Fresh Start

WOW!! It has been WAY to long since I have written!! I guess there are periods in our lives when things just get a holt of us and those things get out of control! Well, that is what has been happening to me!

I have let satan get into certain areas of my life and things just started to spin out of control! I know that has happened to each of us at some point or another but it still does not make it any easier to confess and certainly not any easier to fix!

I feel like my self, my marriage, my children, and my house have just gotten swept away. I have let other things, mostly laziness, take holt and let it take control!

I am SO thankful that my God is a loving and FORGIVING God!! I am SO thankful that no matter were in my life I may slip up that he is there to pick me up, brush me off, and show me were I went wrong and what I should have been doing!!

Thank you Jesus for loving me! Thank you for dieing on the cross for me! Thank you for forgiving me and starting a new work in my life!! Amen!!!!

Quick Update

Hello ladies!

I have been away for about week from blog land. Last Wednesday I started feeling bad. It started out as sinus stuff(lovely Louisiana weather!!) Saturday I got worse and by Monday morning I had bronchitis! My hubby works 24 hour shifts and was working Saturday and Monday so it was kinda ruff around our house but luckily he started his days off Tuesday and has been taking such good care of me! He has spoiled me! I am such a blessed woman! I am still not 100% but I am better!

Love you ladies!

Grocery Shopping Week 3/16

I have always shopped on a budget but I am new to keeping such close track of everything. I have also run into problems lately with staying on my $100.00 a week budget with the way everything has gone up! My hubby is a big meat eater so I cannot cut meat out of our daily meals. I have just had to cut back in other places. I have started going to about 2 or 3 stores a week and planning our meals around the sales. I used to do this but got away from it when I had our third baby. I found that at that time in our lives it was easier for me to just go to one store and spend just a little extra. Well now that Bella is over a year old and my oldest two are in school I am back to going to more than one store! Bella did well today on our trip. She got tired at the end but now she is down for a good nap!

Ok now to what I got this week and how I did!!

Brookshires

Three heads of leafy lettuce - $1.00 each
1.52 pounds green grapes - $1.52
1.45 pounds green grapes - $1.42
Loaf bread - $1.19
Jumbo hamburger buns - $1.59
3 Jumbo biscuits - $1.00 each
2 bugles chips - $1.50 each
1.93 pounds country style pork ribs - $2.88
2.73 pounds country style pork ribs - $4.07
2 two liter mountain dews - $1.00 each
2 12 pack ramen noodles - $1.50 each
Not pictured:
Fried rice from the deli(for my lunch) - $2.69
Egg roll from the deli(for my lunch) - $0.89
2 cases of individual water - $3.50 each

Brookshires total after tax - $39.42

The pork ribs I forgot in my Brookshires picture!!


Super 1 Foods
8 pounds oranges - $3.98
Gallon while milk - $2.97
Gallon 2% milk - $2.97
2.57 pounds onions - $1.29
Pork steak - $3.70
Kellogg cereal - $1.88
1.82 pounds tomatoes - $1.62

Super 1 Foods Total after tax - $19.26


Wal-Mart
Apple juice - $1.97
2 BBQ sauce - $0.84 each
2 G2 Gatorade's for Jimmy - $0.88 each
Diaper rash cream - $4.34
2 large cans baked beans - $0.84 each
Miracle whip - $1.43
Sour cream - $0.82
2 bags frozen broccoli - $0.99 each
8 pack frozen corn - $1.66
2 packs frozen stir fry veggies - $1.68 each
Honey ham sandwich meat - $3.00
2 pounds ground turkey - $1.68 each
Toddler lunchables - $1.94
2 packages egg roll wrappers - $1.78 each
Shredded carrots - $1.44
Shredded cabbage - $1.48
Fresh sliced mushrooms - $1.50

Wal-Mart total after tax - $39.01


Total of my shopping trip - $97.69 YEAH!!!

I am under budget!! I know that it will not be this way every week, especially when we need diapers but I am still so excited!!

To see how other ladies did on their shopping trips go by The Grocery Cart Challenge!!

Menu For Week Of 3/16 - 3/22

Welcome to another week!!

This is going to be an exciting weekend for my oldest daughter. Taylor will be participating in her first big activity with the youth group!! She is super excited! The youth are staying at host houses for the weekend, going to a hockey game on Friday, and Third Day concert on Saturday night. They are going to have worship and prayer time and small group times at their host homes. Sunday night the youth band is going to play and the kids are going to tell about their experiences from the weekend. I can't wait to hear about her experiences!

Ok, now to our menu for the week! ;-)

Breakfast
- Cereal and fruit x2
- Muffins and fruit x3
- Egg sandwich and yogurt
- Bacon sandwich

Lunch
Sandwiches and leftovers
Sunday - Lunch out after church

Dinner
Monday - Whole chicken, broccoli, and baked potatoes (I am going to try cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot for the first time! I hope it turns out ok and not to greasy!!
Tuesday - Pork steak cooked in the oven with mushrooms and onions, rice, salad, and homemade bread
Wednesday - Pork stir fry, brown rice, and homemade egg rolls
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Grilled hamburgers and french fries
Saturday - Breakfast
Sunday - Grilled BBQ pork ribs, corn on the cob, and baked beans

For more menus visit here!

Nothing Like It!!

There is nothing like living in a place were you have had beautiful, sunshiny, 80 degree weather for 5 days and then the next day you wake up and at 6 am its 56 degrees and when your kids get home from school at 3pm it is 43 degrees!!

There is nothing like Louisiana weather!!

Starting Something New!

I came across a great site a couple of weeks ago, Grocery Cart Challenge. She shows us weekly how she has spent her weekly grocery budget and her weekly menu. I was so excited when I found this site!

Up until now I have been shopping for 2 weeks at a time trying to stick to a $200.00 dollar every two week budget. A lot of times I have gone over this budget for one thing or another. Lately I have been trying to if not cut down my budget at least not go over it. I have figured out that shopping every two weeks is not working for me anymore. I end up still going back to the grocery store on in between weeks for milk, bread, and a few other things and go over my budget. I have also noticed that one weeks that I plan out our meals and stick to it that I spend less money.

My hubby gets paid on Thursdays so that was when I went to the grocery store. I have decided to start shopping on Mondays because I think it will work better that way with meal planning for the week. Because Jimmy doesn't get paid until Monday I took a little money I had saved and got the few things we needed today. We have stayed pretty stocked up so we really didn't need much. The biggest expense was diapers! I can't buy the cheaper diapers because they have all broken Bella out. I really wish I could because that would save us a lot of money!

Well here are the few things that I picked up for this week.

Italian Dressing - $1.32
3 boxes 100 calorie snack packs - $2.00 each
Gallon size vacuum seal bags - $2.84
Flushable wipes double pack - $3.38
Sandwich bags - $1.32
Snack bags - $2.18
Air Freshener - $0.86
Teen deodorant - $1.00
Clothes soap - $5.00
Diapers - $19.97
Orange juice - $3.58
1/2 gallon 2% milk - $2.22
Shredded cheddar cheese - $1.98
Dozen eggs - $1.28

Not pictured:
2 9oz. sippy cups - $4.98
Leaf Rake - $5.97(Can you tell that my hubby was shopping with me!!) ;-)

Total with tax - $68.72

Menu For Week Of 3/9 - 3/15

I have not been very good lately with following my menu plan. I am hoping that this week I will do better.

We are trying to get everything in order to buy a house by the end of the year. In order to do that I am trying to really stick to my $100.00 dollar a week grocery budget. That includes food, household, and diapers. I have not strictly followed that budget because I didn't really have to but we are trying to get the few things cleared up on our credit so I am saving in money that I can and the food budget is the best place to start. I have found that if I plan out our menus and get creative that I save more money.

My 11 and 5 year old daughters are in school during the day so it is just me and my 1 year old at home during the day so I wont be putting lunches. I have frozen veggies and meat chunks that Bella eats for lunch and I either eat a sandwich or leftovers. On the weekend we usually do homemade pizza on Saturdays and lunch out after church on Sundays.

Breakfast
- Cereal and Fruit x2
- Cereal Bar and Fruit x2
- Muffin and Fruit x2
- Pancakes and Sausage

Dinner
- Grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, roasted potatoes and carrots, garlic toast
- Hamburger helper, green beans
- Mushroom gravy chicken, rice, corn, bread
- Leftovers
- Bakes pork chops, cheesy pasta, green beans
- Baked chicken tenders, pasta roni, corn
- Pork loin roast, roasted carrots and onions, pasta with butter and italian seasonings

I hope that everyone has a blessed week!!

Super Easy Dessert

This is the super easy dessert I made yesterday. My hubby and the girls loved it!

Key Lime Cheesecake

2 pkg. (8oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. grated lime peel
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 graham cracker pie crust

Preheat oven to 350*. Beat cream cheese, sugar, peel, juice, and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs one at a time and mix until blended.

Pour into crust.

Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Im Back

Hi everyone! I deleted my old blog to start this new one. My old blog was Loving My Life As Mommy And Wife. I just really felt like I needed to start all over.

One this blog I will share my experiences as Jimmy's wife and my 3 girls mom. I will share my struggles and triumphs in my walk with Christ. I will also share things that I have learned and am learning in the ares of being a wife, motherhood, Christian living, cooking, shopping on a budget, and life and family in general.

I can't wait to reconnect with old friends and make new ones!