Long day
It seems like today was such a long day. I was running errands with both kids all morning, at the mall with friends all afternoon, cooking all evening and then having my feelings seriously hurt by Phoenix not eating dinner.
This morning I went to Claim Jumper just so I could buy Ethan's favorite BBQ sauce so I could make baked beans for dinner. After that we went to Whole Foods to get a few things (vegetables) to fill in the gaps in our food supply. Then we went to Michael's to pick out a frame for our giant family picture that is going to hang above our fireplace.
We came home, I made lunch, put dinner in the slow cooker and then we went to the mall (I was really running late). The mall was crazy nuts and I didn't even consider that it would be like that (duh - it's a holiday!). But it was fun, the kids had a good time and I love hanging out with my KM friends.
So, I'm trying to use up the food in our house. We have a full freezer and a full pantry and I think we really need to use it all. I won't eat 90% of it but I still like to cook for my family.
The first night I made mini meatloafs. They were okay, not a huge winner. Last night I made biscuits and gravy with corn (the gravy had leftover meatloaf in it). Ethan loved it and came back for seconds! It made me feel good. The biscuits turned out perfect too. Both kids eat their corn, Phoenix (begrudgingly) ate his biscuit and gravy but Scarlett didn't.
Today the kids had meatloaf sandwiches for lunch. I knew it'd be a tough sell but they did okay considering. I made baked beans, with the leftover meatloaf crumbled in it, in the slow-cooker and cheesy julienne potatoes. The potatoes were super good (Ethan and I probably ate far too many of them) but, apparently, the beans were too sweet. I found online that you can add mustard and apple cider vinegar, a little at a time, to cut back the sugar. I think it made it better.
Phoenix ate like 2 tiny bites of each thing and chose to go to bed rather than eat his food. We told him he's eating in the morning when he wakes up all crazy with horribly low blood sugar. Scarlett wouldn't eat either but, after Phoenix went to bed, ate every bite of her food and got some jelly beans for dessert.
Anyways, back to my topic...I took inventory of all our food and I'm trying to plan out meals to use everything. I'm also trying to have some forethought and use things over again (gravy from last night is going into a shepherd's pie on Sunday). I know it'll start getting super hard later in the challenge but I'm going to try and use as much and I can.
The planning has been kind of fun, I'm trying to plan lunches too. We'll see how it goes.
Isla went home today I guess. I hope they are doing well but I really haven't gotten to talk to Zoë much. I'm trying to stay hands-off because I don't want to bother them. I didn't realize how had it would be (emotionally) to have another baby in the family - for a lot of reasons. All I want to do is spend time with Zoë and Isla and help with whatever I can (housework, the baby, whatever) but I have to keep my distance. Maybe, after Trav goes back to work, I'll get to spend more time with them... or at least talk with Zoë regularly.
I don't know what to do tomorrow. Ethan is going to work, kids are out of school and our plans fell through. We are going out to dinner tomorrow but I would like to do something... I don't know.
This morning I went to Claim Jumper just so I could buy Ethan's favorite BBQ sauce so I could make baked beans for dinner. After that we went to Whole Foods to get a few things (vegetables) to fill in the gaps in our food supply. Then we went to Michael's to pick out a frame for our giant family picture that is going to hang above our fireplace.
We came home, I made lunch, put dinner in the slow cooker and then we went to the mall (I was really running late). The mall was crazy nuts and I didn't even consider that it would be like that (duh - it's a holiday!). But it was fun, the kids had a good time and I love hanging out with my KM friends.
So, I'm trying to use up the food in our house. We have a full freezer and a full pantry and I think we really need to use it all. I won't eat 90% of it but I still like to cook for my family.
The first night I made mini meatloafs. They were okay, not a huge winner. Last night I made biscuits and gravy with corn (the gravy had leftover meatloaf in it). Ethan loved it and came back for seconds! It made me feel good. The biscuits turned out perfect too. Both kids eat their corn, Phoenix (begrudgingly) ate his biscuit and gravy but Scarlett didn't.
Today the kids had meatloaf sandwiches for lunch. I knew it'd be a tough sell but they did okay considering. I made baked beans, with the leftover meatloaf crumbled in it, in the slow-cooker and cheesy julienne potatoes. The potatoes were super good (Ethan and I probably ate far too many of them) but, apparently, the beans were too sweet. I found online that you can add mustard and apple cider vinegar, a little at a time, to cut back the sugar. I think it made it better.
Phoenix ate like 2 tiny bites of each thing and chose to go to bed rather than eat his food. We told him he's eating in the morning when he wakes up all crazy with horribly low blood sugar. Scarlett wouldn't eat either but, after Phoenix went to bed, ate every bite of her food and got some jelly beans for dessert.
Anyways, back to my topic...I took inventory of all our food and I'm trying to plan out meals to use everything. I'm also trying to have some forethought and use things over again (gravy from last night is going into a shepherd's pie on Sunday). I know it'll start getting super hard later in the challenge but I'm going to try and use as much and I can.
The planning has been kind of fun, I'm trying to plan lunches too. We'll see how it goes.
Isla went home today I guess. I hope they are doing well but I really haven't gotten to talk to Zoë much. I'm trying to stay hands-off because I don't want to bother them. I didn't realize how had it would be (emotionally) to have another baby in the family - for a lot of reasons. All I want to do is spend time with Zoë and Isla and help with whatever I can (housework, the baby, whatever) but I have to keep my distance. Maybe, after Trav goes back to work, I'll get to spend more time with them... or at least talk with Zoë regularly.
I don't know what to do tomorrow. Ethan is going to work, kids are out of school and our plans fell through. We are going out to dinner tomorrow but I would like to do something... I don't know.