Went to Super Walmart last night to do some grocery shopping. We had spent the long weekend out of town at my sister's house and came back to an empty fridge. Needless to say we needed just about everything! I also wanted to pick up some stuff for dinners this week. With Emma so busy after school it is getting harder to find nights when we can all sit down and eat together. I am determined to make that happen at least 3 times this week.

So, damage done was $124.76. I left one bag of stuff behind and didn't realize it until I got home. I called the store and they made note of what I was missing and told me to come in today and pick out the items again. I am going to stop on my way home from work.

So, for my $124.76 I purchased among other things:
**a turkey roast $3.98
**ground sirloin 2@3.82 each
**bag of 60 frozen shrimp 5.50
**pork chops 4.49
**taco kit 2.36
**bag of bagels 1.25
**string cheese 2.72
**Yogurt for the kids 2.76
**Lean Cuisines for my lunch 5@1.78
** eggs 1.50

I also got the kids their valentines so we can start writing those out.

I am planning on making some meals tonight as I am getting out of work early. My plan is to get at least 2 dinners ready and possibly a dessert for the week.

I told the family that this food need to last us at least 2 weeks as I am not going back to the store until 2/4/08 for dinner/lunch stuff.

I will have to go to the store this weekend as my little man is turning 4 on the 29th. We are only having a family party at the house and I will bring in a snack for his daycare class as well as some goody bags.

Other than that I have no plans for spending money. I am confident I will be able to stay way below the $100 buget I set for Aidan's birthday-yeah me!

I am so glad the weekend is here! It is itme to do my grocery shopping. We managed to do well the first 2 weeks of the food budget. I stuck to my dinner menu and enjoyed the fact that I had everything that I needed to make each meal at home. No running out to the store for one or two things. I am going to sit down today prior to shopping to figure out what we need for the next 2 weeks.

A couple of observations-my husband will eat any and all sweets that are available to him. He had eaten all the brownies for DD lunch this past week so I am going to have to be a little more creative with hiding stuff.
He also ate all the corn chips I bought to make chicken nachos. That was a bummer.
The kids ran out of dessert-not exactly a need but something they enjoy. Could have used the brownies but we know what happened to them.

So, keeping all that in mind I will try to come up with some other ideas to protect the food.

I caved in and got my haircut last night. I love my hair! My hairdresser whom I have been going to for the past 7 years always does an awesome job. I am so happy with it! It is a cute short cut, full of layers, and style. He highlighted my hair to a really light blonde-almost platinum. It's different and so what I needed!

I am putting in some overtime at work today and then off to hang with the kids and do the shopping.

Tomorrow DD starts her travel soccer practice. She is going to be practicing with members of our local professional team. Not bad for an 8 year old!!

What do you think-should I put a lock on our kitchen cabinet to keep the Hubs away from the food?!

Anyone know of an easy way to drain pastina? That was the most challenging part of my dinner last night. The pasta is so small that you can't put it in a strainer. I put a lid on the pot and tried to dump the water out while saving the pastina and got steam burns but managed to get most of the water out without losing all the pasta. The whole family enjoyed the dinner and there is enough left over for 1-2 of us to eat it on Leftover night.

Tonight I made homemade Egg, Bacon, and Cheese Biscuits like you can get at McDonalds. They turned out really well and I would like to think they are a little healthier than McDonald's version. We ate them with a bunch of fresh grapes.

I am proud to say I haven't been to the grocery store since last Sunday and I don't have any plans to go until possibly this Sunday. Yeah me!

It was movie night at our house tonight. I rented Nim's Island for me and the kids. Very cute movie in my opinion and the kids enjoyed it to. .99 for family movie night-I'll take it! I also rented Juno for me but I am so tired I don't know that I will make it to the end.

Payday today. I plugged my income into my budget and paid a few bills. So far so good. I hope the rest of the month goes as planned. The only category I think I may fall short in is gas for the car. I budgeted $200 and I am not sure if that is enough. In all other areas I am right on track.

I am taking my car in for an oil change and inspection tomorrow morning. I budgeted $50 so let's hope it isn't more than that. I am confident it will pass inspection as I got new tires a few months ago and everything seems to be working as it should.

We are off to a family birthday party tomorrow where we will probably have pizza for dinner. I am looking forward to not having to cook as well as spend some time with the family. I already purchased the gift a few weeks ago and managed to stay under $25.

Sunday I am hoping it will rain all day so I can lounge around and take a nap

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina courtesy of Giada DeLaurentiis from the Food Network! It should be ready in less than 60 minutes and has many ingredients that the kiddos like so I am hopeful this recipe will be a keeper.

We took the kids to Friendly's last night to celebrate Peeps (DD) first day of 3rd grade. She had an awesome day and loved it. She was actually cheering when she saw the bus coming down the street yesterday morning. Weird, I know! So, Friendly's was packed with lots of other families probably out for the same reason. Service was slow and Chicken (DS) was not well behaved. We were there for 1 hour and 20 minutes at least and most of that time we were reprimanding him. DH had to take him outside for a while. Not good. So, I am not eager to eat out again as a family for say 5 years Perhaps by then it will be a little easier.

Viewed my upcoming pay stub today and noticed that I did underestimate my income on my budget. I am going to split the extra between additional debt payments and savings.

I have finally decided what to do for DH 40th birthday. I am going to go ahead and have a party. He wants it small, just family. I think this will be one of the occassions when I don't listen to him I think I am going all out for a big, yet not expensive party. His bday is right before Halloween (which is his favorite holiday) so I have my theme all set!