Planning vs. Sale

In the past I always planned ahead what we were going to have for dinner for the week. That was when it was just Tom and I and we were both commuting to and from NJ. I also planned ahead so I could cook most of the meals on Sunday morning, so when we got home from work I would just have to re-heat the dinner or cook the meal for a few minutes.

Lately I find that I only buy what is on sale for the week. Then each day I cook whatever we have on hand. I enjoy creating things from what I have around the house. Sometimes I forget to pull meat out of the freezer, so then I have to make either something vegetarian or pasta.

For some reason, last Sunday we didn't get a newspaper (probably snow) and I didn't get my Shop Rite circular in the mail either. So I was in trouble. I enjoy looking at the circulars/flyers and picking out what to get. I am a planner!! I enjoy being that way, plus if I have a list it's just easier when I am taking the kids food shopping with me.

So with no circular what was a girl to do? Yes, I could have gone on-line but I like to have the paper in hand. I decided to go back to my old way and plan out the menus for the week. I also wanted to go to Wegman's. So during the kids nap yesterday I went to town looking through my cookbooks picking out the menu for the week and writing down the ingredients I would need.

Here is the menu for the week:

Sunday: Turkey Loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans

Monday: Couscous salad with roasted vegetables, and chick peas

Tuesday: Chili Chicken Salad lettuce wrap

Wednesday: Brown Rice Bowl with Shrimp, Snow peas, and Avocado

Thursday: Lighter Beef Chili

Friday: Pizza

We always have enough so please feel free to stop by!!

So is it cheaper to plan or shop on sale. Well, when I shop for things on sale I usually spend about $75.00. Yesterday at Wegman's I spent about $100.00. I did buy a few things that only Wegman's has and the quality of food is so much better.

So, for me it pays to shop for what's on sale vs. planning ahead. But when I do go to Wegman's maybe once every six weeks I feel it's ok to spend a little bit more.

We always have enough so please feel free to stop by.

PS I always make cookies for the kids and the cookie for the week is Heart Sandwich Cookies but instead of a heart shape I think we will do butterflies!!

XOXOXO

Snow Day Projects

This is a sweater that I have had that I love but has a couple of spots on it. I love this color green especially this time of year!!


Now I get to wear the sweater in a different way!! It's now a scarf

Amelia loves this denim dress but it's way too short. I had this other dress from when she was a baby that I love. So I put her favorite dress together with my favorite dress and this is what we got.

I added a little lace because I am still learning to sew and I made a mistake in the front. I thought I would cover it up with some lace. I am so into lace these days.

Here is my little model who was so excited to be wearing the dress I made her!! I also made her the rose necklace too.

I found all of these projects on an incredible blog that I found the other day. I am so in love with it, check it out if you have the time http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/.

Enjoy~!!

Pantry Gets Organized

PHOTO 1 Before

PHOTO 2 After



PHOTO 3 I wanted to add a little lace to make it pretty!! OOOHH LALALA

You may notice the Agave, I have heard so much about this that I was so excited to see it at Trader Joe's the other day. I can't wait to try it in some recipes!!

I have been keeping myself so busy with projects!! Stayed Tuned!!

Happy Birthday Great Grandma

Sunday was Great Grandma's birthday (Tommy's grandma), so I decided that I would take the kids for a visit today. The kids were super excited to see her. I enjoy taking the kids to see Grandma and Pappou, especially when it's just us.

Grandma had an activity idea for the kids. She had these gold streamers that she thought that they could have fun with and boy did they, especially when great Grandma threw it up in the air and it flew all over the place. It was all over the sun room and we would drag it into the house when we went inside. It got all tangled up in the wheels of the car and bike. Amelia was calling it gold snow as she laid down on the floor and made a snow angel. I tried cleaning it up the best that I could but every time I did, I would get yelled at by Pappou telling me that he needed something to do after we left.

We had a great visit, there was no crying, yelling and fighting. We got to sing happy birthday and watch grandma make the flame disappear without blowing out the candle.

There is something that makes me happy about watching my kids play and bond with their Great Grandparents. I think that the kids are very lucky to have four of their great grandparents still around!!

Local Get-A-Way

Tommy and I were lucky enough to have a little get-a-way this weekend. We stayed local because we didn't want to drive too far in case we got snow. We stayed at a Country Inn in town and just enjoyed the peace and quiet and some much needed time alone. We went into the florist that they had on the grounds. I took this picture there which is providing me inspiration for Amelia's room. It's so much fun!! Amelia's room to my next project. Stay tuned!!

Plants

We went to Lowe's which was a good call, because they were having a clearance on two of the three plants I bought. Two of them were each $2.00!! What a bargain!!!

Going Green?

Tommy and I had the afternoon off on Saturday, thanks to Mom and Brad. Tommy and I really needed some time away from the house. It was a crazy week, with everyone being sick. As always we didn't know where to go so we headed to Borders. It was so busy, I couldn't understand why is was so crowded, then as I made my way through the store, there it was....a dollar section. They had some really good books. How could you not go for $1.00 books? I found this book "Green Goes with Everything" I figured that I might find some good tips. I am not one of those people who have gone green. I take my canvas shopping bags to the food store, I recycle, and compost. That is the extent to what I do.

This book has made me crazy with all the talk about toxins in basically everything we use...cleaning sprays, soaps, lotion, makeup, laundry detergent, our clothes, sheets. The list goes on and on. I am thinking to myself every time I use on of these items I am releasing toxins into the air for A&A to breath in. OH MY GOD!!! I could be getting them sick. What am I to do?

Well I think I need to make a game plan. One thing that can help is to have about 15 plants in the house. It can get rid of 90% of the toxins in the house. I have two right now, but I think I want to go to get a few more today!

The book suggests getting rid of all the things I mentioned above. That seems like a lot of money down the drain. I know that the cleaning spray I use is safe. So I am good there. I will replace the items with the better stuff or I can make homemade stuff.

I keep telling myself that the kids have been ok so far. (KNOCK ON WOOD)!!!
Sometimes, reading something to help you, can actually make you go crazy. I should just stick to romance novels. Speaking of which after we did Borders I dragged Tommy kicking and screaming to see Valentine's Day!!

The book suggests using Shaklee products. Go to shaklee.com to find a distributor near you. Also Oprah loves this product...Shaklee Basic H2.

At It Again

It's really hard for me to sit still that's why I am always moving things around. Yesterday was no different. The kids and I stayed home because of the snow, they went upstairs to play and I was catching up on my laundry so I had some down time in between loads and I started to move things. I like the new layout, but I feel that the fireplace is too dark. I am really tempted to paint it white. I am in a white phase. I am trying to make everything lighter in the house. I also put a table in front of the sliding glass door. I thought it would be a good way to get the kids to help ready for meals. I am starting to plan to paint some more walls. We've been here 10 years and I think we need some changes.

My ideal changes would be to:

1. paint the cabinets a nice light/cream color

2. New counter tops or refinished

3. Paint the trim all over the house

4. Cover all the furniture white or cream

5. New dishwasher and stove

Well a girl can dream can't she?!?!

My Favorite Things

I have to believe and hope that a few of my favorite things is keeping me from getting sick.

Amelia woke-up Saturday night vomiting, this morning Aiden woke up vomiting and Tommy came home this morning from work sick. I am doing everything to make sure I don't get sick.



I am relying on these products. I am constantly washing my hands with Dawn Hand Renewal with Olay beauty-Lavender scent to keep my calm.

After I was my hands I slather my hands in Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream (this has really helped my hands from getting too dry).

I am cleaning up everything with my absolute favorite all-purpose cleaning spray J.R Watkins Natural Home Care Cleaner, the scent is lemon and it smells so good and cleaning everything top notch. In the background you probably see my Valentine's Day towels. I love to decorate for the holidays, and so does my little girl.



I am praying that I stay healthy, we have too much going on this weekend!! Stay warm and enjoy the snow!!

I'm a Jersey Girl

On Friday my parents came up to watch the kids and give me a chance to go out by myself. I was so excited because I already did our food shopping on Thursday, so I was actually going to go and do something that I truly enjoy. I got into the car and let my car take me to wherever...
First stop was to the Salvation Army...some might be shocked that I would go there, but since I have been blogging I have been truly inspired by the things some ladies do and most of them find their great things from Salvation Army and thrift shops. I wanted to see if I would be so lucky. Well I wasn't, I was there for about 10 minutes looking for something or anything that would inspire me. No such luck.
My next stop was to American Ribbon and Craft Outlet. If you love ribbons this is the place for you. I recently learned that they sell fabric. Since I have been trying to sew I thought that this would be a great place to find some material and it was because they had pieces of material that cost $1.69. It's very nice and rich looking. So I bought 7 pieces of material to do whatever my heart's content.
My next stop was to a antique store that I have never been to and it's a shame that I have never been there because they had a lot of nice stuff there for a great price. I found two great items the New Jersey handkerchief pictured above and a half oval table, I spent $13.00. What a deal. I spent about an hour just looking at all the great stuff. I can't wait to go back!!
My next destination was to TJ Max. I could just walk around there forever. I must be there all the time because the manager was so happy to see me as she was waving and asking me how I've been.
My last stop was to Target. I needed to get some things for the house.
I had such a relaxing day and then night came. I was sitting downstairs with my parents as Tom was getting the kids ready for bed. All of the sudden I heard bang, bang bang, and crash. Amelia was screaming and crying, she had fallen down the whole flight of stairs. She had put her sleeping bag over her head and fell down the stairs. She was bleeding, her foot was bruised very badly and it was swollen. Both Tom and my father said she should go to the hospital, to make sure that it's not broken. Amelia would not walk or stand on her foot. We went to the hospital and had some x-rays taken. The Doctor told us that she had no broken bones. We were so happy. I think that Tommy and I aged about 15 year last night. As we were taking Amelia to the hospital I said to Tommy that we should have gone out for dinner when my parent's offered to watch the kids.

Too Many Toys

Last week the mess of all the toys was really getting to me. I think that all the toys were out and all of the house. I never realized what a neat freak I am until Thursday when I started to panic because every where I walked I stepped on something. My goal for the weekend was to get all the toys organized in some fashion and put all the bigger toys away and pull them out once in a while, so the kids will enjoy them more!!
Tommy and I spent all day Sunday going through the toys and putting all the similar toys together. We started upstairs first and then worked our way to the downstairs.
Most of the toys were divided between Amelia and Aiden's room, since that 's where they've been playing.
I left some toys downstairs for instance their kitchen supplies and all their electronic toys. When I started to organize the kitchen stuff I decided it would be a good idea to organize them into categories of fruit/vegetables, grains, dairy, etc. This way when we clean up we can talk about the food groups.
It has been helpful because the kids know where everything goes and when they are looking for something I can tell them where to go.
I may have gone over the deep end here by organizing too much but I think that my sanity is worth it.

Someone's in the kitchen with Mommy

On Friday the kids and I ventured into NJ to take Tom to work. I was a little nervous spending the whole day shopping in NJ by myself with the kids. We went to the Christmas Tree Shop, IKEA, the largest Whole Foods in NJ, Trader Joe's, and TJMax/Home Goods. The kids were fantastic all day. They didn't nap so after we picked Tommy up from work and came home I was a little nervous that they would be in a horrible mood. But, again to my surprise the kids were in a great mood, so much so that when I started making our traditional Friday night dinner (Pizza) Aiden came into the kitchen and asked to help me cook dinner. I said sure, he went to the bathroom and got his step stool and brought it into the kitchen and placed it right by me and said "I'm ready" I let him roll out his pizza dough and then spread out his tomato sauce. He was waiting for me to finish making the other pies before I let him put on his cheese. However as many know boys don't have much of an attention span. He was a little upset, but I told him that he would be able to help me next Friday. This time I will have everything ready for him!! I was so amazed how much he wanted to help me. He's my little Bobby Flay or as Tommy says Bobby Fway!!