“What’s for Dinner?”

This used to be my LEAST favorite question asked each and every day. I hate, hate, hate deciding what’s for dinner. I thought that I hated this task so much because I don’t like making decisions. But let’s be honest here, to those of you who know me in real life, I love to make decisions. Thrive on it, in fact. I’m in my element deciding when to do what…aren’t all Type-A personalities that way? We might not like to admit that we are, but we are. So that couldn’t be the problem…

Then I decided that my dislike stemmed from the fact that I didn’t know how to cook that many meals. You know, you’ve got a few staple items that you can whip up/out in a heartbeat that are always crowd pleasers, but your repertoire doesn’t consist of more than 3 or 4 meals…and who wants to eat the same thing over and over? But the recipe books that line a corner of my kitchen and an overflowing-stuffed-to-the-gills recipe BINDER suggest that this is not my problem either. (And yes, I tried to argue with myself that most of the recipes are desserts…but then I’d be a big, fat liar on top of everything else!)

Since my first two answers proved that they couldn’t hang under the pressure, I had to look further. And I decided that my problem stems from grocery shopping. Or it starts with grocery shopping…and ends with cleaning up the kitchen. Because let’s be honest, if you have no idea what you’re going to cook for dinner by lunchtime (at the latest) then you’re probably going to have to stop for at least 1-5 items at the grocery store on your way home. Add that on top of picking up a kid or two…getting home through the traffic…preparing the meal…eating said meal…and cleaning it all up and you’re left with – well…nothing. No free time. No time to play on the floor with your baby. No time to help your third grader with her homework. And you’re exhausted by the time bedtime rolls around.

And in my house being too exhausted to even take a bubble bath is something close to sacrilege. Bubble baths are THAT important. Yes, they are. I’ll never believe otherwise.

So now that I’ve put a finger to the problem, I can find a solution. My solution? Meal planning. Yes, I mentioned last week that I’m probably the last person on earth to jump on this particular bandwagon, but dude – it solves so many of my problems.

I have an immediate answer when asked my least favorite question (possibly after a quick glance at my calendar to see what the answer should be!) so I look smarter.

I have a definable list of groceries needed for a full week’s worth of food (or month if you choose to shop that way). No more last minute trips each and every day to my home away from home – HEB. I’m able to make my shopping list by pulling all required recipes out and sitting down to make out my list…I also use more of my coupons this way since I’m not frantically scanning a stack of coupons while pushing my cart down the aisle at HEB. Sure there are last minute things that I still might have to stop and get once a week or so – rotisserie chicken, fresh tortillas, milk (if we run out). But going every single day? Thing of the past.

And I can shop first at my own pantry. No more buying the large can of chicken broth just to get home and find that I had one already at home on the pantry shelf. I make my list, pull my coupons, shop at my house first (crossing items off left and right!) and THEN go to the store.

Last but not least, being the true Type-A personality that I am, I also borrowed this idea from a blog: a shopping list built in the order that you go through the store. Genius! No more “Oh crap! I forgot tomatoes!” when you’re over in the beauty department…don’t ask me why being in the beauty department would remind me that I needed tomatoes. Just trust me that it happens. By making my shopping list out by grocery department/section, I can (and do) easily breeze through HEB in a more organized manner. This takes less time for the shopping, and more time to relax, do something crafty, contemplate a nap or just get down on the floor and play peek-a-boo to hear that belly laugh that’s just starting to come out!

I know that I might be the last one on this meal planning train, but man, I’ve jumped on with both bags packed and am enjoying the ride so far. Even Brent likes the idea, despite the miscommunication where he thought that I said that I bought groceries for the MONTH for $70 last week…I said the week, but he misheard me. No wonder he was excited, huh?

I’ll be sure and keep you posted on how it’s going so far…if you’re interested…but so far, so good!

"Yum, Yum" Mom!

Now that Jax has moved onto solid foods, feeding time has become...well, messy is the best way to describe it. I really thinks that he plays with the food more than he actually eats any of the food, but I'm sure that it's still good for him to try, right? We've started putting him in his high chair while we eat and giving him a few table scraps (whatever is safe for him to have).

Then you just sit back and watch the show. Babies are surely entertaining - that's for sure! There's no telling if he's going to attempt to eat the food or just smash it and crumble it all over the place. Either way, you get a mess. Depending on the food, it can be a really big mess.

He's teething right now and in an attempt to soothe him and occupy his fussiness a little while trying to cut those difficult top teeth, I looked in the pantry last night for something to give him that would feel good on his gums. Enter the Animal Cracker. (Yes, I know...I read that article too about the hidden trans fat, and I did pause before I gave it to him. But in the end, I still gave it to him - sanity ruled, sorry!)

He eagerly took the cracker and like most everything these days, put it right into his mouth. Then took it out. Put it back in...repeat this about a hundred times and three animal crackers later. This is what you get:


First it's that all-too-innocent look - "Who? Me? What did I do?" Do you see the pieces of the animal cracker laying off to the side? Those were the rejects. Trust me, they're not nearly as solid as they appear to me...they were more...mushy. Fun.  Want a close up on that face?


And just in case you think that it's not that bad, the outfit was saved...here's what it looked like after the animal crackers got combined with his dinner of corn casserole and pears...


Ah, solid food...such a fun and CLEAN stage! LOL!

Want to "Shred" with Me?

Anyone else feeling the strain of one too many sweets...over the holidays...or the past 6 months?  LOL!  That's how I feel right now, and since I don't really have an hour to dedicate to the gym right now - that little guy sure keeps me on my toes! - I had to look for another alternative. 

That's where this lady comes in the picture...

Yep, Miss Jillian - self-titled TV's toughest trainer.  I don't know about that, but I can say that I remember how other brides raved and raved about this workout back when I blogged about our wedding.  So, for $9 at my local Target, Jillian and her 30-Day Shred came home with me.  I figured that although an hour is next to impossible to come by (unless it's after 8:30pm, and who wants to work out then?!?) I can scrape together 20 minutes each day fairly easily. 

At least that's the plan.  And if I understand the concept correctly, I do 10 days on Level 1, then 10 days on Level 2 and finally moving on to the last 10 days on Level 3.  In theory this sounds simple enough...but that was before I actually played Level 1 on my trusty DVD...and couldn't do all the reps of each round!  Oh what a wimp I've become! 

Despite my thighs feeling like jelly now and my arms actually straining to hold my wrists up while I type up this post...I'm pushing on.  And since no one likes to "shred" alone, I ask you - Who Wants to "Shred" with Me?  Anyone?  Anyone?  We can be bloggy workout buddies and keep each other motivated to continue through what I'm sure will be 30 days of hell.  After that, maybe it won't be so bad.  Maybe...

So who's with me?  I started today...but could totally take a break and let someone "catch up" with me so that we could continue together...

Midnight Adventures of a Pregnant Woman...

Want to know where I was this morning at almost 4am???

Nope, not the couch because I coudln't sleep again...

And no, not in bed sleeping - that was WAY too obvious!

Let me give you a hint...yummy deliciousness...in the form of breakfast items...and since it was 4am, obviously a place that's open all night...

Yep, IHOP - the Internation House of Pancakes. At 4am. When normal people are sleeping. Unless you're a college kid (we saw some leaving as we got there) and you've been out drinking and having some greasy food before falling into bed. Not that I know that that's what you do after a night of drinking/dancing...it's been a LONG time!

You see, B is working his new job and likes it alot...except for the schedule. But beggars can't be choosers is what my momma always said, and you take the hours/schedule that you're given for now and make the best of things. His shift last night was from 2pm-10pm. He got home around 10:30pm and I was just barely still awake to talk to him for a minute. Working nights, which some of you might know something about, leaves you one of two things: tired, like dead on your feet...or wired. Last night he was wired. Couldn't go to sleep.

So he talked to me for a few minutes and then headed back downstairs to try to relax and unwind in front of the TV for a little while. Except that a little while turned into 2am trying to creep into bed. And when you have a bedroom door that squeaks...it tends to wake up any sleeping occupants in the room, which it did. So we talked for a little bit...and then what happened?

Oh, you-know-who woke up and decided that it was time for another disco tournament to be held in my belly. I decided that he must be hungry, but it's got to be 3am at this point...so I tried to tell myself that I wasn't really hungry. And that worked...until B mentioned something along the lines of going to IHOP for a "midnight" snack.

So that's what we did. We were both awake, neither of us had to work today, which meant that we could sleep in to make up for being up for several hours during the middle of the night...and off we went. We split one of those big breakfast meals - he took the hash brown casserole stuff and eggs and I ate the pancakes with a side of ham...YUMMY!

Then we cruised on home and went to sleep. Except that while he fell right to sleep this time, I (and baby after all that syrup!) were wide awake for a little longer. We eventually fell back asleep though and were really lazy and stayed in bed until 10am. It was nice. Both sleeping late and doing something a little "crazy" like that.

We had fun...it was something that we've never done before...and it was YUMMY! Double score!! B thought that it was especially fun since he considers this my first middle-of-the-night craving where we had to go and get something right then. I think that he's exagerrating a bit, but whatever. He thought it was cool, and I got to eat pancakes with strawberry syrup. Everyone wins!

Have you had any midnight cravings yet? What's the weirdest thing that you've just HAD to have?