Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy 2012!

When I was younger, somewhere around end of high school and early marriage years, this date seemed so very far away.  I remember sitting at my oldest daughter's kindergarten graduation and the teacher introducing the kids as the class of 2000.  At the time, it seemed so far away.  Now it is just a memory.  That same daughter is now married, mother to two boys and a school teacher.

Just last night hubby and I were talking about the movie Back To The Future 2.  On Facebook, several posted that they knew the world would not end in 2012 because Michael J. Fox visited 2015 in the movie.  That of course led hubby to make the comment about wondering about the drop down thing in the kitchen and automatic cooking computer thing.  He of course was making a joke.  However, I reminded him that we used to watch the Jetson's cartoon where they had video phones, and that now we can Skype.  That we used to watch Star Trek and they would push a button on an ear set to talk, now we have hands free bluetooth.  Of course, he had no comeback for that.

Today the hubby, Miss Zebra, Mr College and his friend left to drive up to Mammoth for a few days skiing.  I stayed home.  For one, am just not feeling very well, am fighting off this bug that has hit just about every one.  For two, I don't do cold weather very well.  However, I do already miss them.  Mr. College's cat comes in the room occasionally to make sure I am here which is kind of cool.

I have a list of to do things, just not motivated enough to actually start on it.  Don't really know where to start on it.  I did get my pantry all cleaned out and sorted.  Now I at least know what I have and don't have.  It shouldn't be, but it is always a revelation to me on what I find...and don't find.  I have three jars of pickle relish, but only one little small can of chopped green chilies.  I have a ton of broth, but no idea what to do with it.  However, I do know what I have to work with, what I need to buy when I get groceries.  Sometimes it is just as important to know what you don't need.  My major goal is to get on track with the household chores and menu planning. I am really wanting to cut our spending drastically.  I am the major offender, so I will do all I can to change this. I actually sat down with my recipe file and planned out about 6 weeks of menu plans.  I was just so proud of myself, had even started on a grocery list to make sure I had all the ingredients I needed.  That was one of the reasons for the pantry clean out, so I wouldn't buy what I already had.  Then came the realization that I had not thought out the menu planning well enough.  I was so concentrated on making sure that we didn't have chicken each night (because I have a lot of chicken in the freezer) that I filled out the month with every other day a chicken dish.  That will not go over well in this house.  I also discovered that I have a freezer half full of beef that the family prefers so I need to incorporate the beef more. SO, since I have beef, chicken, pork and a bit of fish in the freezer, I printed some clean blanks and have decided to go about the menu planning in a different direction.

This evening, I will pull out the files and start over fresh.  I will color code according to the four kinds of proteins.  Then, will plug in beef every fourth day, chicken every fourth day, filling in with the pork and fish.  I have such a huge collection of loose recipes, cookbooks as well as back issues of a few cooking magazines, that when you add in the internet that gives me access to an unlimited supply of recipes.  This time around I will plug in once or twice a week a family favorite for that meal.  Also, will be paying much more attention to prep and cook times.  I will be keeping the grand baby until late two days a week while my sweet daughter-in-law begins taking college classes in the evening.  I sure don't need a complicated or time heavy evening meal that will take hours to prepare on the those nights.  At least now I feel like my head is working a little more correctly.

So, here is the plan.  Create several weeks of menu plans, making an effort to be more nutritional minded with them. Set time limits for the activities that eat away my day, such as Facebook or reading blogs.  Schedule my day to organize my chores in to manageable task so as to not overwhelm myself.  May give Fly Lady another try with that.  Most important to me at the moment is two areas of great need.  Setting time aside in my day for studying God's word and getting my family back to the dining table for the evening meal.  It is a sad statement that I fix a meal and hubby takes his plate to his chair in the living room, I bring my plate to my lounge (so I don't have to watch what hubby is watching) and Miss Zebra takes her plate to her room.  It is the only time of the day we are all together at the same time, just seems we should be taking advantage of that.

So, that is how things are rolling at this end of the street.  Thanks for stopping by and come back any time.

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