Tyson Hugh Hooper

Tyson Hugh Hooper
Our son, Tyson Hugh Hooper, was born with coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic arch, and a transitional avsd. His first open heart surgery reconstructed his aorta and was on day 9 of life. His second open heart repair was not anticipated to be needed until two or three years of age. Ty had other plans. We spent the vast majority of his first 3 months of life at Vanderbilt as he went into heart failure and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. As a result, the medical team concluded that he needed the repair much sooner than usually recommended, and at just shy of 3 months old Ty underwent his second life saving open heart surgery. God has already worked so many miracles in Ty's life and the life of our family and we know he is using our story. Because of this, we are grateful for Ty's special heart and feel beyond blessed that God chose us to travel this road. We ask for prayers as Ty continues to heal. We are praying for a full recovery and life without restrictions for Ty. We are praying for God to use our family and Ty for His glory.

Thank you to each and every person who supports us through prayer, giving, or just by loving on our family! We are humbled and blessed by all of the ways the Lord is providing for us and know that he is using Ty and his story to do great things!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Dinner Deals

As you know, I have been really applying myself to menu planning and trying to stick to it!  As a family, if I am honest, the bulk of our budget (outside the usual household bills) goes to eating out.  A sad fact considering that I love to cook and my family loves a home cooked meal!  In the past, with both of us working, it's just been easier to eat out!  Now that I am staying home that is changing!  It's changing because we want it to, because I grew up eating a home cooked meal at the table with my family every night, and because our budget is undergoing a major overhaul!  :-)  It seems that with each Menu Monday that I learn a new lesson!  The value of dividing and freezing!  The need to make room for leftovers!  And this week... the lesson was that we CAN eat out and stay on a budget (once a week is my plan)!  I have started doing a little research on when/where to eat on a budget.  First of all, the coupon magazines that come in the mail and newspaper have lots of coupons for restaurants!  Just in the last two weeks I have collected coupons for Fridays, Red Lobster, Camino Real, La Siesta, Nobodys, O'Charley's... you get the idea!  In addition, I have been researching and compiling a list of "meal deals" around town!  If you aren't in Murfreesboro, some of these might not apply to you, but some of them will!  I just wanted to share!  Especially the kid's eat free (or really cheap) deals that can cut a meal price by $5 easy!

Sunday:
Steak N Shake - kids eat free for every $8 spent
Toots - $8.59 Half Rack Rib Platter, $9.99 Full Rib Platter (which we split!)/kids free

Monday:
Zaxby's - $0.99 kids meals
Buffalo Wild Wings - $0.99 kids meals
Applebees - kids eat free
The Catfish House - kids eat free
Moe's - kids eat free after 5 with a $6 adult purchase
Toots - $0.35 wings until 3pm,  $3.99 buffalo chicken strip basket for adults/ kids free

Tuesday:
Chick-fil-A - $1.50 kids meal
Applebees - kids eat free
The Catfish House - kids eat free
McAlister's Deli - kids eat free 4-9
Toots - $2.99 half pound burgers, $3.99 half pound burger and fries/kids free

Wednesday:
Camino - $1.99 kids meal
Applebees - kids eat free
The Catfish House - kids eat free
Toots - $3.99 Chicken Finger Basket til 3, then $5.25/kids free

Thursday:
Captain D's - kids eat free
The Catfish House - kids eat free
McAlister's - kids eat free 4-9
Toot's - $3.99 Grilled Chicken Sandwich til 3pm/kids free

Friday:
Toot's - $3.99 catfish, shrimp, or clam basket til 3, then $6 chicken skewer platter/kids free

Saturday:
SteakNshake - kids eat free for every $8 spent
Toots:  Rib deal (see Sunday)/kids free

Every Day Deals:
Puleos Grille - kids eat free
Applebees - 2 for $20 menu
Sal's Pizza - kids eat free with adult buffet from 11-2
Demos' - lunch specials changing daily for $4.25 11-3

I would absolutely love to hear any meal deals that you have found!  I know I haven't even scratched the surface, but I'll continue to add to my list!  :-)  My new goal is to never spend more that $15 to feed the 3 of us when we eat out (excluding tip).  :-)  I'd like for us to be able to eat out once a week!  Wish me luck! 

4 comments:

Valerie said...

Very impressive!! You've really done your homework. It looks to me like you can certainly eat out at an affordable price! Wish I had a Demos's and a Camino Real. Yumm! Oh yeah, I have Couch's - where I eat free any time I choose!! Loved being there with you last Monday.

Sarah said...

check into the breakfast places too. Waffle House is always cheap and their dinner's arn't bad. And I'm pretty sure IHOP might have some deals too.

Allyson said...

I totally see you making this a couponing blog as a side job... :)

Sarah B. said...

Oooo. . . I love this list! I need to set a goal for myself when we go out to eat, too.

Have you guys ever tried Hickory Falls in Smyrna? The food is really good. Mickey & I often split a meal (BIG portions!), but I'm not sure if they have deals for kids. I think they have coupons in one of the coupon magazines, and their prices are very reasonable.