I cannot believe that I haven't posted in almost a MONTH! Part of my being "frugal" is my cheap-ness in not wanting to pay for internet at our house. We have it here at our office. Which is nice. But it limits the time I can use it recreationally. Apparently, since I do the books for our business, my husband expects me to get some work done or something. Doesn't he understand that I need to BLOG?!
So a lot has gone on since I last posted. I've been training for my part-time job selling window coverings. The boys have started baseball...which entails being at the ballpark or the practice field six (yes, SIX) days a week. We've been working on the house...cleaning the garage, the yards, the closets, behind things...dust bunnies don't count as pets, apparently. It's amazing what I see when I go to people's homes. Selling window coverings requires me to go to in-home consultations. And selling window coverings requires me to measure windows. This means I have to go behind furniture...and move furniture...and pull up shades that haven't been pulled up in a long time...and it shows. The things one finds behind other people's window shades and furniture is way more icky than finding things behind my own. And going in to other people's children's rooms and seeing how they allow their children to live...and to sleep...it's a bit scary. And a lot enlightening. And it motivated me to get under and behind my OWN stuff...and in to my OWN kids' rooms...and clean the HECK out of it all! It's amazing what can motivate us.
I have been making menu plans, too. Working for someone else has changed things for me quite a bit. Working for my husband is one thing. I pretty much make my own schedule.I can stay home for a "take care of the house" day, if I need to. I can leave the office at whatever time I need to in order to get errands run, or kids picked up, or dinner started, or whatever I need to do. But working for someone else, even if it is only two days a week, changes all of that...a lot.
SO...since I still want to feed my family healthy, cost-effective meals I am having to rethink the way I do some things.
- I am going to utilize my Crock-Pot a lot more.
- I am going to make Menus using the sale ads.
- I am going to prepare one-dish meals in the morning and refrigerate them for my husband to pop into the oven when he gets home, should he get home before me.
The first night I trained for my job I didn't get home until about 6pm. I had not planned to work so late, so I had not planned anything quick and easy for dinner. I was exhausted...and brain-dead...and just plain not willing to cook. And actually, even I had been willing to cook, my brain was so fried that I couldn't have thought of something to make if our lives depended on it! So...we did what many other families do in situations like that. We went out to eat.
$40 later, and irritated about paying for a meal that was NOT worth that much, I decided that I needed to do something different on my work days. And so far I've done pretty well. I've been making one food to work for two dinners. A whole roast chicken, a roasted pork loin large enough for two meals, extra mashed potatoes at one dinner to be used as a topping for Shepherd's Pie for another dinner, etc. It's working splendidly. I am thinking of investing in this: 
I have to say she's a bit annoying to watch. And I really wish she would just go for the gusto and actually SEASON that food....her little bits of salt and pepper drive me insane. Put it on there, girl! But, other than that, I think she's got some good ideas. And I can always add more seasonings as I see fit, right? I mean, I never have been one to follow a recipe to the exact measurement. Why would I start now?
Once I get this whole meal planning/menu planning/shopping with ads thing down I'll share some of my ideas. The roast chicken on Sunday morphed into Chicken Paninis on Tuesday was a really good one. I got approval from the whole family!
