#MealPlanMonday: March 24-30 & making tweaks

Happy Monday to all :)

If you are a regular reader you know that I tried Blue Apron last week.  I plan on writing a review, but I've had a little less free time these past couples weeks so I'm not getting out as many posts as I would like.  I will get to it, I promise!  Overall it was a good experience.



On the menu this week:

• Spicy Chicken and Sweet Potato Bowls - 6 servings ~$3.34/serving
• Stuffed Pepper Soup - 8 servings ~$3.00/serving
• Greek Tacos (made with ground beef instead of lamb) - 6 servings ~$2.67/serving
• Sloppy Joe & Macaroni Casserole - 8 servings ~$0.80/serving

You'll notice a few changes with how I'm presenting my menu:

1. I've linked up the recipes in case you find them appetizing
2. I added how many servings I think or know they will make.  If I don't know, I go by what the recipe says.

I've made 3 of these recipes in the past.  The chicken bowls recipe states it makes 8 servings, but I know it will make 6 for my family.  On the other hand, the Greek Tacos recipes says it will make 4 servings, and it's made 6, if not more, for my family several times.  The casserole, if I recall correctly, made a good 8 servings - note to self, make 2 casseroles & freeze one!

I also added an approximate price per serving.  This will vary depending on where you live, what you have on hand and what's on sale at the grocery store.  For example, I don't usually buy ground beef at the grocery store.  My in-laws have raised cattle for the past several years and we've bought 1/4 cow from them.  It seems like a high cost when you pay it up front, but it's been well worth it for us.  For this reason, the Greek Tacos and Casserole recipes aren't as expensive for me to make as they might be for others who don't have ground beef on hand.

Why have I suddenly decided to add servings and price per serving?  I've recently noticed that I'm not saving like I used to at the grocery store.  It feels like it's gone up in the last month or so.  And I certainly feel like it would be worse if I didn't have a plan.  I've been doing this for a while now, and I know that I saved money several months in a row... just not the last month or so.

It's always tough because things like diapers, paper towels, laundry supplies, those all get tacked onto my grocery budget even if they aren't food items.  For example, this past week I bought diapers, laundry supplies, mouth wash, hair conditioner, vitamins.  That cost alone was over $40.00.  Hopefully the diaper expense goes away soon, but in the meantime it's still something that we have to buy every two weeks or so.

I feel like the price of groceries has recently gone up, in general, which means I need to make adjustments to how I'm meal planning because the need for detergent, shampoo, toilet paper and the likes will not go away.  And then I have staples I buy every week - bread, milk, bananas, berries (which aren't cheap by any means).  The staples run me at about $20.00.

This week is when I'm meal planning for April and I plan to making the following tweaks to my plan:

• Ensure I have a really low cost meal option (example - spaghetti with meatballs and sauce in a jar - I already have a jar and meatballs on hand)
• Ensure that if I choose a recipe that has a lot of ingredients, that I pick two others that have significantly less, or which require pantry items for the most part.
• Pick a recipe that yields 8 servings and cut it in half - either buy half what the recipes calls for, or make 2 batches and freeze one for future use.
• As I make recipes document how many servings we got out of it and document it on the recipe
• As I do my grocery list, document how much the meal costs and document it on the recipe
• Aim for a specific price point to spend on food items only.  I'm going to aim for $125.00.  Remove my staples and we're down to $105.00 for my meal plan and anything else we need for breakfast, lunch and snacks.
• Allow $25.00 for non-food items and explore purchasing them from other places such as Target, Amazon or Walmart.  

Fun times right?  I can say with all honestly that meal planning, cooking, grocery shopping and managing everything that revolves around these things makes me feel like I'm making a huge contribution to the family.  And whatever way I can find to improve the processes will be beneficial to us all.  Cheers to you mama if you are also in charge of these things.  It's not as easy as it seems to get dinner on the table, is it?

Balancing Work & Home: My Top Ten Reasons Routines are Helpful

I personally don't know what I'd do without routines.  I like to know what to expect.  There have been periods of my life where I didn't have routines - mostly during what I consider some of the hardest periods of my life.  That lack of routine made those hard times feel exponentially more difficult.

Below you'll find my top ten reasons routines are helpful to me and my family.

1. Sets expectations

I wrote about expectations last week when it comes to meal planning.  The routine of meal planning for the whole month has made dinner something I can expect to do every night.  I can expect there to be leftovers a couple times a week.  Having the meal plan helps me ensure that I keep with it and provide balanced meals for my family, and keeps the motivation active.  The routine of doing the dishes and running the dishwasher e-v-e-r-y single night sets the expectation that it's a non-negotiable task that just has to be done before I can kick my feet up.  And having that notion in my head, causes my week to be easier.  I used to have the thought: OMG I have to the the dishes AGAIN! Does it ever end? every night and it got demoralizing.  The short answer is no, it never ends.  Having the expectation takes that notion out of my head - it's something that has to be done.  By making it a routine and shifting the way I think about it, life is just simplified.

2. Regulates my schedule

Routines create consistency.  I think this is even more important for children.  I'll use Sami's nighttime routine as an example.  While lately she's never happy to hear that it's time to go take a bath, which is the start of the routine, once she hits the bath, it's smooth sailing.  It's scheduled.  She knows what to expect - ha see what I did there?  I usually tell her it's 15 minutes until bathtime, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes.  I think it helps her prepare and it's less surprising for her than being told out of the blue that it's time to go take a bath.  She'll often reply to my 15 minutes to bathtime with and then milk and books and bedtime.

From my experience, if kids go off schedule, they get cranky and difficult.  This happens if Sami skips a nap, or has a super late nap, or wakes up in the middle of the night several nights in a row.  Routines such as her nighttime one, makes everything simpler.  She doesn't mind putting on her pajamas and is actually excited about going to get her milk.  She knows that after the stories, she brushes her teeth and then it's time to fall asleep.  There's usually a little bit of whining when the last book has been read, but I know that it would be 20 times worse if it wasn't for the routine.  I'll take 20 seconds of whines over 20 minutes of it. Any day.

As for me, the routine of waking up at a certain time every morning helps regulate my internal time clock.  I'm often able to wake up a little before the alarm.  Not that I actually get up though.  I will take those 5 extra minutes sir!!  The routines I have at work every morning help me have a calm quiet morning before everyone else gets in and things start getting hectic.

3. Things take less willpower

I mentioned earlier that doing the dishes seems to be less of a chore for me, and it's true.  I used to dread having to go clean the kitchen.  It's still not my favorite thing in the world, but I don't mind it as much.  And doing it every day, means I don't have to put as much thought and effort into it.  It's not even a thought anymore.  I don't walk into the kitchen after putting down Sami for the night and wonder - what to do, what to do?  I empty the dishwasher, fill the dishwasher, run the dishwasher, hand wash Sami's dishes and a handful of other items, wipe the counters down and done.  Every night.  I used to think it was such a chore.  It rarely takes me more than 20 minutes.

4. Creates efficiency

Speaking of which... cleaning the kitchen used to sometimes take me over an hour.  I had no rhythms.  I didn't do one task at a time.  I'd put something in the dishwasher, and clean a messy spot on the counter and then put something else in the dishwasher and then I'd go throw a dishtowel in the laundry room.  It was sooo inefficient and if there's one thing I can't stand - it's being inefficient.  Which is probably why I dreaded cleaning the kitchen.

With a routine, I feel efficient, and therefore I am efficient.  I gain confidence and become more proficient and even find ways to improve processes I've previously ameliorated.  I save loads of time which is always something I'm looking for.  It's the same thing at work.  Whenever I can find a routine for a task, efficiency is gained and allows me to tackle on more.  Win-win!

5. There's a process in place for someone else if they need to step in

Since routines are so constant, it's easy for people around you to get accustomed to them too, even if they don't do it themselves.  For example, if someone else needs to put Sami down for the night, say a sitter or a grandparent, the routine is already there which simplifies the whole process.  Less complicated for Sami who might be uncomfortable since I'm not there.  Less complicated for the sitter because there's a list of what needs to be done: bath, then lotion, then pjs, then milk, etc.

Another great example is the other week when I had to work late.  My meal plan and meal prep, which is now a routine, made it easy for my husband to step in and get dinner ready.  He said that having everything all ready to go made it seamless and hardly took any effort.

6. Reduces stress

When I know what to expect, when it's something I do all the time and it's regimented, it's a lot less stressful for me.  I keep coming back to meal planning because it's been such a life changer for me - making dinner is usually not something that is a cause of stress anymore.  It's not that I would make myself sick over it, but it was something that occupied a lot of my thoughts.  It was constant, and it didn't often yield good results.

Having a plan and sticking to it to a certain extent - I don't have to think about it for more than 5 minutes: Which meal am I making today based on when I got home.  Or which meal are we going to have tomorrow so that I can plan to get the slow cooker ingredients out for my husband the next morning with a small list of instructions.

7. Stability

It's not that I'm not flexible, or don't like or can't handle change.  Routines are a nice constant that I can rely on and creates the feeling that life in general is stable.  I deal with deadlines at work every day and the routines built around them helps things run smoothly.  I'm not pulling my hair out every 5 minutes and the unplanned tasks are manageable.  On the home front, my evenings seem less chaotic with set routines and knowing what to expect of it.  It's still non-stop most of the evening, but it's organized chaos ;)

I think stability for children is exponentially important.  That feeling of security helps them thrive in their environment.  There is so much out of their control which can lead to a lot of frustration - hello tantrums!  Stability should, in theory, minimize the feelings of frustration which can get overwhelming when you are learning how to do things for yourself - and want to do them for yourself.  For babies, that stability should also help with things like sleeping through the night.  I say should because there's always exceptions to the rule.  I listened to a podcast the other day and the guest was commenting on how his daughter did not sleep through the night until she was 5.  My goodness, that made me feel for them!!

In my mind, more stability for children equates to less power struggles.  But then again, I only have a 2 year old so my perspective is probably different than that of parents who have older kids and/or have more than 1 living child.

8. Form habits

While routines and habits are similar and go hand in hand, there is a difference between the two.  If we want to get technical, routines encompass completing a series of tasks in a specific order on a regular basis.  A habit is doing something regularly and in the same way.

My nighttime routine has helped me create the "doing the dishes" habit.  It didn't used to be habit for me, and let's be honest, it should have been.  When it wasn't a habit, it seemed like such a chore.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't let the dishes pile up until kingdom come, but I didn't do them as regularly as I do today.

Now, it doesn't even feel like a chore.  I come down stairs from putting Sami down and I do the dishes as part of my nighttime routine.  It's something I do.  I don't think twice about it and it gets done and it's over before I know it.  I've mentioned it, but running the dishwasher every night is a game changer for me.  It means I hardly have anything to hand wash.  If I didn't do it every night, I'd be scrubbing a lot more, or would have to run the dishwasher several times in one day when I go to playing catch-up... which I can't really do when I'm not home during the day.

9. Solidifies relationships

Sami's bedtime routine is probably the best example of this.  Her bedtime routine usually takes 1 hour between bath time and falling asleep.  That is 1 hour of undivided attention that she's getting from her mother.  Children crave attention and love.  Routines such as this one help build strong bonds between parent and child.  I feel closer to her in those moments, and I'm sure she does too.

Similarly, I'm sure a routine of making dinner together could bring a couple closer together, or a nighttime family walk could strengthen family ties.  Proximity and completing tasks/activities together are always a plus for relationships of any kind.

10.  Priorities are met

I used to feel like I made no progress with my to-do list.  I'm certainly not saying that I constantly cross things off my list, but the essentials are always done.  Keeping the house somewhat neat.  Doing the groceries.  Making dinner.  Cleaning the kitchen.

Unexpected things happen all the time.  We get sick.  We have to work late.  Unexpected guests, yet welcomed guests, come over.  All these things tend to put a wrench in things.  Having routines help prioritize what needs to be done.  If you skip the dishes one day because you are sick in bed, the next day you know what was missed and you can get right to it and get back on track.  Thanks to my meal plan, I can opt for leftovers one night, but I know that I'll have to make the meal I'd planned the following night.


These are my top ten reasons routines make a difference in my life and I'm looking forward to creating more routines as I begin to realize how valuable they really are.  Are the reasons routines are helpful to you that I didn't mention? I'd love to hear them! :)

My 5am-9pm: Play dates & a day with mama

Saturday

We went to the pool, as we usually do and had a nice time.  We did a few safety exercises which the instructor does about every 3 months.  One of them was to get in on the side of the pool instead of down the steps and showing parents how to get in without worrying that the little ones will fall in as we're getting in.  Later on, the kiddos practiced getting back into the pool from the side without jumping into their parents arms - on their bellies - which is the way they get out in a different exercise.  And then instead of monkey crawling a few arm lengths to one side and to the other and getting out, they practiced monkey crawling to the stairs and getting out of the pool that way.  Sami was a champ, she went about a half length of the pool without stopping.  Go Sami Go!

After naptime and doing the groceries, we went to the park because it was such a nice day.  Sami had fun on the playground, going up and down the slide who knows how many times.

Sunday

Daylight Savings Time...  It's like Sami slept in (until almost 8)! Does that count??? :)

On Sunday morning we had a play date with 2 other little girls at one of their houses.  Sami had an absolute blast going up and down the stairs which had beautiful railings (ours has a wall so it's harder for little hands).  The staircase also had the advantage of having a landing midway whereas the one at our house is straight the whole way.  I think it was great practice for her.  They also had a playroom separate from bedrooms and the living area which is great.  It was upstairs in a little loft that you can see from the living room and kitchen.  It was great to see the girls play independently and every now and then we would take turns going up to play with them.  I'm totally jealous of the playroom.

A weird thing for me - as the girls were playing, I was seeing that my girl was bigger than the others.  Sami's still rather small struggling to stay at 25 pounds, but she does keep getting taller and I know she's healthy.  Still very odd to see her as "big".  She's often surrounded by older boys at daycare and it makes her seem so small and petite.

Overall, I think the girls played well together.  They shared, and didn't want to share.  Sami loved playing in the little tent that was set up, and with every toy that she's never played with before.  Sami had a great time and continues telling me we're going back, or that her friends are coming over.  I also enjoyed it greatly.  It's nice to connect with other parents and to be able to relate to similar issues we are having such as eating (or lack there of), missed napped, sleep, etc.  When I imagined motherhood, I didn't think play dates would be something I'd find myself doing, aside from hanging out with friends we already have, who also have kids.  I didn't really know what play dates were since I don't remember doing them as a child, and I didn't know how to connect with other moms to set one up.  Daycare has made it easy to find moms who have children that are of a similar age.  It's great.

We went to the park again that afternoon. Surprised?

Monday-Friday

Tuesday... where do I begin?  March 13th is the date my son passed away in 2014.  I wrote an entry on my Spread Happiness For Preston blog which was much needed.  I took the day off to spend with Sami, keeping her home from daycare.  I was at work when everything happened 4 years ago, and I have a hard time picturing myself at work on that specific day.  To make it easier on myself, I've just resolved to always take it as a mental health day, and plan on keeping Sami home from daycare/school in the future as well.  We cuddled a lot, which means we watched a lot of TV.  I don't usually let her watch that much in one day, but I needed the cuddles and she wasn't complaining.  We went to the park for about an hour and a half.  As I pushed her in her stroller on the way home, the elementary school was letting out.  It was like organized chaos and made me ponder about the future, when it's her turn to go.

We went shopping for new clothes for Sami because she's getting too big for a lot of her clothes.  I made dinner, though for the life of me I can't remember what it was, even if I look at my meal plan...  After dinner, we went to the candy store with Sami, just to have a fun time, along with her dad too who had opted to work all day to keep his mind busy.  Everyone grieves differently and I totally appreciate and respect his grief.  For a long time, that's how I needed to grieve.  I needed to have something to do that was cerebral, at all times.

Nothing else stands out from last week aside from my eye incident.  I was washing dishes and put some soap on the straw brush and I must have missed the straw because the brush bent a little and the dish soap went flying right into my eye.  It stung so bad.  I flushed it with cold water for a couple minutes, went to take out my contact, put drops in it, did a water compress.  It probably took a good 15 minutes for it to stop stinging.  I went to bed shortly after so that I could rest that eye and woke up to a swollen and red eye.  Oh the fun.

Sadly this reminded me of one of my biggest #MomFail moments.  Sami was just a couple months old and it had been a couple bad nights in a row.  I thought I'd try  Johnson's Baby Bedtime Bubble Bath & Wash which is supposed to be soothing for babies and help them settle for the night.  It's the purple bottle.  We'd had a bottle from when Preston was a baby and had never opened it, a little fact I didn't remember.  I tried pouring it into the bath and nothing was coming out of the bottle, so I opened the cap, removed the seal and the soap just gushed out... and you guessed it... somehow right into Sami's eye.  She was inconsolable, and I felt so terrible.  I flushed her eye, and did compresses with a gentle washcloth, rinse repeat about 50 times.  Finally, I was able to get the soap completely out but I felt sooooo bad.  I felt like such a failure, and I'm sure hormones weren't helping at such an early stage.

And it's not that I'd forgotten about this incident, but when it happened to me last week... it brought it right back to the forefront.  And let me tell you, I'm not dealing with hormone issues now, and I feel just as terrible and again feel like a terrible mom because I know how painful it must have been, even if the bottle said "no more tears".  I know it was an accident, and I know that I do a lot of things that make me a great mom, and overall I feel like a good mom....  But those times when you feel like you screwed up... they feel worse than all the good makes you feel.  Is that just me?

#MealPlanMonday: March 17-23 & Meal Delivery Kits

Happy Monday to all :)

I'm rather excited for this week to try Blue Apron!  Below is my meal calendar for March.



On the menu this week:

• Blue Apron - Beef & Mushroom Stew with roasted potatoes
• Blue Apron - Pan-Fried Chicken Breast with sweet & tangy zucchini
• Blue Apron - Quick Bucatini with Broccoli & Pecorino Cheese
• Mac & Cheese with hot dogs

On Saturday, we had friends over for dinner and to play board games.  I love board games and I'm loving being able to play them with people who appreciate the strategy behind them - it's totally awesome.  We played Settlers of Catan which we first played with our friends Ann and Al in Seattle when we drove up the West Coast as part of our honeymoon (San Fran to Seattle & back and then flew to Hawaii).  It's a game filled with strategy and as with most games, some luck.  I had a great time Saturday night and kudos to Chris for the win.  In the end, his strategy worked the best!  Until next time... :)

Since the Blue Apron meals I ordered only serve 2, I asked my husband to make his specialty burgers.  It was so nice out that we ate on the patio.  The burgers were so delightful, that I would eat them every day.  Sami even had about half a small hamburger patty, sans bun and with ketchup and "yellow dip" (mustard if that wasn't obvious).  Something to keep in mind.  She's had it a couple times before, but refused it last time.  Good to know Sami, good to know!

Since we have the Blue Apron, I didn't meal prep this week.  The ingredients are so well packaged that it doesn't seem like it'll take me too long to prep them on whatever night I make them.  We'll see if I change my mind at the end of the week.  I'm hoping to write a full review on Friday, but thus far, I am pleased.  We had the beef & mushroom stew last night which was really good - but it really was 2 portions - no leftovers. 

I've been receiving promotional offers for meal delivery kits for what seems like a couple years now, but they've really amped it up in the past year.  I didn't realize how many different companies offer this service these days, but so far I'm impressed enough that I'll probably try a couple different ones.

Home Chef sounds like the one I might try next.  There's more meal options per week, and the recipes seem less gourmet than what Blue Apron has to offer.  This is just from viewing their options at a glance, so I don't really have a way of knowing until I make these recipes.

I thought for sure it would make my grocery shopping easier this week, since I only had to plan a couple meals including pizza for tonight, but I used the opportunity to go shopping while Sami napped, and bought her Easter goodies for her basket & Easter egg hunt in the house.  Plus some goodies for her classmates since I totally did nothing for Valentine's Day thinking the kids were too young and she ended up getting a bunch of Valentine's.  That felt like a huge #MomFail to me until I was happily surprised to hear that other parents didn't do anything either - phew!  And then I wanted to get something for her teachers... And then I needed paper products that we were low on... I swear, it cost me more than my usual groceries do.

That's what I get for shopping without a list!  #LessonLearned Next time I get Blue Apron, which I think is April 14th, I'm still making a list!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! What are you cooking this week?  Has anyone tried meal delivery kits that you like?

Learning with Mama: Anatomy

From the moment she was born, I was very intentional about always talking to Samantha.  I would explain what I was doing as I went through the motions of an activity.

I was amazed how early she caught on to knowing some of her body parts.  In the bath, she would lift up her legs when I said Ok it's time to wash your leg.  She would do the same on the changing table when I uttered Time to put lotions on your legs.  It filled me with excitement to see the wheels turning as she connected the dots to what I was saying and the action she was performing.

Before long, she could point to all the essentials - feet, arms, legs, belly, head, etc.

I've read/heard that babies learn a lot by touch, which makes sense.  When she was still very little, I made sure we played games where I would engage her physically.  I sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and used a hand throughout the song to mimic the spider crawling up Sami, the rain washing it down Sami, the sun coming up above her and drying the rain down Sami, and then the "spider" would crawl back up Sami.  I'm sure that's pretty standard.  I also did a version of the Wheels on the Bus where I would engage her arms.  We'd make circles for the wheels going around.  We'd open and shut the doors with her hands & arms.  We'd have her arms go up & down.  She'd get a gentle belly boop for the horn, and tickles for the vroom of the motor.

We eventually did This Little Piggy when she was older.  It was hard to do it when she was younger because that was my game of choice with Preston and I wanted to keep that unique connection to him and remember his reactions as opposed to hers.

I think all these little games and telling her which parts of her anatomy I was engaging her with helped her get a good grasp of their names.  The repetition through different activities was so helpful and continues to be with a lot of different things she's learning.  I guess the saying is true - practice makes perfect.

When we realized that she knew all the essential body parts, we started adding more like: chin, elbow, knee, eyebrow, etc.  We also started talking to her about the senses: You see with your eyes, you hear with your ears.

I love that our daycare has done sensory activities with Sami (and her classmates) since very early on.  They would make art by dipping their feet in paint, by playing with different textures, and eventually more and more with their hands as they gained more motor control and dexterity.  I'm sure all this reinforced learning certain body parts, and what they are capable of.

I find it fascinating how quickly babies, toddlers and children can pick up on things.  Sami's mind continues to amaze me and probably always will.  And that's one hell of a perk to being a parent.  I'm proud every day.

My 5am-9pm: Is cold & flu season over yet?

Saturday

We had our usual Saturday morning ritual of going to the pool.  I'm happy to report that there was no meltdown about going underwater.  I know she wasn't crazy about it, but she did good.  We then went to Michaels, the art supplies & crafting store.  As I mentioned last week, I realized Sami was ready for some crafting projects and I had thought up a good one.  A felt mat and felt shapes that she can place on the mat and re-arrange as she pleases.

I found mats, but I did not find shapes.  However, I found felt like stickers in the same aisle and decided to give them a go.  I bought stars and a couple sets of animal.  When she wants to play with this craft, she now calls it play with stars?.

She had a lot of fun, and continues to want to play with it almost every night.  We don't, but I try to let her indulge a couple nights a week.  She loves sorting the same color stars together and the same animals next to each other.

Here's what we bought for the project:

Blue felt "mat"
Yellow felt "mat"
Sea creature stickers
Jungle animal stickers
Forest animal stickers

And of course, we had lots of fun sticking stickers not on the mat. :)

Sunday

On Sunday we played with the felt again because Sami could just not get enough.  I'm hopeful that once the stickiness of the stickers wears off, that it'll be what I originally thought up, and will continue to work.  If not, I guess I'll buy more stickers, or I might try this kit I found on Amazon

After naptime, we went to the park where Sami had so much fun.  However, she did get a little tired and took a tumble when we went for a walk/run.  I saw it happen before it happened, and luckily she didn't fall on the cement path, but still - it was not my favorite moment :(.  We went straight home.

In Sami's own words about playing at the park: This is fun.

Monday-Friday

Is the cold and flu season just about over?  Knock on wood, I finally feel like I haven't been fighting something, or had something for about a month.  Sami was going on a couple weeks, but developed the sniffles early in the week which affected her sleep.  Maybe she was fighting it last week and that's what was going on and it wasn't sleep regression?  After 3 nights of not sleeping great, she seems to have gotten back into her normal sleeping through the night routine.  Knock on wood again.

Tuesday's car ride home from daycare was interesting.  Frustrating? Made me sad?  Was obnoxiously annoying?  

Wanna go to park.  Wanna go to park.  Wanna park.  Wanna go to park.

For the whole.ten.minute.car.ride.home.

She went from being excited, to being sad, to having the most pathetic request in the world for wanting to go to the park.  I felt bad.  It was cold out, and by the time we got home it would be starting to get dark.  And we had to have dinner.  I might have to figure out something for spring and summer - maybe we can squeeze going to the park for 15-30 minutes twice a week.  She has so much fun.  But she was driving me crazy with her non-stop request.  I laugh about it now.

On Wednesday, I had to work late.  I asked my husband if he'd get dinner ready (baked chicken).  He said that my meal prep made it so easy.  #MamaWin

On Thursday, I had my Remicade treatment - biological drug treatment to keep Crohn's disease in remission.  I didn't feel exhausted afterward which was a plus.  This is a good thing because I had to work late on Friday too and then we had to deal with daylight savings time this past weekend.  Somehow that hit me harder than my Remicade.  Weird... This getting older thing in no joke...

Wishing you a wonderful week without runny noses!

#MealPlanMonday: March 10-16 & setting expectations

How does Monday come around so quickly every week??



I worked late a couple of nights last week so I ended up not making two of the meals I had planned on.  I didn't make the mac & cheese or the meatloaf.  We still had leftovers from late last week, we went out Friday night for dinner, and I think there was a night where both hubby and I had big lunches and just didn't have dinner.

That being said, I hadn't meal prepped the meatloaf since I found out early in the week that I'd have to work late.  When I end up having to change things up at the last minute, I try to nix whatever will cause the least amount of waste.  In this case, the only thing that might go to waste is the broccoli for the mac & cheese.. and that's if I don't get around to making it early this week because it still looked great this weekend.

On the menu this week:

Sheet pan lemon parm garlic chicken & veggies
Slow cooker Italian meatball soup
Ravioli with parma rosa sauce
30 minute shepherd's pie

I made the sheet pan dinner last night.  I unfortunately didn't get to do my meal prep because Sami decided to take a really short nap and then wanted to go to the park.  I didn't want to deny that to her on such a beautiful day - we went to the park.  I meal prepped once we got home, but all I had time to meal prep was the sheet pan dinner.  I changed up the veggies to roast so it may have added to the prep time.  I still think most recipes lie about how much time it takes to prep - unless you are a sous-chef or something!

I'm hoping to finalize the meal prep tonight or tomorrow since I took the day off.

We haven't made much progress with getting Sami to try new foods, much at least dinner isn't a constant fight and she eats something.  She refused chicken last night, hopefully this doesn't turn into a trend.  I want to say she tried one bite of steak last week - fajita steak drenched in bbq suace... did her usual gagging reflect that she does when she doesn't want something - to which we have to calmly tell her to chew.  When we went out on Friday, all she talked about was mac & cheese, and then didn't want to eat it.  With a lot of trying on our part, she did have about 5 bites, but I think the white color of the cheese was off-putting to her.  She was probably expecting orange mac & cheese. Oh how the tiniest of details can make a difference..

I wanted to touch on setting expectations.  Meal planning has made me set new expectations on myself and has been an absolute motivator when it comes to making dinner.  I used to have the hardest time deciding what to make, which was demoralizing.  It was such a waste of time and energy.  I'd spend the whole ride home thinking about what I felt like eating.  About what my family might like eating.  About what I had on hand.  And most of the time, by the time I was in the kitchen - I still had no idea what I'd end up making.

This new expectation has helped tremendously with grocery shopping.  I used to go down each aisle and grab whatever I thought I needed based on what was on sale.  I never had a list.  I'm now always armed with a list and a purpose!  Do I drift off the list to buy treats here and there, or restock something I know we're short on if the sale price is appealing?  Absolutely.  I however feel like I've reduced spoilage - mostly in the produce category.  I'd buy different vegetables in the hopes of making something that week and then I'd forget what I was going to make, wouldn't want to make it, or forgot a key ingredient for that recipe - and I wasn't about to make a trip to the grocery store just for that once I was home.

I feel like I was letting down my family with my previous dinner making strategies.  My husband and I divide and conquer the household tasks.  I like cooking so that's one of the household duties I selected.  I feel like I'm finally pulling my weight in this area.  I feel so much less pressure even if it's all in my head.  I'm certain that with time, I'll find more ways to improve my meal planning strategies.  My hope is that so far, this is beneficial to someone out there.  It's made such an improvement in my life - I just want to share it!

Lastly, meal planning supports my need to be intentional about what we are eating.  When I was just winging it, the meals weren't as balanced as I would have liked, or envisioned they would be.  When I sit down to make my monthly week plan, I'm able to see if there's a night that's short of veggies, and I'll make sure I load up a different night and make sure it yields good left-overs.  I usually buy lean cuts of meat.  I also have to be sure my diet has a lot of variety so that I don't overload myself on any one thing and cause a Crohn's flare up.  That's one pattern I've seen, if I have too much of something, my body will actually start rejecting it for a non-specific period of time.  Intentionality makes all the difference!