Perfecting Imperfection

I’m exhausted.  We have been so busy it is unreal.  On top of all of that, I’ve been trying to keep up with the Flylady stuff AND stay on track with my E-mealz…both of which are going very well (we had Creamy Roast Beef Pitas today – they weren’t bad at all…)  A lot of the E-mealz recipes are ones I can see myself adding things to so that they are more to our liking.  There have been a few of the meals that we have liked, but didn’t love just because it was missing something . . . so next time I make it I will add the missing ingredient.  The Flylady thing isn’t going as well as I would like…but I’m keeping afloat.  I haven’t been able to dive into my Zone cleaning quite yet, but I’m closer than I was when I started.  My goal is to get there the second week in June – that’s a full week after a full week of no work for me…that should help because Tuesdays throw me all off.  Jerry is home all day with the kids on Tuesday and he doesn’t Fly.  Not that I expect him to and not that it’s really a mess or anything when I get home, but my sink isn’t as clean as I would like it and for some reason the kids just aren’t as happy.  It’s because he’s NOT the Mama…which isn’t a bad thing, but I always feel like I’m paying for being away all day, even if it was for work and not fun.  Okay – so, my exhaustion is causing me to ramble…on with it already.

I started doing a Sunday Wrap-Up a while back and then just forgot about it…kind of like how I forgot to keep up with other Memes that I had been doing.  Anyway – this is going to be kind of Sunday Wrap-upish. 

Here’s a pic of my kiddos with my parents…it’s the last pic I have of the kids before the battery died in my camera (which is why you won’t see any other pictures from our fun filled weekend) 

Friday night ~ I had Mommy Group and the big kids stayed at my parents’ house.  I had a great time at Mommy Group . . . the ride down was a lot of fun, too. 

Saturday ~ The kiddos came home early afternoon.  That gave me time to get the newsletter for school done in the morning.  The twins were really well behaved and I even got a few loads of laundry done, too!

Saturday evening ~ Jerry went shopping all over the place for birthday gifts and groceries.  When he came home we ate and put the kids to bed…then we watched Funny People.  I have mixed feelings about it.  It wasn’t a bad movie and it wasn’t an awesome movie.  It was just an okay movie.  I guess I probably wouldn’t recommend that you watch it because if you hate it I don’t want you to blame me for wasting hours of your life…but if you do watch it, I’d be interested in hearing what you thought about it. 

Sunday ~ by far our busiest day of the weekend.  We started out at a part for our friend’s son, Ethan.  He was turning 3 and had his party at Giggles and Smiles.  Fun was had by all – especially me because those are some FAST slides.  I took my niece, Angelina, up with me and helped her go down them.  She gets nervous with heights and any kind of floor with holes in it.  So I basically threw her over the parts that made her nervous.  I was the only adult going down the slides, though – good thing or bad thing?  I think it’s one of the things that makes me love my job so much – I’m a big kid and enjoy playing more than most kids do.  :)

After that party, we had another birthday party to go to…this one was for Jerry’s grandmother.  She turned 94.  It was a great party – two disappointments, though.  1) The weather stunk and 2) the Penguins lost. 

Well – apparently, I’m not going to get to finish this post beyond this…and I’m not loving it anyway – so, I’ll just end it with a promise to write a better, more complete post in the future….hopefully after a good night’s sleep. 

I haven’t written a blog post since SUNDAY!  I think that’s the longest I’ve gone since having the twins…It’s not because I haven’t wanted to – I’ve just been too tired to do it.  I was more tired yesterday than I have been in a long time.  Not really for any reason I can pinpoint…but it’s not what you are thinking.  I’m not pregnant.  I’m NOT! 

Anyway…so another reason I haven’t written is because I’ve been busy.  More busy than  I have been in as long as I can remember.  The twins are eating 3 meals a day now…and feeding everyone (and cleaning up from all those meals) is really taking up a ton of time!  Not to mention planning for them…which is where E-Mealz comes in.  I mentioned it in my last blog post and said that I wanted to give it a fair chance before I told you all about it.  I read all of these reviews saying that it was the most wonderful thing in the world.  I wasn’t sold right away.  Here’s my honest review…good and bad.

First of all – I was introduced to E-Mealz by my cousin-in-law, Amy, when I was complaining about having to make a grocery list.  I can’t grocery shop without a list.  My mother very rarely followed a detailed grocery list – but she seemed like she was (and still is) stopping at the grocery store every other day.  I can’t do that.  I have trouble getting to the grocery store once a week!  

I love to cook.  I love cookbooks.  I love when my husband smiles at me and tells me something tastes better than his mom’s version.  (It’s happened twice – in the last 6 years!)  I don’t , however, love grocery shopping or menu planning or grocery list making.  So, Amy suggested I check out E-Mealz. 

My favorite part of E-Mealz is that the planning is done for you.  I still pick which of the meals I want to make on which day based on our schedules.  For example, I’m home all day today so I’m making Slow Roasted BBQ Chicken.  Every Wednesday, not only does E-Mealz give you the menu, it gives you the grocery list AND the recipe!  Plus, it all fits on 2 (or 1 front to back) sheets of paper!  The instructions are easy to follow and the grocery list is super easy to make sense of if you want to cook some meals but not others.

Now, the part I’m not so crazy about is the QUALITY of some of the meals.  Some of them have been really great – like the Breakfast Pizza and Bacon Cheese Strata.  However, some of them have been AWFUL or almost a joke when I think about having to feed 6 people someday.  Pepperoni Loaf for dinner?  Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll-ups, seriously?  The nights Jerry and I tried these they were SIDES to another meal…then again, we don’t eat lightly very often.

E-Mealz charged me $15.00 for the first 3 months of their service.  Dave Ramsey approves it as a way to help you save money…and I will say that (if you can stick to the list) it probably does help to cut down your grocery bill.  I use coupons in combination with E-Mealz and have been saving about 20% of my grocery bill every week.  They also have other plans that you can use.  We are trying the Any Store plan, because we shop at Giant Eagle and get fuelperks and get gas for our cars at GetGo to get foodperks.  However, they also have Wal-Mart (and other grocery stores, too) plans that matches the meals with their weekly specials to help you save even more money.  There are also plans if you are dieting or prefer vegetarian meals.  I can’t comment on the quality of these meals, because I’ve only used the Any Store plan.

So – here’s the bottom line…I like E-Mealz and will continue to use it until my 3 month subscription runs out…I’ll make a decision then if I want to continue or not.  If I had to decide right now, I would probably pay the $5.00 a month and keep trying it out.  It’s a lot more convenient, but with all of the Food, Inc. and Food Revolution talk I’m hearing (neither of which I have watched) I get nervous about what I am cooking with and feeding my children (so, just imagine if I HAD watched them!).

BTW – E-Mealz also has a referral plan…I’m not exactly sure how it works, but if you are thinking about giving it a try please click on that little banner up there on the left or one of the links in this post when you sign up.  It should give me credit for it then.  :)  (oh – and no one asked me to write this review or gave me any kind of compensation for it…I just did it all by myself!  Aren’t I special? hehehe)

I didn’t have to make grocery lists.  I HATE making grocery lists.  I HATE planning meals and trying to have the foresight needed to know what I’m going to feel like eating/making for the next week or so.  I wish someone else could do this for me…but, I’m the Mama/Wife and it’s part of my job description, right?

I’m working on a couple different ideas to make this a little bit easier.  I’m eventually going to figure something out that makes this whole process much much easier – probably around the time I’m going to be spending triple what I spend now at the grocery store.  In case you missed it, I have 4 kids – 3 boys!  Eventually, they will stop being so picky and just start eating everything in sight.  I really hope I have a better game plan by the time that happens!

Anyway ~ I thought I’d share 2 of my tools with you…not that they have single-handedly made this task any easier, but they are worth a look. 

First, this is where I got the Grocery List/Menu Planner (it’s the Menu Grocery List if you go to download it) I use each week.  I LOVE it because I do exactly what Kate does here – I got a clipboard at the dollar store and just clip it to my fridge.  Also, I save weeks past – which is really convenient when I’m looking for something we liked with all of the ingredients listed right there.  I mainly use it for dinner, but have also used it for breakfast if I feel like doing something special when we are all home together (like we will be this Tuesday!).

Next, allrecipes.com is the sight I go to for recipes.  I have cookbooks that I love to look through when I have time – because you know I have a ton of extra time on my hands.  I go to All Recipes, though, when I am looking for something specific.  They have a great search feature!  Plus, you can create your own online recipe box to keep recipes you like in…so I’ll head over there when I’m meal planning to pick stuff I know we like and I can actually make!

I read somewhere – I wish I had the link to share with you…but I can’t for the life of me remember which blog I was reading, (if it’s yours, send me the link and I’ll add it) - that it would simplify meal planning and life in general if you picked a theme for each day of the week.  I’m thinking of giving that a try.  Here’s what I’m thinking:

Monday – Chicken

Tuesday – Ground Meat

Wednesday – Pasta

Thursday – Pork (we love pork chops!)

Friday – Fish

Saturday – Leftovers or out somewhere

Sunday – Dinner with Mom and Dad/Family

This Sunday is Easter so we will be at Jerry’s sister’s house.  We’ll see how this plan works – I’m going to try planning meals starting with tomorrow (Friday) and then for 1 week…I’ll post my “menu” when I’m done – with links if I use allrecipe.com.

I’d love any suggestions on how to make this process easier or just tell me what you do!  I know that eventually I will laugh that this was even a big deal for me – I’ll be a pro, someday.  Right now, though, I HATE this part of being the Mama/Wife!

BTW ~ I’m making these for Easter on Sunday.  I’m going to take them to my SIL’s for an appetizer.  So, I’ll have to remember to add the ingredients to my list!  You should go check them out – and maybe vote for them for The Brown Eyed Baker!  You could win $300!  Wouldn’t that be a nice chunk to help fill the freezer?