Budgeting and Menu Planning

I recently had a friend who asked me how I planned our menu and what I did to prepare our food.  I had some time over my break from school to think about it and I decided to blog about it.  It goes much farther than our menu to embrace our whole lives and what we do each week.

1. I look at our calendar and plan our menu around our weekly activities.  In this season of life we have wrestling two nights a week, gymnastics one night a week, and at least one other night when we are busy!  So I plan to cook at least 4-5 nights a week.  I adjust leftovers and pizza night around our lives.
   
2. I stick to at least 2 things I already know how to cook and don't make plans to learn new things until I'm ready... so weekends are times I try new dishes!  I adjust my schedule so the EASIEST things to cook (crock pot meals) are on my busiest days or the days when I know I will be tired... Mondays and Thursdays usually win!
   
3. I plan the meals.  I examine our pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what we have on hand.  After I have taken stock at home I make my grocery list.  Sometimes I plan my menu around what we already have on hand.  I am trying to develop the habit of using the foods we have instead of trashing them...   Sometimes I notice that I already have a whole meal on hand (spaghetti noodles, sauce, and venison in the freezer) so I only have to buy a salad and bread.
   
4. I make my grocery list for meals and recipes.  I also take stock of the kids' lunch stash and their breakfast items.  I like to make breakfast on the weekends, so I look at that too.
   
5. I know this all sounds like a LOT of steps, but I think I probably spend 20 minutes doing this whole process.  I bring my laptop into the kitchen, pull up my Google calendar, and compare it to the wall calendar.  I begin my Walmart grocery pickup list while I'm in the kitchen!
   
6. Once the menu is made and my meals are planned, I begin the process of prepping for them.  Sometimes I make freezer meals ahead of time, but mostly I prep the day before or the day of.  If I have a lot of leftovers I make a freezer meal... or have it for lunch that week too!  :)
   
7. I put away the groceries after the pick up day and then write our dinners for the week.  I adjust the menu as needed once the week starts.  Sometimes what I planned for Tuesday actually works better for us on Wednesday, etc.  Either way, I have all the ingredients on hand to make the meals for the week.
   
8. Sometimes I have to adjust plans as the week unfolds and we have to move a meal to the next week.  I try to be flexible.  I also try to keep my grocery budget to $100 a week or less.. that includes the household goods and the cleaning supplies...
   
9. "Shopping" in my pantry, fridge, freezer before going to the grocery store or even making a list helps me save money AND time!

Hayesface goes to Kindergarten

I only cried a little bit.

I only cried a little bit about 5 times during the day.

He was anxious and excited for his first day of Kindergarten.  He couldn't get out of his carseat fast enough.  He was SO excited to be a Winston Wildcat and be a part of a BIG school.  He is the best example of an eager learner and the best 'first day of school' kid ever.  He jumped out of the van and I had to remind him not to run across the parking lot.  He was thrilled to walk into the building and embrace his new journey.  

Thumbs up in the car before we left the house.

Me:  Hayes, what is your bus number?

Hayes:  315.

Being the good seatbelt mom, I fixed his strap after the photo.  I'm aware that it was not correct and not safe for travel.  Thanks for your concern about my kiddo... but I promise, I worry more about him than you do.  Ever. 

Me:  Hayes, what is your bus number?

Hayes:  315.

5 minutes later...

Me:  Hayes, what is your bus number?

Hayes:  315.

10 minutes later...

Me:  Hayes, what is your bus number?

Hayes:  Mommy, we have talked about this 3 times already.  Don't ask me again.

Me:  Okay, well... what is your bus number just in case I forget?

Hayes:  Mommy.  315.

So... we were on time for school and I was THRILLED at that.  Time management:  not my strongest suit.  Working on that.  I made him go back up there in the evening after dinner and take photos with this sign.  I wanted to document it and make sure we had no rush and no photo bombers.  Also, I didn't cry any after school.

Hayes managed to drink his drink, eat apples, and socialize at lunch.  He inhaled his snack after school.  I packed a sandwich, chips, and apples for lunch.  Kid is going to have to eat more than that!  Right?!

I think I'll take a photo with the school sign each year so we can document start to finish!

All smiles.  Day 1, done.  179 to go!

Thief.

Anybody else have an almost 3 year old who wants to share/steal all their food?  I'm hoping it is not just me.  This little girl is all into the foods that everyone else is eating and she wants to steal it.  I've just learned that I must share with her.  I figure that I'm sharing with her and she likes to eat good food.  She actually likes to eat all the foods...unlike her brother who eats 5 things.  

Fries for dinner...

...marshmallows for dessert...

Pizza Painting

I'm typically a 'one thing at a time' kinda mom.  Last weekend the kids were really into their artwork right about the time I was ready to serve the dinner that Papa Johns just delivered. I mean, isn't pizza better when its hot!?  My children do not share that same thought and would prefer that everything be lukewarm or cold.  Ewwww.  I felt bad interrupting their painting session for pizza, so I just let them eat while being little artists.

Hayes was a little more concerned with keeping his artwork and pizza separated so that his pizza didn't mess up his artwork.  Elizabeth could not get enough pizza while painting and could not have cared any less about the two messing each other up.  She dives right into both with little regard to what might happen.  

I love it when I get her hair up in this little bun thingy.  It is so cute and makes her look so grown up!  She typically spends most of her meal time wiping her face with a napkin and pushing her hair out of her eyes.  I try to keep it off her face, but sometimes that fight isn't worth the fight.  I remember on this particular night I traded the painting for the hair fixing. It was one for the other and I got the better end of the deal!  

Notice, he's completely moved the paper AWAY from his pizza, as in... you cannot see it... while he's eating.  After he was finished with that bite and put the pizza back down, wiped his hands, and mouth... he would pick up the artwork from the chair located on the left.  Smart kid.  Sometimes too smart... for his own good.

Party Animals

Occasionally, the kiddos have parties at their school.  The ELC has done a wonderful job this year of trimming back the excessive parties for the kids!  They have celebrated minimally this year (with only major holidays) and I'm quite thankful for it!  I wasn't able to make the Christmas party with Hayes' class, so I sent BeBe in my place.  She sent me the following pictures.  

I know you would never be able to tell this from the photos, but Hayes has party anxiety.  He hates having a crowd of grown ups around him or in his space.  At school they have 12-14 kids per class and 1-2 adults per kid at the parties.  For poor Hayes that's a lot of grown folks in a room where there are normally just 2 grown ups and his friends in class.  

Hayes is also the world's pickiest eater.  EVER.  His class ordered a Chick fil A nugget tray for the party and I forgot to tell mom so she could bring him yellow sauce, that's what he calls Chick fil A sauce.  It is his most favorite thing ever.  But he shocked us ALL at his party and ate his nuggets with Polynesian sauce!  I was delirious with laughter because I knew it was a huge deal for my Sheldon Hayes.

We might need to work on the silly faces with BeBe and Hayes.  They both look hilarious here.  Hayes typically prefers to make silly faces.  He would rather skip the serious photos and have fun!  I know he had a blast at this party and I got a SUPER cute calendar for 2014 that he made in class as my Christmas gift.  I love it!  

I'm so thankful that my mom (who my kids call BeBe) is part of the village raising my littles and helping me with parties and other miscellaneous parenting duties.  She is truly a blessing for my family and my siblings!  

Baby bit my nose!!!

Tonight while I had a successful mom/wife night, I heard a familiar screech from upstairs.

I managed to make dinner for tonight AND tomorrow night.

Record breaking success here!

Hayes yelled down, 'Baby bit me!'

I know he is usually telling me the truth, so off I went to investigate.

I discovered that, Baby did, indeed bite his nose.

Thankfully this time she did not leave teeth marks.

Or break his skin.

Off to the bath she goes....

She didn't get a nap today, so bedtime at 6:57 p.m. is nothing short of necessary.

And yes, she will sleep until tomorrow morning.

She will likely sleep later than I would like her to on a school day.

That is also part of our normal routine...

Sleeping late on school days and rising early on those days when I just want to wake when the sun rises.

But, the reason I wanted to blog tonight was to write Hayes a note.

I was thinking about all the little things that I love about him...

and I'm afraid that one day in my Mom Brain I'll forget.

And I never want to forget.

Hayes,

You wake much earlier than I even dreamed to be awake most days.  I wish I could bounce out of bed the way you do, with more excitement and curiosity than most.  You greet each day with an eager attitude and a heart to seek fun each hour.  You bounce (literally) from your bed to the potty on your toes.  Your calf muscles are something to be envied by all people!  I think part of that is genetics (thank your mommy, daddy, and PawPaw for that) but part of it is also the fact that you have used your toes as your mode of transport since you discovered that you could walk and run instead of crawling.  You didn't toddle for long, you ran.  I often tell people you have two speeds, asleep and wide ass open.  Forgive me, there is not a better way to say it.  You bounce from your potty break to the designated location.  Sometimes I let you play downstairs while I snooze/watch tv upstairs until your sister wakes.  You have always liked to play by yourself and I'm grateful for that.  I am very thankful that God blessed me with a child who can entertain himself, most of the time.  You greet me each day with the same phrase, 'Mommy, I'm hungry/thirsty.  Can I have milk and a brown poptart?'  As long as I provide both of those and a tv or some toys you will happily let me enjoy some more quiet until at least 8 am.  Praise Jesus.  This past summer you learned to dress yourself, but you still have a hard time putting things on the right way.  Occasionally you will complain that your underwear isn't right, it is usually backwards.  You also hate to sleep in underwear, naptime or bedtime.  Most people don't get that, but I do.  You also love to go 'mando' as you say.  I have a battle each day to keep socks and shoes on you, but not like your sister.  You just don't want to put your socks/shoes on until we are 'about to weave the house right now.'

You will happily eat poptarts all day every day if we allowed it.  You enjoy anything that is processed food and I'm sad that I created such a picky child.  Oops.  One day... You are a bit like Rain Man/Sheldon Cooper when it comes to routine.  If something is different with your day or different than you anticipate it to be, you get upset.  Today BeBe had to take you to school because PaPa was sick and we thought you might have a bit of a hissy fit, turns out you were fine.  You like to eat food bars (granola bars dipped in chocolate) and gummies.  You drink almond milk and you love it.  You also like watered down apple juice.  And lemonade from chick fil a.

When you hope to avoid any activity that you know is necessary you say, 'I not feeling too good.'  I silently laugh at you.  You have just learned to sniffle and you do it a lot.  If your Aunt LeLe was near by she might cause you physical harm.  She doesn't like sniffles, just ask Buddy.  Speaking of, you love your aunts and uncles.  You enjoy being able to see them often via FaceTime and I'm very glad Apple has the technology for us to do so.  You like to 'see' them when you talk to them and you tend to think that any conversation without an iPhone is useless.  You say your prayers each night and thank God for every single person you love.  I'm glad to say that they all make the cut.  You also thank God for Walker at school and for your favorite color red.

Hayes, you are so sweet to your sister about 95% of the time.  The other 5% you are trying to wrestle her to her death or roll her over with your head.  For some reason, this is fun for you... not so much the rest of us.  This is usually why she bites you... back to the beginning...  You and Libby love to watch Charlie Brown, any holiday movie will do and that makes me a little bit crazy.   I'm over watching 'spooky Charlie Brown' and I'd like to watch the Thanksgiving or Christmas episodes, but I've learned it is not all about me.  You and Libby also love to watch Disney movies.  I am beyond thrilled that you love to sing along with every song you have learned.  It makes me happy to think that you love music as much as I do.  You know words to songs that I don't even know!  You are meticulous and play for hours with puzzles, blocks, and your mens.  Yes, mens.  You will also sit in front of the tv with your mouth hanging open just like your Daddy.  You don't like to take naps in your 'real clothes', you prefer your pajamas.  Can't blame you there.

You think that anything edible is better with yellow sauce (chick fil a sauce) and you would dip any food in that if I would let you.  You don't like to be bothered with a nap or the potty or a meal because you are too busy playing.  If I could feed you while you played you would be thrilled.  Your manners are getting better and you have turned into a snuggly little boy here lately.  I spent 2-3 years wondering why you didn't like to snuggle, but now you are quite a lovebird.  You like to share your affections and snuggle with me.  It makes my heart so happy.

Hayesface, I love you so.  You are growing up too fast and I'm not happy that you will be 4 in about a month-ish.  You are going to be a great help with Spencer Brynne in April.  I apologize that this is random, but I had a lot to share.  PK would say this is a 'thought thread'... mostly I think its scattered MomBrain.

Love you lots,
Mommy

Nasty bananas=gorgeous bread

Y'all ever had bananas that look like this?

I tend to freak out if they have a tiny brown spot.

Just one.

And I'm done with them.

I have zero desire to eat a brown-ish banana.

But man, do they make some gorgeous banana bread.

It was perfect.

I love that it was crispy and crunchy on the top, but perfect on the inside.

I added some walnuts for a crunch, must be related to Harry.

I picked up a recipe card from Starbucks a few years back.

Best thing I've ever gotten from the SBucks, like ever.

It is perfect right out of the oven.

It is even better the next day toasted and topped with cream cheese.

Totally healthy.

Lucky for me, nobody else likes it.

Princess soup

Apparently it is no longer necessary to heat the soup.

Or use a bowl.

So she just rolls with cold soup and the can.

We are stellar parents.

Noodles for dinner?

So, I have one child who doesn't like to eat anything.

He literally doesn't choose to eat much at all.

We have limited solutions for dining out options and meals at home.

Granted, I'm aware that I created that beast because I was afraid he would choke to death.

Kid had no teeth until he was almost 14-15 months old!

So, I created a picky eater who's afraid of textures.

And I know he's my child because I'm also a texture phobic eater....

if such a thing exists...

This girl, well, she's not.

She eats anything and everything we give her.

Occasionally she tells us that she doesn't like it.

But mostly we get this response. 

Recently on facebook, instagram, or twitter I saw the hashtag #rehearsaldinnerpics.

I died laughing and almost snorted.

I'm putting those in that file for this girl.

I love her.

It's a fiesta!

Sometimes summer means we are so busy having fun we forget about a nap until 3 p.m.

And we have dinner around 8 because we nap from 4-6:30 p.m.

Oops.

So I'm too lazy to cook and we go eat Mexican food.

Thankfully we can dine outside and be loud/messy without it being disastrous. 

Family dinner night at the Mexican restaurant. Hayes brought his mens along for the ride. 

This girl ate her own bowl of cheese. We couldn't share. 

He also ordered for himself telling our server he wanted chicken fingers and fries. Mind you, he doesn't eat fries. 

Just like she doesn't eat chips.

Cheese dip, new finger food?  

Literally. 

Friday Follies

Last Friday I came home from running errands and walked in the house to my kids and wrestlers.

Hayes looks at me and says, "Momma, we got boys!"

I laughed out loud.

He said it like they were a present or something we went to the store and bought.

We were taking a family field trip to the Kennesaw area and dropping the 'boys' off.

We had planned to go eat dinner and shop some in the area.

We wanted to go to the jumping place up there, but we were too late!

Hayes was so disappointed, but he survived.

Just a little snack on the way to Kennesaw.

He was laughing at Elizabeth while she was eating her toes...

then he decided he would try his toes.

**side note--his feet stink like a grown man and he's only 3**

We.  Had.  The.  Varsity.

I don't think the kids ate any of the nuggets OR fries we gave them.

But they liked the hats and the icecream.

That's a wrap people!

Friday night consisted of some feet dancing/walking with Daddy after big brother went to bed early.  

Do any of you parents have suggestions/ideas about fixing the picky eater syndrome?

We have started putting him to bed early if he refuses dinner...

Mind you, we aren't starving him.

But the child cannot survive on food bars alone.

If you'll notice her giant belly AND grin.

I think she loves him.

Daddy was home alllllllllllllll weekend.

He didn't have a wrestling tournament.

We haven't had him home for a weekend since November.

No joke folks.

It was SO nice to have Daddy home for a day or two.

This is my new book.

I bought it from Amazon, my favorite website everrrrrr.

I love Jill Conner Browne.

Go buy all her books right now.

You'll laugh until your belly hurts and then you'll laugh some more.

If you can't appreciate Southern sass, humor, and charm... don't bother reading.

You just won't understand...

We snuggled up today for a little bit after naptime.

They were still for about 5.5 seconds.

But it was a really sweet 5.5 seconds.

Can I get an amen?

And then this happened after bath and before bed.

My heart melted and I got a little weepy.

I love those people right there.

Owl Party

We partied hard today.  She played jingle bells with her bells inside plastic cups.

I giggled as she ran to any adult in the room to talk with them. 

She's such a ham and has so much personality.

She sent her love to Daddy since he was busy this morning at school!

I love catching glimpses of my kiddies at school.

I tried to sneak down to Hayes' class to watch him play for a little bit before her party.

I was doing SO good until one of his friends told on me!

She saw me and her eyes lit up!

I put my finger up to my mouth and shoooshed her....

Then she grinned REAL big and said, "HAYES!  I see your mom!"

Stinker!

Picky Eater vs Godzilla

This was his before 'cheesin' face.

He didn't realize I was serious about his pizza sandwich.

AKA:  Spaghetti sauce between the pieces of yummy cheese bread.

It was a battle.

I'm proud to say that we won.

Who eats their sandwich with a fork?

My kid.

My OCD kid who doesn't like for his hands to get yucky.

At all.

Ever.

He wasn't a HUGE fan, actually I think he hated it. 

But he ate a good bit of it.

I think this will be my route with all new things.

Trying it out via sandwich.

What else can we have on a sandwich?

Pizza, veggies, meat, mexican food...

Any ideas for any other sandwiches we could make him eat?

I mean, try....

And this one, well she doesn't miss anything.

A nap.

A meal.

A snack.

Baby girl would/could eat her weight in just about anything.

She doesn't like eggs or brussell sprouts.

But that's about it...