MommyCoddle

on her own

"I'm going outside to rest in a tree."

I'd be lion if I said I wasn't tired...

My mother-in-law is in town and I'm tired. She's the queen of errand running and I'm running a bit ragged. I miss the simplicity and quiet of our mornings--tidying up, laundry, lessons at the kitchen table, being outside. But, this time with her is important too.
Emma probably gets the award for being more worn out than me. She's got that glassy-eyed look and her lids are a bit droopy and heavy when she looks at me. But she's my intense one and it's hard slowing her down, especially when someone she loves is in town.

Here are some random things from the last few days:

1. Thank you to Julie for the really nice blog mention on the babycenter site.  Find her here, too.
2. I love this project of courtney's and the sentiment behind it.
3. And just as stunningly beautiful, but in a completely different way, is this by kristin.
4. The baby sweater is off the needles and sitting in pieces in my bag, ready to be put together. Now I know why people like projects that knit up in one piece.
5. Elizabeth has finally gone full circle--literally--flipping front to back, back to front. She took her grand time on that last one.
6. It's been hot here today, but all of a sudden the curtains have started floating a bit. The breeze is shifting...
7. Thanks for your comments and ideas on my last post. But just to be safe, I think I'll leave it up for a few more days and then remove it from my blog. I worry with those kind of words and topics floating around on my blog, I might get some bad search engine traffic, so I've decided to take it down in a bit. But it left me with lots to think about.
8. This is on my bedside table. I really need another fix. About twenty more pages in my current book (that I'm only reading because there's nothing better) and I'm lost in berry-land again.

apples and bananas

waving to the "flying banana" as he's known in our family. even my grandmother called up, "are your girls outside? the flying banana is here!"  He flies this thing around with what looks like a glorified box fan strapped to his back. I'm not sure how he does it....but he does put on quite a show.

I know this is nothing new, but I've never done it before and man, was it fun. The girls and I made apple prints yesterday on some scraps of linen. They went crazy when they lifted up that apple to see the first print underneath. (I kinda did, too.) We couldn't stop ourselves. There are scraps of apple-stamped fabric hanging around all over the house.

We also made some applesauce yesterday, too. It's hard to make the picture look as good as it tasted. Yum.
Can you tell we just finished up our short vowel sounds? a-a-apple?

panic knitting

I've been dragging my knitting around with me everywhere lately with the naive assumption that I might actually get the chance to squeeze in a few rows. I'm feeling a bit panicky to get this latest project finished--a sweater for Elizabeth. You see, the poor child is definitely lacking in the clothes department. Her sisters hand-me-downs, I've discovered fall just a season short of where she is at the moment. And it doesn't help that Elizabeth grows an extra leg roll and back of the neck roll each week. Seriously, I think I might start counting her age in rings (or rolls), just like a tree.
So, I'm in a bit of a hurry to get this sweater off my needles and on to her little freezing-purple arms and I'm crossing my fingers that it will fit. I told Dan last night while we laid in bed, him reading, me still knitting, that I felt a bit like Ma Ingalls. That I was making the sweater for winter that was desperately needed before the cold really set in.
The pattern is from this book and I'd show you a picture, but a photocopy is all I have. It's just a basic raglan sweater with three off-set buttons coming down the neck to her shoulder--a helpful addition for easy on and off with babies.
It also helps that my sewing machine is broken, so knitting is my only option these days. Perhaps, my sewing machine is conveniently broken.

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On a completely different topic. I still get those babycenter emails--the ones that tell you what development stage your baby is/should be. And although I rarely have the time to sit down and read them, these last two caught my attention.

This is a very good article about how to take good pictures of your children. It is written by several mothers who are professional photographers and has a lot of important pointers for beginners.

And I got an email this morning about this photography project--"My America at Home". It's a  project similar to the "Day In The Life of America" books. But this one, anyone can get involved in. It looks good.

Alright, a fight is breaking out in my living room over who gets to hold the baby.

Time is up.

friday favorites

It's friday and I have that full and satisfied feeling. It has been a good week. My second day of homeschooling ended in tears (mine), but this week, I really feel good about it all. Really good. I'll share a little more about what I'm doing next week. I've been meaning too.

Meanwhile, here are some favorites for today:

::this song/video. I haven't figured it all out yet, what it all means--the lyrics, the images in the video. but dan and i love this singer/songwriter. the poetry of his lyrics are unmatched in this day, in my opinion. more of him here and here. (including free downloads--"she held my hand" is a fave.)

::I want to open up something exactly like this in my town. I really, really do. It's always been a bit of a dream. (found via little red caboose)

::the alpha-birdy-bet in progress. created by paula at jupiter buttons. i am champing at the bit for this one to be offered in her "future" esty shop.

::I'm also in love with the picture at the top of this post (of course I like it bigger). It was taken Thursday at Emma's riding lesson. The picture is of mary getting her 'laps around the barn'. Emma and Amy, her instructor, give mary some bareback time at the end of every lesson. I was standing there watching them, enjoying the moment and the light and realized I had my camera stashed in my back pocket. One of the few times I've wished I had my camera, and there it was. Another one here (which dan liked better), shows the view out the end of the barn.  beautiful.

::and I'm pretty much in love with anything from this catalog. especially this (including that haircut!) and this. (kneesocks and all)

::and since flickr is 'having a massage' at the moment, i'll save my favorites from there for next week. some good stuff to share, though.

hope you all have a lovely weekend. eat local. plan your menus. be together with the ones you love.

how to save money on groceries {acc'd to you}

1. Determine a food budget for each week/month, so you know exactly how much you have to spend.
2. Taking a cue from many of our grandmothers, come up with a meal plan--like Pizza Friday (homemade), eat out Saturday, Grill Sunday (and grill some extras), Monday Soup and Salads (use some of the grill extras), Tuesday Fancy Sandwiches (like clubs and panini), Wednesday Pasta, Thursday Meat and Potatoes.
3. Avoid the processed stuff that we all fall back on (like cereal bars, and packaged snacks) because they cost more money.
4. Shop when you aren't hungry.
5. Budget for white wine. It makes the planning easier.
6. Create a perpetual grocery list for your pantry, fridge and freezer made up of all the ingredients you could possibly need and only stock up on these things when they are needed.
7. Join a co-op or local CSA (community sustained agriculture). If you find that you're getting too much food in your shares, split it with a neighbor or friend.
8. Can and dry as much as you can.
9. Eat more pasta and soup to keep prices down.
10. Prepare slow-cooker meals which can use cheaper cuts of meat.
11. Plan your menus. Plan your menus. Plan your menus.
12. Sit down with your newspaper circulars and plan your menus based upon what's on sale that week.
13. Create a binder of "keeper" recipes according to specific ingredients so that you can reference this when certain foods are on sale.
14. Try to get more than one meal out of a sale ingredient.
15. Only clip coupons for the things you already buy.
16. Have a dollar amount in mind that you are trying to spend (or don't want to exceed). Every time you throw something in the cart, make a tick mark on your list--(the four little lines, with the fifth slash across)--each dollar you throw in the cart gets a tick. It's an easy way to keep an eye on the total so that there are no surprises at the checkout and keeps you from impulse buys when there's no money for it. (the "ticking" job would be great for your children to do)
17. Keep a list of your regular meals and try to work in a new recipe or two. (ideally when those unusual ingredients are on sale).
18. Keep all your menu plans in the same notebook so that you can go back and say, "hey, that was good. We haven't had that in awhile."
19. Buy all the produce you can at your farmers' market, if you can't afford the organic items in your grocery store. Carry the budgeted cash in your pocket for this trip, too. And when trying to be 'green', shopping at your farmers' market is actually a better step than purchasing organics at your grocery store.
20. Buy 5 pounds of hamburger at a time. Brown it all then freeze it for adding to spaghetti, tacos, etc.
21. Buy a whole chicken. Cook it in the crockpot, then debone, chop and freeze for use in tacos, enchiladas, sandwiches, etc.
22. Have breakfast for dinner. It's usually cheaper.
23. Buy in bulk because prices are usually better: flour, dried beans and fruits, oats, etc. And if these portions are too big for your family, split them with a friend or neighbor.
24. Cook from scratch. It's cheaper. Tastes better. (and your children will remember this about you.)
25. Mail-order pantry basics. King Arthur Flour (yeast and cornmeal). Penzey's spices. And watch these sites for shipping sales.
26. Buy a cow. Well, usually it's a steer--and split it among a few families. Or many farms can let you buy a half or quarter if they are already planning to butcher. The price per pound is much cheaper. And often you can pick what cuts of meat you want. (the hard part here, for me, at least, is the up-front cash, but the long run savings are very good.)
27. Eat with the seasons. Good advice: start with the in-season ingredients and the plan your recipes around them instead of deciding on the recipe and then buying the ingredients. And when you decide to try a new recipe, base it on what's in season.
28. Shop at the same stores each week. It helps you stay focused on what you really need. (and it's much faster!)
29. Shop the perimeter of the store first. It helps you spend your budget on the healthier items like dairy, fruits and vegetables. Then you have less money to spend on the processed, packaged items that aren't as healthy and are usually more expensive. (This is where the ticking system would come in handy.)
30. Try to prepare recipes that call for similar ingredients.
31. To change up your menu without making another trip to the store, try swapping ingredients with a neighbor.
32. Shop with cash in envelopes so you always know what you have. Or, load up a grocery store gift card at the beginning of each month if you don't want to carry around the cash.
33. Keep a price book where you write down the prices of regularly purchased items. This way you know which store has the best prices for the things you need.
34. Make your own bread, pizza dough. Can spaghetti sauce.
35. Use the resources in The Tightwad Gazette.
36. Try the Saving Dinner cookbooks.
37. Sometimes improvising dinner with just what you have is a great creative challenge that can save you money. (some of my best dinners were improvised)
38. Make an extra portion at supper to use for packed lunches the next day.
39. Walk to the grocery store. And if you have children, bring the stroller. It severely limits the amount of items you can carry home. And you save money on gas.
40. This Fall, use the apples(you can often get seconds from your orchard for this. They are much cheaper and fine for sauce and butter) for homemade applesauce and apple butter.
41. Try batch cooking. Buy ground beef on sale (10 pounds at a time), and do a beef "session" like five pounds browned with chopped onion, bagged in 2 cup portions and frozen for future uses (tacos sloppy joes, casseroles, spaghetti); three pounds of premade meatballs, flash frozen and bagged; and then maybe two 1 1/2 pound meatloaves frozen unbaked. Do this with chicken, beef, beans, vegetables, cookies, fruits, etc. The possibilities are endless.
42. Try setting a budget per meal. When some meals are much cheaper, it allows for the occasional luxury meals.
43. Send your husband for milk and bread--because that's all they'll come back with.
44. If you need just a small amount of an ingredient for a new recipe, get it from the bulk bins so you're not left with lots leftover that you won't use up.
45. Stock up on pantry items when they go on sale. Watch for good sales on pantry items around the holidays.
46. Try only making a big grocery shop every three weeks and a weekly fruits and vegetable trip.
47. Record what you spend on groceries. (if you are brave enough). It helps you see where your money goes. Think of it as a challenge to keep those expenses low.
48. Control portions. Watch how much you are preparing and how much your family is eating. Keep it within healthy boundaries.
49. Plan your menus--BUT, be flexible by what's on sale.
50. Buy things on sale in larger packages and freeze them in smaller packages.
51. Have a garden.
52. When you bake, freeze some cookie dough for later. Make an extra loaf of bread and freeze for later.
53. Save the end pieces of your bread in a bag in the freezer. When there is about half a bread bag full, make croutons (olive oil, herbs, salt, 250 degrees until light and crisp), bread pudding or stufing.
54. Use the tremendous resources found in vintage cookbooks.
55. Choose nutrition over convenience.
56. Check the book resource "Totally Organized", especially the section on "organizing your budget".
57. Bake snacks, rather than buy them. (I'd love some recipes to link to here...)
58. Organize your pantry with clear bins and label the fronts so that you know exactly what is in your pantry. Hide the "desirables" (ie. unhealthy stuff) in white bins, so that they aren't visible to little eyes searching for a snack.
59. Put up a list on your cupboard/pantry door of everything that's inside, that way you're using up all that you buy and don't forget about that stray can of refried beans or lemon-herb marinade sitting in the back. And when you don't know what to make that night, it can provide some inspiration without having to go out to the store for something new.
60. Try this list for inspiration.

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phew! So there it is. Let's write a book, shall we??!! My goodness, you all are full of fantastic suggestions for saving money, eating healthy and taking good care of your family's need to eat. I'm encouraged by how many of you strive to eat local and support your community's culture of agriculture--something that is near and dear to my heart.

If I've missed a good link, or piece of advice please let me know and I'll add it to this space. One missing link I see is that many of us are looking for some healthy snack ideas--things we can make/bake for our family. I'd love to add some here or in another post, so let me know if you have some suggestions.

Thank you again for the outpouring of long, detailed comments on the original post. It was wonderful, encouraging, enlightening, and inspiring. I hope this list will be a great resource for you as much as it has been for me.

I wanted to link to the blogs of each of you that left a comment. You deserve the credit. Originally, I was going to put a link with your piece of advice, but that was too complicated. Instead here's a list of all the contributors. And I hope you don't mind my rewording and adding my two-cents of advice here and there as well.

THANK YOU TO:

sarah                        

lesley

kristin                        

ali

courtney

bigbucketgirl             

beth

claire                        

amandajean

beth                         

rohanknitter

amy                         

erika

lla                            

mandy

paula                        

amy h.

missy k.                   

kristy

heather                     

jude

laeroport                   

jen

blue bird baby            

dawn

mama urchin            

stacey

carol                        

nectaryne

lera                         

amy

tracey m.                

kathy

sara                        

becca

nikki                        

suze

cassi                      

valerie

candlestring             

tacyjane

erin                         

georgia

amy                        

nkdolin

emily                      

greenchickadee

esther

you are amazing. seriously.

You all are truly amazing. Seriously. Where else can a girl go to get that much information--full of links, lists, recipes, book recommendations, and pointers? Only to her blogging friends, of course!!
I was overwhelmed by all the comments and the time you took to give me your heartfelt advice on this annoying topic. I've read every single word and I'm still ingesting it all.
I copied and pasted the comments into a Word document and it was 22 pages! Last night I sat down with my highlighter and pencil and took notes and highlighted all the amazing suggestions.
And I want you to know I'm working on putting together the mother of all posts that will include highlights from all your comments, the links, the books, the recipes. It's coming. It's amazing. I hope you'll learn as much as I am....soon. very soon.

this omnivores dilemma

I'm frustrated. I think this is one of the most common frustrations for homemakers--grocery shopping.
I feel like I am spending so much money on groceries every month and our tight budget just can't take it.

I love to cook for my family. I love preparing meals and desserts and healthy snacks, breads and soups. But I just can't seem to figure out how to do it wisely. I take my list to the grocery store, spend tons of money and tell myself, "okay, this is the last time I'm going to the grocery store for a long time. I'm especially not going again this week." And within days, I feel like I could make another trip. Not a huge trip, but inevitably there's always a few things that need to be purchased again, whether it's something I forgot, something we've run out of already, or some ingredient I didn't know I needed for the thing I want to make.
And those little, in-between trips add up, too.

Part of me thinks maybe we eat too much of the same things, so I'm not really getting in to the depths of what's in my pantry, thus not really using all that I have. Dan and I both are pretty samey-same about breakfast each morning--for him grapenuts with honey and milk, for me some kind of fresh fruit, vanilla yogurt and granola. Sometimes I hold back from trying new recipes, because I shy away from the ingredients I'd have to purchase just to make that recipe.

I think we do a good job of using up leftovers in Dan's lunches for work, or for me and the girls the next day. I try to clip coupons, but sometimes that just leads to me buying things I wouldn't normally need. I just get it because the coupon is sitting in front of me.

I also like having fresh fruits and vegetables on hand and buying those at my farmers' market as much as possible. There's nothing that makes my stomach turn more than going to the store and realizing that the grapes are from Chile, or the mangoes from Brazil. (I made that last one up, but you know what I mean.) And reading this book surely doesn't make any of this easier, either. For one thing, it makes me think I should be only eating the fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season locally. (Part of the reason why I'm freezing every fresh tomato I can get my hands on these days.)

But that's all another topic.

So, what do you do? How do you keep from going to the grocery store four times a week? How do you make sure you get everything you need? How do you keep from spending hundreds of dollars on food each month? How do you find the space in your grocery budget to buy the ingredients to try new things?

I want to enjoy grocery shopping. But right now, I don't. I leave with this sick feeling about all the money I'm spending, knowing I'll be right back there in a few days doing it all over again.

Alright, thanks for listening to my whine-fest. I needed to unload and see if anyone out there has the secret to my grocery success. I'd love to hear your tricks. Is it menu-planning in advance? Is there some better kind of list I should be keeping? Is there a better way to stock my pantry that I'm missing? Do tell.

******
Emma and I started our first week of Kindergarten home school, so I may be a little sparse around here until I get my new routine figured out. Ironically, I'm more organized now, with less time, so maybe you'll be seeing me more...who knows!