Utah First to Embrace Four-day Workweek

Read all about it here.

Menu Plan Monday & EatBetterAmerica.com

Although two of my four children ate it, I am sad to say that the Broccoli and Three Cheese Soup did not turn out as I had hoped. I made some substitutions (such as reconstituted powdered milk instead of 2%, fresh broccoli instead of frozen, and different cheeses), so I am not calling it a failure--just an experiment. As for the salmon patties, we had a change of plans Friday night, so I'll cycle them back through at some point. On to this week!

Meatless Monday: Dinner out to celebrate our Anniversary! The kids will eat noodles with marinara and Parmesan, garlic bread, salad

Tried and True Tuesday: Pan-grilled pork chops, stuffing, cinnamon raisin apples

Work less on Wednesday: Fish and grits

Thanksgiving Thursday (named after traditional post-Thanksgiving menu planning): Leftovers (or the Salmon Patties we missed last week)

July 4th First Time Friday: BBQ Riblets, corn, slaw, and our "first time" dish, "Healthified" Hot German Potato Salad (see below for an explanation of what makes this recipe "healthified")

Simple Saturday: Breakfast for dinner

Slow Cooker Sunday: Crockpot chicken and rice, salad, breadsticks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are still looking for some ideas, especially if you are trying to eat more healthy, you might check out EatBetterAmerica.com. A friend of mine really enjoyed the Bulgur and Orange Salad. It'll probably find it's way onto my menu plan soon! The site also has some "healthified" recipes that make traditional favorites more healthy without sacrificing flavor, such as the "Healthified" Spinach Dip with Artichokes or the "Healthified" Fettuccine Alfredo. You can even submit your favorites and they will attempt to healthify them!

Freebie Friday (on Saturday) - Free Faxing!

Recently, we switched phone companies and somehow lost the ability to make long distance calls. Of course, this oddity wasn't discovered until I needed to send a fax. Right then. Around midnight. So, I immediately turned to the Internet to look for an alternative as well as an inexpensive way to send my fax. That's when I stumbled onto FaxZero.com. At this site, you can send up to two free faxes per day (max of 3 pages each) without having to use your telephone line. This is especially handy for those among us who strictly use a cell phone and have opted out of a landline. After you complete the easy, online form and upload any attachments, press send and you receive an email from Faxzero asking that you click on the link inside the email to confirm your fax transmission. The service will attempt to fax your document(s) up to five times. You receive another email indicating whether or not your fax request was completed.

While the fax is free, an ad is displayed on the fax cover page (in my case, it was an add for freeprintables.net), or an ad-free version is available for a fee of $1.99. So far I have had great success with this service. If that changes, however, I'll be sure to post a follow-up.

Pert Plus Shampoo Deal

I noticed when I was in Winn Dixie earlier this week that the full size Pert Plus shampoo had a rebate sticker on it to try it for free. Combine that with the $1 coupon here or the $1 coupon from the 5/11 SS and make a little extra change after the postage you spend on the mail-in rebate!

Thrifty Thursday - Hot Dog Booklet

Finally! Another use for all of the unnecessary paper that comes into the house. I love this hot dog book because you can use a piece of paper with writing on one side already. My kids shudder when I make them use both sides of a piece of paper before getting a new one, but I think they will love this project! Thanks to The Crafty Crow whose blog took me to the World Preschool Mom whose blog took me to the hot dog book at Making Books With Children. Whew. Lucky find!

Easy Homemade Frozen Pops

It's summer and it's not getting any cheaper to buy frozen pops! So, when I open a can of fruit, I drain the liquid into a mold (or even an ice cube tray or a cup with a wooden stick) to make homemade Popsicles. Sometimes I'll add a bit of the fruit, too. Even if the liquid isn't 100% juice, I suspect it's a healthier alternative to the artificially colored and flavored ones you find in the frozen treat section. This works great with yogurt and pudding, too!

For more ideas to make life easier, visit Works for Me Wednesday hosted at Rocks In My Dryer.

Thanks, Meatless Monday!

Just a shout out to Meatless Monday, a non-profit national health campaign aimed "to help Americans prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer - four of the leading causes of death in America," who mentioned this blog on their site. Now that I know they exist, I'm certain my meatless menus will improve dramatically! Their site offers meatless recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as a meal planning library. They also link to other interesting sites such as the PB&J Campaign (another one I'd never heard of!). Check it out!