oh nuts.

I love stir fry.  Drop in some rice, add some egg, sesame oil and soy sauce with a bag of frozen vegetables and call it dinner.  Except that there's not a ton of protein in that recipe.  Bummer.  What's a lazy girl to do?  Sometimes I add shrimp but my cheap side fights that more often than not.  My answer to Lazy AND Cheap?  Nuts.  I blend them in the food processor until they're in little pieces (not dust, but not choke-able either) then add them to the rice.  Cashews, almonds, peanuts... it just depends on my mood.  I sometimes add a few extra eggs too.  Dinner.  Done.  Fast.  Cheap.  And the kids like it :)

I'm such a hippie

We had homemade yogurt over homemade granola this morning.  I'm such a hippie.  I know.  I can hear you say, "What?  What is a lazy girl like you doing making homemade things you can buy from the store?"  Well, I'm also cheap.  Granola is expensive and we go through a TON of yogurt around here.  AND.... they're super duper easy to make.  Seriously.  Would I make them otherwise?  Crockpot365 (link here) is an amazing website dedicated to cooking without having to pay attention to it.  Awesome.  I know.  She has recipes for yogurt (link here) and granola (link here)

Basically... (But go to her website for exact instructions)...

Yogurt-
Dump half a gallon of milk in the crock on low. 
Leave it alone 2.5 hrs. 
Turn it off and cover it. 
Leave it alone for 3 hours.
Mix 2 c of the milk with 1/2 c yogurt and mix it back in.
Leave it alone for 8 hours.
Done.

Granola-
Dump the oats, some butter, and everything else you want to add in the crock on high.
Vent the lid with a chopstick (isn't that part funny?)
Leave it alone for 3-4 hours, except when you start to smell the wonderful granola smell and remember to stir it.
Done.

Cheap and (moderately) lazy.  I prefer full-board lazy, but cheap does sometimes take over.

Watching Jillian

Yesterday I did the "30 day shred with Jillian Michaels".  I know, I know.   I'm in danger of ruining my reputation.

My kids LOVE it... sickos that they are.  

Here was the comments by the eldest of the TinyTwo:  

Mommy, Can we watch Jillian?!... Mommy, I'm tired. Can I sit down?... Mommy, did you just say she's mean?...Mommy, I'm gonna take her away and put her in prison!... Mommy, did she just say flap your wings? (she said shake it out, btw)... Mommy, why is she standing there with her hands on her hips talking like that?... Mommy, can we watch Jillian again?!

2 scoops

Actually, a lot more than 2 scoops.  I recently bought 2 sets of measuring cups (at the dollar store, just so you understand what kind of major investment this was).  Anyway, I put those little 1/2 cup scoops and 1/4 cup scoops into all my containers- like the popcorn container that I always use a 1/4 cup scoop for and always have to go looking for it (and it, somehow, is dirty).  So, now, the popcorn has its own scoop.  The oatmeal container has its own scoop.  The flour container and rice containers also got new additions to their containers.  I had a few 3/4 cup scoops leftover (which I never use anyway because I'm not good enough at math to do fractions in my head ;) so I stuck them in my kids' kitchen for them to play with.  This is another example of how I'll work a little now to be lazy later :)

Monthly Grocery Store Trip

I do not like to go to the grocery store.
Especially with my TinyTwo helpers.
So, what is a lazy girl to do?
I made a rotation of lazy meals, then, one month, wrote down everyday what we had to eat, (or at least completed the spreadsheet every couple days when I remembered to fill it out and tried to think back to what we had for lunch and dinner on Tuesday).  Then I figured out what we needed to make each of those meals.
This doesn't sound lazy?
Well, it was between that and actually doing something.  Like cleaning or folding laundry.  I prefer to play at my computer making lists to make my life simpler.
Anyway, I now  have a "Master sheet" of a month's worth of groceries.  We don't always eat exactly these things, and I will add other random things that I like to keep on hand for dishes that aren't in my "lazy rotation", but I have a base.  I, armed with this list (that I cross reference with what I actually have on hand) shop once a month (on-line at Harris Teeter of course).  After 2 weeks I will send Sweetheart to the store after work to pick-up milk, bread, and produce.  This has SERIOUSLY cut down on our grocery expenses, as I am not actually IN the grocery store to spend money, I am more likely to find something to make that is here if I am not "allowed" to "just run in to pick up a few things for dinner tonight", and, of course, its much lazier.     

Instant dinner: Meatball Subs

Ingredients:
Frozen Meatballs
Jar of spaghetti sauce
loaf of French or Italian bread
Mozzarella cheese
fruit or salad as a side (Little Man decided that he loves mandarin oranges lately, so that's what we've been having :)

How have I not been making this lately??  I used to make meatball subs all the time, but somehow I "forgot" about it.  Instant.  Yummy.  Perfect.  AAAAAAAAnd, the kids love it.

You know you're lazy when...

You know you're lazy when...
your daughter finds a pen, writes on her foot, and you finally get around to cleaning it 2 days later. (in my defense, she was wearing socks most of that time... somehow when I say it to you it doesn't sound any less lazy... though it seemed to make sense when I just said it to myself as I was scrubbing said foot.... ahem)
On a similar note, the same daughter gets glitter glue in her hair.  The next day-- still there.

Project 333

Rachel at TheMinimalistMom brought up Project 333 and I was wondering how many pieces of clothes I actually wear.  (PJ's, under clothes and workout wear don't count, shoes do.)
Hmmmmm....... So let's see what's in my closet/shoe shelf:

1. Shoes:  Black ballet flats
2. Black SAS shoes
3. Adidas tennis shoes
4. Pants:  grey-light
5. grey-dark
6. grey-striped
7. black-striped
8. black- striped
9. jeans
10. black yoga
11. grey sweats
12. black skirt
13. Fleece:  black
14. pink
15. Long sleeve T-Shirts: pink v-neck
16. dark green
17. coral
18. purple
19. maroon
20. red
21. pink
22. pink
23. white
24. white
25. white tank
26. white short sleeve t
27. Sweaters:  pink
28. blue
29. black cardigan
30. red cardigan
31. green
32. Coats: black pea-coat
33. purple/pink winter coat

This is certainly not all the clothes I own, but honestly, this is basically what I wear, and if I were to do this project this is what I would "choose", since there's not a whole lot left that isn't totally out of season, things I only wear on special occasion, or items that don't fall into the "don't need to count" category.  That was a very long sentence.  So why did I list my clothes for you?  To take stock for myself how much I have, how much I wear, what I have that I didn't count, and to assess what I have that I don't need.  Have you ever taken a really hard look at what you have?