To-Do List Derailed

Yesterday I had every intention of tackling the 5 loads of laundry waiting to be finished and folded.

Instead, while I was filling the dishwasher, I walked into the playroom to see if any cups had been left in there. I discovered something so awful, so gross, so cause for skin-crawling, that I had to ignore the laundry for another day.

'What was it' you ask?

ANTS. Completely covering a single veggie straw that had been forgotten in the middle of the floor. I was so grossed out that I didn't think of taking a picture before I scooped it up with a fork and threw it to the chickens.

That picture was taken when I came back in. There were at least three times that many just on the veggie straw. So gross.

Anyways, I took the rest of the day cleaning and scrubbing the playroom. I also took the opportunity to remove the random toys that somehow end up in there, some that should be in storage, some that belong to friends, and a there few mystery toys, no clue where they came from or how they got here.

It's insane how often I have to re-purge since I only have an 18 month old. But it's good to do every few months.

I also changed up the storage for a few things, that's a story for another day.

Sometimes things don't go as planned, and that's ok. Make the best of it, your to-do list can wait.

Why I Pay For A Meal Plan

Frugality is usually my goal, so paying for something that I can do myself doesn't make sense to a lot of people. Heck, it didn't make sense to me for a long time!
But every season of life is different, challenges change. Sometimes we, as mothers, need to put our priorities elsewhere.

That is exactly what happened to me, so I pay for a frugal, real food, meal plan. I get a month of meals, including breakfast, lunch, and one dessert a week, shopping lists, prep lists, and lots of tips and tricks. We only have to spend $350 a month on groceries, usually a little less because we don't eat every meal on the plan.

We include the small cost of the meal plan in our food budget. It meant giving up a couple snack foods per month, but those aren't good for us anyways!

But WHY would I pay for a plan when there are so many wonderful and free meal planning resources?

1. Time
I was spending a couple hours every week making a meal plan, writing grocery lists, and matching the lists to store flyers, coupons, and money earning apps. I tried a variety of ways to shorten the work time, but none of them ended up being a good fit for our family. I wanted to invest those hours doing other things, like actually preparing meals, and making snacks or breads. Now I don't even go to the grocery store ever single week, which frees up more time! I'm currently taking a short course on natural remedies for children, something that would have been too overwhelming before.

2. Creativity
I kept getting stuck in a rut of using the same meals over and over. I tried having a couple of 2 week menus that we rotated through, but we got bored. I was also trying to change it all the time to add more healthy foods, or switch out meats based on what was for sale. Which meant I was spending all that extra time on the 2 week plan, so it wasn't worth the time I had put in when I originally wrote it.  Plus, I just plain don't like meal planning.
Now I don't have to be creative. I know our meals are healthy and we always have salad on hand.

3. Adventure
I am picky. There are so many foods I don't like, it's not even funny. I'm also not the least bit adventurous when it comes to trying new things. I could probably be happy with my very limited meat and carb diet, but my long term health and weight would suffer.
My husband is not picky AT ALL. Sure, there are a couple things he doesn't like much, but he will still eat them if I serve them (which I try not to do often). He enjoys it when I offer a variety of foods instead of sticking to 14 meals that I like.

Most importantly though, I don't want my kid(s) to be picky. I want to expose them to large varieties of meats, fruits, veggies, and anything else I find. Combating my own pickyness has to come first, but I can share with them at the same time. I give someone else the power of choosing our meals so that I stay true to my commitment to trying new foods and eating more healthy options.

4. Money
This one is obvious. It's easier to stick to a budget when your shopping list is premade for you. I still struggle sometimes with snacks, fruits and veggies are the best options of course, but breaking our habit of processed snack foods is hard.

In this season of my life, paying for a meal plan is what works best for my family. If you think this is something that would work for you, go check it out from Tiffany at dontwastethecrumbs.com. She offers a free 2 week trial for anyone interested. There are lots of other options for paid meal plans, so take a look around if that one isn't for you.

Share! Do you pay for a meal plan? If not, what works for you and your family?

Cinnamon, Honey Butter

It's springtime in New England, which means 2 things: mud and allergies.

Mud can be fun, allergies on the other hand... those are awful. They always have been for me. In the past I have lived on various allergy meds, Sudafed being my top choice. Over the years I found that if it didn't have a decongestant, it wasn't worth trying.
Now though, I'm breastfeeding, which means no decongestants. Last year I suffered through, miserable for most of springtime. This year I needed something to change.

Enter: Honey.
I've always known that raw, local honey is good for you. I'm not sure when exactly I learned that it helps with allergies, but it makes sense.
I'm not going to get into the science of honey, because I don't actually know how it works. I just know it has something to do with the fact that the bees use the same type of pollen that is causing the irritation.

It is still early spring, but some members of my family of origin are already having sinus issues, and I haven't noticed anything.

Some ways we eat honey:
In tea. I don't drink it often, but every bit helps.
Peanut butter and Honey sandwiches (The Minion's favorite.)
On a spoon.
In yogurt (I don't like this, but The Minion does)

Cinnamon, Honey Butter. This is by far the least healthy way to eat it, but it is sooo yummy!
You can find the original recipe here, I felt that there was too much powdered sugar though, so I added half what it called for. You could probably add even less and maintain great flavor, but the texture won't be the same, it will most likely be very hard to spread when it's cold.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup honey (organic, raw, local honey is best)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Method:
Whip honey in a stand mixer until smooth.
With the mixer still going, add honey, mix until smooth.
Slowly add powdered sugar and cinnamon until combined.
Store in the fridge. I've had it in there for over a month and it's still good!

Share! What is your favorite natural way to combat seasonal allergies?

Why Declutter (and my first decluttering project)

I have a lot of trouble keeping my house clean. Housekeeping doesn't come naturally to me. My mom trained me really well, so I can keep my house under control, but it takes a lot of effort and I have to consciously think about every little detail. For example; it's not natural for me to put clothes in a hamper after changing, or to clean the counter while I cook. I just don't think about it. I've tried the 'never leave a room without taking something that doesn't belong there', but I always forget.

This is just part of who I am and how my brain works, so I will have to work at it for the rest of my life. But there is one HUGE thing I can do; GET RID OF STUFF. Less stuff means less to clean. I don't think I want to go as far as minimalist, but that's the idea I'm holding onto.

Nony, from aslobcomesclean.com, talks about the fact that everyone has a different threshold for stuff. I grew up with parents who keep everything, but their stuff is under control. I inherited the desire to keep everything (from my dad), but not the ability to keep it under control or contained in any way shape or form (which is all my mom). My threshold for stuff is very small. Keeping a near minimalist household is going to allow me to keep my house tidy, with the added bonus of more time and less stress!

Having said all that, I want to share my decluttering story, one room at a time!! I will never be done decluttering, but this is the big overhaul.

There is a sewing studio in my house. It is used by my sisters, my mom, me, and whoever else needs a space to sew. When we moved in, we called it the shelf room because of the large number of built in shelves. Most of those shelves were bursting with fabric, plus fabric on the table, the floor, in bins and hanging from the ironing board. This room was such a mess that it was unusable.

Today, my mom and I filled THREE AND A HALF BOXES with fabric that we will never ever use. Those boxes will be taken and donated to our local 4H office this week.

During this clean out process, we removed 5 bags of trash. That included some old stuff from my great-grandmother's sewing tools, mostly things that dont work anymore. We also threw out moth eaten fabric and shoulder pads. Things like that baffle me. Why did we keep those in the first place??? (Short answer: just in case) ...No one even uses shoulder pads anymore....

We need to bring some stuff over from my mom's house, a little fabric and some notions, but that is much less daunting now that we actually have space for all of it!

We aren't entirely finished, and I forgot to take before and after pictures. But we made HUGE progress today, and I'm so proud of us.

Trying this again

It has been 5 MONTHS since I last posted. Blogging was just not a high enough priority while we struggled through so financial issues. Frugality truly saved out butt over the past several months and we are finally in a good place again. 

So what are we up to these days?
The Minion (Hope) will be 18 months old in just over a week. She knows tons of animal sounds, can point to the correct body parts on herself when asked, she has well over 100 words, and we are learning colors and sorting, both of which she is picking up quickly. (Mommy brag moment).
Bonus Minion (E) is 2 1/2. She talks all day long, but we usually have no clue what she is saying. When she needs to communicate though, her words are strong and clear. Watching the girls play together is so fun these days because they talk to each other a lot.
Bonus Minion #2 is a friend's 4 year old boy who I am watching 2 days a week until the daycare has an opening. He is just as smart as the girls! Knows all his letters and knows numbers through 10.
If those 3 don't keep me busy enough, we are getting chickens in a couple weeks. I will share pictures of our coop project when we get to it (hopefully this weekend).
I joined a Mom's Ministry group at a local church. Other Catholic women in various stages of motherhood get to meet weekly to pray and study our faith. Best part? Childcare is provided.
Menu planning wasn't working for me, so when I saw that my very favorite blogger was releasing a Frugal Real Food Meal Plan for only $10 a month, I jumped on it! $350 a month for everything but snacks and drinks. All real food. Menus, grocery lists, prep lists, frugal shopping tips, and even more!!! Tiffany and her husband obviously worked so hard on the plan. I hope you will check it out. It saved my sanity.
I have also been working hard at being a better homemaker and fighting my 'slob-vision'. I've recently been listening to podcasts at A Slob Comes Clean. Nony is wonderful! But more on that adventure later.
Other plans for this summer include a garden, a pallet fence, and a massive decluttering that will end in a yard sale!
Say a prayer for me, I will say one for you!

What have you been up to in the past few months? Any big plans for this summer?

Happy Mama = Happy Babies

Its been a crazy afternoon. Only one of the girls napped and they were both insanely crabby. Aunt Flo came to visit today and I'm about ready to pull my hair out. Its one of those days I talked about in my last 'Sunday Confessional'.  One of the ways I handle these days is to use my Earth Mama Angel Baby Happy Mama Spray. Its like heaven in a bottle. The number one thing it does is calm nausea. But I use it to calm my stress. Its totally natural so as to avoid nasty chemicals or drugs. I was tied to Zofran during my last pregnancy, I'm hoping that Happy Mama Spray, in combination with other natural remedies, will keep my morning sickness at bay next time.
I highly recommend this stuff! Especially now that they have a new and improved formula! #VirtualBliss #EarthMama
*I do not make any money off this or anything. It is 100% my true opinion.*

Party on a Budget

My Baby Crunch turned 1 a couple weeks ago.

We wanted to have a small party, but that isn't really an option for us because of the size of our families (I'm the oldest of 8 and Hubby Crunch is the third of 9, That doesn't include our parents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephew, cousins, grandparents, etc.)
My next best option was to figure out how to throw a party on a budget. Where else would I go but Pinterest?
We decided on serving a Taco Bar. Small amounts of each ingredient (specifically the expensive ones), but plenty of variety for everyone! 

Menu

Carriers

Flour Tortillas*

Tostadas (Corn tortillas, fried flat)

Tortilla Chips

Meats

Taco Seasoned Ground Beef

Shredded Salsa Chicken

Other Fillers

Refried Black Beans

Refried Pinto Beans

Coconut Rice

Spanish Rice

Toppings

Diced Onions

Diced Tomatoes

Sliced Black Olives*

Shredded Lettuce

Chopped Jalepenos

"Mexican Blend" of Shredded Cheeses (Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, and Mild Cheddar)

Salsas

Mexican Corn Salsa (we also added black beans)

Liz's Homemade Salsa (adapted from this recipe)

Guacamole

Pico De Gallo

More Sauces

Mild Taco Bell Sauce*

Hot Taco Bell Sauce*

Sour Cream

*We bought these items rather than making/slicing/prepping/dicing/etc ourselves. We also bought the corn tortillas in order to make the Tostadas and Chips.

I don't know why I angled the picture like this...
I probably thought it would be artsy....

Next were decorations. The theme was Little Bunny Foo Foo (Baby's favorite song). I wanted to get that theme across without breaking the bank. So we made lots of things ourselves.
I hand-wrote all the food signs, I wrapped green utensils in orange napkins to look like carrots,

my sister glued cotton balls to plastic cups and drew faces to make bunnies, several of my siblings drew faces and tails on balloons to make field mice, we put gerber daisies in limes (you can see them hiding in several pictures) and Baby Crunch wore her bunny tutu!

I think my very favorite themed item was the cupcakes. We made bunnies on top of carrot cake and field mice on top of vanilla funfetti cake. Confession though, I used boxed cake mix and premade frosting. I wish I had gotten better pictures, but my phone went MIA, so we made do with what we could. They were so adorable!! Thanks to Pinterest and Google images for the inspiration.

For the bunny ears, I cut a marshmallow in half diagonally and dipped the cut side in sprinkles. The mouse body is a maraschino cherry (stem on) dipped in chocolate and stuck to a Hershey Kiss head, with almond sliver ears.

There ended up being just over 30 teens and adults and around a dozen kids and toddlers at the party. We had plenty of food for everyone, plus leftovers of some things. It was a lot of fun and hardly stressful at all!

I will be posting a full cost breakdown as soon as I can for those who are interested.

Chime in! What is your favorite way to party on a budget?