Meal Planning

dudes. 

this is going to be a long post. 

partly because i'm going to vomit my thoughts all over this blog and partly because it just is. 

ok. for one, i love to meal plan. it feeds into my OCD like none other. it allows me to make a chart and cross things off, which makes me feel all warm inside. also it helps me keep to our grocery budget because i am only buying what we need and we are eating what i buy. sparkles and rainbows are flying out of my kitchen on a nightly basis. it couldn't get any better than weekly meal planning right?!?! NO! ever heard of monthly meal planning?? what!

 several weeks ago i came across this blog post about monthly grocery shopping. (sorry about the poor link. i tried to give her credit and she has good things to say about monthly shopping but her blog is not functioning right. try again later!) it caught my attention because the idea of shopping only once, preparing all your meals, and freezing them sounded not only like a fun project for this OCD mama, but also because it seemed like you put in all the effort at the start and get the rest of the month off from cooking. VACATION? yes. 

now...i LOVE to cook, but there for sure are days when i am not prepared for a certain meal, or just plain old don't feel like cooking. i have a process that goes on in my head and if i don't follow it i get easily overwhelmed. dinner time is not one of those time i should be deviating from a process. i'm also not one of those special people who can look in the cupboards and be all "bippity boppity boo" and come up with something that will blow my family's minds... i need a recipe. like, every time.

so i decided to go on the adventure of attempting to monthly meal plan. only my meal plan will be bimonthly because, joy kill, i don't have a separate deep freezer. our freezer is ridiculously tiny so i just can't fit that much in there. it's ok, it's still awesome.

wow, still with me? it's gonna start getting good now, promise. 

last year i stumbled upon this wonderful creation that i use religiously. it's a grocery list that is pretty and allows for me to plan my week like Jesus isn't coming back anytime soon. you should get it and love it like i do. after printing my grocery list i embarked on a hunt for healthy freezer friendly and crockpot ready meals. then i filled out my form for double the amount to make it two weeks worth. AH-MAZE-ING. 

now, i will give you all my recipes for the next two weeks and how i altered them to either be freezer or crockpot friendly. 

 slow cooker asian chicken with snow peas, red peppers and soba noodles

the link calls for pork, but after watching Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe with my Mr. about pig farming {gag} we decided to take a break from pork for a while. i substituted the pork for chicken thighs. i will have to go back to the store to pick up fresh bell peppers and snow peas next week since i don't expect them to keep for two weeks. 

  slow cooker white bean soup with sausage and collards

we had this last night. the collards were nasty. i think i will try adding kale next week. also, the link calls for andouille but i just put turkey kielbasa in instead.

 chicken tortilla soup

i make this all the time and we all love it. to make this one freezer friendly i just put all the first 6 ingredients, except the oil, in a ziplock. i also substitute zucchini for black beans and omit the jalapenos to make it more kid friendly.

 meatloaf

i also make this one pretty regularly. i didn't think i would ever like meatloaf until i had this one. this recipe is for a single serving, so in order to make two family sized batches i had to multiply everything by 8. (who says you never use math!) to make it freezer friendly i put it in foil tins. so easy. i will serve it with freshly steamed green beans and roasted yams. 

here is my spaghetti recipe. i forgot to take a picture. it's the best. my son does a little fist pump when he knows it's spaghetti night. i usually add zucchini and substitute the ground beef for mild italian turkey sausage. doubling this recipe was gave me enough for 4 calzones and 3 family size batches for later. 

calzones

i purchased some premade pizza dough. i rolled it out and filled it with the spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, olives, and fresh mozzarella slices. to make them freezer friendly i wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in freezer bags. 

first time making calzones. 

mmm. can't wait to eat you.

chicken and brown rice

i'm not sure why this is the only picture i took. it doesn't look like all the rest and it's giving me a little twitch. but i guess i'll just have to deal with it. anyway, to make this freezer friendly i browned the chicken and put the first 6 ingredients in, except the oil. once it's thawed i will follow the remaining steps. 

chili. i also don't have a picture of this because i'm making it tonight. i usually make cornbread with this. love this recipe. 

 here's my freezer, minus the meatloaf. the meatloaf tins are in the door. i'll still be able to squeeze the second batch of chili in right up top. nice. 

so right around 4:30 when i'm usually sweating over chopped carrots you can just find me playing with my kids in the yard. 

utopia.

***UPDATE: in case anyone is wondering, i spend $200, give or take for the few non food related items like deoderant and stuff. we are a family of four so it may be more or less depending on how many are in your family and how far these recipes go for you. i purchased my meat at Costco and did all my other shopping at Fresh & Easy. i heart Fresh & Easy. ***

Paper Bunting

so... in order to get a shop up and running i need money. i don't have money. you have money. i have bunting. let's trade! 

just kidding. not really. in all seriousness, i am trying to sell a couple of these cute little suckers so i can put the money towards my packaging and building up my supply so i can have a nice shiny store when it comes time for the grand opening. so, here are a couple premade paper bunting(s?) that i made recently. if you are interested in one please email me. i also take custom orders. 

 "smitten" bunting - fifty five dollars

  "dwell" bunting - forty five dollars

 "tiny" bunting - forty dollars

also, my brother is turning 18 in a couple days and this is his senior year in high school and i really want to get him a camera. the money would also go towards that. 

shhh. don't tell him.

repurposed crib bumper

last night i finished sewing up a decorative "body pillow" type thing for my daughter's bed that i made out of her crib bumper. i loved her nursery bedding so much that i could not bear to part with any piece of it. now that she's in a toddler bed there was really no use for it (i'm not really sure there ever was... with all the books telling you not to use the bumper when they're a newborn because of suffocation risk, and later it becomes a stepping stool for them to climb out of their crib...) i decided to deconstruct it and make use of it in other area's around her room. 

bedding from Potter Barn (discontinued) and crib sheet from Garnet Hill

 for the pillow part of the repurposing i seam ripped all the binding except the part that i would be using for the pillow. i then took the stuffing from the end i would not need and stuffed the pillow with the access. once it was fluffy enough i stitched up the end with a little piece of the leftover binding. easy as pie. oh, how i love free decorations!

to add a little more of the bedding design around her room i cut up pieces large enough to fit in several different sized embroidery circles. once in place i just trimmed around the edges. not totally free, but practically since the embroidery circles cost a little over $1 each. 

all photography by Jackie Wonders. 

 i also tried my hand at a little chevron quilt patch for one of the circles. that little beast took me all day! partly because i didn't really use a tutorial, i just tried to do it by sight. since i didn't have any professional help i had to re-cut my diamond shapes two extra times. not only did i waste fabric, i wasted A LOT of time. take my advice, ask for help if you don't know what you're doing! i will say, i did learn alot. and it still turned out pretty cute. 

 the little green fabric circles are from the back of the bumper. it's also on the back of her quilt. i love it so much, it balances out the bright bubble gum pink and adds a nice accent. 

i'm gonna be super bummed when she grows out of her toddler bed because that means her quilt will be too small. i could always use it as a wall hanging i guess. it just makes me so happy. can you tell how obsessed i am with this bedding? 

Date Night & Pen Pals

last night was date night. it is one my thirty before thirty goals to work up to at least 2 date nights a month, this was our first one in 4 weeks. since moving to Fresno and away from 6 grandparents to our kids, plus several "honorary grandparents" or older couples who just love our bambinos, we've had a hard time feeling comfortable asking people to babysit the wee ones. on one hand, we don't know very many older couples who don't have any kids of their own living with them, and on the other we just don't know that many people super well yet. so when our church decided to do a "date night" for the parents at the church to drop of their kids for 2 1/2 hours, we jumped on it! 

we went out to eat at a local restaurant. while the food was pricey and not that good and the restaurant was noisy, we still enjoyed being together with no interruptions from our kids or having to cut up food into small pieces. after dinner we walked across the street to a lovely little bakery. 

i ordered a red velvet cupcake (which was a sparkly fiesta in my mouth) and a bowl of coffee. yep, that's right... a BOWL. look at the size of that thing! no, that is not a mini cupcake... it's standard size. that has got to be the largest coffee i have ever seen. ever. 

mmm. cream cheese frosting. by the way, what does red velvet taste like? i tried to figure it out by eating just the cake without the frosting and it really doesn't have a distinct taste. red #40, maybe?

 my Mr. had the german chocolate cupcake. 

we decided to try our hand at checkers. i had never played. he was black and i was red. 

 duh, winning.

 me + bowl of coffee dominating my upper body. i almost drowned. 

happy without the babies for a moment. (super blurry, sorry.)

onto other news... big A got a letter in the mail. SO. CUTE. 

our friend and neighbor that lives a few doors down dropped this in the mail. 

super good writing for a 5 year old! 

big A's return letter.

 big A is 4 and we are going through hooked on phonics together. he's doing really well and has completed all the uppercase and is halfway through the lowercase. he was pretty excited to put his writing skills to use. in case you can't quite read it it says:

Dear Noah,

Yes I want to be your pen pals. 

Asher

this just kills me. 

little a had to make one for our neighbor's little sister. ugh. i just love my kids. 

anyway, here is us. 

New Blog Design

i decided to switch things up around here. most of it has to do with THIS amazing blog that i stumbled across and am trying to get a similar look straight up copy. there is no shame. i love it and i want it. seriously, EVERYTHING about this blog inspires me. i get the feeling i will be linking to this blog in almost every post from here on out. don't hate me.

i totally tried to make buttons for my sidebar that were simple but cute and i could not, for the life of me, figure out how to change the HTML. i spent like 4362589 hours minutes trying to get it right. if any of you know how to, please share the goods. pretty please, with sugar on top!!

it also has to do with Spring!!! i'm so excited to see the little flower buds blooming on the trees in our yard and even some new sprouts on my windowsill. i have a ton of ideas for making Easter special for my kiddos this year and reflecting on my magnificent savior. i also wanted my blog to reflect the yummy colors of spring that inspire me and sing to my heart.

hello there. i'm going to love and nurture you, then EAT you. okay, thanks.

these are my pretty little terrariums on my windowsill. i got a few mini pots from the dollar bin at Target and thought it made a cute decoration. it's also helping me fulfill my dream of having a garden. i know, it's not a very good one... but it's a start.

also, time for spring cleaning. my windows!!! ick.

i'm also working on getting an etsy shop open in the next two weeks. i've been mass producing some lovely banners over here. (do you call them banners or bunting?? i've been switching between the two and feel like i need to pick one for consistency.) i've also been collecting inspiration for my packaging. i know it will have some elements of kraft paper and pretty ribbon, but more on that later. 

so here it is, what do you think? too bright? too much of a biter?

eh. i love it and it's my blog.

so there.

(sorry if you were all, "i totally love it!", then were offended by my snootiness. its a defense mechanism.)

hearts and sparkles,
tara

Our House: The Entryway

so, right now i'm about to share 4 photos of the same thing. yep. that's how i roll. 

this is entryway. entryway, meet blogisphere. 

the entryway is graced with my most favorite piece of furniture in our whole house. its original purpose of use is a changing table, but since my youngest was old enough to seriously damage something by plummeting off of it 2 YEARS AGO (!) it has found new use as our entryway table/office storage system. i inherited her from my late Tia Diana. she passed away when i was 18 and my dad thought i would like it. good looking out dad! i feel like i should name her. not sure what though. any suggestions?

i finally got around to throwing some stuff up on the wall above (insert table name HERE). several weeks ago i hung out with the increds Cherish. i was having an "i-need-to-escape-my-house-and-sick-children" moment and she came to my rescue. we popped out a couple of these gorgeous wreaths. heart her. heart her wreaths.

i'm totally in love with it. that's why i had to post so many pictures. 

i also could not stop myself from making a micro-mini banner to strew across the top. 

alas, i love entryway all the more. what do you think? have you ever named random objects like furniture or plants? i've had several cars names Ginga over the past couple years... i think the table looks like an Olive, or maybe Sage since she's kind of a sage green color??? 

confessions

read at your own risk...

 not including one load in the washer + one in the dryer. 

1. i JUST put away 10 loads of laundry, like last night right before bed. now i am doing 10 MORE LOADS OF LAUNDRY. part of the reason this is such a huge feat for me is because i am so O.C.D. about the laundry washing process. this is what goes on in my brain: let the laundry pile up and flow over the basket until i run out of underwear and the kids have no more socks. then, micro-sort. make a pile for whites, lights, brights, darks, linens, big A,  & little A. this takes about 30 minutes. i know. THEN, i fold it all and put away straight from the dryer let all the clean laundry pile up on the bottom of my closet and get frustrated everytime i can't find something. i am well aware of all my issues and am working on them. i've gotten better at folding them after each load... it's the putting it all away that makes me cringe.
2. i love the smell of my kids breath and sweaty heads. 
3. when i get a manicure or pedicure i usually file my nails before i go in then come home and touch up the paint. i don't know why i spend the money. i usually only get it done once a year, this is probably why.
4. my daughter asked who Jesus was last night. oh. crap. i guess we've been reading too many princess stories and comic books. the only book we read before bed after this question was The BIBLE. now, there is no question and i will make sure to even out the playing field better. 
5. i love when my Mr. makes fun of me. it's the most hilarious thing in the world.
6. laughing is my favorite.

ok, so if you're all like me and love to peek into people's dirty little secrets, then i hope you feel like you know me a little better. hope you aren't scared. can you relate to any of this? do tell....