Meal Planning for Dummies

I'm not a good meal planner. In fact, I usually find myself looking like a deer in the headlights standing in front of my pantry. I have all this food and ingredients and no clue what to cook. I *think* I may have found a solution to my terrible meal planning. After doing some research online, I was lead to a website called, E-Mealz.

E-Mealz is a website you subscribe to that has 26 different menu plans to choose from, for example, family meals, meals for two, weight management, portion control, gluten free, low-carb, etc. After you choose which meal plan works for you, E-Mealz will plan an entire week of meals, as well as a shopping list (including sale items) to a store of your choosing.

Here are a few highlights taken off of their website:

• The dinner menu is concisely organized in a one-page chart (no long recipes or printing several pages - just one sheet to keep up with in your kitchen!)
• No wordy instructions - just to the point and easy to follow at-a-glance (for the harried Mom!)
• All the side dishes are included in the menu and grocery list
• Grocery list is concisely organized by grocery sections in a one-page chart
• Includes an extra column for you to add "Other Groceries I Need"
• The TOTAL COST of your grocery list is given at the bottom (except for the Any Store plans). We work to keep the grocery total at a $75 average.
• Necessary staples are listed and organized by meal #
• Want to eliminate a meal? Just cross out each grocery item on the grocery list with that corresponding meal # beside it. (Takes just a minute!)

This program is not free, but only runs you $5 a month or $1.25 per week. I truly believe it's a small price to pay, especially for someone like me who is a terrible meal planner and still a beginner cook. I'm definitely looking forward to starting this program, and you can definitely expect a full review once we've used it for a few weeks. Not only will E-Mealz save time and money (not eating out all the time), but it will help me to become a better cook.

Yikes, so that's what I look like? The Guide on the how to's and what not to do!

Becoming a mommy of two has definitely kept me on my toes. Sometimes I forget to brush my teeth, brush my hair, or even use the restroom. However, this morning while looking into the mirror, I noticed my eyebrows are literally growing into one nice bushy one. Right then and there I knew I had all the ingredients to one HOT MESS!

Here is the recipe to "One Hot Mess":

First we add a hubby who is currently on night shift...sprinkle a baby who doesn't sleep and a 3 year old who gave up his nap at 2 1/2...a house that never seems to pick itself up...and you have yourself a "hot mess".

I've usually been the one to have a positive perspective on everything, but since Jesse's been on this crazy shift, I have found myself being a huge bum on a log! Now, don't get me wrong, I know things could be a lot worse, and so grateful and lucky this job is a. temporary and b. not over in Afghanistan. However, I feel like I'm being tugged in every which direction known to man. There are times when I wish I could lean on family just for a few hours every weekend so I can try and clean a toilet without it turning into an experiment for W or even to just take a short cat nap (I've tried that once and W ended up going into the shower and emptying an entire bottle of body wash, thank goodness it was just body wash and not something like bleach all over the carpet). However, being a military wife you learn to adjust without that much needed help. P-man has never been a terrific sleeper, and we have had many, many nights of rocking, patting, singing, bouncing, dancing, etc. I will admit, I never take that time for granted, because I know he's only little just this once (I wish I had that perspective on it when W was that little, now he could care less if he gets a snuggle or not). With that said, I'm finding it more and more difficult to let P-man cry-it-out. I tried last night and gave in at five minutes, resulting in us having a party in "P-man's Crib" from 10:45 p.m. until 2:30 a.m.

I'm totally okay with putting myself on the back burner, but there are things I'm not okay with. The fact I'm so fatigued has really affected the way I've been parenting W. Now, this is one main thing that I really need to work at and put it at the top of my priority list. Most of my day seems to be mainly directed at meeting P-man's needs... hold him...feed him...change him...etc. So, during that time, W doesn't get 100% of my undivided attention. While P-man naps, I try and play or do something fun with him, but I'm so exhausted I've been finding myself nodding off. When W behaves poorly (usually while I'm attending to P-man), I've often found myself shouting over to him to change is behavior, instead of walking over there and talking to him about the consequences and then redirecting. I never wanted to be that parent...never! I'm really going to work hard on being strong, and overcoming my fatigue. I'm a definite mind over matter person, but lately that's not seem to be the case.

The housework will get done, however lately I've been putting it off to the last minute (i.e. having company over, my mom coming to town, etc). I really need to set a schedule and stick to it. Why does this always come back to being tired?! I have a lot to accomplish on my short term goals, but I truly believe I can get it done. I used to be quite the goal oriented person, again it all goes back to being a "hot mess". I always tell myself this, "No, Leyna, the house will not clean the mess, now get off Facebook and actually get some stuff done around the house!!!!!!!!" I really need to turn those words into action.

Planning meals will be an entirely different blog post, but I will talk about it very soon. I just realized the huge mess I made in the kitchen that probably shouldn't be put off. We have decided to do baby-led weaning with P-man (tomorrow's blogpost), and I boiled an apple for him to eat and cut up some toast.

I guess the unibrow, the split-ends, the chipped nails, the unpolished toes, the showers, and the dark circles will have to do for now. I guess in all reality, I'd rather be a hot mess physically than a bad mother.

Cheers!

I think I can...I think I can...

I think I can start blogging again. It's been forever and a day, in fact we have gone through two seasons without another blog post. So much has changed since the fall, including the biggest change of all, the birth of my second little man, P-man. Being a mommy of two has been the biggest challenge in my life thus far. It's also been the biggest learning experience. I'm still learning how to juggle my time effectively, so both boys are entertained, dressed, fed, etc on time. However, there are more days than I can count where it's taken me until Jess gets home to either get dressed, eat, brush my teeth, or use the restroom. It's slowly getting better, and I've come to learn that it's easier to get ready after P-man's first feeding of the morning while W's asleep. In fact, that's when I try and get the most done, dishes washed and put away, make the beds, straighten up, and declutter. I would like to say this is a daily occurrence, but this unfortunately only gets done a few times a week (right now William and I are in our jams, and Patrick is the only one dressed). Pick and choose your battles I guess, right?!

Jesse starts shift work on July 12th, which will also be his first month of nights. He will work 8:00p-8:00a and will continue to do nights during the months of September, November, and January. August, October, and December he will be on days. We will be in Nebraska his first month of nights, so we only really have to deal with two and a half months of nights. I really hope I can get the kiddos out of the house while Jesse sleeps. I also hope I can sleep during the night knowing Jess isn't home. The biggest hurdle of all, is trying to learn how to again juggle everything along with good time management. I would gladly accept any advice with open arms on how to learn time management while parenting two children. I guess it's time to bring out the cookbooks, since I will be planning and preparing meals a lot more often. I've been truly blessed that I have a hubby who loves to cook, so I've become lazy in the kitchen department. Oh well!

As much as I would love to continue blogging and updating you all. My little man is awake from his nap, so I must draw this blog to a close. I *think* I can continue to update this at least once every three days, which is my main goal. :)