Many of my readers have asked how I find the time to do all of this while working full time. Well, sometimes it works out and sometimes it's hard. I've learned to be realistic with what I can actually accomplish and constantly prioritize what needs to be done. When I have the energy, I can "make time", which usually includes staying up till midnight, skipping my TV shows and extreme multi-tasking. I refuse to bring work home with me or stay late, so I maximize my time at work by working through my lunch break and doing any work I can while students are busy doing independent activities. I also rely heavily on the help of my husband who usually gladly does the dishes in exchange for a delicious meal. However, there are still times when the dishes fill up the sink for a few days, the laundry to be folded stays in baskets throughout the house until we run out, and sometimes we just call in a pizza because it's been that kind of day! And as I sit back and poison myself with a diet Pepsi reflecting on whatever drama happened at school and the insanity of the evening with my children, I recognize it's just a day and tomorrow can be better if I choose to let it be.
I have found I also save time when I prepare and plan ahead and live to regret it when I don't. It's usually the mornings when Ryan calls me from work to ask what he needs to send the kids with because I totally crashed the night before and didn't get it done. I'm not a big fan of having routines, but I have learned that having one (or attempting to have one) helps get through the day.
One of the greatest blessings from this journey is that it has brought more happiness and health to our family. We are learning how to be grateful for what we have and have spent more quality time together in our home.
This past weekend was especially nice as Austin didn't have school on Friday, so we all took the day off and went to see some new things at the Springs Preserve. I renewed our family membership which is a great deal for $60. I paid an extra $20 for a guest add-on so Austin can bring a friend or we can take a relative along! The membership pays for itself after 2 regular visits and one event.
The new butterfly habitat.
We did a family trip to Costco because I'm trying a new strategy of "buying what we need for the month" and "when it's gone, it's gone". We will see how that one goes over! So I figured out what we needed that can last a month (I will still have to get milk and produce at the grocery store a few times as well), and we filled up a cart and flat bed and stocked up on some of the good coupon specials for the month. The new coupon book comes out this week, so I am waiting to get Amilia's pull-ups until then as they are going to be $6 off.
I didn't expect to get much done on Saturday as Austin was supposed to have a double header soccer game, but thanks to the flash flood, no games.
One of the projects I've wanted to do was make freezer pizza kits. Someone put this idea on Facebook and I thought it was a great idea! I made pizza for dinner so I just made extra dough and shredded a whole block of cheese with my kitchen aid shredder attachment and sorted them out. I made homemade pasta sauce from The Prudent Homemaker link to recipe and measured out about 1.5 cups of sauce in freezer bags and set them in a pan so they could freeze flat. I put the dough, sauce, and shredded cheese in a gallon ziploc after they were all frozen and now I can pop a kit in the fridge to thaw and quickly assemble a homemade pizza.
You can also add some frozen meat to your kits.
Pepperoni and BBQ chicken pizzas!
My dough recipe: (I got the basics of an easy yeast dough from my Norwegian brother in law. He made yummy pizzas on the BBQ grill on a family vacation.)
Proof 1 tsp yeast in 1 cup warm water
Add 2-3 cups flour and 1 tsp salt
I use my dough hook on the kitchen aid
Knead and add more flour if too sticky
Spray your pan then sprinkle some corn meal on it. Roll dough and place on pan.
Add toppings and bake 400 degrees for about 15-18 min until crust and cheese gets light golden brown. A friend of mine shared that if you have a pizza stone, you can get the stone really hot first by baking it for about 5 min in a 500 degree oven and then place the pizza on the stone. It gets the crust nice and crispy and bakes in only 5 min. I won't be trying that one in Vegas until December!
I also made bread, pancakes, lavender body wash for me, foaming hand wash, and kid shampoo/wash. For the kid's wash, I use a 3 to 1 water to Castile soap ratio and splash a little olive oil for moisture and some essential oil for scent (about 2 drops for every 4 oz of liquid). It gets just enough suds to wash their hair and skin, but rinses easily and is very gentle. If my little one gets ahold of it and dumps half the bottle before I notice, it's not the end of the world, just a few cents worth. When I used to buy $15 bottles of Burts Bees baby wash, it was another story.
Dinners for the week:
Monday: Italian casserole with salad (I will freeze 1/2 of the beef I brown for another meal)
Tuesday: chicken and rice bake with veggies (steam rice and veggies, boil/shred a breast, stir in with some cheese and cream of chicken soup and bake for a few minutes at 350)
Wednesday: Buffalo Chicken casserole
This is from Pinterest, shred your cooked chicken and add buffalo sauce to it and stir in hash browns, shredded cheddar, and ranch dressing, bake in a pan 350 for 30 min
Thursday: one pot pasta with veggies
Friday: pizza kit
Saturday: white chicken chili with cornbread (I plan on making a double batch do I can also freeze a few quarts)
Sunday: family dinner rotation
Beef is still really high, so once a week is plenty and usually I'm only using 1/2 a pound in the dish. I thought about getting a roast at Costco but they were $5 a pound! I find if I do enough variety with my chicken dishes and alternate in the other types of dishes, we don't get tired of it.
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