Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, right after the Christmas the flu hit my three-year-old for a little over a week.  :(  He recovered and my asthma started acting up (and still is...thank you Southern Indiana weather...NOT).  I jumped back into the school thing, and am on my way to earning a degree...finally.  Which is great . . . but not easy taking a full class load (2 on campus and 2 online) with a 3 year old and 11 month old running around.

Going back to school always befuddles me.  I think I know what I want to do and then I get into certain classes and I think - oh...I want to do that.  And I have to remind myself that this is why I never finished in the first place and to FOCUS.  I actually enjoy most of my classes and that's the problem; I could be a career-student.  Just bounce around from this area to that.  Go ahead, call me a nerd.  My secret shame is out.  Haha.  

Anyhoo, after shopping at the store for so many "special" things (holiday meals, appetizers for parties, etc.) our staple supplies have dwindled and we are in serious need of a good grocery trip.  So, tomorrow, I'm headed out to get supplies for another freezer-cooking venture.  But this time, I'm doing it with a friend!  My sister-in-law and I are going shopping together, then we'll bag together, and then we'll split the bags to stock our freezers!  Not only will I be productive, it will probably prove to be a fun (or funny) adventure!

If you want to begin your freezer journey but are still skeptical or afraid ...I've made it super easy for you!  Go to my The Family Dinner blog and you'll find that my latest post includes links that will take you to printable docs -- one is master recipe bank with bagging and serving instructions and the other is the master shopping list for all the recipes.  Ta-Da!  The hardest part is done for you.  And to make it more fun, grab a friend and do it together!  *Just be sure you double the ingredients on the shopping list so you each have 22, that's right 22, meals to take home!

Supper, Dinner, That Meal You Eat at the End of the Day...

Whatever you call it, the meal around the family table really is important.  For instance, I would never have known that a "cheffer" is someone who "cooks real good food" or that Peyton got his pretty eye-lashes at JayC if not for the family meal.

As I continue my adventure with this whole Freezer-Cooking Series, I have realized more and more each day how special this time is.  The days rush by so quickly, and often we're busy at work or at home, or we're rushing to an activity of some sort - and we miss those funny, cute moments with our families.  Supper-time is becoming more and more obsolete, and it's a shame.  The meal around the table is our time to connect.  It's our time to rid ourselves of distractions, gather together, decompress, enjoy good food, and most importantly - enjoy each other!  

"Regular family mealtime also is linked to better emotional health, fewer risk-taking behaviors, such as alcohol and drug abuse and better school performance."  Taken from Mealtime.org - The Family Table

We all have busy schedules, but the Freezer-Cooking series can help!  When your main dish (or whole meal) is cooking all day while you're doing other things, it's easy to get a nutritious, yummy! meal on the table in no time and get back to the Family Table!

See my previous post for the whole Freezer-Cooking scoop; and then head over to my The Family Dinner blog to check out the recipes as we try them!

Even if you can't get to the table as a family every night - start small, and choose one or two nights that you can get there, and make it happen!  Or, if breakfast is a better time for a family meal, do it then . . . I am not a morning person, so not that's not my bag; but if it works for you and your family, that's great!  Bottom line, it doesn't matter the time of day; just get there together!  And don't rush - choose a time that you'll have time to get the full experience!  Good luck!

What the @&$% Was I Thinking? Oh Wait...This Is Awesome!

Recently I got it in my head to try this idea of prepping and freezing (in 1 day) a whole month's worth of meals to make dinner easier during the week.  I have seen quite a few blogs on this and thought many, many, many times that I should try it, but I never committed to it and the idea eventually fizzled.  But, for some reason this time I thought, "I can do this."

Anyhoo - I headed out to Sam's Club, the local 'buy in bulk' store to get all the meat that I would need for this venture.  Then I hit up the local grocery store sale for the rest.  My advice - if you want to give this adventure a try, do plan ahead in order to get the most bang for your buck!  This can actually prove to be a cheaper option than weekly grocery shopping if you do.  Also, have a friend (or brother-in-law - Thank you, Patrick!) who can help you determine just what in the hell hoisin sauce is and what aisle to find it in!

*Helpful shopping list hint - on a piece of paper as you go through the recipes writing your list, don't write it out as 3 onions, 2 chicken breasts (or whatever), instead mark it like this:
Onion -III
Chicken Breast - II
By doing it this way, you can just continue adding tally marks to items as they appear in the recipes, thereby making it MUCH easier to see how much of an item you need instead of writing them ALL from each recipe and then trying to go back through the list and add things up.
 
Last night after putting the kids to bed, I stare at all the bags of food sitting around my kitchen and almost have heart failure.  What was I thinking?!  But I take a deep breath and start sorting.  All the raw meat in one area, all the veggies in another, the spices in another, etc.  Then I take my gallon Ziploc bags and start writing the names of the meals on them.  

Can you tell I'm stalling at this point?!

Finally, I get down to business.  For me, the easiest way to do this was to first sort the meat (cutting it as I went, if needed) into the Ziploc bags and put them on the table out of my way.  Then I scanned the recipes to determine how many onions I needed to chop, how many to slice, etc.  And I did that with all my veggies and did all the chopping at once.  After I completed all the chopping, mincing, blah, blah, blah ... I moved on to filling the bags.  I opened each recipe (I did not write them down, some people do; I bookmarked the link on my computer and just opened them as I went) and grabbed the bag of meat that corresponded and added my veggies and any other sauces or spices that were listed.  Then I smooshed it all around to mix it up and stuck it in the freezer.  I simply repeated this step until I used the last bag of meat!  *Some recipes call to serve with rice or pasta ... you just leave that out and cook that part when you're ready to eat.

When it was all over, I thought--good grief that was crazy!  I don't know if I'll ever do that again.  But then, I thought - wait a minute, I have my main dishes all ready for almost the ENTIRE MONTH.  So all I have to do is grab them from the freezer the night before, throw them in the fridge to thaw overnight, and then in the morning put them in the crockpot on low so supper is ready when we are!  I did all my prep-work in about 3 hours instead of spreading it out into an hour this night, a half-hour that night, etc.  Three hours in one day and I'm finished!  I do have to give credit to my husband for helping me for about an hour and a half ... but then I had to release him for "The Walking Dead," (eeeeewwww) and I finished up by myself.  

AWESOME!  

*A few recipe notes -
1.  I did not brown any of my meat.  Some of the recipes call for this, but based on others' experiences, it is not a necessary step.
2.  I used some fresh herbs, but not all.  Fresh does have that extra oomph, but it won't destroy the meal if you use dried herbs.  I did this because I have quite a few dried herbs already in my spice rack, so it cut down on my cost.
3.  I was confused at first because not all of these meals are 'crock-pot' meals, and I was concerned that this wasn't going to work like I'd hoped.  But just ignore the cooking directions, throw the ingredients in the bag, smoosh around, and freeze.  Move from freezer to fridge the night before to thaw, grab it from the fridge in the morning and give it a good squeeze to mix it up again, and put it in the crock-pot on low.
4.  There are 19 recipes total on the list I used.  The author of the blog (see below) doubled each recipe (except the ones that were already doubled by the original author) so that she'd have almost 40 meals.  I did not double them because we're just trying them out for the first time.  If we like the recipe, then next month I'll double it.  I'll also be looking for other recipes to add to the rotation!

If you're feeling brave enough to jump right in (and I encourage you do so), visit Who Needs a Cape for the complete recipe list.

If you're not feeling so brave just yet and want to see how it turns out first, follow my Family Dinner Blog for the individual recipes and verdicts on taste as we thaw and cook them!  

I believe tomorrow night we'll start with Teriyaki Chicken or Cilantro-Lime Chicken...

Romance is Dead. ...Or is It?

I recently had a friend tell me she hated romance movies because no man was actually like any of the men in the romance movies.  I happen to love romance movies.  So I was thinking about our conversation and (most) women's love of this genre.  

Now, I'm not saying that men don't possess some good qualities, but a lot of men really lack the "romance bone."  And when we watch a movie where the man makes this big, romantic gesture, we sigh and wish our significant other would perform such a gesture.  Do we realize that you will never be Hugh Grant?  Yes.  Hugh Grant isn't even Hugh Grant.  So then why do we watch, and why do we hold on to a tiny glimmer of hope that one day we will get that gesture?

Why else would we date?!  Ha.

But seriously.

22 Days of Thanksgiving

This "game" is taking Facebook by storm.  Every year it begins on Facebook -- every day, beginning November 1st, you post something that you're thankful for.  I did it last year.  But this year as November 1st came and went, I made a somewhat conscious decision not to get into it this year.  Why?  Because some people (myself included) see the posts and think, "Congratulations, you have...  Why do you feel the need to post it on Facebook?  Maybe we don't care." 

And I still felt that way as I saw the barrage of comments about thankfulness on November 2nd and most of the 3rd.  Seriously - I'm happy that you have stuff to be thankful for.  So do I.  Why do we feel this need to share it all over Facebook?  It's not really people sharing their blessings.  It's bragging about the people in our lives or the things that we have.  It's a big "In Your Face!" to everyone on our friend list.  For example, we post that we're thankful for the wonderful husband we have who works hard, etc.  And secretly we're thinking, "Because I know Janie So-and-So's husband is a real loser...maybe she'll get the message when she reads this." 

Then, last night (November 3rd), I spent the evening working at our Church's Annual Turkey Supper.  I talked to people I've known forever, some newer friends, and some I'd just met.  As I looked at all the people working with me, all the people enjoying the dinner, and all the camaraderie in general happening around me, I realized what a bad attitude I had about this harmless game.  Here I stood in the middle of a room with nearly six hundred people that came to eat, to share their time with others, and to be thankful together.  I was so ... THANKFUL! to be part of it.  

And it dawned on me - people aren't bragging or writing these posts to make others feel bad.  They are truly sharing with the world (or at least our online part of it) how they feel to be surrounded by the people that they love, and how much they enjoy the things they have.  For a change it's not a post about, "This person makes me so mad," or "I wish I had ..."  It's a simple statement about being satisfied and appreciative of who and what we have.  Instead of taking time to be negative, they're taking time to be positive and share the experience of being thankful with others.  And couldn't we all use a little less negativity and a lot more happy?! 

So, look for me to start posting what I'm thankful for!  And Facebook friends, I'm sincerely happy that you have so many wonderful things to be thankful for in your lives! 

Money, Money, Money ... Mo-ney!

"Some people got to have it.  Some people really need it."  -O'Jays

Being a stay-at-mom is incredibly rewarding in so many ways, however, money isn't one of those rewards.  Which means budgeting becomes way more necessary than it did back before marriage or kids.  And it's hard sometimes.  It's hard to watch your friends or other family members do things and buy things that you can't do or buy right now because you're a one-income family.  

Some people say, "Well, go get a job."  Well, I have a job.  Just because it doesn't earn a paycheck doesn't mean it's not a job.  And in our situation for me to get a job wouldn't really add to our income - it would just pay for someone else to be with my children instead of me getting to be with them.  Let me clarify:  I don't regret for one single second my decision to be at home.  I get to see every milestone, hear every silly story, and teach them the things I think are important as they grow.

That doesn't mean it isn't hard some days.

But I have found something to make it a little easier.  

Mvelopes.com.  It's a FREE website that helps you manage your finances and makes it easier to save for the things you want/need.  If you are struggling to make your finances work for you (whether you stay at home or not), I urge you to give this site a try.

Now, I'm not perfect, and there has been a time or two when I've spent money but I've already maxed out my mvelope budget for that particular category.  But the good thing is that after I do it, I see a big, ugly red number that says, "Hey - you overspent.  Tsk, tsk."  And the following month when I "fund" my mvelopes, instead of $100 in that budget, I'll only see $75 because I overspent last month.  After you see those big, ugly red numbers a time or two, you'll really strive to do without if you've already spend your budget.  Because it's amazing how those numbers can sound like your mom in your head. 

Using this site, we've come a little way from the days where we lived paycheck to paycheck, which is no fun.  And speaking of fun, don't forget to give yourself a little fun money or you'll never stick to your budget!  

*If decide to use Mvelopes.com, please leave me a comment here to let me know how you liked it!

Headed for Crazy . . .

Being a Stay-At-Home-Mom (SAHM) is very rewarding ... most days.  

However, you have days where it seems like all hell breaks loose and you want to run screaming down the street - and the only thing that's stopping you is the tiny shred of sanity (somewhere) reminding you that if you do that, when you get back to the house it will be in an even bigger state of disaster than it already is (which is part of what caused you to run screaming in the first place) because hey--when Mom's away, the toddler will play!

Those days happen, and at the end of those days, I fall into bed wondering an array of things from "I just need one day to myself..." to "When did I become Mommy Dearest?"  And then I cry.  Well - I would cry, but I'm too tired.

The next day, which is usually back to normal, I find myself wondering if I am terrible mom because I just want that one day to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, enjoy a cup of coffee and a couple chapters of a book, go shopping for myself, have lunch with a friend, go to dinner and movie with my hubby, and then head home where I can pamper myself a little before bed and then sleep, not having to worry about one of the kids getting up sick or scared in the middle of the night.  You know - one day where you can be who you were before kids.

When you're with your children 24/7 it's easy to forget all about that person you used to be because it's so easy to focus on those sweet little faces who need you.  And it's really easy for all the people around you to forget that, too.  I find that often when I want a day to myself (and I don't mean a trip to the grocery store or doctor's office without kids, I mean a day to something for myself by myself), friends and family tend to say things like, "I can't believe you want to be away from your kids," or "What do you need a break from, you don't work?" or "I never got a break."  And then in addition to feeling worse about myself, I also now want to strangle someone.  Because, if you never got a break, then you know what I feel like and don't you wish someone would have offered to help you out?  And I do want to be with grown-ups for a change, and it doesn't mean I don't love or miss my kids when I'm away.  AND - What do you mean I don't work?!?!

Then guilt sets in.  Are these people right?  Am I a terrible mom?

No.

I'm human.   And it's okay for me to want time to myself once in a while.  It's okay for me to take that time.  Because if you never take time for yourself, that's when Mommy Dearest creeps up on you.   

*Mind you, I've never beaten my child with a wire hangar, but there are days when that sink overflowing with dishes taunts me from the kitchen and I know I can't get to it because no one is napping today; or a toy out of place sends me over the edge so I threaten to throw every single toy in the house in the garbage if I trip on that stupid Joker House one more time.*

Yes, time to yourself for yourself is important.  And it helps me decompress and refresh myself.  That way, I'm not Mommy Dearest, but rather Fun Mommy who loves playing with the Joker House and doesn't stress if I don't get the dishes done until tomorrow!  

So if you're a fellow SAHM, don't beat yourself up because every now and again you dream of a day children-free...find that friend or family member who gets it and let them enjoy your children for a day while you go do something for yourself.  And if you aren't a SAHM, put yourself in our shoes for a moment and instead of beating us up for wanting the time (we do that enough ourselves), offer to give us a day, or even just an hour or two.  It often means more than you realize.  

And understand that no one loves our children more than we do -- but even mommies need a kid-free bathroom break once in a while!