This Week's Menu Plan (we're trying 8 new recipes!!) and more...

Here's what's new: This Week’s Menu Plan (we’re trying 8 new recipes!!) How I Earned 139 Swagbucks Yesterday I earned 33.5 points with InstaGC this weekend! This Week’s Menu Plan (we’re trying 8 new recipes!!) We’re trying eight new recipes this week! Can you believe it?? That might be a record! And it makes me happy because it’s a sign of how much I’m loving being adventuresome in the kitchen again! (If you missed my post on why I’m back to menu-planning and grocery shopping again, read it here.) Breakfasts Breakfasts are a big deal at our house. Not necessarily because of what we eat, but because this is the one meal we've committed to eat together around the table pretty much every single day. Dinners are often somewhat grab and go or brown bagged — especially if the girls have swim team or skating. But breakfast, it's a given. We eat, we talk, we read together, we pray together, and we linger around the table. It's been a beautiful addition to our schedule + a great way to start the day! Overnight Oats Pumpkin Pie Smoothies Oatmeal x 2 Blueberry/Banana Smoothies Bacon/Eggs x 2 Lunches & Snacks During the summer, we've been doing Make Your Own lunches. I have some assortment of the following items on hand and the kids and Jesse and I are responsible for choosing from the list of items to make our own lunches. It's worked well this summer — especially because the kids are getting better and better at cleaning up after themselves, too! Make your own: PB&J scrambled eggs hard-boiled eggs leftovers fruit veggies refried beans & cheese chips & salsa yogurt smoothies Snacks to have on hand: Energy Bites, Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins Dinners Jesse and I splitting up the cooking responsibilities for dinner this week. He's in charge of the first two nights (since I have busier work days on Monday and Tuesday this week). I'm in charge of everything else. Grilled Chicken, broccoli, rice, fruit Chili Lime Shrimp Tacos, fruit Easy Baked Chicken Nuggets, Homemade Biscuits, green beans, fruit Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowl with avocado & sour cream, fruit Breakfast for dinner: Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Waffles, eggs, fruit Crockpot Baked Potatoes with broccoli, cheese, bacon, & sour cream, fruit Dinner out Freezer Cooking I’m doing a Freezer Cooking session on Wednesday where I’m combine dinner prep with freezer cooking so that I really only have to bake/cook one day this week. I’ll be making Energy Bites, Homemade Biscuits, Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Waffles, Easy Baked Chicken Nuggets, and Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins. Look for more details on how that goes later this week! Related Menu-Planning Posts: 3 Recipes I Made Recently Using What We Had on Hand Our Menu Plan From Two Weeks Ago Why I’m Back to Menu-Planning, Grocery Shopping, and Freezer Cooking Why We Stopped Making Family Dinners a Priority YEARS of Past Menu Plans We've Shared Here 6 Ways We're Keeping Our Grocery Budget Low Why We More Than Doubled Our Grocery Bill What's on YOUR menu this week? Tell us in the comments!        How I Earned 139 Swagbucks Yesterday As we head into the second half of this year, I know many of us are starting to think ahead to Christmas. I'm a BIG believer in paying for Christmas with cash, and wanted to start sharing different very practical ways you can earn cash and gift cards to help pay for some or all of Christmas (or anything else you're currently saving for!) One very easy way to earn free gift cards is through Swagbucks. If you've not signed up for Swagbucks, go read more about how to earn free gift cards through Swagbucks and then sign up here. While we were watching the Olympics yesterday, I earned 139 Swagbucks. Here's how: Here's the breakdown: I earned 4 Swagbucks for doing the Daily Poll, Daily Crave, and the Daily NOSO.  I earned 7 Swagbucks for searching. I earned 6 Swagbucks for playing games. I earned 16 Swagbucks for watching videos (I let them run in the background.) I earned 9 Swagbucks for completing various offers. I earned 10 Swagbucks for signing up for a digital subscription to a magazine. I earned 87 points for signing up for Trial Pay. You won't get rich by earning Swagbucks, but it's a fun way to earn some gift cards every month — for FREE! And if you multi-task while you're doing things you're already planning to do, it makes it even that much sweeter! A few simple tips for earning more with Swagbucks: Focus on the quick and easy earners — especially the free offers where you can sign up and earn 20-35 points for signing up for something. Make sure you read the details on how you earn the Swagbucks for each offer. Some of the offers just require you to click through a take a few simple actions. Others require a lot more work. See if you can hit your daily goal — you'll earn bonuses for doing so. Use a junk email address to sign up for anything. You will get junk mail when you sign up for offers. Download the Swagbucks, SBTV, EntertaiNow, and Lifestylz apps (they are all free) and run them in the background on your phone while you’re working on projects or the computer. (Note: Some of the ads/videos are not very family friendly.) Did you earn any Swagbucks today? What other simple ways do you earn extra cash on the side through apps, sites, or other ways? Links You Should Check Out: How I Earn $50 in Amazon Gift Cards Every Single Month 15 Ways to Earn More Swagbucks 31 Days to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas 6 Companies That Will Pay You For Taking Online Surveys        I earned 33.5 points with InstaGC this weekend! I told you all that I’m going to be sharing very practical ways you can earn cash and gift cards to help pay for some or all of Christmas (or anything else you're currently saving for!) One very easy way to earn free gift cards is through Swagbucks. If you've not signed up for Swagbucks, go read more about it here and then sign up here. I’ve heard rave reviews of InstaGC — which I’ve been told is similar to Swagbucks — and finally had some time to check them out this weekend. The jury’s still out on my complete thoughts on InstaGC as I’m currently just experimenting with it, but I wanted to share what I’m learning as I’m experimenting. Personally, I found InstaGC harder to navigate after I signed up. But I was excited to discover the Click section today and I am impressed with what I’ve seen so far. There are quite a few offers under this section — easy ways to earn 1 and 2 points for a simple click. And it looks like most of these reset every single day! Here’s what I’ve earned over the weekend: As I get faster and understand how InstaGC works, I think I’ll start to see these numbers go up much quicker and be much higher every day. Do you use InstaGC? If so, I’d love to hear your tips and also details on how many points you’re able to earn in a typical day. Other Links You Should Check Out: How I Earn $50 in Amazon Gift Cards Every Single Month 15 Ways to Earn More Swagbucks 31 Days to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas 6 Companies That Will Pay You For Taking Online Surveys        Latest finds on Pinterest Oh! I loved this guest post from Sally that I just posted this morning. And I think you will, too! It's very similar to how we do birthdays at our house... Get up to 50% off Crayola products on Amazon right now! Is your house overflowing with toys? Do you spend a lot of your time picking up and organizing toys? If so, you need to read this post from one mom on why they've chosen to limit toys at their house. You might not agree with all of it, but it will definitely make you think and re-examine how many toys you have at your house. #5 is my favorite! Latest finds on Pinterest Oh! I loved this guest post from Sally that I just posted this morning. And I think you will, too! It's very similar to how we do birthdays at our house... Get up to 50% off Crayola products on Amazon right now! Is your house overflowing with toys? Do you spend a lot of your time picking up and organizing toys? If so, you need to read this post from one mom on why they've chosen to limit toys at their house. You might not agree with all of it, but it will definitely make you think and re-examine how many toys you have at your house. #5 is my favorite!     Click here to safely unsubscribe from "LITE Feed, Money Saving Mom®." 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