Pictures can be deceiving! Im sorry!

I like Pinterest. It's my little guilty pleasure. I do actually try many of the things I pin. I have done many activities with my 3 year old thanks to the ideas I have found on that site. Pinterest has made me feel very crafty indeed. Right now, I am working on making a menu board that I found there and it's going to look awesome in my kitchen. I'll post pictures when it's done. *sigh* I do however need to apologize because one of the many things I pin are food related. Sometimes I sneak one into my meal plans just so I can try it. They don't always turn out as awesome as the picture looks. I admit one particular dish deceived me. Lemon-Basil Ricotta Stuffed Shells in a Champagne Cream Sauce. I implore you to tell me how does a dish like that NOT turn out well? Seriously, I even made the ricotta cheese by hand! I will, however, say this: The stuffed shells and my delicious ricotta cheese were sensational. The champagne sauce on the other hand was just to strong. If I were to make this dish again - and I will - I would skip the champagne sauce and just use Alfredo sauce. If you really want champagne then just have a drink on the side. It is my mission to continue to cooking these delicious looking meals on pinterest, but if we happen upon a bad apple please forgive me. It might happen, but most of these meals are just plain freaking awesome! Bon Appetite!


Oh, and guess what?! Next week I have a surprise for you all! I am going to try something new in my meal planning/grocery endeavors and you will all get a sneak peak into what I did and how it all worked out. Here's a little hint though: Two weeks groceries all under $150 for a family of four. Can I do it? Come check in next week for results! (yes, this means one of my meal plans for this month will go out the window, but if it works it will be well worth it to me and all you followers (I hope I get some soon!) when your wallets are a little fatter after buying your family food.

Grocery shopping totals for week 1

I went grocery shopping yesterday afternoon and my actual food costs on the list totaled about $107 at Wal-Mart. My goal is to average around $100/week on my food budget. The only exception to this rule is when I go Costco shopping and stock up on meats and other essentials. Now, I just need to find a way to make it so I can go grocery shopping every two weeks because I spent almost 2 hours at the store with my 3 year old and 8 month old and by the end of the trip I was exhausted and lost all patience. Please tell me that all you other mommies get this way too! I have found that putting a quarter in the candy machine at the entrance helps my 3 year old stay on track, but seriously, im not into bribing my kids all the time to behave and 2 hours is an exceptionally long time to ask a child to just walk around the store with mommy and not play with all the fun stuff in the aisles. If any of you have a grand idea on occupying children's active minds in the store please share!