Menu Plan Monday - Week of August 1, 2011

I had to take a double-look at the calendar, August 1st?  How did that happen?  In 23 days my oldest will be starting kindergarten.  He is very excited, so am I, just a little nervous about the whole school bus thing.  But he insists on riding the bus, so I will oblige and swallow my pride and put him on that bus!  Then I will wave goodbye and watch the bus drive away with my baby, and then... Yes I know I will be balling my eyes out!  Okay, I totally went off on a tangent there!

It's summer, it's hot, we are still grilling!  I actually picked up 2 roasts this past weekend because they were BOGO at Giant Eagle and I could not pass that up!  I am kind of excited to make one in the crock pot once the weather cools down!

Alright then, here is what is on the calendar for this week!

Monday - Simple Bean Tostadas
Tuesday - Pizza Party at the Rec for the end of T-Ball!
Wednesday - Beefy Zucchini (fresh from the garden, of course!)
Thursday - Steaks and Easy Seasoned Potatoes (I put these in a foil pan on the grill)
Friday - Hamburgers
Saturday - Eat Out
Sunday - Family Picnic

This post is linked at MPM at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Free Sample of Kirkland Diapers from Costco

Go here to request a free sample of Kirkland diapers from Costco.  No membership number is required!  There are other samples available too, check it out!

Everybody Loves a Freebie!

$1 off Kikkoman and MIR for Grilling Tools!

Right now there is a $1 off coupon for any Kikkoman product on their website!  Also when you buy 3 sauces, there is a rebate available to receive a set of grilling utensils.  You only need your receipt(s) for submission.

If you live in the Cleveland, Ohio area, Marc's stores have these priced at $1.29, so with coupon it is only $0.29!  This is an amazing deal!

Walgreens - Friends and Family Sale

Now through July 30th, you can save $10 off a $50 online purchase at Walgreens with code FAMILY10 at checkout!

5 Months Until Christmas - Have You Started Saving?

Yes, you have only 5 months to Christmas!  Have you started saving yet?  When you are on a monthly budget, you track where every penny goes!  So how do you prepare for larger events, like Christmas or a vacation when it simply does not fit your budget?

You plan ahead and you save little by little!

Last Christmas was amazing for our family.  It was paid for before the holiday shopping even began!  There were no post-January bills for us to deal with after the holiday season.  How did we do it?  We saved for 6 months ahead of the holiday! 

This year we knew how how much we needed to save and we started saving in February!  Yes, February, this way we know we will have all of our Christmas shopping money ready to use by November!  How do we save?  We use SmartyPig!  We set our goal up in February and every month we have an amount debited from our checking account and it goes directly to our Christmas Fund at SmartyPig!  You can watch your piggy bank grow at SmartyPig!

The amount deducted is part of our monthly budget, so we can afford it every month!  This plan has worked for us for the past two years.  Plan ahead and have the money ready to spend!

At SmartyPig, you can open a free account and earn 1.10% on your balance.  This is a lot better rate than you will find at most banks!  You can also earn rewards when you redeem your balance on gift cards!  How easy is that?  What's holding you back from saving today?

Menu Plan Monday - Week of July 25, 2011

All I can say is HOT HOT HOT!  I sure hope we can take another week of all grilling, because it has just been too hot to cook in the house!  It getting to the point where all we want to do is go out and eat!  Luckily I scored a few good Groupons this past week, just in case, the Menu Plan goes by the wayside!  So this is what we are planning, here's to sticking to the plan!  I also picked quite a few zucchinis from the garden, if you didn't guess by my menu!

Monday - Chicken Caesar Wraps and Zucchini Bread
Tuesday - Hamburgers and Twice Baked-Grilled Potatoes
Wednesday - Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Thursday - Summer Layered Chicken Salad
Friday - Eat Out
Saturday - Family Wedding
Sunday - Italian Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

This post is linked at MPM at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Garden Update & Zucchini Bread!

So my garden is doing great thus far!  This week we picked 5 zucchinis and one cucumber.  The cucumber was a bit on the small side, but the boys really wanted to pick it and have it for lunch.  Which they did, they ate it up!

So with the zucchini's this week I made these Baked Zucchini Sticks and today I made 2 loaves of my Zucchini Bread!  My house smells amazing and I cannot wait to cut into the bread!

I have lots of green tomatoes, some jalapenos, and loads of small cucumbers.  I anticipate being able to pick some more zucchinis and cucumbers this week.  Perhaps in two weeks my tomatoes and jalapenos will be ready and I can made homemade salsa, my absolute favorite thing to make with garden fresh veggies!

Enjoy!