Archives for : September2009
So as you know, sometimes Sam talks and sometimes he finds other ways to communicate. In general we’re fine with whatever, though we try to encourage him to talk.
Just now he was standing in the kitchen, pointing at something on a shelf and jumping up and down (silently) to get my attention.
“Do you want something, Sam?”
He kept pointing and jumping.
“Can you use words to tell me what you want?”
More pointing and jumping.
“Please use words, Sam. Can you ask me with words?”
He holds out his arms for me to pick him up. As I do so, he whispers a response: “No.”
I laugh. And I give him the chocolate he points at from his new vantage point on my hip.
Just a quick note to let you know that if my blog disappears it means I haven’t renewed my domain name. I received a few very kind donations to help with costs but irresponsibly spent the money on groceries. Sigh. Anyway, don’t panic. With any luck I’ll have it sorted out by the end of the week. Edit, 9/29 — obviously this has been sorted out now. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE WITHOUT YOU, BLOG!
Last weekend, in a blind panic over finances and our grocery budget, I sat down and wrote out a list of meals that we enjoy, trying for variety and seasonal-appropriateness. Then I wrote a grocery list that included the ingredients for all those meals, as well as the things we need for breakfasts, snacks, and so forth.
Our family meal requirements are simultaneously simple and complicated:
- I am a vegetarian; Will is not. He does eat vegetarian meals, however.
- I am pregnant and so require protein at every meal.
- Sam is three. He thinks a meal = sausage.
- We have very little money, prefer to buy locally, and most produce must be organic.
- Besides avoiding chemicals, we also like to eat foods that are good for our bodies.
- But we are really into comfort food.
- Will takes lunch to work every day, so leftovers are essential.
So I had to work with all of those things. Not too hard for me, since it’s what I am used to. This is the list of meals I came up with, followed by some commentary on meal planning.
MEAL #1 — roasted chicken, falafel, flat bread, tzatziki, tahini sauce
MEAL #2 — spaghetti/ravioli with red sauce, sausage, and homemade bread
MEAL #3 — anti-pasto
MEAL #4 — homemade pizza
MEAL #5 — grilled onions and peppers with sausage/tofu
MEAL #6 — brown rice, red beans, steamed kale + squash
MEAL #7 — sushi in a bowl: seasoned sticky rice, cucumber, carrot, tofu, toasted nori
MEAL #8 — jerk chicken/tofu with cornbread
MEAL #9 — awaze tibs (Ethiopian curry with beef/tofu/beans)
MEAL #10 — veggie burgers with homemade pickles
(Some of these are to include a vegetable or other side TBD.)
So far we’ve made about half of these, and every day Will has had leftovers of some variety or other to take to work. Every meal has been delicious, and while there has been prep involved it has been stress-free because I do not have to decide what to make beyond choosing something from the list. On days that we eat something Sam won’t touch (not many so far), I make him a piece of Italian sausage or pasta/rice and tofu.
I’m sure that this is all really obvious to many of you. I feel like it should have been to me. But I’ve always pictured meal planning as much more structured. You know, fish on Mondays (never have the fish on Monday), stir-fry on Tuesdays, et cetera. It never occurred to me that it could be done in a way that suited our lifestyle. Again with the “Duh.”
If any of you meal plan, I’d love to know how you do it. And if you’re curious about it, feel free to ask questions. I have been doing it for one whole week so I am totally an expert.
So far today I have:
- accidentally mixed the yeast in with the flour instead of the water
- overfilled the container so the dough overflowed
- forgotten to slash the top of the loaf and wound up with deformed bread
- let the beans cook dry
- forgot to make Sam lunch
- when I remembered to make Sam lunch, forgot to give it to him
I’m sure there’s more but I CAN’T REMEMBER.
This is one of those links that I would normally just share in the sidebar, but I need to know that you all will see at least this one. Go here for the rest.
Again I say: YES.
The difficulty with fall colors is deciding where the line falls between them. What color is chestnut, anyway? I think the leather on Sam’s shoes qualifies.
His feet are getting so big. And they will only look bigger when Otter gets here. *sob*
Oops! I never posted yesterday’s picture for color week. Here it is:
Those lovely stripes of burnt sienna are the sunlight on my cradle. I slept in it, Sam slept in it, and Otter will sleep in it.
And here is today’s photo:
That’s the felt to make another kitchen playmat, which I will put in my etsy shop when it’s ready. (It could be a while. I’m a little behind.)
This morning when Sam woke up, the first thing he did was sit up, say something, and point out the window. I know he was asking to go outside, but I don’t know what he said (he was awake; I was not).
The second thing he did, after I mumbled something like “holyfuckitissixinthemorning,” was to point at the radio. I told him he could turn it on if he wanted to and he climbed up on my pillow and did so. We’ve got it tuned to KUSC and holy cats does this boy love classical music. He will lie in bed and listen to the radio for ages, all throughout the day.
I have a great kid. (Once I was awake, I took him for an hour-long walk. It was awesome.)
