Hello Monday!!

Hi friends!! 

Happy Monday!!

How was your weekend??

Our's was a little nutty. Aaron is on call every 3rd weekend of the month. So that means he takes care of any patients that come into the hospital (with foot/ankle issues) starting Friday afternoon through Sunday evening. Well...while he was at the hospital on Friday afternoon, things started getting crazy and by the time he came home, he had 4 people on his list he needed to do surgery on by Sunday morning. Well...he works at his office on Saturday morning, THEN goes to the hospital to see patients..which means he has to do surgeries in the evening after he has seen all of his patients. Is this confusing? Am I rambling? HA! 

All of this is totally normally and fine...except- we were supposed to go out for a special birthday dinner with my brother, his wife and their best friends at Chef and the Farmer in Kinston, NC (a neighboring town about 40 minutes from us)!!! My sister-in-law made our reservations 3 months ago because Chef and the Farmer is ALWAYS booked!

Um. YEAH. Aaron and I did NOT get to go to dinner. 

Aaron was stuck at the hospital until 11 pm on Saturday. 

It was fine!!...we watched my niece and nephew for my brother and sister-in-law and they were still able to enjoy dinner with their best friends..we just didn't get to go with them.

You win some and lose some. Anybody who works in healthcare or has a spouse who does, will tell you- you just gotta roll with it....because if you don't- it will end up driving you crazy! HA!

Sunday was a good day! We went to church and had to get our picture taken for our church's directory (THAT was a super SPECIAL experience- HA!) I did a lot of baking for our upcoming school carnival and made my brother a lemon meringue pie for his birthday. We got to hang out with him and my sister-in-law before they all headed back up to Raleigh, so that was really nice!

And now it's Monday. And I am feeling slightly organized because I got all of my meals planned out last Thursday and did my grocery shopping Thursday night (at Aldi) and Friday morning (Walmart grocery pickup). 

Several of you mentioned that you really enjoy when I share meal ideas- 

so I thought I would do that again today! 

Everything is from Aldi- so just for fun- I will include the price of each item. Obviously if you don't have Aldi- you could get all of these items at Walmart or your local grocery store to make these meals!!

Meal #1

Crunchy Beef Tacos

93/7 Ground Beef- $4.89

(this is little over 1 pound of meat and this will feed our whole family- BUT we will not have any leftover.)

Lower Sodium Taco Seasoning Packet- $0.29

(I know I can make my own...but I am lazy. Ha!)

Shredded Mexican Style Cheese- $1.65

Fat Free Refried Beans- $0.69

(I warm these up with some water and salsa to make them not as thick)

Corn (in a microwaveable steamer bag)- $0.75

Thick and Chunky Salsa (this is our FAVORITE)- $1.69

Crunchy Taco Shells- $0.89

Meal #2

Teriyaki Chicken in the Crockpot with Steamed Broccoli and Brown Rice

Teriyaki Sauce- $1.97 

Soy Sauce- $1.97

I just dump in about a 1/3 of the bottle of the Teriyaki sauce and about 1/4 cup of soy sauce into the crock pot with the chicken along with 1/2 cup of water and cook it on low for 8 hours! You can adjust the seasoning/add more sauce at the end!

Broccoli (in a microwaveable steamer bag)- $1.09

Ready Rice (I get it from Walmart! I always keep several bags of this on hand for taco bowls or nights like tonight!) - $1.73

Chicken Breast (1.68 lbs)- $7.21

FYI: The kids will have grilled cheese and applesauce for dinner on this night. I RARELY make them a separate meal- but they strongly DISLIKE this meal and Aaron and I love it. So to avoid them FREAKING out about having to eat it- I just make some grilled cheese and it is just a much more pleasant dining experience ;)

Meal #3

Chicken Parmesan Sub Sandwiches with Broccoli

Italian Rolls ($0.50 off!)- $2.29

Parmesan Chicken Tenders- $5.79 

(I don't plan to use the whole bag of these!)

Mozzarella Cheese- $1.15

Marinara Sauce- $0.89

Steamed Broccoli- $1.09

I have never made chicken parmesan subs before....but I figured my family would love them! I totally lucked out when I saw that Aldi had these parmesan herb chicken tenders! I plan to bake the chicken tenders in the oven. Then I will melt mozzarella cheese on the rolls. To put them together, I will put a couple tenders on a cheesy roll, then spread a little sauce over the tenders and done! They might be a little messy...but I think they should be delicious!

Meal #4

Pizza Night!

I think almost all grocery stores have these "take & bake" pizzas.

We always get our's from Aldi and the kids and Aaron love them!!

Aaron in a huge fan of thin crust...so this is the pizza we get him!

Pepperoni Take & Bake Pizza- $5.99

You could definitely find a cheaper frozen pizza at Aldi (which are also really good!!) but it is still a pretty good deal considering it's a couple dollars less than Domino's or Pizza Hut (places Aaron also LOVES. He's never met a pizza he doesn't like. HA!)

I like to "doctor" his pizza up a little bit and add mushrooms and banana pepper slices before I bake it!

Canned Mushrooms-$0.55

Jar of Mild Pepper Rings- $1.35

And that's what we're having for dinner this week at our house!!

What's on your menu plan for the week???

Let me know in the comments- I am ALWAYS in need of meal ideas for my family!!! 

Hope you have the BEST day! It's Monday- so here's to FRESH STARTS and BEING JOYFUL...no matter what life throws our way!!

Linking up with Johannah, Heather and Lindsay today!