A Weeks Worth of Meals Without Groceries

In our house we budget to buy groceries every other week, but sometimes I like to see if I can stretch it another week to save money and use up some of the odds and ends left in the fridge.  Inevitably we end up with those weeks where there is little to no food left in the house but it isn't time to buy groceries yet.  The easy solution would be to do a small grocery run and pick up some items, but sometimes I like a challenge!

Often the meals that come out of this week aren't necessarily balanced between protein, starch (we often have meals without a starch anyway), fruits and veggies, but it is food none the less and it needs to be used up.  I hate throwing out food but the only thing I hate more than that is having a freezer full of stuff and thinking there is nothing to eat.  In a recent post I cleaned out and organized our freezers, so I was well aware that there was a ton of food in there that should be used.  That's when I decided this week would be a week worth of meals made from what we already have!

For breakfast I usually have oatmeal and Roman will alternate between oatmeal and waffles that I batch cook and freeze.  Luckily we have a decent supply of frozen blueberries so I put those on top of his waffles.  Lunch is usually sandwiches, grilled cheese or leftovers from supper the night before.  Lately Roman has been loving smoothies for snacks so that will be a great use for my frozen fruits, including my massive supply of frozen bananas.  Now let's get to the suppers!

Monday
On my trip to the freezer this morning a package of pork ribs were speaking to me so I pulled them from the frosty box.  I will be the first to admit that I don't really know how to cook ribs; John would be the second to admit that I don't.  Obviously John couldn't cook the ribs this time since he was at work so it was left to me.  I decided to rub Steeped Tea's Smoky Tea-aki Rub all over the ribs then seared them quickly in a lightly oiled, hot pan.  I sliced up an onion and placed the slices in the bottom of a baking dish, then sat the seared ribs on the onions and dumped a good amount of BBQ sauce over top.  I used a mixture of Kraft Hickory and a Budweiser sauce since that's all I had in the fridge.  I baked the ribs at 375° for 45 minutes, flipping the ribs every hour or so.  I made some home fries in my Actifry and for Roman I heated up some frozen veggies in the microwave.

When all was said and done the meat fell off the bone no problem *phew*.  I thought they were pretty decent but apparently I underestimated the power of my ribs.  John went on and on about them for over 2 hours.  Apparently he is no longer cooking the ribs, I am.  I guess this meal kinda back fired...

Tuesday
Pizza is always a great meal when you're running out of groceries because you can put anything on a pizza and it's delicious!  I always make sure to pick up naan or pitas if I see them on the discount rack in the bakery because they freeze well and then I always have pizza crusts on hand.  Today I decided to top our pita crusts with crushed tomatoes, sliced artichoke hearts (which I found in the freezer), onion, pepperoni (also discovered in the freezer), and of course cheese!  I had originally planned to cook the pizza toppings in a pan before adding them to the pizza but I lost track of time so they had to go on raw.  Luckily Roman was nice enough to help me slice up the onions so the prep went much faster!  *NOTE: Don't panic he has a butter knife and I'm pretty sure it couldn't cut Jell-O.

Interesting fact, the key to a happy marriage in this house is making sure you burn a small pile of cheese on the baking sheet for John to scrape off and eat! 

I thought it was fitting that Roman ate his pizza off a Ninja Turtles plate tonight.  Roman loved the pepperoni slices on his pizza which surprised me because half a slice had my throat burning...  *TIP - If there is one thing you ever teach your little ones, teach them to sit in a designated spot when you open the oven!  I'm so glad I taught Roman this.  Now all I have to do is open the door and he immediately sits in his spot.  Makes it so much easier to cook when I don't have to worry about him getting into the oven.  Now if only the dogs listened that well...

Wednesday
I came across five chicken breasts on the verge of being freezer burnt so I thought I had better use them up.  There was also some asparagus in the fridge that were starting to look a little haggered so I decided to stuff those bad boys into the chicken along with some cream cheese that I found in the back of the now empty cheese drawer.  To spice up the cream cheese I added some minced garlic, tarragon and coriander.  I also spiced the outside of the chicken with salt, pepper and coriander. 

This one might actually turn into a full recipe post because it was that good.  Roman ate an entire chicken breast himself, along with 1/4 cup of peas, and some of John's chicken.  Either my chicken was that good or I forgot to feed him lunch...

Thursday
Tonight is a leftover night.  We already had a few things left in the fridge before this week started so it was time to clear some of it out before it went bad.  Plus we had company today and I didn't have a lot of time to cook.  Tonight we finished up some beef with egg noodles that I made after reading a post on Organize Yourself Skinny.  I didn't have all the ingredients for the beef so I made it up as I went.  Roman absolutely gobbles this stuff up so I kinda wish I wrote down how I made it.  Might have to give it another go and post it so I don't forget in the future.

Friday
The final day of cleaning out the fridge and freezer!  Tonight wasn't anything super creative.  I decided to pull out some sausage from the freezer.  It's the Kirkland mild Italian sausage and honestly it's the best sausage I've had in a long time.  Even though it's mild Italian it still has some good kick to it.  I decided to pair it with the last of the asparagus, which I roasted in the oven with a little olive oil and some salt, and leftover mashed cauliflower that was in the fridge.  It's basically the same as my Healthier Bangers & Mash recipe but with different veggies.  Roman loved the sausage and inhaled an entire link along with the veggies!  I don't know what we're going to do when this kid gets older.  We'll have to buy stocks in veggies and a small herd of cattle just to keep him fed.

A week without groceries wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be.  Actually if I really had to I could probably stretch it for another 3-4 days.  Those meals wouldn't be very exciting but it's still food!

I'm about to get a little deep here so bare with me!  Think about the amount of food that we just had sitting in our house, that is still in the house, and one week ago I thought we needed groceries because we didn't have anything to eat.  It really makes you realize how fortunate we are to have access to quality, nutritious food and that we don't have to worry about where our next meal is going to come from.  I do understand that there are people in this country that aren't as fortunate and I think we should really be doing more to correct this problem before we try to solve the hunger problems of other people around the world.  Yes I'm aware that statement may be a little controversial but I'm willing to stick my neck out on that one.  Next time you walk past the Food Bank Donation bin on your way out of the grocery store, consider tossing in an item or two, every little bit helps!

Freezer Organization - Save Money & Lose Weight!

I don't think I'm alone when I say that my freezers are like two black holes.  Food goes in but if/when it ever comes out it never really looks the same because it's been in there so long.  Every day when I open the freezer door to stick Roman's supper in there to cool off, I'm reminded that I really need to do something about that disaster.  So, today is the day my freezers are going to get a good clean out!

For the most part I'm a very organized person so the disarray of my freezers can drive me bananas.  Speaking of bananas, I have a massive amount of bananas in my freezer.  I think I might need an intervention.  But I digress.  Keeping an organized freezer not only saves you money because you can see what you have and use it before it turns into a giant ice ball, but it can also help you lose weight!  By strategically placing you're frozen treats, cookies, muffins and other tasty goodies you can save yourself some serious calories!  Or maybe I'm the only person that has so little self control that I shovel in a few frozen cookies while I'm taking out something for supper...

Let's tackle the fridge freezer first because it's smaller.  This poor freezer becomes a trap for partial bags of everything that just get tossed in when I don't want to go into the garage to put it back in the big freezer.  I found a few large freezer bags that only had a muffin size serving of rice left in them, which of course was so freezer burnt because the bag was left open that I could barely tell what it was.  These of course went straight into the trash, along with a bag of shrimp that was equally as freezer burnt.  I did however find some good things, like raviolis I made awhile back and a few partial bags of frozen fruit.  The amount of bananas I found was shocking!  I now have a bin in the freezer specifically designated for bananas because I have so many.  I really need to get baking!

Once I sorted through everything and decided what was staying and what was going, I organized the remaining food into categorical lines.  One for breakfast foods, fruit, veggies, and meat.  I just kept a few things in the freezer that we use regularly and the rest made it's way out to the chest freezer in the garage.  Luckily I'm almost out of Christmas baking so I have one lonely Hamantashen cookie and one piece of Puffed Wheat Cake left (Those have long since been devoured).  If you're trying to watch what you eat make sure to hide these bad boys behind the veggie or fruit lines.  The farther you have to dig for them the less likely you are to eat them!  In the door I store a few homemade squeeze pouches for Roman, a few stray popsicles, and all my herbs that I froze from my garden this year.

Now let's head out to the garage to tackle the real disaster!  I always have great intentions when it comes to the organization of this freezer but it never seems to last long.  If I'm in a rush things just get tossed in and then when I need to find something I have to rummage through it all and things get even more messed up.  The solution?  Diaper boxes!  If you have kids then you have a ton of diaper boxes, unless you managed to use them all when wrapping Christmas presents.  If you don't have diaper boxes, find a Mom, I guarantee she'll be more than happy to unload some on you!  I managed to fit in three diaper boxes in the bottom of the freezer, one for meat, one for freezer meals and one for fruit/veggies/random items.  Right now I don't have any meals in the freezer so this box is just holding some meat.  In the space towards the front of the freezer I have all my bread items, and on the bench in the corner I have some peach crisps.

So where are all the cookies I shovel into my face?  When presently all the good ones (in my opinion) have been eaten, but there is a bag of jam filled cookies hiding in this freezer.  I try to hide my treats amongst the bread so they aren't as noticeable.  Most of my trips out to this freezer are for meats and veggies for meals so by hiding the treats with the bread, I likely won't even seen them when I'm in the freezer!  I also try to position them away from the loaves of bread since that's the most common bread item I pull from the freezer.  Granted there is no stopping me when I really want a cookie.  Those bad boys could be nailed to the ceiling and I'd find a way to get to them!  Obviously Roman feels the same way as me because he couldn't contain himself when we found the peanut butter marshmallow squares.  Oddly enough he also felt the same way about a package of frozen pork chops...

So there we have it, my freezers are organized!  There is something so freeing and calming about a clean freezer.  It's similar to the feeling you get after you clean out the junk drawer in your kitchen, like a weight has lift and the fog cleared.  At least that's what it feels like to me.  Now that I can see what I have in my freezer I think it's time to use some of these items up!

Staying Home without Losing Yourself

If you've read my Losing my Job and Loving It post you know that before Roman I had a job and career that I loved.  At 15 I had my first job working in a hotel doing laundry.  Once I turned 16 I started cleaning hotel rooms.  A year later I started my first retail job and worked both jobs while going to high school for awhile, and I've had at least one job ever since that day.  It's something that has always been part of my identity but even more so in my last job in real estate.  I lived for talking shop with anyone and everyone that wanted to discuss real estate.  I loved gaining the knowledge of the business and sharing that knowledge with others.  When that part of my life vanished I was left to pick up the pieces and redefine myself.

When you're pregnant everyone is quick to share their experience with how your life will change after baby comes; sleepless nights, no time for yourself, and a few uncontrollable tears.  The one thing that people don't tell you, or at least I never heard about, was how it will affect the way you define yourself, especially if you decide to stay home full time.  When I thought I was going back to work I knew exactly who I was.  I was a mom to an adorable boy but who could also work at a job she loved.  When the career was taken away I was a little confused as to where I fit in.  Of course I was ecstatic to be able to stay home with Roman, but I suddenly didn't quite know how I fit in with the rest of the world.  It took me some time but I feel like I finally know who I am again and feel just as productive in society as everyone else!

Without a doubt the thing that helped me find myself the most was play group.  Odd that taking Roman to play with kids and have fun was instrumental in finding myself.  I think it's incredibly important to get out and interact with people, especially other moms.  There is something about having a sounding board of other women who are going through all the same things you are that reassures you that you aren't alone.  Plus you get to see the variety of different types of moms there are in the world.  Not everyone has to have a career to be interesting or to engage in intelligent conversation.  You'd probably be surprised at some of the topics that come up between a group of moms while our kids eat Lego.

Of course this blog has been, and is, incredibly important to me and has helped in so many ways.  It has given me some of the things I loved most about work.  I constantly have projects and posts on the go and deadlines.  Man I love me some deadlines!  The need for new and interesting content also keeps my creative juices flowing, which if you know me, is incredibly important because I can get bored easily.  I think I subconsciously get some strange satisfaction when I tell myself that I have to sit down and get some work (blogging) done. 

Of course after working for over 10 years I couldn't completely give up work, plus having a little extra money coming in when the family is living off one income is always nice.  Over the last year I've discovered a love of tea after watching a video on YouTube.  After starting a substantial collection of tea I decided to become a Steeped Tea consultant!  Not only do I get to share my love of tea with people but I get to do it while earning a little extra cash!  I also took a contract job with the company John works for.  After the store closes, and John is at home with Roman, I go in and clean the showroom.  This actually works out great because it's only two days a week and John is always home before I have to work.  Plus the money I make works out to the same amount I would be bringing home if I was working full time and having to pay daycare.  How can I go wrong!?  I find it a little humorous that my career as officially come full circle to cleaning again.

It can be so easy to focus all of your attention on your kids, especially when they are little, and the person you've know for years pre-kids seems to melt away into the shadows.  Then one day syou're standing in front of the mirror looking at a person that you don't recognize.  I think it's important when you're staying home with your kids full time to make sure you don't loose yourself.  When I feel like a person outside of "Roman's Mom", I feel like I'm a better mom to Roman because engaging in my own interests and activities makes me a happier person in general.

Turkey & Cream Cheese Cannelloni

Today I decided to shop the freezer and see what I could come up with for supper.  I came across a package of ground turkey and thought about making the old standby recipes like taco salad or hamburger (turkey instead) & rice.  But nobody likes living in a food rut so I went on an exploration mission in my cupboards to see what I could come up with.

Somewhere towards the end of oblivion I found some cannelloni noodles.  I haven't made cannelloni in forever so I thought this would be a great choice!  Obviously I didn't quite this the recipe completely through because after I had already filled all the noodles I discovered that I didn't have any crushed tomatoes in the house.  Luckily I caught John before he left work so he picked up a can on the way home.  Saved by the sauce!

Turkey & Cream Cheese Cannelloni
1 box cannelloni noodles (approx. 20)
1 lb. ground turkey
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 medium onion, diced
1t coriander
1t minced garlic
3t dried basil
salt & pepper to taste
1t olive oil
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can crushed tomatoes
parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat and saute onions until soft.  Add turkey, zucchini and spices to the pan and cook until turkey is cooked through.  Drop in cream cheese and stir until cheese is completely melted.  Remove from heart and allow to cool slightly.

Spread a thin layer of crushed tomatoes over the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish.  Stuff the cannelloni with the cooled filling using a small spoon, or a makeshift sandwich bag piping bag, and layer them on top of the tomatoes.  I like to stuff the cannelloni over the sauce so if anything falls out the bottom it will land in the pan and be added to the mix.  Continue layering tomatoes and cannelloni, ending with tomatoes, until all the noodles are stuffed.  Bake at 350° for 45 minute or as directed on the cannelloni package.  Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

 

Because I had a partial box of cannelloni I had some extra filling.  If you are also in this predicament, spread the extra filling over the last layer of pasta and then cover with sauce.

Coriander is a fairly new spice in my drawer, and really I didn't know what to do with it, but the side of the jar said it could be used on chicken among other things.  I've used coriander in a few other chicken recipes since I made this one and I am officially in love.  There will forever be coriander in my spice drawer!  I found this filling to have a delicious mushroom taste to it even thought it has absolutely no mushrooms in it, which was a surprise, but a very welcome surprise!

Chores with Toddlers

Currently Roman naps for about 2 hours after his lunch so there is no way I can get everything done that I need to in a day while he is asleep.  Plus I'm a strong believer in Mom getting at least a couple hours to herself during the day.  It just makes everyone much happier!  So while Roman naps I typically work on blog posts, watch TV, cruise Facebook, or all of them at the same time.  Unfortunately this Mom break means that most of the "work" has to get done while Roman is awake and mobile.  Here is how I do it!

I don't think anyone really enjoys cleaning, but it is something that we have to do.  Or at least it's socially expected that we do.  I've never been a fan of cleaning, which my mother will attest to, and it's something I have to force myself to do.  When I first started staying home full time I found myself this pretty schedule on Pinterest that told you what to clean on what days to "make your life easier".  Perfect I thought, this is exactly what I need!  Well that schedule lasted about a week because I got sick of having to clean when this bully of a paper told me I had to.  I also found that I was spending my Mommy Hour scrubbing toilets, not my idea of a break.  I promptly threw that schedule in the garbage and started my own schedule of sorts. 

Vacuuming
After Roman and I have breakfast and get dressed each morning, we pick up all the toys from the floor so we can vacuum.  John and I pick up all the toys every night but it always looks like a tornado hit the house after I've been in the bathroom for 20 minutes getting ready.  I also think it's important that Roman learns how to help early.  I'm lucky in that he truly loves helping me and I can get him to do pretty much anything if I put "Do you want to help Mom" in front of it.  Now granted Roman isn't much help at actually vacuuming, but he will wander around and play with the dogs while I vacuum.  This means the floors are dog/human hair free and I didn't have to listen to Roman scream through the entire thing!

Dishes
One of Roman's favorite chores is dishes.  I can see the Moms cringing already at the thought of a toddler near a sink full of water.  Yes he does make a bit of a mess but there are some sacrifices that we have to make to get things done.  To help cut down on the mess I make sure to remove all clothing from Roman except his diaper.  Even with only a inch of water in the sink this child will somehow soak everything on him, so why even bother with clothes?  Roman is in charge of the rinsing half of the sink, so to help keep the water off the floor I only let him play with objects that don't scoop.  Spatulas, spoons, forks and whisks are all fair game.  The measuring cups, bowls, glasses, those bad boys are quickly rinsed and placed in the disk rack.  This way he still gets to play in the water and overflow should be limited.  When he does decide the counter or chair needs a good washing and starts sudsing them up, I try to let him be for the most part, even complimenting him on what a great job he's doing.  At the end of the day it's just water and it can be wiped up.  I'll only step in if we start to get a large puddle on the floor.

Bathrooms
Ugh!  I HATE cleaning the bathroom.  There is nothing fun about cleaning a bathroom because there is nothing fun about the business that is taken care of in the bathroom.  I often wish that someone would invent a Jetson's bathroom that magically cleans itself when you close the door.  Until that wonderful day happens I guess we're stuck cleaning the bathroom.  The bathroom can also be tricky to clean when you have a busy toddler because the bathroom is the equivalent to Disney World at this age, but there are still ways the little ones can help.  Roman loves to carry the sponges, paper towel, and spray bottle to the bathroom.  We use a mixture of water, vinegar and peroxide to clean so if I'm able to tear him away from the sink and the taps long enough he'll often help wipe the counter.  Roman is also pretty good with a mop so he'll often push it around the floor for me.

Cooking
Roman has been in the kitchen with me since he was only a few months old.  Granted it's a little different now since he loves food and loves to help me.  He obviously can't help much yet but I usually let him dump ingredients into bowls and stir things.  Sure it can take twice as long, things get spilled, including blood, but I think it's important for kids to learn how to cook early.  Helping in the kitchen is also a great opportunity for kids to try new foods!  Roman will often munch on a slice of raw onion or snack on some minced garlic.  Not typical snacks but who am I to say no? Plus it can be pretty funny to see his reaction to these snacks.

There are some things that just can't be done while Roman is running loose through the house.  Blogging and crafting are activities that I now reserve for Mom time while Roman is napping or after he goes to bed for the night.  Hopefully soon Roman will be able to sit still long enough to work on a craft project, but I'm not holding my breath.  As far as the computer goes, if you bring it out when Roman is awake, you're just asking for the black screen of death. 

I'm not going to lie and say that I can do things just as fast with Roman's help as I can on my own.  Anyone that has kids knows that isn't true.  I do however find these tasks more enjoyable (for the most part) when I have Roman's help.  There is nothing worse than trying to do something with a kids screaming blue murder because they want you to pay attention to them.  So why not involve them? 

I think the hardest part of having kids help you is learning to accept that there will likely be a mess made in the process of cleaning the original mess.  This used to drive me nuts but I've learnt to pick my battles and let the added hassle roll off my back in the interest of learning.  Once you get into a bit of a routine it will get better I promise!  Now that Roman knows when we normally clean he knows what to expect and is ready to help.  If he doesn't feel like helping he seems to be content with me cleaning while he plays, maybe because he knows what I'm doing?  I really have no idea what he's thinking so I can only guess, but this is what I'm going with.

Chores with a toddler are only what you make of it!  Focus on the fun parts, the giggles and the smiles.  Look past the extra mess and if you don't get everything accomplished in one day, oh well.  The world will not end just because you haven't seen your counter in a few days!

Mushroom Chicken

When John came home and sat down for supper I was excited to see what he would think of my creation.  I was shocked at the reaction!  He couldn't stop saying how delicious it was between mouthfuls of chicken.  There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that something that started out as a throw together meal is now a holy grail recipe.  Immediately after finishing his second plate John informed me that I must post this recipe, even it was only to save it for our future use.  He's always keeping the best interest of his stomach, I mean the blog, at the front of his mind.

I feel like chicken thighs have a bit of a bad rap.  Sure they are a little fattier than the breast but they also have a ton of fantastic flavor, especially if they have the bone in and skin on.  Thighs are also a lot less expensive than breasts, especially if you can get them 30% off at Superstore like I usually do.  When I see those glowing pink stickers in the meat case I make sure to stock my freezer!  Buying reduced meat is a great way to save money on groceries as long as the meat still looks good.

Mushroom Chicken (Serves 4)
8 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
salt & pepper
2t coriander powder
1T butter
1 pkg mushrooms
1 cup chicken stock
2t mustard powder
2T flour

Season chicken thighs with salt, pepper and coriander.  Heat pan over medium-high heat and place chicken in skin side down.  Cook chicken for 5-7 minutes on each side until the chicken is cooked through.  Set the chicken aside.

Melt butter in the same pan you cooked the chicken in and add mushrooms.  Sauté until the mushrooms have reduced in size and are nicely browned, about 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock and mustard powder to the mushrooms.  Whisk in flour to slightly thicken the sauce.  Return the chicken to the pan (skin side up) and bring to a simmer.  Serve with mashed potatoes, cauliflower or roasted vegetables.  In this case I decided to serve the chicken with roasted beets, brussel sprouts and onion.

Why not turn this delicious chicken into a freezer meal!
To freeze: Cook as directed.  Place chicken in a 9x9 tin pan and top with sauce.  Cool completely.  Cover with foil, label and freeze.
To Serve: Reheat at 350° for 30 minutes or until chicken is warmed through.

Healthier Bangers & Mash

I love shopping my freezer when I'm out of ideas for supper.  Sometimes finding that perfect protein in the freezer is enough to inspire an entire meal, but it didn't quite happen that way this time.  I came across a package of mild Italian sausage in the freezer and immediately I thought I would make Toasted Pasta.  A great recipe for sure, but I felt like I needed to make something different, like I was getting into a bit of a food rut.  After standing at the counter glaring at the package of thawing sausage like it was it's fault that I was uninspired it hit me.  Bangers & Mash!

Now I've never had an authentic bangers & mash meal but I knew the basics so how hard could it be to recreate.  Well first off I never have potatoes in this house so that was the first stick in the mud.  Luckily I did have a head of cauliflower that I knew would make a great mashed potato substitute.  I still felt like I was missing something so I dove into the crisper in the fridge and this is what happened!

Healthier Bangers & Mash
1 pkg mild Italian sausage (5 links), split down the middle
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup diced onion
1 bunch swiss chard, washed & chopped
1 1/2 cups diced mushroom
2t minced garlic
salt & pepper
1T butter
2T parmesan cheese

Place split sausage links in a pan over medium-high heat and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove sausages from pan and set aside. Don't be concerned if the sausage burns a bit, those black bits will add flavor to the veggies! Add the onion to the pan and season with salt and pepper. The salt will draw out the moisture from the onion and help lift the sausage flavor from the pan. Sauté the onion for 1 minute then add in the swiss chard & mushrooms. Add garlic and sauté until the swiss chard has wilted.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.  Add cauliflower and boil until tender.  Strain and return to pot.  Add butter and parmesan cheese.  Mash with a potato masher until it reaches a mashed potato like consistency.

Serve a scoop of cauliflower topped with a scoop of the swiss chard mixture and a sausage link.

I know the thought of substituting cauliflower for potatoes seems like you would be giving up a lot of satisfaction but I promise that it's much easier than you think. I've actually started to prefer cauliflower over potatoes, which I'm sure will shock my Mom because I LOVE potatoes. I feel so much better after eating the cauliflower because I don't feel stuffed and heavy.

Christmas with the Giulianos

After all the hype of Christmas I wanted to share our Christmas with you! 

Traditionally most Germans and Italians celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, so that is exactly what we do.  John had to work on Christmas Eve but was able to get home early.  As soon as John got home we decided to open presents since Roman isn't exactly the quickest at it and we were worried we'd be there until midnight.  I was impressed that the presents held Roman's attention for as long as they did!  He managed to tear through 3 presents before he was distracted by his Little People Zoo Talker set and decided he was done.  John put the set together for Roman (with some help) and he was quite happy with his new toy.  He even gave it a kiss on the way to bed that night!

In the past we have made a seafood feast for Christmas Eve (lobster, scallops, shrimp and crab) but this year we decided to go a different route.  McDonald's for everyone!  Not exactly a fancy or even Christmasy meal but we thought it would be fun.  Roman inhaled his chicken nuggets and yogurt from his happy meal, while John and I split a holiday share box.  It's been forever and a day since I had a McDonald's chicken nugget and they were delicious!

After the nightly routine of a bath and a few stories, Roman headed off to bed to wait peacefully for Santa to arrive!  The best part of celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve is you get to open presents on two days!

I was really hoping it would snow overnight so we could have a white Christmas, but that didn't happen.  John and I were up before Roman because we had to get our massive 15 pound turkey in the oven at 6:30am so it would be ready for our Christmas lunch!  The sound of us walking around the house must have woken Roman up because he was up shortly after us.  Strange the sound of Santa and his reindeer on the roof last night didn't wake him?

With the bird in the oven, John and I were more than excited for Roman to open more gifts!  Turns out Roman wasn't all that excited.  He sat beside the presents Santa had left, gave them a good look, then got up to go play with his toys.  Not the reaction we were hoping for but I guess we should have had realistic expectations of a 17 month old.  After some convincing Roman pulled the toys out of his stocking and I ended up opening most of his presents for him.  When he saw that Santa had brought him a Little People Airport he insisted we set it up immediately.  Of course John was happy to oblige. 

After breakfast John and Roman gave the living room a quick clean so it would be ready for the next delivery of gifts.  Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Selby and Stephanie arrived around 10:00am and much to Roman's surprise Santa had left gifts for him at Grandma's house too!  Actually I think Santa left most of Roman's gifts at Grandma's...apparently Santa has no self control...  Instantly our living room was stuffed with people and presents so we decided to dive into the gifts so we would have some room to move.  Plus I think Grandma was dying to see Roman open his gifts.  Roman started with his stocking, which in hindsight probably wasn't such a good idea.  Right on the top of the stocking Santa had left 2 John Deere tractors and a John Deere lawnmower.  At this point Roman had decided he had received everything he could possibly wish for and completely ignored all the other gifts.  Grandpa laughed that Santa could have saved a lot of money and just bought the tractors.  I guess Santa will have to make a note of that for next year.

With the gifts open and Roman happily playing with his plethora of playmates and new toys, I headed into the kitchen to get the rest of our Christmas lunch going.  While the potatoes boiled on the stove I started on the vegetable dish.  This year I decided to make something different from the regular boiled peas/carrots/corn that we usually have.  I made a vegetable salad of sorts (at least that's that my Dad called it) that included brussel sprouts, red swiss chard, onion and mushrooms with garlic and a splash of balsamic vinegar.  Super delicious and good for you!  Not everyone was a fan though.  Selby wouldn't touch it because "there were strange vegetables in there", silly boy didn't know what he was missing!  We also had stuffing, gravy and delicious soft buns, because it isn't Christmas without those things!  I have to apologise for the lack of dinner table photos.  After rushing to get everything ready, then trying to get food into Roman before he lost his mind, it totally slipped my mind to take a photo.

Even with all the action in the house Roman still went down for his nap at 12:30, which I considered a Christmas miracle!  Once the dishes were done, Mom, Selby, Stephanie and myself sat around the table visiting and comparing music on each other's phones while John and Dad hit the rum.  It isn't a holiday celebration until John and Dad hit the booze!  I personally love it because we always end up with a great story out of it.  A few years back they got into a box of wine and we still talk about that night.  They were pretty tame on the rum, but once they got into the liquor filled chocolates, that's when it got interesting!  After they cracked open the Russian Vodka chocolates (that were apparently contaminated from Chernobyl) new words were invented like enformatted and negadivity.  I don't think they'll live those down for awhile. 

While the guys did what guys do, Mom, Roman and I decorated gingerbread cookies and made Santa hats.  Grandma's always arrange the best projects!  Roman did pretty good decorating but he did try to suck the icing right out of the bottles a few times.  I guess he really is my son!  When it came to the Santa hats he was much more interested in eating cool-whip than anything else not that I can blame him.  What a better ending to Christmas than filling your 17 month old up with icing and cool-whip?!

All in all it was a great Christmas spent with good company and good food, which is all that really matters at Christmas time!

Welcome to 2015!!

How is it 2015 already!?!?  Everyone always says that as you get older time moves faster.  Man, they were not kidding!  I think it moves even faster when you throw a quickly growing toddler into the mix.

2014 had it's highs and lows for our family, like any year really.  Roman has been growing like a weed and getting smarter and smarter each day.  It's actually kinda scary!  How smart is he you ask?  I have decided the boy can read!  When he sees a logo for John's work on anything he will immediately point to it and say "Daddy!".  Someone please explain to me how a 17 month old can connect the dots between a logo on my coat or a sign and his Dad?  Blows my mind!

One of the biggest lows this year actually ended up being one of my biggest highs.  When I lost my job after returning from maternity leave I was devastated.  I had always considered my career part of my identity and I was having a hard time defining myself without it.  Not to mention the whole bag of stress that falls in your lap when you lose an income.  It hasn't always been as easy hand to play but John and I have pretty much got this one income thing figured out.  Sure things can get a little bumpy now and then but we've learnt to roll with the punches.  Of course the best part of this whole situation is that I get to spend every single day with the most important little man in the world!  We spend our mornings at play group and have built quite the little extended family there.  Roman thrives when he is around other kids and he is well known as "Mr. Sociable" there.  Such a proud mama!  We love play group so much in fact that I decided to volunteer to open and close play group in the mornings.

I've never been much of a New Years resolution person, mostly because I think if you want to do something you just do it you don't need a special day.  So while I won't be making a resolution per say, there are still some things I want to accomplish in 2015, some of which I have already started!

I feel like at the top of most people's list is weight loss.  If you've been following my weight loss posts then you know that I've currently lost 30 pounds, but I'm not done yet.  I think I want to lose another 20 or so pounds so we'll see how that goes in the New Year.  By some grace of God I managed to only gain one pound over Christmas, probably because I've been busy chasing Roman, so I'm counting this as a win and a good starting point for the next half of the journey!  I start my DanceFit classes again on January 7th and I'm so pumped to get out and get my sweat on!

I'm so excited that people have been enjoying this blog, which I find super cathartic and fun to write, so I'm looking forward to another year of great posts!  You've probably noticed that I gave the Follow Us Fridays a bit of a break for the last couple months.  I felt like they were getting a bit repetitive and boring so I decided to take a creative break.  But don't fret!  Follow Us Fridays will be making a return, I just haven't quite decided when.  I've also being toying with a few ideas for new and interesting blog post series'.  If you have an idea for a series that you would like to see on this blog, please comment below!  I would love to get input from you guys!

I've had a few people mention that they have a list of recipes that I've posted on this blog that they are waiting to try.  So this got me thinking.  Instead of having to bookmark all these pages, what if I made a cookbook that contained all the recipes!  I've done some research and it turns out anyone can make an eBook and publish it through Kobo.  I'm currently working on getting all the recipes together, sorted and looking pretty to release into an eBook that will be available for purchase at Kobo!  I hope this will be a great resource for you and maybe I'll make it a yearly thing to make a book of all the recipes I've posted during the year?  Let me know what you think!

If you are making a New Years resolution today I would love to hear what it is!  I wish you the best of luck and support you in whatever it is you decide to change!  Happy New Year and all the best in 2015 to you and your families!!!