Testimony from Sue

When my husband and I got married over five years ago, we were a financial mess. We allowed bad habits to get worse by charging everything to our handy credit card.

Three years and two children later, a friend forwarded me an email about a website called MoneySavingMom.com. We didn’t know it then, but that email would change our lives.

I read Crystal’s blog faithfully each morning. She inspired me to read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, and I was so excited that I read it in two days. My husband Ben read the book also and we dove head-first into creating a budget. These changes enabled us to live a comfortable, more budget-friendly lifestyle:

1. We stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything. 

Ben and I adopted the radical financial practice of paying cash-only. We found that we spent much less on average by using cash rather than using our debit cards. Although it took time to get used to, practice made perfect.

Our rule is once the cash is gone, it’s gone. No more spending.

2. We began shopping at discount and second-hand stores for everything.

Clothing, home decor, bread; we had to get creative! I found our local bread outlet to be a great deal. We stock up every few months and keep the excess in our chest freezer. Also, since our house is a “fixer-upper,” we found that shopping at our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a useful resource for supplies and hardware.

3. I couponed like crazy. 

As a stay-at-home mom, couponing became a much like a part-time job to save money for our family. MoneySavingMom.com made this step so much easier by outlining the drugstore game, highlighting creative ways to get coupons, and listing store match-ups by region.

4. We learned to say “no.

Difficult as it was, we learned to say “no” to family and friends for restaurant outings or vacations in order to stick to our budget. We also learned to enjoy the art of entertaining from our home. It is a great way to spend time with others in a comfortable, budget-friendly environment.

5. We stuck to our convictions and tweaked our plan. 

Throughout this change in our lives, Ben and I have relied heavily on God and his provision in our lives. We continued to tithe 10% of our income and manage our money the best we knew how. 

Our plan to pay off debt has changed with our circumstances, but our budget has stayed the same. In the past three years of living on a budget, we have saved for an emergency fund, paid off one vehicle, and paid cash to complete my college education!

Living on a budget has not only blessed our family financially, but it has allowed us to live freely and peacefully within our means. We may not know what God has for our future, but we have found great joy in a simple life today.

Sue is a full-time mom, proud wife of a firefighter, and a recent college graduate. She has a passion for saving money and living simply. Sue and her family live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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Earlier this month, I posed the question, What are your biggest challenges with organizing busy summer schedules? And today, I’m excited to read Andrea’s tips to help us simplify and organizer our crazy, busy summer months! 

If you can relate, here are a few ways to get organized and still enjoy your summer.

1. Know your schedule.

Before you even start trying to simplify and organize your summer, you’ll want to take 20 minutes and look through your calendar for June, July, and August.

• Are you planning any vacations?
• Will you need to take time off work?
• Do you have any weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, or baby showers to attend (and buy gifts for)?
• Are you planning any home renovation projects that will take up lots of extra time?
• Will your kids be going to summer camp, sports camps, music camp, Bible school, etc.?
• Will your kids be participating in sports teams or in any sort of group projects?

Your answers to some of these questions will help determine how you spend a good chunk of your summer. And depending on how busy you want to be, you might decide to say no to some activities after looking over your schedule.

2. Decide on a summer routine.

No, I don’t think your summer days should be as structured as the rest of the year, but I can almost guarantee you and your children will be happier if there is some sort of daily/weekly routine you follow during the summer.

We all know that our homes will not magically clean themselves and meals won’t be prepared without some effort on our parts; so try making these events a family affair. Maybe you play inside during the morning, then everyone helps to clean up before lunch, and then you go out and do a fun activity in the afternoon.

Or maybe you can plan your weekly menu as a family and then let each child (age-appropriate, of course) help make the meal one night a week.

Here are a few more ways to implement a loose routine…

• If your family loves sleeping in, allow everyone to sleep in five days a week, but then wake up “on time” the other two days. This will allow you get get a little more done on those days without spoiling all the fun.
• If your family loves going to the beach, have a “beach day” once a week. You could even make this day a reward for cooperation throughout the rest week!
• If you enjoy family BBQ’s or picnics at the park, plan your weekly menu accordingly and try to implement at least one picnic lunch a week.
• Allow your children to plan an event one day a week. Of course, you’ll want to help them plan the details, but this will give them something to look forward to, and force them to be creative.

By having some sort of general plan, everyone will be a bit less restless during the long summer days.

3. Plan ahead to avoid boredom.

It’s almost inevitable that your children will get bored at some point during the summer.

To avoid the constant “what can we do now” questions, plan ahead and create a list of things they can do if they get bored. Some examples might be:

• Play outside
• Read a book
• Watch a movie
• Play a game with siblings
• Ride their bike around the neighborhood
• Go on a scavenger hunt and look for ________
• Make an obstacle course in your backyard

Try to put at least 20-30 items on your list and you might want to make separate lists for different age children.

Then (this is important so listen up), at the bottom of the list, put “Ask mom if she needs help with anything”. That way, if they complain they’re bored and have already done everything on your list, you can say, “well, you haven’t asked me if I need help with anything, so why don’t you go __________”. Fill in the blank with any number of household chores.

This way, if your kids continue to complain about being bored, you’ll at least get a clean house out of the deal!

4. Keep your vehicle packed.

Even with a general routine to your day, summer is the time for spontaneous beach trips, picnics in the park, or fun outings with friends.

However, if you need to take the time to pack and worry about forgetting something at home, you’ll waste lots of valuable time. Instead, keep your vehicles packed with summer essentials:

• Suntan lotion
• Sunglasses
• Beach towels / beach toys
• A cooler (obviously, you’ll have to add ice and food at the last minute)
• Extra water bottles
• Extra diaper bag — if applicable
• Restaurant, fast food, and ice-cream coupons (just in case!)
• Park passes
• Non-perishable snacks
• Stroller or even small bikes

Keeping these essentials ready and waiting will save you lots of time and allow you to literally drop everything and do something fun.

5. Don’t forget yourself.

See if you can swap babysitting services with a friend, relative, or neighbor, hire a house-cleaning service for the summer months, or implement other ideas to make sure you have some margin in your schedule and are not running yourself ragged. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but if you schedule in time for things that energize you, you’ll most definitely be a better parent to your children for the rest of the summer.

What are your tips and suggestions to keep things calm, organized, and simpler this summer?

Andrea Dekker is a wife, mom, blogger, organizer, speaker, and founder of Simple Organized Living. Her goal is to motivate and encourage others to “create their best life” through simplicity and organization.

photo source; photo source

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My Baby Clothes is an online store striving to offer unique and trendy boutique-style clothes at affordable prices. And they are giving away a $50 credit to five winners here this weekend! 

They offer a wide variety of adorable Tutus and pettiskirts.

They also have a some cute formal babywear available.

Be sure to check out their sale section to see the discounted merchandise they have. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

If you’re interested in purchasing something, you can get $10 off a $75+ purchase by using coupon code cash10 or $15 off a $100+ purchase by using coupon code msm15. Shipping is free on orders over $49.

Would you like to win a free $50 gift certificate to My Baby Clothes? Click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address to enter to win. Five winners will be chosen and posted on Monday. This giveaway ends Sunday, May 27, at 11:59 pm, CST.

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These muffins are delicious and nutritious. When my friend, Angie, brought us some one day, I took one bite and knew they were winners.

I adapted the original recipe to make it healthier, but if you’re not worrying about sugar or calories, the original recipe is really good.

I’d recommend using muffin liners, if you buy them, as they seem to help these be a bit more moist. However, they are still delicious with less sugar and without muffin liners.

I used pureed carrots instead of shredded carrots this time around as that is what I already had in the freezer. I think it works a little better with shredded carrots — and the batter doesn’t look so orange, either!

Easy Morning Glory Muffins

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (can also use white flour or a mixture of whole-wheat and white flour)
• 3/4 to 1 cup raw sugar (or sugar)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and shredded (or chopped)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup coconut oil, melted (or oil)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the carrots, raisins, coconut, and apples.

In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

To freeze: Cool completely and put in an airtight ziptop freezer bag.

To thaw: Pull out the desired number of muffins and thaw at room temperature for an hour or so. You can also warm them in the microwave.

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Did you do any freezer cooking today? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.

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A testimony from Amanda

My hubby and I recently paid off our mortgage — YAY!

We had planned to use our first month of post-mortgage “payment” to purchase a couch to replace the very loved, mostly broken, and odd-smelling couch currently in our living room. As we headed to the various furniture stores to scout out our potential new furniture (a first-time experience for us since we generally purchase used), we finally settled on a two-piece set that was a floor model.

Because it was a floor model, the store was offering a 50% “buy now” discount. We headed up to purchase our furniture only to be told that our set would be available for pick up or delivery for nearly two weeks. Confused about why we couldn’t take home our “buy now” discounted furniture when we had cash in hand for the total amount, we asked for another sales representative. And she gave us the same odd story.

This time, she added that we couldn’t remove the furniture until the new floor model was in, assembled, and ready to take its place. Out of desperation, we sought the help of a manager, who listened intently to our dilemma.

His reply? “These people have CASH…take their money and give them their furniture!”

We backed up our trailer, loaded our couch and loveseat, and chuckled the rest of the way home!

Amanda lives in rural central Nebraska with her hubby of 15 years, nine kids, and one spoiled schnauzer.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

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Guest post from Rebecca of D & R Tabb

For the past year or two, I have regularly spend $80 per week on groceries (not counting household items) for our family of two (that recently became of family of three!)

The only preparation beforehand included menu planning. I did minimal coupon-clipping and only occasionally price matched on milk.

I decided to spend four weeks trying to reduce my grocery budget — just to see if I could save money without a huge investment of time.

Here’s what happened:

My totals before and after looked like this:

Before

$80 week x 4 = $320/month on groceries

After

4 weeks of shopping sales = $240/month on groceries

Savings: $80

Here’s how I did it:

I switched stores.

I was a loyal Walmart shopper, not because I liked shopping there, but because I was convinced it was the cheapest option. A friend of mine told me she saved money shopping at Kroger. After shopping there for four weeks I believe this made a big impact in my savings, but only if I shopped the sales.

I used the ads.

Every week I got out the circular and looked at it before planning my dinner menu. This forced me to plan recipes based on ingredients that were marked down that week.

I stopped being brand loyal.

I started buying a different brand of chicken that is regularly on sale for $0.99/lb for split, bone-in breasts, or $1.99 for boneless, skinless breasts. When it was on sale, I bought several packages to last me until it was on sale again.

I used the sales.

I only bought produce that was on sale, usually for $0.99/lb. I have occasionally even found organic produce on sale for less than regular produce. For example, this week organic oranges are on sale for $0.99/lb. I had to laugh when I saw regular oranges listed at $1.29/lb. just a few feet away!
I bought the side items for our dinners (i.e. corn and other vegetables) that were on sale.

I have been very pleased with the impact I have been able to make on our grocery budget with minimal changes. I am planning to put the money we save on groceries toward paying down our mortgage debt. Having this goal gives me an even greater incentive to spend a few hours each week mapping out our grocery trip and meal plans.

I know many people have been able to reduce their grocery budget by much more than this, but I am very pleased to see that little changes can produce big results!

Rebecca is a former educator turned stay-at-home mom. She enjoys exercising, reading, and blogging about her life as a wife and new mom at D&R Tabb.

photo credit

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Kids ages 14 and under can earn a $5 Half Price Books gift card when they read (or are read to) for 15 minutes each day. Download the Reading Log here.

From the fine print, it appears you can earn a $5 gift card in both June and July, if you meet the qualifications. Does anyone know for sure if that is correct?

Also, don’t forget to sign up for the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program and the TD Bank Reading Program. Plus, check your local library to see if they have a summer reading program you can sign your children up for, too!

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Looking for a fun and frugal activity during the hot summer months? How about free bowling?

Sign up at KidsBowlFree.com to get a voucher for two free games of bowling for each of your children every single day all summer long. Check to see what nearby bowling alleys are participating here.

AMF Bowling Alleys also offer their Summer Unplugged program that also offers two free games of bowling for each of your children every single day all summer long.

Please note: Shoe rental is not included, so if you plan to take advantage of this more than a few times, I’d recommend purchasing bowling shoes for your children. You may be able to find a good deal on these at a local sporting goods consignment store. Or, you can purchase them on Amazon.com for around $25-$35.

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The Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program is now live. Download the printable form here.

Through September 4, 2012, when your child reads eight books, they can submit their reading journal in-store to receive a free book of their choice. I wasn’t too excited about many of the free book options this year, but there were a few decent ones to choose from.

If you haven’t already, also make sure to check out your local library’s summer reading program. Our children are really excited to be involved in ours this year — and the prizes form local businesses are quite generous!

Are your children participating in any summer reading programs?

Thanks, Moms By Heart!

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{A Downloadable Cleaning Schedule for People Who Hate to Clean from Life Blessons}

You are always so motivating that I am hoping you can help me. It seems like I try and try to get my “chore list” done each day and it just doesn’t happen. I used to be motivated by my checklist method and I spread the tasks over several days, but that’s just not working anymore. Thoughts? -a reader

1. If It’s Not Working, Change It

At the end of last year, I switched over to a paperless planning system. I really, really wanted to make a paperless system work, as it works so well for my husband and it seems like it’s the “smart” thing to do when you’re running a business. But, after five months of really trying to make it work, it just wasn’t working.

My motto is “Do what works for you”, and while it seems like a paperless planning system works well for many people, it was pretty obvious it wasn’t working for me. So, earlier this month, I gave up on the paperless planning system (at least for now!), pulled out my homemaking binder, downloaded the Motivated Moms Printable Chore List, and started in afresh.

I’ve been amazed at how this changed has re-ignited my love of cleaning! Sometimes, a fresh change of scenery is just the boost you need to get inspired to clean again.

If your current cleaning system isn’t working, try implementing another cleaning system. If you don’t want to start from scratch, at least rotate things around a bit so that it feels new and different.

4 Different Cleaning Systems

1. A Cleaning Schedule for People Who Hate to Clean — A weekly task list you can pick and choose from depending upon your time and motivation each day. If you don’t enjoy cleaning, you’d probably be encouraged by reading Sarah Mae’s ebook, 31 Days to Clean.

2. 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home — 20 days of simple cleaning tasks to whip your house into shape. You can download a printable list or sign up for daily email reminders.

3. Motivated Moms — A year-long printable list of chores and home management tasks. I just started this two weeks ago and am loving it so far! They also recently released an app, if you’re more of the paperless type than me.

4. FlyLady — Daily email reminders and tasks to help you get rid of clutter and find more order and peace in your home.

I also have a number of free customizable home management forms you can download.

2. Get An Accountability Partner

It’s amazing how effective regular accountability can be! Find a friend or neighbor who is struggling to stay on task with keeping their home in order and ask them to be your accountability partner. Check in daily or weekly via text, email, over the phone, or in person.

Don’t know anyone locally who will be your accountability partner? There are many different online groups you could join to help you stay on task. Or, you could blog, Facebook, or tweet on a daily basis about your successes and failures.

3. Reward Yourself

Set up a reward system to celebrate your success. I’m always much more motivated when there is something to look forward to at the finish line!

My reward for accomplishing my tasks is often relaxing with a good book for 30 minutes at the end of the day. For some of you, that might not sound too exciting, but it’s something I love to do. And I can enjoy it even more when I know that my tasks are caught up!

What helps you to stay motivated to get your daily chores and home management tasks done? Have you found any particular system or method of organizing your cleaning task to be helpful?

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If you’re not a fan of most freezer meals, can I encourage you to try making cookie dough and freezing it? I can almost guarantee you won’t be able to tell a difference between frozen cookie dough and fresh cookie dough.

It makes it so easy to make a batch of fresh-baked cookies when you have drop-in guests or need to bring a dessert or snack to some event at the last minute. It’s also very handy for those times when you get a late-night craving for chocolate. Oh wait, I may be the only person who has that happen to them. Ahem.

My sister concocted this recipe many years ago and it’s long been our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It definitely wouldn’t win the prize for being a low-calorie cookie, but it’s a delicious and hearty cookie recipe.

Freezer-Friendly Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 cup shortening or butter (softened)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (or raw sugar)
• 3/4 cup sugar (or raw sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (you can also use white flour or half whole-wheat/half white)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups oats (rolled or quick oats)
• 1 12-oz. package chocolate chips

Cream together first six ingredients. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll into 1-1 1/2-inch balls.

To freeze: Place cookie balls on a cookie sheet and freeze for one to two hours. Remove from cookie sheet and place in an airtight freezer bag.

To bake: Pull out the desired amount of balls and place on a greased cookie sheet for 30-45 minutes to thaw. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until done.

Makes approximately 40 cookies.

Did you do any freezer cooking today? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.

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Today’s question is from Alicia:

My family consists of three boys, my husband, and myself. With the cost of food rising, I have let my meat stockpile diminish. I was wondering if your readers have any budget-friendly recipes for meatless or inexpensive recipes that will satisfy and fill the bellies of a house full of meat-eating males!? -Alicia

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{Corn Dog Muffins with all-natural beef dogs and homemade cornbread batter — so yummy!}

Struggling to come up with healthy lunch ideas? Laura from Heavenly Homemakers has put together a free Healthy Lunch Ideas printable with lots of great suggestions!

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This is one of our go-to meals. It is so, so easy and delicious.

You could skip the freezing part altogether and just make it the day of, but some times it’s nice to pull a bag out of the freezer, dump it into a pan or crock pot and dinner is done.

It’s a great summer recipe because you can grill it or cook it in the crock pot and not heat up your kitchen at all. We love it served over rice or sliced and served on a big salad.

While I was making the Italian Chicken on one end of the table, the above picture is what was happening at the other end of the kitchen table. Seeing my husband so intently working with Silas on his preschool and Silas just soaking it up melts my heart.

{My husband has been doing one or two of each of the children’s homeschooling subjects with them each evening after he comes home from work. It was his idea — and the children love it!}

{I think one of the reasons they enjoy it is because Daddy’s homeschooling often involves snacks, too. }

Freezer-Friendly Italian Chicken

• One bottle of your favorite Italian salad dressing*
• 6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts

To freeze: Put frozen chicken breasts in a freezer bag. Pour the Italian dressing over the chicken. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal it up. Freeze.

To thaw and bake:

• Quick Method: Pull frozen chicken out of the freezer and run the freezer bag under cold water to thaw slightly. Pour all the contents of the bag into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.
• Longer Marinating Method: Pull frozen chicken out of the freezer, stick the bag in a bowl and let it thaw in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Pour all the contents of the bag into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes or grill until done.
• Crock Pot Method: Pull frozen chicken out of the freezer and run the freezer bag under hot water to thaw slightly. Pour all the contents of the bag into the crock pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours, until thoroughly cooked through.

This is delicious served over rice with steamed vegetables on the side. Serves 4-6.

*Want to change things up a bit? You can also use barbecue sauce or any other favorite salad dressing. Let us know if your family has a favorite variation of this recipe!

Did you do any freezer cooking today? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.

Learn how to go from financial mess to financial success. Order your copy of my brand-new book The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget today!

Looking for some ideas for fun summer activities and ways to organize and manage your schedule this summer? Jessica from LifeAsMom has written a Summer Survival Guide packed with encouragement, inspiration, and practical tips that might be just what you need.

Jessica is offering a $2 off coupon code to my readers this week. Use coupon code MSMSAVE2 to get her 200-page Summer Survival Guide for just $7.

The Summer Survival Guide ebook has all sorts of activities and inspiration to help you enjoy and spend quality time with your children this summer. It includes extensive family-friendly book and movie lists, recipes, ideas for staying sane and organized, printable worksheets, and much more.

I used the ideas and suggestions from this ebook to plan out a number of activities for our summer last year and it was, by far, the best and most organized summer we’ve had. We were much more intentional about how we organized our weeks so that we followed through with the fun ideas and activities we had planned to do — instead of them just sitting in my brain as good ideas that never actually happened!

If you feel like you are lacking creativity and organization and want to make the most of your summer, I think you’ll find the Summer Survival Guide very helpful. Download a free sample of this ebook here.

This downloadable book includes:

:: 37 customizable planning pages, calendars, and worksheets for kids

• a summer calendar
• summertime checklists
• home management worksheets
• bookmarks for everyone
• tshirt transfer artwork
• scavenger hunts
• scrapbook pages
• and then some!

:: 100+ family-friendly book and movie suggestions

:: inspiration for home management during the summer months, addressing

• meal planning
• daily schedules
• emergency preparedness
• road trips
• and more…

:: inspiration for family nights and summer reading

:: 16 Summertime learning themes looking at everything from Art to Zebras through

• crafts
• games
• books
• movies
• outings
• family fun

Use coupon code MSMSAVE2 to get $2 off the Summer Survival Guide, making it just $7.

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)

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SewCraftCreate.com shows you how to make this adorable sunburst flower headband.

Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Learn how to go from financial mess to financial success. Order your copy of my brand-new book The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget today!

Have extra books around your home that you no longer need or use? Definitely check Cash4Books.net, MyBookBuyer.com, and Amazon’s Trade-In Program to see how much they would pay you for selling your books to them.

Cash4Books is also offering a 15% bonus on your buyback total through June 8, 2012. All you have to do to get the bonus is use bonus code SecretStash at checkout and they’ll automatically give you the 15% bonus when they send your payment.

If you decide to sell your books to Cash4Books, you can print out a free shipping label so that there is no cost to you to ship the book. After your books are received, inspected and marked as ‘processed’, payment will be made within three business days. You can choose to be paid via Paypal or check.

If your books aren’t worth much, you might also consider listing them on PaperBackSwap so that you can swap them for books you are interested in reading.

Related posts:

Make Money Selling Books With MyBookBuyer.com
Earn Amazon Credit For Used Books Through Amazon’s Trade-In Program

(Note: Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read our disclosure policy here.)

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Can you believe we’ve made it to the last week of freezer cooking? My freezer is getting so stocked and it has been wonderful.

With Memorial Day weekend coming up, I’m spacing out the recipes a bit more this week to give everyone a little bit more time to play along (should you so choose) and to also give myself the flexibility to not blog much on Monday.

My apologies in advance that all but one of these recipes has chocolate in it. What can I say? “Dessert” and “snack” is pretty much synonymous with “chocolate” at our house. And no day is complete without at at least a little bit of chocolate!

Here’s this week’s list of Snack and Dessert Recipes I’ll be making to stick in the freezer along with a grocery list (let me know if you see any mistakes on amounts needed):

Freezer-Friendly Snack and Dessert Recipes

Wednesday — One batch of Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Thursday — Double batch of Easy Morning Glory Muffins {I’ll share my “health-i-fied” version of this recipe on Thursday.}
Friday — Double batch of No Bake Energy Bites
Tuesday — One batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Wednesday –  Double batch of Chocolate Banana Bread

Grocery List

(I rounded up on the amounts needed, just to be safe. You probably have many of these items already on hand. You’ll want to double-check that you have the correct amounts, though.)

16 eggs
8 cups sugar (or raw sugar)
3/4 cup brown sugar (or raw sugar)
6 cups rolled oats
1 1/3 cups peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 (16 oz.) can pureed pumpkin
3 1/2 cups oil
12 cups flour
3 packages chocolate chips
2/3 cup honey
3 cup coconut flakes (For No Bake Energy Bites or Easy Morning Glory Muffins — could substitute something else if your family doesn’t like coconut.)
1 cup flaxseed (For No Bake Energy Bites — could substitute wheat germ or something for this.)
4 cups shredded carrots
1 cup raisins
6 bananas
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 apples
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 sticks butter

Staple Ingredients:

Vanilla
Salt
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Cinnamon

Freezer Storage Items Needed

Foil
Plastic Wrap
8-12 large ziptop freezer bags
Something to label packages with (marker to write on bags, labels, and/or tape)

Click on the “Print This” tab at the top of the list to generate a printer-friendly list. (If you’re reading via email or a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to print the list.)

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Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole is delicious, filling, frugal, and so freezer-friendly! If you freeze the bags flat, you can store them on their side like filing folders to fit a lot in a small freezer.

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

• 10 cups cooked rice (white or brown)
• 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped (I bake mine in the oven like this.)
• 4 cups chopped broccoli, lightly steamed (can use frozen or fresh)
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup (or 2 batches cream of mushroom soup)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup (or 2 batches cream of chicken soup)
• 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

To freeze: Divide into four ziptop freezer bags and seal tightly. Freeze flat.

To serve: Thaw overnight (or for 8 hours) in the refrigerator. Dump into a greased casserole dish (each bag will fill an 8×8-inch pan; two bags will fill a 9×13-inch pan). Sprinkle with additional shredded cheese, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.

This recipe makes around 15-18 servings. Each freezer bag serves 4-5 people.

Recipe adapted from Once a Month Mom

Did you do any freezer cooking over the past two days? If so, I’d love to see the results of your efforts! Link up your blog posts below or tell us about your success in the comments.

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So, I kinda bombed last week… I had this lingering sinus infection most of the week and I was highly unmotivated as a result. I’m trying to dose up on a lot of Vitamin C and other things to boost my immune system — and trying not to get too discouraged that it is hanging on for so long.

The good news is that I did chip away at almost all the goals on the list, but I only completely accomplished three of them. By the way, I really, really tried to get 7.5 hour of sleep every night, but all the congestion made sleeping difficult and uncomfortable. Which, of course, doesn’t exactly lend itself to helping me get better — it’s kind of a vicious cycle!

Here’s to hoping this week is a better week — and that maybe I can find some relief from the sinus infection. {I’m *this* close to breaking down and trying a neti-pot. But it just weirds me out so much that I’ve not worked up the nerve yet! Yes, you can tell me I’m crazy! }

Last week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Finish reading Quest for Truth:Taken and Spy for the Night Riders aloud to the children.

2. Start our summer schedule.

3. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Escape from Saddam. Start The Referral Engine.

5. Run at least five times.

6. Listen to 2 hours of The Little Big Things.

7. Sleep for at least 7.5 hours every night.

Home Management

8. Follow my Freezer Cooking plan and blog about it.

9. Make Homemade English Muffins.

Business Goals

10. Write one article for another site.

This week’s goals {pretty much a repeat!}:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Finish reading Quest for Truth:Taken and Spy for the Night Riders aloud to the children.

2. Go to a baseball game and musical production as a family.

3. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Escape from Saddam. Start The Referral Engine.

5. Run at least five times.

6. Listen to 2 hours of The Little Big Things.

7. Sleep for at least 7.5 hours every night.

Home Management

8. Follow my Freezer Cooking plan and blog about it.

9. Make Homemade English Muffins.

Business Goals

10. Write one article for another site.

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!

You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

Learn how to go from financial mess to financial success. Order your copy of my brand-new book The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget today!