Back To Meal Prepping

Now that school is back on our weeks are plenty busy with after school activities along with all the rest of the stuff we regularly do.  To help me out I decided to get back to meal prepping.  To get started, a couple weeks ago I worked on mapping out ten weeks worth of meal plans.  I made those menus based off of items I already had in my freezer and pantry.  With the exception of some fresh produce and a few dairy items I pretty much have everything I need already on hand.

This sausage & egg casserole comes together quickly and bakes
in the oven while we get chores taken care of

On Sunday mornings I pull out all of the meats I'll be using and put them in the refrigerator to begin thawing.  Some components of each meal may get prepared ahead, such as pasta, rice or chopped vegetables.  I also cook up a nice big meal on Sunday with the idea that there will be leftovers for another supper and a couple lunches.

A loaf of bread and variety of meat pulled from our chest freezer

Right now I also incorporate sandwich items for quick lunches.  This week I picked up sliced roast beef, turkey and ham at the Winco deli.  Last week I thawed some ground ham I had in the freezer to make ham salad.  Next week I plan to make tuna salad.  I have several loaves of bread in the freezer and I take one out each week to thaw in the refrigerator.

I make a big garden salad every week

The rest of the meals I have planned throughout the week are ones that are quick and easy to prepare.  Some can go into the slow cooker in the morning and cook all day so they are ready to eat when we get home.  Along with salads I've got plenty of canned and frozen vegetable that are easy to cook either on the stove or in the microwave as a quick side dish.

Slow cookers are fantastic meal prep options

My meal prepping lately takes me less than an hour to do, but saves me loads of time throughout the week.  I'd say that is a wise investment of my time.  Plus, having a plan saves me a lot of stress when it comes to figuring out what to prepare for supper each night.  Especially when we are tight on time.

Stuffed bell peppers
Larger meals = leftovers

Let me know if you want to see more detailed meal prep posts in the future.

It Sucks!

I have a Dyson.  I must have bought a lemon, because I know a lot of people love their Dyson vacuum cleaners.  I don't love mine.

After putting in new carpet in our living room I want to make sure it is kept clean and tidy.  We've adopted a NO SHOES on in the house policy and I vacuum regularly as I always have, even with the old carpet.  We have kitties and three women in the house with long hair.  You have to vacuum often.

Versatile and fits into small spaces

A few weeks ago the youngest and I were at Walmart and I came across a Bissell stick vac.  It was only $19.99 and I thought this would be an excellent replacement for our broom.  I was hoping it would make it quick and easy to clean up our tile floors and because it is small I can get into all the nooks and crannies, even around the toilet, with ease.  Turns out it does exactly all that and it does a great job.

Even better it work beautifully on the carpet as well.  I can do a quick vacuum and navigate around all of our furniture, under the bookshelf and TV stand, my desk, the recliner.  It is really handy.  And much to my surprise it has a lot of suction power.  This vacuum really sucks!  Which, when it comes to vacuums, is exactly what you need.

This filter works great and it is washable

It also pulls apart and can be used as a hand vac which makes it really nice to vacuum upholstery, stairs and along the baseboards and under toe kicks.  The other nice thing is that it is extremely easy to empty.  It has a small two washable filters too.  I've actually used my Dyson to vacuum the filters clean and then I'm back in business without having to wait for them to dry.

In a nutshell I really like this vacuum cleaner.  It does a great job, is easy to use and takes up very little space to store.  With that in mine I bought a second one the other day.  I figured it would be perfect for Laverne!

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday morning I was up and at it.  First up was to get my Sunday chores done and the laundry started.  After that it was to put in a full day of work on my stairway project and I made some significant progress.  While I did that the girls made a double batch of biscuits and gravy for breakfast so they would have plenty of leftovers during the week.  They also folded the laundry for me.

Monday was the first day back to school.  And the beginning of the rat race that becomes my life during the school year.  Last week's meal plans should help me to save some time and at least get dinner on the table in a decent amount of time.  It is also a big stress reliever not to have to worry each day about what I'm going to prepare.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday both girls had practices to be picked up from after school.  My youngest actually had a football game on Tuesday.  I used my time in the mornings before work to get my daily chores done and to meal prep as needed.  With my new work schedule that extra hour in the mornings has come in very handy.

After work on Friday I did a little Christmas shopping at ShopKo.  I had received a $10 OFF $30 Purchase coupon that they had emailed me which worked perfectly for some things I had in mind for my girls.  I printed it off on a sheet of scrap paper, tucked it in my purse and off I went.

When I got home the girls and I mowed and trimmed the yard and I went out back with the weed eater and got things spruced up back there.  We also cleaned up our construction site, organized the leftover and usable wood scraps in the garage, dumped a bucket of smaller scraps into our wood crate for our firepot, filled up our garbage bin with trash and our recycle bin with cardboard for the next scheduled pick up.

Early Saturday morning I dropped my oldest off at her school to take a test.  While she did that I headed off to Walmart to do some more Christmas shopping and pick up a few other items on my list.  I also hit the dollar store on the way home and found some items for a fun project I plan to do for fall.

I did my grocery shopping at Winco so I could fill in some of the gaps in our pantry.  I used some of my found money from last week to pay the bill.  That was pretty fantastic.

When I picked my daughter up after her test we headed to the mall for some bra shopping at JC Penney.  I used my store card to pay in order to take advantage an additional 20% discount offer.  I was able to get her two really nice bras that were on sale plus the discount for only $25.  They were regularly priced at $32 each so I was pretty happy with the final price.  And I won't need to pay for them until next month, which I will, in full, so I don't accrue any interest fees.

Gratuitous  bunny pic

Our Saturday supper was a buffet of leftovers I pulled out of the refrigerator to reheat.  We cleaned those all up and kept our food waste to a minimum.

We fed loads of extra produce, bread and kitchen scraps to our chickens.

Last week's harvest
I gave that carrot to Daisy and she LOVED it!

I harvested some veggies from our little garden patch.  The squirrels made quick work of stripping all the pears and apples from the trees.  Little buggers!

How was your thrifty week?

Meet Miss Daisy

Isn't she cute?

For the longest time my youngest has wanted a bunny.  She babysat and did chores to save up the money to not only get the bunny, but to buy all of the supplies she would need to take care of her as well.  She also did a ton of research on bunnies and learned as much about them as she could.

We had looked at bunnies at the feed store, in fact every time we went in there for feed and peeps we looked at bunnies.  She had also checked out the website for the Humane Society as they often will get them there too.

Laying around being all cute

A few weeks ago she found a bunny rescue organization.  I could tell she was really ready to take the plunge and get her bunny and that she had found one on the rescue website that she was very much interested in.  A calico colored mini lop.

She loves her treats

She was at a foster home in Eagle, Idaho so we made the drive over to see her and that was all it took.  My youngest was in love and it seemed this bunny was pretty happy with her as well.  So she adopted her and paid the fee.  The foster lady even gave her enough food for a week, plus a brand new bag of rabbit pellets.  With that we tucked her into our cat carrier and brought her home.

Daisy's condo

It took only a day for this little girl to make herself right at home.  My daughter had taken our large dog crate, scrubbed it clean and sanitized it.  Then she set it up in her bedroom with one of her fleece blankets in the bottom.  I gave her an old storage container I had in the garage to use for a litter pan.  We picked up a couple items at Dollar Tree.  Baby toys to keep her entertained and a couple bowls for her food pellets and water.

Check out that cute little bunny butt

My youngest takes care of all of our animals.  She feeds and waters our chickens every day as well as our kitties.  That is her daily chore.  She also helps me out a ton when it comes to projects around the house.  She loves to work on projects, especially if they involve tools.  Chip off the old block, I'd say.  So when we went to the feed store last week to pick up a bale of Timothy hay and some wood litter pellets I told her to put her money away and I'd take care of it.  She had earned it and I was proud of her for taking on all that responsibility as well as saving up the money to adopt this little bunny.

Two very happy girls

She has named her Daisy and I think it is a name that certainly suits her.  She is very sweet and super soft.  We love to hold her and watch her hop about and play.  She loves to jump up on my daughter's bed and snuggle with her in the mornings.  They are really cute together.  At long last she has her bunny and I couldn't be happier for her.

A Week Of Thrifty Meals

It has been a while since I've shared what we've been eating lately so I thought it was time.

Homemade pepperoni pizza with whole wheat crust

Pork Verde served with rice

Pasta Bolegnase

Chicken sausages with sauteed green beans and pesto orzo

Even though we have been super busy this summer I try to always make sure we have good, nutritious meals to eat each day.  Plenty of leftovers for lunches too.  At the beginning of the week I made a big salad to go with the pizza and verde.  I ate salad all week in my lunches along with the leftovers.

These green beans came from our garden

I'm still doing my keto diet so I didn't eat any pasta, rice or the pizza, but my girls do eat starches so I still prepare a lot of traditional meals.  This is what we enjoyed in the last week and it was really good, quick to prepare too.  What have you been eating lately?

Six Month Keto Update

It has been a solid six months since I began my ketogenic diet and all I can say is - Wow!

I cannot believe how much better I feel.  I have more energy than I ever thought I would.  Obviously!  Have you seen our house lately?!  I'm getting stuff done!

In the past six months I've only had one migraine.  It lasted about three days, the first day being the worst and I actually went home from work that day, because it was a doozey with all the auras, numbness, light sensitivity, the works.  But I was back to work the next day and fully functioning and it was manageable.  The day after that it was hardly noticeable and then the next day it was gone.  So by my standards, a typical migraine.

I don't have near the aches and pains I used to.  Soreness and stiffness are usually the result of hard work, not just the everyday annoyance.  That I can appreciate.  I also notice I seem to recover from it faster and I don't even feel like I need to take any aspirin or anything for those aches and pains.  Instead I enjoy them, because I know I've earned them for good reasons.

Meal prepping works great!

I'm enjoying my meals and the challenge of trying to make them interesting.  Some people are fine eating the same things on a regular basis.  I am not one of those people.  I like variety.  I meal plan and continue to cook for my girls.  Most of the time I can make a meal that suits all of us.  But, sometimes I end up making two completely different meals.

So, I'm feeling good, doing well and plan to keep on trucking.  I'm so grateful that a simple diet change has had such a significant impact on my life.  I truly feel like I have my life back.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday I was in full on project mode working on those stairs.  I made a lot of progress, although I had hoped to be further along than I was.  I put in a full day and then cleaned up, showered and got busy with my daily chores and fixing supper.  We were blessed with a much cooler day too, which made it even more wonderful.  I was able to have the doors and windows open all day.

Wednesday I came home from work, changed into my grubbies and spent a couple hours working on our stairway project.  The girls helped too and I was able to finish the trim, sand the drywall repairs and get a couple of the treads permanently attached.  Once again I had hoped to make more progress than what I did, but that's me.

Last week's bounty from the garden

During the week I did some meal planning and came up with ten weeks of meals using pretty much items I already have on hand in the pantry and freezer.  I also planned for some meal prepping sessions to help give me a little boost as our weeks ahead get busier.  Then I checked out the new grocery ads and made myself a list of what I wanted to buy for the week.

Thursday evening the youngest and I went to the feed store to pick up supplies for our new family member (post coming about that this Thursday) and I grabbed a 50# bag of scratch grains for the hens that was on sale for $10.99 since our bin is getting a bit low.  I plan to buy two more bags of layer pellets this fall to get us through the winter and we'll be good on feed until spring.

Fred Meyer haul

Saturday morning the oldest and I headed out early to pick up groceries at Fred Meyer and pick up a few items at Home Depot.  I took an entrance I usually never take to cut through the Ross parking lot and as I was heading through I saw what looked like a folded dollar bill in the middle of the lot.  I stopped and had my daughter jump out and get it.  Turns out it wasn't a dollar, but rather four twenties folded up.  Holy cow!  I just found $80!  It was too early for the businesses around there to be open and who knows how long it had sat there, likely overnight I suppose.  What a nice windfall for us, especially with as much money spent last week with school registration.  I was feeling very, very blessed.  I've never found money like that before.

We did our grocery shopping and picked up the things I needed from Home Depot then headed home.  I put the groceries away and then it was time to work on the stairs again.  They are almost done!  Yay!

Homemade pepperoni pizza

I cleaned out the refrigerator and we fed lots of extra produce and stale bread to the chickens along with our regular every day kitchen scraps.  I have a tendency to overbuy produce, especially when it is on markdown, which really benefits our hens and adds variety to their diet.

I cleaned up around the house and put a lot of cardboard into our recycle bin and glass into our collection container.  I rounded up a bunch of empty paint and spray paint cans to take to the mobile hazmat collection center next time they are in the neighborhood.  I also have an old TV to take to them as well.  Once all of the home improvement projects are completed for the year I'll be loading up the truck and taking all that stuff over to there.

Working on the stairs again

I consolidated a handful of deck screws that were rattling around in a box to our can of miscellaneous screws.  Then I threw the box in the recycle bin making more space in the fastener tote without that box in there.

We set out the final load of demolition trash at the curb.  This week we were able to fit it all in our own trash bin without using our neighbor's.  We are still incredibly grateful to her for allowing us to stick our stuff in her bins.  As a thank you the girls and I plan to clean up her front yard and get some weeds pulled this weekend.

That pretty much sums up our week.  How was your thrifty week?