My Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

100th Post

In honor of my 100th post, I'm going to tell you all about my day of snack prep!

I came in almost 10 bucks under my food budget for this week! How did I do it? Kroger had AMAZING sales on produce. I came home with a big bunch of overripe bananas, 3 zucchini, 3 yellow squash, 1 pound of carrots, a few apples, a huge bunch of cilantro, and a pound of strawberries along with my non-produce groceries: a pound of brown rice, chicken and beef bullion, 3 packs of hot dogs, 18 eggs, and a gallon of milk.

I have been trying to avoid buying snack food as much as possible a) because it is expensive and b) most of it is super unhealthy. I've also been trying to make healthier food for Casey to lose weight, the Bean to grow up with good food, and for me to not gain a ton of weight this pregnancy. I always menu plan on Sundays and I focused on meatless meals this week. Pottage (brown rice, lentils, and veg) and black bean soup are the two that will provide plenty of leftovers. So, as far as snacks go, I wanted snacks with lots of fruit and veggies involved. I have a lot of sweet things on my pinterest and I scoured my board for healthy ones. I decided on peanut butter breakfast cookies, peanut butter bread, strawberry banana greek yogurt bread, spiced carrot muffins, and mini vanilla wafers. I figured if I just did it all in one day, I would have snacks for the week and not have to worry about feeding me or the Bean while Casey is at work. I probably won't make the pb bread again. It is pretty crumbly and a little dry, but everything else is delicious! The only really unhealthy thing is the vanilla wafers, but I can't be healthy all the time.

So, there it is. I made a lot of food today. My feet hurt, I am exhausted, and I never want to mash another banana in my life, but I'm glad I did it. Having one less thing to think about makes room for things like cleaning up the huge mess that is my kitchen. Maybe I do have that 2nd trimester energy everyone always talks about. *Phew* What a day!

Yet Again

Yet again, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Well, more like I couldn't keep my personal feelings to myself. At least this time, the person offended addressed it in private. I just need to post nothing but fluff on Facebook because no one wants to read my opinions and I just end up feeling like a tool every time I express them about something I am passionate or feel very strongly about. No one wants to read about how hard my situation is. People just want happy snapshots of the perfect and easy life of a housewife and mom, cute stories about the Bean, and pictures shares that are 100% uncontroversial. I never learn. I have been getting longer stretches between these episodes of my own douchbaggery, but they still happen. Sometimes I hate the internet.

As my uncle says, "It isn't Facebook, it is Affirmation-book." I just need to make sure that everything I post is affirmation worthy and has no real substance. People don't want substance and if they do, they only want it to be on their side of things. I need to be more like my mom and just lurk, not participate.

Nailed It!

I have been working on a nail and string art project for almost a year. I finally finished it!!! Here it is in all the nail and string glory! It is a PAIN to do these. I'm probably going to add something at the bottom later, but I'm just glad I can cross a project off my lengthy list.

p.s. I used THIS tutorial

Refried Beans

Ok, so, I follow a blog called Budget Bytes. They break down recipes by cost total and cost per serving. I'm taking a leaf out of their book for these refried beans that I made.

Sorry, I didn't take a picture.

1 lb dry pinto beans (sorted, and washed) : $1.18 at Walmart
1/2 of a large onion, chopped: ~$0.30
2 Tbsp olive oil: ~$0.45
Salt to taste
Seasonings to taste

Place the sorted and washed beans in a large, deep pot. Cover with water and add another 3 inches. Bring the water and beans to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 1.5-3 hours, the beans are done when they are soft and the skins start to split. It only took 1.5 hours for mine, but my gas stove keeps a pretty high simmer.

Once the beans are cooked, drain them and set aside. Put the oil and onions in a large pan, saute them until they are translucent, or for more flavor, brown them a little. Add the beans and about 1/2 cup water to the pan and smash them with a potato masher or anything else that you have on hand. Once they are well smashed, add salt and seasonings. Always taste, taste, taste! When they taste delicious and are nice and smashed, they are done. I added a little fresh cilantro for an extra kick.

This recipe makes at least 2-3 cans worth of delicious, non-additive filled refried beans. I will never buy canned refried beans again!

So, There It Is

So, now that I am out of my first trimester, I'm comfortable announcing that I am pregnant again. As you can see from the picture, the official due date is November 1st, but of course that is never any sort of guarantee. 

Here is the back story, be advised there is some pretty detailed info (not about sex, no worries) in here that might make some sensitive people blush. 

When I had the Bean, we decided that an IUD was the way to go for birth control. I didn't want to get Mirena because just being on the pill made me a raging *ahem* female dog, so I went with paraguard. Everything was fine until the end of February, no missed periods, no major issues, and the IUD was still in place. Then... I missed my period. Unbeknownst to Casey, I went to Walmart and bought some pregnancy tests. I got home, he went to work, and I proceeded to take one of the tests. It took about 30 seconds for the little screen to say "pregnant." I immediately panicked. I went and drank a huge glass of water, called my mom (still panicking), and she told me to call the doctor. We don't have insurance, so I was really upset about having to go in for an emergency OB appointment. 

Once I had an appointment, I called Casey and tearfully told him that he needed to get the night off from the hotel because I was pregnant and had to go to have the IUD removed. Not the best way to tell your hubby that you are carrying his second child. He called his mom to have her come down and watch the Bean during the appointment. We drove up to Fishersville and told Casey's mom what was going on (he didn't tell her when he called.) They had me pee in a cup to confirm the pregnancy, set us up in a procedure room, and then we waited, and waited... and waited.

Finally, the doctor came in, told me I was indeed pregnant, and asked if we were going to continue the pregnancy. Of course my answer was yes. So then she tried to remove the IUD. It was stuck, the strings broke, and the IUD didn't budge. She said we would have to come back in a few days to try again. Casey's mom offered to take the Bean until my next appointment and I gladly accepted. 

I went back to the doctor with Mariel two days later and they were able to get the IUD out. I had some bleeding and some mild cramps, which of course were very disconcerting, but everything is fine now and I should have a normal pregnancy from here on out.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Casey was accepted to a linguistics masters program! We have given it a lot of thought and we both feel that it is the right thing. He is also #2 in line for the TA job. Hopefully, the girl who is #1 will find something better and we can have a little relief from student loans. Oh, and we would actually be able to afford to live somewhere nice and not sketchy.

The apartment hunting is a nightmare! Trying to look at the positive side of that has been pretty rough for me. It is easy to get completely overwhelmed. Thankfully, there is a professor at SVU that went to the same university for grad school. We have some good advice from them and that helps. Sometime soonish we are going to take the 8 hour drive to look for apartments in person, visit the local ward, and scout out the university. The bright side of that is that we can have Bean stay with my Casey's parents. It is such a blessing to have them close.

The one thing that seems to be the most frustrating part of Casey working 3 jobs right now is that we now no longer qualify for EBT. I never thought I would look at that as a blessing, since it is very hard to provide healthy food for a family of 3 on $30 a week, but this morning I decided to look at it a different way. My husband is able to provide enough money so that we can buy our own food. Was it easier to be on EBT? Of course it was. Is it frustrating to go to the store and have to buy the cheapest, lowest quality of everything? Absolutely, but you know what? My husband works hard so that we can have food, shelter, power, internet, phone, gas, and so that we can pay our loans. He works doubles almost every weekend, so that I can stay at home with our son. I am blessed to have $30 a week for food.

How do I do it? I buy a lot of ramen. I always buy meat on sale or in bulk. I hardly ever buy cheese. I don't buy convenience foods. I buy less expensive fruits and veggies (not a lot of berries in our apartment.) I have learned to make a lot from very little.  We are certainly not eating poorly in this apartment. I scour pinterest for healthy, inexpensive, filling meals. I make a lot of soups and chili. I will pass on the things I have learned to my children so that they will be able to make a lot from just a little.

So, there it is. That is how I am looking on the bright side of life today.