Pantry Living: Weeks 3, 4 & 5

WHOA Nelly! July is almost spent. Craziness! So my life is busier than normal this summer because of my recent church assignment. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love my Savior and I the young women at church that I've been asked to serve. I recently spent 3 days camping with them and am prepping for even more fun. My darling hubby and parents are huge helpers with the kiddos. And bonus: my 10yr old niece is here to be a mother's helper for the next month. 

Events in our home that affected our pantry: 

• a mouse (got to a bag of flour and some dog food before he met his demise)
• family visiting
• growth spurts 
• lots of beach days

Pantry After week 3

Boxes of cereal after week 3: 48
Boxes of cereal after week 4: 43
Boxes of cereal after week 5: 37
Allowable credit purchases: gas, milk, bread, eggs
Cheat: clearance shoes for Katy (I used a self check out credit card only lane...oops!)
Cash purchases: ice cream, Wendy's, Burger King, ice, pizza, naan bread, bananas, apples, strawberries, lettuce, carrots, celery, cucumbers, cilantro, shirts for Levi (store credit), chinese food, leggings for me, a new LuLaRoe skirt for me, flip flops for my niece, lighter, 4 boxes of dog food(she is eating way more than she used to), soda for hubby, Wawa Cookies and Cream milk for me (YUM!)
Boxes/jars opened: 2 peanut butters, 2 jams (accidentally), nutella, fruit snacks, oreos, chips, doritos, 7-Up, zip lock bags, canola oil, chicken broth, bbq sauce, rice, flour, sugar, raspberry lemonade crystal light, hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, toilet bowl cleaner, cheese its, italian dressing, syrup, box of ramen noodles, dog food, pasta, spaghetti sauce, alfredo sauce, lysol wipes, baby wipes, diapers, automatic dishwashing soap.

Pantry after week 4

Pantry after week 5

Garden goodies: 2 zucchini, 2 large baskets of green beans,

Gardening woes: vine burrowing bugs have attacked my zucchini plants AGAIN! I was devastated last year when I lost my plant to it. I recognized the signs this year and tried to be proactive. It has helped so far. A few leaves unexpected die and start to look weird and orange at the base. I gently tugged on that part of the plant and the whole thing easily snaps free. The bugs eat at the base of the plant and leave big holes in the vine. I threw them in the trash and picked on small zucchini to discover a giant grub(i think) inside the tip. Both of my plants have been affected. I read on one blog that they pour wood ashes around the base of their small plants to prevent the pests from laying their eyes on the leaves. They continue to dust the base of the plant with wood ash because the bugs don't like it. Well, after our last firepit I did that and in my mind it is helping. What is left of both plants is still producing and isn't speedily fading, as has happened in the past. So far I have two nice zucchini that are the size of a large cucumber. I made bread today and it is divine!

Goofball making a green bean mustache.

What are you harvesting now?

Happy Summer!

How does your garden grow?

Melanie Melanie Water-melanie, How does your garden grow?
With tomatoes, green beans, and sugar snap peas
and zucchini all in a row!

Garden before Week 1: green beans, 2 zucchini

I'm excited to have a second raised bed this year. I designed the U-shape with random discount wood I got at home depot. It will be a great shape for weed pulling and harvest time!

Garden before Week 1: 3 tomatoes, sugar snap peas, dead blueberry bush and green beans

This spring I attempted to grow all my own plants from seed......I'm skipping to the punchline which is: it didn't work. The green beans were the only ones that grew. I had to break down and buy plants and it put my garden a week or two behind schedule. This time last year my plants were starting to bear fruit.
I'm growing 3 cherry tomatoes, a handful of sugar snap peas (all that came up), small square of bush green beans (contender),  4 rows of pole green beans and 2 zucchini plants. I'M SO EXCITED! I have high hopes for the garden. OH and before I forget my dead blueberry bush. I am really good at killing fruit bushes so I thought I'd kill a blueberry this year. The base is starting to regrow new leaves so I am hopefully it will return in a year or two but for now it is a permanent eye sore in my garden.
I didn't plant marigolds this year for a somewhat silly reason. So marigolds are said to keep bugs away from your plants and produce. I attempted from seed. Didn't grow. By the time I got around to  purchasing them this year and the ones left were expensive and I'm too cheap.  

Garden after week 2

Garden after week 2

Hooray for gardens!

So what are you growing this year? Let's get dirty!

Happy Summer!

Pantry Living: Weeks 1 & 2

 Whoa Nelly! Summer is flying by us. We are having so much fun lately and with that goes my $ and food. We are hitting the beach, the river, the lake, the boardwalk, a Phillies game, NYC.......busy busy busy!

Pantry After Week 1

Now for the real deal.
Before week 1 unopened boxes of cereal: 60
After week 1 unopened boxes of cereal: 54
After week 2 unopened boxes of cereal: 52 (we were gifted 2 boxes this week!)
Cash purchases: chips, oj, soda, lunch in NYC at a waffle truck, parking at Phillies game, tiki masala sauce, can of tomatoes, burger king, pizza, new swimsuit for Lily and one for me, flip flops for Max and Katy, birthday cards, doughnuts
Allowable Credit Card purchases: gas, strawberries, bananas, cilantro, bread, yogurt, milk, parking in NYC (this was planned for), Phillies tickets for my dad, my hubby and my son (this was planned for)
Cheats: diapers (amazing sale and I ran out of cash. It was 3 packs for $10.)
Jars/boxes opened: 2 jars of peanut butter, bbq sauce, flour, rice, yeast, toilet paper, water bottles, 2 boxes of fruit snacks, cashews, nutella, pineapple, marshmallows, graham crackers, chicken broth, syrup, alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, sandwich bags, snack bags, chips, nacho cheese barrel,
Garden: still in the growing phase. More on that later.

Pantry After week 2

Happy Summer!

Order....Order in the House

Summertime and the living is .......not as easy as it used to be. My 8yr old and 6yr old say they are excited to be out of school but all they really want is a firm routine with trackable goals. At first I thought I should swab their cheeks and wait for the results, these can't be my kids. My kid summers were spent playing outdoors rain or shine and avoiding chores and books. Upon closer inspection I discovered all my "lists": to-do lists, to-make lists, to-buy lists, etc. Nevermind. they are my children.

Their last day of school as we awaited Daddy's car pulling in the driveway so we could begin our annual water fight I sat with them and we made goals for our summer. My daughter wants to read 3 books, study history, jog daily, and keep a journal. My son on the other hand "wants a job". If you find anyone hiring a 6yr old boy who is good at legos, skylanders and soccer let me know. His other goals involve reading, keeping a journal and improving his t-ball and soccer skillz. But here is the kicker.....both said they wanted a color chart. Their classrooms use a color chart to track your daily behavior. They also want "centers", meaning a way to track certain activities. Apparently when my kids say they are bored it is because they stare at the walls instead of the floor covered in toys and see nothing to do. To remedy this we made a Summer Centers chart. 

They roll a die and it tells them what to do.
#1 Read for 15 mins
#2 Exercise for 15 mins
#3 Write in your journal
#4 Arts and Crafts
#5 Learning on the computer
#6 Rainbow Writing (workbook, spelling lists etc)

Then they each have a space they can put a tally mark to track how often they do it. They go crazy for this chart. However, I was mean and said #5 could only happen once a day.

Their color chart is a Godsend as well. They move up their clip for good behavior, move down for poor. There are rewards when you go up and stay up and punishments for going down. These kids love having very clear limits and expectations. It took me awhile to sit down and make the charts. So the first week of break was very aggravating for us all. I let the kids help design the charts. And now these two charts are made our lives make sense again. My kids aren't bored and I like to be around them again. Win win!