Meal Planning Inspired by the Very Hungry Caterpillar

I was reading Emma The Very Hungry Caterpillar for the umpteenth time when I had a little epiphany: If the Very Hungry Caterpillar can have a different fruit each day, my family can too! And if we have a different fruit each day, we can plan on a different vegetable each day while we’re at it.  This might help our family eat more kinds of fruits and vegetables throughout the week.  And as an added plus, it could give me a framework to plan my meals and snacks around (I have had issues meal planning.) 

So I went to a website http://www.foodfit.com/healthy/healthywinterfoods_fruit.asp to get an idea of what kinds of fruits are in season for winter, and noted the ones I haven't eaten in a while, and put them down on a chart. I did the same for vegetables using the same site. I also checked to see which of those items were on sale using the local ads.  Then I bought the produce.  I’m considering getting a vegetable/fruit box through a local co-op where they pick and choose the fruit and vegetables for you. 

The result?  We have several fruits and vegetables to choose from throughout the day and throughout the week.  I have found that it has been easier to plan our family dinners because I know what kind of produce I’m going to have on hand.  And it has helped me figure out what I need to buy at the grocery store.

While I was at it, I went ahead and assigned different breakfast ideas to each of the days and a plan for dinner.  It’s a simple chart, but it’s been helpful to me.  I do my grocery shopping on Wednesday, so that’s why it’s in the second column.

 

I Should Have Taken Home Ec.

I was running new blog title ideas by my husband Ben since “Leticia’s Notebook” was rather uninspiring for me.  Here’s how our conversation went:

Leticia: “Journeys in Homemaking”?  Too boring huh?

Ben: Yes.

Leticia: How about “I should have taken Home Ec”?  Just kidding.

Ben: I like that one.

And he’s insisting that’s the best one I’ve come up with, so I’m going to stick with it.

Running a home is much more involved than I ever could have imagined as a kid.  I thought laundry was magically cleaned and folded; that budgets balanced themselves; and that food was as easy as one, two three.  Managing a home for me consisted of making my bed and keeping my room clean, setting the table, dusting, helping clean up dinner, and taking out the trash once in a while.

I’m not an expert at all in home ec, and I have a lot to learn, but I think it’s fascinating learning about how to make a home run more smoothly.  So that’s why I have this blog, to force myself to think about it a little more, to collect ideas, share what I’ve learned, vent about how my house is a work in progress, and just be real about home management. 

I’ve committed to write more regularly because I think it will help me personally as I try to stay more organized.  And I’m not going to let lack of pictures get in my way.

My New Favorite Toy: Snipping Tool

Ben just showed me this the other day.  In Microsoft Windows 7, there’s a program called Snipping Tool.

Snipping Tool allows you to copy images from your screen and paste them into whatever program you’re using.  Its uses are endless.  I found it helpful to use while I was shopping for clothes online, trying to coordinate outfits, and doing a lot of dreaming and playing dress-up.

I just copied the pieces I thought would work in an outfit from the website and put them into OneNote.

For anyone looking to get me a Christmas present, these pieces from Shabby Apple and Eddie Bauer made it to my wish list

As did these dresses:

Sigh.  Back to reality.

Motivations

Yesterday I found myself in a unique situation:  The kitchen needed cleaning up, which is not so unique, but I had TIME to give it a thorough cleaning, which is very unique.  The thing is, I didn’t feel like cleaning at all.  And I didn’t have a good excuse to not clean … I had already spent time enjoying some nice and well-deserved me-time. I was simply being lazy. 

I tried to find some sort of motivation to clean the house.  My usual motivators (health, order, sanity, expectant company), weren’t working for me.  Grades have always been a good motivator for me.  So I pretended that someone was grading my efforts for keeping on top of the house.  I decided that my efforts would have received an F and the state of my kitchen would have received a C-.  This gave me some push to start cleaning.  But then my interest in cleaning started fading when I started thinking about who doing the grading:  Me.  I didn’t really care about what I was thinking at that moment.  I didn’t care what anybody would have thought.

What finally pushed me to take advantage of the time I had to clean was imagining how I would have felt if Jesus walked into the house at that moment.  I would have been totally embarrassed.  On any other day, on a day where I simply didn’t have the time to clean, I think Jesus would have been understanding.  But on a day where I had the time, I really should have tried to make my home the best it could be, if not for myself, for Him … to allow Him to be there, to in turn uplift me and my family.

I hope I’m not using the image of Jesus’ presence too tritely, but this was a spiritual realization for me.  I found myself praying for the extra help I needed and I felt an answer to my prayer.  I’m thankful that Heavenly Father saw fit to answer my prayer in this little thing.  I’m thankful for the lesson I learned that I should try my best to make my home a place where the Spirit can be and where I can feel peace.  I’m also thankful for the reassurance I received that it’s okay that my house isn’t anywhere close to perfect on most days … that other things often taken precedence over having the perfect house, but that I should do my best when I can offer it.

Which is harder? Smaller or Bigger?

My mother is in Idaho helping my brother James and my sister-in-law Brooke with their brand-new baby, who I got to meet just last week!  James and Brooke live in a small cute apartment complex near BYU Idaho.  It’s just the perfect size for a young married couple with a brand-new baby, but it does require a lot of work to keep everything in their proper place, and some things simply don’t have a place.  My mom made the point, “It’s harder to keep a small place clean than a big place.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about that because Ben and my condo is tiny.  It’s bigger than Brooke and James’ place, but we feel cramped, and it’s not just because we have more stuff than we should.  I find myself constantly picking up everything all the time.  If one thing is out of place, the house looks messy. 

On the other hand, a bigger house has more places that need cleaning.  There’s a temptation to buy more stuff for it.  Maybe a bigger house has large maintenance issues.

I wonder what the perfect-size house is.  What is “just right?” 

A Morning Routine I’m Digging

Yikes. It’s been a long time since I’ve written up something for this. Oftentimes, when I think of posting here, I think it’s either a little bit too personal or too no-duh, and therefore not worth it.  But then I think this info may be valuable to somebody, and especially to me in the future, and maybe my kids.

So here’s a pretty no-duh post that I’m going to post regardless.

I’ve finally discovered a morning routine that’s working for me in this stage of my life. I don’t follow it every day, but it’s nice to have something in place so that on the days where I get up and wonder, “What am I doing now?” something is already set up for me. So here it is:

· Good morning! Awake and arise!

· Pray to Heavenly Father & feed Emma milk.

(Note, the next five things are often switched around.)

· Start laundry & make bed.

· Refresh & brush teeth.

· Change Emma’s diaper and sing to her.

· Clean one thing other than the kitchen in the house (bathroom, room, dust).

· Shower. If I’m exercising later in the day, I take a body shower.

· Eat breakfast & listen to news. Take vitamin D.

· Empty dishwasher that ran through the night.

· Read to Emma, play with Emma.

· Read scriptures while Emma plays.

· Change laundry and change Emma’s clothes.

· Morning activity with Emma (this changes from day to day).

I just read this and think, maybe it’s TMI.  Oh, well.  I’m loving this routine and it usually takes about an hour and a half.

Kale and Quinoa

This is the easiest dish ever to make!  And it’s so tasty.  Here’s a link to the recipe.

http://www.food52.com/recipes/2434_one_pot_kale_and_quinoa_pilaf

I’m all about easy meals, and this is EASY.  Everything is cooked in one pot and there’s a short list of ingredients.  The goat cheese, lemon, kale, and pine nuts play off each other to create a tangy, sumptuous blend.  This is a favorite!