Hey, Y'all!

The One About Meal Planning

All bloggers have heard "Don't write about what you had for lunch. No one cares." There's even a blogging book called "Nobody Cares What You Had For Lunch." I preface this post with that information because 1.  I'm totally about to tell you what we're eating for dinner this week and 2. You should know that this post is kind of for me so that some day when life gets really hectic again, I can refer to it.

I miss writing about food. Writing for Food Lush always gave me a reason to think about how I cook, try new recipes, or peruse websites for fun new food-related items.  This week, we lived through snowmageddon and, fortunately, we had plenty of food to get us through.  That said,we DID end up spending about $90 at Walgreens one day because Publix was closed. We pretty much bought candy and bacon.  My unexpected time off work gave me time to purge our fridge and freezer and to do a pretty thorough inventory of our dry goods.  On Saturday, I went through what we had, thought about what would go with it, and made a grocery list.  I planned meals for the next week and a half--until my next paycheck. 

I used to be really good at meal planning and prepping.  As life has gotten busier, it's something I stopped doing with regularity, but there's no reason I can't get back to it now. Marcus starts rehearsing at night again next week, so the more I can plan and prep ahead of time, the better off we'll be at dinnertime.

Here's our list of meals for the week. I did not assign a day to all of them, but I did for some.

• Chicken with rice and gravy, Brussels sprouts
• Pork fried rice, frozen dumplings
• Tacos
• Pork chops, rice, collard greens
• Jambalaya (Saturday)
• Pasta with marinara
• Pasta with Parma Rosa and sausage
• Burgers
• Leftovers

I had a couple of things in the freezer, like a pack of chicken breasts and a pound of hamburger meat. We have pasta and canned veggies. I bought the other meats, fresh produce, and "fill in the blank" foods we needed. I also take my lunch to work 4/5 days (which is saving a TON of money), so some of these meals will provide leftovers, which will go to work with me.

I feel like I have a good handle on the week, knowing that I'll be able to just grab everything I need from my pantry or fridge, rather than stopping at the store every other day for "just one thing." Those types of trips add up and I almost always end up going in for a container of sour cream and coming out with $60 of food.

Marcus and I worked on prepping this afternoon.  I went ahead and chopped a ton of vegetables for the fried rice and tacos. I sliced the pork for the fried rice.  I made a big batch of quinoa salad for my lunches, and I prepped things for Dean's lunchbox.  He takes his lunch every day (macaroni and cheese in a thermos, string cheese, and either fresh fruit or yogurt-covered raisins) and he also takes a morning snack (usually a Go-Go Squeeze, piece of fresh fruit, or raisins).  I have always prepped a lot of his food the night before, but I've started packing his snacks for the week on Sunday. It has made a HUGE difference. Now, he can run over to the shelf, grab what he wants for his snack (he has choices, already packed!), and toss it in his bookbag.

Hopefully I can keep myself on schedule and keep meal-planning for a while.  I'm looking forward to taking the guess-work out of dinner every night.

Weekend Sanctuary

I love rare weekends like this one when no one really has to be anywhere or do anything.  The only thing we HAD to do this weekend was karate on Saturday morning, but that was over by 9:20, and by 9:45, Dean and I were back in our PJs eating pancakes while Marcus went out fishing.  I've been under the weather this week, so I desperately needed a day to be still and do nothing. That's hard for me, but I made myself do it.  I spent way too much time looking at screens, yes, but I also gave my body a crucial break.  Not a single load of laundry got done.  I did make chili in the crockpot, but that was easy. We snacked our way through the afternoon, enjoying fresh apples, cider, candy, and cheese.  I splurged and drank an extra cup of coffee, but I also got in my 96 oz. of water.  We all snuggled on the couch and watched a silly movie together.  We flipped between football games.  Dean and I made a Thanksgiving dinner for his plush toys out of construction paper, and he told us all the story of the first Thanksgiving about 30 times. We finally convinced him that Marcus was not on the Mayflower.  We read a lot. While we do have our fill of screens, we also live surrounded by books. Dean is taking a real interst in story pictures, which they do in school a lot, so we spent some time drawing his versions of his favorite stories.

Today, we slept late, which for us means 7:00. Dean got up and went straight down to the family room, while Marcus got to work making sausage and biscuits in the kitchen.  I relaxed in bed for an extra 15 minutes, which felt like the greatest luxury.  We enjoyed breakfast together (Dean calls breakfast sausage "little hamburgers"), then spent some more time drawing adn chatting.  Marcus went fishing while Dean and I played games and watched game shows.  We all went to the grocery store and picked out our Thanksgiving turkey, then treated ourselves to Burger King for lunch. (Oh, the greasy goodness!)  I baked cookies and beer bread this afternoon. Dean is playing with his Mario figures and a pair of kitchen tongs. Marcus is watching football and trying to pretend he's not shopping online for a Smart TV.

We need our downtime around here.  Our weeks are so busy, what with rehearsals, extra activities, karate, last-minute trips to the store, laundry, and the like.  On weekends like this one, we don't set alarms, we don't leave the downstairs light on (because Mommy doesn't have to get up before dawn!), and nobody needs a nightlight.  It's glorious.

There are so many things in the coming season to see and do and experience;  it's been nice to hole up in our coccoon this weekend before the crazy starts.

The Joys of Summer

I would have called this post "The Boys Of Summer," but that phrase and the Don Henley song bearing that title both remind me of this so-horrible-it-was-funny sex ed video they made us watch in University Seminar class my freshman year of college.

Dean and I went to the pool yesterday with some good friends. We had such a blast! I was very proud that a lot of the things we worked on last year, like putting your face in the water and exhaling when you jump in, stuck.  He wore his arm floaties with no complaints and swam around like a fishy.  He even asked to jump into the deep end. I caught him (tightly), but he did it.  There's a pool at the house where we're staying on vacation. I have a feeling we'll be spending much of our time in it.

I was the good mom, diligently reapplying sunscreen to Dean, who was wearing an SPF 50 swimsuit and rashguard.  We started swimming at 10:15. When we got out of the pool at 3:00 (we took a break at noon for lunch in the shade), his cheeks had the tiniest kisses of pink on them.  When we got home and changed into our dry clothes, however, I looked in the mirror to discover that my own face looked like a raccoon, big white circles outlined in red.  My shoulders are the color of a lobster with some very snazzy strap marks. It huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurts.

I have not had a sunburn in YEARS.  I think the last time was during one of my summerstock gigs. We spent all day on a party barge promoting our shows as we cruised down the lake. One of the girls I was with suggested I rub Preparation H on my burn.  I did.  (If you think of what it's for, it kind of makes sense.)  The burn instantly felt better and the red turned brown overnight.  Score.  I remembered this trick last night and quickly ran out for a tube of Prep H.  GUESS WHAT DID NOT WORK!?!?!?  Marcus, ever helpful, recommended soaking a washcloth in white vinegar and blotting my burned parts with it.  I thought he was messing with me and that it would be horribly painful.  Turns out, it's pretty soothing.  The smell, however, is another thing.  Our entire bedroom reeks of vinegar. Dean even noticed. He walked in and asked, "Mama, you making Easter eggs?"  I got some aloe gel today, which has helped. I just can't believe I let this happen. I know better. Alas. Battle wounds and all.

We've been enjoying our summer so far. It has involved movies, popsicles, fireflies, some educational games, lots of playing with toys, stickers, painting, picture-taking, water fights and books. Dean has spent a lot of time in his underpants.  (Oddly, right now he has on 2 pairs of shorts, but no shirt.  I don't know.)  We've all been trying to relax and just enjoy being at home. We hit the road next week for twenty fun-filled days with family and friends.  We'll head to DC to visit our family, with whom we'll hit the beach for a week.  On the 21st, I'll hop into the car with Alissa and head down to Charlotte for Type-A Con.  There are no words to tell you how excited I am about this conference.  I haven't been to a blogging conference since 2010 and I am very ready to recharge my battery and see my "tribe."

I hope each of you will have the time to enjoy the special things summer has to offer. Or at the very least, to eat a popsicle.

Itchy and Scratchy

Dean's preschool recently shared the dreaded head lice with our family.  What a lucky bunch we are.  I debated whether or not to write about it for all of 3 seconds before reminding myself that DUH! Every single home remedy and trick that worked? I learned from another blog mom friend.   Amalah recently wrote this awesome guide to Plague and Pestilence, which I turned to at the first sign of nits.  Her recommendations are excellent, especially the comb. 

Stacey of Tree, Root and Twig was my lifesaver when it came to lice.  She's the mom of five kids, so she's pretty much seen it all.  Her home remedies saved me a bundle of cash and heartache.

FIRST SIGNS:

Ok, so, how do you differentiate between lice and plain ole dandruff?  Lice lay eggs, called nits, which attach to your hair shaft.  You'll usually see them about a quarter inch (or less) down from the root. It's easiest to spot them around the ears and base of the hairline, though most of Marcus's were around his part on top of his head.  When you move the hair, dandruff will fall downwards while nits will stay attached.   As they hatch, the lice move around your head, causing itching. (Grossed out yet?  Me too.)

TREATMENT:

Here's where Stacey's brilliance saved me.  Her suggestion was, rather than buying costly products that can be full of chemicals, use household products to saturate the hair and smother the lice.  We went with her top suggestion of olive oil.  All three of us held our head over our kitchen sink and poured olive oil liberally over our scalps.  We rubbed it all over and through our hair, taking care to really saturate the area behind the ears and at the hairline.  Marcus wrapped his head in saran wrap, which was HAWT, while Dean and I rocked disposable shower caps.  Rather than spending over $10 per bottle just for Rid shampoo, we spent $6.99 for 2 bottles of olive oil (they were buy one get one free at our store!), $2 on shower caps and right around $7 for the comb to end all combs, the RidVantage Lice Removal Comb.  Steel combs are where it's at for lice removal.  Don't even waste time with the plastic ones. 

So, once we marinated our heads for about 4 hours, we rinsed out the olive oil using regular shampoo (baby shampoo on Dean).  It left the hair a bit oily and slippery, but that made things easier.  I used the awesome comb to go through each little section of hair, rinsing after each stroke, picking out any nits that were stubborn enough to stick around.  This part takes FOREVER, especially if you have long hair like Marcus and me.  Dean's nits slid right out of his very fine hair.  That  night, I washed his hair again with baby shampoo, mostly to get the oil out, combed it once again (while he was in the tub! Distraction with bathtub fingerpaint FTW!), then blew it dry. I think the blow-drying was the worst part for him--he's not a fan.  I have not seen one single nit in his head since.

Marcus and I were not so lucky.  For whatever reason, we had a reoccurrance and finally had to use Rid shampoo. Y'all.  That stuff smells HORRIBLE. I did mine first and complained to Marcus that I smelled like the bathroom of a dollar store.  He laughed at me, then did his own hair.  He came out of the bathroom claiming to smell "old people, flea dip, that hand soap that sort of smells like bacon, lighter fluid and kitty litter."  In other words, the bathroom at a dollar store.

So far so good, though we'll be doing another olive oil treatment tonight and combing, combing, combing again, just to be sure.

FOR YOUR HOME:

It's importatnt to know that domestic cats cannot contract human lice.  I called the vet immediately, dreading we'd have to pick nits out of Chutney.  Luckily, she  is in the clear.  She wishes we'd all stop wearing shower caps.

I bought Rid's home lice spray and have used it on our mattresses, couches, carpets, dining chairs, car seats, curtains and rugs.  I had a few extra pillows I'd bought last summer when they were on sale, so we tossed the old ones and brought in the new ones. We've wiped down all our surfaces with bleach and mopped the floors.  I vacuumed with baking soda.  I have washed approximately 4000 loads of laundry in hot water and dried them on the "heavy duty" setting.  For Dean's school nap mat, which we're pretty sure started all of this in the first place, I washed it, dried it, then immediately sealed it in a platic bag and put it in the trunk of my car until we got to school this morning. Toys that may have gone near someone's head have been soaked in very diluted bleach or sprayed with Lysol. 

I feel like we've got a handle on things, though I will continue to be EXTREMELY vigilant for the next few days.

I want to be sure to point out that having lice doesn't mean you are a gross person or that your home is unclean.  In fact, lice can't stick to dirty hair.  It's just part of life, especially in the deep south.  I had them as a kid at the same time I had chicken pox. (That was a bad week.)  I imagine this may not be our last time to deal with this, so long as we live in this region and have a little kid in our house.

Have you ever had lice? Got any tricks up your sleeve to get rid of them?

Will Wonders Never Cease?

I have come to a realization.  Ever since this lovely tortie cat entered  our lives, our home has actually been tidier than ever before.  Marcus is obsessive  about cleaning out her litter box (which I appreciate) and about combing the floor for "croutons" as he calls them,  tidbits of food or toys that might choke or hurt her.  I'm constantly checking her food and water and going behind her with the dust-buster.  We're working on picking up toys with Dean, who has gotten SO GOOD about cleaning up what he's playing with before moving on to another activity.  He's really into puzzles these days and is very careful to make sure all the pieces go back into the box when he's done. 

What I'm saying is I think we've turned a corner of cleanliness and I could not be happier. The clutter upsets me.  I do what I can on my own, but I can't keep the whole house neat alone.  My guys are finally pulling their weight.

So thank you, Chutney the kitty cat.  You're already making our home a better place to live.

Whatever, lady. Tell me I'm pretty again.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I was a little girl, my dad told me he wrote that song. (He didn't.)  I believed it until we sang it in music class when I was in FOURTH GRADE and I saw the real writer's name on the sheet music.  He lies.

But anyway.

  Dean and Clifford helped decorate the tree this morning. Dean was more excited that EVER because he got to hang ornaments all on his own.  It was so much fun to watch his excitement every time he unwrapped or opened another ornament.  He asked, "Where's this from?" and we told him the story of all our special ornaments.  He mostly liked the ones that were about him, which is understandable.  We also pulled out the little Christmas tree that I've had since the mid-80s. I used to put it in my bedroom when I was growing up. It also travelled to college with me each year.  It now lives in Dean's room. I love that he enjoys it as much as I did as a little kid.

This morning, we made gingerbread cookies.

Believe it or not, this was my first try at gingerbread. I think they turned out pretty cute. Dean LOVED them and purposely decapitated several of the angels so I'd let him eat them.  He conked out for a nap this afternoon and I did some decorating.

The trees turned out to be super cute. 

I took off around noon and did a little shopping.  Our stocking were nowhere to be found in the boxes of decorations, so I sprung for new ones. Target was having a great sale, so I got Dean one with Lightnin' McQueen, Marcus one with a reindeer and me one with a snowlady.  (A snowman wearing a pink scarf is a snowlady, right? Right.)  I also got  us each a Christmas plate to make dinnertime more festive.

This is my absolute favorite time of year.  It was such fun this morning to laze around in my pj's listening to my Pandora Christmas station and learning to make a new holiday treat with my boy.  Marcus did his usual excellent job of making sure we had an even distribution of red and silver ornaments all over the tree. If it ever stops raining. we'll put out our light-up candy canes in the yard.  My silver jingle bell wreath is on the front door, the tree is lit and in the window, my kitchen smells like cookies, and my trunk is already full of gifts.  I watched The Family Stone yesterday (and criiiiiiiiiiied) and Love Actually is on my list of things to watch tonight.

Bring it on , Christmas.  Bring it on.

Who Are We?

Today has been one of those days that makse me think my little family unit could have hope. Hope, that is, of becoming real live productive people all the time.  We were fairly slovenly yesterday, save a trip to the urgent care clinic for me. I have  an ingrown fingernail of all things, and was about a day away from a staph infection, I fear.  I got some ginormous antibiotics, some greasy ointment and the nice doctor removed the offending piece of fingernail (rather painlessly!), so I'm much better, thanks.

Marcus got up before Dean and me this morning, unloaded the dishwasher and made coffee.  Dean woke me up at 7:51 (OMG ALMOST 8 O'CLOCK!!!!!!!!) and we went down for our milk and coffee. We browsed the sale ads on the computer, our morning routine of late, then got dressed. Marcus left for work, Dean and I went to Chick-Fil-A for a little breakfast and playtime.  We then headed to the grocery store to buy the ever-important Thanksgiving turkey bird and ingredients for all that other stuff I've decided to make.  Dean actually sat in the cart today, making it a much easier trip. (That may or may not have had something to do with the fact that I promised him a Cars 2 balloon if he was a good shopper.  Whatever it takes, people.)

We got home, put up our food, played outside, did 2 loads of laundry, made some tomato sauce, painted a picture, made some snowflakes, then enjoyed a simple but tasty spaghetti lunch, all before 12:30.

And now, I shall collapse.

 

EDITED TO ADD:  I totally cursed myself by writing this.  Not 20 minutes after I hit "publish," a horrific wave of nausea hit me. I can only imagine it is a result of the ginormous antibiotics. Know who doesn't understand the phrase, "Mommy's sick at her stomach?" The 3 year old who keeps trying to sit on my head.

Inspired, Party of ME

I've told you before of my Pinterest addiction. It has died down a bit from those early days. Our relationship was new, we needed to get to  know more about each other, it had so much to offer. Now my searching is a tad more streamlined. I have found so many wonderful ideas, products and tips on that site.  Here are a few of my favorite things I've found on Pinterest.

Look at this baking necklace from PixieDust 's Etsy shop!  There are so many people in my life who would love this and by golly am I one of them!

I'm pretty sure I would search the world over to find the perfect outfit to wear with these purple pumps.  How cute is that blue bow!?!?!  They live at modcloth.com.

Why, hello, gouda cheese fondue!  I would like to dive into your little pot with my whole face!  I'm a sucker for fondue and I adore gouda, especially if it's smoked.  This recipe from nuggetmarket.com   is definitely going into my recipe box so I can dazzle folks at my next get-together.  Or, you know, so I can make myself a pot of it for dinner.

What a swell idea to put your cute cupcake cups in a kitchen storage container!  Thanks to Torie Jayne for this great idea.

What are your favorite Pinterest finds and tips?  Are we following each other? We should be.

When The Ordinary Turns Extraordinary

Yesterday was just a normal day.  I went in to work to wrap a few things up from my show that just closed and attend a meeting. Dean went to preschool. Marcus taught his classes.  When I picked Dean up, he had just finished making a mask on a stick. (SURPRISE! It's name is Dean.)

The third eyeball atop the forehead is my favorite part, I think.

Dean "proper" told me a sordid tale of Dean the Masks's past as a circus performer. But then he got scared of the clowns (LIKE YOU, MAMA!) and decided to come live with us.  It's make-believe week at preschool, you see.  I kind of want to go to class...

We got home, sorted our Halloween candy, since somebody was too sleepy to do it on Halloween night, and played with all our plastic bats and skeletons. Marcus called and asked me to preheat the oven.  He arrived a few minutes later with some lovely steaks, baking potatoes and fixin's for a caesar salad.  We are foodies, you see, so if we're going to splurge on something, it's usually going to be a nice meal, and it's usually going to be prepared by one of us.  Dean took one look and said, "YUK!" so I made him some turkey meatballs, macaroni and cheese and broccoli, which he dipped in A-1 sauce.

While we were getting ready to grill, which for some reason, happened in the driveway, our neighbors came over.  Their son is almost 3 and loves to play with Dean.  We had tricycle races up and down the driveway as the sun set, then once it got dark and we lit the grill, Dean said, "Let's camp!"  He sat down in front of the flaming grill (at a very safe distance, mind you, lest his paranoid parents stroke out right there in the yard) and had himself a campout.  In a rare moment of mommy genius, I ran inside, grabbed a couple of bamboo skewers I'd previously soaked in water and some marshmallows and we roasted ourselves some appetizers.

 

It was a fine campout and the best part was that I didn't have to sleep in a tent.

Anything extraordinary happen during your ordinary day?

 

Lysol Product Review and GIVEAWAY

I had the great privilege of being chosen to review two new products from Lysol®.  Here's my first impression:  THEY ARE AWESOME.

The first product was a container of Lysol® Dual Action Disinfecting Wipes, which I loved upon sight because HELLO! the package is purple. 

 

Seriously, though?  When I found out I was reviewing wipes, I was not immediately excited. Sure, I use wipes in my kitchen and bathroom all the time, but what was so different about these? Let me tell you--they are fantastic!  One side is like your traditional wipe, smooth and even, very multi-purpose. The other side, however, is a bit rougher for tougher jobs, like caked-on sauce on your counter, sticky ketchup on your kid's plastic picnic table or dried liquid from where your rice boiled over onto your cooktop. One swipe of the "scrubby side" and messes are a thing of the past.   In the bathroom, I used the scrubby side to wipe up dried, goopy toothpaste and a couple of shampoo drips. None of the surfaces I wiped were scratched or damaged in any way and I didn't have to scrub hard to get the messes cleaned up.  The smell is fresh and pleasant and your surfaces dry quickly and without streaks.  The folks at Lysol® even passed along some great kitchen cleaning tips to keep your house as healthy and shiny as possible.

The second product I was sent was the Lysol® Healthy Touch® No-Touch Hand Soap System, which has easily become my new favorite household product. 

 

 The package serendipitously arrived on a day when I was making meatloaf for dinner. Now if you are a maker of meatloaf, I don't have to tell you how many times you have to wash your hands while you're preparing it.  I, however, am a complete and utter germophobe when it comes to raw meats, so I probably wash my hands twice as many times as I actually need to when handling them.  This product made things so much easier! No more trying to pump the soap out with my wrist! No more having to double-pump because I didn't get enough soap the first time!  You just place your hand underneath the spout and VOILA! The Healthy Touch® No-Touch Hand Soap System dispenses just the right amount of wonderful-smelling, moisturizing soap into your hands.  I received the Aloe Vera & Vitamin E with Moisturizers variety and I absolutely love the smell and feel of the soap. My hands feel soft after I use it and the fragrance is just strong enough to notice. I can't wait to try all the differnt scents they offer, especially Refreshing Grapefruit Essence!

So what's the bottome line, you ask?  Both these products made cleaning easier and more enjoyable for me. Once these packages run out, I will definitely be purchasing refills and will continue to use both of  these products.

WANT TO WIN SOME FOR YOURSELF??

Yeah, you do!  Lysol ® was kind enough to offer me a set of Healthy Touch® No-Touch Hand Soap System and Dual Action Disinfecting Wipes to give away to one of you!  To enter, follow the instructions below.  A winner will be selected on FRIDAY, AUGUST 26. Please be sure to include your email address so that I can notify you if you win!

GIVEAWAY ENTRIES:

Mandatory:  Leave a comment on this post telling me which of the two products you're most excited to try and why.

EXTRA ENTRIES--please leave a separate comment for each:

*LIKE Lysol on Facebook +1 entry

*Follow me on Twitter (or let me know that you already do.)  +1 entry

*Tweet this giveaway (once per day--be sure to mention @jennelsonlane!) +1 entry

*LIKE Hey, Y'all on Facebook +1 entry

*Comment on another post here on Hey, Y'all (include the hashtag #lysol in your comment) +1 entry

*Become a subscriber! +2 entries

Thanks and good luck!

Disclosure: This review was made possible by Mom Select and Lysol®. I was provided with a Lysol® Healthy Touch No-Touch® Hand Soap System and Lysol® Disinfecting Wipes: Dual Action  for myself and one random winner in exchange for my opinion. My opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way by the sponsors.