Thoughts from Today - Three Days in a Row, People!

Look at me!...Three days in a row.

Proctored the A.P. European history test today. Four hours on my feet. I'm beat (and a poet). So dragging, so I'm off to bed.

#1 caught the Warden and me up in searching for a waterproof satchel for her. Up until now, we thought she could just wait until she got to the Philippines, so she could get one there, but it seems that she's feeling that she'll need one for the MTC. No luck yet, but we're still looking.

That's the only thing keeping me up at this point. Well...that, and my desire to be on a three-day blogging streak.

Finished Ether this morning. That means I should be done with the Book of Mormon within the next couple days. Moroni goes by so fast.

Just a couple thoughts....

image: tampagov.net

So, so sad to watch a civilization die. Clearly revenge is not a good motive. We often hear "revenge is sweet." This is such a farce! It's a HUGE lie! Doesn't anyone really believe in Romans 12:19? Is it because we don't trust? Well, I think I've decided that I'm going to trust that. Holding grudges does nothing but hurt the individual who holds it. Here we are back to drinking poison and hoping another person will die. Grudges only hurt the holder of them. Forgiveness, on the other hand, is freeing.
sweet." What a farce that is! What a lie! Revenge is STUPID! Doesn't anyone believe

As I read I got to thinking about the Castro brothers. Just watched an interview about them yesterday. It's left some pretty strong impressions. That was an AWFUL situation, no question. It sickens me, but reading Ether has brought some even stronger impressions.

I also think it must have been a HUGE tender mercy for Moroni to have abridged that record and particularly that portion of the record as he watched his own people die out. BRUTAL! I feel for Moroni, but surely, seeing things through Ether's eyes and knowing that he isn't the only record keeper to have watched to the very end must have made him feel not so alone. Would that have held some amount of comfort for him? I like to think so.

It was a good day today. A busy, crazy day, but a good day, nonetheless. Tomorrow will be a day at home to get laundry done and get the menu set for next week and the grocery list ready. I've had a few friends tell me that they like the menus, so I'm going to attempt to get things up and running in that way. The Disneyland trip kind of threw me off. I'm trying to get a year's worth of crockpot dinners set up. I'm about halfway there. I'll post next week once I get that done.

Oh yah, #1 and I spent some time at the Family History Center today too. We found some pretty cool things about the Warden's third great grandfather--Lot Smith.

Yup. It was a good day.

Crockpot Menu and Shopping List - Week #8

I've taken a bit of a vacation on the crockpot menus. Time to get back into the swing of things. I've been using my crockpot nightly, but I just haven't had a formal menu made up. Here's one for this week. I've temporarily retired from doing breakfast recipes in the crockpot. It's been such a stop and go kind of thing that I've decided to give myself a break for awhile. So, here's a menu for dinners in a crockpot for this week.

Menu

Sunday            Honey mustard pork chops
                          served w/potatoes

Monday           Bacon beef and barley soup

Tuesday           Chicken pepperoni

Wednesday      Three bean soup

Thursday          Chicken tikka masala

Friday               Caribbean beef stew

Saturday           Italian chicken

Shopping List

Produce

Garlic

Potatoes

Onion

Red potatoes

Baby carrots

Green pepper

English cucumber

Cilantro

Ginger

Meat

Pork chops

Bacon

Beef steaks

Pepperoni

Stew meat

Dairy

Cheese

Mozzarella

Parmesan cheese

Cream cheese

Eggs

Milk

Heavy cream

Butter

 

Frozen

Chicken (3)

Apple juice

Corn

Spices

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

Basil

Garlic powder

Garam masala

Thyme

Allspice

White pepper

Baking

Olive oil

Flour

Canned

Cream of mushroom soup

Beef broth (2)

Tomatoes w/basil, garlic, and oregano

Mexican style diced tomatoes

Tomatoes (4)

Tomato paste

Spaghetti sauce (2)

Mushrooms

Garbanzos beans

Small red kidney beans

Small white beans

Miscellaneous

Honey mustard

Beef gravy

Lemon juice

Worcestershire sauce

Pasta/Rice

Pearl barley

Pasta

Quinoa

Basmati rice

Penne pasta

Ethnic

Salsa

Bread

Bread

Bagels

English muffins

The BEST of the Crockpot Recipes So Far

Dinner tonight was honestly SO GOOD! Yesterday, when I told the kids we would be having fish tonight, I expected them to groan, but was so surprised to hear the opposite. Two kids were going to be gone for the night. They were seriously trying to talk me in to changing the order of the menu, and I considered it. But the kids who are here wouldn't hear of it. I'm guessing we'll have to make this one again.

Thought I'd take a minute and share our faves of what we've tried in our crockpot so far. Here they are in no particular order:

• Bacon Ranch Chicken
• Caramel Rolls - we made these without the glaze and just called them Monkey Bread.
• Fish Au Gratin - This was tonight's dinner. We used tilapia. SO, SO, SO YUMMY!
• Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup - I think we've enjoyed every potato soup recipe we've tried.
• Sloppy Joes - A little spicy, but oh so, yummy!
• Southwestern Two Bean Chicken
• French Toast - the original name has "casserole" attached to it. I felt this was a misnomer, and a turn off for my kids.
• Foil Packet Tilapia - I wasn't home for this one, so my teenage daughter made it for the crew. They all LOVED it and raved about it. I will HAVE to make this one again, so I can give it a try.
• Cheesy Potato Soup
• Santa Fe Chicken
• Lasagna - My kids were unintimidated by the "green stuff."
• Nutella Banana Bread - We used the recipe provided, but next time, we'll use our favorite banana bread recipe, but follow their instructions for incorporating Nutella.

We've had some real losers too, so maybe that will be a future post. All in all, the kids don't love the recipes that have had eggs or hash browns in them. The consistency is just a bit grainy and not like what you love about either ingredient when they're cooked in a pan--firm and maybe even just a bit crispy.

I love that I've learned that pasta can be poured in uncooked for the last 15 minutes. That's so great! There have been too many times when I've made crockpot pasta dishes where they've asked that you pre-cook the pasta and pour it in. Ick! It ends up WAY overcooked.

Making Sure They're Fed - Part 2

image: freesamplefreak.com

TOTAL meltdown yesterday afternoon..... How do you keep your family fed? Mine is VORACIOUS, and no matter what I do, it's never enough. I don't buy fun things any more because anything I buy is gone in a day or two. I buy the same old stuff, but within days of buying it the cyclone hits, and before I know it, my kids start asking, "Mom, when are you going grocery shopping again." Ugh!

Is there a trick to this? Is there something I'm missing?

Let me paint you a little picture here....elementary school-aged son comes home has a cookie (I made a few extra from those we'll have for FHE last night), he eats a string cheese, a yogurt, a whole bagel and was headed for the pickle jar. UGH!

image: ediltd.com

image: termagon.com

At this point, watching them all eat up everything I'd just worked so hard to buy (and paid full price for), I FREAKED out! NOOOO!!!! It was all going to be gone within minutes the way they were going. It was like watching termites eat away at your house.

They are NOT starving, I'm SURE of it. They eat breakfast. They eat lunch, and they eat dinner. I provide a snack for them in the afternoon when they get home from school. They just eat because it's there, and when it's not there, they sit and complain. Ugh! This is NOT good.

image: en.wikipedia.org

I find myself, yet again, running the hamster wheel.




So, here's the next chapter....I blew up (it's been coming for a long time), went for a drive, and ended up in my husband's office. It was so nice to have a place to go to vent. He listened calmly and patiently (oh, how I love that man!). When he left for home, so did I. Oh, while I was there, my daughter called him and it sounded like they were looking for the missing ingredients for dinner--that's what sparked all of this....I now have a very specific menu for the week, and if they eat the main ingredients, we don't have dinner. Thankfully, he knew where the ingredients were--not in the place they should have been. SURPRISE!

Anyway, we got home, and the house was spotless. They had obviously worked hard, and I felt foolish. I love these kids and hate it when I come unglued about dumb things, but really, they need to be a little more courteous.

When I returned home, I started right in making dinner, after I exclaimed over and thanked them for cleaning the house. They each jumped in asking what they could do to help. During dinner they oohed and aahed over what they were eating (it wasn't over the top. Just nice little comments: "Oh, this is so good," etc.). After dinner, they each thanked me.

After dinner jobs were done without complaint--even though my husband, while he read to our youngest would insert things into the story like: "And when she went into the cafeteria, she saw that that TABLE WAS CLEARED and the dishes were PUT IN THE DISHWASHER" as a reminder for kids sitting in the room who hadn't jumped up to do their jobs yet. This really wasn't part of the story, but the three-year-old didn't mind. The 17-year-old, however, told him "that isn't creative, Dad."


During Family Home Evening, I asked for a few minutes at the end. I apologized and told them that I'd been trying to come up with a solution, so I asked them three things....Would they:

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1. Ask before they eat things.
2. Tell me when they use the last of something.
3. Throw empty containers away.

They agreed that they would.


After making my requests, I asked the kids if there was one thing they would like to snack on that I could attempt to keep a larger supply of, what would it be. The answer....fruit and veggies.

image: raisingzak.com

Not a problem. Actually, our fridge is practically overflowing with them right now. So, we're set.


So, for now, things are good. A little reminder about courtesy and gratitude, and we're back on the right track.

I'm not one to blow up very often--"reproving betimes" (D&C 121:43)--but maybe that's why it seems to go a little farther when I do. I'm hoping this trend stays for awhile or even becomes a habit. Boy, that'd be nice.

Making Sure They're Fed

image: stackedstonefarm.blogspot.com

I'm reworking how I view grocery shopping. With coupons, to really work great deals, it's a matter of stockpiling. That's super great and so fun, but it's tough when the kids are trying to make lunch and lunch meat didn't make the list the week before, so they're out of luck and then it ends up not just being lunch meat but item after item doesn't exist in the house. Things get a little stressful around here when you can't find what you need.

image: savingandgiving.net

I guess a big part of our problem here is that a stockpile has to consist of a heck of a lot of stuff in order to build up. If I buy six boxes of granola bars, you'd better believe they'll be gone within the week. Frustrating!

So, here's my new plan.....

image: hotcouponworld.com

I decided that every week I'm going to buy the very same things. I created a four-week menu from those items. No recipe is repeated, but if I buy meatballs, for example, one week I'll make sweet and sour meatballs, the next week it'll be spaghetti and meatballs, the next is meatball subs, and then the last week will be Swedish meatballs. See how it works? I make sure that I buy what we eat and that we eat what we buy.

image: in-this-economy.com

I created a master grocery list that will be used week after week, and tonight, I went to WinCo because it, pretty consistently, has the everyday lowest prices. I bought every item on the list and used absolutely no coupons. Yes, it just about killed me to know that I was spending full price as I put things in my cart, but I had to have a base line to work from.

When I got home, I tracked how much each item cost and the size and brand of what I purchased.

image: thenutritionpost.com

The result....I have found that I need to increase my grocery budget markedly. I already knew this, but I was betting each month on the fact that I'd use coupons and save quite a bit. I have saved a lot, but until I get ahead, it just isn't practical here.

image: markosweb.com

Here's how I'm going to get ahead.....Each week, when I get ready to go grocery shopping, I'm going to go to theobsessiveshopper.net. I'll click on my area and when it asks me to select my store, I'll take the "all in one" option. At the top of the list, I'll click "start." That will darken in (select) the entire list. I will also have my spreadsheet of prices open. As I cruise down the obsessive shopper list, I will compare the prices with those that I've recorded from WinCo. I'm only going to look at those items on my weekly grocery list. When I do find one of those items, and I see that it's got a lower price, I will click on it. This will make it lighter. When I'm all done, I click "shrink," and it will take only those items that I've clicked, and I will have a shopping list to print.

image: classycouponclipper.blogspot.com

Then it's a matter of locating the coupons for those items, and I'm on my way. The great thing is, if I don't want to have to run to every store in the area for those deals, I can just run to Walmart and do an "ad match." They will match the prices on most of the other store's advertised deals. Here's their policy.

I include this here because until fairly recently, the city I live in hasn't had a Walmart close enough to shop at on a frequent basis. Now, we have one that's a grocery store only, but considering that that's what I'm going there for, and considering this ad match policy, I can't complain. I had no idea that Walmart did this until my sister-in-law came into town and showed me the ropes. It was a very joyful thing!

image: northlandsnewscenter.com

So, here's the best part of all....Although I will have all of that money budgeted for groceries, my plan is to not use it. As I shop the other stores' sales and use coupons, I'll keep from spending what I have on hand. That money can then be used for something else, and if I HAVE to buy things at regular price, I can, and it won't be such a stressful situation on a week when I find I don't have the time to coupon.

If you have any desire to see my spreadsheet of prices or my monthly menu, I'm happy to share. Just let me know.

Menu Plan #4

I'm posting a lot this morning.  It's Friday.  I'm playing catch up.  All playdates were cancelled this week.  The week when I could have used them the most.  Between my sick kids and friends' sick kids, everything was a no go.

Today is #1's dinner night.  It as traded yesterday for #3's night.  #3 did the trading because she planned on a crockpot dinner but then neglected to get it ready before she left for school yesterday.  Today, again, she forgot, so I did hers, and she will make my Sunday night.  She doesn't know that yet, but she's pretty happy to cook whenever, and I'm more than happy to have a simple dinner tonight.

Tonight is the night of the surprise I mentioned on Facebook.

My brother is both a Jedi and a Stormtrooper for the Cloud City Garrison here in Portland.  They are a group that dresses up in Star Wars costumes and does a lot of service events in the area.  My brother's been doing it for years.  The kids think he's AWESOME.

His son outgrew his padawan costume, so a few months back, my brother and the Warden took up a conversation about #5 having the costume presented to him (complete with braid).  #5 is a Star Wars FREAK!  He has been since he was tiny.  A lot of my friends are surprised that that "Star Wars phase" hasn't passed.

Tonight, we will meet with various characters, and my brother, the Jedi, will present the costume to him.  He will get in costume and get to meet up with people and take pictures with them.

Tomorrow, they will be at the Children's Museum and #5 will get to join in on the fun.

Here's a little taste of what this is all about. My brother actually brought his "sand trooper" costume with him to our family reunion and had some of his buddies come join him to walk around the streets and the beach at Seaside, Oregon...

#5, being one of the middle children rarely has anything amazing happen for him.  I'm so excited that this will be just for him.

So, back to dinner....

As I threw the chicken into the crockpot, I realized that I hadn't posted this week's meal plan.  I've got to get into a better habit of this.  Anyway, here's what we've done this week....

Saturday:  Doritos Locos Tacos - basically tacos with crunched up Dorito's in them.  This was #2's meal.  He's so funny.  He finds something that some restaurant is doing and chooses to imitate it.

Sunday:  Chicken Divan Crepes.  I posted this recipe in an earlier post.  I learned not to fill the crepes too full.  This was good, but a friend suggested that curry and lemon juice needed to be added to the sauce.  I completely agree.

Monday:  Okonomiyaki.  I also posted this one in that same previous post.  This was the most expensive thing we've made so far.  Had to go to the Asian market to buy the flour and the sauces for the top.  I think we could probably use regular flour, but I wanted to make sure we didn't screw them up the first time.

Tuesday:  Waikiki Meatballs.  This recipe was found in our ward cookbook.  It was basically sweet and sour meatballs.

Wednesday:  Chicken nuggets and salad.  Usually, I wouldn't allow my kids to just throw frozen food in the oven and call it good, but this was #5's meal.  I figure once in awhile's not going to kill us.

Thursday:  Tortellini and Alfredo sauce.  We just bought some packaged tortellini, boiled it according to the package instructions and warmed up a jar of Alfredo sauce.  I know my friend has a to-die-for recipe, but it was a crazy week, so we took the easy route.

Friday (tonight):  Italian Chicken.  This is the EASIEST of them all.  Chicken and a bottle of Italian salad dressing in the crockpot.  We're serving it over pasta.


There you have it.  We just do simple, less-expensive things, usually, so I hope someone finds this helpful.  Enjoy!

Menu Plan #3

HaHa!  I don't know if I ever posted about menu plan #2, but it happened (I'll make sure to finish it and post it later--it's been a busy week).  This past week's menu plan was great.  The only snag was that the the Warden LOVES to cook, and I had to encourage him a couple times to step back and let the kids suffer through it a little bit.

#1 even went out of town this week, but she got her food (sweet and sour meatballs) put in the crockpot on Thursday night and got the rice done in the rice cooker, so it could all cook on Friday and be ready for the rest of us Friday night.  Kind of a nice little dealio.

Here's the plan for the upcoming week....

Saturday (today):

#2 wanted to make Polish hot dogs (like Costco has) and salad.  I told him he couldn't cheat and just buy them at Costco.  He had to make them.  Mean, huh?  I figure he's got Saturday, and this is all about learning to prepare food, so for now, I'm not letting them take the easy way out, which would be especially easy to do on Saturday.

Tonight, however, was the Blue and Gold Banquet at the church.  We weren't sure we were going to attend because #5, currently our only Cub Scout, has such terrible asthma right now that we thought it might be better to keep him home.  He's one step away from being the hospital from what I'm seeing.  We've increased his meds to full capacity, so we'll see where this goes.  It's been more than a month since we've been using his inhalers.  We've never had to use them that long except for the year of H1N1 when he was in the hospital (twice).  #5 slept nearly all day today so that he could go.  We allowed him to attend with the promise that he'd just be mellow during the entire activity.

Because of the Blue and Gold, #2 got off scot-free.  I figure he'll end up doing lunch tomorrow or something.


Sunday:
Lunch - the Warden's chicken fettuccine alfredo will be preempted by #2's Polish dogs and salad.

Dinner - I'm going to make black bean and salsa chicken (from our ward cookbook), or maybe, if I'm lucky, the man who loves to cook so much will preempt my chicken with his fettuccine.


Monday:

#4's making tacos.


Tuesday:
#6 is creating a baked potato bar, or really baked potatoes (prepared in the crockpot--p. 16 in the Madhouse cookbook) topped with sour cream, cheese and ham, since those were the only toppings I could get him to approve.  Oh, and we're having baby carrots on the side.


Wednesday:
#5 has decided to make Swedish meatballs on mashed potatoes with salad on the side.


Thursday:

#3 is going to make a chicken broccoli ring.  This is a favorite at our house, and is often served for birthdays.


Friday:
#1 decided to make Mexico Pronto (p. 26 of the Madhouse cookbook).


There you go.  The past two Saturdays I've just taken one child with me to shop.  I look forward to going with the whole crew again.  Next week, that'll be the goal.

Totally LOVING this!  I wonder what my kids'd say if you asked them how they feel about it.  Hmm....

Envelope System: Month 5

Right off the bat, I HAVE to thank those who have commented on past Envelope posts both here and on facebook.  Thank you for taking the time to share your tips on how to do this better.  This month was SO MUCH easier...thanks to you!

The most helpful tip was about splitting the grocery budget into weekly increments.  It was nice to have money each week and not feel like we'd run out waaayyy too early.  As I mentioned in yesterday's Gala prep post, I even found grocery money I hadn't spent.  Not sure how that happened, but I was glad it did.

I think the envelope system has lent itself to making our new cooking system that much easier as well.  The two go hand in hand.  Eventually, I'd like to be able to hand the kids the cash they will need to buy their groceries with for their cooking night.  As of now, I'm not that organized, but I'm thinking within the next couple months, that might just become a reality.

The Warden LOVES to do our taxes.  He always gets them done and submitted as early in the game as he can.  If we had to pay taxes, I wonder if that feeling would change.  I'm betting it would.  But, because he submitted it early, we have received our refunds, which is a very happy thing.

Sad thing, though, is that both of our cars are in need of brakes.  Ugh!  So, there goes a good chunk of the refund.

I've been nervous to spend the refund on the trip to Disneyland I've been dying to go on with a daughter heading off to college and the unknown expenses there....and now the brakes.  I'm thinking that if we're going to get to go on that trip, I'm going to have to find a way to earn some extra funds.  I've been pondering different options, but I haven't found anything that fills the need.  I'm open to any ideas you might have.

I will write another post about this week's menu plan and share some other ideas for saving money there.

So, I now have a bunch of envelopes that I store away and a few I keep with me for the things I spend on fairly regularly.  It's getting easier to see upcoming expenses and keep an envelope for whatever that expense might be.  I have budgeted for each member of the family's birthday and have evened those out so everyone gets the same amount each month.  I had to take money out of the fall sports budget to even them out and am now shy in that department, so that might just have to be pulled from  the pellet fund since we won't be needing that again until the late fall. That should work out just right.

Tonight during dinner, each of the kids took a turn explaining how they need jeans or socks or underwear, so the clothing budget is as good as spent already.

Oh, and yes, I have a trumpet fund.  I put a larger bill in the envelope every month and have a bunch of $1 bills that rotate each month.  The child has to earn $1 each weekday to pay off the debt.  I look forward to this envelope going away.

It's nice to have school over and not have tuition payments for myself any more.

Still loving this system.  I frequently wonder how we survived without it.  It's so reassuring to know that money's saved aside for the kids' sports and other things that are months away.

At this point in the game, I think I can safely share some pointers in starting an envelope system for yourself:

1. Go back through a couple months and figure out just what you're spending your money on.
2. Figure out what things you spend on during the month--groceries, gas, etc.; which things you spend on monthly--utilities and other bills; and which things you spend on much less often--quarterly, yearly, etc.
3. Even out your bills.  Pay the same amount each month so you don't end up richer on some months than others.  We pay these online.  Our life insurance can only be paid yearly, so that is set aside in its own savings account, but the others--even those that are to be paid quarterly--are now paid monthly in smaller amounts.
4. Set up envelopes for the things you spend on. 
5. Use a spreadsheet or even just a piece of paper to figure out just what cash you will need to spend--100s, 50s, 20s, 10s....You get the idea.  Have it all figured out and then go to the bank.  It's easiest to hand the teller a piece of paper with what you want.  Make sure you have totals, so it's all easy to verify.
6. Immediately after getting the cash, divide it among the envelopes.  It's really easiest if, on the spreadsheet or paper, you have the number of 10s or 20s you're to put in each category, so you can just divide them easily into the envelopes.
7. Divide the grocery budget into weekly amounts and keep separate envelopes for each week.  I do this with our date money as well.
8. Try VERY hard not to rob Peter to pay Paul.  When the money's gone in an envelope, it's gone.  Sometimes, when we're in the last week of a month, and the money for medical expenses, for example, remains in it's envelope, I'll dive into it and use it for something we need.
9. Make sure you share.  The Warden has his own container for cash too, and his cash is divided for groceries, gas, etc. too.  He rarely uses all of his money, so near the end of the month, he'll hand me back the cash, and we can use that in an area where it's needed.

That's what I have for starters.  Hope it helps.  If you already do this, I'd love to hear any pointers you have as well.  Again, thanks to those of you who have already shared.  It's helped so much!

An Addition to the New Plan

Insomnia strikes again....

I was up for about two hours, and right after I climbed back into bed, I came up with an addition to the new plan.  We tried it out today, and it worked beautifully.

First, I grabbed a bunch of cookbooks, the menu calendar, a bunch of pieces of paper and a pen for each child.

Second, I gathered the kids together and had them go through the cookbooks and figure out what they were planning to cook for their days.  Here's how it looks:

Saturday/tonight (#2) -
  Spicy cornmeal tilapia (a HUGE winner)

Sunday -
  Lunch (the Warden): omelet - He makes AMAZING omelets.
  Dinner (me):  meatball soup

Monday (#4) -
  Homemade pepperoni pizza

Tuesday (#6) -
  Homemade chicken noodle soup and crescent rolls

Wednesday (#5) -
  German pancakes in a mug and sausages

Thursday (#3) -
  Sloppy Joes

Friday (#1) -
  Crockpot macaroni and cheese


I have to say that I was impressed that a number of the kids ventured outside the normal box.  #2's gutsy move to serve fish was one of those.  He asked why we don't eat more fish, so he decided that that's what he was going to do.  EVERYBODY ate and ate and ate some more of the fish he made tonight.  SO GOOD!

Third, I had each child create an ingredient list on a little piece of paper.  They were then to go around the house and mark off the items we already have in the house.  Those left unmarked were the things they would shop for at the store.

Fourth, I told the kids our budget, and we went to the grocery store with their lists.  Each person picked up what they needed.  We stuck pretty close together; although, the girls, who tend to be a bit more comfortable with the store layout ventured away and would come back with items for the cart.

We ended up going over our budget by $3, but we hadn't paid attention to it much, so I think that was pretty good.  We cut our shopping time in half.

Since the boys bagged the groceries, the girls had to take them and put them in the car.  Everyone helped tote them into the house.  We put many of the refrigerated items in the garage fridge so no one would be tempted to eat them before it was time to cook them.

I'm thinking we have a new Saturday tradition here.


I've shared this here....
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