Chicken Fajita Marinade

This recipe comes from my sister-in-law Sarah. It is super easy and very flavorful. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

Chicken Fajita Marinade

¼ cup oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1½ lb. chicken breast

Mix marinade in a ziplock bag and marinade 8-24 hours. Grill meat and slice thinly.

UPDATE: So I decided to tweak this recipe a little to see if I could improve it with a few little additions and I really really liked the results. I added about 1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro, the juice of 2 limes, I substituted dried chipolte chili pepper for the chili powder and substituted white whine vinegar for the red. I will be making it this way from now on. YUMMY!

Weekly Menu 5/31-6/6

I hope you will all be patient with me as I get myself into summer mode with my family. I am still trying to get back on my regular shopping schedule and it is not working so far. :( I will eventually get to posting my shopping trips again but for now it looks like menus might be all I can do. This is what we are having this week. I hope to be back to some sense of normal soon.

Breakfast
cereal & fruit
pancakes & fruit
waffles(from my freezer)& fruit
scrambles eggs & fruit

Lunch
spinach salad
hot dogs and cherries
grilled cheese and carrots
bean burritos and apples
PBJ & bell peppers
lots of leftovers

Dinner
Cheeseburgers, broccoli salad & roasted corn on the cob
grits & eggs
chicken fajitas (recipe to follow) & refried beans
mexican pizzas
sticky finger salad
terriaki steak bowls
bbq chicken, baked potatoes and spinach salad

Snacks
carrots
cucumbers
bell peppers
celery & peanut butter
cherries
apples
bananas
pineapple
granola bars
gogurt
cashews
crackers and cheese

Dessert
Raspberry Cream Trifle

April Totals

I am sorry I am getting this up halfway through the month of May. Our vacation and me being sick are definitely to blame. My spending last month was very low I am happy to report. But I must also mention that I was trying to stay within a smaller budget so that I could have a little more spending money at Disney. I love having the flexibility from couponing to still get everything my family needs but lower our spending when I need to. Here are the final numbers

Total OOP for April $210.76!!

Without coupons and sales I would have spent $657.45 OOP

My % of savings this month was 68%!!! (anyone else noticing a trend here?)

No matter what my spending each month my savings percentage seems to stay in the high 60's which I am completely happy with. It would be fun to step it up a bit and see if I can do better, but that may have to be in June as this month is already halfway over and I shopped my first time all month today.lol. I will try to get my shopping trip up a little later today. I am so happy to be back. :)

Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cake Recipe

This is a favorite recipe of my husbands. He asks for it almost every year for his birthday. This year is no exception. :) It is very rich but very yummy!

1 German chocolate cake mix prepared as directed
1 bottle Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Caramel Topping
1 can sweetened condensed milk (can use fat free)
1 container (8oz.) cool whip

Bake cake and let cool completely. Poke holes in it with the back of a wooden spoon about every 2”. Pour the sweetened condensed milk on top and spread to let it go evenly into all of the holes. Repeat this step with the butterscotch caramel topping. Frost the top with cool whip and refrigerate at least 2 hours or longer. Serve as is or top with crumbled heath candy bar or chocolate curls. Enjoy!

Weekly Menu 5/24-5/28

This weeks menu is a little short. I am planning to get back on track with my weekly shopping on Friday this week but I needed a few things to get me by until then. Plus my hubby's b-day is this Thursday so I am cooking a few special things per his request. Here is what we are having this week.

BREAKFAST- cereal & fruit, breakfast burritos (from my freezer), homemade waffles with buttermilk syrup (recipe to follow), hardboiled eggs and fruit.

LUNCH- turkey & cheese sandwiches with grapes hot dogs bean burritos grilled cheese sandwiches chicken nuggets and lots of left overs.

DINNER- crockpot chicken tacos & homemade re-fried beans, chicken nachos (made with leftover chicken taco meat), hamburgers & chips, (B-DAY) BBQ ribs,snow crab legs, grilled asparagus, baked potatoes & strawberry spinach salad ,date night-hot dogs for the kids

DESSERT- Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cake

SNACKS- grapes, carrots, granola bars, celery & peanut butter, bell peppers, bananas, apples mangos cashews gogurt

I am sorry I still haven't gotten my last months totals updated but I will do that as soon as I can. Does anyone else feel like the end of the school year is CRAZY?!