Author Archives: jmcoyan@gmail.com

Pantry Challenge – July 2013 – Save Money and Waste Less (Updated)

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We are gearing up for a Pantry Challenge in our house.  We ate like kings over the 4th of July and now it is time to cook from what’s already in our fridge, freezer, and pantry, this is a great way to save money as well as waste less.   Our grocery budget is a little tight for the next two weeks, but with a little planning I think we will come in under budget.

This challenge was the perfect time to clean out and organize all the places we store food.   We have a upright freezer, pantry shelf and second fridge in our basement.

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As you can see, we have plenty of food to assist in this challenge.   I removed everything from the pantry shelves and replaced it all.   I made sure to place like things together for easier inventory in the future.  I know I will save money by keeping like things together, since I found 4 boxes on Panko while organizing.  I did the same thing with the freezer.

When organizing the freezer, I made a list of all the types of meats we had in freezer.  Then it was time to plan a menu based on the meat and food we have on hand.   I planned a 2 week menu.  Week # 1 will be posted on Sunday evening as my Menu Plan Monday post.

Tomorrow after church hubby and I will complete our bi-weekly shopping.  Below are the goals I have for our shopping trip.   I will post an update after we are done shopping, so you can see how we did.   Wish us luck!!

Goals:
1.  Stretch our food budget by eating food we have on hand.
2.  Spend $80.00 on food related items for the next two weeks.
3.  Spend $60.00 or less at Sam’s Club
4.  Spend $70 or less on non food items.

Update After Shopping:
1.  Food Total = $119.01 (over by $39.01 due to extra fruit bought at Sam’s Club and estimating low on a few items)
2.  Non Food Total – $ 84.63 (over by $14.64 – forgot I had to buy an item for Grandpa that was $16.52)

Total Spent:  $203.64
Overall, I am very happy with shopping considering this is the cost for two weeks.  So really our food budget this week was less than $60.    This should help to get us back on track with our budget.   We might need to continue our Pantry Challenge for another week or so.

Blessings…

Paul and Jen
Faithfully Living Below Our Means!

Seasoned Sour Cream/Waffle Fries Dip

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As many people know, I really like the waffle fries at Jimmy’s, a local sports bar in White Bear Lake.  I especially like the dip Jimmy’s serves with their waffle fries, but I LOVE this homemade version!  This dip is very flavorful and is great with waffle fries.

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Enjoy!

Seasoned Sour Cream/Waffle Fries Dip
 
Recipe Type: Dip
Author: http://stellabskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/01/seasoned-sour-cream-champps-knock-off.html
Prep time:
Total time:
Our favorite dip to serve with Waffle Fries!
Ingredients
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 heaping cup sour cream
  • 1 Tbsp. dried parsley
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1/2 tsp. onion powder
  • 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly cracked pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • *optional: top with chopped green onion
Instructions
  1. Combine ingredients and refrigerate at least one hour before serving to allow flavors to combine. Makes about 2 cups. Keeps in refrigerator for a couple weeks.
 

 

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Chicken Salad Recipe

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Chicken Salad is a favorite summer meal in our house.  It is an easy meal for a busy week day.   We usually serve it on bread or croissants.  Add some fruit and it is a wonderful summer meal!

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Enjoy!

Chicken Salad Recipe
Recipe Type: Salad
Author: *Six Ingredients or Less by Carlean Johnson
Serves: 4
Easy Meal for your busy weekday! Many times I make this salad the evening before to have it ready the next day when I return from work. Especially helpful on busy soccer nights.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups cooked finely diced chicken
  • ¾ cup finely chopped celery
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
  • ½ cup chopped slivered almonds
  • 1-1/4 cups mayonnaise (approximately)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Combine ingredients in mixing bowl. Cover and chill until ready to use. Makes 4 servings.

 

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Menu Plan Monday: July 1st Edition

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Menu Plan: July 1st –  7th

Summer time is a bit crazy when you also work Full Time outside the home.  Menu planning is a life saver for our family.  We try to have a meal each night together, but with soccer games and soccer practice that also can be very challenging.   We do the best we can and menu planning helps a great deal.

You might notice behind many of my menu items, it says Emeals.   Emeals.com is a great menu planning service.  For a fee of $5 a month you receive a weekly menu plan.  Emeals has many type of meal plans.  We personally receive the Aldi Classic Family menu since we find that shopping at Aldi it very good for our budget.   Other menu plan options include, gluten free, clean eating, Paleo diet, portion control and many more.  If you have been wanting to start menu planning Emeals is a great way to ease into the habit of meal planning without spending hours trying to figure out what to make!

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

July 1st – (Game – 6:00) – Chicken Salad / Veggies

2nd (practice – 6:30) – Bacon Lettuce Tomato Salad

3rd – Firecracker Shrimp/ Angle Hair Pasta and Caesar Salad (Emeals  – 486)

4th (holiday – Potluck with family) – Ribs – Cole Slaw – Watermelon

5th – Beef Stroganoff – Peas

Beef Stroganoff

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 8 oz sour cream
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • (1 t salt, 1 t onion powder)
  • (¼ c water, 1 t beef bouillon cube)
  • 1 pkg egg noodles
  • 1 pkg frozen peas

In large skillet, brown the ground beef; drain.  Add sour cream, soup, salt, onion powder and water to skillet. Heat to a low boil; add bouillon.  Stir to dissolve; reduce heat to simmer.

Boil noodles while preparing meat mixture. Serve stroganoff over cooked noodles. Serve with steamed peas

6th – Chef Salad

7th – Rotisserie Chicken, Stuffing and Corn

For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie. and participate in Menu Plan Monday. More menu planning fun can be found at The Organised Housewife.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!!!

Happy Cooking!!

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

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Vacations While On The Debt Free Journey

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Working towards becoming Debt Free is a journey and for us a long journey.  Should you be taking a vacation when you are on the debt free journey???  Our answer is yes.  It helps to have a small reward to keep you motivated.  Our vacations while working on becoming debt free are nothing like before.

If we truly think about what our goals are with taking a vacation, we will see that it doesn’t need to cost a lot to meet those goals.   Our goals for vacations are to spend time together, take a break from work and make memories with our kiddos!

Some fun options we have enjoyed include:

Stay-cations:  One year we simply planned a daily outing within our own city.  We explorer new parks, swimming at the local lake and visited some fun museums.  Since we were in our own city we could sleep and eat at home saving us a fair amount of money.  Another activity our family loves to do it is go geocaching.   Fun and very inexpensive.   You will need a smart phone or GPS to participate in this fun activity.  Using the geocaching app on your phone for GPS you will find hidden caches (treasures) that others have hidden for you to find.  It is a great way to explore your own town/city.  We discovered a hidden park only blocks from our home that we didn’t know about.  For more information check out the Geocaching Website.

Camping:  We recently returned from our first camping trip of the summer.  While camping does have a cost associated with it, it is a lot less than staying in hotels and eating in restaurants.   Camping does take some planning, but it is well worth it.   The memories you make with your children are priceless.   We do have a tent, but my back no longer likes to sleep on the ground.   Instead we have found a camping option we like much better, Camper Cabins.  Camper cabins at the State Parks are rustic, one-room wooden cabins that provide basic shelter for those who want a “camping out” experience but prefer not to deal with a tent.  Camper Cabins are located at many of MN State Parks and campgrounds such a KOA, Kamp-Dels, Pine Terrace Resort and Beaver Trails Jellystone Park. Most campground that has the word resort in the title has cabins of some type.  If you want to take advantage of the MN State Parks Camper Cabins you need plan in advance for your reservations.

Our most recent trip:  Bear Head State Park – Camper Cabin – ($50 – $55 a night)

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Menu Planning/Camping:  As much as I stress how menu planning saves you money at home, it also saves you money while camping.  Before our camping trip I completed a camping menu plan including snacks and did as much prep at home as I could.  This made cooking at the cabin so much easier, especially since it rained a lot!

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I also packed a lunch for us to stop and have on the way to our campsite.  This always brings back great childhood memories for me and any food eaten outside just tastes better.

As always the bottom line is planning and budgeting.  Little getaways are possible if you plan and budget for them.  We appreciate our little vacations so much more when we plan and budget for them.

Hope you are able to plan some fun into you summer!

Blessings,

Paul and Jen
Faithfully Living Within our Means

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Menu Plan Monday June 23rd Edition

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Menu Plan: June 23rd – July 7th

23rd – Rotisserie Chicken, Stuffing and Corn

24th – ( Soccer Game – 6:00) –  Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Sandwiches

25th – (soccer practice) – Beef Macaroni Casserole/ Garlic Toast (Emeals – 484)

26th – (Game – 7:30) – Pesto Sandwiches / Noodle Soup

27th – (Sorting) – Biscuit and Gravy

Friday, 28th – Brats and Pasta Salad

29th – Crunchy Chicken – Corn/Steamed Carrots (Emeals  487)

30th – Barbecue Ribs/ Baked Beans and Coleslaw (Emeals  – 486)

For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie. and participate in Menu Plan Monday. More menu planning fun can be found at The Organised Housewife.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!!!

Happy Cooking!!

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Menu Plan Monday: June 10th Edition

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Menu Plan Monday June 9th – June 23rd

June 9th – Rotisserie Chicken and Stuffing

10th (Game @ 6:00) – Cheese Turkey Sandwiches Bites, Cucumbers and Strawberries/Bananas (Emeals 485)

11th (Practice) – BLT’s and Chips  (Emeals -483)

12th (Game @ 7:15) – Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Sandwiches

13th – Creamy Angel Hair with Sausage and Spinach and Garlic Bread

14th – Chicken Salad / Veggies

15th (Grad Party – Amy) – Leftovers

16th (Father’s Day) – Savory Chicken Legs on the Grill, Garden Ranch Pasta Salad, Corn on the Cob

17th – (Practice) – Rosemary Pork Roast, (Taste of Home Best Loved pg 522) and Red Cabbage

18th – (Practice) – Beef Fried Rice and Egg Rolls (Emeals – 484)

 

19th  – At Home:  Seafood Salad on lettuce

(Camping up North)

Lunch:  Sandwiches, Chips and Fruit on the road

Supper:  Lloyd’s Ribs, Camping Mac And Cheese, Canned Corn

Dessert:  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Evening Snack:  Fire Roasted Nachos

20th – At home:  Lasagna – Salad

(Camping)

Breakfast:  Breakfast Burritos – Campfire Monkey Bread

Snack: Cheese & Crackers and Meat Sticks

Lunch:  Cup of Soup – Pizza Sandwiches

Snack:  Warm Cheese Dip and Chips

Supper: Steak Tips, 3 Cheese Potatoes, Canned Green Beans

Dessert:  Campfire Cones

Snack:  Smores Camping Trail Mix

 

21st – At home: – Beef Macaroni Casserole/ Garlic Toast (Emeals – 484)

(Camping/Ely)

Brunch:  Pancakes, Sausage and Eggs –

 

22nd – Fish Tenders and Waffle Fries with Dip

23rd – Rotisserie Chicken, Stuffing and Corn

 

For more Menu Planning inspiration stop by and visit Laura at Organizing Junkie. and participate in Menu Plan Monday. More menu planning fun can be found at The Organised Housewife.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!!!

Happy Cooking!!

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2013 Financial Goals

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We are happy with our progress in our goal to become debt free except for our mortgage. We are following Dave Ramsey’s baby steps.  It has become very exciting to see our snowball finally moving.  We are keeping our eye on our goals!  We are finding it very helpful to write yearly goals and share a weekly victory to keep us motivated.  This has been LONG process for us and it can be a struggle to keep motivated.

1.  Increase Deferred Comp/Retirement Savings   DONE!

This is a secondary retirement amount.  We started this account by only putting very little into this secondary retirement account.  We will double our amount we save into this retirement account.  We also have a primary retirement account matched by our employers.

2.  Pay off our Chase Card by March 2013.   DONE! 

3.  Accomplish Tommy’s MCS through 5th grade. DONE!

Tuition paid for 6 years of private elementary school.  A wonderful foundation for our son, worth every single penny.

4   Pay off our last credit card by December 2013.

We are on track to pay our final credit card off just before Christmas, if no major unplanned expenses hit us.  We are so excited to think we will be going into 2014 with no credit card debt!

5.  Update our will to reflect changes we have discussed.

It is time to change our will now that our children have gotten older.   It has been 9 years since we had our will initially written.

 

What are your 2013 Financial Goals??

 

Blessings…

 

Paul and Jen
Faithfully Living Below Our Means!

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Quick Meal: Creamy Angel Hair with Sausage and Spinach

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My hubby has been asking me for YEARS to take pictures of the meals I make.    Tonight’s supper was yummy enough that I actually did!   Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the big beautiful platter of pasta.  I had to take a picture of the little leftover portion.   There was not much for leftovers either.   Very quick to prepare, so great for a week day meal.

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Quick Meal: Creamy Angel Hair with Sausage and Spinach
Recipe Type: Pasta
Author: Jen C
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
My hubby has been asking me for YEARS to take pictures of the meals I make. Tonight’s supper was yummy enough that I actually did! Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the big beautiful platter of pasta. I had to take a picture of the little leftover portion. There was not much for leftovers either. Very quick to prepare, so great for a week day meal.
Ingredients
  • 14 oz. package smoked kielbasa
  • 1/2 large chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 2 cans of chicken broth
  • 8 oz. angel hair pasta, broken in 1/2
  • 9 oz. package baby spinach
  • 1/3 cup whipping cream
  • 5 oz. of shredded Parmesan Cheese (the kind in the dairy section, not the green jar stuff!)
Instructions
  1. Slice kielbasa into 1 inch pieces.
  2. Sauté kielbasa, onion, garlic and oil in a large soup pot until vegetables are opaque.
  3. Add broth and 1/4 cup water; bring to a boil.
  4. Add pasta; cook for 3 minutes.
  5. Add Spinach; cook about 1 minute.
  6. Stir in cream and parmesan cheese.

 

I served this with Garlic Bread and Prince Edward Vegetable Medley.

Happy Cooking