Helpful Graphic

I'm spending a little time this morning researching more ways to cut down our spending and pad the budget with simple fixes. I came across this graphic on Pinterest, and actually remembered that I have it in my Home Binder as well! Of course, I haven't looked at it in about a year, but thanks to Pinterest, I'm going through it again :) Hope it helps you, too!


Created by Infographic World                       From Quicken

Found at http://quicken.intuit.com/support/help/fun-with-finances/budgeting--a-visual-guide-to-how-small-cutbacks-lead-to-great-savings/INF16249.html;jsessionid=HJb7GQ9MFT9NRcohupI84A**.p44-3

A little nostalgia, and a perfect song

 

Have you heard this song?

 

I can’t get through it without choking up (and singing along, of course). It reminds me of my dad, and the way I’m coming to understand that he wanted to raise me.

My dad with me, 1982 (I was about Ethan's age)

 

If you look at my dad, you wouldn’t call him a hippie or a liberal or anything. He’s like my husband in that he ALWAYS has on a non-iron dress shirt and actual shoes rather than sneakers. But, if you dig a little deeper and have a conversation with my dad, the picture changes. The details of my dad are what I respect more than anything. The details of my dad are steeped in justice.

My mom, dad, and brother Rex with Ted Kennedy

I remember one night when I was about 7, sitting on the couch with my dad. He was watching a documentary of some sort. I remember it being about the Civil Rights Movement, but that might be my memory changing things a little. Anyway, I remember saying, out of the blue, “Dad, you know who I don’t like? I don’t like black people.”

My dad’s reaction changed everything for me. He didn’t yell at me, I didn’t feel like I was in trouble, but he didn’t brush it off, either. He talked to me, differently than he had talked to me before that moment. He talked to me in a way that felt respectful. But the most important part was, he hasn’t stopped talking to me in that same way since. He made me understand in no uncertain terms, that we do not judge people based on how they look. In fact, it is not our place to judge people, period. It is never right to think of anyone as less, never right to try to make another person feel bad about themselves. My dad expects me to have a kind heart and be respectful. My conscience now sounds like my dad, and it’s awesome.

 

Besides talking to me, telling me stories of his past (which are really stories of our country’s past), he shared music with me. GOOD music. Folk music. I was pretty much the only 10 year old listening to Harry Chapin or John Prine in Overland Park, Kansas J In the evenings, my dad would play his old Martin guitar and we would sing songs that really mean something. Songs that, even today, impact the way I exist in the world.

So now, today, as I drove home with Alice and Ethan in the backseat, we listened to ‘Light One Candle’. Alice sang along, her voice clear on every word. I know that right now she doesn’t understand the full force of what she is singing, but I know that what started with a conversation between my dad and I when I was 7 is being passed on to her when she is three. What continued with me having a passion for social justice, is hopefully going to go so much farther in her life.

Maybe my grand plan to start my own country in the basement didn’t pan out, but I have my dad to thank for the things that have: travels around the world, conversations with people of so many different backgrounds, and an unending commitment to change the world for the better in whatever small way I can. I think Alice and Ethan are a big part of that. They are my candles.

 

 

My dad with ME!



My dad with a little Alice

My dad with a brand new Ethan

 

 

 

 

 

Menu Monday January 20

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack
Sunday	Whole wheat banana pancakes	Family Event	Leftovers	Veggies and dip
Monday	Yogurt with granola and berries	Noodles with butter, peas and parmesan	Burgers, roasted potatoes, and Brussels sprouts	Lara bar, bananas
Tuesday	Eggs and bacon	Hot dogs, fruit salad	Slow cooker tofu curry	Veggies and dip
Wednesday	Cereal/oatmeal	Grilled cheese with bacon, broccoli bites	Roasted veggie penne, rolls	Popcorn
Thursday	Yogurt with granola and berries	Cracker stackers, ants on a log	Bean, cheese, spinach enchiladas	Lara bar, banana
Friday	Cereal/oatmeal	Zucchini muffins with cream cheese	Homemade pizza, salad	Clementines
Saturday	Pancakes	Leftovers	Fish, steamed veggies, quinoa	Cheese and crackers

 

I kind of hate yogurt, but I have some in the fridge that I absolutely have to use this week. It’s plain yogurt, and I’m hoping that by blending up some berries and adding some granola it will make for a happy breakfast.

The noodles, peas, and parmesan cheese is something that came about when I ran out of food J That’s pretty much what I had, and it is one of Alice’s favorite lunches now. Ethan enjoys the peas most of all.

For the burgers, I use turkey instead of beef. I add onion and garlic before making the patties. The roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts I roast with olive oil, salt, and pepper (oven at 400 for 25 minutes or so).  

We like the peanut butter chocolate Lara bars. Only a few ingredients and I can pronounce them all! For snacks, I usually give Alice ½ of a bar. Trust me; she does not need all that sugar!

Do you have the Target Cartwheel app? Applegate Farms meat and cheese were 25% off this weekend! I stocked up, which explains the bacon and hot dogs on the menu this week. We use these hot dogs. I usually try for organic, but can’t always make it happen in the budget. I still feel OK about these…way better than just generic hot dogs.

The curry I made last week is back, this time with tofu instead of chicken. I think this is a new family favorite dish, especially for Sergio and I. We were so excited to eat the leftovers!

The roasted veggie penne is a recipe I found in this month’s Good Housekeeping. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Happy eating J

Reality Check

That was an awesome menu plan…but then reality intervened J Here’s how things are going with dinners at Casa Rodriguez this week:

Tempeh: I absolutely loved it! I really like the texture of tempeh and always have, but apparently my husband and kiddos really don’t. After trying the tempeh, Alice requested a hardboiled egg. Shrug.  I actually made this recipe with 2 packs of tempeh rather than one. I ended up eating pretty much the entire pan J I should also mention that the marinade was super easy to make. In fact, I basically just directed Alice in making it, since I had a flailing Ethan in the Ergo (it was just that kind of afternoon) and couldn’t really measure/pour/whisk. But Alice could! Thank goodness for almost four year olds.

Not actually her making the tempeh, obviously. But she does love to cook!

 

 

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken: AMAZING. Seriously, you should make it right now. I doubled the amount of red curry paste, and it was still not very spicy (which I will fix next time). The kids had dinner at play school that night, so Sergio and I had it after they went to sleep. We both had seconds. Also, the Jasmine rice makes a big difference. We had our first servings with it, but then ran out and had the second servings with brown rice. The Jasmine was certainly better. I am very glad we have leftovers of the curry; it’s one of my new favorites.

 

Black bean burgers: never got to make them. I tried on Wednesday, I really did. But on that day I also had a friend who needed someone to talk to, so we made cookies and just hung out for a bit. Just after that, another friend asked me to watch her daughter while she got some home repairs done. When that was done, Alice, Ethan and I were totally exhausted. I made the quinoa, no problem. As it was cooking and I played with both my kids and our little friend, I felt like the kind of mom who has it all together. But then, I called the husband and he was working late. I fed the dogs and started the beans as Alice and Ethan got restless in the living room. It was at that point I knew it wasn’t going to happen. As predicted, the beans took forever to cook (I was using dry beans that had been soaked overnight). By the time they were done, I put some quinoa and beans in a bowl and put some cheddar cheese and carrots on the side and fed the kids. Done. Bath time, bed time, and then as I came back downstairs to clean up, husband was just coming in the door. Poor guy looked just as exhausted as I felt, so he made tuna while I went back up to nurse Ethan (who woke up twice within an hour of going to bed…what is that about!?).

I’m just skipping the damn burgers because at this point they feel a little cursed and there is NO WAY I can bring them to fruition while caring for two little ones at this time of day. The pasta with broccoli and sausage is about a million times more do-able because I don’t have to be physically in the kitchen for most of it.

So that’s a glimpse into my week…how’s yours?

Menu Monday January 13

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snack
Sunday	Bacon and eggs	Tuna	Leftovers	Veggies and dip
Monday	Banana Smoothie	Turkey cheese roll-ups	“Boston Market Style” Tempeh, roasted veggies	Popcorn, celery with cream cheese
Tuesday	Cereal/oatmeal	Whole wheat crackers, peanut butter, bananas	Slow cooker Thai curry chicken	Broccoli bites, pears with cheddar cheese
Wednesday	Eggs	Soup and grilled cheese	Black bean burgers with wasabi mayo, garlic cilantro fries	Veggies and dip, berries (blackberries and raspberries were on sale!)
Thursday	Cereal/oatmeal	Cream cheese sandwiches with cucumber	Pasta with sausage and broccoli	Popcorn, pears with cheddar cheese
Friday	Banana smoothie	Broccoli cheese frittata	Homemade pizza, salad	Carrot applesauce muffins
Saturday	Pancakes	Leftovers	Fish, steamed veggies	Cheese and crackers

 

Veggies: Alice is loving cucumbers right now, and we have broccoli, carrots and celery as well. We dip in either hummus or Annie’s Goddess salad dressing.

Banana smoothie: The dogs broke the blender (don’t ask…). I use my little food processer and throw in a frozen over ripe banana, some organic whole milk, and a couple of drops of vanilla. One banana makes enough for Alice and I for breakfast.

Pears with cheese: my friend taught Alice to lay a slice of cheddar on an apple slice. I tried it with pears. YUM. You should really try it.

Soup: It didn’t make sense to me to buy just chicken breast for the curry chicken when I could buy a whole chicken for like a dollar more. So I’m using what I need for the curry and then using the rest for some homemade chicken noodle soup.

Popcorn: have you used the popcorn trick? CHEAP and easy! Also, you know exactly what’s in it.

Broccoli cheese frittata: easiest. Lunch. Ever. Eggs (I usually use around 6), some salt and pepper, broccoli, and then grate in some cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so.

Tired Mom Voice

The other day, Ethan and I were waiting for Alice to come out of her gymnastics class. The class that comes in after hers is full of bigger kids, I’d guess around 3^rd or 4^th graders. I love to eavesdrop on them, and also their parents because there is always juicy stuff about what happened at school that day (and I am a total sucker for school gossip). Well, as I was eavesdropping on this particular mom with her son, I got to thinking not about what they were saying, but about the tone that they used with each other. The woman was using what I can only describe as her ‘tired mom voice’. The son responded in kind, with his ‘bored kid voice’. My thought was, “I hope I don’t sound like that when I talk to my kids.”

Alice and I talking over some clay creations

When I think of my mom’s voice, it’s always with a little chuckle (sorry mom!). Early on, I remember her voice reading one of our favorite books, Animals Should Definitely NOT Wear Clothing. Her voice was strong and clear, engaged in the ridiculous story. Later in my life, I recall her voice sort of sing-songy as she tried to help me memorize the multiplication tables in the kitchen after school. Around 15 years old, she would call out to me as I left the house, “MAKE GOOD CHOICES”, and I could tell from her tone that she meant it every single time she said it. And to this day, when I think of my mom’s voice, it is usually bursting into some made up song that she sings at the TOP of her lungs (she used to drink a pretty intense amount of coffee…). My point is, my mother’s voice is expressive, communicative, engaged. That is what I want my kids to hear from me as well.

My momster reading to Ethan. Look at their faces!

I want to convey that I am there; I am present in the conversation.  I know we will have the old stand-by “how was your day?” “fine” kind of moments. But I don’t want that to be the norm. Yes, I am very tired. I was up all night nursing a toddler and then out of bed early when my preschooler knocked politely on my door. Yes, I pretty much just wanted to growl when her little face peeked into the doorway. But the truth is, I would seriously miss that little face if I didn’t see it tomorrow morning. So, I stifle the growl and greet her the way that I would like her to remember when she’s 30 years old. GOOD MORNING, ALICE B!

 

Menu Monday

This week, I am letting budget dictate more of my menu than my "real food" aspirations. I am trying to get back on track money-wise after the holiday season and start off 2014 by adding a little more cushion to the savings account. Therefore, anything I can save from the food category, the better! I started by looking through the freezer (which I kind of forget about sometimes, since I don't usually use much frozen food) and found some good stuff to use as the base of meals. Also, instead of going back to the routine lunches for the kids and I (that I am alwasy replenishing ingredients for), I went through the pantry and figured out how to bring back some old favorites that were just waiting to be used. Through this process, I saved $43 in my food budget! Not a bad way to start off :)

 For snacks this week, I'm baking some Apple Granola Squares (that whole post on parents.com has some awesome breakfast recipes) and Carrot Applesauce Muffins

Sunday	Eggs, bacon, toast	Tuna	3 Kings Day dinner with family
Monday	Eggs	PBJ sandwiches, bananas	Pork chops, creamed spinach, baked potatoes
Tuesday	Spice Dutch Baby	Turkey cheese roll-ups, popcorn	Slow cooker beef stew, bread and butter
Wednesday	Cereal or Oatmeal	Grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup	Turkey burgers, oven baked fries, corn on the cob
Thursday	Smoothies	Noodles with butter and parmesan, peas	Bean/cheese/spinach enchiladas
Friday	Hard boiled eggs	Crackers, peanut butter, bananas	Mini-pizzas for the kids, Dinner Kit date night for the grown-ups!
Saturday	Pancakes	Leftovers	Fish, brown rice, steamed carrots and green beans