A Beautiful Weekend...

It's been a few days, so let's catch up.  Friday, I let my 9 year old son Tyler stay home.  It was bring your parent to school day and we didn't get the rsvp in on time.  I didn't want him to be upset at school.  He's a sweet little nugget.   Anyway, we set out for adventure with my littlest peanut Peyton.  She's 2 1/2.  We met my friend Alex and her son Max at the park for some play time and much needed Mommy time.  Then we decided to pick up lunch, head home and we watched movies all afternoon.  Iron Man 1, Iron Man 2 and Thor.  Saturday morning I got my shopping list together, printed some coupons up and I headed for Walmart.  FYI they have become sticklers for coupons.  You could have a totally legit manufacturer's coupon and if it doesn't scan they will not enter it manually.  Seriously, in Florida we don't have double coupon days or any other super cool coupon savings.  Add to the fact that as soon as you start getting good savings at a store, they change their coupon policy.  What do we have to do to save a buck here?!  I still got 95% of my weekly groceries done for a family of 5 for under $100.  If I bought a ton of processed foods it would definitely be less.  But, I buy produce, lean turkey, chicken, gluten free pasta, etc.  Trying to eat healthier can be tough on the budget.  So, I figure that if I can save money on the non perishable items, bread, dog food, etc., then that will help me out on the organic produce, meats, gluten free breads, pasta and flours.  I also only by products that do not have high fructose corn syrup.  After shopping, we got the kids together and headed to Tyler's baseball game.  It was beautiful out.  Sunny with a breeze and Peyton wasn't cranky, so I got to cheer the team on happily.  Did I mention his team is undefeated?  Lol!  After we got home we just chilled out.  My husband and I lounged on the chair and a half and watched tv.  We love all of the shows about Alaska.  It is no joke living there.  Sunday, I hung some picture frames and I started some cool weather crops.  Sounds like I know what I'm doing, right?  Nope, I just play it by ear.  I've got seeds, planters, 2 bags of organic soil and 1 bag of cow manure/mulch.  So, I decided to fill up as many planters as I could with the soil and direct sow the seeds.  My plan is to have some 3'x4' raised beds filled with veggies and maybe some berries.  That would really help the grocery budget out.  But, for now I need to start small.  The idea of being able to go in your garden and grab greens for your salad and fresh green beans for your side dish, to me is heaven.  My oldest sister lives in South Salem New York.  She is a huge vegetable gardener.  There's nothing she likes better than to get her hands in the dirt.  She has the gift.  Anyway, I went to visit her with the kids 2 fall season's ago.  It was harvest time so myself and Tyler would go out and pick veggies for hours it seemed, while Kyle(my oldest) watched Peyton inside.  We went to my sister's neighbor's house, picked apples and went into the chicken coop to gather eggs.  Amazing!  That night my sister made a meatloaf with veggie sides that we picked from the garden, she made an apple pie from the apples we picked and the next morning we had scrambled eggs from the farm fresh eggs we gathered.  I will say it again.  Amazing!  She of course now has her own gorgeous chicken coop with growing chickens.  Yes, I am totally jealous.  Lol!  So she is my inspiration for a lot of the things that I want to do.  Okay, back to my Sunday putterings.  After starting the seeds, I started dinner.  I made turkey meatloaf with garlic string beans and a veggie soup.  I don't use any bread crumbs in my meatloaf anymore.  I throw in a couple of eggs, herbs, ketchup, garlic, chopped onion, celery, carrots and some kind of sauce.  Either soy, teriyaki or a steak sauce.  It was really good.  The soup I kind of threw together to use up some veggies and I love soup.  I don't know what I will do with it yet though.  I basically heated water and through in chopped carrots, celery, garlic, Mrs. Dash onion herb blend, salt, pepper.  Then I sauteed onions in a touch of salt and olive oil.  I threw those in the pot with some tamari and honey.  Wow!  Even my husband came downstairs, said it smelled delicious, tried it and loved it!  I'm working on a gluten free, vegetarian version of my favorite french onion soup.  This may do the trick. :) The rest of the night we just hung around watching tv.  Today, the kids are off and I'm trying to figure out what to do with them for fun.  Plus, I need to workout and get some cleaning done.  Busy day.  Busy day.