So Far So Good

My summer checklist has been a great guide to answering the question, "What should we/I do now?". Only one week into my summer break and I have checked off some items. I will say I was rather selfish with my last week. I knew that I would be busier in the weeks to come and therefore, I had to pace myself. I took two days to just relax. I did though, use my guidelines to assist my means of entertainment.

Having last week full of professional development, I chose the weekend for fun. Sean and I stuck to our budget plan for another week and even managed to spend time out of town with some friends. Instead of eating out at a restaurant, which was an option, we decided to order pizza. While our host did buy the pizza, we brought the dessert and entertainment for the night. I made my mom's bread pudding. It's a great dessert that serves a ton! Find the recipe below. We also enjoy watching The Office and for Christmas Sean received a DVD The Office board game. We spent the nigh playing that game. I have only been a fan of the show recently and was not the best teammate.

It felt good knowing that we had a nice time for less money. It was even better knowing that we did it with friends and didn't feel the pressure of going out and spending money. I topped off my weekend by having family visit. We, yes, you guessed it, laid by the pool and soaked up some rays. I managed to buy fruit at an excellent price, along with some ice tea/ lemonade mix to fill our poolside cravings.

Our next big obstacle is celebrating our 1 year anniversary this coming weekend. We have ruled out going away for the night and eating out. We figured we could plan and cook a really nice meal together. We did, however, decided to buy our dessert. Being a fan of cheesecake, we are going to purchase a piece of our favorites from The Cheesecake Factory and bring them home to eat. Sean has something planned that he has promised won't cost anything. I am intrigued to say the least. I am anxious to see what the weekend will bring.

We had one of most successful grocery trips so far! We spent a little more on items we won't buy often. We love grilling out, but haven't owned a grill. On the second floor of our building, grills are not technically allowed. We bought a small, really small, coal grill for $14. I figured it was a good investment for us, for now. It also opens up our menu options. With that said, here is our menu plan:

Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: (we are on our own, because Sean is out of town this day)
Wednesday: Brats on the grill! with Mac'nCheese
Thursday: Beef and Noodles with potatoes
Friday: Smoked Sausage on the grill! with vegetables

Total for the Week: $39.87! Thanks to my grandparents of course.

Bread Pudding:
350 Degrees
1 Hr. and 30 Minutes total

Cut up 15-18 pieces of white bread. Place them in an non greased cooking pan

In a bowl mix the following:
5 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups of Sugar
3 1/3 Cups of Milk
Vanilla Optional- about 1 TBs.
Cinnamon- 1 Tbs.

Pour over bread. Lightly foil and bake for 1 hour. After the hour, uncover, and continue cooking for 30 minutes.

Sauce:
In a sauce pan melt together:
2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Milk
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Stick Butter

Dish out bread and top with sauce! Enjoy!