Spooky Lunch

This is what I packed in little man's lunch today. The cheese and meat were in shapes of little pumpkins and the flat bread in moon's and ghosts. He has a side of pumpkin seeds and a pumpkin cookie. For a mid-morning snack he has freeze dried apple slices.

Day Trip on a Budget

This past Saturday my family, 2 adults and 2 kids went to Gilroy Gardens for the day. Gilroy Gardens was decorated for halloween through October and we thought that would be a fun time to go. Admission for Gilroy Gardens is normally $44.95 for an adult and $34.95 for children. This is pricey since the park is only open from 11am-5pm. This is how our family of 4 got in for $30.00!

Plum District is a coupon site like Groupon for the San Jose area. Recently they ran a deal where you could buy 1 ticket for $15.00. I bought one ticket and my husband bought one ticket, total cost $30.00. 
My husband is a Coke drinker so he gets the codes off the packs of Coke and submits them to My Coke Rewards. He had enough points for 2 general admission tickets for FREE!

Even if you get in cheaply, food is still expensive. If you are a member you can save 20% off all food and merchandise, but we do not have a membership. The last couple of times we went we packed sandwiches and snacks. This past time the security guard checked our backpack and the bag I had our lunch in. He asked how many kids we had and looked at the food items again. We had 2 sandwiches, some hummus and flat bread, string cheese, a lunch size bag of chips and 2 juice boxes. He said that was fine since the food was for the kids (I think he was being nice). My husband and I ate whatever the kids did not eat knowing we were going to dinner at 5:30pm and we both had a big breakfast. We did buy 2 ICEE's for the kids and for ourselves 2 soda's totalling $16.00! And that is why we take the chance and bring food.

For dinner we stopped at the Chili's in Gilroy. I am a member of MyPoints (like a swagbucks type of program) and turn in my points for gift cards. We had a $10.00 G.C. and 2 coupons for free kids meals. Our dinner came to $11.00 that evening after coupons and G.C..

We were able to have a fun filled day for $57.00 and it only took a half of a tank of gas to get there and back to Fresno.

What I have been up to.....

I just love fall colors!

I have been MIA for awhile now. I have school every other Tuesday nights and on Thursdays I am gone from 8am-8:30pm. I just finished up helping with little man's school carnival (yay!) and next week I start a 6 week class on Wednesday nights. That's why I have not been doing a lot of meal planning lately. It's back to the basics and I try to cook extra for leftovers during the week.

I am also trying to cut out another $200 from my grocery budget per month, which has been difficult. I have been baking all snacks like cookies and breads. I also have been making my own ranch (not from the packets), from herbs and spices. If we want BBQ sauce I will be making that from scratch too. It's amazing how the little things add up (plus it's better for us if I make it from scratch). I think I am on the 5 ingredient fix right now for dinners. I hope it gets cool enough so I can make soups for lunches.

I can't wait for the holiday's, I am ready for a break! I have 7 more weeks of school...ugh. I just want to wear my sweats, head to the beach and Shaver and enjoy my family and friends.

Meal Plan Saturday

I picked up 10 lbs of potatoes at Save Mart this week since they were on sale for .97 for 5 lbs. I am going to incorporate them into our dinners this week. I hope they like the baked potato soup (I love it). Happy cooking!

Saturday- Out to dinner

Sunday- Homemade chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, green beans and biscuits.

Monday- Frito Boats (Homemade chili)

Tuesday- Baked potato soup, french bread and salad

Wednesday- Beef stroganoff (never made it last week)

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Harvest of Talent at little man's school (carnival)

Makes and Bakes:
Peanut butter cookies

Homemade Berry Sauce

I like plain oatmeal with berries and nuts, but now berries are just about out of season I thought I would make a berry sauce out of frozen berries. I poured it over my oatmeal this morning and it was really good.

Berry Sauce:

3/4 cup frozen berries
1 1/2-2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/4 cup water

1. Pour into a saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Blend berries and if you want it without seeds strain out the seeds.

You can add the berry sauce to milk, use as a syrup for pancakes or over vanilla ice cream.

Meal Plan Sunday

Another week to think about what we are going to eat. I have had to change my shopping lately since I have not had as much time shopping the deals. I made a big grocery run to Costco picking up items I know that are cheaper there. So here it goes.....

Sunday- Tri-tip strips, baked beans, salad and bread

Monday- Shrimp Enchiladas and Spanish rice

Tuesday- Beef Stroganoff

Wednesday- Dinner with the in-laws

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Out to dinner

Makes and Bakes:
I need to start working on the sugar cookies for little man's carnival coming up.