Update on life....

So I havent been posting as I should..  Food and I have a battle..  and its a hard one to balance..  Lately with being back in a gym enviroment the comptitive side of me is coming back more and more...  This is an unhealthly side of me.  I am and extremeist with my weight, Ive been at both sides of the septrum...  ive been 5'9 and 103 and 5'9 almost 200 (while pregnant with twins).

So I havent forgot about you guys I have just been figthing a personal battle.  Focusing on eating.. avoiding  triggers and not allowing myself to work out more than two hours a day.  This week will be a GOOD week.  I will eat when I am suppose to and only work out a combined total of 10 hours a week not inluding the 7 1/2 I work. 

This week will be a week of crockpot dinners so there are no excuses..

This week I will be in the right kind of control.

This week I am accountable to you.

Lack of Posting

Sorry we've been MIA I promise i'll be back to cooking by Wednesday.  My parents live 2900 miles away and are here visiting so we've been on the move constantly!  Grandparents seeing grand babies trump cooking!

Sick, tired, having a crappy week- not cooking today!

Last Wednesday my husbands VW engine exploded.  So Friday he had my car at work.  Well when he went to come home the mini (what we call our van) wouldn't start.  It would crank over but there was no spark.  So we worked on it all weekend.  During which we all were sick.  Finally Monday came around and we sent mini the a mechanic.  After a frustrating day the mechanic called to inform us it was our security system and its locking down the system.  To have it replaced is $500-600.  So we ok'd it (thank god we have the cash to pay for it but its still sad).  The next day the mechanic called to tell us its a part that has to be order direct so he's over nighting it from Michigan.  Needless to say husband has been walking to work and the kids and I have been home bound.  We are hoping to have mini home tomorrow for Emmas t-ball practice other wise dh will be pushing her in a stroller the 3 miles to t-ball and back.

I'm sick, cranky, without a voice, pounding head and declaring it left over day!

Hi my name is Nicole and I'm an addict....

To dishware!   Currently I have about 6 sets.  Most antique some new and my collection is growing.  First off Id like to say I blame my mother! lol!  She has probably 20 sets of china so this is all her fault.  She called my last night to say she is shipping the first set of "boxes" of china that was left to me from my Grandmother to me today and she'll have my father ship the rest tomorrow!  Then she added that she was cleaning out one of her china hutches and is shipping me some of her stuff tomorrow as well. 

My house is as large as my mothers kitchen.  I have no room for all this stuff..  So between teething twins, a cranky 4 year old and cooking I am going to try to make room for my new china.  I think we will be hitting the flea markets this weekend and see what we can come up with.  Maybe an old pie safe?

M.I.A.

So I've been M.I.A for a few days.  Sorry about that dinner consisted of left overs one night and burgers and chips another.  Nothing amazing at all.

For those of you who know me you know even though I was "born and raised" in southern California I was really raised back east.  Every summer as soon as school got out my brothers and I were sent to Chippewa Pennsylvania then to Pandora Ohio.  The combined population of these two towns maybe hit 1,000.

In Pennsylvania we visit with my Grandma and her husband John.  We spent most of our time on the Allegheny river with no AC and no TV and I loved it.  We cooked and fished and swam.  I miss those days.  I always got to stay longer there than my older brother.  He was quickly sent to Ohio to work on the family farm.  Where I was left to stay longer and got to visit Amish country!

In Pandora we stayed with our Great Grandma Bridenbaugh.  In the farmhouse my Great Grandfather built.  There was also a school house on the Farm from the 1880's as well.  You can google "bridenbaugh farm school house" if you want to see photos.  My Great Uncle has fully restored it.  The Farm was like a time warp and I regret not being there more now that I am older.  It was like being in the 1920's.  I should start out by saying my great grandparents were Mennonites- which is very close to Amish. My Great Grandma cooked all here meals from scratch. Amazing meals.  The only time were ever went to eat was after church we went to Dairy Queen.  The was the treat you looked forward to all week. 

During the week the boys worked hard bailing hay, tending pigs, and corn fields.  For lunch my great grandmother cooked for all the farm hands.  It was an all morning event.  We pick black berries, rolled dough and cooked.  All in a house with no tv, no ac, nothing but a beautiful farm house.  Why is life not that simple anymore?  Why cant I whisk my kids a away to a place like Pandora that is so small its not even called a town but a "village" when you look it up.

Anyways I've beena little emotional longing for this stuff lately.  I am sure its a combination of moving to Central Florida to have a simpler life for our family and the passing of my grandmother the one whos mother was the woman on the farm that washed her paper plates as to not be wasteful.

I think about all these great people and how they survived the depression and learned to make due with what God gave them and then I look at the situation now that our country is in despair but they keep spending money. Ok well this is turning into a rant so I will stop now.  I will be posting the pork chops I am making tonight and figure out a game plan for the rest of the week,

Next time I go to the store to shop in will be for a week on Mennonite meals!  Time to remember the greats!

One last question, whats your monthly grocery budget?  Ours is $200- just curious what yours is.