Errand Tuesday

Good Morning!!  The sun is shining and it is going to be a warm "Summery" day today!

Yesterday, Ava and I got up and did some coloring and cartoon watching and ate a little breakfast.  Toast and an egg for me.  I am still having a few issues, but so much better than I was.  I know when to notice a problem coming on and handle it before it gets out of control.

I wanted to do some exercise yesterday, so I did a half Bodyrock workout to give my body a little wake up call.  Then, I ran an easy 1 mile on the treadmill.  Still want to go easy on the treadmill, since running can cause the intestines to move around quite a bit.  Tomorrow, I am going to try 3 miles and see how that does. 

Ava and I got ready. I made lunch for Clint and made us a juice to take on the road and some snacks for Ava.  We headed out for a busy day.

We took Clint some lunch (Ava was asleep), said a quick hi and headed to Green Hills Mall.  This mall is the "fancy shmancy" mall in Nashville. 

Dillard's was having a great sale on kid's clothes, so I bought Ava 3 outfits, that "Santa" will bring her for Christmas.  Hey, you can never start too early shopping for Christmas. 

I looked for some dresses for my brother's rehearsal dinner, but found none that I really liked. 

We then headed to Charming Charlie's. This is the cutest most cost effective way to shop for all accessories.  My mom's birthday is tomorrow, so I volunteered to shop for my brother and dad for her gifts.  Yea twist my arm to go shop with someone else's money!!  It was so fun.  But hard!  Hard because I had Ava's stroller, a bag from Dillard's, alternating holding 2 boxes of shoes and jewelry and Ava.  All while trying to get her to eat her lunch.  Sheesh, forget bodyrock.  This was a way harder workout.



Sorry for the sideways picture!!

Then we headed to this heaven on earth!

ugh!

We have decided to budget in a Trader Joe's trip once a month.  I have been before a long time ago, before I was super health conscious.  We had so much fun in there!!  I could have spend WAY more, but reigned it in!  I can't wait until next month!!

Our next stop was picking up something that Clint needed for work and then on to TJMAXX.  I tried on a few dresses but none that I loved, so we walked out empty handed. 

Supper (for Clint, because I ate some Pita Chips from Trader Joe's that were AMAZING, but were not sitting well in my belly) was marinaded chicken with homemade healthier red potato salad.

I chopped up 4 red potatoes and boiled them in a pot of water until they were soft. About 30minutes.  I drained them and let them continue to drain and cool for about 20 minutes, while I folded laundry.

I put them in a mixing bowl and mixed in 3tbsp light mayo, about 3tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp green onions, dash of salt, freshed cracked pepper and seasoning salt.  I tasted it and it was pretty darn good!

The HIGHLIGHT of my day, was when Clint was taking Ava to bed, she said "love you".  She has told Clint "love you" twice and I was waiting for my moment!  It happened and no sweeter words were spoken!!  My heart grew 3x it size!!

What was the highlight of your day??

Have a great day and I'll see you soon!!

Errand day

Yesterday, Clint didn't have to go in to work until 1pm so we had the whole morning to spend with him! We all went down to the garage and worked out. I did back and chest. This is what we have in our garage and we got a super great deal on it!
Plus it is something that Clint uses! We also have free weights too! After that we went up and I ran and we watched "Acts of Valor".  My adrenaline was surely going watching that movie!  I did a great 8 mile run!


Tuesday is Ava and my errand day.  After Clint left, we headed out.  We went to Goodwill, Save-a-lot, Kroger and Aldi's. 

I'm doing pretty well with having $50-$75 a week budget on groceries.  Yesterday's trip was $64.17 and I got all of this! 

The key to my "master plan" is planning!!  I sit down over the weekend and look at sales papers and my coupons. I pick out 4 suppers and 2 homemade breakfasts (banana bread or pumpkin coffee cake) that Clint can take to work or Ava can eat on the way to my parent's house.  I then see what Clint needs for his lunches for the week and what I need for my ginormous salads. From that I take my clipboard and notebook paper and make a list.  I also try to put what I typically know things will cost.  This helps me get a basis on if I am on target to meet my goal.

Now I only take cash when I shop.  I "try" not to use my debit card.  That is where I run in to trouble.  There is something "restricting" to having ONLY cash that makes those frivolous purchases not so important.  I try to stick to my list 98% of the time.  If I see a great deal on something that was not advertised I might either take something off my list and get it OR I will get it and make up the difference for the next week. 

 I am NOT a pro by any means and I do have to use my debit card at times. (like yesterday) But I use my cash first and try to use only what I have. 

When we got home, I took the picture and put everything away.  I was going through an old cookbook that my church put together some years back and I decided to try a Banana Blueberry Bread.

  

Ingredients:

2 cups Bisquick(or off-brand Bisquick)

3/4 cup quick cooking oats

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup mashed ripe bananas(about 2)

1/4 cup milk (I used skim)

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries(can used strawberries or raspberries as well)

3/4 cup pecans or walnuts(optional, I did not use them this time)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350'.

2. Spray bread pan or bundt pan with cooking spray.

3. Stir all ingredients EXCEPT the blueberries in a mixing bowl.  Make sure all of the ingredients are mixed well.

4. GENTLY fold in the blueberries, trying not to smash them.

5. Bake for 45-50minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Let cool and enjoy!

Any recipes to share that you have made recently??

A day in the life....

A day in the life of a part time stay at home mama!

A little house cleaning.

Source

A little treadmill work to log on

My run.

Grocery planning and staying under our $50 budget for grocery shopping each week.

$46.08!!

"Mama, more water, no pic, please"

Afternoon snack!  That is homemade bread by the way!

Look at that beauty!!  This recipe turned out great!!

Thanks Diva!

 

Pumpkin coffee cake with brown sugar glaze

MMM very good!

I LOVE being a part time stay at home mama!!!!