This week has been kind of crazy busy for me. Really it is my own fault. I did it to myself. So our fridge and cupboards have been very bare this last couple of weeks because I did not want to go to the grocery store. I really don't like grocery shopping because I hate spending all that money. My process of grocery shopping really takes me a week which is probably another reason why I hate doing it. First, I make a menu of a month's worth of meal. This consists of going through my recipes for new meals or old favorites. This takes a day. Next I make a shopping list. I go back through the recipes/meals I have selected and write down the ingredients I need to buy at the store. I also go through the house and see what else we need from the store like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. Then I go through the sale ads from the various grocery stores to see if anything I need is on sale. If it is, I write it down because Wal-Mart will price match anything. Then I go through my coupons to get the ones I need. (By this point I am almost burned out so more often than not, the coupons get forgotten.) These steps take another day. Finally, with my game plan or shopping list in hand, it is time to go to the store. This involves the most work of all because at the store, I have to wrestle three kids, and a cart full of food. Yeah not fun. One of these days I will get smart and leave the kids home, but on the other hand, the kids help me save money. Yeah weird I know but when I don't have the kids, I take my time and browse the clearance racks or look at clothes or fabric and tend to buy more. When I have the kids I try really hard to just get in, get what we need, and get out as fast as I can which still usually takes two hours! Someday I will be faster. Finally after wanting to pull my hair out and vowing to never go shopping with kids again, we make it to the check out counter and then out of the store. Then it is time to put all the food away which takes another hour. Long sob story short, grocery shopping takes me a week which is why I only do it once a month.
So anyway the reason I tell you this is not to have you feel sorry for me but to let you know why this week has been crazy. After our Relief Society Super Saturday last week, I have been thinking more about food storage and budgeting so that is how I planned our menu for this month. I have also wanted to simplify my life (yeah this week is a bad example but...) so I have jumped on the band wagon of freezer meals. What you do is you take one day and you cook for the whole month then you freeze the meals until you are ready to eat them. That is what I did on Thursday. I cooked and prepared meals ALL. DAY. LONG..... But, I have 25 meals in my freezer ready to eat!!
Here are the fruits (or veggies and meats!) of my labors!!! Twenty-five freezer meals that all I have to do is dump them in the crock pot on the day I want to cook them and voila! Dinner. Many, in fact probably all, of these meals are big enough for leftovers the next day. So really I have 50 meals here! The nice thing about these meals is that they all consist of real vegetables, meats and spices so they are healthy too. Easy and healthy are definitely things I like.
After cooking and preparing all day, this is what my kitchen looked like. Yeah like a tornado went through right! I took me another hour to clean up and Russell graciously offered to mop for me. (Okay I told him to, but he did it willingly. How nice!)
So despite the work and mess, I think it was totally worth it because now our freezer is full of good, healthy, and easy meals for the next month or more. I really think this will simplify my life because I won't have to rush and put something together for dinner, or spend hours cooking at night. All I have to do is put the food in the crock pot at lunch time and then forget about it until dinner time. I also think this will help our food budget because these meal will last for a while and I won't have to go to the store and buy as much food. I'll just need to buy the stables like milk, eggs, bananas, and bread.
So after being cooped up all day on Thursday, we just wanted to play on Friday. The weather was so amazing outside we didn't even need a jacket so I kicked the kids outside and let them play for hours.
I even let Logan just go outside and roam. He loved it. He just crawled around in the grass and dirt and followed Emily and Colby everywhere. He was so filthy afterward but he didn't care and neither did I. (Besides that, it was laundry day so I just threw his clothes in the wash.) I had to shared these pictures of Logan at our gate because it looks like he is in jail or something. Behind him, Emily and Colby were having a blast on their scooters. They love riding those things and are getting pretty good.
Saturday was also a gorgeous day so we went for a walk around the neighborhood and then up to the church to set up chairs for Primary the next day. We had a blast.
This week we also started babysitting my co-worker's little baby. It has been really fun to have a new baby around again. The kids love baby Boston and are so excited when he comes and sad when he leaves. Every time his mom knocks on our door to drop him off, Emily and Colby scream "The baby is here!!" When his dad picked him up, Colby asked if the baby could stay. I don't really know what Logan thinks about Boston. He doesn't really like it when I hold the baby because I think he gets kind of jealous. But then when I put the baby down, Logan is all excited about him. He crawls right over to the baby saying "Bebe. Bebe." and wants to see him, touch him, and play with him. I literally have to keep Logan away from the baby because Logan just goes crazy with excitement. Baby Boston is only 3 weeks old and so small. I can't believe how big Logan got overnight when we started watching the baby. This really has been a blessing for our family too and the extra money we earn will help us with our financial goals this year.
Well there is our week. We hope all of you are doing well too.
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