How to Get Cheap

It's time to start cutting costs. It's time to start pinching pennies. It's time to learn how to be a housewife. Not quite Depression-era but no more buying processed frozen chicken nuggets because it's supposedly the only thing the kids will eat and it's easy.

Here's some ideas:

• Breadmaker. Time to start making some simple breads. Limit the sugar and possibly go gluten-free. Can this thing do pizza crusts and tortillas?
• Yogurt and kefir. All three kiddos love yogurt and two of them like the kefir smoothies I got on sale at the store. (Good thing it's the ones with the biggest need for Regulation.)
• Jams and jellies. It's time to learn how to do some easy canning with in-season fruits. Then I can add it to the homemade yogurt and kefir.
• Keep up with the freezer meals and meal planning. No more coddling the kids. They eat what we eat.
• Time to grow some herbs. Probably the basic Scarborough Faire variety with some dill and oregano thrown in there.
• Costco card. It is time to brave the beast.
• Start cutting down on processed foods. I can make nearly all of them myself. It's just a matter of learning how to keep them.
• Get a cow. These kids go through a lot of milk.

OK, so that last one probably isn't in the cards. Although I wouldn't have to pay for lawn care and I'm well-versed in cleaning large deposits of patties.

• We already shop clearance racks and resale shops. I think I've got the clothing bill down.
•  Ben is going to get Apple TV at the beginning of May and we'll start ripping our DVD collection. We're also looking into a Drobo to back everything up.
• Homemade cleaners. My girlfriend gave me her recipes and I'm gathering up the basic ingredients. It's pretty cool how many overlap.
• Potty train The Boy. *shudder*

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Give me your best!

Hair Raising Tales

I'm done with the meltdowns when we have to brush her hair, wash her hair, get peanut butter out of her hair, look at her hair...

So tonight I did something about it.

Ben: "Holy cow, you weren't just ranting about that!"

I put Sophie's hair in a low braid and cut it off. Then I trimmed it as best I could. Now my baby looks like this:

Dear Lord, ignore my messy living room.

Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the Hair Wars.

Mama's Feeling Beachy

Kelly's Man-Pleasing Chicken

A recipe has been lurking the interwebs. A recipe called Man Pleasing Chicken. My best friend made it and immediately texted me virtual drool. So I gave it a shot. Of course, I had to tweak it because that's just what I do.

The Stuff:

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
6 pieces of center cut bacon
1/4 cup mustard
1/8 cup pure maple syrup
1 TBSP vinegar
kosher salt
black pepper
onion powder
garlic powder

First, let me explain the differences in the ingredients. My friend told me that the sauce could easily be cut in half and it's still plenty. The original author used dijon mustard but I didn't have any in my fridge. I just used the regular yellow stuff. I just grabbed my usual apple cider vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar. The kosher salt / black pepper / onion powder / garlic powder mix is a basic seasoning mix I put in nearly everything. I just grab a big pinch.

And how in the world can something be called "man-pleasing" without bacon?!?!

The Process:

Put the chicken thighs in a big freezer Ziploc bag. Pour in the mustard, syrup, vinegar and spices. Seal the bag and squish everything around. This can marinate for a few hours, overnight or be thrown in the freezer for a Freezer Bank Meal. The bacon is sealed in a separate bag and labeled to go with the meal.

When you're ready to make the dinner, thaw your chicken bag and bacon bag. Preheat the oven to 375 and mist a casserole dish with cooking spray. Roll each chicken thigh in a piece of bacon and lay them in the dish. Bake until everything is golden brown and the bacon is crispy. Mine took...I honestly don't know. I use my nose. 30 minutes? Glance at it after 25 minutes. Then again after 35. If it's been 45 minutes then make sure your stove is on.

The chicken was tangy and juicy. Eventually I'll give it a shot with the other stuff the original author added.

Do I even have rosemary?

I Just Don't Know

Sophie is having multiple nuclear meltdowns today. It makes her incredibly sensitive brother cry. I used to be that sensitive sibling hiding when the yelling started. Now I'm the Mama who has to simultaneously calm/redirect Sophie, reassure Gideon and keep feeding Milly who is wondering where her macaroni went.

Sophie goes in the crib to calm down. Gideon gets hugged and kissed. Milly gets her macaroni. Once Gideon and Milly are done with lunch, they go down for naps. Sophie continues screaming.

Pull Sophie out. Chores will have to wait. Put her sneakers on and grab the chalk.

She's alone and outside. I'm watching from the porch. She's a different kid. I see the tension flowing out of her every time she turns her face into the wind. Sometimes she stops drawing and just stands. She's quiet. Her long hair blows all around her head because she refuses to put it up. She squints in the sunlight but her face follows the warmth.

She can't tell me why she's angry but I can fix it. A little.

Chalk and sunshine. I wish I knew what that cured.

The Mama Uniform: Take Two

Boogie Woogie Brain

I'm at a low point right now. I'm not even sure why it's happening. Yes, life is very stressful right now.

• We're still trying to enroll Sophie into different therapies. GISD is dragging their feet and they keep asking for more paperwork. I've given them enough that they will at least put her case in front of a board to see if she qualifies for the PPCD program. She probably won't start that program until the next school year. We've been wait-listed for speech therapy at the Callier Center. So now we just have to figure out a schedule, find some classes and possibly go back to Mother's Day out for the summer. The speech therapist said that Sophie would respond very well to therapy.
• Gideon is still showing autism red flags. He will turn 3 at the end of June. I've spoken to the GISD people and we're going to wait until he turns 3 and inevitably fails his pediatrician's developmental evaluation. Pair that with a vision and hearing test and we'll see if he can also qualify for the PPCD program in the fall. Again, we'll just look for some speech classes and maybe MDO in the summer. He is talking more and more. We're noticing that what originally looked like red flags are actually part of a shy personality. He's a quiet little introvert just like his Daddy. He can talk but a lot of the time he just chooses not to. He loves to sing and that makes my heart soar.
• Milly is hitting all of her milestones. She's a feisty little thing. I wept tears of joy when I saw her stacking blocks at 14 months old instead of over 2 years old like her siblings. She walks all over and runs if she's getting into something. She laughs at everything and screeches if it's really funny. She eats like a teenage boy. She toots like one, too. She hates wearing bows and dresses. She loves watching the Ranger games. She's Daddy's Little Sunshine. I would love to see her in MDO, too. She's pretty firmly entrenched in the separation anxiety phase and MDO changes that quickly.
• We're staying in the same rental house for another year. There is a lot of work that needs to happen in this house to make it habitable. The majority of the work is going to fall to me. Every room needs to be painted and trim needs to be added. 3 ceiling fans will be replaced and one will be added. Closets will be emptied and reorganized. The master walk-in closet will be turned into a very small office space. The kids will share one bedroom and have a playroom.

All of this is added to the day-to-day cooking, cleaning and general domesticated merriment of a SAHM. I'm still losing weight and inches on the Weight Watchers plan. I've boxed up a ton of my old clothes. There's not a whole lot left. It's irritating to buy new clothes right now for a few reasons and they are both ridiculous.

1. I'm outgrowing clothes quickly. I don't like spending $60 on a pair of jeans that are going to be saggy-baggy in a month. I know. BOO-HOO.
2. Everything is in pretty and bright springy colors right when I'm in a depressive funk. I want to buy all black but then I lust after yellow shirts and cherry covered purses. I know. GET OVER YOURSELF.

All of this rambling diatribe is basically to say that anxiety sucks, my life is actually going very well and I need prayers that God won't stop hitting me with a 2x4 until my eyes uncross and I see what He's given me.