Menu Planning 101: Getting Started

I love menu planning!! I have been doing it for almost two years now and it is a huge life saver! No more picking out meals by how you are feeling, and no more staring blankly at your fridge wondering what to do.

I do my shopping at the beginning of the month even my fresh fruits and veggies. I do most of my cooking the Saturday following the shopping. There I cook the majority of my dinners that call for the fresh ingredients and then freeze them. I will say that it is an all day thing and it takes planning, but it is so worth it!

We do most of our big shopping at Costco as well except for chicken. Chicken we buy through Zaycon. Organic, skinless, boneless chicken breast for $1.69lb!! They catch is they come in 40lb boxes. Now we will use all of that but for other families who won't or don't have freezers (more on that later)to hold all of that chicken you could always split the order with a friend or 3 other friends! The boxes are divided into (4) 10lb bags. Super easy, super nice!

I am not that big on New Year's Resolutions but last year I did make one and I did keep it, well, mostly. Last year I stated that it was my goal by the end of the year for my menu to be free of processed foods and for the most part we are. There is only one meal that is processed and that is Orange Chicken from Costco. I cannot find a good Orange Chicken recipe that the sauce has good flavor. I even tried Panda Express's Orange Chicken Sauce and I still didn't like it. So, we buy Costco.....mainly for the sauce. But other then that everything else is homemade, no more store bought nuggets or fish sticks or tator tots or soups or prepackage pasta meals. Now, I still have on hand a few boxes of mac and cheese as a backup plan for babysitters to make or if grandma watches the kids at her house I will take a couple of boxes over for her to prepare.

Let me challenge you, even if it is for one month, to eat homemade meals! It is awesome and you will feel so domesticated! I am still working out kinks with planning and I want to get to the place where I can make my own pasta sauces, marinara sauces, and enchilada sauces from scratch as well, and find a better homemade applesauce recipe.

BEN!

Ben turned 6 a couple of weeks ago, he all of the sudden seems old, like he is eight instead of six. No longer a young child, I can see his character shining through! He always makes sure to compliment me on something on a daily basis, he is thoughtful and kind but still has that flirtatious twinkle in his eyes!



He is receiving "Citizen of the Month" today in his class. I am still in shock on how well he is doing in school. We thought that he would have major struggles both academically and socially. All of those fears were pushed aside when he taught himself how to read in preschool last year.



He has a passion for the Old Testament and knows details of most stories. Ben is so stinking smart. During his conference at school his teacher said that she can see him becoming a pastor or a professor of Old Testament, which is too funny because that is where I see him going as well if he continues on this track. We had a low key birthday party for him this year, just family. It was nice and relaxing....well, besides the Castle Cake he wanted me to make for him.....that, was a disaster!



Took his birthday pictures last night and as he sat in my lap to look at them with me, he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Mommy, I love you and thank you for being my mom". Yeah, that completely melted my heart!

1st Day of School

Still trying to catch up on blogging. I am now up to September. I have TWO kiddos in full time school. I must admit, it is fabulous!! Hannah and Ben are doing great in school. Ben received the Citizen of the Week the very first week of school! Everyone in Hannah's class was evaluated for reading so that we, her parents, could start buying books according to her reading level. Found out that she is reading over a 3rd grade level. AWESOME! We are thinking about having Ben evaluated as well to see what kind of books to be buying him, since his birthday is right around the corner.









September also is a time for our church's ministries to start back up. This year I decided to start going to Grace Women's Bible Study. I have been apart of it before but just in babysitting for the nursery. I thought that now would be a great time since I am not pregnant or nursing or picking up a preschooler during the bible study. It is a great challenge for trying to find the time to work on the study, even though the study is broken up into five days of work, I find myself on a Wednesday night after small group trying to get it finished. However, God's grace is sufficient and will continue to carry me through these busy times!

Slowly but Surely

I am finally starting to catch up on blogging. Remember way back in the summer I talked about the family's ultimate road trip across the states? It might be a stretch to remember....why you might ask? It could be because I only blogged about it once. Yeah, I know, I know, LAME-O.

One tradition that we have tried to keep when we go to Ohio is to make a trip up to our FAVORITE place in the world which is The Big House (aka University of Michigan's football stadium) Last time that we went, The Big House was under major renovations and nearly everything was under tarps. This time Curtis had set up a personal tour just our family, AND it was awesome!





The stadium is amazing, beautiful, and incredible! We loved every minute of it. We got to go into the locker rooms, the executive suites ($80,000 per season!), press room, and of course the field.








The picture below is of Brock Mealer. I can't even describe this guy, he is just awesome.


This is the Heisman Trophy for Tom Harmon. Talk about legacy! If you haven't heard of him, I am sure that you have heard of his son, Mark Harmon. Crazy talented family







The kids had a blast running from one end field to the other. As I watched Ben walk into the end zone, it was an iconic moment for me, one day he could be wearing that maize and blue uniform running into that same end zone. If that moment ever came, I would definitely remember his first moments running in the end zone. Even now, it brings a smile on my face.







It really was an incredible experience for our family to be there. We hope to do it again the next time we head back to Ohio.

Did I Mention.....

That Isaac is now ONE? My baby is ONE!! Where did the past year go to. What a year it has been for him. He definitely has a feisty personality and is EXTREMELY strong willed. He has proven over and over again that having one hand is not going to slow him down one bit.


He got his first prosthetic in July and he loved it immediately. He would wear it all day long with no complaints, but then we went away for a week at the ocean. We opted to leave the "helping hand" behind because we didn't want to lose it or get sand in it where it would irritate his skin from the rubbing. During that week however he decided to start crawling really well. By the time we got back home and tried to put the arm back on he refused to wear it more than 5-10 minutes. We have been in that position since



Isaac started walking a couple of weeks after his birthday and hasn't stopped since then. He is my non-cuddles out of the four, fight back if you take a toy away (we are not talking about crying but literally fighting back), biter, and screamer kind of kid. BUT then, he will flash you his smile with his dimples and just melt your heart. What a little stinker! Wouldn't trade him in for ANYTHING!




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One of Those Days!

Ever have one of those days where you are battling it out. You vs. a wasp while in your garage. Your choice of weapon is an unopened package of spaghetti. And just as you are about to go for the killer blow.......the package of spaghetti opens up and goes flying through the air landing all over your driveway.

Bekah vs Wasp.

Bekah 0
Wasp 1

Still Behind

I am starting to very slowly catch up with blogging. One bite at a time right?

Hannah is now seven! We had a little tea party for her and a couple of her favorite friends, in which I forgot to take pictures. But one thing I thoroughly enjoy is taking the "birthday" pictures. I was being fed up with paying for my kids pictures professionally, in which my kids would just sit there and cry. So for the past few years I took over and I don't want to brag but mine are way better!

Here is where I started age 4


Here she is age 5


Age 6 with her Fancy Nancy Doll


And finally age 7.


She is definitely growing in both grace and beauty! Love you my Hannah Banana!