A Brief Update

In my last post I talked about my goal to start menu planning and couponing. Well, I am happy to say that almost 3 weeks later, we have stuck to it. The first week I made apple dijon pork loin, hamburgers, and tomato basil soup. We ended up having leftovers from all of those. The second week I made ranch chicken and salisbury steak. We were supposed to have spaghetti that week, but our church ended up having a spaghetti dinner for a fundraiser on Wednesday, so we moved it to next week. So far this week we have had shepherd's pie and tilapia. I am actually quite excited that this has worked. I hope to post some pictures and recipes soon, but most of the pictures aren't on my computer yet, and I only have a few minutes.

As far as couponing is concerned, I am quite pleased with how this is going, also. I went to Kroger the other day and saved 41% plus got a $5.00 gift card. This ended up making it closer to 46%. I feel like I am slowly learning the tricks of the trade. It takes quite a bit of time, but I think it will become quicker now that I have everything organized.

I hope to figure out whether the menu planning actually saved us money at the end of the month. Our problem right now is that we are still eating out quite a bit, and we aren't always cheap when we do. The other problem is that when you first start couponing, you have to build-up your supply of staple items when they go on sale. This adds extra costs at first. It will be interesting to see what happens. I was telling a friend the other day that I have really made it a game (I know I'm weird). If you know me, you know that I am very competitive. It helps make it fun, and I think it also helps me stick with it.

Couponing and Menu Planning?

So, I may be late getting on board the couponing and menu planning train, but I've finally decided to try it. If you know me and my husband, you know that we LOVE eating out. I can't really explain this love, because I also LOVE to cook, and my husband likes to help me in the kitchen. Perhaps it's the fact that I hate cleaning up after cooking.

Anyway, over the last few months we have decided to cut back on our food budget. This equals less eating out (which can prove to be very difficult when working with a bunch of college kids at church). However, I am also guilty of cooking fancy meals that end up costing as much as it would if we had eaten out. In an effort to combat these problems, I contacted a friend of mine that is amazing at couponing. She sent me a powerpoint that she has used to teach people at her church how to coupon effectively, and I am slowly learning the tricks. Let me just say, it is not easy! It takes a lot of diligence and time. However, if you know me, you also know that I love solving puzzles. To me, this is all a big puzzle to solve each month!

Another method that I am now trying in order to save money in our food budget is menu planning. This is completely new to me. Honestly, I am starting off easy. I am only planning 3 meals per week. The other nights we can either eat leftovers, find something else around the house to cook, or those will be the times that we eat out. Also, I am not being super strict about which nights we eat those 3 meals. I think the key to me sticking to the menu plan is going to be allowing it to be flexible. If I am successful with 3 nights per week, perhaps we will increase it next month. The advantage that this is giving me is that I can make less trips to the grocery store which equals less impulse buys, and I can plan ahead for using the coupons that I discussed above. I can also plan ahead meals that don't cost an arm and a leg to make but are still good and maybe even healthy.

So...all of this will start on Monday with Apple Dijon Pork Roast...which though it sounds expensive, it really isn't. Feel free to ask me how this is going. I'm looking forward to it, and hopefully I will blog more often to tell some of the recipes I use, and how it is going.

Nothing...

I really feel like I have nothing to blog about. This is a problem, I know. I promise I will blog again soon. Hopefully with something more interesting to say.

Pure Joy...

James 1: 2- 4 (NIV)

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Wow. Those verses are so powerful. How hard is it to consider your trials pure joy? I know that this is something that I struggle with. No matter how big or small the trial is, it is not always easy to be joyful. I tend to complain or whine about whatever it is to my poor husband. However, I know that God is using trials in my life to draw me closer to Him, and this my friends, is joyful. God is using trials in my life to show me that I am in no way in control. As a control freak, this can also be scary at times, but in my heart I know that this is the best way. God is God, and I am not. He knows what is best for me. His timing is perfect. He knows His plans for me. It doesn't matter what I want (although sometimes I have a hard time remembering that).

The Snow Continues...So I'm Going to my Happy Place

It has snowed for several days in a row here, so I thought I would post some pictures of our cruise in August 2010 to remind me of warmer weather. We finally got to go to the Western Caribbean without a hurricane rerouting us. Our stops were Labadee, Haiti; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico.

We didn't have an excursion in Labadee. We just enjoyed the beach and walked around the market area. This was quite an experience. One guy told us to make him any offer on a souvenir, and he would accept it. When we did, he laughed at us and told us that he had a family to support. He was quite persistent, and we did end up buying some things from him.

In Ocho Rios we took a river tubing excursion. The water was soooo cold!!! This idea had never even entered into my brain. I thought, "Water in Jamaica, it must be warm." HA! The ride down the river was beautiful! After we finished, we enjoyed some Jamaican jerk chicken and some shopping.

In Georgetown we took a beach excursion. It was wonderful! I love going to the beach, and I particularly love it when it is in the Caribbean. The water there is so clear and beautiful! God really is an awesome Creator! Grand Cayman is a neat place. They have no unemployment because everyone there believes that they should work, and they are determined to find some sort of work. There are other neat things about living there, but I forget what they are right now. :0(

Finally, we went to Cozumel! This was our favorite stop on this cruise. I absolutely loved Cozumel, and I definitely would have liked to have had more time there. The excursion we went on there was also our favorite excursion (quite possibly of all time). We went to a beach resort area and took a traditional Mexican food cooking class. We made an appetizer (it is hard to explain what it was), fish wrapped in banana leaves, and rice pudding for dessert. It was all delicious!!! We got the recipes, and we have since made the rice pudding at home. If you know me, you know that I love to cook. This was my kind of excursion! What you may not know is that my husband also enjoys cooking. He typically wants to help me anytime I am in the kitchen. I love it!!!

We also enjoyed our days at sea when we just got to spend time on the cruise. Our cruise director, Graham, was awesome! This time we tried a balcony room. Oh my! I don't know if we can ever go back to any other room now. Royal Caribbean did a great job again of providing us with an excellent vacation!!!

Now my only question is, when is our next one???

Thanks, God for allowing us to have this opportunity and for giving me a fantastic husband that I love spending time with!

I'm still here!

Hello, World! Wow, I can't believe it's been over 9 months since I have blogged. I'm sorry! A lot has happened since then, and I am excited to start blogging again. Hopefully, I will be more consistent this time (although I know I have said that before). Life hasn't really slowed down too much, but every little bit helps. This blog is unlike my husband's blog (http://newradicalreformation.blogspot.com). His is well thought-out, and highly intelligent. Mine is more about our daily lives, and I hope to share some of what God is teaching me lately. I pray that through this my readers will be able to understand me better and see God through me more.

In the last 9 months I have...
- Grown closer to God (though I still have far to go)
- Finished all of my classes for my Masters degree in Marriage & Family Therapy!
- Almost completed my internship! I have greatly enjoyed learning to counsel couples and individual adults!
- Rented out our condo to a wonderful medical student!
- Bought a house!
- Passed my comprehensive counseling exam! (I had to pass this to graduate, and it covers all of the classes I have taken for my Master's degree).
- Gone on a cruise!
- Gone to several football games!
- And I'm sure much more!

I have pictures of many of the above happenings, and I plan on posting them soon. I just wanted to give a brief update, so you would know that I still exist. Plan on hearing more from me soon!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

Today I made this recipe for Salsa Chicken. I am happy to say that it was much better than I expected!

Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup (condensed) or cream of chicken soup (I used cream of chicken).
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream


Add chicken to slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken (I didn't use the whole package, and I was really happy with the way it turned out). Mix salsa and soup and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Shred chicken with a fork. Stir in sour cream until heated, then serve over rice or tortillas.

I served mine with rice. I didn't shred the chicken, and we just added the sour cream to our own pieces of chicken. Also, I topped mine with shredded cheddar cheese once it was plated. Next time I am going to try adding a can of corn to the recipe. My husband said this was one of his favorite recipes that I have made so far, so I definitely think I will be making this again. Let me know if you try it! It was super easy, and quite good.