Monthly Archives: March 2009

Mar 8

Not Going Out Week 1 Review

Saturday brought the end of week 1 of the “Not Going Out In March Challenge”, and so far it is going pretty good. Thade is still wishing that we could stop off for a Happy Meal (thanks new Spiderman Toy commercials that run constantly), but James is holding strong. He even passed up a lunch out, to come home to a home-cooked meal, kudos to James. I even resisted the easy pick-up meal after a busy Friday morning, thanks to a well planned lunch menu.

But then there is the not so good… My kitchen pretty much always looks like the picture above. It is such a mess. Who knew making so many meals and snacks would use that many dishes. Oh well, it is pretty rewarding when I finally get that mess all cleaned up at the end of the day.

I am also running through staple items in the kitchen like crazy. I’ve already used 5 lbs of flour, and I just ran out of Sugar too. I’ll need to keep both of those items well stocked for this March’s challenge.

The good… The home-cooked food seems to taste much better than their take-out counterpart. James and Thade have said everything is so yummy on several occasions. Thade threw his arms around me after Friday’s Fajita night and gave me a hug, and then he said “everything is just so tasty”. The recent “yummy” comments have me wondering, is fast food is killing our taste buds?!? Could all of those preservatives and additives be robbing us of yummy flavor? Maybe they were just really hungry, but it is strange.

I was also surprised to see just how little garbage we had to take out this week. The cans were so low, that we were missed entirely. I know that that is all due to not grabbing take-out along with bringing home all of the take-out packaging waste that comes along.

So I am looking ahead to week 2, and I’ll have another report on next Saturday. Let’s see if we can make it one more week away from our favorite drive thru places.

Mar 7

Let’s Start Some Pepper Plants

For this Springtime Saturday we are starting some Bell Pepper plants for the garden. This is a great project for kiddos, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that the kitties won’t eat those baby Pepper plants.

For the project you’ll need:

  • Paper Egg Carton (I had 2 on hand)
  • Potting Soil
  • Pepper Seeds
  • Small Spoon, Watering Can, Sharpie, and a Great Helper (Thade is helping me out with the dirt)

I decided to set up everything in the kitchen,  that way we could make a mess and it would be really easy to clean it up. I separated the egg carton, and labeled the flap on the egg carton with what we were planting, and the date. Then I let Thade add a spoonful or two of the potting soil to the egg carton. I decided I had better plant the Pepper Seeds, but Thade could help out with the watering.

Once the seeds were planted, I let Thade water the seeds just a tiny bit, and then we placed the carton in a warm and sunny window. We water the plants daily with the tiniest bit of water, and both kids love talking to the little Pepper plants and telling them to “grow grow grow”.

I hope that the seeds do well, and soon we’ll have a nice start to our future Pepper patch in the garden.

Mar 7

Another Addition to the Crazy Month of March

March brings Dylan’s birthday, Spring planting, Spring cleaning to be done, and Spring Break. Yep preschool has Spring Break too. As I was looking at the calendar I noticed that Thade is only going to school for 8 days this month. Whoa, this is going to be one long month… Thade loves going to preschool, and I know he is going to really miss it during the break.

I guess I should start racking my brain and come up with a few activites to keep Thade busy during the break. Wish me luck…

Mar 6

All Around the Yard

The last few days have brought amazing weather! Last week we had snow and ice, and this week clear blue skies and warm sunny days. I finally pulled all of the plastic off the plants in the front yard, and it looks like everything made it. Only about 1/2 of the daffodils are in bloom, so I hope to see some more flowers soon.

The Bird Feeders that we made are finally getting some Birdie visitors too. We’ve spotted a few song birds in the back yard. They are a little loud first thing in the morning, but I hope they stick around and help out with the bugs in the garden.

Mar 5

At Home Arby’s

Since we are missing take-out, I’ve got a few faux take-out meals to keep the drive thru temptations away. Last night I made at Home Arby’s, and it was so darn good, it might just be tough to go back to real Arby’s.

I made fresh homemade butter rolls for the sandwiches, and I piled them high with Roast Beef that had been warmed in Beef Broth. I picked up the Roast Beef at the Deli counter for about $5.00 a pound. One pound of Roast Beef made 6 very generous sandwiches.

When we made the Aldi run I spotted a bag of curly fries for just $1.55! I thought this little addition would help the look of this faux fast food meal even more. The best part, we only used 1/2 of the bag for dinner, so we still have a 1/2 bag left for a future meal. This was also a big savings too, for about the cost of a single Arby’s curly fries, I got about 8 servings of delicious curly fries!

I even kept a few Arby’s sauce packets from out last trip to Arby’s, so the boy’s were not without their beloved sauce.

The verdict….. Thade loved it and gave it a thumbs up! Dylan only liked the Curly Fries (same way with Arby’s), and then just wanted a sugar cookie instead. James said that it was “absolutely delicious” and also gave the meal an double thumbs up. I loved it too, it was so tasty, and super fast and easy to make too.

Making the meal at home saved a bundle. The closest Arby’s is 30 minutes away, and that costs a bit in the old gas tank. We also had plenty of big sandwiches left-over for those late night cravings. I will definitely move the faux Arby’s sandwiches into the menu rotation for a fast lunch or a delicious dinner.