It's Mario Time!

Disclaimer:  I put a lot more time into this party then I will ever publicly confess to.  So, if for some bizarre reason, you wanted to duplicate this idea in the future, please talk to me about the "real" time investment.


Josh turned 5 and for his birthday, we (read: mainly I) decided to throw him a birthday party of his choosing.  Back in January, Josh and I talked about what theme he wanted.  LEGOs.  I started looking around to get an idea of what was out there in the form of LEGO-themed birthday parties.  Nada.

When I broached the subject again in March, his thoughts had changed from LEGOs to Super Mario Brothers, and I thought for sure that some party store somewhere would have this covered.

Nope.

So basically it was up to me.  I would have to piece together a party from mid-air (read: the internet), which is not really my forte.  But much like the Halloween costume, for Josh, I would try.  I was only hoping that the final outcome would be a little more closer to my vision than the costume was.

I sat down with Josh and we talked about what games he wanted and who to invite and what to do.  I found some cakes online and he picked one he really liked, which could've really backfired had he picked this one.  Luckily, he picked one that was somewhat easier to replicate.  We mapped out what needed to be done when and about how long it would take to do it and set to work.

Look at me--being all organized and stuff.

The first order of business was starting the pinata.  I found this awesome pinata with step-by-step instructions here.  (Side note:  This is the coolest party site EVER).  I went and found the materials (basic stuff that can be found at Walmart--bonus) and started in on the longest project ever.  Josh was all ready to help--for about 5 minutes--but as it turns out paper mache-ing is hideously boring.  And tedious.  And he didn't really like the feel of the goop.  So it was up to me.

For a week we had different balloons hanging from our light fixture in the living room drying.  The first night, the main balloon of the head deflated leaving a somewhat caved in head.  Isn't that what always happens?  This last Monday, it was time to assemble the hardened balloons into the shape of Mario.

I was a little skeptical because I didn't know how this was going to translate to Mario.  But it did.

This might singlehandedly been the best art project I've EVER done.  It doesn't look exactly like it was "suppose" to, but for my skillset, it's pretty darn close.

Next up were the decorations.  Again, there's nothing out there.  So, a teacher friend of mine brought over a big roll of butcher paper and I got to work.  Using the projector we have set up downstairs, I taped the paper up on the wall (over cardboard to protect the wall lest Wade kill me) and traced different characters from the game.  Then an awesome friend and I laid them out on the kitchen floor and colored them with markers.  Josh even colored a few himself.  I cut out the images and mounted them on wrapped pieces of cardboard and then we placed them around the living room as decor.

The brown guy who's name is still a mystery--I thought it was Koopa, but Wade says that's the turtle--and Yoshi were part of games we were going to play.

(Josh LOVED these pictures and has them in his room.  With Princess displayed prominently.)

Speaking of games, there was some prep to go with that.  The first game was the Yoshi Egg Smash.  I drained 36 eggs, washed and dried the shells, colored green spots on them, filled them up with confetti (and a few with gold stars) and then glued a piece of white tissue paper over the hole in the top to hold in the confetti.

(Why, yes, this took some time.)

The second game was Koopa (maybe?) Stomp.  I filled 25 brown balloons with a gold coin a piece and then blew those up with about 20 other brown balloons.  The idea was to stomp on the balloons and the person with the most gold coins wins.  In addition to those balloons, I also blew up 80 balloons that were red, blue, yellow, and green to add to the decor.

(Why, yes, I did this by myself.  With just my mouth.  Except for a dozen brown balloons that my mom blew up.)

The last order of business was to make the cake.  Here is what (thankfully) Josh wanted.  I found the little figurines on ebay about a month ago.  This was my first attempt at a truly decorated cake, and, again, for my skillset, it turned out pretty good:

(Note to self: Next time, construct cake on platter you're going to serve it on.  Maybe not the cutting board.)

I let Josh put the figurines on himself and something finally clicked.  He's been going around pretending to be Princess Peach.  We were a little worried because all the other boys in the neighborhood want to be Batman or Superman and the likes.  But Josh wants to be Princess.  However, when I noted where he put Mario and Princess on the cake it all started to make sense:

Apparently, they're "kissing".  And I think Josh has his first crush.

(On Princess.  Not Mario.  In case that wasn't super clear.)

My stupendous, awesome, gracious, wonderful, amazing mom came over to help wrangle kids and finish with the last little bit of the decorating and party prepping.  Josh and I colored this banner about an hour before the party was set to begin, so we were definitely down to the wire:

So now--it's PARTY time.

10 little kids came over--8 boys, 2 girls--ranging in age from 3-7.  (The 3 year old is a little brother of one of Josh's friends that plays with them and the 7 year old is Josh's best friend.  It's an odd collection of children.  In more ways than one, but that's for another day.)  Our first activity was to decorate the treat bags.  I figured this would be something to start the party off pretty calm instead of just launching into all-out warfare (ha.  Like calm is a word you can use with 11 kids in one room). Naturally, the weather was crap, so we had to hold the party mostly indoors.  Which worked out good for the most part.  We also made hats, but those didn't go over very well.

I mapped out how long I thought each thing would take, and I was surprised that I was almost dead on.  There was not a lot of sitting around and staring at each other.  And the cats kept away, so there was no chasing of them either, which seems to be a favorite pastime of some kids.

After coloring our treat bags, we moved on to the games.  First up was the Koopa Stomp game.  I explained the rules and naturally, 50% of the group didn't listen.  They were suppose  to pop the brown balloons, but they went after the other colored balloons, which had no gold coins.  It was hilarious to watch the kids try to pop the balloons and after standing back and laughing, Wade (who took the day off work to finish a project for school and graciously helped pull this shindig off) found some toothpicks and that sped up the game.

(Yes, it was hard to watch all my hot air go up in smoke--and so fast too.)

Next, we moved outside for the Yoshi Egg Smash Game.  This was actually pretty fun and chaotic and a little hard to explain why only four people got prizes for winning, so EVERYONE WON.  YAY!!!

Up next was the Pinata.  I was a little saddened that all my hard work was going to go to waste.  Wade was positive that it would hold up through the first hit, but he was WRONG!

Each kid was blindfolded and got 10 whacks.  This equated to 110 (thereabouts--since some kids missed a few times during their turn while others snuck in a few more) whacks.  Then we repeated.  So 220 whacks.  Then we started in on 5 whacks without blindfolds.  It was on the final whack of the 11th kid that it fell apart.  So, 275ish whacks.  Not too bad for a homemade pinata.

(Yes, I cringed at the first hit.  And then when pieces started falling off, I almost cried.  But I held steadfast and internalized my emotions).

The pinata took a little more time than I anticipated, so it was a mad rush to open presents (CHAOS) and eat ice cream and cake.  Then the parents arrived and we sent them home, hyped up on sugar, with a party bag full of candy and doodads.  Payback for all those parties Josh has come home from.

All in all, it was a great party that Josh LOVED.  Which is good because it was his main present.  I figured I spent as much on the party as I would've for a big present (it wasn't as expensive as you might think, though it definitely wasn't cheaper than, say, taking 11 kids to McDonald's and getting happy meals.)  Sunday night--Josh's actual birthday--we had the grandparents over and we did a low-key party here.  All the other years, we've had both entire families over and it gets to be expensive and chaotic and sorta takes away from the birthday kid when there are 15 other kids running around.  So, this year, we decided to go this route and Josh really liked having his birthday centered around him.  Maybe in other years, when he won't be getting a friend party, we'll do family shindigs, but for this year, this worked.  He got some new clothes and some new toys and a bucket of LEGOs.  He was a happy kid.

I figured since this was his first friend party, I would go all out.  A friend had commented a few years ago how much fun it was to plan the birthday parties for her kids and I thought she was nuts.  But, now I know.  It was a lot of fun to put together and to see the smiles on Josh's face when he'd be helping me color or paper mache.   I plan on only doing friend parties for the 5th, 8th, 12th, and 16th birthdays, so I can afford to go all out.  Especially if it makes them happy.

What's For Dinner Wednesday--Cafe Rio Steak Salad

1.  Go to caferio.com

2.  Select restaurant location

3.  Select order online (UT only) or phone in order

4.  Drive to pick up food

5.  Drive home and enjoy

Time Out

MarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioToastmaster SpeechMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMario
MarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioHousehold ResponsibilitiesMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMario
MarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioTrain for a Half Marathon MarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioBirthdaysMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMarioMario

Spiritual Thought Sunday--Being a Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHIE!!!

It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years since my world got tipped upside down.  For the most part it's been a great ride, with a few bumps along the way, and there's no way that anyone can adequately prepare you for having kids.

How far have we come this year???  In some ways, babysteps.  In others--leaps and bounds.  

Naturally, we'll concentrate on those areas.

* In the fall, we signed him up for soccer thinking this would be a great activity for him.  To save $20, we also signed him up for the spring season at the same time.  It was seemingly evident that maybe team sports weren't his thing.  He spent a lot of the fall season holding the hand of the coach ON THE FIELD.  As in, he wouldn't run down the field unless he was tethered to the coach (for the little guys, one coach from each team is on the field).  Towards the end of the season, he had finally let go of the coach's hand, but any time he got pushed down or touched, he'd storm off the field, yell "I hate this stupid game" and start walking home.

In short, it wasn't going well.

Fast forward to spring, and I got an email from the soccer organization saying that the season was starting up. I dreaded the first game, fully expecting the same reaction from just a mere 6 months prior.  I was in for the surprise of a lifetime when Josh was actually having FUN.  He didn't have to hold the coach's hand and he's made a goal in every game thus far.  It does help that he's about 3 inches taller than everyone else.

*  Josh can count all the way to 100.  He started counting one day and except  for helping him with a few tricky spots, he made it all the way to 100.  He's also reading a lot more.  Not chapter books by any means, but he can sound out a lot of the words and work his way through sentences.  His preschool teacher has started giving him harder worksheets and that's really helped his enthusiasm with learning.

*  What might be the biggest deal of this last year actually happened last week.  We had been talking to him about things we will start expecting from him once he turns five, and one of the items was he had to start eating "good food".  We spent some time talking about what was "good" food vs. "bad" food because his eating habits are still atrocious.  For dinner, we had apples and Josh ATE a slice.  A naked slice.  It wasn't hidden.  I didn't have to take away any privileges.  He didn't have any tears.  It was the most glorious thing EVER.  And then I found out that today in Primary, he ate pretzels AND apples that the teacher had brought to class.  I almost cried I was so happy. 

*  Josh's favorite toys are Legos and the Wii.  He LOVES Legos and spends quite a bit of time making things.  He has a great imagination and can put together some incredible machines.  He also loves to play the Wii.  Especially Super Mario Brothers.  Wade and Josh beat the entire game a few months back, but Josh will go back and play his favorite boards.  He's really good and can beat me.  That's pretty humbling.

* His favorite color--right now--is pink.  I know.  I know.  I don't like the color, so naturally, my son would like it.  We did steer him away from the pink soccer ball at the store and he chose the red one.  Whew.

* He seems to be a little more comfortable about being away from me.  He didn't use to like to go knock on the next door neighbor's door to see if his friend could  play.  Now, he'll venture out there (after asking me, of course) and then he'll run back if no one is home.  He's even branching out to playing over there on occasion.  

We still have our challenges, but in the last few months, his temper has softened and he's a hoot to be around. He is always saying and doing the funniest things.  I'm excited for him to start school and to start on that next adventure in his life.

Here's a short video of one of the best days this year:

Reconnecting with R.

Shocker: I was awkward and shy in elementary school.  And Jr. High.  And high school.  And pretty much all the way through  the first two years of college.  And maybe a lot of the next six years of college as well.  And, as long as I'm confessing, up until about...well...now.

(It's amazing you people even read this blog).

But, today's story involves elementary school, where my shyness and awkwardness transcended all normal realms of the terms and I didn't have the skills or maturity to rein it in and use it to my advantage.

And yet, even though I knew I spent a lot of time on the outside looking in, while my much more gregarious twin brother was commanding attention, I knew I was not nearly as awkward and shy as R.

R. didn't even register on the shy and awkward charts.  He was probably the smartest kid in the school and neither one of us sat alone at lunch--we weren't friendless, but we certainly weren't the life of the party.  And we didn't necessarily bond together over our shared attributes and become best buds either.

That was until the beginning of my fourth grade year.  It was then that my best friend in the entire world (again, another gregarious type) moved away and I didn't really feel like playing at recess because she wasn't there anymore. So I would bring a book and read it during recess.

About three days later (3 days x 3 recesses = 9 very long recesses), that got boring, so I checked out a basketball and shot hoops.

Sadly, by myself.

Until one day when R. came up and uttered what might have been the first sentence I had ever heard him speak: "Can I play too?"

"Sure." I shyly replied back.

(Go ahead.  Read between the lines.  I was 10.  He was, like, the first boy to ever talk to me. And he was cute in a very nerdy kind of way.  Plus we had this whole shared shy, awkwardness thing going too.)

And that was the last thing we said to each other for THE ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR.  We played basketball for 3 recesses a day through the entire school year and never said a single thing to each other after that initial "conversation".  Rain, snow, shine, we were dedicated.

It was always my duty to secure the basketball and walk to the court, where R. would be waiting for me.  And we'd play until the bell rang.  I don't even remember if he was in my homeroom class or not.  We just went our separate ways until the next recess.  

Summer came and I don't know why we didn't pick basketball back up when school started.  We just didn't and we didn't hang out after that fourth grade year.  Once we moved into Jr. High, I became less shy, more awkward, and R. stayed the same.  A wallflower in every sense of the word.  High school, I tried to hide my shyness by becoming even more awkward and R. stayed the exact same.  He was in my math classes all three years of high school and I'm pretty sure he never said a word out loud.

I was surprised to learn that after high school he went on to serve a mission because he was THAT shy.  I knew he was religious and I knew he wanted to go on a mission, but I thought for sure he wouldn't survive having to knock on people's doors and invite them to listen to him talk about God and religion.  But he made it.

So a few weeks ago, I got a friend request on Facebook from him.  And when I accepted it, he happened to be online at the time, so he Instant Messaged me.  For the first time in almost two decades, R. and I had a decent conversation, albeit not face to face.  His FB statuses remind me a lot of Wade (in a good way).  Except for that Wade isn't socially backwards like R. is.  It's like Wade is R. 5.0.  They're both computer programmers, but R. fits the mold perfectly, whereas Wade is much more a people person and thus is beloved by even the non-programmers he works with.

But as it turns out R. is HILARIOUS.  Witty and sarcastic and a hoot. A part of me feels like I missed out on a really good friend in jr high/high school (and let's be honest, I could've used a few more good friends at that junction in my life) because I wrote him off as being too shy. And I was too shy myself to approach him. I got to thinking how many people didn't approach me because I was so shy, so how many other friendships did I potentially miss out on?

And there's the potential friendships I missed out on because I was so awkward.  But we'll save that for another day.

Moral: don't let shyness be your stumbling block.  Learn to put yourself out there.  What do you have to lose that is greater than what you stand to lose if you don't put yourself out there?

What's For Dinner Wednesday--Baked Ziti

Falling asleep at the wheel here.  Holy moly, I've spent the last 48 hours practically immersed in Mario Brothers for Josh's party next week.  Can't believe it's Thursday (almost Friday) already.  But have no fear, I did do a new recipe.


A few months ago, we had some friends over and they carted a whole pan of baked ziti that was SO delicious.  I checked online for a similar recipe and found something close.  I don't know if it was exact.  I guess I could have just asked Jamie for her recipe, but that would have been too easy.  And easy is not my style.

Baked Ziti
1 lb Ziti Pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 lb ground turkey
2 jars spaghetti sauce
6 oz Provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 C Sour Cream
6 oz Mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 T Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook ziti pasta until al dente, about 8 minutes.  Drain.  Brown ground turkey and onion over medium heat until cooked through.  Add spaghetti sauce and simmer about 15 minutes.  In a 9 x 13 pan, layer 1/2 ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese, rest of sauce mixture, and top with parmesan cheese.  Cook about 30 minutes or until cheese are melted.

SO good, but Wade thought it was a little meaty.  I'd probably cut the meat by 1/2 for next time.  

Where Have I Been?

Planning a Supersize Mario Brothers Birthday Party for Josh.  I shall return shortly.  With pictures of said party.  Promise.

Sandra

Financial Tips Installment #3--Menu Plans

Hey there!  I'm Baaaack!  By which I mean to say that I survived the flu and have since passed it on to people more worthy of it's overwhelming affection.  Yay for communicable diseases.


Are you ready for my revolutionary idea that will save you tons of money, trim your thighs, and win you this devil child?

Two out of three ain't so bad.

So, the biggest budget buster in most budgets is groceries.  It's like your cart is a magnet that attracts food as you walk into the store and each time you go to "just pick up a few items" you throw $100 out the window, right?

Second to that, you're expected to come up with meals for your family of 3.14 (average American family size) every. single. week.  How many times do you get asked "What's for dinner, moooooom?"

A few years ago an acquaintance was showing some of us her shopping list.  So really, the idea came from her.  But I've expanded on it, like, 100% and really made it revolutionary, so I'm taking credit.  Anyways, she had a list of 6 meals at the top and then the list of all the ingredients they needed at the store.  Like this:

She said that she sat down with her kids (they're teenagers) and planned out the whole month of meals.  Then they split them into four weeks of six meals each (the assumption is that at least once a week, you'd eat out or eat leftovers, or something), comprised all the ingredients and they were done for the month.

So I stole the idea (minus sitting down with the kids, since you can't eat chocolate for EVERY dinner).  I did it her way for a few months, but realized I was in the same quandary starting the next month.  What to make for dinner?  And how to not just repeat last months lists.  Which gave me an idea.

I sat down and wrote down every recipe I could think of.  My goal was to come up with six weeks of recipes--about 36.  However, when I started writing them down, I came up with about 60(!) different dinner recipes.  Then I split them up into weeks so that I had a nice healthy balance of chicken meals (2 per week), beef meals (ground turkey fell under that) (1 per week), pasta/vegetarian (1), soup (1), and other, whether it was a different kind of meat or more chicken or another pasta dish (1).

From there I created 12 weeks of shopping lists where I listed the meals at the top, and then the ingredients underneath.  Since I'm strange, the ingredients are alphabetized based on Wal-mart's floor plan, so if I choose to do my shopping there, I just run through the store.  Most stores are loosely based on the same floor plan, so I don't find that I have to deviate that much from the layout if I go elsewhere.

Here's the cool part:  Every week, I pull out a new list of meals, and cross off the stuff I already have, so I'm not buying duplicates.  Also, I literally spend 3 minutes a week planning meals--which was the biggest wake up call for me about being married.  No more cereal for dinner, night after night.  And after a few years of eating the same rotation of 10 meals, it's a little tiring, but who wants to spend hours planning out meals for a week, right?

So, kinda sounds like the other lady's plan, what's so revolutionary about mine?

For starters, it's 3 MONTHS of meals. And then I just start over.  But, since I have ZERO duplicates, then we're eating each meal only 4 times a year.

Theoretically.  But more on that later.

You know my What's For Dinner Wednesday Posts?  Those are recipes that I have used to fill in the gaps on my list. I started out with 60 meals and as of a few weeks ago, I was officially at 72 different dinner ideas.

I've taken this a tad bit farther as well.  I have a recipe book:

These are ALL the recipes from my menu cards.  That way, it's all in one place.  At the bottom of each recipe card is the amount of time it takes ME (not some professional cooker at the cooking school) to prep each meal, cook the meal, and the total time so I have an approximate idea of when to start dinner for the evening. I have to run through the entire cycle one time so I get a feel for what the prepping and cooking times are, so they're blank on most of the cards since the recipe book is new as of this week.

Plus, if something were to happen to me, Wade and the kids wouldn't technically starve.  Since these are all the recipes and he can read.  However, I would totally appreciate the ward picking up the slack a little bit, you know, just in case.

Once I had all 12 weeks filled out, I had them laminated so that I can just take a marker to it, cross off the things I already have, and jot down the other things I need to pick up at the store:

The lamination is nice because the card sits on my kitchen counter all week and I can just wipe off anything that spills on it.  I also know at a glance what we have available to make for dinner.  Sometimes, to make Wade feel part of the action, I'll tell him three or four meals and ask what he wants out of those.  Then it's not technically all my responsibility.  I actually plan for seven meals a week because we hardly eat out (as a family--we're working our individual consumption), but I still do a new recipe once a week, so I find my recipe, note where I found it at so I can reference the recipe when I go to make it, and then jot down any ingredients I need to get.

When we've exhausted our list of meals, I scrub the card clean and put it in my recipe book for next time.

There is a movement going on right now that has you look at the store advertisements you get in the mail, and by coupling that with coupons you clip or print from the computer, you can plan your meals around the sale items.  It's a great idea if you have the inclination and time to do all that prep work.  I tried it for a little while, but found we were eating a lot of preprocessed food that I didn't like all that much.  Not enough to save a few dollars.  And it was SO time consuming.  So, while I know that my method isn't the cheapest method, it's the most healthy/least expensive method I have found for us and it's so fast, once the initial work is done.  Plus, since I like a lot of variety in my diet, it's great because I (theoretically) only eat each meal 4 times a year.

So where is the money saving in my idea:

(a) I was so surprised to learn that people go to the grocery store without a meal plan in mind.  I went shopping with a friend once and watched her try to formulate meals at the store for two or three days out because you just can't remember all the stuff you need for a full week.  We had to run back and forth from one end of the store to the other because she kept forgetting stuff. And two days later she had to go back because she didn't have anything for dinner again.   #1--whatever your shopping method is like--do not leave your home for your major weekly/biweekly shopping trip without a meal plan for the week/2 weeks.

(b) On occasion, we'll have a busy week where I'll throw a pot of spaghetti on the stove because I don't have time to make anything else, even though spaghetti isn't on the menu for that week.  Or we'll be gone from home a few nights unexpectedly.  Whatever the case, I have a few meals left over for the week and so I just carry them to the next week.  Sometimes, I can stretch my trips to the grocery store for up to two weeks.  That saves a bundle right there.

(c) By crossing off the stuff I already have, I'm not buying duplicates of things and I'm saving a bunch there.  Also, since I've been at this method for a year, I've rearranged some of the meals so that they use up ingredients in the fridge the same week so I'm not wasting as much.  I'm also starting to pare down the meals or freezing half, so that when it shows back up in the rotation or on one of those nights that we're busy or sick or late getting home from something, I already have something cooked up and it's not something we ate two nights ago.

Right now, I'm working on compiling all the ingredients and making a list of the total items I need of each non-perishable thing so I can stockpile when they go on sale.  This builds up our food storage as well.  My next task is to start thinking up side dishes, since that's where my weakness has shifted to.  That will come later.

Initially this was A LOT of work to compile.  But thanks to an excel spreadsheet and microsoft word, I was able to organize it.  I put in a few hours to save THOUSANDS of hours and it was time well invested.

What's For Dinner Wednesday--Caloshies

This was a random find in my Amish cookbook.  I've never heard of caloshies before and a quick search on google confirmed my suspicion that the recipe sharer made it up.  However, it did turn out to be pretty good and opened up a line of communication never before seen in my household:  What could we do differently to this recipe to take it from pretty good to REALLY good.  If it was dipped in chocolate and all filling was removed, then Josh would probably eat it.  Aunika eats pretty much anything, so she had little input.  But Wade had a few good ideas and I was proud of myself for involving everyone.

Caloshies
1.5 pounds of hamburger, fried (I used ground turkey)
1 C pizza sauce
1 recipe feather roll dough (see below)
Pepperoni, cut in pieces
Grated cheese (any cheese would work.  I used mozzarella).

Feather Roll Dough
5 C bread flour
1 T instant yeast
1/2 C mashed potatoes
1/2 C warm water
1/4 C sugar
1/3 cup oil (I used olive oil)
1 tsp salt

Make the feather roll dough first:  In a mixer bowl, combine 2-3 C of the flour and yeast.  Combine the rest of the ingredients and add to flour and yeast mixture.  Beat for 3 minutes then add remaining 2 C of flour by hand.  Can be refrigerated for several hours or overnight.

**By the time I was done mixing everything in, it was a big crumbly mess, so I had to add water to get it to the consistency of bread dough.  Also, I used real  mashed potatoes, but if you're of the boxed persuasion,  I'm sure you would get the same results. **

Now on to the Caloshies: Mix hamburger and pizza sauce together.  Make balls of the roll dough and roll out onto a greased surface.  They should be about 6 inches in diameter.  Spoon 3 T of meat mixture in the center.  Top with pepperoni and a few sprinkles of cheese.  Fold in 4 sides of dough and pinch top to seal.  Sprinkle more cheese on top.  Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.  To serve, top with additional pizza sauce.

**The dough made  about 16 Caloshies, but I only made 6 of them.  Then I rolled the rest into little balls and cooked them plain.  The filling itself was pretty plain.  It needed some spices of some sort.  And then we got to thinking that maybe taco meat and cheddar cheese would taste really good.  Wade thought maybe more pizza sauce would do the trick.  I had exactly 1 C of pizza sauce and so we didn't top them after they cooked.  Maybe that would have helped too.  And it needed more pepperoni then what I put in.**

Broken Promises

I know I promised some new posts about things I've been meaning to post about and now it's a  week later, and I've only gotten around to one of them.  But  don't worry.  I haven't forgotten.

It's just that I'm sick.  Really sick.  With the stomach flu.

(and yes I'm 100% sure it's not the 9 month flu).

(Yes.  100%.)

But it reminds me a little of the 9 month flu though.  Reminds me so much in fact that I don't think I can have any more kids.  Because, I know that if this runs the same course as it did with Josh, I should be feeling better tomorrow.  But with the 9 month flu, it's like this EVERY DAY for 4-7 MONTHS.

EVERY DAY.

(Wade: EVERY DAY)

And we've watched a lot of TV today and the masses are getting restless.  But I still have to be responsible and feed the children even when I can't keep anything down myself.  And change diapers.

Ugh.  Change diapers.

The epiphany came to me that I am so not ready for another baby.  Mainly because of how sick I get.  But also because of how tired I get and how demanding those little guys are.  And I'm perfectly at peace with this feeling.

Especially today.

So tomorrow when I'm (hopefully) feeling better, I will be unveiling my new shopping secret.

Spring into Easter

Whenever someone finds out I have a blog and they want access I have to follow it up with this disclaimer:  My blog is mostly words.  I don't post a lot of pictures of my kids or pets or spend a lot of time relishing in how cute they are. I mean, they're REALLY cute, but I don't need to tell you that, right? I don't have anything against blogs that have tons of pictures of kids and vacations and outings to the park.  It's just not my niche. I have things to say that aren't necessarily related to my kids.  I'm multi-faceted.  A woman, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, an enemy, an athlete, a cook, an intellect, and an observer.  And I like to write about each of these topics and then some.  So don't go to my blog expecting to see pictures of my kids and what we've done that day because most likely you'll come away disappointed.  However, if you want to get to know me better as a person, well, then you're in the right place.

And sometimes, people still come looking even after all that.

So today, for those who enjoy pictures, I have a bunch of pictures of my cute kids.  And our Easter.  And whatever else we find on the camera.

Remember this:

Remember how I couldn't believe how calm and sweet this little baby was?  Well, I don't know what happened because I now have devil child (and yes there's a story there).

Here's Aunika feeding herself because she doesn't have the patience to wait for us to spoon it into her mouth.

This is Josh's first day on a "real" bike.  Looks like it will be his last too since the bike is about two sizes too small.  Big boy on a little bike...

The kid can count to 100, tell time, and beats boards on Super Mario Brothers but doesn't understand the phrase "smile for the camera".

Take Two.

For the record, we require him to wear his helmet while on his bike, but he chooses to wear it on the playground.  And he dresses himself now.

This was about 2 days after Aunika started walking.  Note the holes in the knees of her jeans.  That's from crawling on the sidewalk  up until she decided that walking really would be easier.

This is us coloring Easter Eggs.  Josh had no problem with a big, giant bunny coming into his house while he was sleeping but was a little peeved he had to go find all the eggs the bunny hid.  

Aunika watched us dye eggs from a safe distance.  This is her impression of the bunny.  Or the devil.  Maybe a devil bunny?

Josh dancing.  He's about as coordinated as his parents.  We're so proud.

I don't know how Aunika ended up in my purse, but there she is with her little devil horns.

The epitome of laziness.  Aunika had pushed the little rocking chair up to the toy so she wouldn't have to stand and play.  She could just sit.  That's my girl!

Aunika in her Easter dress.  Age: 16 months.  Size: 3T

This is me and my training buddies--C. on the left, H. on the right--after a race we did in St. George in March.  We're now qualified for the St. George Marathon in October.  I feel like Amazon Woman next to these two ladies.  And my feet are freakin' huge!  The weather, obviously, was GORGEOUS and we're all wearing about three less layers of clothing then we usually do when we're running.  We have yet to experience this perfect running weather here at home.  But for one day, it was Utopia.  

What's for Dinner Wednesday--Mama Mia's Minestrone Soup

This is another recipe to come from my mom's cookbook.  She made this quite a bit growing up and I've never been brave enough to try it. Say hello to me breaking out of my cooking shell.  SO easy to make, if you take the shortcuts.

1 Onion, chopped
1 C Celery, chopped

Sauté in bacon grease.  (Which I didn't do.  I just cooked them in a pan with some Pam.)

Parmesan cheese to taste (I used about 1/4-1/2 cup)
A little macaroni (maybe 1-1 1/2 cups?)
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used about 1/2 package of bacon bits)
2 cans stewed Italian tomatoes
2 cans beef stock (Campbell's)
2 small cans tomato juice (I put in 24 oz from a jar of tomato juice I had)
1 can Ellis white beans (I think Ellis is the brand name.  I used S&W)
1 can string beans (green beans in a can?)
3 cut up carrots (only had one carrot on hand)
2 C shredded cabbage
2 C water
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano

Combine and cook all day.  *Do not add salt.  Beef stock is very salty.*

It was very good, and surprisingly, Wade really liked it even though he wasn't fond of it when my mom made it on New Years Eve.  I'm not sure what I did different.  Wish we would have had bread to go with it.  I need to get on the ball more.  I had this going at 10 am so I don't know what my deal was.  Oh well.  Next time.

For the record, this is my 14th STRAIGHT new recipe.  I haven't missed a week in 2010 yet.  And I have two full weeks of new recipes to show for it.  Look at me go.  You didn't think I had it in me, did you?

Housekeeping

Seriously, is there anything more mundane and brain-numbing and aggravating than housekeeping?

But, it has to be done.  Even here.

So, without further ado, here is my housekeeping tasks to get caught up:

(1)  Home Improvements for April:  No surprise here.  Nothing got done in March.  We even still have our celestial light up.  I guess we're keeping it.  I've been dabbling a bit, looking at drapes, but I haven't found what I want exactly.  So what now?  Keep working in the living room.  This is the last month in there so hopefully I'll make some progress.  Otherwise, we'll be at ground zero and four months into the year.

(2) Q1 Update for Financial Goals

(a) Set up a budget:  Done.
Things to work on there:  Following budget?  Kidding.  A little.  Maybe we could be a lot little better at it.

(b) Lower Grocery Bill: Eh
I spent the first two months building up our food storage, so I spent some money there.  But the last month and some, I've really felt like our grocery bill is coming down.  Stay tuned for my unveiling of my revolutionary shopping technique.  Seriously, this changed my whole life.  If you're like me and hate figuring out what to make and buy for dinner every week, you're going to LOVE this.  I'm still putting the last little bit of it together, but I'm hoping to have it done this week.

(c) Buy O new clothing items: YAY!
Man, this one has been tough, but so far so good.  Though shoes are another story.  But, I need all those shoes so what's  a girl to do, right?

(d) Have both cars paid for by the end of 2010:  Oiy!
It seems like there's one thing after another preventing us from really tackling those car payments.  Namely the furnace.  We've dropped a huge chunk of change to fix our furnace and now we have to rebuild that little emergency fund before moving on to paying off the cars.  However, for sure, the Camry will be paid off this year!

(e) Plan Better: Huh?
We've done a little better on this front (excluding the furnance).  But there's still room for improvement.  We don't eat out all that often anymore (because of my revolutionary  new plan that I will be unveiling soon) and that has helped a lot.

(3) Upcoming Blog Posts

I keep mentioning that I need to write a blog post about this or that and then I promptly forget.  But obviously, if I put it down, it means that there was something I wanted to share.  So this week (and possibly into next week) will be a little catch up:

(a) The Mediterranean Market
(b) My friend, R.
(c) My revolutionary new shopping secret
(d) Pictures of Joshie and Aunika (what is a good nickname for her beside Baby Girl?) at Easter.  SO cute.
(e) How to make your blog so brain-numbing dull that you actually put people to sleep.  (Oh wait.  Check.)

Spiritual Thought Sunday--Easter Snow

I'm totally stealing this from a friend (thanks Juliana!) and I hope she doesn't mind.

Sometimes there are blue skies and flowers on Easter and sometimes we need faith that a period of rejuvenation and renewal WILL come... eventually. 

Oh, I have flowers.  Under all that snow.  

But, in a more general sense, sometimes life is like this--snow on Easter.  And the good news is that it rarely snows on the 4th of July.  So, keep swimming, and eventually you'll end up back on top.