whoa dude

a month?!  what the butt!  That flew by.  Anyone else excited that summer FINALLY arrived?  This is the season I live for, so I've been outside and all over the place.  LOVE it. 

I've also gotten hooked on some decorating blogs.  Oh my.  The Nate Berkus show made some comment (isn't it terrible that I don't remember even that any more?!  this show is on during what was my 10am nursing session...got somewhat addicted there too...ohhhh dear).  Anyway.  Here's the list of what I've been reading lately.  OH decorating...looooove.  :o)
http://www.younghouselove.com/
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/
http://www.gusandlula.com/
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/


And now, I'm driving my husband nuts with all my baskets and burlap and "high and wide" curtains and painting wishes and etc.  :o)  I think he's liking it though. 

We finally got new couches!  When I graduated collge, we (I was) were blessed with my parent's friends couches when they moved to CA and had to downsize.  I'm sure the couches are no less than 20 years old.  Great quality and very comfortable (here they are if you're looking for a set) - it was just time to buy something that we picked out together.  We got dark chocolate leather.  Yummm!!  And they're so comfortable.  You'll have to come over and enjoy them with us. 

And what about meal planning, you ask?  I know I know.  I've been doing it, just not posting.  We've also been out of town quite a bit, so we've been sharing meals with friends and family and holidays.  I'll post next week's tomorrow (it will be anemic also as I have work stuff all week long). 

HAPPY SUMMER!  How have you been enjoying the beautiful (minus last week's sauna temps) weather?

Week 4 Menu

Oh my, am I behind or what?!  Life's been a bit crazy.  Here's what this week is (was) looking like...

Monday -
Pork fajitas with sauted red peppers and onions

Tuesday -
Venison steaks and broccoli

Wednesday -
Roasted chicken (pepper & salt), corn (frozen from last summer, yuuuummm), and freezer twice-baked potatoes

Thursday -
Over-priced auction hotdogs

Friday -
Chicken salad

Saturday -
Going to try Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

Sunday -
Pheasant - not sure how I'll be cooking it yet.  I'll post about what I decide.  All I know is I'm tired of having these "birds with feet" carcasses in  my freezer - it's time to eat them.  :o)

Grocery shopping list...
I'll be checking PYD for any can't miss deals.  Otherwise, I'm just looking for some fruit, yogurt, and fresh veggies.

Meal planning - month one verdict:  SUPER awesome on the budget.  I will note that I've depleted some of my pantry stash, but I should be able to restock that without much issue. 

How about you?  Have you tried menu planning?

Week 3 Menu

Week three!  Week two was a bit hectic...we had a couple of nights of leftovers because some of the dishes made SO much food.  Going forward, I'll be building in one "free" night where we'll finish up some extras.  Anyway, none of the pork was cooked last week and we definitely didn't do the roast. 

Monday -
Pork loin, butterflied with salt, pepper, and grainy mustard

Tuesday -
Pork Fajitas (leftover from Monday)

Wednesday -
Out for dinner...and a baby sitter!  Wheee!  :o)

Thursday -
Leftovers!

Friday -
Father's day weekend!

Saturday -
Father's day weekend!

Sunday -
Father's day weekend!
Not much on my list this week.  In fact, I probably won't even make it to the store unless I'm supposed to be providing potato salad for the weekend, then I'll need some potatoes.  We'll be shopping our pantry this week!  Now that's a budget friendly week!  :o)

Week 2 Menu

Alrighty, week two!  We didn't get to the mac & cheese last week (we had a happy hour on friday, yay!), so it's moving to this week.  I did some freezer prep over the weekend.  Made a double batch of pizza dough (enough for four pizzas in the freezer now), double batch of cookie dough (baked some up, portioned the rest), and chopped up some strawberries ($0.99 per pound at Aldi last week and this week).

Monday -
Spaghetti & Venison Meat Sauce (leftover from the lasagna making from last week)

Tuesday -
Steaks (yay for shopping our freezer..finding some good stuff at the bottom) & cheesy potatoes (from church freezer cooking)

Wednesday -
Three Cheese Bacon Mac & Cheese

Thursday -
Pork loin & asparagus

Friday -
Pork Fajitas (with onions & peppers)

Saturday -
Pizza (heard that Sam's has 5lbs of pepperoni for $13...hoping Costco has something similar, this is MUCH better than the $2.50/6oz or so you get on the Hormel stuff)

Sunday -
Roast, potatoes, onions

Items on my grocery list this week:
3# frozen Chicken breasts at Rainbow - $4.99
10 flour tortillas at Aldi - $0.99
1# Shredded Mozz Cheese at Alid - $3.29
Would love to hear your menu for this week...I could use your ideas for my menu next week! 

Week 1 Menu

I'm committing.  I'm going to start meal planning.  To try and keep myself accountable, I'll be posting them here each week. 

Monday -
Hotdogs & Brats on the grill (happy memorial day, and THANK YOU to all our service-people!)

Tuesday -
Rosemary roasted chicken and asparagus edamame

Wednesday -
Homemade Pizza

Thursday -
Chicken Enchiladas (leftover chicken from Tuesday)

Friday -
3 cheese bacon macaroni

Saturday -
Fried egg sandwiches

Sunday -
Venison Lasagna

Do you plan your meals out?  Share your plan for this week!  I know we can all use the inspiration of other's ideas!