How to live on Beans and Rice for a week!

I found a great post this morning on moneysavingmom.com that showed different ways to cook beans and rice. Just think of the money you'd save eating this for a whole week! I'm not sure if Brian and the kids would be able to handle this many beans for dinner, but I also wonder if they'd even notice as long as I varied the meals some what. I might have to try it and see ; )

If you'd like to read more on this post just click on this link: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/10/how-to-live-on-beans-and-rice-for-a-week.html#comments

More baking/cooking today!

Well, I think I've had a successful baking/cooking day the past 2 days! Here's what I made and froze: 1 pot of chili, 2 pots of potato soup, mini meatloaves, chicken tetrazzini, Tuna tetrazzini, French Toast (enough for 2 meals), 2 1/2 dozen Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, 1 loaf Banana Bread. Not bad for a total of about 5 hours of cooking. Here's the remaining pictures of the fruits of my labor....the banana bread isn't cooked yet! It's in the oven right now!

Freezer cooking day, garage sale and fever!!!

This morning I cooked up some chili, mini meatloaves and 2 gallons of potato soup to put in the freezer for future dinners (I'll post pics). Emalee played with playdough while I cooked. I had just finished up making Emalee's lunch when I bent down to kiss her. Her forehead was burning up so I took her temperature...102.6 degrees!!! She's up from her nap (if you want to call it that) now and seems to be acting okay, just hot. I'll keep an eye on her for a couple days to make sure she's fine.
I had planned on pricing my garage sale items while Emalee napped but her nap wasn't very productive. Mostly, she rested, looked at books and sometimes whined a little bit. I would too if I were sick ; ( I guess I'll price stuff later this evening.
At least dinner's done!!! : ) Yay for freezer meals! Tomorrow I'll be making Chicken and Tuna Tetrazzini, Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, Apple Cake, and Banana Bread and French Toast. I'll try to remember to post pics tomorrow too!

Busy September!!!

What a busy month this has been! Between me and Jacob there have been 5 doctor appointments with 2 of those requiring anesthesia. I had a gastroscopy last week and Jacob had oral surgery to remove 3 teeth this week. Also, Emalee is being evaluated for a classroom setting that will give her therapy. We've had therapy or evaluations 9 times this month! It's been difficult to get anything else done around here. We are seeing a lot of progress with Emalee's speech in the past several weeks to that is a good thing. :)
This had definitely made me stop and be even more thankful that I'm a stay-at-home-mom because I honestly don't know how I would do all of this if I worked outside the home.
It looks like October willl slow down a little bit as far as appointments go so maybe I can get some things checked off of my 'to do' list next month. I'm looking forward to all of the things autumn brings....pumpkin pie, colorful leaves, crispness in the air, walks with my hubby in the evenings and the wonderful smell that comes with the change of seasons. Even when life seems hectic, it's oh so good if we just stop and enjoy it!

Hypereosinophilic Gastroenteritis

I don't believe that I've ever posted about the autoimmune disorder that I just so happen to have. It's called Hypereosinophilic Gastroenteritis (EGE). For those of you out there that have a curious nature there are a few sites that explain what this is, symptoms, etc. I'll post some of those sites at the bottom of this entry.
Anyway, this past Wednesday I went and had another Gastroscopy. It's been determined that I have another stomach ulcer. I've been having a lot of stomach pain and have lived with ulcers for so long now that I already knew that they would find one with the scope. The ulcer, along with some of my stomach tissue was biopsied and sent off to the lab. I'm still waiting for the lab readings.
The good thing that I really want to give a praise for is that for the first time since I've been seeing my Gastroenterologist I truly feel that he is listening to me and wants to help me. He's doing some research on my disorder which I hope helps him and my Hemotologist understand how to better treat my condition and symptoms. I've been specifically praying that my doctors would do more research on EGE and it looks like that prayer is being answered.
EGE is an extremely rare condition. From the research that I've done it seems that there are only 400-600 diagnosed cases WORLD WIDE!!! No wonder research is difficult to do, huh?!?! I suppose the Lord wanted me to be unique for some reason I don't quite understand yet, but if I happen to be the guinea pig that leads to helping others that have EGE feel better than so be it!

Here's some websites that have good info. on Hyereosinophilic disorders:
http://www.apfed.org/

http://www.med.ucla.edu/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=295

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eosinophilic_gastroenteritis

How's the budget going?

We've been at this new budget for about 1 month and I have to admit that it's a little harder to keep than I thought it would be. Some categories are just really easy and others are really hard to stick to. The way that my budget is set up right now there just isn't any wiggle room to give until the beginning of the year, so we're really having to be very diligent in where and what we spend our money on.

When I say that I don't have any wiggle room I don't want to give the impression that we're broke. Part of our budget includes savings and pocket cash, so no, we're not broke...we're just disciplining ourselves.

There's a verse in the Bible that accurately represents the phase that we're in right now....

"No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way." Heb. 12:11 NLT

Dillon's Mega Event Sale 8/22/09

I've really slacked off on couponing this summer and other than perishables we pretty much just ate from our stock pile. Since the stock pile was starting to dwindle down some (especially cereal) I decided to take advantage of Dillon's Mega Event going on this week. I bought $137.72 worth of food for a total of $49.05. This was a savings of 66% as you can see reflected on my receipt. For 48 items that comes out to $1.02 per item. As you can see by my picture, most of what I purchased is snack food or cereals. With the kids in school taking lunches and needing after school snacks this sale was just perfect to stock up on! Here's what I got:

1 SunnyD Smoothie

3 cans ChefBoyRDee pasta

3 boxes Hamburger/Tuna Helper

4 boxes Regular Cheerios

2 boxes Fruity Cheerios

6 boxes Trix

6 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch

2 Pillsbury Grands biscuits

2 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls

4 boxes Toaster Strudels

6 boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

1 box Au Gratin Potatoes

3 bags Totinos Pizza Rolls

5 bags Nature Valley Nut Clusters