Baby Makes Four

Grocery Planning on a Budget

2014-03-21T14:52:00.000-04:00

I've spent a lot of time over the past month and a half sharing my meal plans, food budget and grocery store purchases with you. Today I decided to share the process of how I figure out what to buy at the store and which store to buy it at.

I've tried many different ways of shopping over the past few years. I've come to learn that a lot depends on what season of life you're in. When I had one child, I shopped differently than when I had two. When I had a baby in a carseat in the back of the cart and a young toddler riding up front, I shopped very differently than I do now. I've tried monthly shopping, weekly shopping, bi-weekly shopping, shopping the sales, meal planning based on the sales, etc. You name it and I've tried it.

Last year I put together a big spreadsheet of all the food that I like to keep on hand in the pantry, freezer, and refrigerator. I coded it based on the best place to buy (I pretty much buy the same things over and over so I know the prices.) This was a great useful tool to keep myself organized, and although I don't use it every week anymore, it's nice to have. We've also started moving toward a more natural and clean way of eating, so things have shifted a bit. But the general staples are still the same. I think making that master list was a great way to start getting myself organized.

***I've heard from several people that they are too busy to be organized in their food prep/shopping, they just don't have the time, it's a lot of work, etc. I do admit that when I started shopping and planning with a strict budget I had to put in some leg work. But now it's pretty seamless and happens rather quickly. I think it's worth it to take the time, and I consider it part of my job as the home manager of my family. I might not bring in any money, but part of my job as a stay-at-home mom is to save money wherever possible.

During the week, as food starts to run out or get low, I keep a running list on the refrigerator of what I need to buy the next time I shop. I jot down the item and a code for which store has it for the best price. (TJ for Trader Joe's, SS for Stop & Shop, etc.) On Sunday I sit down to meal plan. I have a handy magnetic note pad for my planning. After I fill out our meals, I make sure we have the ingredients we need. (We tend to eat the same 10 or so meals over and over again, so I just know off the top of my head what we need. If it's a new recipe, I have to take a little more time to cross check the recipe with the things I have on hand.) If I need to buy something for a recipe, I add it to the running grocery list on my notepad. Once this is done, I look at the ads for the stores I go to. If I have to change the store I'm purchasing an item from (because it's on sale cheaper than where I normally buy it) I make a note of that. Then I go through my coupon booklet and pull out any coupons that correlate to my list.

Finally, I rewrite my list. I do a separate column (on the same piece of paper) for each store. Sometimes, if it's the end of the month and money is really short, I will jot down the approximate price of everything and add it up. If it vastly exceeds our budget, I go through and figure out if there's anything I can put off buying.

Ideally I get all of my shopping done one day a week. If it's a week that I need to hit 4 stores though, I will split it up because that's a lot to do in one day.

As I re-read this post, I realize it sounds like a lot of work. But it's actually pretty quick and simple, and my Sunday planning/list making only really takes about 20 minutes to half an hour! If anyone has tips on how they plan and shop, I'd love to hear them. I'm always looking for ways to simplify the process and save money where possible.

March Grocery Shopping.....and a BIG challenge

2014-03-11T19:40:00.001-04:00

Well, it looks like I haven't been blogging about the groceries I've been buying. Oops! I do still however have the running list I've kept all month, so I figured I'd just compile all my grocery trips into one post for you! Here's the food that I've bought so far in March:

BJs
Natural Applesauce pouches (16 in a box)
48oz bag of craisins
Sweet Potatoes
5lb of organic apples
3lb grass fed ground beef
6lb boneless chicken
1 gallon of milk
2lb Strawberries
Organic yogurt squeezes (16)
1lb american cheese slices
bananas
string cheese
4 dozen eggs
(This was two different trips, one the first week and one this past weekend)

Dave's Market
4 boxes of Cascadian farm granola bars (As you'll see when you see the Stop and Shop list, I also bought 2 boxes there. I had completely forgotten about the 4 I bought at Dave's.)
1 cantaloupe
Almond Milk
Organic yogurt smoothies (kid size)
2lb ground beef
2lb strawberries

Trader Joe's
1 gallon of organic milk
Flaxseed chips
Dark chocolate & almond bars (2 packages)
2 boxes of breakfast bars
bananas
Frozen organic corn
Shredded cheddar cheese
Bagged baby spinach
Cinnamon apple sticks
Bran flakes
2 boxes of coconut cranberry granola
Organic whole wheat pitas
Refrigerated biscuits
Refrigerated crescent rolls

Stop and Shop
Organic half & half (I NEVER used to drink this in my coffee. Then Dan bought a huge one for Stephanie's birthday party. I didn't want it to go to waste so I used it. Now when I brew plain coffee, I want this instead of milk. Sigh.)
4 loaves of Whole Wheat Bread
5 light tuna pouches
2 boxes of Cascadian farm organic granola bars
Russet potatoes

Sams Club
Raspberries
Baby carrots
6 pack of peppers (2 red, 2 yellow, 2 orange)
Fresh Broccoli
Snap Peas

So far I've spent a total of $214.47. This leaves me with $60.53 left. For the entire month. This is QUITE a challenge. We'll see how it goes...

What I Ate: Photo Edition

2014-03-04T09:35:00.002-05:00

I decided yesterday that I would document everything I ate all day with photos. I figured it would serve two purposes: show the things I put together based on the groceries I buy each week, and help me keep from overeating. Let me tell you, I didn't think I eat quite as much as I do! Something about seeing it all there in photos was so different for me than just seeing it written down in a food diary.

Breakfast:

Old fashioned oats cooked in unsweetened vanilla almond milk with sliced strawberries, 1 tbsp flax seed meal, 1 tbsp walnut pieces, cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey. Coffee on the side of course.

Morning Snack:

1 pumpkin spelt muffin and raspberries

Lunch:

I was CRAVING a peanut butter and jelly! I normally try to eat salads but after making a sandwich for the kids, I couldn't resist making one for myself.

PB&J (Skippy natural peanut butter and smuckers natural strawberry jam) on Nature's Promie 100% Whole Wheat Bread. Orange and red peppers dipped in roasted garlic hummus.

Afternoon Snack:

Banana, Cheddar Egg Muffin

Dinner:

Leftover quinoa (that had been cooked in chicken stock), sugar snap peas, and turkey meatloaf with organic ketchup on top. Not Pictured: A handful of baby carrots and a few more snap peas

Evening Snack:

A bowl of flaxseed chips and a Trader Joe's dark chocolate and almond bar. I intended to break off a quarter of the bar and save the rest. Nope, ate the whole thing. Oops. It's a good thing I'm giving up eating after dinner for Lent. Those nighttime snacks are my downfall!

Full Disclosure: I had a handful of Trader Joe's chocolate cat cookies when I prepared the kids' afternoon snack.

Meal Plan Monday!

2014-03-03T08:48:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday! We had a very low-key weekend around here, and a fairly slow week planned. Hopefully that means I won't get crazed and cranky and end up throwing my meal plan out the window. (This happens a lot.) Here's what we'll be eating for dinners this week:

Monday:
Turkey Meatloaf, quinoa, steamed broccoli and steamed greenbeans

Tuesday:
Quinoa Bites and steamed broccoli (me)
Annie's Mac & Cheese, peas and broccoli (kids)
(I don't like making two different meals, but quinoa bites aren't something the kids like at all, and I really do, so I make the exception.)

Wednesday:
Dinner at my mom's house

Thursday:
Chili in the crock pot, steamed broccoli (yes, we're having broccoli almost every night. I bought a huge bag at Sam's Club and want to make sure we eat it before it goes bad.)

Friday:
Birthday Party for one of the kids' friends

Saturday:
Tuscan Italian Chicken in the crock-pot, pilaf rice, quinoa (i'm trying to eat quinoa when I make rice for the kids and Dan) and a vegetable. We have corn, mixed vegetables, green beans and peas in the freezer. I'll let Dan choose whichever he's in the mood for.

Sunday:
DATE NIGHT! We haven't been out for dinner by ourselves since early December. I'm VERY excited to be going somewhere nice together without the kids in tow. They will be spending the night at Nana's house.

One of the things I've been asked since starting this grocery budget blog project is what else do we eat during the day. I wrote a post about breakfast (you can read it here) and I list our dinners in my weekly meal planning posts. But there are lunches and snacks in between, and changes to the meal plan. So today i'm taking a picture of everything I eat and I'll post it tomorrow. I admit I'm doing this for selfish reasons as well. Not only am I trying to save money with this grocery challenge, but I'm on a quest to clean up our diets. I'm trying to make the switch to mostly whole, minimally processed, healthy foods. Taking a picture of everything I eat is a good way to make sure I stay away from junk and hold myself accountable! Stay tuned :)

***If you missed it, I recapped our February Challenge in this post: http://ababymakesfour.blogspot.com/2014/03/february-grocery-challenge-re-cap.html

February Grocery Challenge Re-Cap

2014-03-01T15:51:00.001-05:00

As most of you know, I spent February challenging myself to actually stay within my $275 grocery budget. And I made it by the skin of my teeth!

Last week I went to Trader Joe's and Dave's (our local market.) I had $18.99 left. I spent $13.90. Which means I finished off the month with $5.04 left. Not bad!

Here is what I bought:

Trader Joe's

Kid organic yogurt squeezers

32 oz plain organic yogurt

5 bananas

1.5 lb bag of baby carrots

Dave's

1 4 pack of Tuna

Cantaloupe

Originally I was only going to document the challenge here on the blog for the month of February. BUT it helped me stay accountable and really stick to my budget, so I plan to do it for March as well. If you're sick of these grocery posts, I'll do my best to sprinkle in some other posts as well.

Full Disclosure***

I went to 4 stores today. I've already spent about 2/3 of my March budget. That's what happens when you spend the last week of a month scraping bottom and using up your stock-ups. This month is definitely going to be challenging! Stay tuned tomorrow for a round-up of where I went and what I bought today.

Meal Plan Changes and Grocery Re-Cap

2014-02-23T18:55:00.001-05:00

As usual, my meal plan changed this past week. I actually managed to keep it all the same until Saturday. I ended up making meatloaf instead of chili. I've been making the same meatloaf, using the same recipe, for years. But for some reason it didn't come out well this time. I bought meat from BJs instead of the local market where I usually get it from, so maybe that had something to do with it? I don't know. Either way I wasn't pleased. But we ate it and it made enough for leftovers. Tonight I made a chicken tostada recipe that I'd been meaning to try for awhile. It was delicious! I'll post the recipe later this week.

Here are the groceries I purchased last week:

Trader Joe's:
Hummus
Milk
Almond milk

$8.77

Dave's:
Corned Beef
Apples

$10.71

Stop & Shop:
2 Loaves of Whole Wheat Bread
2 peppers
4 boxes of barilla whole wheat pasta
2 bags of New England hazelnut ground coffee
Organic cereal
Oats
(This was the only shopping trip that I remembered to take a picture of. Oops!)

$21.01

BJs:
Honey Bunches of Oats (Dan's cereal of choice. He eats it at home and in his apartment)
Almonds
Fig Bars
Strawberries
Raspberries
Stonyfield Farm yogurt squeezes
3lbs of Chicken breasts

$44.93

I went to so many stores this past week. Yikes. I spent a total of $85.42

I started the month with $275. I am left with $18.99 for this entire week. I'm actually looking forward to the challenge of eating out of the cupboards and freezer as much as possible! And i'm determined NOT to spend more than that $18.99. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

If you're curious, here are my previous shopping trip posts from this month:

Week One
Week 2

Meal Plan Monday & Recipes

2014-02-17T20:00:00.000-05:00

Here is my meal plan for the week:

Monday: Quinoa Pizza bites & steamed broccoli (me) and English Muffin pizzas with leftover sweet peas (the kids)

Tuesday: We are supposed to go to a friend's house for dinner. If the snow ruins that plan, I'll have a tuna sandwich with spinach on a flat-out wrap, and the rest of my steamed broccoli from Monday. The kids will have fish sticks and finish up their leftover peas.

Wednesday: We'll eat at my mom's house

Thursday: Chicken (new recipe), pilaf rice, and green beans

Friday: Eating at the dining hall (maybe. My husband might have to work. If he does, I honestly have no idea what we'll have. Possibly soup and rolls.)

Saturday: Chili and chips

Sunday: Leftover chili for whoever wants it; Whole Wheat Banana pancakes with fruit and yogurt for anyone who doesn't want the chili (I have the pancakes in my freezer leftover from Valentine's day breakfast.)

***Tomorrow I'll post my weekly grocery round-up. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that my mother-in-law was in town this weekend, and when we took a BJ's trip, she bought our weekly groceries. This was so generous and so helpful for us. However, because i'm trying to prove that we can live on a $275 a month grocery budget, i'm going to deduct the price of the groceries from our budget as if we spent it. Also, i'll post what we spent on food for Stephanie's party, because we ended up having the leftovers for several other meals. This of course keeps the budget down for the rest of the month. I'm probably going to end up challenging myself on the blog again during March when there aren't so many special occasions! That will be the real test as to whether I can spend only $275 for the month.***

Several people have asked for some of my recipes!

My Pumpkin Spelt Muffin recipe came from 100 Days of Real Food, and you can find it here:

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/09/25/recipe-whole-spelt-pumpkin-muffins-and-other-spelt-recipes/

The Cheddar Egg Muffin came from my friend Melissa over at Marching to a Different Beat. I'm not 100% sure, but I think she got it from the book Wheat Belly by William Davis.

2 C. fresh broccoli, chopped

1 C. Cheddar cheese (shredded. I've used mozzarella if that's the only thing I have on hand.)

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 eggs

*Combine everything but eggs. Whisk eggs in separate bowl, then mix with everything else. Divide into muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Enjoy the deliciousness!

Grocery Recap: Week 2

2014-02-12T20:53:00.001-05:00

I've completely finished food shopping for this week, and went to four different stores. I did BJs, Trader Joe's and Target this weekend, and Dave's this morning. (I went to Dave's first thing today, leaving the kids with my husband. Such a rare privilege to go alone! I appreciated every second.)

What I bought:

BJS
3 lbs of ground beef
Pirates Booty
3 dozen eggs
Fruit squeeze pouches (I was frustrated to learn that they switched from Motts all natural applesauce pouches to the ones with high fructose corn syrup. I refuse to buy them, so we switched brands.)
1 gallon of milk
Bananas

Total: $37.96

Trader Joe's
Organic whole wheat pitas
Whole Wheat Pasta (1lb)
White Whole Wheat Flour
sour cream
hummus
honey
blueberries
spinach
broccoli
raspberries
granola (this wasn't on my list. It was the sample and Stephanie begged me to buy it. I caved.)

Total: $28.59

Target
Cocoa
Jelly
Red Sprinkles (for Valentine cookies and Stephanie's birthday cake)
Strawberry Jam (Stephanie asked to try this, and since I found some with all natural ingredients, I agreed. Just a note...buying things because your kids ask for them is not the way to shop on a budget. I was feeling generous for some reason this week. And she asked for granola and strawberry jam, not cookies and chips. So I guess there's that.)

Total: $8.79

Daves
Annies Mac & Cheese (2 boxes)
Chunk Light Tuna (2 pouches)
Kid's yogurt smoothies
Shredded Cheese (2 bags)
Cored Pineapple
Apples
Bananas

Total: $19.50

Weekly Total: $94.84

I now have $104.41 left for the rest of the month. I'm done this week, so that leaves 2 full weeks. This is where it will start to get tight as I try my hardest to stay in budget this month! By the final week we may be digging through and scraping bottom with whatever food we have left in the house.

*I've been asked for a few recipes that I've written about. I'll post them soon!

**We have another meal plan change this week. With more snow on the horizon, we cancelled our dinner playdate tomorrow. I'll serve the kids Annie's mac & cheese with a steamed frozen veggie on the side. I'll have leftover meat pie that my mom sent home with me tonight, and whatever veggies I make for the kids.

Weekly Meal Plan and Recap

2014-02-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

So i'm officially one week into my February meal planning/grocery budget project. I'm happy to say I still have grocery money. (It would be pretty bad to have used it all already, but hey i'm all about finding victories wherever I can.)

I did not, however, stick to my meal plan last week. The weather definitely changed things, and showed me that it's a good idea to make sure you always have some things on hand for unexpected meal changes. (That way you don't end up calling for take out!)

On Monday we had a bigger snowstorm than anticipated, so it took longer than I thought it would to shovel snow. By the time I got inside at 4:30pm, it was too late to make and cook the turkey meatloaf. Since I already had a pound of ground turkey defrosted in the fridge, I took Thursday's plan of turkey tacos and switched it to Monday. We had a lot of leftovers, so we had the same meal on Tuesday. Wednesday we were supposed to eat at my mom's house, but got another snowstorm. I decided to make a quinoa/broccoli/chicken sausage stir-fry, and it was delicious. (The kids didn't like the quinoa, but ate the broccoli and sausage.) Thursday I was visiting a friend in Massachusetts, and got home around 4. I didn't feel like cooking, so I just heated up some soup. (Trader Joe's Creamy Tomato for Joseph and I; Progresso Chicken Rotini for Stephanie.) Friday we were supposed to go to the dining hall, but since we hadn't seen Dan since Sunday, he decided we should go out to dinner at The Mews. I of course didn't protest this suggestion. Saturday we were at a party, and Sunday I made turkey meatballs to take to Dan's apartment, where we also had pasta (whole wheat for me, regular for everyone else) and jarred sauce. I usually make my own, but I was busy grocery shopping and cleaning during the day and didn't have time.

Here is this week's plan:

Monday: Leftovers for me (I still have some of the quinoa/sausage/broccoli in the fridge) and frozen pizza for the kids. Raw baby carrots and a spinach salad on the side.

Tuesday: It's Stephanie's 4th birthday so we're going out to eat.

Wednesday: We'll eat at my mom's house.

Thursday: I think we're going to a friend's house for dinner.

Friday: Valentine's Day dinner at my mom's house (i'm making meatballs)

Saturday: Stephanie's family dinner. We're having sandwiches and a veggie platter with homemade dill dip, a pickle/olive tray, and some chips. (Doritos, per the birthday girl's request.)

Sunday: A new chicken recipe, steamed greenbeans or peas (whichever i'm in the mood for) and a side of quinoa and pilaf rice. (I am not a fan of making two meals, but I prefer quinoa and the kids prefer pilaf, so I figure this is one area that I will make two. And I'll request that the kids take at least one bite of quinoa.)

Wow I didn't realize how little I had to cook this week until I saw it written out like this!

I've already done 2/3 of my grocery shopping for the week, so stay tuned for my recap later this week!

In case you want to catch up on this project here are the links for the previous posts:

An explanation of the project and my first week's plan

The first week's grocery shopping

What we eat for breakfast

What We Eat For Breakfast

2014-02-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

To go along with my series on grocery budgeting and meal planning, I thought I would share with you the things that we eat at other times of day, not just dinner.

At our house, breakfast is typically very predictable. In fact, our whole morning routine is pretty predictable.

I start my day with three (yes, three) cups of coffee. I make a half pot, and since i'm the only one who drinks it, I get it all. I don't put any sugar or cream in my coffee, and this week I've been experimenting with using almond milk instead of my usual 1%. It's definitely different, but I want to give it a full week before I decide whether I actually like it or not.

When the kids get up, they watch a show and drink half a sippy cup of 1% milk. They often request a snack while they watch, so they get little bowls with Trader Joe's cheerios, craisins, or bran flakes in them. (I serve it to order, whichever combination of the three that they ask for on any particular day.)

When we sit down at the table for breakfast, the kids eat yogurt, fruit and some kind of grain. (A pumpkin spelt muffin, a Trader Joe's breakfast bar, a piece of toast with peanut butter.) The type of fruit and yogurt depends on what we have in the house at the time. Occasionally they will request cereal with milk, in which case they get either cheerios or bran flakes.

I have two breakfasts that I alternate between. I either have plain organic yogurt with a tablespoon of flax seed and a cheddar egg or pumpkin spelt muffin on the side, or oatmeal made with milk, cinnamon, walnuts (or sunflower seeds) and a little maple syrup or honey. Sometimes I'll add fruit or a cheddar egg muffin if i'm still hungry. Like the kids, I occasionally switch it up by having fruit and a bowl of cheerios or bran flakes.

Breakfast is a nice meal for me because it's predictable, so I always know which ingredients I need to keep in stock. If I notice i'm running low on something, I just add it to my ongoing shopping list and pick it up the next week. I've never run out of everything all at once before, so we always have at least one of our optionsa available to eat.

I'd love to hear what all of you eat for breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day, after all. :)

Weekly Grocery Shopping

2014-02-04T21:43:00.000-05:00

This week I went to 3 different stores. I didn't need anything for the dinners I had planned, so I just needed to pick up some things for breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Because there weren't many things I needed, I was able to shop the sales for things to stock up on.

Yesterday I ran to Trader Joe's in the morning to do a quick shop before our snow storm started. I bought:

32oz tub of plain lowfat organic yogurt
1 loaf of multi grain sprouted bread (I'd never bought this before but heard good things and wanted to try it.)
Blueberries
Bagged salad (baby spring mix)
Organic squeeze yogurts
Box of 100 calorie dark chocolate
Corn tortillas
Chicken sausage
A Smoothie drink

I spent $25.18

Then today I went to Dave's, our local market. I had gone through the ads, and again, since I didn't necessarily need much, I bought things that were on good sales.

Strawberries (2lbs)
Chicken stock
Chicken tenderloins (2lb)
Ground Turkey (2lb)
A dozen eggs
1lb of american cheese

I spent $22.60

Later in the day I met a friend at Whole Foods (NOT the place to go when you're on a budget. But it was a special treat, and I have been wanting to go and price compare some things.) First we had a very expensive lunch of pizza and salad. (My friend brought things from home and supplemented with a slice of pizza from WF and a cookie from the bakery as a treat. She's a genius. I'll do that next time.) Then I attempted to walk around the store but it was nap/rest time and the kids were not enjoying being there. I did manage to grab some things that were really well priced like:

Bagged organic popcorn
2 cartons of organic soup (1 tomato and 1 sweet potato)
1 carton of organic chicken broth (Which was a really good price)
Almond milk
32oz tub of organic plain yogurt. Yes I had just bought this at Trader Joe's. But it was the same price and I go through it fast. I usually buy two of them at TJs, but had forgotten.
Feta Cheese

I spent $19.97

I've spent a total of $67.75 on groceries in February, so based on my monthly food budget of $275, I have $207.25 left. And i'm completely done with this week's shopping. Pretty good so far!

I'm Still Here! (And Still Meal Planning)

2014-02-02T15:29:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Wait. It's February. Well, better late than never, right?

As usual, I started the year out with a bunch of resolutions. One of which was blogging. I had decided to start a new blog, where I recorded a few simple sentences each day about things my kids had said and done. I thought it seemed so doable, and that it would be something I would stick with. I didn't.

I had kind of then decided that I was just done with blogging. I couldn't seem to get the motivation to keep up with it, and even though I missed writing I figured it just wasn't in the cards for me anymore.

Then last week three different people asked me why I haven't blogged in awhile. Then I got an email from Highlights saying they linked back to my blog. And I was embarrassed because if anyone clicked on the link, they would see that I hadn't blogged since October. Oops. THEN one of my friends, who I was talking about blogging with, got me talking about food budgeting. Something I've been spending a lot of time on lately. And I thought, ok, I think I need to blog about this, and what better time than the start of a new month!

Since buying our house last year, we've really tightened our belts on a lot of things, one being our grocery budget. I set a monthly budget of $275 for us for food. This is strictly food prepared and eaten at home. It doesn't include eating out (something we can only afford to do very sparingly) and it doesn't include household products like paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, etc. It's still a tight budget though, and I tend to go over almost every month. I'm hoping that, with February being a short month I'll be able to stick with it. And what better way than to share with the world all that i'm buying!

I'm going to use the blog to be accountable for all my grocery shopping. I'll also include my meal plans, and a wrap up of what we ended up eating.

There's a lot that goes into my planning and shopping days, and i'll detail it out bit by bit this month. But to start i'll share with you our dinner plans for the week:

Monday: Glazed Turkey Meatloaf with a side of baked sweet potato chunks, steamed broccoli and steamed green beans.

Tuesday: Sweet Potato pancakes with yogurt and fruit.

Wednesday: We will eat at my mom's house

Thursday: Turkey Tacos

Friday: We'll eat at the dining hall. (What's the dining hall? My husband works at a college. Since he has to live there most of the time, he's given a meal plan as a job perk. He's allotted a specific amount of meals to use at the dining hall each semester. He uses some each week to take us out for dinner. The kids think it's awesome to dine with the college kids and I love that I don't have to cook. Or pay for a meal!)

Saturday: We have a party to attend

Sunday: Meatballs, Pasta and sauce with steamed veggies on the side

I *hopehopehope* I will keep up blogging about our food budget this month because I really think it will help keep me on track! Stay tuned tomorrow to hear about my first grocery trip of the month.

Hand, Foot & Mouth

2013-10-29T12:41:00.000-04:00

I wrote last week about my mission to become more content in my role as mother and homemaker. Almost as soon as I decided this, my kids came down with a virus. Fevers, rashes, mouth blisters...not fun! A visit to the pediatrician brought a diagnoses of hand, foot and mouth disease. What followed was three days of no eating, no drinking, screaming fits, no sleep, round after round of advil and tylenol, and holding my 2 year old down in order to force feed him liquids. It wasn't fun.

I'm actually happy that, if we had to have this illness permeate our home, it came right after I decided to become more content. My first instinct was to get frustrated. (And believe me, it wasn't always easy to push that frustration down!) But for the most part, I managed to remember that my kids didn't feel well. They needed me. Yes I missed out on several fun mommy gatherings and a Halloween party for the kids. But the important thing was to take care of my children. To nurture them, to comfort them, to let other things fall by the wayside.

I realized that in order to do this, to put them first without being resentful, I needed to refocus my thoughts. I'm constantly telling Stephanie, my 3 year old, to be more mindful. To pay attention to her body so she doesn't run into things. To slow down and listen to what i'm telling her so that she doesn't end up in the bathroom with the dinner plate that she was supposed to be bringing to the sink. (This really happens in our house. Frequently. Her head is often in the clouds.) I needed to do the same thing. To slow down and catch myself exhibiting signs of discontent. Just the simple act of being aware of my huffs and sighs and frustrated feelings helped me to turn them around and not be as aggravated. It's amazing how really slowing down and acknowledging my feelings helped.

Happily, our family is now back to normal. The kids are almost completely healed and I'm going back to my original project of enjoying the ins and outs of everyday life. Stay tuned, next up is how i'm learning to enjoy early mornings.

Becoming Content

2013-10-24T15:32:00.000-04:00

I've spent the past few months doing a lot of thinking.

In general, I know that i'm a happy person. I know I have many blessings in my life, and i'm very grateful for those blessings. I have a loving family, a supportive husband, two healthy children, a beautiful home, and most of all I get to live my dream by staying home and raising my kids.

But I find myself acting unhappy. I snap at my children and husband too often. I sigh through my household chores. I find myself looking at the clock waiting for bedtime. Too often I think "I seriously have to prepare another meal for these kids?" And I don't like feeling like this.

In an effort to start acting happier, I re-read Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. I love that book. I've also been reading blogs by other stay-at-home mom's. And I've come to the conclusion that, while i'm happy, i'm not content. And I want to be!

A big part of becoming content is changing my attitude and the way I think about and approach the job that I am here to do. I've been working hard (and I have a lot more work ahead of me!) to start being content, and I hope to share these things with you. Over the next few weeks I'll be writing about:

Training Myself Not To Yell
Developing A Daily Routine
Streamlining My Meal Plan and Grocery Shopping
Saying No To Outside Obligations
Living In The Moment

And more. I have a lot of ideas, a lot of plans, and I'm excited to start implementing them. I hope you'll follow along on my journey, and feel free to share any of the ways that you've found to be content and happy with the everyday aspects of your life.

Thankful Thursday

2013-08-29T21:02:00.000-04:00

It's been a long (long) time since I've written a Thankful Thursday post. I've missed it. I have so much to be thankful for each and every day, and having this space to write down those things help me focus on them. Recalling the good things in life help make the not-so-good things more manageable. So this week I'm thankful for:

~My healthy babies. My heart broke for blogger Diana Stone when I read that her two week old son didn't pull through. If you aren't familiar with her story, the very short version is that she lost her twins early in her pregnancy last year. (Maybe 20ish weeks.) Her water broke, but she managed to keep them in longer than anyone expected. Eventually she gave birth to them, and lost them. When she got pregnant again with her son, I was thrilled for her. Then he was born, and they discovered he had a heart condition. I sobbed reading the news that he wasn't going to make it. It made me hug my own little ones extra tight.

~Our house. With Dan in the middle of extensive training, we haven't seen him much at all. When I start to get irritated about not seeing him, and the kids are cranky and whiny, and I have to do everything alone, I remind myself that it's all for a good cause. His job is the reason we have our house at all. And the alternative would be living back on the college campus, something I definitely wouldn't want to go back to.

~My 3 week nannying stint. My friend Julie asked me earlier this year to watch her 3 year old daughter for the last three weeks of the summer. I watched her for a year back when our girls were babies, and it was nice to get the opportunity to do it again. It's been a good distraction for the kids, to have something each day to look forward to and to keep busy. It takes their mind off the fact that they haven't seen their Daddy for more than a few hours over the course of two weeks.

~Our very, very limited budget. Ok this one is a stretch. Trying to spin this into a positive isn't easy. But since buying our house we've had to cut many non-essentials. I'm living on a shoe-string, and there are days when I get frustrated because the kids need fall wardrobes, our fridge is bare, and there's no money left in the monthly budget. But, I remind myself that things will get better, and this is a good lesson in being frugal. It's teaching me the difference between wants and needs, something I thought I already knew. But it turns out that a lot of our needs aren't really so necessary and it's amazing the things you can cut out and still lead a happy life.

I hope you all have a happy weekend, and remember to look for the good when times are tough. It's not always easy, but there's usually a silver lining if you look hard enough. What are you thankful for this week?

Summer Living

2013-08-19T20:58:00.003-04:00

Oh why hello there blog world. It's been a while.

Summer has been busy and not so busy, all at the same time. We've spent equal amounts of time at home being lazy and trying to get out of our blistering hot house. Since we didn't get air conditioners until mid-July we did a lot of mall trips to escape the heat. Once we did get air conditioners we spent time home, relishing the fact that we could be in our brand new house without melting completely.

We've had a lot of play-dates with friends that we're excited to finally live close to. We've had barbecues and beach nights, birthday parties and zoo trips. We've gone camping, swimming, and playgrounding. But most of all, we've soaked up every last minute of normalcy with Dan coming home each night.

Sadly, that part of summer ended this weekend when he moved back to our old apartment for a two-week session of training his new school-year staff. He'll have to live there now until December when he'll get a month off, and then again until May. We're sad, but looking on the bright side. The end of summer means the upcoming fall season is almost here, and we love fall!

So while it'll be hard to once again solo parent 6 out of 7 days and nights during the week, I'll be eagerly looking forward to crisp, cool weather, cardigans and boots, colorful leaves, pumpkins and apples.

The season feels over for us, but if you're still in summer mode, soak up every last bit of the season. I *promise* to update more frequently now that we're back to our own version of normal!

BabyGanics Pure Mineral Sunscreen Review!

2013-06-30T15:54:00.000-04:00

By now most of you know how much I LOVE Babyganics. They are a fantastic company, and I look to them for so many of my baby, toddler and household needs. I love knowing that I can feel good about using their products on my children because they are all completely non-toxic and free of any "yucky" stuff. (PABAs, Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates, Nano-Particles and fragrances.)

I was thrilled when I was sent a bottle of their Cover Up Baby Pure Mineral Moisturizing lotion, SPF 30. This mineral lotion is awesome because, not only does it provide broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection, but it moisturizes at the same time! This is a huge selling point for me because we all have dry, sensitive skin that typically gets worse with sunscreen use. This one left our skin smooth and hydrated. I love that it's water resistant, maintains it's SPF for up to 80 minutes, and the active ingredients are Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. (I always prefer our sunscreens to have those as the main ingredients, as opposed to the various chemical combinations out there.)

I loved the feel of this sunscreen (I used it on myself as well as my kids) and loved that once it was blended in you didn't feel like you were wearing a thick layer of goop. It took a little extra time to blend in, but I feel like that is a small sacrifice for all the other great qualities that this sunscreen has.

It's also worth mentioning that it boasts a "Tear Free!" claim on the bottle. I can attest to the fact that this is true because my daughter loves to help apply her sunscreen and she got in on her eyelids and never once whined or complained that it stung. That's a major win in my book!

If you're looking for a safe, natural, and most of all effective sunscreen for your kids this summer, than I highly recommend BabyGanics Cover-Up Baby Pure Mineral Sunscreen. You can find it at Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, babiesrus.com and Diapers.com. It retails for 10.99 and is available in a 4oz tube. Definitely check it out!

*Disclaimer: I was provided product for this review. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

Summertime (Almost)

2013-06-02T15:35:00.000-04:00

I've spent the past few months on a merry-go-round. At least, that's what it feels like. Life has just been go, go, go, go, go. And I don't like it. I want things to slow down. I want to enjoy my life, my kids, my husband. I want to live in the present instead of always thinking about what I need to do next. This is a constant battle for me, and one I've written about before. But right now I think it's achievable and I'm determined to slow life down just a little.

Stephanie's school ended last week, and our library story-time ended the week before. Dan's summer work is much more scheduled and routine than during the school year, so his comings and goings are more predictable. We have a lot of occasions and get-togethers and events planned, but our general day-to-day life is wide open. And I plan to take full advantage of it.

We are going to have slow mornings, with breakfast in our pjs. We'll have playdates, but not every day. We'll have times where we don't leave the house at all. We'll relax. We'll play outside. We'll eat dinner from the grill. If the house isn't spotless and the laundry is piled high, well it's summer. Who cares? I can't wait to play, to laugh, to read and splash and create with my kids. They are at such a fun age, and i'm determined to take advantage of our freedom from obligations! In fact, i'd be quite content if all of our summer days were spent like this:

Here's to a great summer!

*I know that not every day will be entirely fun, relaxing, and free from obligations. But if we can have even one day a week like that, i'll be happy. And I figure that if I state that it will happen, then i'm more apt to ensure that it does!

Forever Touch Giveaway!

2013-05-27T21:42:00.000-04:00

giveaway hosted by Baby Gators Den

*My friend Joanna over at Baby Gators Den is hosting this giveaway. I think Forever Touch is fantastic so I wanted to help her promote them!*

Father's Day is only a few weeks away and I've already started racking my brain for gift ideas for my husband. How can I find something special enough for the man who is such a loving father to my two children? I don't want to give some golf balls or something that's going to last a year or two then get tossed into a donate pile during the next basement purge. I want to give the fathers in my life something that they will hold close to their heart and treasure for a lifetime. Some of my most prized possessions are pieces of jewelry or keepsakes passed down from past generations because when I hold them I feel a connection to my great-grandmother or whomever it belonged to. So when you're thinking about Father's Day gift ideas for your husband, dad or grandpa this year, think outside the box. Wouldn't it be amazing to give them something that they can feel a connection to you and your children at any time or place? I've written about Forever Touch before and how much I love their keepsakes and jewelry. They can make whatever your heart desires for the father in your life. Just think about how special it will be for not only them, but future generations in your family.

The possibilities are endless, but here are a few ideas that Forever Touch can design for you:

pendants
bracelets
cuff links
money clips
tie bars
tie tack
key rings
paper weight
whatever you can dream up, they can make...

The owners of Forever Touch, Virgil and Cynthia, are some of the kindest people I have ever met. Not only can they create one-of-a-kind keepsakes that will be treasured forever, but they make it an absolute pleasure to work with them. If you live in Rhode Island, you can visit their Cranston showroom (935 Park Ave., Cranston, RI 02910) but if you live out of state they can make the process just as easy by mailing you everything you need to make your keepsake. Give them a call at (401) 467-6880 or visit them on Facebook to talk with them about your one-of-a-kind gift.

Visit Forever Touch to learn more at:

ForeverTouch.com
facebook.com/forevertouchstudio (you have to read the heartfelt stories from some of their clients!)

I'm very excited to be able to giveaway a $250 gift certificate to Forever Touch to a lucky reader. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. There are multiple ways to earn an entry and the more you enter, the better your chances! Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Family Fun Weekend!

2013-05-19T16:11:00.002-04:00

For the first time in a long time we had an entire weekend that wasn't focused on house-related chores and errands at all. Instead, we spent both days together, as a family, having fun.

On Saturday we headed over the bridges to beautiful Newport, Rhode Island. We go every year the weekend after Mother's Day so that Dan and the kids can take me out to lunch at The Red Parrot restaurant. I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough. For one thing, it's located right in downtown Newport.The staff is friendly, they are very accommodating to little ones and the strollers that come with them, and the food is fantastic.

We spent the rest of our time in Newport watching the boats, popping in and out of stores and discovering fun things like lobsters, anchors and cannons!

Today we headed to our local zoo, Roger Williams Park and Zoo. The kids had a blast seeing the animals, but watching the Elephants get their bath was definitely the highlight of our trip. (Stephanie gets upset when we go and the Elephants are actually outside where they belong and not inside being cleaned.)

We walked through the zoo for about an hour, then stopped for lunch. (I planned ahead and brought our own, which was both healthier and cheaper!) Then we went to the zoo's Big Backyard, an outdoor play and exploration center, where Joseph got soaked in the sprinklers...and loved it! And of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without a stop for fresh popped popcorn at the end.

As we left, Dan and I talked about what a great day it was, and how both kids are at the perfect age for the zoo now. They get excited to see the animals, we don't have to worry about keeping the stroller moving so Joseph doesn't get fussy, and we don't have to be as concerned with feeding and nap schedules. Instead we get to focus on having fun as a family. In fact, we had so much fun that I didn't even take any pictures! Bad blogger, I know.

I love relaxing, fun weekends like this, and I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend too!

Mother's Day 2013

2013-05-13T20:06:00.000-04:00

I'm not going to bother making excuses for why it's been so long since I've blogged. I honestly feel like I've promised myself i'm going to get back to writing consistently about, oh, 100 times since the start of this year.

So instead I'll just jump back into it, and hope it's the start of a new trend!

Yesterday, of course, was Mother's Day. It was my 4th year celebrating being a Mom, and I think it was the best yet. The kids slept until 7:15, which meant I was able to drink 2 cups of hot coffee AND read my book in peace before they stirred. Seriously, that could have been all the celebration I needed. That's how much I had been craving that morning alone time.

Dan showed up an hour or so later and he came bearing bagels, donuts and more coffee, as well as flowers and gifts from the kids. We had a nice breakfast together, went for a family walk, had lunch and put the kids down for naps. Then he went outside, leaving me more quiet time to myself. I almost didn't know what to with such unusual amounts of me-time!

Later in the afternoon my parents and sisters came to celebrate. My amazing mom brought dinner, and we all had a nice time chatting and spending time together.

It was such a great day and i'm so thankful to have such a wonderful family. Being a mom is the best thing I've ever done with my life, as well as being the most challenging. It's made me understand my own mom so much more, and has brought me so much closer to my sister and all my other mom friends. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! I hope all of you had a wonderful day too, and I really hope to write again sooner than a month from now!

BabyGanics' Fine & Handy Hand & Face Wipes: Review

2013-04-16T14:48:00.000-04:00

I know I've written before about how much I love Babyganics products. This line of safe, non-toxic, and most importantly effective baby products are a hit in our house. We use everything from their sunscreen to their toothpaste, and have been thrilled with it all.

One of the items I use frequently as a mom of two messy toddlers is baby wipes. I find myself using wipes for so much more than just diaper changing. I grab them to wipe down little hands that have been playing outside or with messy crafts, faces that clearly show how much my child loved his or her meal, and much more. I've always just used regular wipes, but when I learned that BabyGanics had created a wipe specifically for hands and faces, I couldn't wait to give them a try!

BabyGanics' Fine and Handy Hand and Face wipes are fantastic! I have been using them for so much, both around the house and when we're out and about. Joseph is very messy when he eats, so when we're out at a restaurant I will grab one of the BabyGanics wipes for his face and hands. I also wipe down his hands with one every time we leave a store. (I never remember to wipe down the shopping cart handle until he's already held onto it for most of our trip. I figure wiping his hands at the end is just as good!) I love the compact packaging of these wipes, because it's easy to toss them right into my purse as we're heading out. They are also useful around the house. Stephanie is very into crafting, particularly with messy things like glitter glue. She hates when it gets on her hands though, so I leave one of the BabyGanics wipes with her at her little table, and she'll use it to wipe her own hands whenever they get messy.

My favorite part about BabyGanics' Fine and Handy Hand and Face wipes is the fact that they don't contain any of the icky things that many other wipes do. They have no chlorine, parabens, bleach, sulfates, or phthalates. They're made with natural, plant-based ingredients and are non-toxic and gluten-free. Not only do they work great at cleaning up messy little hands and faces, but they also moisturize and hydrate with special skin conditioners. This is great for my kids because, like their mama, they suffer from awful dry skin almost all year long. And finally, I love the fact that they are biodegradable. I always feel guilty when I reach for a wipe to clean up my kids instead of a cloth, but this eliminates that guilt because they are environmentally friendly.

You can find BabyGanics' Fine and Handy Hand and Face wipes at Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, Amazon.com, Diapers.com and Vine.com. They retail for $4.99 for a pack of 30 wipes. I highly recommend these wipes...and with a face that often looks like this...

...we use a lot of wipes!

*I was provided with products for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

A Little Peek Into Our New House

2013-04-14T20:22:00.001-04:00

We have officially been in our new home for a full week now! We lucked out last weekend and had beautiful weather for moving. The sun was out, the temperature was warm, and we had many helpful friends and family to assist us.

The past week has been a whirlwind of unpacking, adjusting, setting things up and just generally settling into our new place and our new routines.

The kids adjusted really well, although Joseph isn't sleeping great in his new room yet. The first few nights were the worst, with him refusing to go to sleep unless I rubbed his back, and then he woke 5-6 times throughout the night. Luckily he's stopped that, and will put himself to sleep again. His night wakings are down to 1 or 2, and they're quick little "I lost my paci!" wake ups.

He also took a few days to get comfortable in his new surroundings. He was following me around and whining and refusing to let me out of his sight. Now he's thrilled to explore, discover and play with his sister.

They especially love their new play area and our sun room. They both beg to play down here all day long. It's a great space for them to run and feel like they're outside while still being contained. (There are two windows that look into the room from the kitchen You can see one on the left side of the picture. It's so helpful for me because they will play and entertain themselves in here while I cook!)

Stephanie is lost in her own little world, playing in her favorite room

The playroom. The sliding glass door to the sunroom is on the left wall of this room , not visible in the picture. The kids love being able to go back and forth between the two play spaces!

Looking into the living room from the hallway. This room is my favorite! It gets sun all day long and is so cozy. I can't wait to get the last of the boxes out of here and get things hung on the walls!

I'm thinking I should probably take some pictures of the house in the daylight to share! There is sunshine in every room all day long, except for the kitchen. I never have to turn lights on in the daytime.

I'm excited to finally be settling in and will get back into my regular blogging routine this week! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Easter 2013

2013-04-02T23:10:00.000-04:00

I had plans to do a big Easter recap post yesterday, but as with most of my plans these days it didn't happen. We did have a wonderful day though. The kids, Stephanie especially, had so much fun tearing into their baskets and hunting for eggs. We went to my sister's house for Easter dinner and I ate way too much good food which, combined with the overabundance of chocolate in this house, is not helping my get healthy goals. But anyway.

During the egg hunt at my sister's house, Joseph's wheezing seemed to get worse. He has been sick on and off since February, with this latest cold lingering longer than most. His sleep had been non-existent and we were having nights reminiscent of the first 7 months of his life. (Meaning we walked him around our tiny apartment for hours on end, trying to help get comfortable.) But he acted completely fine during the day. Maybe a little whinier and clingier than normal, but still his happy self. Even the wheeze didn't concern me much, as it's something we notice every time he gets a cold and the Dr usually says it's nothing. But it was really pronounced when he came in from running around outside in the cold air, which caused a little niggle of worry in my brain. Then he had another night of no sleep, so it was off the the Dr we went yesterday morning.

Sure enough, the Dr says he has a slight case of pneumonia. I had no idea he was so sick. This boy has the opposite of a man-cold every time he gets sick. The smile never leaves his face, so it's hard to know when he really doesn't feel good. But I feel so terrible that all those nights of frustration from him not sleeping were really him unable to breathe comfortably. But the good thing is that now he has medicine and is on the mend. He slept all night long last night and knock on wood is sleeping soundly tonight too. He should be well on the road to recovery by the time we move to the new house on Saturday.

If you celebrated, I hope your Easter was full of blessings and that you had a wonderful day!

Happy Easter from my loves

Tasty Tuesday: Delicious Banana Bread!

2013-03-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

Stephanie is very into baking lately, and asks me every day what we're going to make. I love the time that she and I get to spend together in the kitchen, and I have to say that she's a very good helper! She pours things into the bowl and mixes everything together for me. She is always proud of our final product and tells me that she is my star chef.

One of our favorite baked goods is banana bread, and after trying many different recipes I finally found the perfect one. The original recipe came from SimplyRecipes.com and can be found here: Simply Recipes Banana Bread

I modified it very little because it was almost perfect the way it was. I've made it twice now, and the first time it came out a little overdone, so I shortened the baking time by 5 minutes. I added walnuts the first time, which was delicious as well. (My husband likes chocolate chips in his banana bread so I'll be adding those next time.)

Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed (I used 3 each time and let Stephanie mash them with a potato masher. It was her favorite part of the whole process.)

1/3 C melted butter

1 C sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teas vanilla

1 teas baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas, in a large mixing bowl

3) Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla

4) Sprinkle in the baking soda and salt. Mix.

5) Pour mixture into a buttered 4/8 inch loaf pan. (I used cooking spray instead of butter)

6) Bake for 1 hour (As I stated above, I took it out 5 minutes sooner.)

7) Cool on a rack, then remove from pan. Slice to serve. (We ate this yesterday while it was still warm from the oven. SO delicious!)

*I'm linking up with my friend Candice over at The New Modern Momma today for Tasty Tuesday! Hop on over to get some other delicious recipe ideas from some amazing bloggers.