How it is without AC

The summer weather has not been too hot until the last two weeks, which I'm sure was irksome to many, but it was a blessing to us! My favourite outdoor temp is 25 degrees, and there have been plenty of days like that. We've made it through a few hot spells now, and they've been manageable. We still keep the windows open at night, when it drops down to 18 or 19 degrees (C) at most, and the blinds and windows closed during the day. Hubby and I have re-negotiated our maximum temperature allowance, so if it hits 85 degrees (F) in the house, we'll turn on the AC just long enough to get the temp down to a more manageable 80.

As a point of comparison, I looked at our bills from one year ago and one month ago. The savings weren't huge (81.67$ last year to 68.68$ this year- 12.99$ that is better off in my pocket than the company's), but I think our next bill should be the kicker. Last August (for the billing period of July, when I was wrapping up my pregnancy), our hydro bill was an incredible 187.60$. We're on track to have a bill at least 100$ less than that this month. I do appreciate the weekly updates our hydro company sends.

On Saturday, we brought out G's birthday present of a kiddie pool early, and the girls had a great time splashing around in it. We're still trying to spend a lot of time outside, at parks and splash pads and the front and back yards. In the house, the basement continues to be an excellent, cool refuge, and I avoid the top floor as much as possible until the end of the day.

Some unexpected drawbacks to higher temperatures in the house: the air gets a stale feeling and an indescribable smell, there are a lot more bugs and flies indoors (due to gaps and holes in screen doors), and our tempers flare much more quickly. The girls have been sleeping fine, wearing regular pyjamas and pulling their blankets as tightly around them as ever, but G has been waking up more often. It could be that he's teething, but it could also be that the heat is getting to him. Tonight I think we'll try setting up his pack and play in the basement and sleeping down there ourselves.

Fixing up our fixed costs

Living on one income is not for the faint of heart. This spring we've been taking a closer look at our finances and seeing where we can cut costs. It's easy to fall into a pattern of spending without really thinking about it, and deciding that things just cost whatever they cost. We found two places that we're trying to change, and both of them happen to be fixed-cost items on the budget.

Hubby switched his cell phone plan to a different provider which offered a similar package to what he had, but at a lower monthly rate. I'm still on a 10$ pay-as-you-go. We toyed with the idea of getting rid of the home phone, which we may still do at some point. It's not very expensive though, and we use Skype for anything long-distance.

The second fixed cost that we're attempting to bring down is the hydro bill. I get weekly estimates of what our bill will be based on energy consumption on a certain day, and I'm trying to let that guide the household usage. We already try to limit using the washing machine and dishwasher at off-peak times. Hubby was saying that the two main contributors to a high bill were using the dryer and the air conditioner. With the sunny weather, we're not using the dryer much at all, but in the past that savings was virtually eliminated by turning on the A/C. So, at the end of April, we decided that we're not going to use the air conditioning this summer.

It seems like a ridiculous thing to blog about, given that most of the world doesn't have air conditioning, and our climate only gets hot for a couple of months out of the year. Still, it's going to be a sacrifice for us. Some coping strategies we're using:

-keeping bread and other baked goods in the fridge to prevent them from going moldy
-drinking lots of water
-closing the blinds when the sun is out
-opening the windows at night
-running the overhead fans in our bedrooms (with the doors open) most of the day to keep the air circulating
-using the basement for playtime or rest when it's just too hot upstairs
-spending time outdoors (especially now that we have a backyard fence!) so that when we come inside, it feels cooler

We have discussed the idea of a cut-off, in the event of a heat wave, or if sleep is compromised. If the house temperature gets into the high eighties, we'll turn on the A/C at night just enough to bring it down a few degrees. (Btw, I don't naturally think in Fahrenheit, but we use it in the house because there are more degrees to play around with.) None of this would have been possible last summer, what with my being great with child, and then having a tiny baby around. But the tiny baby is a good size now, and quite resilient, as are his sisters, and hopefully his parents. So here's to a less expensive summer!

Food Basics Flyer Meals

On the radio today, there was a call-in show about what happens when kids don't learn to cook, which of course also delved into issues around fast-paced lives, fast food, obesity, and the lack of knowledge or ability to plan ahead. One caller mentioned that if there was a list at the grocery store of what to buy and how to cook it, a lot more people would be cooking at home. I think we all know what it's like to hit 4pm and start frantically searching cooking websites, as well as our own pantries and freezers, to figure out something healthy and hearty to cook!

I think "mania" might better describe the state of my house than that of their prices, but I digress.

Meal planning can be this easy: take a look at your grocery store's weekly flyer, see what's on special, and decide what meals you want to make from those sale items. Taking the advice of that caller, I'm going to make it a few steps easier today by providing five meal ideas, ingredient lists, and recipes. I've also tried to structure the list around the store's layout. I'm working off the Food Basics flyer for April 9th-15th (yes, Thursday-Wednesday sales are the hot new trend now), concentrating on loss leaders (the front and back page of the flyer) and this formula.

Sale items + non-sale/at-home items + recipes = meals

When buying sale items, do check other brands (especially the store's home brand, in this case Selection or Irresistibles) to see if its price beats the sale price of a given brand name product.

Also, the fruits aren't listed in the recipes, but are intended for delicious snacks/desserts.

Sale items

Cauliflower, 1.97
Sweet assorted peppers, 1.97
Romaine hearts, 1.97
Cucumber, 88 cents
Russet potatoes 5 lb bag, 3$/2
Strawberries, 454g, 5$/2
Large navel oranges, 99 cents/lb
Whole seedless watermelon
Fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts 3.44$/lb
Outside round roast, 6.99$/lb

Dempster's 7" tortillas, 2.49$

Kraft BBQ sauce 455 ml, 99 cents

Catelli healthy harvest macaroni 375g, 1.25

Danone Activia or Silhouette yogurt 650g [preferably plain], 1.97$
Selection cheese 400-450g, 3.97
Natrel fine-filtered white milk 4L, 4.99$

Non-sale or at-home items
Garlic
Onions
Carrots
Sweet potatoes (if you get tired of regular potatoes)
Aluminum foil
Parchment paper
Cooking spray
Oil (vegetable, olive, canola- your choice)
Vinegar
Ketchup (optional, for mac & cheese)
White flour
Cornstarch
Shortening
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Oregano

Beef bouillon
Canned corn
28 ounce can diced tomatoes
Salsa
Butter
Eggs
Frozen peas

Recipes

Meal 1: Oven roast with mashed potatoes
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2015/02/oven-braised-beef-with-tomatoes-and-garlic/
Serve this tender roast with mashed potatoes.
Prep tip: It's rather long on cooking time, so either make it on a weekend or take the do-ahead-and-reheat suggestion in the recipe.

Mashed potatoes: Put a large pot of water on to boil. Peel (or just wash) and quarter 4-5 potatoes. Place carefully in boiling water, reduce temperature to medium-high, and boil for 20-25 minutes, until a fork can be easily inserted and removed from a potato quarter. Remove from heat, drain potatoes, mash, and stir in about 1/2 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of butter (adjust these to suit your taste).

Meal 2: Meat pie with roasted vegetables
http://operationstayhome.blogspot.ca/2014/09/marvellous-meat-pie.html
Use the leftovers to make my favourite meat pie, with roasted potatoes and carrots on the side.
Prep tip: since the vegetables take longer to cook, put them in the oven first, and then make the pie.

Roasted potatoes: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash 4 or 5 potatoes and chop into approximate eighths. Peel carrots and chop into approximately the same size as the potatoes. Toss in large bowl with 2 Tbsp oil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spread vegetables out in a single layer and sprinkle with a few pinches of oregano. Roast for 30 minutes, then flip veggies over and cook for another ten minutes. Remember to put the pie in the oven during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Meal 3: BBQ chicken and potatoes, with carrots and peas
Chicken breasts
BBQ sauce
4 potatoes, sweet potatoes or a mix of the two
Aluminum foil
Cooking spray
Salt
Pepper
2-3 carrots
About 1 cup of peas

Brush 4 chicken breasts lightly with BBQ sauce, then cook on BBQ until juices run clear, flipping once halfway through.
Prep tip: while you've got the barbecue going, cook up 3 or 4 chicken breasts for tomorrow night's fajitas as well.

Baked potatoes or sweet potatoes: poke on each side 3-4 times with a fork, then place on a plate and microwave for 4 min (5 min for sweet potatoes). While the potatoes are in the microwave, peel and chop 2 or 3 carrots. Carefully turn potatoes over and microwave for another 4 min (5 min for sweet potatoes). During this time, start boiling water for the carrots. Tear one piece of aluminum foil for each potato, large enough to wrap it. Place potato on foil square, spray with cooking oil, and season with salt and pepper. Wrap and repeat with remaining potatoes. Place potatoes on BBQ while chicken is cooking. They're pretty much done cooking by this point, this is just to crisp them up and infuse with the spices. While the chicken and potatoes are on the BBQ, boil the carrots for 10 minutes, then add desired amount of peas to the pot and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Meal 4: Chicken fajitas with onions, peppers, grated cheese, salsa, yogurt
Oil
Chicken breasts
2 peppers
1-2 onions
Cheese
Tortillas
Salsa
Plain yogurt

If you didn't BBQ the chicken yesterday, either do that now, or cook it on the stovetop as follows: Heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat and add chicken breasts. Cook until juices run clear, flipping once halfway through. While chicken is cooking, slice two bell peppers and an onion or two. Remove chicken breasts from pan and reduce heat to medium. Add another Tbsp of oil and saute peppers and onion for a few minutes, as desired. Grate cheese. Warm tortillas, if that's what you like. Assemble fajitas to your liking.

Meal 5: Whole wheat mac and cheese with cauliflower and cut veggies
Cauliflower
Macaroni
Butter
White flour
Milk
Cheese
Peppers
Cucumber
Ketchup

Steam cauliflower: chop up entire cauliflower, including the stem. Set in a steamer basket over boiling water for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and puree in a food processor or mash with a potato masher.
While cauliflower is cooking, set a large pot of water to boil. Once it's boiling, add 3 cups macaroni, reduce heat and cook for 8-10 minutes.
While pasta is cooking, start the cheese sauce. Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup white flour and cook for one minute. Stir in 2 cups of milk and whisk regularly, until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Cook for a few more minutes, then remove from heat. Stir in 2 cups grated cheese and 1 cup mashed cauliflower.
Drain cooked pasta and stir in cheese sauce. Serve with sliced peppers and cucumbers. Ketchup optional.

My companion while writing. I bored him to literal tears, and now he's upstairs napping.

Checking in

Here's how 2015 is going so far:
-Hubby is frantically but diligently working away at THREE courses as he wraps up his parental leave

-D is halfway through senior kindergarten, and we are tremendously thankful for dear neighbours who walk her to the bus stop in the morning so that we don't have to!

-M has officially been registered to start kindergarten in September; and just as I was worried about sending her to school in diapers, she spontaneously started going to the bathroom on her own a couple of weeks ago. It finally clicked for her, and I couldn't be more thrilled! She hasn't had an accident in a few days, which is amazing. And it only took us six months to get to this point.

-G is almost six months old, rolling all around, almost sitting up, and still the happiest baby. He'll be starting solids pretty soon, but I remember all too well how long it takes babies to get the hang of eating, and I'm in no rush.

Oh hai!

The past few weeks have been intermittently difficult for our family. We've had some car trouble (our van, specifically the sliding doors and the battery, would seem to despise winter as much as Hubby does), a disappointing school result, and then a follow-up ultrasound on G's kidneys. We knew from the many, many ultrasounds that I had during my pregnancy, that his right kidney was smaller than his left, and that this would require follow-up after he was born. He screamed through his first ultrasound at just a month of age, and had another diagnostic test a few weeks later (called a cytoscopy) to determine kidney function. Both of these revealed what we already knew: his right kidney is smaller, but the left one is working fine.

Last week he had what I had hoped would be his last ultrasound for awhile. However, in the intervening weeks, his right kidney has developed two small cysts. Now we are awaiting a referral from the pediatrician to a nephrologist to continue monitoring, and to determine whether the kidney will need to be removed at some point in the future, a point which I am trying not to focus on. Many families have to deal with much worse than this. It's a concern, but we have access to excellent medical care, and besides that we know that our Lord is sovereign over this. This circumstance is not good from our perspective, but God is good. We once again put our trust in him to use the situation for his glory.

Birthday Prezzie: Play Dough Kit

It's been two years since I first started making my go-to kid's birthday present, and I think I've repeated the process ten times or more. Mostly these have been in the last year as D's had school friends' birthday parties to attend. On a couple of occasions, I did something different (for a girl who was allergic to gluten, another who was allergic to dairy, and a boy), but it's time consuming to come up with a totally different gift when you're used to doing one thing. Now that we're in round two of birthday season, I didn't want to repeat the same gift, and I wanted something more gender neutral than a cupcake kit. (I realize men can be and are bakers, but at this particular age and for D's particular friend, a Ninja Turtles action figure and some candy made for a better gift.)

I am determined to avoid the time trap of Pinterest for as long as possible, so I wanted to use my own imagination. Like the cupcake kit, it's not the recipe that's original, it's more the presentation. This time around, it's play dough mix in a mason jar. The girls and I tested out the recipe this week, and it's been a huge hit. For ages, I was waiting for their gifted supply of Play-Doh to run out. I prefer homemade because there's a larger quantity, and they can actually roll out a good amount of it. Also, I wanted to gauge their ability to use cookie cutters to determine whether they can help with Christmas baking. So, they've been quite enthralled this week, and I've used it as an after-school, after-dinner or weekend activity, when I'm trying to get something done.

This gift takes a bit more running around, but less assembly time than the previous one. Here's how it comes together:

-1 large mason jar (I have a set of 12 that I bought at a garage sale for 5$, but in the summer, they also sell them by the dozen in lots of stores, for about 10$)
-flour, salt, cream of tartar
-1 tiny bottle of food colouring (from the sets of 4 they sell at any grocery store)
-a rolling pin (Dollarama sells this one for 3$)
-cookie cutters (Bulk Barn has an amazing selection, most range from 69-99 cents)
-optional: fabric and ribbon to tie around the jar lid (Dollarama, and my meager fabric stash)
-optional: tiny ziploc bag for the cookie cutters and food colouring

It ends up costing just under 8$, not factoring in the cost of driving or the ingredients. But I think the former is mitigated by picking up the components while running other errands, and the latter would be quite minimal, as those are things I keep on hand anyway. The point is, this doesn't cost me over ten dollars. What I learned following D's birthday party this year is that the price point for a kid's party gift has gone way, way up from when I was a kid. Like 20-30$. That's just not a possibility for our family.

Best baked beans

My dream baby is napping upstairs, my girls (one home sick from school) are playing with playdough at the kitchen table, and my dinner is in the crockpot. It's something I never really enjoyed in its tinned form, but I've come to love it for its convenience in its homemade form. Baked beans, babies.

Hot mess, but fun to make

After having Baton Rouge's in-restaurant baked beans on a few occasions, Hubby had asked me if I could try my hand at them. Challenge accepted. Eschewing the traditional Boston baked beans because I don't usually have bacon on hand, I found a recipe that contained ingredients I almost always have in the pantry. Over time, I've adapted it to suit our preferences.

Best baked beans

3 cups dried white navy beans
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 can tomato paste (156 mL)
1/2 cup molasses
2 Tbsp dried mustard

Place dry beans in a large bowl and cover with water. Soak beans overnight. In the morning, transfer beans and water to a large pot and boil beans uncovered for an hour, stirring occasionally. Watch carefully to make sure it doesn't boil over, and add more water if necessary.

Drain beans and place in crock pot. Add other ingredients and cook on high for 6 hours.

Serve on baked potatoes, toast, nachos or by themselves in a bowl. They freeze well, too.

Dream baby woke up, looks a tiny bit like me for once

Simple, classic chicken soup

It's a month into a new school year, and it's about that time when your kid starts bringing home illnesses along with forms to sign and artwork. Our own D is sick at the moment, with an ongoing cough and runny nose, and, as of last night, an ear infection. So it's also about time for a simple, homemade soup with (hopefully) some healing properties, if only because the secret ingredient is love. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure I've never made chicken noodle soup from scratch before. Growing up, we loved the kind that came in a packet, including those cup-a-soups. For awhile, my parents would make it from the mix, but add in carrots, potatoes and other veggies. I remember having an amazing chicken soup at my dear friend Lindsay's house when I was in early labour with M, and it was made by her grandma. So this soup is a mash-up of what I recall from childhood, and three years ago. It is a low-prep, delicious, and the quickest homemade soup I've ever made.

2 Becel containers' worth (I think this works out to roughly 10 cups) of homemade chicken stock (as in, throw your leftover chicken bones and/or vegetable peelings into a crockpot filled with water, and let it simmer for 24 hours/ I freeze mine in huge Becel containers, hence the unusual measurement); or water, if you must
10 packets chicken bouillon
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 cup chopped leftover chicken (I suppose you could poach a chicken breast and/or thigh if you don't have leftovers)
2 cups egg noodles

Put everything except the noodles into the pot and bring to a boil over medium heat; let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, then add the noodles and cook for another few minutes, until the noodles are cooked to your liking. Serve with bread and cheese planks, if you like that sort of thing (and I certainly do!).

Delicious soup

Some people who ate the soup (one, by proxy)