Homemade Pesto and Meal Plan Monday

This week went pretty well according to plan plus a little! We have been growing our first humble pot of herbs on our deck this year, and I had been just thinking it was time to look up recipes for homemade Pesto when I happened upon this post, by Busy Working Mama. It was just meant to be! Thanks for the extra nudge I needed Busy Mama! Here's where it all began:And yes, the only herb that seems to be flourishing there is Basil, and since we LOVE Pesto around here, I'm O.K. with that. :) Pesto is one of the things I'd been continuing to buy pre-made, so it was great to make our own! Here's how it ended up:


We had to half the recipe for lack of enough Basil. We ate it over whole grain penne pasta and enjoyed every bite! Thanks again, Busy Working Mama! Now for this week's plan:

Monday: Breakfast- Overnight Oatmeal in the Crock Pot
Lunch-Peanut Butter Sandwiches to finish off the homemade bread from last week
Dinner- Honey Baked Lentils (More With Less, pg. 106)

Tuesday:Breakfast-Leftover Oatmeal
Lunch-Leftover Lentils or Peanut Butter Sandwiches
Dinner: Mandarin Rice Bake (More With Less, pg. 132)

Wednesday:Breakfast- Homemade Granola
Lunch- Leftover rice bake or peanut butter sandwiches
Dinner- Easy Curry (More With Less, pg. 136)

Thursday: Breakfast- Granola or Toast and Eggs
Lunch-peanut butter sandwiches
Dinner- LEFTOVERS!

Friday:Breakfast- Granola or Toast and Eggs
Lunch- peanut butter sandwiches
Dinner- Homemade Pizza!

Saturday:Breakfast- Pancakes and Eggs
Lunch- We'll be at a friend's Birthday Party!
Dinner- Creamed Chicken over Rice (More With Less, pg 186)

Sunday:Breakfast- Granola or Overnight Oatmeal
Lunch- You never know!
Dinner- Maybe Vietnam Fried Rice (More With Less, pg 130)

While you're here don't forget to enter MORE WITH LESS COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY that ENDS TODAY, and enter to win an adorable Flirty Apron in Pink/Chocolate (ends 7/30). If you want to reduce waste in your kitchen, enter to win a set of very useful SKOY Cloth (2 winners, ends 7/30)

For more great Meal Plan Monday Posts, visit Org.junkie!

Two Toiletry Tips-Little Ways to Save

1. When I was growing up there were lots of toothpaste commercials out there showing a HUGE sparkly, shiny, nicely formed glob of toothpaste on a toothbrush. Something like this: Photo found at Clker.com

Well, until I married my business minded husband who has a keen eye for marketing techniques, it never occurred to me that you really didn't need that much toothpaste on your brush. I was the ideal consumer I guess, because I never thought about it. I just mindlessly loaded my little toothbrush with a nice big glob of paste every time! My husband still chuckles at me sometimes, because old habits die hard, especially ones that were done subconsciously! 'Nuf said about that one.

2. Next up: SOAP. Body wash became very popular in my college years, so much so that it was unusual to see classmates using bar soap for bathing.
Free Clip Art Provided by Artclips.com. Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.

I used it too, again, without putting much thought into it. Eventually, however, I began to realize how much of that stuff I used at a time and how quickly I went through it. I don't know that it's strategic from a marketing stand point, but I do think that unless someone is consciously making an effort to use small amounts at a time, just by nature of it being liquid it is extremely easy to overuse. On the other hand, bar soap is very difficult to use wastefully!

Oh, and do I need to mention that it's a lot cheaper and cuts down on unnecessary packaging?

For more Frugal Friday posts, visit Life As Mom!

Menu Plan Monday

Don't forget to enter my More With Less cookbook giveaway HERE! EASY recipes that help you eat LESS PROCESSED FOODS. Our home has become at least 70% non-processed in just a matter of weeks thanks to this book! NOW OPEN TO CANADIAN READERS AS WELL!!!!

I'm trying to get settled back into a routine since my husband just returned from Haiti Saturday. There is MUCH to do this week, so I'm going to try to keep it simple. I had said that I would plan all three meals plus baby food this week, which I will do informally, but there is so much to do I cannot craft a post about it this week. So for now I'll just post dinner entrees that will not necessarily be in this order! Most entrees will be accompanied by spinach salad with our yummy homemade salad dressing!

Monday: Spaghetti

Tuesday: Soybean Casserole (More With Less, pg. 110) This will use homemade breadcrumbs which I have a good supply of.

Wednesday: Baked Lentils with Cheese (More with Less, pg. 106)

Thursday: Leftovers with Coconut Rice (More with Less, pg. 127)

Friday: Rice Guiso or Mandarin Rice Bake (More with Less, pg. 128 and 132)

Saturday: Crusty Mexican Bean Bake (More with Less, pg. 101)

I chose these recipes because we have the ingredients for all of them. This way all we need grocery wise is a little bit of produce for Lydia's baby food this week. I will post about that soon.