Is It too early

to start thinking about Christmas! Ok I have been thinking about xmas since July 5th so I would be lied when I said "start thinking" lol. Tomorrow is October 1 which means in my house Christmas planning and shopping will begin. Christmas is going to be tight this year, I put money aside from every paycheck into "HealthCare & Xmas" savings account. 2010 has been a bad health year for us, Monkey has been on the ambulance (very expensive!) and the ER. Also DH had an outer-ear infection and needed to see a specialist twice of course thats after seeing his primair twice. So needless to say that savings account is at bare mininaml.  The sad fact is that is also our Chirstmas money too :( but atleast our bills are paid.  I have already bought a few gifts during the year so that will help and I refuse to put Christmas gifts on credit cards, that's just silly. So my plan is to make candles, I have been saving the glass baby food and fruit food jars and I have been working on another sercet project for my family
to start thinking about Christmas! Ok I have been thinking about xmas since July 5th so I would be lied when I said "start thinking" lol. Tomorrow is October 1 which means in my house Christmas planning and shopping will begin. Christmas is going to be tight this year; I put money aside from every paycheck into "HealthCare & Xmas" savings account. 2010 has been a bad health year for us; Monkey has been on the ambulance (very expensive!) and the ER. Also DH had an outer-ear infection and needed to see a specialist twice of course that’s after seeing his primary twice. So needless to say that savings account is at bare minimal.  The sad fact is that is also our Christmas money too :( but at least our bills are paid.  I have already bought a few gifts during the year so that will help and I refuse to put Christmas gifts on credit cards, that's just silly. So my plan is to make candles, I have been saving the glass baby food and fruit food jars and I have been working on another secret project for my family. I might not be rich but at least I am creative.

So why do I start Christmas planning and shopping soo early for two reason 1) Christmas Lent starts in the middle of November, so I rather spend my extra time with prayers and reading the scriptures 2) it's the busiest time of the year.  If I have a hard time balancing Faith, Family, and Friends in September, you don't want to see me in December.

I love making list so here is my Christmas To-Do List for the next two weeks
1) create a budget and list of people I will be shopping for
2) brainstorm and gather information for the people on my shopping list to get the best gift I can with my money
3) fill out Christmas card (which I bought in February)
. I might not be rich but atleast I am creative.

So why do I start Chirstmas planning and shopping soo early for two reason 1) Christmas Lent starts in the middle of November, so I rather spend my extra time with prayers and reading the scrupitres 2) it's the busiest time of the year.  If I have a hard time balancing Faith, Family, and Friends in September, you don't wanna see me in December.

I love making list so here is my Christmas To-Do List for the next two weeks
1) create a budget and list of people I will be shopping for
2) brainstorm and gather information for the people on my shopping list to get the best gift I can with my money
3) fill out christmas card (which I bought in February)

Monkey Lesson

Once Monkey turned 18 months we started our "lessons" which I do for three reasons 1) its great Monkey and Me bonding time 2) he has a lot of energy so I try to channel it on good stuff 3) he is learning, there is no downside to that. I pick a theme that we will work on for a few weeks which also includes a letter, number, color, and church.  In each theme packet, I make sure there are coloring pages, arts and craft projects, and library books. I also try to schedule some kind of outing like apple picking or visting the chickens at the park.

In September the two theme's were Chickens (Monkey's favorite animal sound), Crosses, and we are still working on Apples. We also introduce the letter "A" and the color red.  I don't expect Monkey to write the letter or even know that apple starts with the letter A all I want is for him to recognized the letter. The most important thing is Monkey is having fun learning, once it stops being fun I put everything away and we go play.

I will post our pictures and the lesson plans at the end of the month :)

Meal Plan 10/2-10/8

There are some great deals at my local ShopRite: Ground Beef for $1.99, bottom round roast for $1.79, bratwurst for $2.79 (also have coupon), whole mushroom’s for $1.99 (the slice mushrooms go on sale for the same price but they are 2 oz smaller and they don’t last as long in the fridge), and grapes are on sale for 99 cents.

This week I will be babysitting my nephews on Saturday so Ziti is the perfect meal, I will prep that morning and pop into the oven before dinner, all 4 boys love pasta, and mozzarella is on sale.

Dinner

Saturday- Baked Ziti with Easy Caesar Salad and Italian bread $9.50 serves 4 adults and 4 kids ;)

Sunday- Dinner over IL’s $0

Monday-  Beef stew with beer biscuits cost $12 serves 5

Tuesday- Beer Brats with carrot stick and cucumber slices $8.50 serves 3 ***LINK***

Wednesday- Left Over/Cereal Night $0

Thursday- Cheese Burgers with sweet potato fries and bell pepper slices $4.50 serves 2

Friday- Go out for Pizza $10 then movie date

Lunch

Week Day: For Monkey: Grilled Cheese and apple slices $2.5 serves 4

Week Day: For Monkey: Pizza $.88 serves 1

Week Day: For DH & Me: Deli sandwich on whole grain/wheat bread with spinach &V8 $20 serves 10

Saturday: Chili Dogs $2.50

Breakfast

Saturday - Peanut butter & Jelly pancakes

Sunday- Coffee Hour at church

Week Day: Oatmeal/Cereal (bought at Sam’s Club) with fruit

Week Day: English muffins with blackberry jam

SNACKS-n-SWEETS

HM Apple Pie

HM Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Chips

Grapes

Beer Brats

8 links of fresh bratwurst

4 (8-ounce) cans of beer

2/3 cup Dijon mustard  

1 teaspoon caraway seeds  

8 ounces bacon, chopped

2 cups onions (thinly sliced)

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1/4 cup whole grain mustard

10 (6-inch) sub rolls  

Preheat the grill. Place the beer, mustard, caraway seeds in a saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the liquid to a boil. Add the sausages and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from the sausages from the liquid, reserving the liquid. Cook sausage on grill

In a large sauté pan, over medium heat, render the bacon until crispy, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove the bacon and set aside. Discard the all the bacon fat except for 1/4 cup

Place 1/4 cup of the fat back into the pan and add the onions. Season with black pepper.

Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the garlic, mustard and 2 cups of the liquid from the sausages and sausage.

Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Re-season with salt and pepper.

Chili

1 pound mixed ground beef and sausage

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can black beans

1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained

3 (14 1/2-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with jalapenos

1 chopped onion

1/2cup water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons chili powder

Ground cumin

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown ground beef with the onions as much as possible. Put the mixture in a slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients and stir together. Cover and cook on high setting for 4 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours. Know-How: Stirring in chili powder right before serving brightens the flavor of the chili.

Suggested servings: cornbread, sour cream, cheese, chips, and fresh cilantro

$7.25 serves 4

Roasted Chicken

¼ cup of butter

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 tbsp dry mustard

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp of salt

¼ tsp of pepper

3lb whole broiler-fryer chicken

1 onion, quarter

1 bay leaf

Dry white wine

2 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 350.  Soften the butter and combine it in a small bowl with the garlic, mustard, thyme, tarragon, S&P.  Please the chicken breast side up on the rack of a shallow roasting pan. Put the onion and bay leaf in the body of the cavity (discard after cooking).  Gently separate the skin from the breast and sides of the chicken.  Spread half the butter-herb mixture under the skin.  Tuck the wings under the chicken and tie the legs.  Rub about half of the remaining butter mixture on the skin of the chicken.  Cover the chicken with loses foil tent and place in oven.  Every 45 minutes brush butter-herb mixture until chicken is done.

Pour the juices from the pan into a glass measuring cup, add white wine to make 1 ¾ cups of gray, pour a 1/3 into a small saucepan stir in flour for a minute ass additional liquid slowly, raise the heat and stir until gravy boils and thickens, season to taste

Total cost around $7.50 when you buy the chicken on sale (less than 70 cents per pound) serves 4-6 depending on size of chicken.

Meal Plan for Week of 9/25-10/1

This Week’s meal plan includes one large family dinner; it is my youngest baby brother’s birthday.  There really wasn't that big of sale big I will be taken of advantage of the Predue chicken sale, I never pay more than 2 a pound for meat. 

DINNER

Saturday: Chili with carrot sticks & cucumber slices, and corn muffins $8.75 serves 4

Family Sunday Dinner: Roasted chicken with mash potatoes and gravy, glazed carrots, corn, and biscuits $14 serves 6

Monday: Skillet Macaroni with Easy Cesar Salad $7.25 serves 3

Tuesday: Left-Over-Night $0

Wednesday: Slow Cooked Pacific Chicken with Lipton noodles and broccoli-n-cheese $5.50 serves 2

Thursday: Ham and Potato Casserole and a garden salad $5.5 serves 3 (will use some ham for breakfast)

Friday: Order In Pizza and Easy Cesar Salad $15 serves 5 (will use leftover pizza for lunch the next day)

LUNCH

Week Day: For Monkey: Grilled Cheese and apple slices $2.5 serves 4

Week Day: For Monkey: Mac–n-Cheese (made with sweet potato and squash) $2.5 serves 4

Week Day: For DH & Me: Deli sandwich on whole grain/wheat bread with spinach &V8 $20 serves 10

Saturday: Left over Pizza $0

BREAKFAST

Week Day: Pancakes (made with blueberry and mango puree)

Week Day: Oatmeal and Cereal (bought at Sam’s Club) with fruit

Saturday: Ham-n-Cheese Omelets

Sunday: Coffee Hour at church

SNACKS-n-SWEETS

HM (home made) Chocolate Birthday Cake

HM Candy Apples

HM  Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Chips

Pears

Meal Planning

I fancy meal planning; I enjoy taking on the challenge of creating 5 well balanced meals a week that is within our budget.  My budget used to be $100 a week and for the next four-five weeks I want to spend only $95.  I know it’s only $5 a week but it does add up to $20 a month!  My dream goal is to spend $75 a week but that will require lots of work and baby steps to get there but I am working on it.  I have been doing meal planning for over a year now; I do it weekly to take advantage of the weekly sales and we make sandwiches during the week for lunch plus I love fresh fruit and salad.  I do use about 3-5 coupons a week, I don’t buy something just because I have a coupon and it’s on sale, I buy it because I need it for that week or the next.  I also do cook one big batch of meatballs, sauce, meatloaf, and soup a month (about 6-7 dinners)

I will be updating my meal plan weekly for any other busy moms out there and a little self discipline to stick to my budget and reach my goal.  I put the total cost of the meal that includes all side and vegetable dishes.  Right now I am happy if a serving cost is less than $2.75 but my dream goal is $2.25-$2 a serving.  

BookClub: Jodi Picoult's House Rules

I have seen so many bloggers that have "Reading" or "Books" as an interest so I thought it would be fun to share the book that I am reading and if anyone wants to read along that would be swesome. In two weeks I will create a new post on my thoughts on the current book and would love to hear any comments that you have about the book or about the author. And if you fell in love with a book and think I would like it please share I would to read it.

For the next two week I will be reading Jodi Picoult's House Rules.  I fell in love with Jodi's book when she wrote Handle with Care. I have also read a few others and have never been disappointed. The best part is all of her books are found at your local library.

Here the synopsis on House Rules straight from Jodi's website: HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.

Random Thoughts

I have been so busy lately, my best friend just got married this weekend so I have spent all last week getting ready. I laugh now that it took me a week to get ready for her wedding which was 30 minutes away from my house.  Plus Monkey’s lesson are in full swing now, for the next few weeks we will be learning about Apples (which he loves) and still learning about the cross for the rest of September.  By the time Sunday came I was completely drained energy wise; if I had to pin point my energy level yesterday it was at a 2 (1 lowest 10 highest) but after a long bath and my Prayer Walks this afternoon I’m back at a 7ish. I could use any tips or advice on boosting my energy because I can’t always take a long bath or a prayer walk. Now if life was like a video game I could just use one of my energy packs and be good to go.

Prayer Walks

I like to call the area where I work Corporate USA but I am blessed to have a nice walking path where on most beautiful days I use my lunch break for my Prayer Walks. These strolls are so quiet and peaceful, I can really think and open up and talk to God. I spend 30 minutes asking God “why am I on this path” or “how should I handle a situation”.  On the way back I try to stop thinking all together so I can hear God and even though I can’t actually “hear” God by the time I am back at my desk I know what God wants me to do. How do you talk to God?

The Elevation of the Cross

          O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victories to the
          Orthodox Christians over their adversaries; and by the virtue of Thy Cross,
           preserve Thy habitation (Troparion).

To help celebrate the Holy Cross Monkey and I made a few crosses out of play-doh.  It was his first time playing with play-doh and I was nervous that all he was going to do was eat it but he learned fast that play-doh taste nasty. He did really good he helped me roll out the play-doh and enjoy making ball shapes out of them. After I made one successful cross, Monkey gave it a kiss. I wish I had my camera by my side but I was too still too afraid of leaving him alone with the play-doh.

Othodox Child in a Non-Orthodox Church

We attained a christening Sunday that was at an Episcopal Church, which where the christening is part of the Sunday serves too. Well for the last 5 days I have been worried how Monkey was going to act in a non-Orthodox Church because our church is normally loud with children and the choir, everybody knows how Monkey likes to "sings" and loves to scream "Amen", plus I have tons of help to keep him under control. I am happy to say Monkey did pretty well during the services, he did scream "Amen" and he had to say hi to everybody around us but after that he was good. Monkey didn't make it for the full hour and half service but the church was very quiet and there really weren't a lot of children which I felt Monkey was even louder so I did take him to the car early but I was pretty happy with his behavior so we stopped at the local bakery and got a cookie.

Happy 4 Years!

Do you ever just stop and think about how you got where you are? Today is my 4 year wedding anniversary and when I look back on our relationship it just proves to us that God has plans for us and know that DH and I would be perfect together. When DH and I meet over 8 years ago, we were both young, and we really didn’t know who we were yet. At first we were attracted to each other and realized that we had chemistry. Today I am still very much attracted to DH but the love has changed. The love is stronger more powerful than I could ever imagined it. I love who we turned into, I love the parents we have become, and I love the life we have created together. That’s my definition of a soul mate is God making two people who are perfect for each other now, later, and for eternity.

Household Chores

When you work 40 hours and your weekends are filled with faith, family, and friends it leaves you no room for house work. I have no time for house work nor any money for a maid (even though if I did have money for a maid, it would become tithe money instead). Like any women there are things that drive me crazy, for example; I like to walk around my house barefoot but I hate the feeling of dirt under my feet, but I hate the feeling that I am always cleaning which is hard for any momma out there. So here is how I fit cleaning into my busy life;

Every day I do one load of laundry and a quick clean to the kitchen (dishes, countertops, and sweep).
Every other day I do a quick clean to our upstairs bathroom (quick wipe to the tub, tiles, sink, countertop, and toilet) . The three of us rarely use the powder room so I only need to clean it once a week.
Every Wednesday night is my cleaning night: I clean both bedrooms, both bathrooms, the kitchen, living room, and the dining room. I put away clutter, empty trash, dust/windex, map/vacuum every room. It only takes me 3 hours to clean both floors thanks to being organized. My trick is clean one room at a time (starting with the baby’s since he goes to bed at 7) and I carry around my cleaning basket which has everything I need to clean all the rooms. I don’t turn on any TV or radio bc then I just get distracted and everybody is sleeping so I have a good few hours to talk to God. Boy do I talk to God when I am cleaning out my refrigerator.
Every 6 monthish I go crazy and do a deep clean where I clean the closets, windows, walls, swap seasonal clothes, Murphy oil all the wood, clean the carpets.
This schedule keeps my house clean and I don’t feel like I am always cleaning. How do you manage your household chores?

Staycation

Staycation is when your are on vacation but you stay home. I have been on staycation all week and it's been nice. I got to spend tons of time with my nephews and my Monkey and it made me realize that DH and I are done working crazy overtime and spend more time together. So we need to trim our budget and I need to realixe that it is just money it's not that important, not more important that family time. This fall I am going to give it my all and try to reduce my food bill by $75 making it $425 a month. It is going to be hard since I stress that I give my family a well balanced diet.  I need to review my receipes and see where I can make cheap subsitutes. I already started my making my own chicken stock (I use alot of chicken broth) last week but what else can I do? It's going to take me a few months but I think I can do it. Any tips?

Happy September

Fall it is my favorite season; I know it's still summer but fall is around the corner. I fancy the fall activities like apple picking, pumpkin carving, and hayrides. I also have a passion for football, comfort food, and watching the leaves change color. My town has a free county fair with hayrides and face painting this month and a October fest next month. It is expensive to live here in New Jersey but I absolutely adore Jersey this time of year, all the towns get together, there is so much to do and it cost so little. I love when strangers get together to have fun because then they are no longer strangers.