Well, where to start.  My goal was to make enough meals to last a month. So I figured 30 meals.  But then I got to thinking, and my husband chimed in.  We seem to only eat at home 4-5 times a week. Saturdays we are normally running around, and we eat with our folks sometimes.  So we decided to make 15 meals.  That will allow us to have left overs some nights instead of making ANOTHER meal.  So we agreed we would try just 15 meals and see how long that lasted us.  So then we had to agree on 15 meals.  The hard part was trying to pick meals that we could share meat with. For example, you could get a bigger pack of chicken breasts and use just a LITTLE less in each meal and possible make another meal. For example, making  Herbed Dijon Chicken and Grilled Chicken, but just using a little less at each meal (meaning eating less which we all need to do) allowed enough left over to not go to waste in the fridge but to make a Chicken Enchilada meal.  Cool right.  Its all in the planning.  We have always planned a two week menu and got our groceries after pay day which is every two weeks.  We would normally spend $90-100 that way. Which is really good, but we would always have left overs that basically got thrown away because it wasn't enough for another meal or for a lunch portion.  So doing this way is going to save us money, time cooking, less throwing food away, and really my insanity! ha

So here is my menu for the 15 meals. Keep in mind some of these meals are "easy meals" or premade meals because, lets face it, we are dont need a casserole EVERY NIGHT! ha

Taco Salad w/ Rice
Burritos/Soft Tacos w/Rice
Pot Pies
Hamburger and Fries
Ravioli w/Toast and Salad
Sausage w/Beans and Fries (sausage that goes with this we half it and the other half goes with next meal)
Jumbalaya
*Chicken Enchiladas w/ Beans and Rice
*Grilled Chicken w/Baked Potato and Salad
*Noodle Spinach Casserole w/ Toast and Salad
*Herbed Dijon Chicken w/ Baked Potato and Salad (makes enough for left overs for next meal)
*Dijon Chicken Pizza w/ Salad
*Spaghetti Bake w/ Sausage and Peppers w/ Toast (sausage in this gets halved with the next meal)
*Penne Casserole w/Toast and Salad
*Pepperoni Pizza (because its fun, and a lot of time pre made pizza crusts comes two to a pack).

So there you have it!

I also have recipes that I will attempt to post later.

So basically if you just find a couple meals that can share ingredients then you are saving money right away.  8 of these meals freeze, so on Saturday I will be MAKE ALL OF THESE MEALS at once and freezing the whole casserole or I will be freezing meat that goes in meals we will cook on grill or crock pot.  That way we can guarantee they are still good and if for some reason this month we eat at home EVEN LESS, then are meals are safe in the freezer till we need them.

We spent $128 on all the ingredients for these meals, along with 2 dozen eggs, english muffins and tortillas to make breakfast sandwiches and burritos for every morning.  Bisquick to make pancakes, waffles and muffins also for breakfast.  Lunch foods and fruits and veggies.  Basically bough everything we should need for three meals for a month.  Fingers crossed.  But all that for under $130!!!

I will put an * by the freezer meals in case you are interested.

I have a few awesome websites that I got a lot of my recipes from, posted on my last blog entry.  Check them out! And please, if you are interested in trying this and you have questions feel free to contact me. I am still a beginner at this too, but I am happy to help in any way I can.  :)

Oh, one more thing.  If you are going to make meals to freeze, make sure you have plenty of foil, saran wrap and BIG BIG ziplock bags.  I just have Gallon size ones so I hope those work.

Now, on to what else I have accomplished lately as a Stay at Home mom.

Yesterday I made homemade baby wipes!  I sure did!

Water, baby soap and baby oil poured over paper towels and kept in an air tight container.  My first attempt at these was pretty good...but for next time, less soap and better, more expensive paper towels.  I had cheap ones and they are so thin now that you have to use quite a few.  Oh well, they still work and they were FREE since I had all the stuff in my house and THEY WORK.  Carter didn't notice a difference at all.

And today, I am attempted making dried fruit.  I got a dehydrator machine for Christmas in 2011!!! and I haven't used it yet.  Was kinda scared since I had no idea what I was doing. But I had an apple that NEEDED to be eaten or thrown away and Carter left half a banana he wasn't going to eat, so I just cut those up, threw them in there and here goes nothing.  Making a small batch to start is good, we might hate dried fruit! haha  I will let you know how they turn out.

I feel so stay at home mommy-ish. Ha ha only took two years!

Well that's the end of this entry...Let me know of all the cool things you are doing so I can add them to my to-do list. 

Freezer Meals! WHAT?!

Well, Blogger.com, I am going to attempt this again. 

Since its been FOREVER since I have updated, I will do that real fast.  Derrick and I will be married for 4 years this coming May.  Carter just turned 2.  How time flies.  He has been in a toddler bed for at least 7 months. And doing great.  He is a great kid. Everytime I think we are going to have a hard time getting him to adjust to something new he does it with no problem. For example, the toddler bed, no more paci, and now potty training.  We aren't there yet, just starting actually, but he is doing great.  I started teaching freshman girls in Sunday School too.  That is awesome. Challenging but awesome.  They are great girls.  Well, I think that is about all.  I live a pretty simple life.

This time, not only will I share about my family and my life, but my new "goal" or "task" for life as of now.

Ready for it.... Bulk shopping, cooking and freezing meals.

I hope this will allow us to spend less on groceries and less on eating out.  Also, hopefully this will help us to eat healthier and the best part...I DONT HAVE TO COOK EVERY NIGHT!

I know, I know.  Those of you who are actually reading this are thinking there is no way I will stick with this.  That is my fear!  This is such a good idea, but I am afraid my lazy self will find it too difficult to continue planning meals and shopping list for such a long time.  The goal is to cook enough to last for 30days.  Yep 30 DAYS!

So as I begin this task, I hope to keep it updated on this blog so that if anyone else is interested in doing this, hopefully I can help.

Step 1.  Decide to ACTUALLY DO THIS
Step 2.  Convince your husband that its a good idea
Step 3.  Do your research.  Look online, buy freezer cookbooks.  Research as much as possible.
Step 4.  Begin the madness..... (basically this is as far as I have gotten)  HA

I am actually still researching.  Finding meals that my family will eat. Making list after list. Mapping out the 30 days and how many of those days I know we WONT be eating at home. And then making a list of all the meals I have decided on. That is what today consists of.  Making a huge list of possible meals and narrowing it down. 

So here goes nothin!

Here are a few websites I have found that seem helpful.

http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/freezer-meal-recipes-master-list
http://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html
http://www.recipelink.com/rcpmenus.html

Tomorrow I plan to have a list of meals, that I will share with you.  And who knows....maybe I will be super motivated and actually have a shopping list done too! 

One more link.  These are freezer meals that you cook in the crock pot! YAY!
http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html