January 2013 Pantry Challenge

Happy New Year readers! Last year was a year of trials for my family, time to start the year off right. So lets eat the pantry! No, not the actual pantry, that would be silly and full of splinters. Lets eat the majority of the contents starting today, January 1, 2013. If you would like a detailed description of this challenge please scoot over to GoodCheapEats.com. This mama is a frugal one and she has been doing this challenge for years. I first saw this challenge last year on TammysRecipes.com and thought it would be fun to do. If I hadn't been massively pregnant and had just moved, I totally would have! But now I am not, so here we go.

I have taken inventory, I have thought of meals, and I have made a menu for the month.

What's on the menu this week:

Tuesday: Baked ham, baked potatoes, peas, carrots and cream style corn.

Wednesday: Lentil soup with ham and vegetables, cheddar bacon cornbread.

Thursday: BBQ chicken sandwiches, oven fries, coleslaw.

Friday: Chicken divan with broccoli, cranberry sauce.

Saturday: Homemade pizza.



Pantry used:

ham
potatoes
peas and carrots
cream style corn
ham bone
lentils
bacon
cheddar
cornmeal
flour, etc.
whole chicken
BBQ sauce
fries
coleslaw dressing
broccoli
bread crumbs
cranberry sauce
pizza sauce
sausage crumbles
mozzerella cheese
misc. veggies from fridge

Grocery List:

whole wheat buns
coleslaw
cream of chicken soup

Mornings with Montana Man

I love the mornings that MM is home with me. Yes, it means he is not "working" his regular job but he usually has a side job to attend to later in the morning. But until then I get him! And this morning was perfect. I got to sleep an extra 40 minutes. This was badly needed because Mini got up more than normal last night. Oh, and I may have wasted a couple hours of sleep on a very thrilling Christian mystery book that involves horses. But same same, I needed some extra sleep! And MM jumped right out of bed when I requested 30 minutes more and grabbed his little daughter to rock her :-) Be still my heart!

When I got up we put on The Polar Express for Puzzle Boy (his new fav), and I made my special pumpkin spice coffee and some vanilla creamer. Montana Man made us breakfast! And we ate it together. At the table. Sans kids. And instead of using this time wisely to talk about politics or how to end world hunger we talked about the fact that we were having coffee together, alone. And maybe there was some Bob Marley* jokes in there. We laughed and drank coffee and were just us. No, we did not feel guilty about our kids watching a movie at 8:30 in the morning, we have learned the hard way that our marriage demands attention even if it's just coffee. There is plenty of time to spend mornings immersed in our kids, but we also realize that they need to see us spending time on each other because someday they will be married. No, I am not just trying to justify the tv thing again, I swear. This stuff is important!

Moral of the story today. Drink hot liquids with your spouse while your kids do otherwise on a semi-regular basis. It is fabulous, trust me.




*Bob Marley the comedian, not the pot smoking musician, although I have to say that that Bob has made a chuckle arise from me a time or two. It's the hair I think. Bob Marley the comedian is our fav, and he is from Maine so it makes him even cooler.

Real Life, True Story.

"...therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on it. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing." -Luke 12:22-23

We never moved. For reasons we will never understand we are still here and Montana Man has a new job for better pay. We are thankful for this and are trying to forget the months lost.

I have been wanting to post but have been a little stuck. It's that time of year... and I am unmedicated, be afraid. Anxiety has kinda been my new dysfunctional bestie, we like to cry together and be grumpy over spilled milk. I have not called in my buddy Zoloft recently because I am still nursing my incredibly beautiful 9 month old (with 3 teeth I might add) and the fact that I end up having about as much emotional response as Data. It was a husband/wife decision.

I have been reading other peoples blogs though and what has struck me is how ordinary a lot of them are. I always feel like I need to come up with something awesome to post, much how I feel about dinner. And then I think of nothing and don't post, much like dinner. We eat a lot of "pantry" dinners. It's something to work on. But I miss writing! I suffer from chronically unheard syndrome (symptoms include talking to people under the age of 5 constantly, not remembering what you were saying after being interrupted and people who are just kinda sick of you). Now I have no idea if anyone who reads these posts likes it but it makes me feel special when I see it got action!

So this is real life. I am a real person. I fear the Lord and want to teach my children to do the same. I eat a really crappy diet, I will work on it someday. I like to see how close to when I have to take Puzzle Boy to school I can get up in the morning (7:20 just so you know, we leave at 8:00). I have to go back and capitalize almost every "I" I use. It annoys me. I like and hate showers. I daydream about when I can have another baby because I swear I still have a rush from Mini Me's birth (you can stop shouting "insanity!" now). I am such an introvert that small family gatherings get my feathers ruffled. I hate gift giving, oh the pressure! I stick my kids in front of the tv more than I care to share, and I do it for coffee. I love books. I have a lot of them. I want to write one. Maybe.

I was reading Pioneer Woman's blog today and she recorded conversations she has with her husband. I have not laughed so much in awhile. I might try it. Ree, do you mind?

This post has become so disorganized! Oh my goodness, if you come back you deserve a medal and a hug. Maybe some of my coffee, that's how grateful I would be.

Now there is an odor I must address coming from the small child I am holding (I bet you are thinking, "how impressive, she typed this with one hand!") Wishful thinking anyway!

Moving Update: Still Waiting

A couple months ago I posted about our family relocating and that we were waiting for the family in our soon to be new home to move into their new home. This has been the greatest test our family has had to endure yet. Montana Man has been working in our new town while I have still been 3 hours away with my parents and the kids. We see each other every week to two weeks as our gas budget and days off allow. I came to the point last week where I was angry and felt betrayed by my God for letting this continue. After this anger came mourning and remorse for my feelings and sin toward my Savior, for He knows our plan even if we do not. I have also been very angry at the family still occupying our new home because they have been waiting for what I believe to be insufficient reasons (i.e. waiting for counter tops to be put into the their new kitchen, get a freaking microwave!) To say that this has been frustrating would be an understatement. But we persist and continue to wait for the house that seems to be the only one meant for us.
Side note: We have thought of finding another rental but the market for this particular combination of requirements is basically non-existent.

So! While I have been waiting I have had time to really think on what our goals over the next two years should be.

Goal #1:
Pay off debt completely and build a safety net in our savings as well as any extra we can for a down payment whether it be for building a house or buying existing. Repairing and building our credit as a couple also goes in this category. Becoming financially independent and being able to shape our budget to our means no matter the size is priority, we are still living in a material world at the moment.

Goal #2:
Prepare, prepare, prepare. This means building a food supply for use in emergencies, means of self-defense and acquiring skills of self reliance.

Goal #3:
This is a personal goal. Get down to a comfortable and healthy weight and fitness level. For myself this has been on my mind a lot. We do plan to have more kids and I feel like I was not as physically prepared as I would have liked in my pregnancy. I have a very good amount of time to achieve this through eating healthfully, building my fitness through activity, and self healing.

In conclusion, I will post after we have moved because as of now I have no date.

Notice: The Making Your Home a Haven series will continue after we have moved and settled. Apologies to the few that actually read my blog!

Making Your Home a Haven: The Living Room

Good rainy Tuesday to you all. Or atleast it is where I am! Rain makes it so incredibly hard to make myself do anything, it's so gloomy! But at the same time I love the stuff and love rainy days (it's a love-hate relationship).

Today I am going to try to make my living room more comfortable and presentable. What a task! I am going to share a little secret with you... I live with my parents. There I said it, I do. This is their home and thus all of their stuff and our stuff have come to rest in one household. We officially occupy 2 bedrooms in this house and 1 bathroom, but really our stuff (i.e. the kids stuff) is EVERYWHERE. Like this:

So I will post an update on what I did to make this mess into something someone would love to sit down and relax in. The office/entry and dining room will be next on the list.