If you like to fold laundry, come fold mine!

I find myself so tired today.  So sad on a Saturday night that I'm fighting to keep my eyes open long enough to take my bread out of the bread machine in 40 minutes.  I think I'm probably getting enough sleep, but my home is stressing me a bit.  I have about three loads of laundry to catch up on and I need to grocery shop tomorrow as we are out of most things.

Saturday night always yields some sort of temptation for me. There is usually always one dish (or two) on my weekly menu that ideally I want my family to eat.  Somehow, days of the week go by, and none of them feel like the right day to do the amount of work said recipe calls for.  Saving a laborious recipe for the end of the week on a night when it's a girl's night just ain't gonna happen.  There's just not a whole lot of reward making a dish like that for a toddler.  My youngest had a questionnaire last week for her preschool.  I filled out each answer for her one by one. "Sweetie, what is your least favorite thing that you can think of?"  She said without hesitation, "dinner".  I feel a lot of pressure to change this but the fact is it's mostly due to how she eats.  80% of what she eats is from 6:30am to 11:30am.  Even if I made mac and cheese or pizza for dinner, she probably wouldn't touch it.

Laundry is another story.  I'd have way more success if I just outsourced and paid someone to fold for me, but that wouldn't be very thrifty... I have about three loads of clean laundry across the room staring at me right now.  I can't stand for the clothes not to be folded, but at the same time the last thing I like to do after a long day of chasing kiddos is fold.  I think if one can get on top of their laundry, they are quite possibly on top of the world.  I also need to find a way not to hoard children's art...I have quite the collection and the amount that I've convinced myself I will someday have framed and properly displayed is a little ridiculous, but atlas, I'm really a minimalist in 95% of cases, and, well...help me here!  I think an important part of saving money and dining in is loving your home and giving it love.  Tomorrow I will organize my pantry, grocery shop, fold clothes, declutter and I'm fairly sure I won't be tired.  Maybe I'll even frame some art...!

Finally, I'm humbled by homemaking and dining in.  This comes so naturally for some, and I'm learning. I used to think I was so disciplined and now I realize how spoiled I really am.  I'm sure that many of you out there are pros at saving, cooking and cleaning in comparison with me, but I'm thankful to be on this journey.  Right now, the children are sleeping (dogs too!), the kitchen is clean and the house smells like fresh bread.  Life is good.

Colors of Fall

Muffins, bread, banana bread and blackberry jam....that was a lot of work.  Never did I think the wild blackberries that grew next door would yield seven pints of jam.  Really, I was just hoping for a small bowl of berries.  I also cleaned more dishes than I've seen this year, but it was worth it.  I love blackberry jam.  There is something so magnificent about something so sweet and useful with only three ingredients.

(Recipe straight from Sure-Jell)

3 cups of mashed blackberries (don't blend...unless you want syrup)

5.25 cups of sugar

1 packet of fruit pectin

Mix the fruit and sugar and let sit.  Heat pectin and 3/4 cup of water to boiling.  Mix in with fruit and sugar...stir well and pour into containers.  Freezer jam is so easy.  I may never can again.

I love fall.  Some people spring clean, but I fall clean and bake and cook like crazy.  I love the smells in the air...the colors...even the cold and crisp feeling it gives.  I spent parts of my day organizing and I'm ecstatic to clean this week.  And bake.  And bake again.  And put homemade blackberry jam on fresh homemade bread.

Sometimes I'm not winning, but still I'm not losing...

Ah, I have been quiet this week.  This has been our first week of school for the girls with a new busy and pretty crazy schedule.  I will update how the week went tomorrow...  I did have a small crash this week.  My husband told me I would crash and crash hard, but not really.  Let's just say that fluffy coffees can really help one cope with the many stresses of a new schedule and an occasional dessert out with the girls is necessary.  The dessert was planned far in advance and well worth it.  Peets coffee is incredible.  Still, third weekend in a row, so far, of not going out to eat.  No fast food or anything else. I don't feel that self righteous.  This month has been a bit spendy so far, and I really don't feel like I'm saving us money yet.  Maybe after the next two weeks...

I still need to improve in the planning department.  Especially making plans that doesn't make life too hard on me and allows me to make quick, easy and healthy breakfasts and lunches so that I can focus on spending time with my kids and not just feeding them.

Prep day results

I got everything on my checklist done except the pesto.  I feel good about that.  I didn't have Parmesan, so I will have to pick that up tomorrow to complete my recipes.  I did, however, make delicious clam chowder and banana nut bread.  The girls even got naps.  I wish I could be giddy, but I'm too exhausted.

I'm offline the next few days during our trip to the coast.  When I get back home my next post will be about rules I'm enforcing on myself.  I already have to break one.  Yes, I have to.  We promised my youngest a trip to Chuck E Cheese once she went #2 on the toilet....and guess what she did today!  This offer was in place long before this blog, so I gotta keep it. 

Prepping for the weekend

I have so much on my plate tomorrow.  I really want to make things as easy on myself as possible for our weekend at the coast, and I really don't want to spend the whole weekend cooking so I will be doing food prep tomorrow.  I hope to make the clam chowder for Friday night, make some pesto with chicken to pour on pasta Saturday night and make a loaf of banana bread.  I also have to take my youngest to her first half day of school, meet the folks halfway to drop off our dogs and go to parent orientation at the girls school tomorrow night.  All this and I'm going to get the girls to nap, right?  If I can do all this, I may just be a superhero in disguise.

We made it.

Sometimes we try just to make it through the day.  Other times we realize we inadvertently made it hard on ourselves.  So was the case today when I realized halfway through the day I had forgotten (and was out of) my thyroid meds and could hardly get up.  Problem is now resolved, but not taking these makes me extremely lethargic, and I don't frequently miss them.

The house is messy, but under the circumstances I am so glad to have made it through the day.  The girls and I were out 3.5 hours doing school shopping of sorts.  When we got back we had some down time and then we were off to a social at the preschool till past 8pm.  We made it.  It was too much for all of us, but we made it.  My girls are on a pretty strict schedule that keeps all of us healthy and happy, so this week will challenge us because there is nothing we can do about the crazy schedule.  At the end of the night, my oldest wanted sleep and my youngest sat in front of the mirror, crying and brushing her hair trying to make it grow longer.  I do not look forward to the teenage years.

I am extremely pleased with one aspect of our day, however.  My extremely picky youngest ate fish.  I can barely get her to eat anything, so this was sensational!  Actually, both my daughters ate fish and are convinced that mommy makes the best fish.  I do, in fact.  At least, I do have the best fish recipe.

Must get sleep.  I hope everyone else is finding a better rhythm to this week than I am.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan (This takes about six minutes!)

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

Driving through Albany to my folks house today and guess what I saw?  $2 Root Beer Floats at A&W...Nutter Butter Blizzard at DQ...$1.50 Iced Mochas (local coffee shop) and the list goes on.  Seriously?  Never tried a Nutter Butter blizzard, and you can be sure as heck that I want to!  Not that I'm helping anyone here.  I never even typically notice treats like this, but everywhere I went it was hitting me like a sucker punch.  Something tells me this will be easier in a few months...

Labor Day and vacation plans next week...

We're off to the beach on Friday for our first non camping trip of the summer.  I told my husband I planned on having all our meals from the house.  "Uh-huh."  He replied.  Gotta love the faith he has in me.  Good thing there is no Mo's where we are going.  I'm also thankful for the ability to make mouth watering clam chowder and coolers to keep it fresh until check-in.

Off to celebrate Labor Day in two hours.  Be safe and drive carefully!

Everyday should be Sunday

Yesterday I made an incredible beef coconut curry dish, so please be patient with me when I admit I made mac and cheese tonight.  It WAS Annie's organic.  So junk food as it may be, it is organic junk food.  That makes it okay, right?  Truth is, we had plenty of leftovers in the house, it was hot and I didn't feel like cooking.  I know tomorrow we're going to eat healthy at the granfolks house, so I'll cease worrying about it.

I thought about my commitment to this today.  Pure fun to me is sushi.  No sushi for awhile.  I suppose I could get desperate and learn to make it, and we'll see.  No soda or coffee for awhile either.  I don't drink coffee as a general rule unless I go out, but it can be such a nice way of pampering myself.  At home I make milky sugary chai, and I'll keep making that, thank you very much.  I'm also going to be bringing water with me where ever I go.  I know most people probably do this already.  I'm good about bringing water for the girls, but for me not bringing water is an opportunity to buy a soda or iced tea.  Yes, I admit it.  Today, my errands ran longer than expected and I found us in town at lunch time.  In the past, I would have stopped to get the girls a snack or food and completed my trip.  This time, however, I went home and fed them lunch.  It's a good opportunity to teach them how important it is to sit and eat, anyway.

I took the girls to the dollar store where they bought five puzzles with their hard earned allowance, and played with them throughout the day.  Later in the day, my hubby melted my heart by taking out his guitar (which he never does) and playing twinkle, twinkle little star for the girls.  I actually found it less stressful staying in and not going out to eat at all.  I think sometimes we go out to save ourselves work, but going out is work in itself.  Slow day.  No real chores...Did I mention I love Sundays?

Just Starting

Now and then I ask my husband how much we have in savings.  We have a modest savings, and whenever I ask about it, the amount never seems to change.  We have saved some, but we aren't actively saving.  But how could that be?  We are so frugal.  I hardly ever shop for clothes or shoes, I use coupons for soaps and toiletries, we grocery shop at WinCo for the most part, and we don't have expensive furniture.  "Why aren't we saving?  What can I do?" I asked my husband one day.  As the person in the family currently not earning an income, I tend to carry some guilt regarding our finances.  I'm a mom...pretty much I carry guilt about EVERYTHING.  He said, "Check our tab for dining out.  If you really want to save money, that's the place."  I'm not sure I really believed him, I mean, we aren't exactly big livers.  Last Thursday, I sat down at our computer and opened up Microsoft Money.  I tallied up one month worth of going out and shook my head.  Had to be a fluke.  I tallied up the month before.  Then the month before.  I really don't think of us as eating out that much, but we were averaging close to $350 a month.  Sometimes it was more, sometimes it was less.  I didn't feel very frugal.  At least I saw an opportunity and I was going to start immediately.  I started with my birthday which was yesterday.  Okay, so maybe not the best idea.  I would have much rather gone out for Sushi than make dinner.  One thing I found in my monthly totals is there is always something to justify the biggest out to eat expense, and I was determined to start September on a good note.  I ran out of ingredients for dinner and was tied up till mid afternoon.  Fortunately my hubby came home early and I didn't have to drag two overtired kiddos with me.  I did, however, still get stuck in a mess of Labor Day/Friday night traffic.  Oh well, a quiet car can be a birthday present all in itself.  I made spaghetti with marinara sauce and salad.  (brown rice noodles in bulk for me)  Sounds boring, and it was.  But that's what happens when you have very little time and no energy to work with.  I did, however, pick up some candy bar ice cream to indulge in for my birthday.  I had two bowls, thank you.  And in case you're worried that my celebration was good enough, my hubby bought me a beautiful OSU jacket and my kids got me two Beatles cds.  One of my friends took us to lunch.  It was a *very* good day.

I have the next two days better planned.  I plan on blogging this journey, because without accountability, I'm not sure I can do this.  I do plan on going out to eat for date nights once every one or two months.  I also plan on going out more than that, just not for meals.  I know I will need to make a habit of making freezer meals for sick days.  Today, my hubby went to work on our rental, and typically by the weekend he has to pick up something to eat while he's out for the day.  This time I had a water bottle, generous snack and sandwich waiting for him to take.  I was probably a bit too excited about completing such a simple and normal task.  Maybe peanut butter and jelly doesn't earn me a speech, but I'll take what I can get.  This isn't the blog of how to do or be perfect, just me learning to be a better me.  Now off to organize my fridge and pantry.