happenings...

still cleaning up puke. lily has it SO much worse than claire. poor baby is still throwing up and she is crying a lot. :( she has been asleep for about an hour now so i am checking up on my email and doing laundry and making cookies for charlie's lunch this week. they say that mom's are multitaskers extraordinarre and i believe it! :)

Hey, feeling bad about the economy? check this out!

please continue to send prayers our way!

love,
Julie

Menu Planning for January 5th-11th...

Okay, this week we are starting the New Year and with that comes a new budget! We are trying to follow Dave Ramsey's methods so we are definitely NOT overspending, there will be NO eating out because we simply do not have the money for it. :)

So, I am going to list my menu and then break it down into what I have to buy and how I did on my $35 a week budget!

Here's what's cookin' this week:

Breakfasts:

Amish Baked Oatmeal

Pumpkin Muffins

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Breakfast Burritos(make extra for freezer)(Cheese free from WIC)

Cereal, milk & bananas (get cereal & milk free from WIC)

Peanut butter toast, bananas (peanut butter free from WIC)

Biscuits & sausage gravy

Lunch:

pb&J's

cheese & crackers

leftovers

grilled cheese

corndog muffins

(basically, this is how our lunches go with stuff from the freezer thrown in every now and then. Sometimes I might make fried rice or heat up some leftover muffins or something like that to go with lunch. Sometimes we have breakfast burritos or homemade hot pockets)

Suppers:

Fried Rice, salad

Autumn Chowder, sweet onion muffins

Baked Mac & cheese, carrots, brussel sprouts

Spaghetti, Salad

Broccoli Quiche, salad

Red Beans & Rice

Burrito Supreme Casserole(recipe below, courtesy of Darcy), with these refried beans, Salad

* I have most of this in my pantry so I only have to buy:

tortillas (maybe I will make these)

Broccoli

salad stuff(lettuce, tomato, we have vinegar/oil mixed up already)

pumpkin (large can)

hot dogs

bread

sausage

bananas

The "real work" will begin next week when we must start from scratch with a pretty much empty pantry! :)

Burrito Supreme Casserole

8 (8-in.) flour tortillas
1 1/2 c. tomato juice
1 env. taco seasoning mix
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 - 1 lb. ground beef
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
shredded lettuce
chopped tomato

Combine tomato juice, oil and taco seasoning mix. Stir well and set aside. Cook ground beef and drain if needed. Stir in beans and 1/2 c. tomato juice mix. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until heated through. Remove from heat. Place 1/4 cup beef mixture and a couple tablespoons of cheese down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas and place seam side down in lightly greased 9x13-in. baking dish. Pour remaining tomato juice mix over casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese, bake 5 additional minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle lettuce and tomato over casserole.