The Team is BACK!

You just have to recognize a truly great day every time one actually happens. In this world of stress, anxiety, and trouble, you MUST appreciate every great thing that comes your way.

Today was GREAT! Although my body aches in several key and obscure spots (thank you, Johnny Gregg, personal trainer [oooowwwww!]), I had a day like I haven't had in over a year or so. This day was one in which the family was really a team. We took care of so many mundane little things, but we did it in a way that I feared we had lost.

Last night, I had done an online search for some ideas for cooking ahead like in the book "Once a Month Cooking" (which I've never purchased). This morning I gathered the grocery store sale papers and put together a 4-store neighborhood shopping list - 3 items here, 4 items there, etc. We would only need to go to Wally world for two items!! OK, three, and while we were there we'd get the Incredibles DVD for family fun tonight.

I took our grocery cash from the envelope system we started on March 1, and we headed out. In each store, Chris, the children and I all participated in getting the list items, leaving the rest, and getting out of there fast! It was like a big game! We ignored marshmallow peeps, chocolate eggs, and all the chips and baked goodies - except for the free samples. Chris and the kids got MANY sugar grams. I wasn't interested, but don't nominate me for sainthood or anything. If they were givin' out samples of big fat fried rice, I would have lined up two or three times!! Cookies just don't do it for me.

We finished the neighborhood grocery run, dropped off the haul at the house for instant refrigeration and headed to buy shoes for the men and hit Wally world. Chris heated up the van, and all children konked out for a good 20-minute POWERnap. (Me, too.) Afterwards, we hit Wal-Mart and did our thing.

Back home, it was poetry in motion. Chris washed and put the chicken into the huge stock pot while I put in the carrots, celery, and onions. I put on two pans of ground beef and started it to browning. I sliced onions and sauteed them in butter while chopping the zuchini (sp?), then put it on to simmer for squash casseroles. Chris swapped out the wash and left to go get shelving to improve our laundry area. Mount Washmore is getting the better of both of us, and we need to improve our system.

It's now 7pm. The kids are watching Incredibles after their supper. The beef has been browned, drained, and put into dishes to cool for packaging in 2-cup ziploc bags for the freezer. The chicken will now be put on to cook at 9pm for about 4 hours, and cool for about that long. In the morning, we'll get the meat from the chicken and package it the same as the beef, return the other stuff to the pot with more water and make FABULOUS broth for soups and casseroles later on. The squash casseroles will be mixed and bagged, ready to thaw, coat with topping and bake on a hurried night in the future. Beef will be used for tacos, sloppy joes, beef-vegetable soup, or spaghetti with meat sauce, and chicken will be ready for chicken salad, chicken/broccoli/rice casserole, chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas, and chicken lasagna. This 24-hours of work between lunch today and that time tomorrow will make the next month SO much easier around suppertime. We'll do it again before summer session, because it looks like I'll have to take night classes again, leaving Chris here to do the whole supper thing. Having the menu plan on the fridge and stuff ready to go in the freezer will make that whole thing smoother and healthier.

This work will also save hundreds of dollars in convenience foods and happy meals!

Great teamwork. My husband really has his priorities straight and knows how to take care of this family! Plus, he'll handle the gross chicken parts. I like that.