This and That...

Meal planning is done again for the week. I have already made one trip to the grocery store and this time it was Safeway (I know, shocking!). The only reason was club packs of chicken breasts were on sale so I made sure to pick one up to help with the meals this week.

I won't bore you with what we're eating this week, but I'm getting the hang of meal planning on a budget. I'm trying to diversify our plans each week so we're not repeating the same meals over and over. I try to incorporate:
(1) vegetarian meal
(2) soup (served with bread)
(3) close-to vegetarian meal (using bacon or ham)
(4) pasta
(5) easy & cheap meal
(6) chicken meal
(7) beef meal

By first doing inventory of my shelves, fridge and freezer (and possibly some requests from my dear husband), I'm able to stick to this general formula and keep the costs down. And I have to say, I am loving the absence of the 5 PM question of the day - what's for dinner?

In other news, Meagan is still not sleeping through the night but generally doing a lot better. Usually one night waking but back in bed pretty quickly. Last night was 3 times which is a little exhausting, but she's taking a nice long morning nap which is nice too.

Kaitlyn starts preschool again in 2 weeks. I get a little sad when I read the school calendar and know that I won't be able to participate in some of the parties and field trips that I was able to attend last year while on mat leave since I go back to work at the end of October, but I'll definitely be doing my best to try to get those mornings or afternoons off when I am able to.

But for now I am still enjoying being at home for 2 more months and have really had a great year off.

Here are a couple pictures of Kaitlyn "helping" feed Meagan breakfast from this week. And notice the braid? Kaitlyn is finally allowing me to try other hairstyles on her besides the daily pony-tail. Only took 4 years (actually, I should say 2 since she was bald until 2)...