My Top Meal Planning Tips {You Can't Add Hot Water to Ketchup & Call It Tomato Soup! }

 I’m standing in my kitchen at 6:45pm. I’m hungry. The baby is in bed and I should make dinner but instead I’m reaching for some nacho crumbs at the bottom of the bag and dipping them in cream cheese. Healthy? No. Desperate? Yes.

I know, I am a grown woman and mom, I shouldn’t be eating like a drunk frat boy. I KNOW the value of planning meals! Meal planning saves money, makes you more organized and hopefully healthier too. Its taken us a few years to learn how to meal plan effectively. Here are some of the things that have worked for us (I've also noted sections for which I have made corresponding printables, they can all be found here):

1. MEAL LIST Write a list of all the meals you like (printable). This was the first and most beneficial thing we did. To help with this list, try writing down the meals you have each day (printable) and cross out the ones you don’t want to eat again. This can also help serve as a future template

2. CHANGE IT UP Add new recipes from time to time. Go through your cookbooks and write down a few recipes you want to try (just a couple at a time or you won’t be as likely to make them). We keep a list of Recipes to Try (printable) and I add them directly into my MealBoard App

3. GROCERY LIST Use some kind of system that allows you to make a grocery list quickly and easily. I would be lost without the MealBoard App & our hallway chalkboard. Some other great examples can be found at Money Saving Mom and the Letter 4. (I had also seen an example on a blog where a grocery list was written on the back of recipe cards. Cards were pulled each week to plan the meals and groceries bought from there. If anyone knows which blog this is please send me the link so I can add it.) 

4. MEAL PLAN TEMPLATES Have some weekly meal plan templates handy for the weeks you can’t think of what to make. You may even wish to have monthly templates

5. MENU BOARD Have the ‘menu for the week’ displayed so the family knows what to expect. This also makes it easier for you to stick to the plan rather than changing things last minute. You don’t have to have set days on what to eat – just this idea of what will be made for the week

6. BACK UP MEALS Don’t stress if the plans don’t work perfectly. Have some back up meals at home – maybe a frozen cheese pizza you can load with veggies, or eggs on toast (our standard fall back). We keep a list (printable) of quick meals we can make from the pantry/freezer 

7. LEFTOVER LIST Use your leftovers! We write down ideas on how to use leftovers on a leftover list (printable). For example, if we have baked potatoes one night I make a couple extra for potato soup. Or we may take all the half-used ingredients in the fridge and make a 'kitchen sink recipe' such as a quiche, stir-fry, soup, pasta, sandwich

8. INVENTORY Keep an inventory of what is in the pantry and freezer, we do so on our handy chalkboard. There is so much $$ worth of food do we have in the house already. If we have reminders of what is there we are more likely to use it up

9. MAKE AHEAD MEALS Where possible make meals, snacks or parts of meals ahead of time. This has become quite valuable for me as my husband works shift work which means long days at home with the little one.  We write down meals and sides I can make ahead of time on a list (printable). There are also many cookbooks that cater to making food ahead of time (see one of my favs called Meals in Minutes)

10. EAT IT ALL If there are any leftovers not claimed for lunches or used for other meals then some nights we will have leftover madness - we heat all of the leftovers in the fridge and have a smorg.  Or as mentioned above we will make kitchen sink recipes. It takes some creativity and trial and error but its a great way to use up all the groceries and try something different. 


What meal planning strategies have you found works for your family? 

Check out my MUST HAVE APP for Meal Planning!

Check out my family binder and free printables.

Pin It Pin It

My C-Section & The Feelings I Was Ashamed to Admit

The first thing the doctor says to me after looking at me and my 6 month old was "Did you deliver him vaginally?" I said no and he replied, "That's what I thought, I looked at his head and your hips and thought 'there is no way this lady had that baby vaginally'!" Though I felt a little violated that my pelvis was just ogled, I also felt that sting of shame I had felt after having a C-Section.
I'm going to share a lengthy post with you about C-Sections, and what nobody tells you. I will share with you the feelings I was ashamed to have and tell others about. Please don't hesitate to add your comments below and share your story.

The Day Before Labour Star

My Experience in a Nutshell
I won't go into all the details of my labour and delivery but in a nut shell it went somewhat like this:
Feb 25

• 4am Contractions Started 
• 4pm At hospital, 4 cm dilated, baby was posterior (not cool baby, not cool), back labour 

Feb 26

• 12am Baby is still posterior, had a couple morphine shots, labour not progressing 
• 12 pm Epidural, finally had some sleep, baby's heart can't handle the contractions and is having trouble recovering, push for over an hour, baby not descending & still posterior
• 4 pm C-Section - Its A BOY!
• 9pm Met & held my son for the first time

C-Section Facts
Many of us took prenatal class and learnt about C-Sections. Most of us maybe tuned it out thinking; I don't need to know this. We probably learnt some common facts such as the following:

• Caesarean sections and hysterectomies are the most common surgical procedures performed on Canadian women (Source: CIHI)
• Rates of C-Sections vary from province to province as there are currently no agreed-upon benchmarks for the appropriate use of these procedures
• Here is the most recent data I could find on C-Section rates in Canada:

Primary Caesarean Section Rates, by Province and Territory, Canada, 2002–2003, 2005–2006 and 2008–2009 Source: CIHI 

Then there are the things that nobody talks about, or teaches to moms expecting their first baby:

• You may feel disappointed with the delivery or embarrassed by your feelings 
• You'll feel like those who had their baby 'naturally' 'don't get it'
• The recovery time can feel like forever and you will be in pain
• You may feel less satisfied than those who had a vaginally delivery
• A study of Taiwanese and British mothers concluded that those who had a C-Section delivery had the lowest overall maternal satisfaction (Haung & Matthews, 2000) 

The World For This Post C-Section Mom
Dad Can Do It
From the second our son was born my husband was by his side, seeing him weighed, cutting the cord, taking him to meet our family.  Then he was the one who went to the nursery to learn how to give him a bath, change his diaper, etc - he would come back to the hospital room and teach me what he learned.  I felt proud to see the man I love being a Dad but so 'unmotherly' that I wasn't there along side learning all these things, cause I thought it was 'my job'

I'm Wasn't Woman Enough
The thoughts would cross my mind, what if this was 100 years ago. What would have happened to me? To our son? Would I have died in childbirth? Would Levi? Knowing that me and my child are together and healthy due to modern medicine lead me down the dark and windy path of 'maybe I wasn't meant to bear children' ' maybe I'm not woman enough to have a child'.  Maybe it would have been a different story 100 years ago, but I don't live in 1911 - I live in a wonderful age of modern medicine, iPhones, tampons and frozen pizza! 

I Just Want to Hold Him
I saw a flash of Levi once he was 'delivered' - I was so groggy that all I remember the doctor holding him up by a leg and an arm saying 'IT'S A BOY!' and all I could see were my son's piercing eyes and my husband said 'It's Levi' It wasn't hours later til that I woke up from the surgery and I got to meet him. He had met his new family and hung out with his Dad, I was worried he wouldn't connect with me. It wasn't like in the movies where the lay the baby on the mom's chest and its this magical moment. I did feel a little cheated of that experience


My Body Won't Let Me Out Of Bed
Even when we got home I was still in a lot of pain and of course tired. There were helping hands all around doing my laundry, cleaning my floors, heating up meals - I felt guilty that I wasn't doing that, angry at my body that it couldn't. I would push myself and then suffer the pain later


How Do I Love You More?
You hear moms talking about the day they met their child, how they just stared at their baby, how they've never felt such love and joy. You rarely hear the moms who don't feel this way - cause its embarassing. I was one of them. I was majorly confused by this little guy who needed me to be his world, what could I do for him from a hospital bed? I felt more chaos and fog than joy and adoration. I saw how my husband was so in love with our son and I felt utterly ashamed that I didn't feel the same. I lay in bed at night praying that God would fill my heart with such a love for our son, one so strong it would overshadow my current ambivalence 


The Breaking Point
I guess C-Section babies have a lot of mucous in their lungs causing them cough and spit up a lot - the mucous is usually squeezed out of the lungs during a vaginally delivery. We spent the 4 days in hospital constantly waking up to make sure he wasn't going to choke each time we heard him cough.  It was the third night in when I broke down in the middle of the night, sobbing to my husband telling him I was responsible for our son having a traumatic entrance into this world, my lack of ability was the reason he's choking on mucous, that I'm so confused why I don't love him like he does, that I'm in so much pain, that my body couldn't do it, etc. Poor guy just listened, hugged me and said ' I'm sorry, I don't know what to say, should I get the nurse?' 

What I Have Taken Away From It All
Own It
Though our feelings can be irrational, especially after having a baby, its important to acknowledge them and how they are affecting your life.  When I told our prenatal nurse about the delivery she suggested I write out my story so I could look back on it labour --- oops I mean later. I talked to my husband, my friend Jenna and I wrote a letter to my friend Dianne - all who supported me, didn't make me feel judged and leant an ear


Put It Into Context
There are people who will respond with 'its still the miracle of life' or 'at least he's here' when you tell them how you feel disappointed about the C-Section. This compounds the guilt! Of course those people are correct, after all you have your healthy child and some births end tragically. Feeling upset over a C-Section pales in comparison to the pain some parents endure, we can't underestimate that.  But we can still talk about our experiences and how they have shaped us


Understand When It Is Necessary
Of course I went into the hospital with a vaginal delivery in mind - but after being in labour for so long and pushing with no progress, knowing it was stressing the baby more with each contraction, there wasn't a doubt in my mind I had to get a C-Section - it was the right choice for us


Understand the Trauma and Pain Your Body Endured
You were cut open, enough said.  Its okay to take the pain killers - you need to manage the pain or it will get the best of you - trying to be a hero will just eat away at your body when its already weak


Take Help
Any other time I would be mortified that my mother in law is doing my laundry, or tell my wonderful neighbour its not necessary bring over delicious soup.  Don't be crazy! Take all the help you can! For as long as you can milk it lady!!


Some Just Won't Get It
Maybe you have that friend who sneezed and their baby popped out, maybe a stitch or two was necessary. Don't try to make them understand why this sickens you and makes you want to punch them in the teeth - they won't get it


Let It Go
When you are pregnant it seems that every woman who ever gave birth wants to tell you about her delivery. Some of these women did not have their ideal experience and though it may have been decades ago you can still pick up the acid tone in their memories. It is so important for our health and happiness to let ourselves move on and not let it tether us back to a place of regret and pain


If You Feel Depressed, Seek Help
If you ever are feeling like you are alone, unhappy, overwhelmed or depressed make sure you talk to a health professional.  Most health clinics have a Post-Natal Support Services center where you can get free counseling. The Canadian Mental Health Association has some great info on post partum depression and baby blues 

UPDATE: READ THE STORY OF MY VBAC FOLLOWING THIS DELIVERY. 

For more posts on Labour and Delivery click HERE

For more posts on Pregnancy click HERE

Pin It

Meal Planning {Free Printables}

What's better than being organized? Being organized on pretty templates!

Here are some we use at our house for meal planning, and stay tuned for a post to come on meal planning a la Dove Tail!

Our Back Up Meals

Our Back Up Meals (blank template)

Our Leftover List

Make Ahead Meals

A Month of Family Dinners Calendar

Recipes We Want to Try

Our Monster Meal Idea List

Our Monster Meal Idea List (blank template)

My MUST HAVE iPHONE APP for Meal Planning {Geeky Mamas Unite}

Two words MEALBOARD APP!  

I want to thank my good friend FLO for introducting this appto me. He uses it to plan meals for large groups of students he’s training onkayaking and rafting trips. (He also has a great blog called VITALFLOW onhealthy living and eating ).

Here is the app in a nutshell:

1. Enter your family's favourite recipes and ingredients
2. Choose what you want to eat for the week
3. Bring up the grocery list (Wait. What's that? it's automatically generated for you? Yes, yes it is! And sorted by grocery section?!? You bet!)
4. Check off the food items that you have at home
5. Go to the store (don't forget those reusable bags)
6. Check off the groceries as you put them in the cart
7. Brag to the seniors in the produce aisle about how well organized andtechnologically advanced you are
8. Repeat as desired

You will initially spend quite some time entering the mealsand ingredients but it pays off.  Ilike to go through my cookbooks from time to time and enter more recipes.

You can even load some meal plans for the week and save them astemplates to pull up and use when you can’t quite think of what to make for theweek. 

Stay tuned for another post coming shortly on menu planning and some tips that have worked for our family. 

Scoring at the Thrift Store

Shopping at a thrift store or garage sale can be tedious and fruitless - but once you start to find those 'treasures' for very little moola you get a sense of accomplishment, maybe get a little addicted too!

I think the key though is incorporating these finds artfully into your home decor. Apartment Therapy has a great post on how to use 10 common thrif store finds . AND for endless inspiration check out one of my favourite blogs, Life As A Thrifter, rather than just slapping a coat of colourful paint on items, she really steps them up to make them unique and personal to her family.

Here are some of my recent and favourite finds......

Old Milking Stool - 8$

 Old Books - 14 for 14$

 I love the little inscriptions!

Oil Lantern - 6$
Old Pail - Acquired it when we bought a crappy house

Super Mom Shmooper Mom

Last month my husband asked me where the mop is and we both laughed whenwe realized we didn't remember the last time we mopped (good thing our son isn’tcrawling yet).

There is so much pressure on women in our society, with orwithout kids. For those with kids society has really pushed the idea of the‘super mom’ Take commercials forexample and you will see a mom who runs all the errands and bakes cupcakes forbake sales; she wakes up early to exercise and shower; she is impeccably yetsensibly dressed; she has an organized, spotless, lemony-scented home; she hasa healthy dinner on the table each night. In many vignettes she works asuccessful full time job too! This is not realistic (unless you are Kelly Ripa, right?!?)

electroluxappliances.com

At any given time you come to my house there are toys on thefloor, laundry on the couch, and dishes in the sink. This is what our houselooks like, its LIVED IN! I love when I go to my friends house and see the samething. If I don’t see this then I think she is trying to impress, hasn’t sleptin forever, or has some magic elves that help out with the cooking and cleaning(and I will kidnap those elves if I ever find them).

Sometimes I leave thedishes to play with my kid. Sometimes I leave the folding the laundry so I can hang out with my husband once the baby is asleep. Sometimes I take longer to do errands cause I am taking advantage of nap time to read or call a friend.

Our house is clean butits not always tidy. Do I feel guilty? No! I am a wife and mom and a woman and Iwant to make sure I take time for my son, my marriage and myself. Sometimesbaking cupcakes can wait. Great, now I want to eat a cupcake.


Pin It

Feeding Baby: Avocado with Lime and Eggs with Smoked Paprika

Every few days I feed something new to Levi, I am also trying different spices and flavours too - in the hopes that he won't be as picky of an eater like I was as a kid. I don't think I had feta til I was 21 after all!

So today's new secret ingredient is: SMOKED PAPRIKA!
The meal: Avocado with some lime and eggs with a dash of smoked paprika
The verdict:

Try the eggs

Try the avocado

He likes it!

And so did the floor

So I brought one of the dogs (Goose) in to help clean up :)

What unique food combos do your baby's love?

We Could All Use A Good Chalkboard

We had an ugly closet in the hall that we used as a pantry - I saw this as a great opportunity for a little organiza-shun.

Old closet door + chalkboard spray paint = organization + fun!

Voila! A place for a menu, notes and to keep track of what is in the pantry and the freezer. One thing I have learned about myself is if its not RIGHT INFRONT of me, I will probably forget its there - this especially true for the stuff thats ALL the way downstairs in the freezer.

And who knows, maybe it will keep the ninos busy while mama is cooking dinner!

Click HERE for more posts on organization

Pin It

I LOVE TECHNOLOGY: The 'new' childhood album

I loved to flip through the album my mom put together of all our childhood pics - there weren't very many but they were all on gluey paper behind shiny sheets, maybe with little notes about where we were or when it was.  
I take probably hundreds of pics each year - now thousands that my son is here - but they are all lost in the abyss of iPhoto.  So I thought I'd give Project 365 a try!


It is an iPhone app that allows you to upload a pic and caption for each day. Though you can also do your own personal project 365 without the app (see some inspiration from naptimemomtog)

Over a year ago, I was feeling some doldrums with life and decided to do project 365. Seeing pics of each day inspired me to do something different each day and looking back on the pics made me feel like I wasn't living the boring life I thought it was. 
Now I am using Project 365 to document Levi's first year of life!

You can view your album on-line and even get it printed (if you are using the PRO version)

I started taking pics of Levi at around 4 months, but hope to still print it off for his first bday and fill in the first 4 months some other way. 

What tips and tricks do you use to make photo memories for your kidlets?

Pin It

Baja Baked Black Beans & Cornbread {Thanks Rebar!}

I love seeing what people are eating, it gives me ideas on new things we can make. I know its a major nerd move but I take pictures of the food we eat from time to time - so I'll share them here and maybe you'll get some meal ideas too!

Last night we had baja baked black beans and cornbread (Both from the REBAR cookbook) and some baked squash from the in-law's farm. My mother in law said it was a papaya squash, though there was a point during cooking that I secretly thought it was a pumpkin.