Thursday's Bento...a Day Late!

Yep...I'm late but what can I say?!  Rich had a pretty simple bento yesterday.  He is a tad bit picky so it's tough at times.  I love him no less, though!!  Hubby took the pic at work so I apologize for anything you can't see very well!  Here we go....

Starting in the large compartment in my $1 lunch container with built-in utensils on the lid:  Heart and flower shaped cukes with a cute heart pick in the white silicon muffin cup (Dollar Tree - huge pack for a buck), a Tony's Ham & Cheese stuffed Sammie (I wrote his nuking instructions on it w/ marker so he'd know), bunny rabbit-shaped boiled egg.  Filling in the spaces around it all are 2 Hershey's Kisses and a handful of mixed nuts.  In the smaller compartment I put a cut up Gala Apple (sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent browning - and it held up nicely from the previous night when I made it) and a little container of Cookie Butter underneath to dip the apples in.  All topped off with a cute flag/star pick from a big pack of stuff from Big Lots!  Cheap is good!  Rich loves to have a boiled egg each day....I'm happy to oblige because it is great, lean protein!

There ya have it!  :)  Oh, I'm going to include a cute pick from a couple of weeks ago.  My niece, Taylor, and I decided to try our hand at homemade sushi.  I really wish I liked it!  Tay and Rich thought it was yumm!

It's pretty, though!  It had avocado, cucumber, and red bell pepper in it (if I am remembering correctly)!

Have an awesome weekend!!  Oh, btw, my birthday is coming up on Monday...know what I want for my bday?  More followers!  Help a sister out!  :)

Peace!
Joy

Frugal Ways to Pay It Forward (PIF)!

How good does it feel to Pay It Forward (PIF)?  I have paid for the guy/gal behind me at the drive thru or printed out an extra coupon for Michael's and brought it with me to give someone.  Just because your broke doesn't mean you can't Pat It Forward!  Sometimes all it takes is time.  TipHero had a few ideas on how to frugally Pay It Forward and I wanted to share them with you!

• Roll Spare Change. Collect all of your spare change and roll it up. You can take half of what you gathered to a favorite charity or an animal shelter. You'll be surprised by how much you find and you won't even miss it when it's gone.
• Coupons. You might get coupon inserts in your Sunday paper or in the mail. Maybe you use them and maybe you don't. There might even be many that you don't have a need for such as ones for pet food or diapers. Many grocery stores have coupon exchange bins at the entrance where you can drop off your unwanted coupons or you can give them to families that you know of that use products that you don't.  I also leave coupons tucked beside the product they are for around the store.  
• Time. Giving your time doing a bit of yard work for an elderly neighbor, or watching a friend's small children while she runs errands are very valuable gestures. Volunteer groups are always looking for additional help.
• Food Pantry. Food pantries need contributions year-round. The next time you see grocery items at rock-bottom sale prices or a buy one get one free promotion, just toss a few extras in the cart. Every time you've collected a small amount, simply swing by a food bank and make you donation.  I do this all of the time, usually to friends/family/neighbors.  I clean out my pantry and freezer every time I know someone I know is having a hard time.  I appear on their front porch with several bags of groceries and a smile.  It makes me feel so good to see them smile!
• Clothing Drive. While donating your old clothes to clothing drives, women's shelters, and the Salvation Army is charitable in itself, why not take it a step further and throw some new items into the mix. Snagging heavily discounted toys after the holidays or hitting up end-of-season clearance sales will offset your out-of-pocket expense.  Recently, Wal-Mart had T-shirts and shorts marked down to a buck!!  I stocked up on various sizes and brought them to school.  SEVERAL kids truly needed a few new items.  

What are some other ideas do you have for PAYING IT FORWARD?  What are some things you have done??  After all, we are in this thing called LIFE together!

Weekly Meal Plan via the SMARTSHOPPER!

I follow a couponing/deal blog on WRAL.com hosted by a friend of mine and local celebrity, Faye Prosser.  This lady rocks!  She teaches you how to coupon the RIGHT, ETHICAL way!  We call her the "SmartShopper" and her blog is called that too!  Anyway, I just posted my weekly menu plan there so I thought I'd post it here as well!  Hopefully, I will be able to incorporate a few bentos as well!  What do you think??


Monday - Homemade "Hambone Veggie Soup", blueberries/strawberries
Tuesday - Corned Beef Brisket, carrots, potatoes, cabbage (St. Patty's Day again - will be making corned beef hash for breakfast Saturday)
Wednesday - Leftover soup and our fave grilled ham n' cheese topped with a thin slice of tomato (produce box) and fresh basil leaves (YUMMM)
Thursday - Cheese enchiladas (with homemade sauce put up last year), corn on the cob, salad (weekly produce box)
 Friday - my version of Sesame Chicken, broccoli (weekly produce box), roasted new potatoes (produce box) Saturday - HUGE Sea Scallops (Trader Joe's has the BEST), garden peas (produce box), new potatoes (box) and strawberries/blueberries (also from box)
Sunday - Sounds like a great day to use a GROUPON at Backyard Bistro!!
Wow...didn't think I had it in me! Sounds like a yummy week...if I follow through!

Soup is always a win in our house!  Leftovers for lunches!  :)

Walgreens 7 Days of Deals!

Check out the Deals going on @ Walgreens in their photo department.  Today's deal is the ceramic photo mug for $5!!  Only sucky part is shipping!!