sunday I tried to relax but ended up doing a bit of laundry in the afternoon. I can't help it, I think it's a problem!
Monday I really allowed myself to go crazy. I managed to vacuum, wash to floors, clean both bathrooms, put the laundry away, get groceries, take in some clothes to a consignment shop, bake some cookies, make a couple of freezer meals, and did the dishes! No wonder I was tired yesterday! But I always feel great on days like that.
Today, I managed to have a most boring day, at work even! I think what makes boring days at work not fun, it the fact I always think about the stuff I could be doing at home! Mind you, I don't remember the last time I had a boring day and most days at work I'm super busy. Today just happened to be a training day for one of the new guys. I was in charge of training and looking after him for the entire day. But he was a guick learner!
Other than that I've been enjoying life, and trying to learn all that God is teaching me lately!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Making Our Home a Haven
Well, I thought I would join in on today's Making Your Home a Haven! Our home was in dire need of cleaning! Last week I started back to work but also ended up with a bad cold. (At least it wasn't the flu like Crystal, that was a few weeks ago for me!) Needless to say, not much got done around the house besides someone feeling sorry for themself, ahem.
Over the weekend I was able to clear out a whole bunch of boxes and odd and sods out of our spare room in preparation for the garage sale we're having at my Grandma's this coming weekend. We can actually walk properly in that room now!
With that out of the way, today I am able to get a lot done! So far I have cleaned both bathrooms, vacuumed, planned this weeks menu, bought the groceries, did the dishes, started the laundry, and finally, started dinner in the crockpot! Now I'm taking a break by blogging!
After I'm done my break, I would like to cut up some veggies to put into individual baggies as these are great for my lunches now that I'm working. I would also like to bake a batch of cookies using my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe! If I'm really on top of it, there's this closet upstairs that's bugging me...we'll see!
Menu Plan Monday - March 24
Friday, March 21, 2008
Super Savings Saturday!
(please excuse the poor photo quality, it was night time!)
I can actually post something! My Canadian deals! You can bet when I find something like these on sale I will grab them because it seems as though I'm forever going to baby showers! The onesie and the 'Cute' shirt were only 94 cents! Each! That's a deal up here! All the other items were 1.99 from the Children's Place.
I figure I've got enough clothing here for a few gifts. I, of course, will add other items to the packages to make the gift a bit more substantial. I'm pretty happy about these deals!
If you would like to see more deals visit Money Saving Mom!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Frugal Friday - Gardening Tips!
My tulips are starting to poke through the ground and yesterday was the first official day of Spring! Woo hoo! Since I'm so excited about gardening this year, I thought I would devote this post to frugal gardening tips! (for more great frugal tips visit Biblical Womanhood)
But since I'm suffering from a bad cold (my first one since last summer!) I've gathered most of my ideas from various sites and magazines.
- Grow a container garden. I like to grow tomatoes and herbs in containers. Also, planting a group of containers with annuals create a great effect!
- Use perennials. These are more expensive initially, but you do not have to replace them every year, thus saving money in the long run. I started to do this with my garden last year. I need to buy a couple more plants to fill it in, but in the mean time I will add some annuals for color.
- Start your own plants with seeds. Now is a good time to do this. My mom only uses seeds to plant her carrots, green beans...etc.
- Buy garden and landscape materials in bulk and split with your neighbors. A load of topsoil, mulch or sand is way cheaper than a bagged materials.
- Feed banana peels to your roses. The potassium in the peels is great for them. Just push them into the soil at the base of the plant.
- Before filling a large container full of dirt, add a plastic shopping bag full of foam packing material to the bottom. You will need less dirt, provides a great draining system, and the container will be easier to lift! (We do this at the golf course where I work)
- Put up a pin wheel or two in your strawberries to keep the birds and chipmunks at bay.
- Make your own compost. A great free way to nourish your plants.
- Turn a heavy duty container into a rain water catcher. Scoop out buckets of water.
- Ask neighbors for a part of they're perennial. Since most perennials spread, I'm sure a neighbor won't mind digging up a portion of their plant. My mom has received numerous plants this way. I've also received some from the golf course that were just going to be thrown out!
So, there you have it! A few of my ideas mixed with others I thought were neat!
What do you do to save money on your gardening?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Menu Plan Monday - Do I Have to Cook?
Tomorrow's the day. The day, I start back to work for the season. The days where I will eventually be waking up at 4am and going to bed when it's still light out. Bliss... ok, I lied. Even though I am a morning person, this is still a stretch for me most days! Knowing that I will be very tired after working outside in the fresh air all day, I tried to plan an 'easy' menu. But I'm pretty excited about it because I think everything is going to be tasty!
Monday: Funky chicken, salad
Tuesday: Goulash
Wednesday: possibly grilled cheese and tomato soup
Thursday: Asian beef rice bowls
Friday: Sesame chicken (slow cooker), rice, veggies
Goulash (courtesty of The Grocery Cart Challenge)
1 lb ground beef
½ green bell pepper chopped
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 cup cheese
½ cup rice or elbow macaroni
Brown beef and drain the fat. Add bell pepper, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. Add soup, water and soy sauce. Put lid on a simmer for 20 minutes. Then add a little more water and either rice or macaroni. Simmer with lid for 15 minutes, stir. Add cheese to the top. Take off stove and keep lid on until cheese melts. Serve with bread and vegetables. Serves 4.
For more menu ideas check out I'm an Organizing Junkie!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Spring Cleaning my Computer
I'm not sure about you, but I tend to make my computer pretty cluttered in a year. I have an abundant supply of photos that I have taken, more e-books than I know what to do with, and many sites favorited that I'm not quite sure why I favorited in the first place.
So...I commence my Spring cleaning. (Don't worry, I also spring clean my home.) Yesterday, I started to put all my photos onto my jump drive so that I can delete them off the computer. I really take a lot of pictures! Mostly of my cards right now though! I will also be taking this jump drive to a photo developing place (Walmart) to get our vacation pictures developed, finally.
While I'm at Walmart, I think I'll get my ink cartridges refilled so that I can print off the e-books I have. They're not very useful to me just sitting on my computer!
As for all my Internet favorites, I will be going through them all, ditching the ones I don't like anymore, then finally categorizing the ones I have left. Like recipes, household tips, inspiration...etc!
I'm even going to be defragmenting my computer. This should actually be done once a month, but I'm bad that way.
You know what else? I think I'll lug out the old vacuum and try to get all the dust out from in between the keys!
Do you Spring clean your computer?
