Menu Plan Monday - Week of November 22nd!

Yeah - it is the start of the holiday season!  I am so excited for Thanksgiving, first for the food, secondly because I do not have to cook, and third it means a really long weekend away from work!  My sister is hosting the Turkey Day festivities this year and I only have to bring a side dish! 

Monday - Shake -n- Bake Pork Chops
Tuesday - Chicken Cheese Soup (New recipe, I'll share later)
Wednesday - Steak Sandwiches
Thursday - Turkey and all the trimmings at my sister's house!
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Eat Out
Sunday - Roasted Chicken and Mashed Potatoes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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

Bodies...The Exhibition

If you live in Cleveland (or planning a visit), Bodies...The Exhibition has now been extended until January 2, 2011.  You can get 20% off tickets when you order online here.

BODIES…The Exhibition provides an intimate and informative view into the human body. Using an innovative preservation process, the Exhibition allows you to see and celebrate your body’s inner beauty in ways you never dreamed possible. Over 200 actual human bodies and specimens, meticulously dissected and respectfully displayed, offer an unprecedented and wholly unique look into your amazing body. Come explore, experience and celebrate the wonder of the human form.

Honey Baked Ham

It’s not the holidays without a Honey Baked Ham. It you are having a party or large gathering, it is so easy to serve a Honey Baked Ham and only have to worry about the side dishes. We always serve our with Cheesey Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, and Corn!

Here is a link to some great coupons to make it a little more affordable!

$7 off a Half Ham
$3 off a Boneless Ham
$21.99 for a Sliced & Glazed Turkey Breast with any Ham purchase

Play-Doh Fun!

Well we love our Play-Doh at our house. My almost 5 year old (oh my!) asks to play at least a couple times a week. Right now he plays when his younger brother is napping. This is also when we play our big boy games! When we first started playing with Play-Doh, I was obsessed with keeping the colors separated! Well after a couple of years, I have given up on that premise. Kids really do not care (at least mine does not) if the colors are perfect! Here are some of my Play-Doh Tips.


1. Keep all Play-Doh items in a plastic bin. It makes clean-up and storage such an easy task! Throw everything back in and put the lid on for next time!

2. Play outside when weather allows. We use a small table and simply dust the table off and no more mess!

3. When it is cooler, we play in our sunroom, much better than having a mess in the kitchen!

Free Cake Sampling at Cold Stone on Tuesday 11/16

Try free samples at the eight layer cake national sampling event at Cold Stone Creamery on Tuesday, November 16th from 5pm - 8pm.  Find a store here and call ahead to make sure your location is participating!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of November 15th

Last week we had the most beautiful weather in Ohio in the month of November.  It makes you really appreciate 60 degree days when it could be cold and snowy!  Well that is in the past now and it is back to the cold!  We'll take it when we can get it, at least the kids got to enjoy a couple days at the playground with Dad!

Monday - Meatball Subs
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday
Wednesday - Chicken Breast Divine
Thursday - Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Friday - Pizza Night
Saturday - Date Night
Sunday - Maple Glazed Stuffed Pork Roast

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

Tired of Couponing – I Hope This Passes!

I am having a really hard time with couponing lately. I use to be so get-up and go when it came to couponing. In fact I was a bit obsessed. I thought I had to get every great deal that came around. Well, now that I look at my stockpile of 10 tubes of toothpaste and 10 bottles of men’s body wash I had to “redefine” my limits. Now I only buy items I have a lot of already that are money makers after coupons.


The past month I have somewhat lost my drive to coupon like a mad woman. I use to get so excited when I saved over $20 in coupons in one grocery trip, now not so much. Lately our shopping habits have changed. We have been going to Aldi a lot more often since milk is cheap as well are a lot of the household staples. The store is also close to our house and easy to get in and out of for a quick milk run. I have been doing a lot of price comparisons and more often than not, Aldi is the lowest price in town and you do not have to remember your coupons.

I am still making the occasional Giant Eagle runs, but last month I only went to the store two times. Once to use my accumulated foodperks and then another time to use the Catalinas I had from the previous trip before they expired. I still buy a lot of my meat at Giant Eagle since they often run BOGO sales on different cuts of meat. I do stock up at those sales. Giant Eagle is a lot more expensive for everyday items, but on the flipside when you pair up sales with double coupons, you can really score some great almost free to free items, which I love.

I have alot going on at work right now so my time has been limited.  Plus I would rather spend time with my boys after a hard day.  Right now I feel a lot more content since I am not obsessing over coupons and deals. However, I did see a slight rise in our grocery budget for October. Our previous three months we spent:

August - $287.31
September - $314.26
October - $371.32 (ouch!)

Our family goal is $300 a month for a family of four. I know we can do it. On the flipside, I looked at the money spent eating out for the past three months:

August - $204.39
September - $189.49
October - $144.56

So now I am seeing a trend, of course if we are eating out less, then we would need to buy more groceries for at home. When I combine the 2 amounts:

August - $491.70
September - $503.75
October - $515.88

So I still think October was a bad month, I am striving for November to keep the groceries under $300 and keep the eating out under $120. Wish us luck!