This post may ramble a little, so I apologize in advance. I will try to make some sense!
As our life has settled back into normal with a second child, I find myself doing more of the things that make me satisfied that I am doing a good job as a wife, mom, and homemaker. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but it feels good to get back into it.
Things like--eating healthier because I have time to plan meals and actually cook, keeping up with housework, and not feeling stressed about the things that aren't getting done. I do have projects, but they will not all get done this week.
The
FlyLady program has helped me get the housework under control. I did it before Cora was born, and when I had a smaller house to keep up with. Now that I have adapted it to fit the house we have now, I don't spend hours cleaning my house, and I have time to play with the girls and do some fun projects.
Another inspiration for me has been
The Frugal Girl and her "Food Waste Friday". It has inspired me to not waste food as much; to use up leftovers in any way I can. For instance, I had a bunch of grapes, some of which were getting mushy. I do not like mushy grapes, so I normally throw them away, but instead, I put them in my dehydrator and made raisins. And, I'll tell you--those are the best raisins I've ever eaten! If any of the other grapes start to go bad before we can eat them, I'll make raisins out of those, too.
We use our dehydrator to make beef (or venison) jerky, dry fruit, and last summer I dried tomatoes that we couldn't use up any other way. I added some spices to them, dried them and stored them in olive oil, and there you have ' Sun-Dried' Tomatoes! Yum!
I feel like things have settled down, and I am able to save money on groceries again, partly by planning a menu, and partly by having time to take the extra step and not buy prepared stuff. I saved money by not wasting the grapes. I also try cook a bag of dried beans instead of buying canned beans. I just freeze the extra.
That's another thing that helps: an extra freezer in the garage. Without it, I would not be able to buy meat on sale, bread on the markdown rack, freeze meals for those times when you need a quick meal, etc., etc.
On eating healthy again, today for lunch we had Tuna Salad with Chickpeas (with some of my 'Sun-dried' tomatoes) on whole wheat pitas, with bell peppers, grapes, and apples on the side. Water to drink, and that makes a healthy, filling meal! Tonight we will have leftover Chicken Soup and rolls from Monday night, probably with pineapple on the side. (I have 2 pineapples to eat before they go bad.)
Wow, I really did ramble! Well, I warned you! I was just trying to put down some of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my noggin for the last few days.
Have a great rest of the week, everyone!
