PrairieLady

The seasons of grocery budgets and menus........

I must admit I enjoy reading other postings on menus and grocery budget ideas.   I love to look for new ways to boost our meals around here.   Trying to decide on what to serve can be a difficult decision for me at times.   I like to have a good variety but also need to stay within our budget.   Several years ago I began to explore ways to cut our budget, and serve healthy meals.   As look back on the progress of our 'eating' around here I can see patterns or seasons.   We have had seasons of extreme bare bones budgets,   ultra healthy eating, and  seasons of only from scratch cooking.   If I were to describe our 'season' right now I would call it.........little bit of all three worlds.   I have found for us with our busy lifestyle that I need 'quick  meals' these meals tend to be less healthy,  I also have times I want to cook the grand all from scratch meals, all the while I am mindful of our nutritional needs and eating healthy.  

I have tried several ways of planning out our meals.....very structured weekly menus....no planning at all (not a good idea :^o..)  and finally I have come up with a workable plan for us.  I shop for the main part of our groceries once a month.   Ususally my sweet husband and I go do the mega shopping at the end of the month when we get paid.   As for my menu.....I plan out everything we will eat for the next month.....breakfast, lunches, dinners, Sunday meals and snacks.   I do not set what day we are to eat them though.   I just make a list of each section , then review what I have on hand and make out a mega shopping list.   I then usually end up at the grocery store a couple times throughout the month picking up forgotten items, fresh milk , fruits and veggies, and finally any unexpected needs.   We are able to stay on our planned grocery budget this way......this is a plan that works for us.   I think that  menus and grocery budgets are unique to each family.   I enjoy visiting a message board that has a board just for grocery budgets.   I have even joined in the monthly challenges but I soon realized our family dynamics was not the same as the usual postings.   We have a family of six boys......the current ages of our boys are  4-9-11-13-15-18.   My boys love to eat and the four oldest eat as much as my husband, so when I plan a meal I plan for 5 man size portions and 3 regular portions.   My husband has a very stressful, active job each day, he works long hours to provide for his family.   I appreciate all that he does for us and I know how much he enjoys a good meal so I try really hard to have a nice big meal for him to enjoy when he comes home at night.   We stay on a modest grocery budget and I am very careful of what I spend, but I do not cut it back to the bare bones.......we have a few little extras.   I guess this is a small splurge for us.   I will make a another post sometime with a sample of our monthly menu list.  I hope others will continue to post their menus and budget ideas.........I know I want to see ideas and hopefully learn something new.

Ramblings

I am a list maker.   I may not always look at my list, but once I have written it down I tend to get more done.  So I have big plans today to take a big chunk out of this week's list.   Yesterday was one of those days that I was really busy working all day but the house did not look very put together by the end of the day.  The main issue......I grossly underestimated how  much laundry had piled up on me.   If  I work really hard today and tom. , maybe I will get caught back up.

The boys are up and starting on school, they have drama club this afternoon,  school tends to be done in a timely manner on this day.   They do not want to miss out.  

I will count this a productive day if I can sit at the sewing machine and finish up the last of the buttonholes.  I have had several unfinished items waiting on the buttonholes.  My old machine would no longer make them, so now I can complete the projects with my new machine.  I have  really enjoyed my new machine.  I purchased a Janome 3022.   This machine is so nice and quiet.   My sewing list for this week is:

finish the buttonholes

cut out 2 batiste slips,  navy dress, an amish apron, and two bib aprons

start sewing on the slips first, then the dress

I do not like to cut out things, so I tend to cut out several items at one time, then I can just keep on sewing.

Well the laundry is calling my name and my list awaits...........at least I can mark off one item........my blog is updated.........

Have a great day

Arla

Back to bloggin

I love to come to Homestead Blogger to read other's posts and lately I have found myself wanting to blog again......so here it goes.   Official reopening of my blog.......

Arla

Maybe Grandma was on to something.

Today as I was busy about my house I begin to think of my dear sweet Grandma.  She went on to be with the Lord over 10 years ago.  She was such an inspiration to me, she was truly a 'woman after God's heart'.   I have sweet memories of her reading the Bible to us.  She would tuck us in at night, and return back to her reading chair.  The house would be all quiet , the only sound as we drifted off to sleep would be Grandma's voice reading from God's holy word.  What a legacy to pass on.

My Grandma worked very hard at keeping her household.  She was rarely  seen just sitting idle. She was frugal with everything she did.  It is about being frugal that I started thinking about today.   I must admit I am hesitant to even put this little story on paper, lest someone was to think I was poking fun at my dear Grandma.   I want to make it very plain I loved my Grandma  If she were here today we would be sitting over a cup of tea, and having a giggle over this very subject. 

  I find myself always on the lookout for new ways to save money.  Several weeks ago on the board "The Family Homestead"  there was a thread on "What to use the dryer lent for."  Now this thread caught my attention and I read through the postings.  The idea of stuffing the dryer lent into a toliet paper tube , then using it in the fireplace for a firestarter was mentioned.  What a great idea.  I showed it to my dear husband and he thought we ought to give it a try.  We do 20 loads of laundry a week and we have tons of lent to throw away.  I must say I suspect his goal leans more to the idea .....maybe I will remember to clean out the lent trap if I am saving it.   So today, as I cleaned out the lent trap I thought of Grandma and what she would think of me saving the dryer lent for a useful purpose.  I had to chuckle at the thought......she would love it!   We used to tease her if she could find a use for the dryer lent she would save it too.  She saved everything else.....just in case she might need it sometime.    

Thank you Grandma Neff.......I miss you.

Arla

Selling the house

We have been trying to sell our house in town for the last two years.   We have been waiting somewhat patiently.  I have to be honest and admit there has been times I have doubted what we were doing and why.   My wonderful husband and I have felt a need for several years to have our boys in the country.  Just a few acres would be our dream, a place for the boys to have projects, a place for them to just go and explore God's nature.  I know that some of the projects can be done in our backyard and we can find God's handiwork in every blade of grass, but our dream was the country.

  We have tried both selling it ourselves and with a realtor.  I would have never thought it would take this long to sell when we first started this.  I will not go into all of the details but we have done all we are suppose to do to sell it.  I can say with all honesty I know this house will sell in God's timing and not a minute before hand.  We have grown so much in the last two years, and our boys have learned so much in helping prepare the house for the many showings.   We look forward to the day we can move to the country but we also cherish the many memories we are making as we are waiting for the house to sell.  Have a good day.....

Arla

, ,Quick and easy meal

I am always on the lookout for a quick and easy meal.   When you are feeding a crowd, 'convenience foods' tend to blow our fine tuned grocery budget.  So I thought I would share a favorite quick meal recipe.  My boys just love this.    Enjoy

                                           Scoop and Eat

2lb ground beef 

2pkg  taco seasoning

3 cups cooked rice (brown, or white)

1-2 cans ranch style beans

1 cup water

1 inch slice velveeta cheese

Brown the ground beef, drain, and add taco seasonings, water and beans.  Heat until bubbly.  Add cooked rice and velveeta cheese cubed.  At this point I sometimes need to add a small amount of  water.  Heat until the cheese is melted, serve with chips and sour cream.   Just let them scoop it and eat.

Time Flies

Wow , I cannot believe it has taken this long to get back to my blog.   We have been just way too busy around here.  I finally was able to get a batch of bread in the oven tonight.  I am having to adjust my baking time.  I purchased a set of nice bread pans online last month and I am still trying to get the perfect time for baking my loaves.   Tonight I left them in for 21 minutes and the loaves look beautiful, now we will see about the inside when we slice them. 

  It looks like we are going to list our house with a realtor next week.  We have had our house for sale for two years now.  We have tried selling it ourselves and used a realtor.   It has certainly been a time for us to learn  to wait on the Lord.   We also know that God's timing is always the best.  I do however dread the 'realtor selling it business'....I will just have to beef up my daily housekeeping standards.  Tomorrow we will move the boy's rooms around and do some deep cleaning. 

Well that all for this day's thoughts......I am looking forward to getting to know everyone.....Thank you for the welcoming comments.

Arla 

First Attempt at Blogging

Hello,

My name is Arla, I am a homeschooling mom of six boys.  We currently live in a small town, but our heart's desire is to move our boys to the country.   I enjoy being home with my boys, and learning new ways to be a better homemaker.  I love to bake bread, crochet and I am reteaching myself to sew. The Lord has richly blessed our family in many ways and we strive to bring him the glory.