A good way to reduce the grocery budget as well as lose weight?
Morning sickness.
Also, afternoon sickness, evening sickness, and middle of the night "I can't think about food or I'll vomit" sickness.
Not particularly a fun way to do these things, but it does work. Now, how about remedies? My mom suggested a lollipop as the best way to help shake the aftereffects of this morning's bloodwork. I spent about an hour on this gigantic thing, and drank 3 bottles of water. Headache is receding, thoughts are returning to normal speed, body is willing to contemplate a major cooking event tonight as well as consumption of food.
I also need to pee.
So for tonight's dinner (or more likely tomorrows): Crab/Spinach Shells with Parmesan Cheese Sauce.
1 15oz tub ricotta
1 package or can spinach, drained and squeezed
1 package imitation crabmeat
mix well with a bag of pasta shells, cooked and drained.
Make a standard white sauce, while stirring add a bag of shredded parmesan cheese. Let the cheese get all nice and melty and pour it overtop the rest in a dutch oven. Bake covered at 350 for about an hour, or until things get bubbly and hot and cozy.
I modified this recipe from my Casseroles As Comfort Food cookbook (will provide full citation upon request, but I don't want to get off my butt this minute to look it up)
Friday, June 22, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Shepherd's Pie, our variation on a theme.
some leftover meat, if available, otherwise a pound of ground beef or turkey. cooked and crumbled. Tonight I'm using three leftover teriyaki beef steaks.
some leftover vegetables. Tonight this is a can and a fifth of diced tomatos, drained; a can of mixed veg, and a cup of buttered carrots. Another night a good substitute is: two cans of condensed vegetable soup and 1 can of mixed veg.
About 4 cups of mashed potato. I'm using a pouch mix, because I'm lazy.
Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top, cover if you feel like it, and bake for about 40 minutes on 350. The pan I'm most fond of using is my big dutch oven. It's the biggest pan in the cheapy starter set I bought at walmart ages ago when we set up housekeeping. Toss it all in and bake. If I have to cook my meat first, I don't even bother using an extra pan; I drain off the meat juices/fat and dump everything else in.
some leftover meat, if available, otherwise a pound of ground beef or turkey. cooked and crumbled. Tonight I'm using three leftover teriyaki beef steaks.
some leftover vegetables. Tonight this is a can and a fifth of diced tomatos, drained; a can of mixed veg, and a cup of buttered carrots. Another night a good substitute is: two cans of condensed vegetable soup and 1 can of mixed veg.
About 4 cups of mashed potato. I'm using a pouch mix, because I'm lazy.
Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top, cover if you feel like it, and bake for about 40 minutes on 350. The pan I'm most fond of using is my big dutch oven. It's the biggest pan in the cheapy starter set I bought at walmart ages ago when we set up housekeeping. Toss it all in and bake. If I have to cook my meat first, I don't even bother using an extra pan; I drain off the meat juices/fat and dump everything else in.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Once again the FlyLady has inspired me to new and greater acts of tidyness. To quote her excellant summation: it doesn't have to be perfect to bless your family.
How often do I stop and throw up my hands on the housework entirely for a day because I feel overwhelmed by it all? I can pick up five pieces of trash on my way to the bathroom, I can shuffle all dirty dishes to the sink and deal with the whole thing once a day in the evening- making my sink shine before I go to bed.
Not hard, once I get in the habit of doing it. Of letting go the quest for perfection which insists that cleaning must be done in one act; clean a room from top to bottom all at once until it shines. And that is overwhelming to me when I have a toddler hanging on my leg, a meal to plan, laundry to do, and trash spilling out of the trashcan.
Despite all these things today I've done laundry, taken out the trash, picked up the bits of paper on the floor, and decreed that dinner tonight will be the consumption of leftovers in the fridge. I even had a twenty minute nap. The Toddler had a nap. My house is tidier and I feel better about myself for having done this.
How often do I stop and throw up my hands on the housework entirely for a day because I feel overwhelmed by it all? I can pick up five pieces of trash on my way to the bathroom, I can shuffle all dirty dishes to the sink and deal with the whole thing once a day in the evening- making my sink shine before I go to bed.
Not hard, once I get in the habit of doing it. Of letting go the quest for perfection which insists that cleaning must be done in one act; clean a room from top to bottom all at once until it shines. And that is overwhelming to me when I have a toddler hanging on my leg, a meal to plan, laundry to do, and trash spilling out of the trashcan.
Despite all these things today I've done laundry, taken out the trash, picked up the bits of paper on the floor, and decreed that dinner tonight will be the consumption of leftovers in the fridge. I even had a twenty minute nap. The Toddler had a nap. My house is tidier and I feel better about myself for having done this.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
The Diaper Report:
do not be penny-wise and pound-foolish. While it costs more to keep the Toddler in either costco brand or name brand (huggies or pampers) diapers, the alternative is a red butt. It's more effective to spend a little more and buy the diapers that do not give her a rash or make her cranky. And a not-cranky baby is a happy mama. A happy mama who can devote her energy to more positive things, like cleaning and doing laundry.
Speaking of laundry, we're almost ready to run a few loads. I've started only doing one load a day because of the amount of heat the dryer puts out. Even though it's vented, and in a closed off room, it's truly amazing how much it spreads to the rest of the house.
Is it a greedy thing that I'm starting to come up with an amazon registry for the Little Bit? I really don't think so, and this is why: We live on the opposite side of the country from family and family friends, and indeed from almost everyone who will feel the desire to give us something for the baby. Is it not more efficient to create an online list of what we actually want and need? This can be viewed anonymously by the gift givers, used as a guideline for the gifts they wish to send, and it will save them asking the grandmother's to be what to get. I am completely comfortable with my mothers' tastes, but this will also save them time and save me from a potential miscommunication about the nursery plans. Note: the most critical thing to note about the registry is that I'm choosing not to share it with anyone except by request, and until my motherinlaw asks about it I'm not telling her it exists. (although I will tell her and my mom about it around the traditional baby shower time).
Most of what we received for the Toddler was clothing. I told everyone that I didn't know what I needed, and as a new mom I was generally clueless. I got a lot of clothing. This time around it's less on the clothing and more practical stuff. Gear. The Toddler was very hard on both her infant toys, her Boppy, and believe it or not she wore out the Glider rocking chair. I can jury-rig it to work, but the gliding mechanism that makes it function is seriously broken.
do not be penny-wise and pound-foolish. While it costs more to keep the Toddler in either costco brand or name brand (huggies or pampers) diapers, the alternative is a red butt. It's more effective to spend a little more and buy the diapers that do not give her a rash or make her cranky. And a not-cranky baby is a happy mama. A happy mama who can devote her energy to more positive things, like cleaning and doing laundry.
Speaking of laundry, we're almost ready to run a few loads. I've started only doing one load a day because of the amount of heat the dryer puts out. Even though it's vented, and in a closed off room, it's truly amazing how much it spreads to the rest of the house.
Is it a greedy thing that I'm starting to come up with an amazon registry for the Little Bit? I really don't think so, and this is why: We live on the opposite side of the country from family and family friends, and indeed from almost everyone who will feel the desire to give us something for the baby. Is it not more efficient to create an online list of what we actually want and need? This can be viewed anonymously by the gift givers, used as a guideline for the gifts they wish to send, and it will save them asking the grandmother's to be what to get. I am completely comfortable with my mothers' tastes, but this will also save them time and save me from a potential miscommunication about the nursery plans. Note: the most critical thing to note about the registry is that I'm choosing not to share it with anyone except by request, and until my motherinlaw asks about it I'm not telling her it exists. (although I will tell her and my mom about it around the traditional baby shower time).
Most of what we received for the Toddler was clothing. I told everyone that I didn't know what I needed, and as a new mom I was generally clueless. I got a lot of clothing. This time around it's less on the clothing and more practical stuff. Gear. The Toddler was very hard on both her infant toys, her Boppy, and believe it or not she wore out the Glider rocking chair. I can jury-rig it to work, but the gliding mechanism that makes it function is seriously broken.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
How can economizing fit in with a healthy pregnancy, and can I continue to save money and live on a shoestring through another "highrisk" pregnancy? I'm screwed with a highrisk label no matter what I do, but is it actually possible to carry through my current plans while improving the overall health?
One way in which I suspect I'll do better: Last time I constantly lost my shit thinking that I'd be a horrible parent; I second and third-guessed myself before baby was present. I had insecurities so deep it's a wonder I could move. I felt like shit and thought like shit and the outcome was very nearly that. Now I've got a beautiful little girl [despite her efforts to drive me nuts on a regular basis] and I've got two years of successful motherhood behind me. This bodes very well.
Stay tuned for further updates!
One way in which I suspect I'll do better: Last time I constantly lost my shit thinking that I'd be a horrible parent; I second and third-guessed myself before baby was present. I had insecurities so deep it's a wonder I could move. I felt like shit and thought like shit and the outcome was very nearly that. Now I've got a beautiful little girl [despite her efforts to drive me nuts on a regular basis] and I've got two years of successful motherhood behind me. This bodes very well.
Stay tuned for further updates!
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