The Shopping Lists

After I put together my meal plan, the next step was to break that down into a shopping list. Actually, it was a few shopping lists.

One of the problems that I had before was that I would buy everything at once and about halfway through the month all of my produce had gone bad and my dairy had curdled. So here are my shopping lists.

This is the main shopping list. First I took a trip through the kitchen to see what I had on hand and what I needed. Then I put together this Main List. I'm also prepping ahead on breakfasts and lunches so those are in the shopping list as well. This list is a little longer than most because I needed to restock my spice rack. I also had looked at the circulars to see what meats were on sale and tailored my meal plans around that. Chicken and steaks were on sale at Sprouts and Albertsons. Hooray for lean meats! I'm also easing into this by making a lot of slow cooker meals and meals that know very well. These are things I can make in my sleep.

Each week then gets one of these; a Perishable List. These are the weekly trips I will make to Sprouts and another store for the produce and dairy that is needed just for that week. This is perilous because I am an impulse buyer. I am determined to stick to my lists no matter how much I think I need another bag of Pop Chips. My kids go through about 2 gallons of milk a week. I have seriously looked at the zoning laws and thought about how much a cow costs. Until then, I have to go each week and get their milk along with the rest of the sour cream and whatever produce is on sale. I'm grateful that my kids drink milk and eat fruit rather than ask for soda and candy. It just means I have to practice my resilience when I go through Sprouts and look at all of the wonderful things in the bulk section.

I don't need chocolate covered espresso beans. I don't.

Maybe just a Ritter Sport...

Adventures in Once a Month / Freezer Cooking

In an attempt to force myself to cook daily, lower calories and tighten the budget I've been trying different methods of "Once A Month Cooking". This is where you go grocery shopping once a month, come home and prepare individual meals in freezer bags, casserole dishes and other holders to label and freeze. These meals are then ready to be taken out and cooked by your meal plan for the month. This eliminates the need for a 30 minute prep when your kids have stolen your will to live much less chop onions and smash garlic cloves.

I've tried different websites claiming to hold all of your recipes and then collate a shopping list. None of them did it right. OK, none of them did it MY way. So after much trial and error I found my way.

So, this is just my meal plan. It's color-coded by week from Wednesday to Wednesday. This is because I go produce shopping at Sprouts every week and Wednesdays are Double-Ad Day. (I'm cheap.) I'll get into the shopping stuff on a later post.

I started going by a system. Sundays are Roast Day, Mondays are Slow Cooker Days, Tuesday is Mediterranean Night, Wednesday is Italian Night, Thursday is Fajita Night, Friday is Steak Night. On Saturdays, I will actually cook something not out of the freezer just to give myself a little nudge.

Here I go. I will post recipes and pictures. I'll fill you in on the shopping process. I'll let you know if we're sticking to it and if it's making a difference in our wallet and my Weight Watchers Points.

Mama Nods at the 80's

Monday Brain Dump

Quiet. I know it's Tuesday.

Sophie has learned how to ask for juice. She comes to one of us and says "I may juice?" Then she thinks it over a little and says "May I juice?" We're all doing a happy dance and drinking a lot of diluted OJ.

Milly has a compulsion to empty any box or bowl that she can find. It's really irritating when her sister and brother have bowls of cereal in the morning.

WOW. That guy on the Sprout morning show is secure in his manhood to dance like that. Especially with an overgrown squeaking chick.

Milly toddles almost everywhere now. She's my third child and I'm still just enchanted by her little steps. She gets a giant grin on her face and will "run" at you to attack you with kisses and hugs. Then the world explodes into fairy dust. It's the most wonderful feeling ever.

Gideon is having trouble getting to sleep at night. He needs extra cuddling and his lullabye. He wraps his little arms around my neck and clutches at me like he's terrified. I wish I could see inside his little mind to see what's bothering my Little Prince.

Ben and I found a church in Wylie that has a monthly Parents Night Out. We took the kids last Friday night and had a date night at Studio Movie Grill. It's only from 6-10 so we have to drop them off right on time and then BOOK IT to the movie theater. We chose SMG so that we could have dinner and a movie all at once. Spinach and mushroom quesadillas are delicious but are a little difficult to eat in the dark while wearing 3D glasses. We saw John Carter.

GEEKS, HEAR ME! YOU MUST GO SEE THIS MOVIE!


After the movie ended, we raced back to the church with 5 minutes to spare. Gideon was sound asleep, Milly was watching a movie in a volun-grandma's lap and Sophie was acting like she had spent the whole time snorting a sugar and cocaine mixture. They had so much fun. We're putting this on the calendar as a monthly date night for us and a play night for the kids.

Sophie has not removed her flashing Minnie Mouse shoes all morning. Her Nonny would be proud.

Milly's hair gets longer and curlier every day. Ben calls her Sunshine. She looks like the girliest girl in all of Girldom but it's all a ruse. She eats like a horse, watches baseball and NASCAR, farts enough to peel the paint and loves her toy cars. Her Daddy is so proud.

I just finished reading Mists of Avalon. It took me a week and a half. I feel so...normal. Next up is Cinder.

I've officially lost 20 pounds on Weight Watchers. Next up is my 40 pound goal. This is surreal.

Red Flags

He's not talking.

He has a very talkative older sister.
Boys talk later than girls.
Sometimes he'll repeat and talk with Sesame Street.


He's not responding to me.

He's just 2. 2 year olds are stubborn.
Maybe he can't hear me. Schedule another hearing test.


He's lining up his action figures in precise ways and gets REALLY upset when you move one.

He's just playing.
He's protective of his toys. He has to be with two sisters ready to steal them.


"On August 15th, the BSRC published a paper in Pediatrics which reexamined the recurrence rate of autism in high risk families. It found that in families with one or more children on the autism spectrum, the chances that a baby sibling will develop autism are around 1 in 5, more than double previous estimates of 1 in 10 to 1 in 30. The rate was much higher among younger brothers (1 in 4) than among younger sisters (1 in 9). In families with more than one older child on the spectrum, 1 in 3 infants eventually developed autism. The severity of the older sibling's autism did not affect the risk to younger brothers or sisters, nor did other family attributes such as parental age, ethnicity, or birth order."
 - Autism Speaks


...higher in younger brothers?


Bottom Line:  It's time to cry, pray and make some appointments. 

Mama Loves Fun Accessories

Familial Follies

• We've had a wave of stomach virus descend upon the house. It seemed to skitter over the adults and Sophie, backslap Gideon a little and then hug Milly like a swaddle blanket. Oy, the diapers that child has produced! It seems to be waning. Meanwhile, I just hold my breath when she wants to cuddle.

• Sophie's potty training is pretty much the same. She still poops in her panties and I'm pretty sure it will stay that way until we can communicate a little better. She will go potty in other places and can tell people when she needs to go. Today, as we were all getting a little bit of fresh air, I noticed her coming up our long driveway out of the corner of my eye. I was watching Milly to make sure she didn't eat weeds. I looked up and there was my beautiful big girl...with her pants and panties around her ankles asking to go inside to the potty. We may need to work on proper timing.

• Gideon can't seem to decide if he wants to take naps or not. I know he still needs a little nap each day because he turns into a werewolf at 5:45 if he doesn't have one. I never know what will happen when I put him down. Will he meekly lay down and gently fall asleep only to be awaked by me in an hour when he nestles his sweaty little head on my shoulder? Will he swing his Donald Duck doll around his head while caterwauling and jumping on the crib like a trampoline for an hour? NO ONE KNOWS.

• We have new musical tastes. Sophie loves dancing to Ricky Martin. Milly sing-screeches and dances to Ozzy Osborne. Gideon sits quietly and rocks his head while smiling whenever Beck plays. My kids are cool.