Weekly Grocery Trips October 26, 2011

We go grocery shopping, to get stuff to cook, so we don’t have to eat fast food….right? Yet my weekly grocery trip always goes something like this:

 

I browse the sale ads

I compare them to the giant coupon stash I have

I realize that no matter what’s on sale I will save more at ALDI anyways

I spend half an hour searching for a quarter to get a buggy at the store (I NEVER have change)

I make a half-assed list, hop in the car, and drive to the store

I do my shopping –

• Load the cart with groceries
• Unload them on to the conveyor belt
• Watch like a crazy lady making sure I’m not overcharged for anything
• Bag my groceries
• Lug them to the car
• Load them in the trunk

Then I’m off….To Kroger or Wal-Mart for the few items ALDI didn’t have or that are cheaper due to that stores weekly sales specials + a coupon combo. Once there I repeat the steps above – minus the bagging my own groceries….Now to head home.

I open the overloaded trunk (where half the groceries fall on to the sidewalk…yes, this happens to me regularly…)

Drag the groceries in the house

Put them away (usually to realize I forgot the 1 or 2 items I actually needed at the store)

AND …. After all that, I’m pooped….”Who wants to order pizza?” lol

Breakfast for Dinner…Sort of… August 27, 2011

It’s all about picking your battles…a great rule for life in general, but ESPECIALLY when it comes to raising your kids! In our house we don’t pick many, the few we do pick we stick too, but other than that as you know I’m pretty much the definition of a slacker mom. After a long, but good, first week of getting back to school and getting settled into the routine it was Friday night. I think last night was the first night I cooked more than a grilled cheese or Ramens all week. Roasted chicken and fried potatoes….Yum-O!! Well, I enjoyed it at least.

There are a few dinner rules in our house (That we TRY our best to stick too)

• You eat what’s been made for you unless, you scavenge make something for yourself
• I am NOT a short order cook (however if you ask before I start cooking, I’ll make whatever you want)
• If you don’t want to eat, that’s cool, but you will sit with us while we eat
• Don’t hit your brothers, throw things, and all that good stuff

Last night when my roasted chicken was on the table and we were all sitting down to eat, Ryan runs to the fridge and gets the cookie dough (not what I mean when I say scavenge  make your own dinner…think PB&J, Chips & Cheese, eggs…). As much as I wanted to pitch a fit, and I’m sure some of you moms are already shaking your head at me, I thought to hell with it. He had a busy first week of school, he wasn’t going to eat the chicken anyways, and for the most part my kids eat relatively well…plus I’m a big believer in the power of a gummie vitamin 😉 If Ryan wants cookie dough for dinner I’ll loan him my dieting logic for ONE evening…Cookie dough with a glass of milk, is no worse than cookies and milk, which can’t be worse than the stuffed french toast he’d be eating if we had breakfast for dinner. Also, cookies are in the same family as danishes, donuts, pastries, muffins (which we all know are just cupcakes in disguise), and therefore cookies and milk can easily be called breakfast for dinner….and if you want to really throw in some Sara logic…cookies are made from eggs (protein), milk (dairy), chocolate (antioxidants), flour (whole grains), wow just reading this I’m patting myself on the back already for providing such a well-balanced meal lol!  So for last night, and last night only (or not again for a few weeks at least), my little man picked his own dinner and I didn’t say a word.

PICK YOUR BATTLES – Best parenting tip I’ve EVER received!

Everyone Else's Dinner

Yes, He’s eating it straight from the

tube..I’ts his cookie dough (dont’ judge)

Ryan's Dinner

Doritos For Breakfast – Picking Your Battles August 4, 2011

I cook all the time, I love to cook…if some one will eat it.

Some days with my kids that can be a big *IF*….not that the boys are always stinkers about food, but we all have our picky days. With the boys being home for summer I’ve gotten up many mornings and made a huge breakfast to surprise them…yet they never seem to be impressed. So this morning when Colin brought me a bag of Doritos I thought, to hell with it. I poured him a bowl of chips, and a bowl of berries (because if you add a piece of fruit it automatically makes any meal healthy), and decided these chips are no worse than pancakes with syrup or marshmallow cereal. Especially since the boys tend to just pick out the dehydrated marshmallows and leave the rest.

Breakfast of Champs

Point of the story– Pick your battles…if it won’t matter in 5 years it shouldn’t matter now (A tip from my FIL, and great advice when it comes to kids, marriage, or life in general).

*Bonus* If you’d like to add some of my dieting logic–they’re Nacho Cheese Corn Chips, corn is a veggie and cheese is a dairy…Throw in the berries and you’ve got a well-balanced meal…and for the ultimate slacker mom logic just give them a gummy vitamin and call it a win! 😉