Monday. Blech.

Today was pay bills day. I hate pay bills day. It sucks. I do it once a month (we only get one check a month anyway) and that day is usually the one day I'm in a really crappy mood. Today was a little different however; today was also grocery day. So, I paid bills in the morning and then went on my grumpy ass way to buy the weeks worth.

And you know what happened? I put A LOT of stuff back on the shelf or just walked right by it. Cookies? No. Cereal? No. Snacks for the boys? No. It was great - almost liberating. With the Christmas break (yes, it's almost February but it takes me a long time to break a trend) I got out of the habit of making things for the boys. Oh, sure I'd make the odd batch of granola and I still make tons of meals at home - from scratch (no boxes are usually hurt/opened) but I was relying on granola bars or store bought cookies as snacks for my kids. I even purchased the ol' 4/$10 cereal specials. I shake my head at myself.

Now, first, let me say that there's nothing wrong with that per se but I notice a difference in my mood (as with lack of exercise) and the moods of my children - Mr. S is especially susceptible to a sugar and processed foods - ie. he gets down right ignorant. With more grains, real fruits and veggies and less processed food we're all completely different people. I'm sure there's some study somewhere that backs me up... I'm not getting on a high horse believe you me, last night we ordered in pizza! (Note: Papa John's has a special 2/$20, Large and it's not bad - not great - but not bad)

And with that I'm happy to report that my grocery bill was only $67.90 today. Don't get too excited for me - I forgot sugar. Crap. That's a good $5.00 right there. I've got quite a bit of stuff sitting in the pantry as well (dried fruit, different flours, dried beans, etc). Right now I've got cookies baking, cupcakes cooling, a mixed fruit filling ready for date squares and sweet bread ready for the oven. That should last until the kids get home and eat them all.... Darn kids.

Leather Pants & Feathered Hair.

How do you feel knowing this is Ricky Gervais? Did you watch the tail-end of Inside Edition? This is how they ended the show. Quite frankly, they didn't give us enough and so of course, I had to google it... I think he's much better suited for hosting the Golden Globes don't you?

Someone's a little Green

Thank you Apple Photo Booth for supplying my family with hours of fun... really, hours...

That nasty flu-bug has made it's way into my house. The one person that got the shot (above) is Mr.E. Guess who's doing his best Exorcist impression all morning? Luckily he didn't have split pea soup for dinner last night or I'd be high-tailing it out of my house! Kidding....

Since I'm not going anywhere today I've been catching up with my blog reading and surfing and I've found a billion ideas and items that I could do/want. If you haven't been over to School House Electric in a while might I suggest you do? The bare bulbs are enough to send me swooning. And have you checked out Leah's apartment? I WANT those brick walls!!! But I'd settle for that television hutch. How awesome is that?!

My surfing led me to Graphics Fairy and I do believe I'm going to make me a few new pillows soon (like maybe next year) or wouldn't it be lovely to blow up that Birds Nest (Jan25/11) and put it on a duvet cover? So many ideas, so little energy.

The child is calling... he wants lunch. *sigh*

Mondays are back... for now.

Can you believe that for the last 3 weeks I've actually taken pictures to post? Now they're lost in cyberland forever... well, they're lost on my computer forever... same thing-ish.

Above is the groceries for this week. I had a list and everything. I'm sad to say it totalled $112.52. Very, very sorry. I was hoping it would be smaller but alas, it never seems to be. You'll notice there's an awful lot of frozen Lean Dinners in there - not for me - for Mr. A. There have been far too many mornings when there's been nothing for him to take in his lunch and I'm hoping this will solve that. They're awful. But he'll eat anything (a blessing for me) and even better if it's warm and has cheese on it. These have cheese and their microwavable. And they were 81 cents each. Really. Cheaper than a freakin' apple. I still have to get some laundry detergent and probably another container of milk.... just an FYI...

For dinner this week you'll notice there's a roasting chicken (tuesday), the broccoli is for baked potatoes (wednesday), more of the chicken will be used on thursday for white bean, chicken chili and then friday will be wrapped up with some pancakes made using that lovely cauliflower you see on the left. Tonight is going to be sandwiches (the kids are going to be soooo happy) with veggies on the side or if I'm feeling extra energetic (probably not) I'll throw some soup on the stove. All in all a healthy week I suppose and with any luck some of this stuff will be leftover so next weeks shopping receipt will be a tiny bit smaller.

New Burger Recipe.

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of it but trust me, it even looks good! I was amazed at how well it turned out and by how fast my kids inhaled them. Yes, that's right, I said inhaled. Even my picky eater, Mr. S. God love him, he'll eat anything he can smother in condiments.

I had some leftover turkey (from the freezer) but not really enough to make anything with and I couldn't use it to just make stuffing and turkey burgers - after the holidays I have to say I'm done with stuffing and plain turkey! So, I added some white kidney beans and the results were wonderful. Don't tell my kids!

The Recipe for Turkey & Bean burgers:

1. Shred and slice your turkey. I had about a 3/4 cup.

2. Finely chop a stalk of celery. If you have some green onions you could add them too. I didn't.

3. Throw in 1/2 cup of bread crumbs or cracker crumbs, 2 eggs, salt & pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp of basil and half a roasted red pepper.

4. Now the fun part, after draining and rinsing your can of beans, squish them in your hands and add them to your mixture. Mix well.

5. Shape into patties. Heat some oil in a pan. To add some crunch to you burger, sprinkle some cornmeal on each side.

6. Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until each side is brown and the burger is cooked through. Top with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes!

What it sounds like when my husband talks.

God love him and every other hockey loving man out there... I suspect this is what it sounds when they talk to each other.

Not so long ago, I'd get little comments made to me (yes, by Mr. A) about my blog reading. Now, it's hockey season and there's one too many hockey blogs out there. The "Bookmark" section of my computer is riddled with them. And most nights I've lost my husband to them...

Number 6.

Mr. E is celebrating his 6th birthday today. He's a growing concern. He's a pain in my butthoggs. And by golly, I love this little brat more than words will allow me to express.

Zoom Zoom

This is sitting in my driveway and not because we have visitors...

Yep, we finally did it! For the last couple of years (yes, that's an 's' on the end of that) we have been searching for a vehicle. Neither Mr. A or I are especially particular about what type of car we should have and even when choosing this one I was more on the "I'm tired of driving you all around" camp. I'm pretty sure Mr. A was smitten with this as it became his primary focus and then, "voila" we had one. So far we like it (it's been two days). It goes. It has heated seats which is awesome - I can not stress how much I LOVE this feature. And though it really is no bigger than the protege it does seem to have a lot less miles on it and the door isn't falling off... yet...

So that's it. I've got a big ol' loan and I'll be watching my pennies but my hubby is happy and the kids think they're driving in a rocket ship. And me? I'm just glad my chauffeur days are getting shorter. I know, I've just jinxed myself....