Convenience Foods

Found another like-minded post: Convenience Foods

I've thought about many of these things, like the "instant" oatmeal, but it's the crumble topping for fruit pies that I never thought to make ahead, but now will definitely keep in the refrigerator. Dutch Apple Pie is Jeff's drop dead favorite, and this will be a quick fix. Not sure if I want to bother with freezing my own pie crust.

Gauntlet, Picked Up

One of my cousins is getting married next month, and my mom & stepdad are coming up for a visit. In fact, my stepdad is officiating the ceremony, which will be at Greenfield Village, where Jeff & I got married lo these many years ago.

The 'rents will be here for at least two weeks, maybe as many as three. They'll split their time between several family members. My mom has decided that they want an RV, so they can go wherever they want without having to unpack every other day.

In order for them to stay with us, they need room. Sarah's bunked with Lauren in the past, but there just isn't enough space in her room.

The only place with enough room is the basement. The basement, well . . . the basement is same old, same old. Full of toys, winter clothes, blankets, dress up clothes, desks, Christmas stuff, tools, a toy kitchen, golf clubs, books, etc.

It is amazing how motivated we all are, though. The girls have spent much more time than I have down there, and they really are getting a lot done, even throwing things away! There is still soooooo much to do: get the Fisher Price Little People all together, find a way to keep the dress up stuff organized (really want a rack of some sort, so we can hang most of it) Get all the kitchen stuff together, put all the books in one place, go through the clothes and sort out what needs to be kept or given away, and throw out the twelve metric tons of crap.

It's a big job, but the motivation is there, and the deadline helps, too. Will report progress back another day.

Thinking Ahead

Life is about to hit the fan after Labor Day. All our activities start back up again: dance, Scouts, Sunday School, and Classical Conversations--so excited about that!

Work will (hopefully) also start soon--making a phone call tomorrow to schedule classes. I'm also going to start an Etsy store to try to get rid of some of my sewing projects. More on that later.

So I'm faced with impending insanity, taking the form of very little time. One of the results of very little time is that we eat like crap. We get take out far too often.

I have a plan. The plan itself is very simple: fill the freezer with things that can be pulled out and heated up quickly and easily. A solid block of a pound of frozen hamburger does not fit this plan.

Things that do fit the plan:

• taco meat
• sloppy joe meat
• seasoned cooked ground beef (for chili)
  
• pasties
• meatballs (good for spaghetti sauce, bbq sauce, sweet & sour, or brown gravy)
• Salisbury steaks
  
• pizza roll ups
• leftover ham (spiral sliced hams don't go on sale for a while, but when they do, we get a lot of leftovers out of one)
• uncooked biscuits (haven't tried this yet, but looking forward to the experiment)
• dinner rolls
• chicken fingers (every time I've made chicken fingers in the past, the kids didn't really care for them, but I'm planning to give it another go)
  
• cooked rice (just saw this idea, looking forward to trying it)
• mashed potatoes

If I can get a full freezer, I really think that life will be a lot easier on all fronts!

Just Say No

I had what I thought was a really great idea for a fundraiser for our church: a craft show. Not only could we raise money by selling table space and charging a small admission fee, our youth group could sell dogs & bratwurst (we even have a lady who can make home made sauerkraut, always a crowd pleaser), as well as baked goods.

The problem is, I can't do it. I really wanted to take the lead on this, make it happen, make it successful. I'd even already mentioned it to a few people. Everyone was very enthusiastic, and one even offered to help me, although she didn't have time to take the lead on it herself.

But between homeschooling, Scouts, Sunday School, sewing club, and (hopefully!) working, I have no time. At all. I'm already maxed out. So I need to let go of this. Maybe find someone else to champion it. Maybe just let it go. It's already gotten rather late in the season to start something like this in time for this fall.

I'm sad, knowing that it likely won't happen now. But I'm also happy and relieved to know that I won't do a crap job with it because I just don't have time.

I needed that

Yesterday really helped. We didn't stay home the entire day. We did run down to a neighbor's house to get the scoop on taking care of their cat while they're gone, and out for some cold meds for Sarah. But I do feel a little less stressed about all the running around we do.

I did get her Harry Potter scarf (part of her Halloween costume) done. Probably not the absolute best use of my time--Halloween isn't for two months, and I do have other projects to work on--but it's nice to have it taken care of.

I also went to work in Lauren's room. I usually make her do it, but I really wanted to get in there and go to town. There is still some stuff on the dresser and on the bed to go through (today), but the floor is cleaned off.

Today is the dentist and then the beach, yay!

Wish Fullfilled

I get my day at home today. Sarah has a cold, so she is also staying home, but my Dad is coming to get Lauren for a sleepover. So once she's gone, I am OFF the computer. Cleaning up, sewing, etc. is the order of the day. My goal is that when Jeff gets home tonight (late--he's going to see G.I.Joe with some of the guys) and asks me how my day went, I can use my favorite word: productive.

Being a Hermit

I am a very lucky person. I have lots of opportunities to do lots of fun things. My kids are lucky. They have lots of fun things to do, places to go, and people to see.

LOTS of things. Things like park, the other park, swimming, the boat, golf, VBS, bridal showers, sleepovers, Girl Scouts, birthday parties, church, the beach. Throw in the mechanic, the hair salon, and the dentist for good measure.

I have to admit, I'm a little tired of the social life. Actually, what I'm really tired of is spending so much time in the car. I'd really like to have a day to just stay home and do nothing. Well, not nothing. Maybe sew. Maybe clean the basement. Maybe just hang out.

Maybe not.