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Not sure if this is a “better late than never” case, but I finally got my Christmas kit finished! It’s 20% off Thursday and Friday.

Be sure to check out the detailed images, my CT girls have been hard at work. Now if I could only find some time to scrap. LOL

2 weeks down…50 more to go! (Check out my rice and beans challenge here.)

This one is a shout-out to my new friends here in Kentucky! I love Southern food. My thighs on the other hand….

I did a recent inventory of my freezer and found some ham leftover from Christmas, so I used it to put together a baked-bean-type dish which I call barbecue beans since I didn’t bake them .

Barbecue Beans 

• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped ham
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 cans pinto beans
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• several dashes Worchestershire sauce
• 3 TBSP brown sugar

In a large skillet, saute onions, garlic and ham until slightly carmelized. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer while the cornbread cooks!

On our Menu: Barbecue Beans with Ham, Cornbread Muffins with honey, Coleslaw

Review: Jared said, “mmm, these are excellent!” and he was thrilled with the sides. It was a pretty carby meal, but he was heading out to play basketball, so it was okay (Jared has type 1 diabeties). The kids both took a “no thank you bite” and then filled up on their muffins and milk. I enjoyed the meal. I have no idea how many Weight Watcher points, and didn’t feel like taking the time to figure it out so I just ate small portions. The beans are a knock-off of a classic my mom makes. Except she uses bacon instead of ham, and canned pork and beans instead of pintos, and then they bake in the oven for an hour. This recipe was much faster, and I think equally as good. But I’ll share my mom’s recipe sometime.

It’s the beginning of a new year and I’ve been thinking a lot about resolutions. Over the last few years we have been trying to get our finances under control. In 2007, after my husband had been laid off three times in eight months (thanks to the lovely economy), we decided to make a career change. We sold our house, applied to graduate schools, and moved into a tiny apartment while expecting our 2nd baby. Jared went to school full-time while teaching college English on an instuctorship. We had some savings to get us through the first year of school debt-free. Then about six months after our baby number two was born I started babysitting from our home to bring in extra income and get us through the second year–debt-free. We worked hard and were exhausted, but graduation was sweet.

Jared received his Masters and was offered a job in rural Kentucky. It was his dream job, so we accepted, and moved 2000 miles from our families while expecting our third baby–anxious for the adventure. Getting through grad-school without loans, with two kids, was an amazing accomplishment for us. If only we would have been as smart when we were in under-grad instead of taking out way too many student loans.

One of the things that kept me motivated during the months of grad-school was listening online or on the radio to Dave Ramsey. It’s so inspiring to listen to his advice on getting out of debt, and to hear his listeners who have followed that advice call in and scream “We’re DEBT FREE!” Now that we are through school, I’m on fire to work on the existing debt we have. Dave always talks to people about cutting expenses, and he has this phrase he uses: ”Rice and Beans, Beans and Rice.” One of my main goals this new year is to cut our grocery budget (for our family of 5) to $200 a month. I’ve started clipping coupons, and plan our meals based on what’s on sale rather than what sounds good.  What if I challenged myself to not only feed us on $200 a month, but to prepare “rice and beans, beans and rice” at least one meal every day for a year? (I got the idea after watching Julie and Julia–which I rented with a free Redbox code!)

365 days of beans and rice. I mentioned the idea to my husband, Jared, and he thought I was crazy. For one, he’s type-one diabetic, so high-carb meals are not ideal for us. And two, EVERY DAY? But for some reason this rebellion kicks in when I’m faced with skepticism, and I get motivated to prove that I can do it. So here I am. Post number one. Committing myself to beans and rice every day for a year. And blogging my way through it. I need the accountability.

Now here are my rules.

• At least one meal a day needs to have some type of bean or rice in the dish
• I’ll post the recipe and a “review” of the meal every day.
• I’ll continue to shop sales and use coupons to buy the ingredients for my meals, and do it on $200 a month.
• I’ll keep Jared’s diabeties in mind.

You can keep up with my beans and rice adventures here.

I’m linking this post to The Cash System Stories at Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs.

I’ve decided one of the main reasons Weight Watchers works for me is because  I go every week to weigh in front of someone. The accountability really keeps me in check when I’m stressed and want to eat half a pan of brownies! (Speaking of which, I lost another 1.6 lbs this week, so I am down a total of 10 lbs since I started WW after having the baby! Since I’m nursing this is a healthy weight loss for me.)

Posting my shopping trips is becoming the way for me to stay accountable in my shopping and on-track in the budget. December was the 3rd month I attempted to shop for my family on $200 a month. I feel like I have done fairly well at cutting the grocery budget (thanks to coupons), but as I review the numbers I’ve gone over every month. So obviously just having the goal isn’t enough for me. January is the month where I’m writing myself a check for $200, and cashing it. That is what I will take to the grocery store this month. And when it’s gone, it’s gone and I’ll get creative and we’ll eat from the pantry. I just want to see if I can do it. It’s like this little game I have to play with myself. That’s me. Always up for a challenge.

I think I can…I think I can…I think I can…

Here is my first shopping trip for January. Not a lot of couponing action, but it was an AWESOME meat stock-up trip for me. Chicken was on sale for $1.29 a pound, and I got several cuts of lean beef that were marked down to $2 or less a pound (close to the sell by date), and bulk sausage was marked down to $0.58 a pound. My husband and kids love sausage in their scrambled eggs. My pantry and freezer are full, even overflowing (from this and previous  shopping trips), and I’m feeling good!

My total was $50.96. So far so good.

Here’s what I have noticed about my grocery shopping habits which have changed quite a bit in the past few months. WHEN I went to the store with a list it would be a list of meals I wanted to make and the ingredients I’d need for them. Then I’d buy whatever I’d need for those meals. Not a terrible plan, I guess, but I could EASILY walk out of the store paying at least $100 a week. $70-80 if I was trying to be careful (skipping over the cookies and prepared foods for example). I knew I could do better, I was just being lazy.

But now we are getting serious about saving more and paying off debt, so I can’t be lazy about shopping. Now I’m going to the store with a list of what’s on sale and what I have coupons for. And then when I get home I plan what we are eating for the week based on what I bought and what’s in the freezer and cupboards. It’s much more challenging, but it’s kind of fun getting creative, and we’re definitely wasting less food. Our grocery budget has been cut to almost half, but I feel like the cupboards are fuller. And we are definitely eating healthier. Now, off to plan what we are eating this week!