Meal Planning Basics

Food is one of my family's biggest expenses. I am a firm believer in eating whole foods whenever possible and would love to buy all organic and make absolutely everything homemade. But life gets in the way of that goal and it just isn't practical with two young children and our busy lives. Several years ago, I discovered that a little planning goes a long way with both saving money on food and eating better. Sadly, I got out of the habit a few weeks back when I was super-pregnant and too exhausted to cook every day. But I have been gradually getting everything back on track (hello blogging!), including our meal planning.

I know there are lots of fancy tools out there to help plan meals but I have always found my old-school methods to work pretty well. First of all, I have a list of meals which I maintain. Basically, if I try a new recipe that we like, it goes on list. When I'm planning meals and drawing a blank, I consult the list. I have a second list of budget-friendly meals that I try to rotate in consistently. These include meals like soup and sandwiches, ham and beans and my husband's least favorite, breakfast for dinner. Perhaps it is odd, but I like to look at the weather when planning meals. If it is cold and rainy, I know I will want a warm soup or chili. If it is unseasonably warm one day, I probably won't want to turn the oven on. And no one wants to grill in deluge rains.

So from there, I start working around our calendar and plugging in meals for the week. The benefit of looking at the whole week at once is that I can eliminate (or minimize) waste by coordinating veggies and perishable ingredients.

What is your strategy for meal planning? Do you use a service or go at it on your own?

My Fall TV Favorites

New tv shows - yea!! Last week was very exciting for me for this very reason. Sad? Maybe a little. But if you are nursing a baby, you quickly discover that you are sitting around a lot while baby eats. I like to watch tv while nursing because it doesn't require my hands at all. So I was quite excited to check out some of the new shows and catch new episodes of my old favorites. Here are my thoughts on the ones I have watched:

The Goldbergs - I love, love LOVE this one so far! The show is told from the perspective of a 12 year-old boy who is documenting his family's life in the 1980s. Think The Wonder Years but twenty years later - you know, like our lives when we were watching The Wonder Years (ironic, huh?). In my opinion, it is well-written and fun.

Trophy Wife - This one was a big disappointment for me. Malin Akerman stars as Kate, the third wife of Brad who has three kids with his two former wives. I was excited for this one based on the previews but the show seems incredibly predictable and I was bored. I really expected more, given its cast of familiar faces. I'll be skipping this one going forward.

I'm also watching The Middle, Modern Family, Nashville and Parenthood.The Middle and Modern Family are oldies but goodies! So far, the quirky Heck family has not disappointed me and I am digging Modern Family as much as ever. Nashville is soap opera-y as usual but I still enjoy it. And Parenthood is my perennial favorite.

I also recorded Lucky 7 but I couldn't quite get into it. I may give it another shot, though. I also have Betrayal recorded but haven't watched it yet. What are you watching this fall? Is there anything you'd recommend?

Mama Wisdom

I can't believe that Miss Allison is 7 weeks old! Time has certainly flown. I have been surprised at how much easier mama-hood is the second time around versus the first time. As a mother of two, I'm certainly far from being an expert but I feel like I have learned a lot between baby #1 and baby #2. Since I have a number of friends who have recently had or are getting ready to have their first babies, I offer these pieces of advice as food for thought:

• Everyone will tell you to enjoy your baby and the chaos that arrives with them because they will grow so incredibly fast. They are correct that time will fly in an entirely new way after your baby arrives. The adage that the days are long but the years are short is very true when it comes to parenthood. I would also agree that you should enjoy your baby as much as possible, even though that can be tough at times.
• This, too, shall pass. I remember standing over the crib and sob-crying at 3 am several times after Andrew was born. A fussy baby combined with sheer exhaustion can be overwhelming. I felt certain I would never sleep again. Just remember that this is temporary (see the first point).
• You may not feel the instant magic that Hollywood portrays and that is okay. It doesn't mean that something is terribly wrong with you. I remember feeling very guilty because I didn't feel a lot of "magic" right after Andrew was born. I was tired and I felt awful. Of course, I loved him more and more with each day. Parenthood is a huge adjustment, so take it easy on yourself and don't freak out if everything isn't rainbows. You may have moments when you wonder what in the world you have done with your life (I know I did). Frankly, I still have those moments when I daydream of running off to nap my days away on the beach but those days are much, much less frequent. Don't we all love sleep and indulging in our hobbies? Yes. I call BS on anyone who claims that they just love parenthood 100% of the time.
• Breastfeeding is hard. And it hurts in the beginning (despite so many books saying that it doesn't). I found it to be much more emotionally taxing at times than I ever expected. It is also incredibly rewarding as it is a bond that no one else can truly have with your baby. I fully believe in the benefits of breastfeeding but it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with formula either. If breastfeeding doesn't work for you, that is okay. There is entirely too much mommy guilt surrounding this topic! If you want to breastfeed, I hope you will try it. But if it isn't working for you, then there is zero shame in reaching for formula. You have to do what is best for you and your family above all else.
• Hold your baby. This sounds like silly advice, but I don't think I hardly held my first baby in the first couple weeks. Sure, I held him when I nursed him, but that was it. There were so many people visiting and everyone wants to snuggle the baby. I felt bad saying no, but it really meant that I hardly got to snuggle him during that time. I was much more selfish this time around and have thoroughly enjoyed my snuggle time.
• Finally, enjoy your baby and try to embrace this crazy time. It really will pass so quickly. People often wax nostalgic about the time with their young kids being the best days of their lives. I agree with them, but these days are also very trying at times. Cut yourself some slack where you can and do the same for your spouse. Also, not everyone loves babies and that's okay too. It just means that your best times are still ahead of you :-)

Tiny Fluff

The last bit of pregnancy is long, exhausting and emotional. But the excitement of bringing a tiny baby home is thrilling too. One of the things I'm most excited about is using my newborn cloth diapers. I mixed up our stash a bit from what we used with Andrew and I'm pretty stoked to try the new stuff out. For Allison, I have the following:

24 Diaper Rite newborn prefolds
24 Green Mountain Diaper preemie prefolds
2 Snappis
4 Blueberry Mini Coveralls
2 Bummis Super Brite covers
3 newborn Proraps
2 Thirsties XS covers
4 Swaddlebees Capris, size 1
12 newborn Swaddlebees Simplex

This sounds like a lot (and it is a pretty good-sized stash) but I don't expect these will all fit at once, either. I know there is a lot of size variance in the covers in particular. And I'm not even sure we will use the preemie prefolds. Our newborn prefolds were too big and bulky on Andrew for the first couple weeks so we used more disposables than I liked. I bought the preemie prefolds for a great price since they are seconds (diapers with minor flaws) and figured we would have them on hand in case our newborn diapers are too big for Allison too. The price for the two dozen preemie prefolds was less than the price of one box of newborn Pampers, so why not get them? Seconds sales are awesome!

This is a newborn Swaddlebees Simplex. These didn't exist when Andrew was born but I'm really excited to try them in Allison. I'm planning on bringing her home in a Giraffe one just like this one :-) I am also pretty excited about my first-ever cow-print diaper.

Finally, here are some of our prefolds and covers. Isn't tiny fluff just the sweetest?!

A Work in Progress

Man oh man, has God been working on me lately! I feel like there are so many things that God is telling me and trying to change within me that it can feel overwhelming. The biggest challenge lately is simply to have faith in Him. Do I have faith? Of course I do! But do I still worry? Yep. And I know that He wants me to worry about nothing and give everything to Him. Anxiety has been a lifelong struggle for me but God has freed me of so many little worries over the years. But what about the big stuff? Things like losing a close loved one or the thought of me passing and leaving my children motherless. I know I should have complete faith in the the Lord's plan but those things still terrify me. And I feel guilty even admitting my anxieties because a "good" Christ-follower shouldn't have here fears, right??

Ultimately, I felt these same fears after having A and experiencing several weeks of complications. The Lord healed me but also blessed us with another child which we weren't sure we would ever have, especially in the early days after A was born. But I face some of the same challenges and risks again, plus a few new ones. Stastistics are on my side that all will be well. And I trust my doctor. But I am still anxious. I realize that everything is ultimately in God's control, though. I have prayed many nights about everything with this baby and I generally feel like all will be well...but then that fear creeps in. So I pray some more. The big prayer I have been praying recently is just to hear God's voice over the enemy's. I feel confident, calm and assured that all is well and will be well when I focus on God's voice. Then, the enemy creeps in, exposing my vulnerabilities and bringing in his friends, doubts and fear.

God reassured me in a big way recently during my daily devotion. I have been reading Jesus Calling and love it. While praying for several days about my guilt regarding my fears, God gave me this devotion:

Yes God, I hear you. What is God working on within you?

My Poor Neglected Blog

I'm baaaccckkkk!! Well, for now at least. I have really missed my fun little creative outlet but it has been a rough few weeks. To recap, we sold out house very quickly and had to find a new one and be moved into said new house inside of 6 weeks. Yikes! As if that wasn't scary enough, we were blessed with a record sales month at that same time, so my poor husband was a bit distracted and exhausted. Oh, and I was about 7 months pregnant and chasing a busy toddler. But God blessed us with a great home and made it all come together. Now, we are (relatively) settled and anxiously awaiting the arrival of sweet little Allison any day. (Note my optimism as I say "any day"...in reality, she won't likely show for at least another couple weeks but a mama can hope!) Anyway, I am excited to begin posting again more regularly even though it will likely be erratic for a while.

Life As Of Late

Whoever noted that when it rains, it pours, was very wise. Man oh man, has it seemed to pour lately! There is way too much going on to go into details but here is a recap of my past 2.5 half weeks in a nutshell:

• We got a contract on our house! After 5 years of being on and off the market, we were elated. The only downside is that they wanted us out in 45 days. Yikes!
• Since we had no place lined up to move into, the search for a new home was fast and feverish. I looked at nearly 20 houses in less than 3 days, plus we sifted through at least 100 homes online.
• We put a contract on a house! It is new and still under construction so we requested to make some decisions re: final colors and such. It is a beautiful home and just down the road from our business, which is great.
• I immediately began lining out details for the move, including updating our financials with our bank and signing paperwork to get our mortgage in place. I have also been selling off furniture that won't be needed in the new house and buying/preparing to buy things we will need immediately like a refrigerator and window coverings.
• We had a record sales month in April for the store - yea! Hopefully I will remember what my husband looks like when I see him again. He has been working 12-13 hour days 6 days a week and has had to work many Sundays too. Craziness.
• In the middle of this, I found out about some health issues a family member is having which are potentially serious. Hopefully they are nothing but we are still awaiting test results. There are many prayers going up in the meantime.
• My nearly 13 year-old dog has stopped eating regularly. I don't know why. My vet doesn't seem concerned so I'm trying to ride this one out too.
• Insert 2-3 instances of randomness/requests from our buyers/their realtor each week and I'm feeling like I might snap.

Anyway, if I have seemed a little stressed lately, that is my world. Oh, and I'm nearly 27 weeks pregnant - yea! That has become totally back burner and I can't believe I'm almost to 3rd trimester already. Hopefully the pouring will slow to a minor drizzle soon. Even in the midst of this insanity, we recognize how incredibly blessed we are. I look around me and see people sick with terminal illness or struggling with recent the loss of loved ones. My problems of today are fleeting and, in the grand scheme of things, are minor. I have full faith that the Lord will carry us through this time and that everything will work out as He intends, even if that plan isn't the same as ours.