Decided it might make more sense to talk about my weekly meal plan after the week is up, so I can include photos and comments about what I chose.
This past week, I only ended up doing two recipes - we ate each for two nights. I always double-up my recipes and freeze half if it's freezable or eat it for two (or three) nights if it won't freeze well. Friday night we just picked out of the fridge for dinner and weekends we tend to be going in opposite directions. For example, Stewart's photographing a wedding tonight, so he'll eat there. I'll just eat a Lean Cuisine Panini or a can of soup.
So...
Monday and Wednesday we had Summer Rolls. I decided to practice a bit of frugality and omit the shrimp - I doubled up on the avocado and used a bit of fake crab in half. Next time I'll skip the protein altogether - it was great with just avocado and cilantro.
Tuesday and Thursday we had Roasted Corn, Black Bean, and Mango Salad. Oh my goodness this was good. Got lucky finding really nice ripe mangoes at the store. I'm not sure how much the dish benefitted from the roasting of the corn kernels; I might try skipping that step next time to save some time. I used half frozen corn kernels and half fresh. Truly delicious. Nate at bowl after bowl after bowl. I just can't explain how good I feel when I see him stuff healthy food down his throat!
(Emily - are you out there? I think you would love this recipe!)
Someone asked me how old you were the other day, and I told them you were almost three. Then I had a seizure. How is it possible that you are almost three?
Your language has taken a quantum leap in the last week or so, and now you're on top of your game. The negotiating has begun, almost always in relation to sleep. Right before your nap yesterday you came into the kitchen where I was working on dinner and slyly asked "Can I have a banana and then my nap?" How could resist?
You're starting to identify your feelings, for which I give your school all the credit. We walked to the fire station a few days ago to check out the ambulances and firetrucks, and you babbled the whole way there: "Going to see the firetrucks? And the ambulance? And the fireman?" The second one of the firemen spoke to you, you stopped functioning. You tucked your chin into your shoulder and couldn't speak. When I asked you to please say "hello" to the fireman, you whispered "I'm too shy."
We had a little talk about how it's fine to be shy, but you still have to use good manners. I'm never going to make you hug someone or try to force you to interact, but you do have to say "hello", "goodbye", "please", and "thank you."
You're not a social butterfly; you never have been. I remember people trying to get you to smile at them when you were a baby - it was an exercise in futility. You didn't cry, but you sure weren't about to smile at a stranger. But with your family, you're really very sunshiney and friendly. You ask me: What's that Mama? And I'll tell you: That's cilantro! Your inevitable response: Ooooh, I WUV cilantro! Daddy loves cilantro! Do you love cilantro? Fill in whatever word you want for cilantro and that's your response to anything new. I hope that positive attitude carries over to what I think of as your "real life" - when you're grown.
Life with you these days is like having a sports announcer at all times: you like to narrate what you've done and what you're doing. After a tantrum, you'll tell me "I was crying, Mama." You fell down trying to climb into your carseat last week, splat onto the parking lot floor. Of course I ran over to pick you up, got you calmed down, and we started for home. A few minutes later I hear "I fell down, Mama." Yes, you did. "And I cried." Yes again. "And then you picked me up!" I did, buddy. That's what Mommies do. "Mommies pick up little boys?" Yep, and hopefully don't get arrested for it.
You still love to tell me "no!" and I've taken to calling you "sassy." You retort: I'm not sassy, you're sassy. Sometimes you'll be playing with your blocks and I hear you banging them together saying "You're being rude! You're being rude!" At least it's getting through.
I have no complaints about you as a two year-old. I think you're a blast. There's no doubt that it's a lot of work trying to raise you properly, to teach you manners and consideration and empathy and goodness. This morning you were using my camera to take pictures in the living room, and you plopped down next to Jack and started taking pictures of him. In between each one you gave him a little pet on the head. You give us spontaneous hugs, and you light up when Jack is around. You're very sweet, and very special.
I've been letting the boy run pantsless every afternoon and he's peed in the potty several times without any prompting. He's waking up dry, and likes watching everyone go potty. Plus I keep confusing Nate's Target-brand diapers with Jack's Target-brand diapers (Target keeps the prices low low low by saving the ink that it would take to put a "3" or a "5" to indicate the sizes.) I decided enough was enough with the diapers.
Ooh, Diego underpants!
We started the formal potty training today. I decided to keep him pantsless for two days, then underpants for two days, and then we'll venture into pants territory. I took him out of school for next week and we're going to hunker down at home for at least 5 days - I'm trying to set him up to succeed.
And he really is succeeding. We're only through our first morning and he hasn't had any accidents - he's used the potty, without any prompting, four times (three pees and a poop). The poop was especially impressive since he was playing in the basement - he came running up the stairs yelling "The poop is coming! The poop is coming!"
Jack wasn't feeling well yesterday, so he went to bed at 6 pm. I checked on him at 6:30, to make sure he hadn't thrown up again, and found him sleeping soundly with no pacifier. I was pleased at that - it probably means it fell out when he cried (for a few minutes) when I put him down, and he still was able to fall asleep without it. Good.
Went to bed early myself, and woke up at 2 am, a little surprised that Jack hadn't yet paged me for the first of his feeds. Went in to check on him and found him sleeping soundly - sucking away on the pacifier. Woke Stewart from a dead sleep to ask if he'd put it in for him; once my very confused husband figured out what I was talking about, he said he had not. Very interesting.
I'll be heading to the store today to stock up on more pacifiers; I plan to littler the crib with those things, so that whenever he reaches out a hand he finds one waiting. And I'll put a little extra money aside in the orthodontist savings account, and enjoy the heck out of my sleep.
I like to feed the kids organic when I can, especially milk and cheese. I don't go terribly out of my way, but when the cost is reasonable I opt for organic. Thank goodness for Trader Joes and their cheapie organics!
So it's baby food time for Jack, and try to keep costs reasonable means I can either buy non-organic food or make my own organic, like I did with Nate. I happen to love "putting food up" - it makes me feel all Little House on the Prairie. So I made him the food.
It's so easy it's almost ridiculous: bake the sweet potatoes and acorn squash until mushy, puree with breastmilk. Glop onto cookie sheets in glumps, freeze, put in bags. Boil apples until mushy, rinse, repeat. Bananas are the easist: puree with breastmilk, freeze in glops. I cut up a bunch of avocados, froze in slices, and put one into his meals here and there, to cut back on the sweetness of the foods I picked.
I'm especially glad I did this because the boy is a pig. He eats food three times a day, probably about 5 ounces each feed. It's a good thing I'm learning frugality now; when these boys are teenagers I think our food bills are going to be outrageous.
I read a lot of "frugality blogs" and I learn a lot, use some of it, and reject a whole heck of a lot of what they have to say. A woman today wrote about setting a timer for her showers; she's proud to have cut them down from 10 minutes to 5. She's shooting to get it down to 3 minutes. I read a lot about how and when people find time to clip coupons, how they cut their own hair at home, and how they visit four grocery stores each week to maximize the bargains.
I do have the luxury of being able to buy what I need. I try to be frugal and smart with our money, but we don't have to pinch every penny until it hurts. I know that some people are very close to the bone.
But for people somewhere in the middle, I just say this: please consider the cost of your precious time. To spend three hours making bread, which you can buy for $3, seems like a losing proposition. If you love making bread, it's worth every second. To save a couple of bucks? I won't do it.
Here's an example: my husband drinks 2 or 3 beers a night. It costs us about $15 a week. This is the ultimate in luxury purchases. That said, I'd never ask him to give it up. He works hard, spends time with his kids, and indulges very little. Let him have his beer.
It's hard, when you're trying to stay in the "frugal mindset", to remember to be sane and balanced about money. To remember that the point of it all is to create a happy, safe life for everyone; not to die with money in the bank. I tend to err a bit too much on the frugality side; my husband a little too much on the spendy side. We're lucky to have a built-in system of "checks and balances". Knowing what he's thinking makes me consider the time and money-worthiness of some of my projects; knowing that I'm going to see the credit card bill makes him do the same.
What kinds of balanced choices are you making these days? Any suggestions to share?
