The picture above is of The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia

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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Grocery Shopping and Meal Prep has become a Joy!!

Do you want to meet a mother of eight children who has no earthly idea how to grocery shop and prep good meals? You have come to the right place. It's me!!! Aren't you glad you came by to visit my home today? Oh, golly geee...I know you are....you can't stop loving me and my flaws.

These flaws are transparent. I am exposing them in hopes of later reading this blog in a few years, or maybe a few months down the road when I have been completely transformed into.....Ta Da....Martha Stewart!!

No.....wait.....hmmmmm.......Better Yet.....Rachel Ray....!!! Yeah, she is way more prettier.

Not that I think Martha is ugly...she looks awesome for a woman her age. I really do like her voice. I sort of want to be soft spoken like her.......ok, why on earth am I day dreaming of becoming like Martha Stewart.....HELLO......SOMEONE JUST SLAP ME WITH A FRYING PAN!!

Take a walk down memory lane with your good friend Chris. I will show you how my grocery shopping days have looked like. Oh no Must I expose this disturbing truth?

OOOOOOkkkkkkkaaaaayyyyyyyy.........

Here I am waking up and thinking...."hmmmmm.....we have no food....yep, grocery shopping day is today and I don't have one iota what I am going to make tonight or better yet for the rest of this week. I call my hubby and ask him "Hey babe, what is our grocery budget for the next few weeks" He gives me a total and think "Ok, I think I can work with this"....then praying to God for wisdom.

Now I am off to "plan". I stand in front of my stove, look up at my cookbooks, ponder....should I, shouldn't I, should I ..... use those cookbooks. Nah!! Better idea....the computer has plenty of recipes for me to pull from. I click on my emails read some mail that came in, return some mail, check some blogs......oooops... I'm supposed to be making a menu. Yikes!! I blew it again.... slap, slap, and slap again.

I then go on to one of those recipes sites, like recipezaar. I click on some and surf around for the perfect meals. I really don't want to make tacos and spaghetti again....please no!!! I want to show my family I can COOK! After a couple hours of searching, I am utterly exhausted and my eye balls are absolutely, cherry red from staring at the screen for two hours. I look down at my list of meals and think "Now I have to make the grocery list. Yuck!!" I take 30 minutes to make the list. I know, way to long!!!

Ok, that's done. Oh, wait....I have to save some money, so I pull and clip coupons. By this time, I have spent almost three or so hours just planning for my meals for the next few weeks. I'm sure it will get better, once I get to the store. :)

Off I go....with a few kids in tow. I drive by my regular Grocery store that is 5 minutes from home, but decide to drive 30 minutes to Super Walmart!! Brilliant!! Remember.....I WANT TO SAVE MONEY!!! I arrive at Walmart and start my shopping. Three long hours with two carts later I finally come to check out. I'm worn out, my kids are worn out and now we need something to eat because we are starving. I then spend 15 bucks at Mc Donalds. ha ha ha.....so much for saving money at Walmart.....ha ha ha!!

Once I get home it's time to unload the van...thank God for children who don't mind helping. We get the groceries pulled out of the bags and now I have to figure out where to put them. What a trip!! This is why I loathe grocery shopping. I don't know how to do it.

So to say all this. A few weeks ago, I was not looking forward to my next shopping trip and I decided to join e-mealz.com What do I have to loose!!! For $5 a month I get 7 recipes, and a grocery list to my store that is just 5 minutes down the road. The meals are all planned around the sales the store is having for the week. Yes, I spend a little more than what they say because I have to feed 10 of us. So, I add the extra money......but you know what????? It is so worth it and I am enjoying meal times. And yes, shopping too. Even though this past week, I felt like I spent a bit to much time there. Oh well....I'm learning!!

I feel like I am doing something really good for our family. Meal times are so important to me and I feel like I was failing miserably in this area. Even though I'm not using my creative juices to "invent" meals or what have you, but at least I'm happy, and in turn makes everyone else happy. Plus, they look forward to sitting down and eating. I even ask the kids to pick a meal from the menu as to what they want to eat that night. Thus far.....100% of the meals have been so yummy!!

And best of all.....I am learning how to cook. Yay!!! I was telling my husband that this is like discipleship in cooking. I have something to bounce from. I am learning and we are all happy.


Soooooo.....If you sometimes struggle with meal time....I Highly recommend....e-mealz!!


5 comments:

Carissa Blanchard said...

That's just great! Even though I'm slightly more organized...I don't like making a menu or a grocery list either! I often waste just as much time staring at my blank piece of paper, completely empty headed, "duh...I know I've been feeding my family something, but I can't remember any of that right now!" Frustrating! I'm so happy that you found something that works for you! I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow, all I have on my list so far is butter and toothpaste. It's going to be a long night! Hugs from MN!

Stacie, A Firefighter's Wife said...

You are so cute, Chris! Thanks for sharing your flaws. I promise, I won't slap you in the head with a frying pan!

I think I'm a bit more organized than you, but not by much.

I typically sit and stare at Quick Cooking magazines and my old handy dandy three ring binder that has all my "loose" recipes in plastic sheets so I can see them. I ask each kid what they would want for the next two weeks for a breakfast and for a lunch (that takes care of four meals I don't have think about too much) and then the rest is up to me. I don't coupon shop, because it is a huge pain and I don't save much money. I go to a United Grocers and by most everything bulk. I know you are supposed to watch prices, but who has time to do that? I'm just lucky I got to the store!

Then I send hubby to do the shopping (praying I was specific enough on my list). He comes home, kids unload the car and I put everything away.

I am just now starting to have a menu and it is helping me remember to thaw things out and to plan a bit better. We tend to eat out way too much and it is devestating to our budget. Eight people eating our is not cheap, as you well know.

Great post!

Amy said...

We used to be incredibly broke, like 30 bucks a week broke sometimes. I used the hillbillyhousewife.com ALOT back then. That really helped me learn how to keep it organized. Now my problem is not wanting to cook. I'm tired of cooking.

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Sounds like this has been a wonderful thing for you guys. I'm so happy for you. I just love your honesty. I love to cook, plan meals, but I hate shopping! I avoid the store whenever I can. So glad you are finding a way to enjoy this very important part of homemaking.

God Bless,
Jackie

Anonymous said...

I really agree. If i was you and I had to pick one of the ladies I would pick Rachel Ray. Yup that's right girl!!!!!

I love you best Mommy ever.