Yearly Archives: 2010

menu plan Monday

Trying a new method of menu planning (and saving some money in the process)

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menubuttonIt’s dawned on me that the way I’ve been planning the menus — by choosing whatever sounds good as I’m making the plan — might be costing us extra money. So this week I tried to buy the groceries first and then make the plan. I felt a little off-kilter, careening through the store with a list that said “protein, protein,” but you know? I think it did save some money.

(And I wasn’t physically careening. Although I did almost knock over a tomato soup display last week.)

So here’s what my coupons, a few sales and I came up with for this week:

Tacos
I thawed a bag of black beans last week and have yet to use them, so this will be primarily black bean tacos with just a hint of ground beef.

Hot & Sour Pork
I had a coupon for a pork tenderloin. So it’ll become this and …

Sweet & Sour Pork
this.

Breakfast for Dinner
This is what happens when I get home and discover that I didn’t plan quite as many proteins as I’d intended.

Grilled flank steak
Rockford believes the warm weather is going to hold out. As a testament to his faith, we’re going to try to do our first grilled meal of the year this week.

Music

Ten songs for a Friday that was a long time coming

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The iPod seems to be in a mood this morning. Its first pick is an especially rich choice, iPod. Rockford has been out of town all week, and silence is one thing I certainly have not been able to enjoy in his absence.

  1. Enjoy the Silence, Depeche Mode.
  2. Hate, Cat Power
  3. Jacob’s Ladder, Bruce Springsteen
  4. Concerning the UFO Sightings Near Highland, Illinois, Sufjan Stevens
  5. Social Life, Koufax
  6. Ocean Breathes Salty, Modest Mouse
  7. Flying V, They Might Be Giants
  8. Red Rabbits, The Shins
  9. Sailing, Bobby Darin
  10. Black Cow, Steely Dan
Domestic Blitz

Window shopping

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If I had a vast reserve of funds that had no particular place to go, my living room would look something like this:

Living room

Items in this set:
Bird Embroidered Pillow Covers | Pottery Barn, $39
Textured Solid Pillow Covers | Pottery Barn, $25
Greenwich Sofa | Pottery Barn, $1,400
Marcel Mini Sofa | Pottery Barn, $800
Abbott Two-Door Cabinet | Crate & Barrel, $450
“Forlorn” | Katie Truemner, sold.

I put this together on Polyvore, which is a lovely little site for pulling together visual wishlists.

Of course, I would hope that the furnishings would be somewhat less askew. What about you? What would your living room look like if you had a pot o’ gold at your disposal?