This and That...

Meal planning is done again for the week. I have already made one trip to the grocery store and this time it was Safeway (I know, shocking!). The only reason was club packs of chicken breasts were on sale so I made sure to pick one up to help with the meals this week.

I won't bore you with what we're eating this week, but I'm getting the hang of meal planning on a budget. I'm trying to diversify our plans each week so we're not repeating the same meals over and over. I try to incorporate:
(1) vegetarian meal
(2) soup (served with bread)
(3) close-to vegetarian meal (using bacon or ham)
(4) pasta
(5) easy & cheap meal
(6) chicken meal
(7) beef meal

By first doing inventory of my shelves, fridge and freezer (and possibly some requests from my dear husband), I'm able to stick to this general formula and keep the costs down. And I have to say, I am loving the absence of the 5 PM question of the day - what's for dinner?

In other news, Meagan is still not sleeping through the night but generally doing a lot better. Usually one night waking but back in bed pretty quickly. Last night was 3 times which is a little exhausting, but she's taking a nice long morning nap which is nice too.

Kaitlyn starts preschool again in 2 weeks. I get a little sad when I read the school calendar and know that I won't be able to participate in some of the parties and field trips that I was able to attend last year while on mat leave since I go back to work at the end of October, but I'll definitely be doing my best to try to get those mornings or afternoons off when I am able to.

But for now I am still enjoying being at home for 2 more months and have really had a great year off.

Here are a couple pictures of Kaitlyn "helping" feed Meagan breakfast from this week. And notice the braid? Kaitlyn is finally allowing me to try other hairstyles on her besides the daily pony-tail. Only took 4 years (actually, I should say 2 since she was bald until 2)...

Friday Update

This week was a pretty good one! Despite Meagan cutting another tooth and 2 more on the way (with multiple night wakings for a few nights in a row and a trip to the doctor only to confirm she was teething), the last half of the week definitely made up for it. Meagan is now waking up once a night around 3 AM, happy but just needing 3 teething tablets and a little snuggle (no night nursing!), back in bed where she puts herself back to sleep quietly - I'm very hopeful this is the new trend and once those top two teeth poke through, hopefully she won't need those night time teething tablets anymore either.

The budgeting/shopping is going well too. Last week I ended up running out of a few things like milk and dishwasher detergent but my grocery budget money was gone and I was determined not to cut into other areas of my budget to buy those items. So I posted a few things that we weren't using for sale and within an hour, I had sold the bassinet for the same price I had paid a year ago. So with $30, I had more than enough money to purchase the few items to make it the rest of the week.

This week I did draw up a rough meal plan, this time with Ryan's input since he wanted healthier meals, and finally managed to get my Superstore shopping done yesterday. This time I did purchase produce at Superstore as well since I only had a few items on my produce list and the girls wouldn't have lasted another shopping trip. So a week's worth of groceries for $77 - not too bad! I'm learning to scour the flyers and match up great prices with coupons for great savings. Example: Special K cereal was on sale for $2.97/each (regular price was over $5/each), limit of 2, plus I had $1 off/box coupons so I was able to get 2 boxes for $1.97/each. Same with Gerber Graduates snack foods for Meagan - on sale for $2.27/each and I had a coupon for buy 2, get $1/off. Great deals when you pair them together and they were items on my list anyway (which is key - I'm not buying stuff just because it's a "good deal" - it has to be on my list!).

Last evening was really great. We had dinner together - Ryan and I had "fiesta rice" (a recipe we made up together using hot sausages, salsa, onion, garlic and rice) and the girls had scrambled eggs. I went to a preschool orientation meeting for 45 minutes, came home to find the girls ready for bed, and Kaitlyn went to bed with no fuss around 8 PM. We let Meagan stay up and crawl around to burn off some energy and she started to crawl slower... and slower... until she found a nice spot under the table and just zonked out. This girl really is her mother's daughter - apparently I used to fall asleep anywhere and everywhere as well.



Anyway, I am feeling refreshed and ready for a good weekend! A few good nights' sleep will do that!

Grocery Update & Meagan is 9 months today!

So I did my groceries for the week yesterday. Superstore shopping came to $87 and produce shopping was $18 - so I went $5 overbudget. The good thing about that number is I was forced to buy a few things that hopefully next week I won't have to - like coffee, chicken, and some other meats. I also picked up a couple peaches when I saw they were in from the Okanagan and cut some up for Meagan last night - she loves them! If only I knew how to can, I would can a bunch and store them up for later while they're cheap.

Right now I'm reading a book called America's Cheapest Family by Steve and Annette Economides. I'm currently on the grocery shopping chapter and am floored at what they accomplish. They are a family of 7 (including 3 teenage boys) who feed their family on $350 per month (book was published in 2007) and only grocery shop once per month so only 12 times per year. The trip takes 5 hours each time but wow, $350 per month??

My baby is 9 months old today. Crazy! The time is flying by with some ups and downs. I don't have her stats yet but might just go to the clinic today to have her weighed and measured for the record.

At 9 months, Meagan:

- still doesn't really sit unless she's in a chair. She can do it, but doesn't want to - she'd rather be scooting around the room either doing an army crawl or in her walker (she flies across the room in that thing!)

- has 1 tooth on the bottom and another on the way

- usually wakes up once a night for a quick feed and still won't take a bottle or a sippy cup

- loves to feed herself and is trying new tastes and textures everyday. Right now her favourite is Gerber Puffs - doesn't matter what flavour, she loves them!

- is a super happy baby and loves to laugh. By herself, with her sister (those two can really get each other going), or a silly fake laugh just being a bit of a clown

- loves Kaitlyn and Kaitlyn loves her

- is such a joy and blessing to our family :)

Meal Planning Monday! It's Back!

Due to the new spending restrictions and organizational aspect of it, I am returning to meal planning! This time the menus will be a little different as we are trying to keep our weekly grocery bills less than $100/wk. Without diapers and cosmetics on our list, I think it's doable, but the true test will be when I do my groceries today or tomorrow and get my total. Groceries will be done at Superstore and produce will be done at the produce market (so much fresher and cheaper!).

So here we go...

Monday: Oven steak & vegetables

Tuesday: Beef barley soup & bread

Wednesday: Hot dogs

Thursday: Spaghetti tuna casserole

Friday: Chicken puff casserole

Saturday: Cauliflower-ham bake

Sunday: Brinner (breakfast for dinner) - eggs, bacon, toast and pancakes

Most of the meals were planned around ingredients I already had in my house (frozen hot dog buns, leftover roast for the soup, spaghetti noodles, tuna) or cheap produce and cheaper meats than we normally pick.

I've submitted requests for about 10 books from the library on grocery shopping, budgeting and cooking on a tight budget. If anyone else has any suggestions, tips, etc., please pass them on! And thanks Cecile for your comments!

Getting Proactive!

After being disappointed for a few days about the loss of opportunities, we decided to start looking at the bright side of things and start working towards our goals. One goal we have is to be debt-free and we have been working hard on figuring out how to do that, especially now considering Ryan's employment may not change anytime soon.

We have started a budget, are cutting out all credit in our lives (besides a van loan that finishes in February and our mortgage), and are going to live as frugally as possible! So, yes, returning to menu-planning, only this time choosing only budget-friendly meals, cutting out everything but necessities, and figuring out wherever we can trim back and doing it.

So if any of you have any tips, websites, book suggestions - anything - please pass them on! We want to make our goal a reality!

Trying Times

I've been laying a little low in bloggerville as there was a lot in the works for Ryan jobwise and didn't want to blog about it until it was finished. I was hoping it would be a happy blog entry, but it's not. Ryan applied for a job with the university and was very hopeful he would get it. Considering he was considered the favourite going into it, it was a major disappointment when he was not offered the job. Granted, someone with a lot more schooling and experience did get it, but it was still disappointing. And in the same week we received confirmation that due to the provincial government hiring freeze, Ryan would no longer be considered as an applicant for the sheriff program. This was not a shock to hear since I work for the provincial government and knew they were focussing on retention with zero outside hiring, but it was disappointing to hear it in the same week that he didn't get the job he had his heart set on.

Other than that, things are continuing as normal around here. Meagan had a horrific day last week with many bouts of crying and general fussiness. The next day Ryan discovered her firt tooth. And it feels like there is another coming through already. Her sleep is still a battle most of the time, but last night she slept from 11 to 6:30 for the first time. Not that I did. Too many things going on in my head and I was awake from 5 am, just worrying about everything.

And really, what does worrying accomplish? Nothing except added stress. I am sure everything will work out in the long run, but in the short run, it still sucks.

So that's my gripe post for the year hopefully!

Life Semi Crunchy

Check out the Life Semi Crunchy blog for a great giveaway of Lulu's in the Fluff! Ever since I started cloth diapering, I've been looking for the magic diaper detergent and am excited to try it out soon.