It's time to try meal planning again.

You're not surprised are you? I usually post something like this every four or five months and my efforts last a few weeks at best. I know this, too. I recognize the pattern.

So, what's different about this attempt? Well - it's a multi-prong focus using tips from Erin Chase's The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook: 200 Recipes for Quick, Delicious, and Nourishing Meals That Are Easy on the Budget and a Snap to Prepare and then populated with recipes from said cookbook, some family favorites, and other internet sites.

What exactly is this two-prong attack? I'll tell you but remember that it sounded better when I called it a 'two-prong focus' or whatever I just wrote. Erin, the $5 Dollar Dinner mom, talks about starting out with each night of the week already dedicated to a specific type of meal. We used this concept for a while when we had Taco Tuesdays, but now I'm expanding it so that my plan looks something like this:

Monday: Pizza
Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner or Trip to Costco
Wednesday: Crockpot
Thursday: Pasta
Friday: Chicken
Saturday: Leftovers

I took out my blank template, wrote in the theme for the night and then began deciding what to make. I'm taking into consideration seasonal offerings especially since this is the first week of our CSA for the year. I also need to be realistic about what everyone will eat. I'm not about making more than one meal for the family so there needs to be enough available to everyone so that they can each be satisfied.

So far I have two weeks planned out and my hope is that I'll be able to stay a week ahead. I'm also hoping that this will make the remaining few weeks of school easier to handle because life sure isn't going to get simpler on it's own.

There's my plan. We'll see how it goes. If you don't hear anything that might be good news - or it might mean there's a need for another plan. If you have your own meal planning system and have something that really works for you, let me know. I have no trouble incorporating additional aspects into my new plan!

Yep, back to school time feels like the new year to me in so many ways. There are new outfits, new haircuts, new schools and let's not forget - new crayons! So let's take time to make some resolutions...

This is a really, really good time to get your meal planning organized. Check out Once a Month Mom or $5 Dinners for help.

If you need some help getting your home organization in hand then I suggest hoping over to Totally Together Journal and subscribing to the daily email. I guarantee you won't be made to feel guilty but you will get a daily reminder that it's time to do the dusting/ change the sheets/ send cards to friends/ or just take a day for yourself.

And how about taking better care of our personal computers. Personally, I've experienced four hard drive crashes and it took the last, and most catastrophic, for me to really learn my lesson. After that tumultuous even I did some research and found that Mozy online backup was what I needed. It pulls my files up into the ether at some point during the day when my I take a break and my computer goes idle.  There are several packages but I use the free version. It works for me. It might work for you, it might not, but I guarantee you that if you are a heavy computer user you need some kind of automatic backup system. Even if you use a thumb drive to backup some of your files you need something else because thumb drives are not indestructible - I can attest to this as well. So, pick something that works with your work style and budget so you won't get stuck empty handed in a horrible crash.

Do you have any new resolutions for the end of the calendar year?

I've been baking up a storm and bulking back up the freezer in anticipation of school starting soon.

Here are a couple of our go-to breakfast favorites:
Very Best Banana Muffins
Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cake from Once a Month Mom [actually called Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Coffee Cake]

And here's a new dinner favorite from $5 Dinners that I am almost certain you could do as a once a month cooking mostly in the crockpot so you could stock up the freezer - and let me tell you it is just that good!!

Cheesy Green Chicken Enchiladas - I will say that I didn't have any green enchilada sauce and the diced tomatoes I had were 'chili ready' so this is what I did.... I made the recipe as written but I only used half the cumin and since I didn't have sauce for the tortillas I used the shredded cheese that I always have in the fridge.

Here's what I would do next time... I'd add more heat to it. I loved the creaminess and if your kids are going to eat with you then you might not want to kick this up, but ours ate quesadillas instead. Next time I might toss in a small can of chopped green chilis with the chicken. Oh, and I'd add more cheese to the top. I love cheese and we always have it!!

It's probably not often that you get great recipes off of daily moneywise reminders - that is unless you are subscribed to Everyday Cheapskate. I've gotten so many great recipes - including great updates from Erin at $5 Dinners - that I stay subscribed just because I never know what I'll hear next. Last week this recipe was listed and I decide to test it out - you know, just in case;) Yeah, I took one for the team.
And, I ate it all!!
It was that good!
So, go subscribe to the Everyday Cheapskate email and be sure to make this garlic break because these are the best Cool Ideas in a long time!! Even though I don't usually like sage and spice and green stuff!
Fantastic Garlic Bread



1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon sage
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 French baguette, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste

Preheat oven to broil. In a medium bowl combine butter, mayonnaise, sage, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread mixture evenly on bread and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place bread under broil for 5 minutes, or until lightly toasted.

Erin at $5 Dinners is doing a great giveaway to promote the publishing of her new cookbooks. She's giving away 10 copies everyday! Just sign up and you get a chance. It's that easy and that Cool!

Run over to $5 Dinners and get in the cue for a great giveaway. Erin is giving away a $100 Visa Gift Card and some great stuff from Carnation Evaporated Milk. Head over to $5 Dinners to enter. Giveaway ends on 12/15. And while you're there, check out the new cookbook that's coming out. Personally, I'm hoping that's in my stocking this year!

Another great giveway that would make the holiday so much easier is from Mercedes at Common Sense with Money. She has two $30 WalMart Gift Cards so that you can buy a wonderful holiday meal. The mouthwatering details on her site. The giveaway ends on 12/15.

And just in case these aren't Cool enough for you, Mercedes has another giveaway, too. She's offering a $100 Visa Gift Card from Carnation as well. This giveaway ends 12/13 so don't be slow.

I've been a subscriber to Mary Hunt's Everyday Cheapskate e-newsletter for quite a while now. I enjoy getting it in my inbox everyday. Most days it reminds me of good ways to cut costs and reduce our debt. Other days it provides helpful hints for around the house - some of which I definitely would never have though of.

Recently, Erin of $5 Dinners has been added to these emails. I already subscribe to Erin's emails but I enjoy seeing her in this new space, too. It's a great forum and great recipes, too.

I hope you'll head on over see the most recent recipe and go ahead and subscribe to the Everyday Cheapskate. I promise you'll get a lot out of the emails. It's definitely a Cool Idea!

There are some great freebies and giveaways this week so here we go:

FREE Sample of Kotex Ultra Thin Overnight Pads

FREE 1 oz. Sample of PINK Body Lotion from Victoria's Secret

FREE Sample of Emergen-C Multi Vitamin and new flavors!

Jenn at Frugal Upstate is running a Lunch Box giveaway that has so many amazing things in it that I can't even type them all here. There are items sponsored by Motts, Smuckers and Pepperidge Farm and it includes a wopping good number of Box Tops for your school! So, head on over to enter!!

Erin at $5 Dinners is celebrating her 1st Anniversary of her blog by offering several giveaways. Check them out because I'm sure there's got to one that you'll find irresistible.

Enjoy!

The Dinner Solution: Menu Planning and Freezer Cooking Made Simple is a unique meal planning program that allows you to plan out your meals on a calendar and print custom grocery lists. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can plan out a week of meals in minutes.


PROGRAM’S FEATURES

Plan your dinners and side dishes out on our calendar a week or a month at a time
Easily enter any of the recipes or menus from $5 Dinners!

• Add your own recipes or use the family-friendly recipes we’ve already included!
  
• With the click of a button, print a complete grocery list — sorted by store aisle and store name!
  
• Print a “What’s For Dinner” fridge report so you and your family can easily see what’s on the menu that week!
  
• Do your own at-home Freezer Meal assembly sessions in a snap!
  And more!
  
• Using The Dinner Solution for just 10 minutes a week, you can easily:
  
  
• Save hundreds of dollars a year on your grocery bill
  
• Save hundreds of hours a year of your precious time
  
• Feed your family healthier home-cooked meals (and lose weight if you need to!)
  
• Reduce your stress level – meal planning actually becomes fun!
  
• The system makes it so easy to get dinner on the table, you will wonder how you ever managed without it!!!
  
  Personally, I think this sounds like a Very Cool Idea and a great marriage of technology and family. I'd love to have my family recipes and new-found favorites in the same place. I'd also love to put the once-a-month cooking I do in one place with our regular cooking. One place for everything as opposed to the 2 binders that are currently running my life. [I think organization may be a resolution for next year!]

So, run over to $5 Dinners and sign up for this giveaway. I have a feeling that we'll all be wanting to learn more about this and we'll be envious of whomever actually wins. Bon Chance.

One of my resolutions is to be mindful about how decisions I make impact the environment and there's no time like Earth Day Month to talk about it here. It's great that there are lots of sites talking about it this month. One that I found this week is Kroger.

You can submit a design for a reusable grocery bag - one entry per day and entries to be voted on by May 15 - and you'll receive a credit on your Kroger card for one free reusable bag that you pick up at your local store.

Well, I was going to tell you more about it but Erin at $5 Dinners did such a thorough job. Besides, you should check out her site. Bookmark it. Subscribe to it. It's a Cool Idea, too.

So, give it a try. Have the kids make one, too. Do one for fun. Do one that's serious. Do one with a theme. Do one for the Dog or the Cat. Just do one. It's a Cool Idea.