Food on Friday

So Friday is my menu day and my grocery shopping day.  I try to spend as little as possible (under $60/week) on food and I usually can because fresh vegetables here are SOOO cheap.  So here is our menu for this week.

Saturday
Lunch: Left overs
Dinner: Black bean and cheese fritata

Sunday
Lunch: Crock pot Swiss Steak:  Really tough (and cheap) beef cooked all morning with a thinly sliced onion, 6-8 dices roma tomatoes, some salt, garlic, and chili powder served over left over whole grain rice.  This served with fresh green beans steamed then sauteed with olive oil and fresh garlic, salt to taste.
Dinner: Clean out the fridge night.

Monday
Lunch: Veggie pasta: all kind of veggies (carrots, bell pepper, spinach, onion, celery, green beans, etc) chopped super small with food processor sauteed in olive oil with garlic and italian seasoning until soft.  Add prepackaged spaghetti sauce and serve over whole grain pasta.  Served with garlic bread.
Dinner: Chicken and Dumplings  This is a new recipe I'm trying out.  We'll see how I do!

Tusday:
Lunch: Tuna tortas: 2 cans tuna, mixed chopped veggies (like above), an egg, house seasoning and some bread crumbs, mixed and made into patties and fried.  This served with homemade pasta salad: frozen mixed veggies, pasta, mayo, bacon if I feel like it, and house seasoning.  By the way, we use house seasoning on EVERYTHING.
Dinner: Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Wednesday
Lunch: Black beans and rice and homemade corn tortillas.  And coleslaw.  YUM!
Dinner: Baked Spinach Ziti and salad.

Thursday
Lunch: Lentil Minestrone Soup
Dinner: Left overs.  By now we will have a ton.

Friday
Lunch: Refried black beans, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, and home made tortillas
Dinner: Family fun night!!  Fruit, cheese and popcorn made on the stove top (NOT the microwave)  and maybe peanut butter sandwiches if the kids want them.

The secret to my low budget is looking at what I already have in the pantry, and using up perishable things first.  I only have to buy a few things like coffee, milk, etc.  I only buy things that go on my menu (and cereal when I find it on sale) and things that I keep a running list of when I run out like baking products.  I RARELY buy extra snack foods.  We always keep a bag of tortilla chips on hand, but we don't use them to snack on during the day.  For snacks we eat fruit, and left over food in the fridge like a tortilla with beans and cheese melted on it.  I also don't buy things like canned tomatoes, etc, because for less money I can chop tomatoes.  But it might not be that way in the states.

Let me know if you have any questions or budgeting tips about menu planning!

Let's have a GIVEAWAY!

We have a winner!  Chantelle Virag, I will get you your free curriculum!  Thanks to all who entered.  Hopefully I can do another giveaway soon.

I will be getting everyone who entered a 20% off coupon...the only rule is that it is one per person who has entered the contest, and one time use only.

Time for a Giveaway!  

 Family Time Fitness is a homeschoolers dream for a P.E. program.  I have tried several times to incorporate a P.E. class into my home school curriculum, but lets just be honest, it never got done well.   I would plan some games or some activity or a lesson on how to throw a ball, and I could just never seem to get to it.  It was always the thing that got put off and put off.  AND I spent my precious time planning these lessons out, to not use them.  Plus, I'm not a P.E. teacher...I was just trying to do what I remembered doing in my P.E. class!

Family Time Fitness is a thorough and fun way to do PE as homeschool.  The cool part is, they tell you what to do, how to warm up, what games to play!  And there are video demonstrations for each activity if you can't figure out from the instructions what to do.  I have never had to watch the videos because the explanations are easy to follow, but it is nice to know they are there.  

Here is how the program works:  They send you an e-mail everyday with the activites to do that day.  Easy! You don't have to do it everyday if you don't want to, but there is enough material for a fun and interesting P.E. class daily!  

And the good part, at least for me, is that it was a workout for me, too!  I love doing it with my kids and even the 2 yr old tries to join in the fun.  

So here is the good part...Family Time Fitness has given me a Home School package to giveaway.  That is 260 lessons sent to your e-mail, and it NEVER expires!  That is a retail price of $199!  (cheaper with their "web" price of $57).  

What is included in the Fitness 4 Homeschool Package?

The Fitness 4 Homeschool Curriculum includes a startup guide, PDF lesson plans, video demonstrations, assessment tools, reminder emails, lifetime curriculum and video updates, access to online webinars and certificates of completion. One curriculum purchase can be used for all your children, and we never charge any subscription fees or annual renewal fees.

Startup/Training Guide - The Startup Guide is a guide for parents and includes an introduction to physical education, information on what to expect from the program, safety information, how to integrate physical education into your curriculum, teaching tips and equipment information.

Lesson Plans – Each of the 260 professionally planned lessons arrives in PDF format and includes a List of Supplies, Warm-Up, Activity, Cool Down and Suggested Outdoor Activity. Each exercise is described in a detailed, user-friendly format for easy access. Each lesson provides 30-45 Minutes of physical activity. If you do all the activites that is over 7800 Minutes of activity a year! If you do the suggested outdoor acitivy you get an additional 10-15 of physcial activity.

1-Page Summaries– Each lesson has a One-Page Summary to facilitate easy printing and portability. The summaries keep you from printing all 900+ Pages of Lesson Plans.

Video Demonstrations – Each exercise includes a demonstration video with real kids doing the exercises. There are over 200 instructional video demonstrations available to you with this curriculum, and you are guaranteed lifetime access to these videos as we update them.

Assessment Tools – We provide tools to help track progress of the basic fundamental movements. Other downloadable tools include nutritional logs and meal planners for a comprehensive fitness approach.

Encouragement Emails – During the first year of your course, we send you reminder emails each week day to keep you and your children motivated on your fitness journey. We also always include nutritional and fitness tips in the emails.

Online Webinars – You have access to our regular online webinars and our webinar archive for further in-depth instruction and tips on the curriculum.

To enter, you just leave a comment here on my blog!  

You can have an extra entry if you subscribe via e-mail to my blog (just stick in your e-mail address on the right)

You can share this post on your own blog (one entry) - 

or on your facebook page (one entry)

Just leave a separate comment for each entry telling me what you did.  

ALSO, They have given me a 20% off coupon code to give to any person who doesn't win the contest.  So, it never hurts to enter!  Have fun and good luck!

I will be selecting a winner on Friday with random number generator, so enter, enter, enter!  

New Giveaway Tomorrow!

New Giveaway!!!  Starting tomorrow I will be hosting my FIRST official giveaway!  I am going to keep it a surprise until tomorrow, but you will have all week to enter so check back!

Here is a hint...wanna get fit as a family?

See you tomorrow!

Oh, if you want to subscribe via e-mail to this blog you will receive automatic notification of when I post the giveaway and the winner.  Just put your e-mail in the little box on the right.