Rainbow Loom Frenzy!

I don't know about your house but the Rainbow Loom has taken off.  As we go into the Christmas season, I know our daughter is asking for bands to complete her projects.  My mother asked me today what colors she needed.  Well I had know idea, therefore I created this quick file that I will have my daughter complete so I can keep track.  This will help for gift ideas or if we are out and can't remember.  I compiled this list from the Rainbow Loom site and had no idea they had meanings for each color.  Enjoy!

Here is a PDF version
Here an editable Excel File

Themed Menu Plan

My Pinterest Board holds a lot of recipe ideas.  I usually allow myself about a 1/2 hour a day to see if there are any new ideas for me to save.  I have my food options sorted by the type of meal, Italian, Breakfast, Soup, etc.  It makes it easy for me to just look through and pick any new ones I would like to try.  I just planned this menu below in about a half hour, which included creating this post.  If you have not given Pinterest a try, it is worth a peek.  As a mom, it is a huge help for me to have ideas at my fingertips.  It also cuts down on the clutter of paper!

Italian Sunday - Dinner out
Beef Monday - London Broil, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Soup Tuesday - CrockPot Tomato Basil Soup, crusty bread
Asian Wednesday - Lemon/Garlic Shrimp, Fried Rice, Yum Yum Sauce
Breakfast Thursday - Egg and Sausage Breakfast Ring
Pizza Friday - Red Pepper Pizza
Salad Saturday - I will be making Chicken Tortilla Soup and Potato Soup for our small group, they will be bringing the sides and desserts.

Themed Menu Plan

Second month into the new style of menu planning. I must say it is so simple just to sit down and plan for the week, my family is happy with the selections and we have not any moments of eating out unexpectedly which helps the bottom line!  Plus the most I have spent for all groceries for each week has been $70. 

Italian Sunday - Spaghetti with red sauce
Beef Monday ? - Oriental Chicken Salad - Didn't have on Saturday, so used for Monday :-)
Soup Tuesday - Cheeseburger Soup
Mexican Wednesday - Taco Bake
Breakfast Thursday - Scrambled Eggs, Toast, fruit
Pizza Friday - dinner out at daughter's friend's house
Sandwich Saturday - Tomato, Mozzarella, with Pesto Ciabatta Sandwiches

Theme Menu of the Week

This week is going to include some kid favorites, since my husband will be out of town part of the week.  The great thing is my grocery bill was only $30 this week since we had a lot on hand and pushed from last week.  Just had to get a few dinner items and the bulk of my list was for lunches.  Menu planning saves so money and makes dinners go so smooth.  There is no freak out at 4pm wondering what we will have!

Italian Sunday - Chicken Alfredo with Penni Pasta, salad
Beef Monday - Crockpot Meatloaf and potatoes, broccoli
Soup Tuesday - Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup, peas
Mexican Wednesday - Ritzy Chicken, corn, applesauce - this is not Mexican, but my daughters favorite so we are having this week
Breakfast Thursday - Breakfast Burritos - since we had unexpected dinner at friends last Thursday, I pushed to this week
Pizza Friday - Cheese Pizza
Salad Saturday - Chili, cornbread.  Choosing this since I originally had it planned for Tuesday, but since my husband will be out of town and he likes Chili, I am pushing it to Saturday.

Themed Menu Plan for the Week

This week's menu:

Italian Sunday - Tomato Basil Chicken
Beef Monday - CrockPot Meatball Subs, Broccoli
Soup Tuesday - CrockPot Creamy Potato Soup, salad
Asian Wednesday - Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Peas
Breakfast Thursday - Breakfast Burritos, fruit
Pizza Friday - at family for dinner
Salad Saturday - pot luck with small group

Themed Menu Plan of the Week

This week's menu plan:

Italian Sunday - Lasagna, Salad
Beef Monday - Crockpot Beef Stew
Soup Tuesday - Broccoli Cheese Soup in Bread Bowls
Mexican Wednesday - Southwest Rollups, Peas, Strawberry applesauce
Breakfast Thursday - Belgium Waffles, Scrapple and OJ
Pizza Friday - Cheese Pizza
Salad Saturday - Oriental Chicken Salad


Update - Another week of changes and how you can see you can make changes easily :-)  On Monday a friend offered to bring pizza for the football game.  I had already put the Beef Stew on in the morning, but we went along with the change and my husband and I used the stew for lunches during the week.  We had quite a bit of leftovers from Sunday, and Monday, so I made the decision since we got home a little later to do leftovers on Tuesday.  Friday my husband had eaten late in the day and my daughter was over a friends house for dinner.  My son asked if he could make Mac and Cheese all by himself, so I agreed and we had that for dinner.  We bumped the Broccoli Cheese Soup to Saturday.

Themed Menu Plan of the Week

This week's menu:

Italian Sunday - Mr. P's Homemade Pasta/Sauce, Nina's Meatballs, Salad

Beef Monday - CrockPot Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Sesame Green Beans

Soup Tuesday - Chicken Tortilla Soup in the CrockPot

Mexican Wednesday - Tacos

Breakfast Thursday - Eggs, Bacon, English Muffins, fruit

Pizza Friday - Homemade Pizza with Red Peppers

Salad Saturday - Cheeseburger Salad

Update:  Just so you can see how a week can change and we have to just go with flow.  On Wednesday, I ended up doing a presentation and we were not able to eat as a family.  My son and I hate out since we had to travel out of town for the presentation.  My husband and daughter had dinner with the church's youth group.  Therefore, we had Tacos on Thursday and Eggs/Bacon/Fruit on Saturday.  The good news is I didn't have to go to the store because I had everything on hand, just bumped the meals.