merry merry...

happy holidays from all of us to all of you!

eleven years

Happy anniversary love! eleven years down, sixty something to go! even if all i ever had was you, i'd be a happy woman! but you have given me more than i've ever asked for. i'm so glad you're my best friend!

a little trip

soooo...long time, huh? i just got back from a long weekend trip out to las vegas to visit my friend Ellen. We had an awesome time and i'm so thankful to my husband for making this trip happen for me. he's the best! first thing we did...was see this little bit of sweetness (which was from 2-4 AM my time...and i had been up since 6!)

Otherthings we did...

things i didn't do: gamble, drink, get a tattoo, see a show, see Elvis or Barry Manilow, or take one of those cards that people try to give you every two feet for an x-rated encounter. I did stand like 6 inches from Jose Canseco and didn't realize it until someone called out his name. He's a big dude, but not 'roided up like he used to be. Just in case you were wondering. OH, I also got to go out to Nellis AFB and happened to see a few stunts by the...stunt planes...can't remember their names. it wasn't for a whole show. we just happened to catch a few end stunts. anyway, it was a fun time and micah was awesome enough to work from home and take care of the kids so that i could unwind and have a great time! hopefully next time, he'll get to come with me!

mom challenge...

sorry...i know y'all have been looking at my chili recipe for a month now. no excuses other than to much...muchness going on. i DO have another chili recipe, though. or i actually thought it was more like a mexican chicken stew. anyway, not the reason i'm here today. found this on my love Pinterest. thought i'd share b/c it surely spoke to me and how i could do better in our muchness.

source

(go to the source or click for larger)

Chili Recipe

ever try to make something several times before you feel like you finally got it right? well, here is my jillionth time at chili.

Chili (makes about 6 quarts)

2 lbs ground beef (I used ground chuck b/c it was on sale)
1.5 tsp minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
1 small to med greed bell pepper, diced
2 cans green chilis
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can chili beans (I used mild)
1- 29 oz can tomato sauce (yes, the bigg’un)
1- 29 oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 cups water
1 pkg chili seasoning mix
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the diced onion, bell pepper and garlic over a medium high heat until tender. Add in the ground beef and cook until browned. Drain off all fat. In a large stock pot or crock pot (my method) add beef and seasonings. Stir. Add all other ingredients and cook on low all day. (I didn’t have to add anything during the day. You can choose the hotter version of the chili/taco seasonings if you like it spicier. This was plenty for me, though.)

Hope it turns out well for you. I like to serve this with cheese and Jiffy corn muffins...or sometimes Fritos. Depends on how well I’ve done on my diet for the week, haha! This filled my 6 quart crock pot so we’ll have plenty for another time.)

we interrupt important family business to bring you...

a 33 year old just squee'd somewhere...maybe in athens.

hair bow organizer

i'm not as crafty as some folks. i don't have the patience for it. but sometimes an idea is simple enough that it pans out for me and makes me feel all smart again.

i've needed to organize AC's bows and accoutrements for a while now. it started with a ribbon hanging on the back of her closet. and since she has such wild hair that actually requires the help of a spray bottle and detangler and sometimes mousse...it was just easier to move her stuff to my bathroom. but i already share a bathroom and storage that is easy and doesn't get in the way of my too many B&B lotions is paramount.

so, after much thought and hours spent looking at websites and Pinterest (my new love and time suck) i decided to quit looking and get with it already.

oddly, the idea didn't come to full fruition until i was browsing around Bed Bath & Beyond yesterday. (i was really there on the prowl looking for shoe organization for me and barbie organization for her.) but i ran across this little diddy and thought..."hey, this could work."


it's a jewelry organizer. now let me be honest, i actually thought the little pockets were larger than they are. i thought the bows would fit inside the pockets. but, in response to the stink eye i was giving the too small pockets, the brilliance that is my husband said, "can you just clip them over the edge?"

Well, yes, dang it...i can. the ones that have alligator clips anyway. but what about the french barrettes? they need to clip closed to stay on.

I eyed it. i crooked my mouth. i grabbed the seam ripper (since i actually knew where it was...the sewing drawers having just been organized...do you see a theme?) and sliced the bottom of the pockets so that i could close the bow around it. it was magic.




truly a beautiful thing. so simple. it's double sided, so bows on one side...pony tail holders and barrettes on the other. slap some cute stickers on it (b/c i don't have one of those super cool cricut things) and call her done!

show it to you kid and forbid her touch it. easy peasy!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (Freezable)

because sharing is caring...

The Recipe: (which is picky eater approved)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 can 98%Fat Free cream of chicken soup

1 can 98%FF cream of celery soup (trust me on this)

1 can cream of potato soup (doesn't come in FF, sadly)

1 small can corn, drained

1 small can sliced carrots, drained

1 small can sweet peas, drained

1 refrigerated pie crust, cut into strips

Directions:

Cut pie crust into strips and set aside. Mix all other ingredients together, adding a little salt and pepper to taste. Fill a casserole dish or individual aluminum pot pie holders with the pot pie mixture. Place enough strips across the top to cover, but allow spaces for the steam to rise. At this point, you can cover with foil and freeze (which is what I did.)

From Frozen: Do not thaw!! Remove aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then 400 for 30 minutes. My crust didn't even think about burning using this method!!

From fresh: I'd start with baking at 350 for...25 minutes? Until bubbly and crust starts to brown.

Because I am the best...it's 5 Weight Watcher pointsPlus per serving before you add the crust...and it serves 6!! (you would add 3-4 more points per serving, depending on the pie crust nutritional info...but don't forget, this serves 6 as i have it divided. 32 for the filling, total.)

enjoy that bad boy and thank me later!!

Cooking/Freezing in bulk.

The hardest thing about cooking once a month (or even just every two weeks if you don’t have the freezer space) is just deciding where to start. I started doing it out of necessity. This past spring, both of our boys were playing baseball and we had 6 practices per week between the two of them and of course, all at different times, and different fields! We couldn’t afford to eat out every time, health wise or money wise. So I started by looking for things that I could fix quickly.

During the busier months I didn’t do many casseroles or things like that because for one thing, my kids are picky eaters. They do better with a meat and sides added. But also, I knew if I cooked the meat part ahead of time, everything I made to go with it would cook just about as quickly as whatever I was reheating.

So…first I made a list of things I knew we all liked and then moved on to looking at who had what meat on sale…b/c that is where the bulk of your money can go…to meat and premade foods. (TIP: A great place to get ideas is the freezer section at the grocery store. If they can make it and freeze it, so can you, but without some of the added “junk” they put in and you can control the nutritional aspects.)

Hint: You can almost always find chicken on sale. If you have a Sam’s or Costco card, just as good!!

You will need to dedicate an entire day to this (and maybe even a little bit the next day…depending on what you cook.)

When I first started, I split boneless skinless chicken (usually breasts, but I hear thighs are good too and usually at a good price…I’m using them this time, so we will see) between three different crock pots. I know what you are thinking and YES…I have 3 and I use them ALL, all the time! (TIP: you do know that the size of your crock pot has an effect on how your food cooks, right?)

Anyway, I did one with chicken, jane’s crazy mixed up salt/pepper/onion powder/garlic powder/chicken bullion cubes (Plain Chicken.)

The next pot had chicken, BBQ sauce and coke (BBQ chicken).

The last had chicken, salsa and a little taco seasoning (Salsa Chicken).

From these 3 pots, I can make all kinds of things (b/c isn’t remembering to thaw meat and then cooking it the most time consuming process??)

First I shred it all, then proportion it into freezer bags and label it for what I want to use it for. Examples:

Plain Chicken—almost every casserole calls for 2 cups shredded chicken, so put that much (or however much you want) into Ziploc bags. You defrost it in the microwave on high for5-7 minutes. While that’s doing its thing, mix together your other ingredients and your casserole is ready to cook and in the oven super quick. Usually 30 minutes later, supper is on the table!

TIP: You can also make casseroles ahead of time, but that’s for a later discussion!
BBQ chicken--(just defrost/heat in the microwave, add in a little extra sauce or thaw in fridge while gone during the day, put it in a casserole dish with extra sauce, cover with aluminum foil, heat on 350 until warmed through.)

BBQ chicken tacos--heat the same way as above, but serve in a soft tortilla topped with corn and cheese (slaw or lettuce if wanted)

BBQ chicken Pizza—heat as above; spread BBQ sauce on a pita, top with chicken, red onion, bacon crumbles and cheese—something with cheddar is my favorite.

Salsa Chicken—if it’s Mexican in nature, you can use this! Quesadillas, Mexican casseroles, tacos, chicken chili, just Salsa chicken over rice…anything.

Next up…ground beef/turkey. First of all, I put carrots/onions/bell peppers in the food processor and add it into all of my ground beef/turkey (which we pretty much always use turkey—93/7—b/c they can’t tell the difference in taste and it’s actually cheaper per lb. This will bulk up your meats, add flavor and sneak in some veggies at the same time.

Ideas: Meatloaf (recipes/flavors are endless here) and hamburger patties (keep raw when freezing both of these), sloppy joes, tacos, veggie-beef soup, chili, taco soup, spaghetti sauce, really anything you can add hamburger meat to, brown it…cool it…freeze it. Thaw in the microwave or the fridge…cook to your heart’s content.
I’ve also done pork loin/chops/boston butt. I don’t cook those ahead of time, but I have pre-seasoned them. I just thaw in the fridge and then cook as usual.
Sides: Mac-n-cheese (the homemade kind) hashbrown casserole, twice baked potatoes are things that I’m pretty sure make a bunch and freeze well. I haven’t tried anything else, but feel free to let me know if you do! Sides are the easy part for me usually.

So, how else do I get started??

LISTS.

If you aren’t a list maker, this probably will never be your thing. It requires planning and a good bit of it, but once you do it a few times, you’ll figure it out. The first time you do it, you’ll think you are spending more than usual, but I promise it will even out within a couple of months. Look for the sales. I do NOT go to several stores rounding up stuff. I usually shop at Walmart, Kroger, Sam’s or Publix. I just check ahead of time. If you have a local chain that you like, ask your butcher what day the mark meat down. It’s usually a certain day of the week and it’s usually a few days before the “sell by” date.

Every month I print out a blank monthly calendar. I sit down and decide what we want for supper as the main dish. (I make out my bulk meat list from that…including what seasonings or sauces I’ll need for whatever I’m making.) After that I add in the sides (which is where my weekly or bi-weekly shopping comes in). People, I own my OCD-ness…but I’m telling you, it helps.

I take my job as the house manager seriously. It’s my job to feed us, which it’s my job to be thoughtful about the nutrition as well as the money we spend on it…not to mention the time management that comes into play with it as well. I spent too long wasting money on guess work, sometimes over-buying, lots of times having to go back more than once a week (which sometimes I still do…I’m still learning).

Alright, you’ve decided to do this.

You’ve made a running list of things you like.

You’ve written out a calendar of the meals you’d like to have (INCLUDING SOME MUCH NEEDED OUT TO EAT BREAKS FOR THE HARD WORKING/COOKING MAMA!!)

You’ve made your bulk shopping list.

Time to shop…If you have crock pots, get the crock pot liners!! You won’t be sorry…and don’t forget the freezer bags! If it’s something “saucy” I double bag, just in case of leaks when thawing. Plus, if you thaw in the fridge, you won’t stink up everything. (I hate it when that happens!) I usually use quart and gallon size. Some will be reusable…some will not. It’s not something I get hung up on, for now. (Also, if you have a Kroger in your area, they have the disposable aluminum tins that have the flat tops on them. Most places have no top or the plastic one that wastes at least an inch of space. I find the flat top kind to be most useful for casseroles/sides.)

Time to cook…start with a clean kitchen. You are GONNA MAKE A MESS…A BIG’UN!! Just accept it.

I figure out how I’m cooking my chicken first (because I always do it in crock pots! The meat gets more tender, plus, I strain and use the broth for soups.) When that is decided and doing its thing, that frees me up to take care of the other prep that I need to do with the pork/ground beef/veggies or whatever.

TIPS: Use the internet. Look for other people who do this. Look for recipes. Take short cuts where you can. I don’t like the tediousness of doing my own meatballs, so I buy them already cooked. I have found that if I grill meat ahead of time, that for whatever reason, it doesn’t seem like it tastes the same after it’s been refrigerated…so any grilling I do, it’s for eating then, or I let Tyson do the work.

I’m not particularly good at couponing, I try…but I look for stuff we use, brands we like, and when Publix puts something on BOGO…I use it then or at Kroger. After doing all of this, I just don’t have the brain strength sometimes, haha!
Things you can make in bulk and freeze:

Breakfast: pancakes/waffles/muffins/ham-egg-cheese cups (I’ve seen, but haven’t tried), I’m sure there are more, but we aren’t huge breakfast eaters. We’re good with cereal, muffins and pop-tarts!

Suppers we like: enchiladas, tacos, spaghetti, quiche, meatloaf, meatballs, BBQ, sloppy joes, chicken fingers/nuggets, fish/shrimp, soups, pork chops/loin, hamburgers, hotdogs, ham, roast, lasagna, breakfast…
Well, you get it. Not all of us like everything, but we make it and serve it and that’s it.

Doing it this way has saved my sanity and our budget for sure. Lots of times we have left overs, stretching what I’ve made even more.

If you have a friend, you can even trade meals!

I’ll try to get around to posting more recipes soon. Click here for the first time I did this. We also have some quick stuff on hand that I didn’t list here, but I can be more detailed if requested. If you see something in my freezer right now that you’d like to try, let me know and I’ll send the recipe along to you! Or if you want my blank calendar forms, I can send those, too. Just shoot me an email…btuckerrn@gmail.com Here are a few other websites to get you started:

Freezer Friendz
Once a Month Mom

Thanks for the interest and happy freezing!

a month's worth of cooking...again

in addition to getting ready for school to start, i've been otherwise busy. I'll be back with first day of school pictures as well as some recipes, if you want them!

cooperation...

every day...

we woke up...

and went to the beach...

and played in the sand...

and when we were tired...

we went to the pool...

and then after lunch and rest time...

we did it all again...

vacation officially rocked this year!

we are here...

see ya on the flip side!

Tucker House Rules

Ally Claire is Three!!

so, waaaaaaay back on June 10th, Ally Claire turned 3! So hard to believe! Time sure has flown for this little girl who's not so little anymore! I wanted Micah to post the NICU videos, but we just haven't had time to get around to it. Maybe next year. In the mean time...

We decorated (even though we didn't have a party).

She wanted "pank" cupcakes...and she got them, along with her requested supper of cinnamon rolls.

She got a new princess bike (and I don't have a picture of that for some reason).

Ally Claire, I love you so much it pure hurts, little girl! You have a head full of wavy hair and could care less if it's all in your face or not. Otherwise, you are the epitome of all things girly. You adore dresses, dressing up, high heels, purses, "jewels", and "Pitty tip toes". You will NOT be seen without your toe nails painted.


I don't think they have been bare for the last two years, to be honest. I painted them for the first time before going to the beach two summers ago! Your brothers are your best friends and worst enemies, but they love you just as much. (You are able to get them to play house, school and costume party.) You are a big daddy's girl, but love time with me, too. We had a blast this summer at camp, just us girls! You are braver in the pool this summer, paddling everywhere in your float. Your best friend is Jackson and you love church day! Unfortunately, you also like to call your brothers names and work the word "butt" into nearly everything you say. Some favorites these days are "chicken noodle weenie head" and "booty butt". I have no idea...

You are a delight, full of sweetness and sass in equal measure. I can't wait to see how you grow this year!

i have no idea...

within the last two days seth has said some funny stuff. here is your laugh to get you through the end of the week. warning, you may never look at intimate apparel the same way again.

while walking through walmart, we pass the ladies undergarments. while spotting a padded bra...wait...get the image in your head...he says:

"Hey Mama, what is that?"

i keep on strolling, not thinking twice about it. "It's a bra, Seth." To which he replies:

"Oh, like you could wear it on your face while you mow the grass?"

i had to stop the buggy and lean over on the bar i was laughing so hard. You see, Micah has terrible allergies and wears a mask that looks like this while he mows...so...you get it.

I've also been working on trying to write down some House Rules, some sort of physical reminder of how we should act and how we should help (more to come on that later.) so after church tonight i asked the kids what they thought the house rules were. the one they had to learn the hard way today was "keep your hands to yourself." i knew that one was coming. then seth said:

"and no kicking...except if you are wrestling or doing karate on each other."

clearly he gets it.

after a few minutes had passed they were telling the same mind-numbing joke over and over so it was obviously time for the quiet game (which i'm sure luke would like for me to tell you that he always wins.) after a minute or two of being quiet (and constantly reminding sissy what quiet actually means), seth apparently had something really important to say because he whispered,

"Hey Mama, can we pause this game for a minute?"

seriously...it's why i keep him around.

summer time tip

take those paper bathroom cups that your kids use and snip a little hole in the bottom and trim the sides down by 1/2-1/3. stick a popsicle through it and you'll avoid a ton of mess and stickiness!

summer time!!

i know y'all are getting used to my gaps in blog time (something i never intended) but i guess i also never intended to be this overwhelmed in motherhood. on sunday morning, our class teacher reminded us that our first area for mission work started in our very own homes. i don't know about y'all, but some a lot of days, i'm thinking that going out into all the world would be much easier. you hear what i'm sayin'?

i am so very glad that it's summer time because we aren't bound to a schedule every week. i actually only have 3 weeks where something specific is planned and the rest is up to us. there is always something funny coming out of one of their little usually smart mouths (see my facebook page for frequent updates on that front.) speaking of...i have been stopped a lot recently with people telling me that they love my status updates. i'm not sure how to feel about it. maybe they tell me that b/c i'm brave enough to keep it real? i don't know. my kids aren't perfect and i definitely don't try to only capture and relay the moments when they can be. i'm just a mom, trying my hardest, and failing every day and as seth would probably tell you, failing in a lot of ways, to get these little monsters humans to at least act like they are the species that i am. (seth is a complainer by nature. he's 5 and he's rotten. i'm apparently doing him an injustice by cooking fresh food every night...more on sunday's stand off later.)

so, all that to say this...we have been busy the last couple of weeks graduating from 1st grade, losing more teeth, playing baseball in 100 degree heat, throwing up b/c of it, making out summer fun charts, splashing in a blow up pool, counting down the days until the beach and i am counting down the days to school starting, baseball parties, bike riding, morning walks, hitting, crying, facebooking for sanity...you know...the usual.

i hope to report more frequently about all the fun things we want to do this summer, but for real moments, you know where you can look. my status updates frequently. it's cheaper than therapy.

kindergarten or bust

this little turkey is moving on to kindergarten! hard to believe. his teachers always tell me how sweet he is and i'm so thankful that they do (b/c that is NOT always the case at home!) i can't wait to see what he can do in "big school" this next year. i hope he is kind and takes the opportunity to reach out to others who might not make friends as easily as this kid who has almost never known a stranger. we were surprised and proud when his MMO director asked if he would lead the opening prayer at their end of the year program. she said he always says the sweetest ones and that does a mama's heart real good, y'all! we love you bubby!!

who needs wendy's?

peeps, it needs to be known that i absolutely adore most any kind of asian chicken salad. it's basically all i order anytime to go to applebee's and what i always used to get when the hubs wanted a chicken sandwich from wendy's (although the ones i make at home have way less fat...but whatevs. sometimes you just want the goodness, ya know?) anyway...sometime this last year, wendy's became dead to me when they REPLACED their oriental/asian/mandarin...whatever...chicken salad with the apple something or other salad. SO WRONG. i have been on the quest to make it the same way at home...the problem was that i couldn't find the dressing. and the dressing makes a lot of salads. especially if they are...we'll say "themed". today, i have achieved my goal. the mission is complete! it probably could have been done easier, but today is when the missing ingredient finally made it what i wanted it to be. the dressing needed a little bit of honey. i'm not a honey eater, so it was escaping me...until now!

so...if you ever liked the wendy's salad...here's what you need:

Lettuce (today i used what i had, which was butter lettuce)
1 Grilled Chicken Breast, diced or sliced (i used the pre-cooked frozen ones that i get at walmart and keep on hand alllllllll the time.)
Mandarin Oranges
Sliced Almonds (i used the Almond Accents roasted version)
Chow Mein Noodles
Publix brand Roasted Asian Sesame salad dressing
A Squeeze of Honey

layer as listed. mix a little bit of honey into your dressing and coat thoroughly. love it! a perfect summertime salad. you are welcome.

if anyone is actually still around to read this nonsense, i thank you. Real life is insane, as i'm sure it is for all of you. But we are wrapping up the school year/sports season, so I should have time to catch up soon!

103 hours

that is how long we were without power after what is reported to be the second deadliest tornado system in u.s. history ripped though our area on wednesday. i don't have pictures of the distruction as you couldn't get down into the effected (affected? i never know) areas unless you were there to clean. i haven't been down to help yet as i was more worried about making sure my kids were clothed and fed. but i really hope to soon. several families reached out to us and we are so very thankful to them for providing us a place to take a warm shower, wash a couple of loads of clothes and a warm meal. we kept our phones charged either by being in the car when we were out and about or at the church building.

luke has been out of school since wednesday and we won't know when they will go back as of yet. for sure they are still out tomorrow. the area damaged near our house (about 4 miles south to north east) cut through both routes we could take to get luke to school. we haven't been over that way since thursday, so i'm not sure what has happened there since then.

we were so very lucky that we only had one large tree down on our fence (which i posted to facebook). otherwise, we were completely fine (well, minus the power thing, but that really is so insignificant.)

our song leader from church lost their home, but fortunately the Lord protected them in their storm shelter during the 10 seconds that it pummeled everything around them.

i hope that you will continue to pray for the residents of middle/north alabama (and anyone else that was in the path) of this viscious storm. so many homes and businesses are still without power and so much else. this is a video that was put together by some of the men at our church of the efforts that have been going on out in our community.

a month ago...

...i cooked for a day and we ate for a month. (and now for some reason that chinese proverb about teaching a man to fish is coming to mind.) you'll need to click to see any detail on that pic, by the way. anyway, i used everything from last month except for 1 bag of spaghetti sauce mix, 1 bag of sloppy joe mix and a few of the tacos. several of you have asked how it went, so i thought i'd post my menu calendar for you. (yes, i know it's much more entertaining than telling you about ally claire having cut her own hair--you saw those facebook pics, right? and i still haven't posted pics from going to the circus, but maybe i'll do that when i give you the movie review at the end of the month when i go see my boyfriend in Water for Elephants--which is an awesome book, btw. read it!)

ok...so...

i had to plan around 6 baseball practices a week, and both of them practicing on friday nights, meaning that there were several times that we ate in shifts, and every friday night was pizza night...so just keep that in mind. also, my kids are picky eaters, but they did awesome this month and i'm very proud of them. i'm hoping with the summer coming that we can incorporate more variety to the veggie situation. i didn't always list the sides in the menu you see, either, but you get the gist of it.

a few things i learned...

1.) if you are going to have anything saucy...DOUBLE BAG! it prevents spills and also when you thaw it in your fridge...the whole thing doesn't smell like sloppy joes or mexican chicken.

2.) write that menu out in pencil. some nights you are just not feelin' what you planned. but since you have tons to choose from, just go right ahead and pull a switcheroo. no one will know except for your kids who can read and are on TOP of what's on the menu. for instance, you see on the 29th when it said we had turkey burgers? we didn't. i just forgot to change that. that was a practice night, as well as my birthday, so i called an audible and we ate chinese. it was in the budget and besides, who wants to wash dishes on their *coughthirtythirdcough* birthday?

3.) keep a running inventory list. a must when weekly menu planning. i only make my menu a week at a time. i'm sure it may seem odd to you to make my weekly menu after i've cooked a month's worth...meaning i should make out the menu and then cook accordingly. but for me, it works to have the basics done so that i can mix and match and rearrange as we go. i mean, who knew that luke loved BBQ chicken?

4.) keep easy things around so that you don't automatically run out for something else. not every single meal has to be homemade. i mean, doesn't your hubs or your kids usually wind up ordering chicken fingers when going out to eat? haven't you snuck (is that a word?) back to the deli at Walmart and doled out that cup of popcorn chicken so that you could shop in peace? (sorry...we like chicken.) buy a bag for quickness. you know that even if you don't want to take the time to grill your own chicken breasts or hamburger patties that they sell bags already done up for you? just microwave to your little hearts content and jazz it up a little. those little bags of Idahoan mashed potatoes that come in five hundred flavors...best thing/time saver EVAH! don't even get me started on those steamfresh veggies.

5.) give it a try. you never know unless you try. i'm not sure that we saved any grocery money this month, but we did awesome on the out to eat budget fo sho! this month i will concentrate on the grocery budget to see how i'm doing. i'm visual and i like to see a list in one place. my goal is to save, of course, but at least not to go over. at the moment, i don't have time to run all over creation to every sale, or the storage room to take advantage of much stocking up, so i have to concentrate on what we need at the moment and finding the best deal i can within 2 stores (caue gas is SKY high and it better be a good sale for me to drive 20 miles one way to the Kroger. I'm just sayin'. oh, and did y'all hear that you can't stack coupons there anymore?)

anyway...that's it for now. today was supposed to be cooking day again, but school just released early, meaning there is a tornado warning or something like that, so i have an extra kid today...and the power may go out. at least i have something already planned for supper tonight!

purdy...

one less wheel spinning

hi sisters!! (cause i don't think the men-folk, other than my hubs, read this.) so i am nearing the end of the second week of enjoying the ease that was brought on by my epic cooking day. several of you have asked how it's been going, so i'm here to report.

first off, we'll address the OCD/list maker tendencies that i have. i'm not proud. a few years ago i found a weekly menu form (breakfast/lunch/supper) on the Cheap Cooking website that i use to plan out our menus every single week. now, before you think i'm a good mom, let me preface this by saying i'm not a breakfast cooker, so that column looks something along the lines of pop-tarts every other day (because my kids would eat them every day if i'd let them) alternating with something else (usually cereal or muffins or cereal bars.) i'm not really a breakfast eater and they are way picky, so...ya know. lunches vary as well. luke has his own lunch menu schedule (which helps micah, who is the one who packs it) and the other two kids usually eat hotdogs or sandwiches and me, just whatever i can find. (that is also an area i need to reign in a little better.) next, i printed out a blank march calendar from my microsoft program. (we typically have a copy or two lying around somewhere because with having kids who refuse to share, we put everything except the toilet on a rotation schedule. forced sharing is total win, justsoyaknow.) Then I sat down with my inventory list and tried to make the best mix/rotation of foods that i could, and still accomodate the baseball schedule. (is it any wonder i am #1. insane, #2. unreachable by phone, and #3. completely out of touch with what is going on in my friends' lives.--Hey Lindsey! I didn't know you moved or that you were homeschooling!--Hey Darby! Thanks for the book rec of The Mission of Motherhood. It's the first book that i paid for on my Kindle.--Hey Tara M.! Thanks for the info on "farm shopping.")

ok, where was i? oh yes, under a mound of lists. see, i like to be able to see everything at a glance. I also like variety, so having an inventory list, a master monthly menu and then a weekly one (for general grocery shopping and so that the kids know what we're having) works well for me. it really is organized chaos. I'd let micah take a picture of me doing this, but i'm fairly certain that i don't actually show up on film. so, in my week, i do plan an out to eat meal once a week. i thought about doing sunday lunch, and occasionally we will, but i'm thinking that it may vary between saturday night and sunday. still working on what works best for us on that one. there have been some days that i had my menu all planned out and then that day, i just wasnt' feelin' it. the good thing is that it didn't matter. i had several other things that i could choose from b/c they were already waiting for me in my freezer. problem solved and it didn't come down to a last minute, "let's just go pick something up."

i still have plenty in my inventory for the moment. this is a pay week, so i'm going to pick up some ground hamburger/turkey and make and grill some hamburgers and then freeze them. i mean, they sell them already cooked in the freezer section. surely i can do it and make them healthier, right?

another thing i might suggest is browsing some of the menu planning sites that are out there and giving one of their 3-month subscriptions a try. they usually give you a shopping list and a prep list along with the menu suggestions so that it takes the guess work right out of it. If nothing else, it will give you a few items to add to your repertoire that you may not have had or thought of before. it helps break me out of the cooking the same ole thing every week or two rut. try e-mealz or 5Dinners1Hour.

thanks for the interest while i get it figured out. any mom on the go should give it a try for sure!

oh, question for my SAHM friends...if you had a job outside of the home before you had kids and now stay at home, do you ever plan on working outside of the home at a later time? i'm just curious.