Meal Plan Monday

Once again I haven't done this in weeks...
I only list the main dishes and will throw together some steamed vegetables or fruit and a whole grain.

Monday
Experimenting with a simple chicken and brown rice casserole. The directions say cook at 350-400 for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Not very helpful if you ask me.
*Update, this did not come out very well but I covered the dish and the rice took forever and by the time the rice was cooked the chicken was dried out. I'll have to give it another shot uncovered and see how the chicken comes out. I can't stand dry chicken!

Tuesday
Dinner at bible study for David, I will probably have breakfast for dinner.

Wednesday
Tacos

Thursday
Chili Cheese Bake from the freezer. I made a double batch several weeks ago but I'm not sure if this will be as good coming out of the freezer.

Friday 
Dinner at an event

Saturday 
Homemade pizza

Sunday
Marinated Chicken

Hospital Gown

I want to stay at home as long as possible before heading to the hospital while I am in labor. I am planning on waiting until my contractions are about 3-5 minutes apart. The hospital is about a 5 minute drive from our house with a very short walk from the parking lot up to the Labor and Delivery floor. A friend told me she purchased her own hospital gown and wore it with a robe over it to the hospital. This way I can just check in and get back to relaxing instead of having to change clothes while in the midst of very active labor (maybe transition... fingers crossed!) 

Having my own gown will hopefully make the hospital feel a little more like home and less like a sick ward! Hospital gowns are not know for their modesty and I want to be able to walk around the hallway while in labor without feeling exposed. I purchased my gown from Baby Be Mine Maternity. Some of their gowns are quite pricey in my opinion so I bought a discounted gown from the outlet selection. Looking forward to meeting our sweet daughter in a few short months! 

More of the Nursery

The nursery is coming along nicely, everything but the dollhouse/bookcase has been painted. The crib still needs to be set up and my sister in law is sweetly sewing the bumper pads. I need to take pictures of the finished armoire and the changing table we were recently given. 

 Handmade pillow from a friend of my parents

 I couldn't resist picking up these pink handles from Hobby Lobby 

Baby girl will sleep for the first few months in our room in this cradle I borrowed from my sister in law.

Freezer Cooking

I went to the grocery store last Friday and today was the first chance I had to divide and cook up all the meat I bought. I scored manager specials on ground turkey and Italian sausage and froze them right away since their sell by date was approaching faster than I could get them cooked.

One of our favorite cheap dinner dates is buy one get on free on Tuesdays at Wild Wings. Not having to cook dinner on top of freezer cooking made my evening much easier. Here's what I got cooked including the meatballs I made last night. I let the meat and spaghetti sauce cool overnight before placing in freezer bags.

• Two pounds of meatballs.
• Eighteen whole wheat banana chocolate chips muffins. Since I don't buy many snacks these will be gone in a day or two.
• Five pounds of ground beef and turkey. I mixed them together while cooking and will season some of the meat tomorrow for tacos and leave several pounds unseasoned.
• Nine muffin sized portions of sloppy joes. These make great lunches for David.
• Large stockpot of spaghetti sauce. I set some aside without meat for plain marinara sauce.
• One pound of Italian turkey sausage for the spaghetti sauce.
• Four meals of marinated chicken in different marinades.
• Four meals of plain chicken breasts. I tray freeze them and place them in a bag once they are frozen.

I'm tired but making dinner for the next month will now be much simpler.

Frugal Oven Liner

My Dream Oven

I'm sure I'm not the only homemaker who feels like the bottom of her oven is constantly dirty! I clean up a spill and the next day cookies drip onto my clean oven bottom. After seeing this oven liner on a friend's wedding registry I was ready and willing to drop $20 for the sake of keeping my oven clean. Weeks later I brought a meal to a friend and when I stuck the casserole in her oven, I noticed she had lined the bottom of the oven with foil! What a great, frugal alternative to the silicone mat from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Now, whenever there's a spill in my oven, I simply replace the foil. No more burned smell coming from my kitchen!

Cloth Diapers

When you think of cloth diapers is the first thing to cross your mind poop, pins and prefolds? Well, poop is still part of the equation and pins and prefolds are a very frugal way to diaper your baby. However, cloth diapers have come a long way in the last few years.

I think it has been a combination of the "green movement" and the recession but cloth diapers are making a comeback. The main reason I have chosen to use cloth diapers for our baby (and many babies to come) is the simple fact that it's cheaper! It costs between $800-1000 per year to use disposable diapers.

Cloth diapers can vary in cost but I have chosen to use Best Bottom Diapers from Nicki's Diapers. Unlike all in ones or pocket diapers you can reuse the shell so you don't have to buy as many shells which is the most expensive part. I have six shells right now and plan on buying at least two more. The shell can be reused until it gets soiled and simply wiped down if the baby has only peed in the liner. It costs about $450 to get started with this diaper system plus the cost of washing and drying. The best part is cloth diapers can be used for many babies to come!

The most common question I get about cloth is "What about the poop?" You can buy rolls of rice paper liners which look like toilet paper and lay it between your baby and the diaper. If they mess, simply toss the rice paper and mess into the toilet and flush away! You'll still have to wash the diaper of course but that takes care of the gross part.

Cloth diapers tend to be bulkier than disposables, especially one size cloth. I have a small stock pile of disposables I got on sale for the first few weeks until she fits into the cloth better.