What's One More
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Menu Planning Week 5
Goal Update Week 5
I have had a great year so far in working on meeting my goals, I hope that I can keep it up the rest of this year.
1 ) Work / Life Balance- Work Life balance has been going great, it is making me a better person at home and also at work.
2) Menu Plan - Believe it or not for this time of our lives, planning a week at a time is perfect. We have done so many different types of menu planning over the years, so I have learned what works for one stage of life does not always work for other stages.
3) Blog More- I have actually blogged for 5 weeks this year, I hope to keep this up. I really need to start jotting down ideas of what I want to write about.
4) To Do List- Need to start working on this. While my notebook method for menu planning is going well, it doesn’t seem to be working for the to do list.
5) Game Time- We played Ticket to Ride again, it is quickly becoming a family favorite, today I am hoping to fit in a game of Labyrinth with the boys. What is really helping with this is that I bought a card table and we just set it up in the living room for game time, and then take it back down when we are done.
6) Personal Goals -
b) Drink More Water- Feel like a fish.
c) Fast Food- We had takeout one night for dinner. Of course, I got all the way home before I noticed that my hamburger was not in the bag, so I had to drive all the way back.
7-a) Clean Kitchen before bed- I have been doing great at this, so I am adding another habit.
7-b) Make my bed every morning – I did this 6 out of 7 days, and on that day the hubby was still in it when I left for the day.
8) Garden- Did plan on ordering seeds yesterday but ended up doing something fun. So today I will get the seeds ordered. Or I will end up having to buy plants from the store.
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Shopping - Week 2-4
Shopping this month, outside of the big trip as mostly been bananas, milk, some fruits and lettuce and tomatoes, and eggs lots of eggs. We did have a bit of illness so not shopping was easy, but we did have some family that doesn't live at home bring us some things we needed.
I will need to do a big shopping trip again in the next week or two, but have enjoyed just stopping at the store for just the little bit we really need.
Walmart- 27.11 ( 2.57) - eggs, milk, bananas, onions, turkey, apples
Walmart- 13.76 ( 1.34) - Tomatoes, tea, cookies, torilla
Walmart- I don't have the receipt, but it was milk, bread, eggs, bananas . so lets say 20 dollars.
475.07 for the month plus 45.02 in sales tax- so 120.09 over budget.
Time for another month and a hope that I can stay on budget.
Menu Plan 2022 Week 4
Surprisingly this keeping to the menu, is working out. In fact this week we had only one day when someone got take out for dinner. That was because that child doesn't like any part of stuffed peppers so he bought himself panda express.
The plan for Week 4 was:
Sunday- Pizza and Wings
Tuesday- Hamburgers- Made by Aidan
Wednesday- Chicken Wraps
Thursday- Waffles w/ sausage
Friday- Stuffed Peppers
Saturday- Soup ( potato)
It was another of week of delicious on budget meals.
Goal Update - Week 4
I have had a great year so far in working on meeting my goals, I hope that I can keep it up the rest of this year.
1 ) Work / Life Balance- This is going surprisingly well, I don't know if it's because I have made it a goal and therefore am keeping it a priority. Or if just after a few difficult years, the current mode at work has become the new normal. But I give work my energy from 7 to 3:30 and outside of that I haven't.
2) Menu Plan - What seems to be working is I am only planning one week at a time, and I am making the menu from what we have in the house. This is helping us stay on track and also to help empty out some of the odds and ends from the freezers. I am actually enjoying cooking, I just hope that this keeps up.
3) Blog More- this week I only managed the blog entries on Sunday, but this coming week I do have Ideas for things I would like to write.
4) To Do List- I did make 6 different doctor appointments and completed some cleaning of the garage.
5) Game TIme- Didn't get any games in, but we are having family dinner again on Tuesday so we should be able to play a quick game.
6) Personal Goals -
a) Get Up and Move- I did work at a kitchen one day, worked in the garage and also did some outdoor stuff since it was so nice out.
b) Drink More Water- DIdn't do so great at this goal this week, will make more of effort in the coming week.
c) Fast Food- Only one day, and even felt a little guilty,
7) Clean Kitchen before bed- I have been doing great at this, so I am adding another habit.
7-2) Make my bed every morning - If I can get in the habit of clean kitchen before bed i can do the same for making the bed in the morning.
8) Garden- Just some pick up, need to order seeds and a mini green house to get things planted.
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Pizza Making
Let's talk about pizza. We have pizza about once a week and have done so for more than 20 years.
It hasn't always been a pretty experience, just ask my kids. They can tell you some good stories like the gooey pizza or the day the pizza made mom cry.
We have done many different things over the years for pizza night. They include ordering pizza which gets pricy quick, english muffin pizza which always seems more like a lunch then a dinner. Then there was french bread pizza a step in the right direction. There were the times we tried to make dough from scratch, that didn't go well for many years but every so often we would try again. One thing that did work when we had the freezer space was buying par baked pizza crusts by the case from Sam's Club. We used to get them from the bakery department.
Then finally we managed to make pizza dough at home, and turn it into a delicious pizza. I think splitting the jobs is what made it work. I made the dough, but the actual rolling and making of the pizza was someone else's job. This was our son Conner's job at about age 12, and once he went to college Aidan took over at about the same age.
Does the pizza come out perfect each time no it doesn't, sometimes the crust gets a little crispy, or the dough doesn't roll out just right. But that is ok, we learn something new each time we make it, it's a team project and we have fun doing it.
Now that Conner and Shadow live locally again they come home one day a week to make pizza and do laundry. I make the dough, but since I work full time outside the house I make the dough in large batches about once a month and freeze.
Here is the recipe that we use to make the dough:
2 cups warm tap water
2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
All of these are placed in a bowl or I use my kitchen aide mixer. Mix and let sit for a little bit till it looks foamy and smells yeasty.
Menu Plan 2022 Week 3
The menu plan for the past week was :
Sunday- Meatloaf- From Freezer
Monday- Easy Mostly Homemade Chicken Soup
Tuesday- Ham and Cheesy Potato
Wednesday- Waffles w/ sausage - this was the only change to the menu we ended up serving leftovers instead of the the waffles.
Thursday- Instapot Beef w/ noodles
Friday- Teriyaki chicken w/ rice
Saturday- Steak and cheese quiche