Pantry Purge

How often do you purge your pantry?

Well.... I obviously don't complete this task often enough.  In order to put the items away that we purchased on vacation, I needed to first clean out the cupboards to make room.  I was AMAZED at the amount of stuff that was outdated - and a embarrassed at the same time.   I realized while sorting through everything,  it's not about how often you purge, it's about how often you use what you have.

The first 7 months of 2014 were more than busy here at the Engle house and I didn't stick to many of my cooking goals, or many of my other ones for that matter.  Now that I am 4 weeks into my sabbatical, I realized how disconnected I was from my family (& friends) and didn't realize it.   Being on vacation for the first 2 weeks of sabbatical really allowed me to "detox" from technology and realize how important time is and being in the moment with what really matters.

I have kicked off this week with a more organized plan for each day - and planning dinner each night.  This week is easy with the fair ... yes I am sure we will be there every night!!  It felt really good to make dinner last night and eat as a family at home - all 5 of us.

So ... do you have some purging to do??  Instead of planning meals around what you want to make, plan them around what's in your pantry,  something I often forget to checkout before planning the weekly dinner menu.  Not anymore, the pantry and the freezer will be looked at before planning weekly meals.


LIVE ~
LAUGH ~
LOVE~

QUESTION: Dealing with a toddler on what to wear

How do I deal with my 4 year old daughter only wanting to wear tank tops and t-shirts when we live in shitty Ohio where it's COLD??  

Getting Cloe to wear anything other than a dress or shirt with short sleeves or a tank top is impossible in the mornings.... at least for me.  She doesn't give her dad any problems getting dressed, just me.  She will wear a sweater over her "tank top" shirt for a while, but always ends up taking it off.  

We fight every morning I try to get her to wear a long sleep sweater or sweatshirt - and jeans.  It's not just that it's COLD outside, but she has all these cute clothes that she never wears. 

I get so frustrated and end up blowing up at here.  She's crying, I'm mad and we end up being late... which then ends up in a very rushed, shitty morning.  It's not a good way to start the day.

Anyone have any recommendation to get her to wear weather appropriate clothes and NOT fight with me about it?  Has anyone else experienced this?

LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE

Unplugging

Last weekend Justin and I went to Columbus.  In the past we have gone away for our anniversary and this year we decided to get away but stay closer to home. We had a really great time ... I will blog about that another time. 

With all the family drama I have going on right now, I decided to completely unplug and turn both my phones OFF for the entire weekend.  This was a decision that took me way outside my comfort zone.  We use technology in every aspect of our lives and most of it is done on our phones.  I caught myself reached for my phone multiple times for basic everyday reasons:  directions, taking pictures, looking up WW points, even to pay for coffee at Starbucks! 

As difficult as I found it to be at times, I made it through the weekend.  It got easier as the weekend progressed.  At one point I found myself just sitting in the car in silence - a short moment of meditation.  Unplugging is something I think we all need to do once and a while.  We don't take enough time to just breath or take in what's around us.  

This was a very positive experience for me, so I have decided I am going to unplug once a month.  I have set a bigger challenge to make Elijah do the same.  This will be a much BIGGER & HARDER challenge given his nose is in his phone constantly. I don't want Cloe & Blake to grow up with their faces in a computer or a phone all the time.  By the time they are 16, they won't do anything that isn't electronic.  

Technology is so important to our everyday life, but every once and a while it's nice to UNPLUG & JUST BE!!


LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE

MOVIE NIGHT

Something so basic that makes my kids SO happy. 

It continues to amaze me how such little events bring such joy to Cloe & Blake.... I wish Elijah was still this innocent.  

A while back we had a movie night where the kids laid on the floor in their sleeping bags, I made everyone popcorn and we watched The Croods.  The kids LOVED it - we all did.  Ever since then, the little ones ask to have movie night multiple times a week.... As you all know, movie night can't happen every night but we make time for it at least once a night.

I can't wait till next week, Cloe is going to flip out!!  I pre-orded Frozen and it has already shipped.  It releases on DVD on Tuesday the 18th so will be super suprised.  She sings the music from Frozen at night when she goes to bed... it's so sweet.

This simple, easy, inexpensive weekly tradition brings joy to everyone in the family - even us big kids :-)

What weeknight activities does your family enjoy?
 
Have a fantastic weekend!
Always,
LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

This recipe was SUPER easy and REALLY good!!  Even though it is a weight watchers recipe, Justin said it was the BEST pork tenderloin he has ever had!! 

I made red skin smashed potatoes along with it ... it was a perfect fit.

Enjoy!

LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE

Going LEAN in 2014

I believe I blogged a few months ago about going LEAN ... well I have made a little progress and kicked off 2014 the right way .... yes I know it's only day 3 but I am being optimistic that this is my year to get shit done!!  I started this entry two weeks ago, ha!  I'm just now finishing it and getting it posted.

I am taking the approach of one room per month .... more than that is unrealistic at this point.  If my schedule changes and I am able to do more I will but I am trying to set myself up for success rather than failure .... which is exactly what I did in 2013.

The first project in the kitchen was the closet ... it's not a pantry and has been a place where everything gets thrown.  This is what it looked like most of last year ( I did clean it out one other time but it quickly went right back to this...)

  

Everytime you would open the door, something would fall out.  There is more to the closet too ... when you open the door and look to the right there are two more shelves with stuff stacked up on them.  I had enough and while I was off work for the holidays I cleaned it out.  Now it looks like this:

We had stuff in there that had never been used ... or at least in the time I have lived in the house.  I took all that stuff downstairs where it will weither go on the shelf or in the dumpster we will get once the weather breaks and start cleaning out the basement.  

I am happy to report that the closet still looks like this and I am on a mission to keep it that way.

I hope everyone is having a great start to 2014!  

LIVE ~ LAUGH ~ LOVE

Rationalizing what's worth the $$

Back in November I went to the Food & Wine Show in Cleveland with Heather and Marla.  It was SO much fun.... a well spent day off with friends.

While we were there, Marla & Heather planned to purchase a pan from a vendor that they purchased a pan from the previous year.  They claim it is "the best pan ever" and they use it EVERYDAY.  When we approached the vendor, we got what we expected .... the sales pitch to purchase the entire set.  I don't really remember what the original set was but by the time he was finished I think there were 7 pans in total ... plus some plastic utensils.  We was pushing all three of us to purchase the set.

Now to the point of this entry - the price for the set of pans was $700.00, which when you break it down by the number of pans isn't bad.  I needed new pans and Justin and I had been talking about buying a new set.  I had trouble rationalize spending $700.00 on pots & pans....even though it's something I would use everyday. It seemed like a lot of money to spend on pots & pans and before the holidays.  I struggled with the decision to purchase them or not.

Now, like I said earlier, Marla & Heather attested that they were great pans and they used the one they purchased last year everyday ... and Marla spends about 4 hours a day in her kitchen cooking (God love ya Marla) ... so if I was going to take a recommendation from anyone is would be them.  

The funny thing is, I would have no hesitation spending $700.00 in the Coach store or at one of my favorite clothing stores purchasing material items.  I also spent close to that on other stuff at the food show that I really didn't need.  I find myself coming back to this internal struggle I had with myself thinking - why did I need to talk myself into this purchase??

After calling Justin for his opinion - which was if they would make me happy then buy them :-) I purchased the set of pans ..... and boy am I glad I did!!  I have had a few different pan sets over the years and this set is by far the best!  I use the pans everyday ... and I don't need to put them in the dishwasher.  They wipe clean no matter what I make.  I made grits for Justin for breakfast and they wiped right out of the pan.  With my old pots and pans I would have had to soak the pan for days to get them off the bottom.  Oh and water boils in them in no time - it's amazing!!

I would like to thank Heather and Marla for going to that booth.  Not only do the pots and pans make my clean up easier and faster, I enjoy cooking more with them.  I had such a great time at the show - we will have to do it again next year!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  

Live ~ Laugh ~ Love

j~