I. Exercise Redux
D has high triglycerides and his good cholesterol is too low so I harangued him into visiting the doctor. The Rx was for D to exercise. Being the supportive wife I am, I told him I would exercise with him. If I'm putting the kids to bed, he walks on the treadmill. If he's putting the kids to bed, I walk on the treadmill. Whomever is putting the kids to bed walks on the treadmill after he/she has marched G back to bed for the 11th time.
On the weekends, our goal is to walk for a longer stretch. Yesterday we took the boys to the park in the morning since N had a sleepover with her Mamaw so when we got home last night after a busy day, I asked D if he was gonna walk on the treadmill. He said, "Nah. On the weekends, I have to walk in the morning because being with the kids all day wears me out."
And I replied, "Yeah, I don't know anything about that."
II. Meal-Planning....finally
Desperation has finally forced me to make a monthly meal plan because I am sick to death of trying to figure out what to eat every night at 4:45 p.m. Oh hell, who am I kidding---it's totally 5:30 p.m. before I think about dinner most nights. And we eat around 6:10.
I printed out a calendar-like chart and planned meals for 5 days of the week. I figure the other two days will be leftover days or eating at the grandparents' homes or ordering takeout pizza. There are four weeks scheduled. But I'm being very loosey-goosey about it because I don't like to feel committed to making meatloaf on a Thursday if I don't want to. So what I'm doing is making sure I have ingredients to make 80% of the meals and then picking the ones I want to fix given my mood on that particular day. Once I've made it, I cross it out. If I think of another meal I can fix, I add it at the end of the month (moving into week 5). If I have to purchase any perishables, then those meals that I've tentatively scheduled will definitely be fixed that week.
At the top of the calendar, I've got about 4 side dishes planned that I can pick from for the month---side dishes made from scratch....not like pre-packaged mac & cheese. The remainder of our meal will include veggies (canned or frozen) or salad.
This is only week two of the "plan," but I feel much less stress about what to fix. Just having the meals written in front of me takes a lot of the work out of making dinner. Half the battle is just deciding what the eff to prepare.
III. A New Shopping List
I googled grocery-shopping list templates, found one I liked and reworked it so that my new grocery list is one that categorizes items (dairy, produce, canned goods, etc) and lists the items I tend to purchase the most (like balsamic vinaigrette and steel cut oats). I printed off some on the backs of old paper and now when I need something I can just check it off on the list. And since everything is lumped together based on where it is in the grocery, I will hopefully avoid circling back multiple times to get coconut, and then nuts and then dried mint.
I am hoping some of this efficiency will enhance my motivation to clean out and re-order the garage and my craft closet.
But I doubt it.
D has high triglycerides and his good cholesterol is too low so I harangued him into visiting the doctor. The Rx was for D to exercise. Being the supportive wife I am, I told him I would exercise with him. If I'm putting the kids to bed, he walks on the treadmill. If he's putting the kids to bed, I walk on the treadmill. Whomever is putting the kids to bed walks on the treadmill after he/she has marched G back to bed for the 11th time.
On the weekends, our goal is to walk for a longer stretch. Yesterday we took the boys to the park in the morning since N had a sleepover with her Mamaw so when we got home last night after a busy day, I asked D if he was gonna walk on the treadmill. He said, "Nah. On the weekends, I have to walk in the morning because being with the kids all day wears me out."
And I replied, "Yeah, I don't know anything about that."
II. Meal-Planning....finally
Desperation has finally forced me to make a monthly meal plan because I am sick to death of trying to figure out what to eat every night at 4:45 p.m. Oh hell, who am I kidding---it's totally 5:30 p.m. before I think about dinner most nights. And we eat around 6:10.
I printed out a calendar-like chart and planned meals for 5 days of the week. I figure the other two days will be leftover days or eating at the grandparents' homes or ordering takeout pizza. There are four weeks scheduled. But I'm being very loosey-goosey about it because I don't like to feel committed to making meatloaf on a Thursday if I don't want to. So what I'm doing is making sure I have ingredients to make 80% of the meals and then picking the ones I want to fix given my mood on that particular day. Once I've made it, I cross it out. If I think of another meal I can fix, I add it at the end of the month (moving into week 5). If I have to purchase any perishables, then those meals that I've tentatively scheduled will definitely be fixed that week.
At the top of the calendar, I've got about 4 side dishes planned that I can pick from for the month---side dishes made from scratch....not like pre-packaged mac & cheese. The remainder of our meal will include veggies (canned or frozen) or salad.
This is only week two of the "plan," but I feel much less stress about what to fix. Just having the meals written in front of me takes a lot of the work out of making dinner. Half the battle is just deciding what the eff to prepare.
III. A New Shopping List
I googled grocery-shopping list templates, found one I liked and reworked it so that my new grocery list is one that categorizes items (dairy, produce, canned goods, etc) and lists the items I tend to purchase the most (like balsamic vinaigrette and steel cut oats). I printed off some on the backs of old paper and now when I need something I can just check it off on the list. And since everything is lumped together based on where it is in the grocery, I will hopefully avoid circling back multiple times to get coconut, and then nuts and then dried mint.
I am hoping some of this efficiency will enhance my motivation to clean out and re-order the garage and my craft closet.
But I doubt it.
1 comment:
Oh - those things all sound good.
We've only been meal-planning for a couple of months but I agree that the WORST thing about making dinner was trying to figure out what to fix. We do it week by week, which suits our schedule. We discuss the upcoming week, decide what to eat, and make our grocery list - then Matt shops. I don't plan meals for nights Matt is gone because I can easily fix something quick the kids will be happy with. I'm so reliant on it now that I almost panic if we miss a night!
Good for you w/ the exercise. Our (free, second hand) treadmill was broken a couple of years ago but I wasn't very good a using it anyway. I recently started doing a walking video which sounds lame but I like it a lot, especially since it has a little upper body work in it as well. Here's hoping your hubby and I can both stick to our new routines. :-)
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