Rice

I learned recently that not everyone makes rice the way I was taught.  I always wondered why people bought rice makers and complained about making rice.
An interesting twist, obviously my mom taught me to make rice, my husband's mom taught my mom this trick, back before I was born.  Funny huh?  We have interesting family history.

Without further ado, drum roll please...............

Do the usual 2 to 1 water to rice ratio (ex: 2 cups water to 1 cup rice)
Bring to a boil
Put a lid on it then turn it off and leave it on the burner
Leave it alone for 20 min
Do NOT check it and Do NOT lift the lid
Fluff and serve.

OR

Boil and cover
Leave alone for 20 min

By the way, this works for white rice only, you have to simmer the brown rice for about 10 minutes before you turn the heat off for another 40 min.

Lazy dinner equation

I tend to have a basic equation for dinner:

pasta or rice (often brown instant)
+vegetables (canned or "steam in its own bag)
+can of beans or frozen shrimp or other meat (previously cooked, chopped, and frozen)
+jar of sauce (this is endless:  salsa, tomato, alfredo, pad thai, sweet & sour, teriyaki, etc etc etc)
=Dinner


Cook the rice or pasta
Open up the cans or defrost the vegetables and/or meat, possibly with the sauce (this takes 5 minutes max)
Add everything together
Eat

Shoe Shelf

I HATE looking for shoes when its time to go.  Hate.  It.  Few things make me as enraged as flying through the house trying to find the other 1" sized baby shoe to match the one in my hand.  Seriously.  So, I've tried very hard to train the TinyTwo.  They are 2 and 3 and now know (most of the time) to take off their shoes as soon as we get in the house and place them on the "shoe shelf".  We don't have a proper coat closet near the door so I made a make-shift "drop-off" spot instead.  Now, when its time to go, I say "Put on your shoes!" and they do.  They don't do well searching for things.  Then again, neither do I.  So anyway, now the shoes are there and there's less scrambling right before we leave the house.  And less yelling.  Usually ;)
By the way, it took months of reminding them every time we walking in the door, and reminding them to go back and put the shoes away if they forgot.  I work for laziness, remember?  ;)

Lazy Crafts

For a great post on lazy crafts, click here.  The author gives lots of ideas and links to crafts that don't involve a lot of mess... my favorite kind!

No frantic cleaning

My mom is driving down today for a visit.  This used to entail a feverish cleaning today.  (I always wait until the last minute, even on feverish cleaning ;)  This is not to say that my mom is one of those condescending or critical mothers- she's not at all.  I would be, however, embarrassed at the state of my home.  For anyone (even my mom) to see past the living room (which I was able to quickly get "clean" by throwing everything upstairs) required some effort.

Not today.  Today I realized every room but my son's is picked-up.  He is there playing right now, and could have it clean in 5 minutes.  Also, my dishes are clean.  There's no sink piled high.  I "actually" cleaned the house on Monday (very quickly- a quick vacuum and dust)  Wow- I was thinking to myself this morning- what a transformation!

Now, honestly, part of this transformation is really the kids.  Instead of having an infant, which has been the case the last 3 1/2 years, I now have a 2 year old and a 3 year old.  And they both sleep through the night :)  Two toddlers sounds, to some, like a lot of work (sounds like heaven to those of you with 4, I know ;)  I find them to be a ton less work now that they play together, can feed themselves and (the newest task mastered) can put on their shoes by themselves.  Anyway, the point is much of my change was outside of my control.  Especially the sleep part.  I love sleep.  I so missed it for so long.  Having sleep (and getting to drink coffee again after a 3 year hiatus during the consecutive pregnancy, nursing, pregnancy and nursing years)  makes me a lot happier.  And more energetic.  Not that I would ever consider myself energetic.  Just more energy than before.  Before was a tired time.  So so tired.

What was I talking about?  Oh yeah.  My transformation.

So, some of the change came from life changes, but some came in the inspiration from, specifically 2, websites/blogs.
I've mentioned them before, but I certainly need to mention them. Again.  This time in more detail.  Lucky you.

I discovered Flylady.com 3 1/2 years ago right after my son was born and I started staying at home.  She has a couple major points that have stuck with me.  The most life-altering was that we've heard "If you can't do something right, don't do anything at all" throughout our lives by well meaning parents.  This is intended to teach a child a certain work ethic- which I certainly agree with.  It doesn't, I don't think, necessarily translate into the adult world where we  have so much to do everyday.  Lots of things need to just get done.  Not done perfectly, just done.  Flylady has more of a "Just Do It" mentality than a "Do it perfectly or you have failed so you shouldn't bother doing it at all" that I had before.  Another part of the "Just Do It" mentality is that few things around the house take as long as we think they will.  Unloading the dishwasher for example. I.  Hate.  It.  Hate.  Doing.  It.  Occasionally I'll time myself and discover that it only took 5 minutes.  Why on earth was I so avoiding a task that doesn't physically hurt me, and is only a 5 minute one?

Flylady also has habits she wants you to develop.  One is the swish and swipe, where I keep shampoo in the toilet wand holder and swish everyday  whenever I think about it.  I also keep windex wipes that I wipe down the entire bathroom-- mirror to sink to counter to toilet everyday whenever I do the previous.  Another habit is quick cleaning the house once a week (vacuum, dust, mop, wipe down mirrors, purge paper, change sheets, empty trash).   The last habit is doing an entire load of laundry everyday.

The other major instrument of change and inspiration is missminimalist.com  I discovered her right before we moved in June.  Something clicked in my little lazy brain.  Wait a minute, I thought, less stuff = less to pick up/less to organize/less to keep track of/less to clean/less to find places for.  I need to jump on this bandwagon immediately!  I did, as I was packing, toss/donate a bunch of stuff.  The big overhaul, though, was after the move.  I only unpacked as needed (the kitchen, the clothes, the kids favorite toys first, everything else stayed boxed until I decided I needed it, then I would unpack that box)  After a few months I realized how many boxes I hadn't even looked at, nor even though about what was in them.  I went through all those boxes and donated a ton of stuff.  We can actually get in the closets.  The kids don't have so many toys they don't know what to do.  We can pick-up the house in 5-10 minutes.  Its wonderful.  We also pared down our furniture.  It makes our space seem bigger without so much stuff.

So there you have it.  My lazy journey in  organization and a "clean" house.  It continues :)

Embarrassing Potato Soup

OK.  This is kind of embarrassing.
But that's OK.
Its lazy, so I'll share it.
I love Loaded Baked Potato Soup.
This is my "not really at all like it, but it kind of reminds me of it" soup.

1.  Boil amount of water according to directions on the Instant Mashed Potato box.
2.  Add a little extra so its soup and not just mashed potato consistency.
3.  Add bouillon and Italian Seasoning to the water.
4.  Add the amount of potato according to the box.
5.  Let it sit a few minutes.
6.  While its sitting, blend a can of Northern Beans.
7.  Add to the potatoes.
8.  Blend/chop/dice steamed broccoli.
9.  Add to the potatoes.
10.  Add shredded cheese.

or

1.  Make mashed potatoes with extra water + seasonings
2.  Add blended beans, chopped broccoli and shredded cheese.

5 ingredients.  5 minutes.

I count the bouillon and Italian Seasoning only once and don't count the water.  In case you were wondering how I came up with 5.  Because I like 5, that's why.

SparkPeople

I love SparkPeople.  Love.  It.  If you want to track your calories, fiber, fat, protein, water, or "anything else you can think of" intake, it will do it for you electronically.  Awesome.  You just plug in what you ate that day.  Simple.  Easy.  Brilliant.  Oh, and its FREE.  My favorite price.

For example, I am having an egg sandwich made from EggBeaters, with 2 pieces of wheat toast, salsa and light miracle whip.  I have this for lunch on occasion.  So, I have made this a "group" that the program saves.  All I do is go to my "Food Groupings" and click "Egg Sandwich".  Done.  Now I know that I am consuming 105 calories, 16 carbs, 2 grams of fat and 9 grams of protein.  It also calculates my daily totals at the bottom.  Wow.  I obviously would have never done that on my own.  I understand Weight Watchers online program is very similar.

Either way, its nice.  Easy.  Quick.

Thanks to my friend for mentioning calorie counting today.  You've again inspired me ;) and reminded me that I "was" doing so too.  Until I got distracted.  Again.

ISO...

Is Seeking Out.... lazy options.  Do you have lazy short-cuts that you use to save time/energy/patience for the tiny people in your life?  Or husbands.  They're important too  ;)  Though he tends to get the non-existent leftovers of patience after a day of the tiny two.  I really should try to reserve a little for him... I'm not sure quite how to do that- I guess I'm seeking that out too :)

vegetables that steam themselves

So I was discussing with my friend yesterday how lazy I am and she mentioned the steam-in-their-bag-vegetables.  Do you know what I'm talking about?  The ones that you take from the freezer, throw the entire bag in the microwave, and a few minutes later you cut the bag open to find wonderfully steamed vegetables, with no pot to clean up or watch after.  I haven't really used these very many times, but in my quest of lazy vs. cheap vs. healthy (yes, believe it or not, I do pursue healthy too... as long as its not too difficult ;) I think I need to try these out.  I've been using canned vegetables a lot lately and think that these would be a good alternative.  I need to do a cost analysis, but there's definitely some vegetables I'm not too fond of canned.

I keep reading that, even though "farmer's market" fresh is the best, "picked 2 weeks ago and trucked in from California" is not, necessarily a very good choice.  Frozen, which is preserved shortly after picking, is actually the 2nd best option behind locally grown.   So, I guess the next time I do a Harris Teeter order, I'll be getting a few.

Lazy and healthy.  Nice.

Lunch on the run

Often, the Tiny Two and I are out and about until lunchtime or later.  Sometimes I like to feed them in the car.  Sweetheart doesn't like this.  That's too bad.  Its much easier for me to have them eat in the car and go straight to nap vs. come home, make lunch, have them eat lunch/play/eat lunch/play/finally finish lunch, then get to their naps.  Then their naps are late.  Then they don't sleep enough.  Then they're cranky.  I don't like cranky.  I, then, choose to feed them in the car.

Sweetheart just thinks I should go home earlier.  Sweetheart doesn't spend all day everyday with toddlers and isn't very lacking in adult communication.  I will, then, keep talking until the very last minute (or an hour after the last minute...) and feed the kids in the car if necessary.  They get their naps, I get my friends.  Its a win/win.  Except for the car.  I don't really car about the car.

Anyway, back to lunches....

I've tried lots of different options for easy to make, easy to take, easy to eat, not too messy options for lunch.  My favorite, by far, of all of my lunch options, is the "quesadilla": a tortilla, covered in shredded cheese, microwaved for 30 seconds, and then rolled or folded in half, depending on the child.  Usually I'll throw in a bag of cherrios, pretzels, goldfish, or sliced apple.  I usually don't give those to the Tiny Two in the car.  Sometimes I do, but they're awfully messy.

The quesadilla is much much cleaner than crumbly sandwiches, or the above mentioned items like cheerios (which somehow multiply and make little cheerio babies under the car seats I think) or goldfish (which crumble into that orange dust)

What do you pack for lunch on the go?

Cheap and Lazy: Breakfast and Lunch

For Breakfast, I generally ask my kids, Do you want:

oatmeal (plain with applesauce)
Peanut Butter and honey (sandwich on wheat bread)
Cheese toast (shredded cheese on wheat bread, in the toaster oven for 5 minutes)
cereal (usually Cheerios or Frosted Mini-Wheats.... but the knock off version because I'm cheap)
Quesadilla (tortilla topped with shredded cheese and microwaved for 30 seconds)

Lunch is basically the same options, minus the oatmeal or cereal, with leftovers from the night before added in to the mix.

If Sweetheart is home for breakfast (sometimes on the weekends) he'll make grits and eggs or french fries  with an egg for everyone (the latter he calls "hashbrowns" and no argument in the world can convince him that they are not, in fact, hashbrowns, but just french fries topped with an egg...such are the debates at my house)  I am much too lazy to do such things every morning.  Sweetheart, if I haven't told you, is NOT lazy.  Its kind of irritating sometimes how much energy he has.  That's jealousy talking if you didn't catch it-- since I am, certainly, the opposite of high energy.  Its good, of course, to have lots of energy when one often works 30 hours at a time and 80+ hours a week.  Obviously God called him to do that and not me.  Thank you, God.

Anyway, back to breakfasts and lunches...

I try to throw in to the mix as a side:
raisins
apples (sliced, often with peanut butter)
bananas
nuts
dried fruit
yogurt
applesauce
small cubes of cheese

For snack we have the above, but I've been making a lot of easy cheap homemade from the microwave popcorn lately.

What are your "go to" cheap and easy options for breakfast and lunch?

Tablecloth

I keep a tablecloth on the table.  It seems kind of fancy but thats not really the reason.  Obviously.  Knowing me.  Obviously the real reason is that I'm lazy.  I hate to scrub the table.  Eight times a day.  Every time the kids eat.  Blah.  I hate that if I don't clean the table right away I have to scrub it later.  Even if I do wipe it down right away, before all their little baby dirty spills dry, I still have to often scrub it.  Blah.  That's for the birds.  I find it much easier to have several, washable tablecloths that I just toss in the washer ever couple of days.  Easier.  That's my line. I got the idea from a friend of mine with 4 kids. That's twice as many as I have.  Which makes her twice as smart.  And twice as motherly.  And twice as good at inventing ways to not make extra work.  Not that she's lazy.  She does, after all, have 4 kids.  She is, however, efficient.  Like I want to be.  Except with 2 less kids.

Lazy vs. Cheap: Popcorn

I'm very lazy.
I'm also very cheap frugal money contentious ...ok... cheap.
I also love popcorn.  Love.  It.
I have discovered that microwave popcorn is approximately $3.50 a pound.  No, I didn't do the math, Squawkfox did in this article.  She goes on to say kernel corn is $.50 a pound.  Wow. Then she lists the ingredients in a typical microwave popcorn.  Ew.  Then she says you can pop the corn in a plain brown bag.  Wow.  Again.
You should read the article, but it basically says:

1. Put 1/4 cup corn in a plain brown paper lunch bag.  
2. Add a drizzle of EVOO.  
3. Add any other seasonings.  
4. Or don't do the last two steps.  That's OK too.  I made the kids some without EVOO or seasonings.  They thought it was fine.  They're pretty deprived though ;)
5. Shake the bag.  
6. Fold the top down two times and staple the top.  
7. No, your microwave will not spark and explode.  
8. If you don't believe me use tape.
9. Hit the popcorn button.
10. Carefully open the bag so the steam doesn't hurt you and you try to sue me or Squawkfox like that crazy McDonalds lady who was burned.  
11. Eat the popcorn and write me a note saying how genius I am.
12. Ok, write a note to Squawkfox.
13. You can write me a note too though.

The quick version is...

1. Add 1/4 cup popcorn + seasonings
2. Seal the bag
3. Hit the popcorn button on your microwave

...but that list isn't nearly as interesting.

Goals

I have 2 goals.  I decided so this morning.
The first- to have the kids and I clothed and breakfasted (hey- its a word... at least now it is) by 8am.
The second- to have the kids in bed (and quiet) the house picked-up (at least the living room) and the kitchen clean by 8pm.

I could go on and on about other, smaller, goals that would facilitate the previous two: having clothes out and coffee ready before bed, cleaning up the toys before the kids go to bed, constantly keeping the dishes in the dishwasher during the day, blah blah blah.  That's too many rules.  I guess its too constraining for me.  Sadly, its also too many ways to fail.  If I stick to only 2 goals, I have more ways I can make them happen.

Why set these goals?  I need deadlines.  For everything.  I have to know what I'm working up to.  I was the student who stayed up half the night to do a project the night before.  Even in Grad School.  So if I have a deadline everyday to have certain things happen, then they are more likely to.

Whatever, (I can hear you say), but how is this lazy?  Keeping the house clean daily is a lot easier (read- lazier) than working on it in big chunks.  Also, although I'm not into feng shui, I do believe that an orderly space is more peaceful.  I like peaceful.  It seems lazier ;)

Minestrone Soup

Dinner tonight:  soup.
Again.
I love soup.
Especially when its cold outside.
Especially since its such a lazy an easy thing to make.

water + bouillon OR broth
elbow macaroni
can of beans
can of italian diced tomatoes
can of green beans

Simmer for 10 minutes to cook the macaroni.  Dinner.  Top with parmesan.  So easy I might make some lazy biscuits to go with it.

5 ingredients.  5 minutes of prep.

Although technically the water and bouillon are 2... and the parmesan is another.  Which would make 7.  I like 5 much better. Its my blog.  I make the rules and will break them whenever I want ;)

Hulu: Lazy TV

I realized yesterday that I'm even lazy in my TV watching.

I "subscribe" to all the shows I'm interested in (except for the ones on CBS- they haven't jumped on the Hulu bandwagon yet) and when a new episode aires, the shows show up on my queue.

No clicking through TV stations looking for something to watch.  No trying to remember when my shows are on.  Its similar to TiVo'ing anything you're interested in then only watching what's TiVo'ed... I think... I've never actually done TiVo, considering I don't own a TV...

Oh- and Hulu is free.

I'm so lazy I even making TV watching lazy.  I amaze even myself sometimes ;)

Although even more amazing on the lazy scale is my baby brother...who introduced me to Hulu.... What a swell guy.  And yes, he reminded me about that.  The part about Hulu, not the part about being a swell guy... though he reminds me about that pretty often too... though in different words.

Menu: Items 7 & 8

I have an incredibly lazy rotation of meals, the ingredients of which I keep on hand so I don't need to plan ahead what I'm making for dinner until right before I do.  Planning ahead is not the lazy way.  Anyway, my secret to dinner on the table, without planning, in less than 20 minutes is that all protein is pre-cooked; canned salmon, frozen shrimp, canned beans, or pre-cooked and frozen chicken/turkey/ground beef.  


You might be wondering "Seriously?  Why give the directions to these incredibly easy meals?  Isn't this just basically assembling things and boiling water?"  Yes- however, there are much more complicated ways to make everything.  The point is exactly that.  How simple I make things that can be much more complicated.  Maybe your version of tuna/salmon noodle casserole involves making cream of mushroom soup from scratch, adding a crumb topping and baking it for an hour.  That's cool.  Sometimes I do that.  You can make it a faster and easier way though.


Also- is this "menu" our entire diet?  No.  I am, as I've mentioned before, very cheap, and hate to pay to get take out or go out just because its "faster" or I "don't have the energy".  If I know I can make dinner in 5 minutes, I'll skip the drive though much more often than if I think I have an hour's worth of work ahead of me (or, let's be honest, any more than 5 minutes of work ahead of me ;)


Anyway- onto the Lazy Menu item #7:  Fried Rice
I either use leftover rice or have to actually think ahead and make some more than 5 minutes before we're ready to eat.  I prefer the leftover choice.  I add the:


rice, 
a scrambled egg, 
soy sauce, 
powdered ginger, 
a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables, 
and some chopped up nuts or shrimp.  


Stir it around, as in "stir fry" ;)  This, I'll admit, is not nearly as good with the beans.  I much prefer the shrimp.  If I have frozen, already cooked chicken this is a dish I'm likely to use it in. 


Bummer.  6 ingredients.  I usually go for 5.  Oh well.  Not everything in our diet can be 5 ingredients and 5 minutes of work.  I'm awfully close though :) 


Menu item #8:  Shepherds Pie
Ingredients:
Gravy (from a packet, a jar, or on the stove from a roux and broth)
mixed vegetables (bag of frozen or a can)
can of white beans (again, this is most likely where I'd use already cooked and cubed chicken or        turkey or ground meat)
Mashed potatoes (I prefer instant.  If you like from scratch, knock yourself out.)
(I usually add bouillon and rosemary at the beginning to the water)
Shredded Cheese


Mix together the first 3 ingredients.  Top with the potatoes.  Top the potatoes with the cheese. If you do this while the potatoes are hot, the cheese will melt.  Done.  
Maybe not technically 5 ingredients in 5 minutes- but still pretty quick.

Work to be lazy.

This morning (BEFORE my first cup of coffee mind you) I unloaded the dishwasher and started to quick-soak dried beans.  This doesn't sound very lazy- but it was.  If I unloaded the dishwasher, I could load it through out the day and not have to worry about a sink full of dishes after dinner.  If I quick-soaked the beans, in 2 more steps later in the day I would have dinner ready right about now (5pm) without hardly any work.  So you see, I'm so lazy I'll even work at it and for it ;)

I'm sick of...

I'm sick of ...
A)  doing so many dishes.
and
B)   the house being a wreck because of the kids toys strewn about.

This means I need to
A)  make more one pot wonders & do the rest of the dishes as soon as we're done eating
and
B)  hide take out of "rotation" some of the kids toys, especially the ones with lots of little pieces.

Lazy Laundry Tip

I do not iron.  Ever.  I do, however, do laundry everyday most days.  Well, I guess that's how you define "do laundry".  I wash laundry everyday, certainly.  I hate having dirty clothes laying around, and it seems everyday someone in my house has some sort of accident that requires immediate washing of their clothes.  Or I wash the towels.  Or the sheets.  Or something.  Its a habit I've developed of starting a load of laundry with my first cup of coffee.  Weird I know but it works for me.  I set the timer or else it will sit.  Forgotten.  For days.  Until I finally find it.  And its yucky.  And I have to wash it again.  So I set my timer.  Then I set the timer again for the dryer so I can take stuff out before it gets all wrinkly.  Wow (I'm sure you're saying) you wash, dry, and fold a load of laundry everyday?  That doesn't seem lazy.  Its not.  And I don't.  Instead I go to the dryer and, as I'm unloading the clean clothes into a basket, I fish out the clothes I don't want wrinkled (mostly mine since the kids don't, generally, wear clothes that can wrinkle, and Sweetheart wears pajamas scrubs to work)  These "don't want to be wrinkled" clothes are immediately hung-up on hangers stored next to the dryer for this purpose.  This is because I do not iron.  Ever.  Seriously.  I have an iron and a baby ironing board from college that is stored in my linen closet and doesn't come out. Ever.  Instead I hang my clothes up right away and fold everything else later when I remember when I'm watching TV when I'm watching TV and I remember that there are clothes to be folded.

Lazy Cakes

Hungry-Girl has 2 ingredient cakes!

Examples:  
Cake-mix +
applesauce,
soda (diet, rootbeer, cheery),
pumpkin,
egg beaters,
or yogurt

2 ingredients sounds like an excellent idea to me.
Click on the link to check out the site for exact details :)

Menu: Items 5 & 6

I have an incredibly lazy rotation of meals, the ingredients of which I keep on hand so I don't need to plan ahead what I'm making for dinner until right before I do.  Planning ahead is not the lazy way.  Anyway, my secret to dinner on the table, without planning, in less than 20 minutes is that all protein is pre-cooked; canned salmon, frozen shrimp, canned beans, or pre-cooked and frozen chicken/turkey/ground beef.  


#5 on my lazy rotation is Yellow Rice (also known as Saffron Rice)
I prefer "Vigo" brand, as its out of Tampa and the best one by my standards


Ingredients:

Family packet of Yellow Rice
can of peas
can of black beans
Old Bay (not a necessity, but I'm from Maryland, where we know Old Bay makes everything taste better)
Water (amount is on the package)


Add everything together, bring the water to a boil and simmer for 20 min


5 ingredients
5 minutes of work


#6 Fake-out chow mein
OK, so this might not really be anything like chow mein, but its close enough for me.


Ingredients:
Chinese noodles

These are 2 types of chinese noodles I"ve found

Frozen mixed vegetables (like the stir fry package)
Oyster sauce
Soy sauce
Cooked Shrimp


Cook the noodles and the vegetables together:  3 minutes.  They're just like ramen noodles except they don't have any fat, where as ramen packets are friend noodles. 
Drain.  Add the oyster sauce and soy sauce to taste.  Add the shrimp.


5 ingredients
5 minutes


lots cheaper than take-out

Grocery Shopping... the lazy way

I drove 40 minutes, round trip, out of my way today, when there is a grocery store literally 500 yards from my front door.  This doesn't sound lazy!  Do not fear, it certainly was.
Harris Teeter here has online shopping.  You do your shopping online, you ask?  Yes!  Its amazing!  You go online while the children are sleeping and you have time and quiet enough to think.  You can run into your pantry when you say to yourself, "Wait, do I have 1 can of tomatoes or 5?"  "Wait!  I forgot to check if we're low on peanut butter!"  I can see your wheels turning.  I know.  I'm in love with the concept, obviously.  "Such a luxury must cost an arm and a leg!" One would think, but its about $5.  If you do that every other week, for a year, that would be $130.  To never go in a grocery store- for a YEAR?  I'm pretty cheap, but that is well worth it if you ask me.  I am SURE that I SAVE more than that by not stepping into the store.  I am, I confess, a bit of an impulse shopper.  Its a lot easier to not pick-up that extra bag of whatever when you have to purposefully type it in. To add to that, dragging the Tiny Two into the store is always a pain.  The website is great to work with, because it saves in your account everything you've purchased.  I tend to buy that same things over and over, so I don't have to type in "2% milk" or "wheat bread" every time.  Searching for new things is super easy anyway, but this "saving" element makes it extraordinary.  Oh!  I almost forgot!  My other favorite thing is that it sorts your search by price, unit price, or brand name.  For example- I want the cheapest parmesan cheese, by unit price.  BINGO.  Add to cart.  Done.  I don't have to stand in the aisle and calculate and look at every option.  Frozen pizza- I only want Digiorno (for example).  Done.  No hunting in the frozen isle.
So- for $5 I can do everything at home, being able to go to my kitchen to check things, not have to take the kids in (they bring your groceries to your car and load them for you!) not have to resist impulse buying, and not have to do any calculations in my head.  I'm in love.

My goals: 2010

2011 Goals:
Strengthen my relationships with my God, my husband and my children.
Help the kids to be as happy and healthy as possible.
Develop them spiritually, physically, emotionally and socially and academically.
Enjoy them in my little time left (that sounded morbid- I meant before they go off to school while they're still home with me everyday)

(notice:  nothing about cooking or cleaning ;)

On another note, I want to work on strengthening my knee (I had ACL replacement surgery in November) so that I'll be able to play soccer again this spring.   Does this sound not particularly lazy?  Well, it still is.  Soccer is playing, not "exercising" in my way of thinking.  Its tricking myself into running a few days a week.  If I just need to go run-- blah.  If I'm playing, or getting in shape to play, that to me is totally different.

The pictures are things the kids and I are currently working on to help with
the second set of goals.

The Point

Cleaning and scrubbing
can wait 'till tomorrow...
for babies grow up
we've learned to our sorrow...
so quiet down cobwebs...
dust go to sleep...
I'm rocking my baby
and babies don't keep!

My aunt made this for my mom when I was born.  It now is in my daughter's room and is, exactly, the point.
Cleaning?  I'll do it later and as quickly as possible.  Rocking babies?  Reading book?  Doing finger paints (Especially the Color Wonder kind ;)?  Always.

Occasionally, OK, Rarely, I'm not lazy... New Year's Dinner

Happy New Year!  We celebrated and rocked until at least 7:30.  Party.  Animals.  Actually, Sweetheart was working last night  so the kids and I had a normal night.

We had a great New Year's Dinner though.  Drum roll..........

Garlic Herb Lamb Chops with Balsamic Vinaigrette Reduction 

Sauerkraut with brown sugar and apples

Black-eyed peas with sautéed mushrooms and sausage

Creamed Spinach

Smoked Salmon was served with crackers as an appetizer.

It was all super good if I do say so myself.  My mom says I am not overly humble when I do good things.  She is right.

Not that this is over the top by any means.  Many people certainly have such a dinner nightly.  How sad.  When I work that hard I want it to be special and appreciated ;)