Kiddo Clothes {Stocking up}

 I am a BIG believer of stockpiling.

I have...

 a cereal stockpile.

a toothpaste stockpile.

a wedding gift stockpile.

a laundry soap stockpile.

and... okay I have a lot of stockpiles.

But the one I want to ramble about today is for my little man.

I call it my "Someday he'll be that big" stockpile.

Because honestly I have to say that to myself everytime I buy for it. I am in denial that my baby will be a big kid someday.

Anyways.... So about once every 2-3 months my craft room floor looks like this.

Let me break it down for you.

Far right-2T

Middle- 3T

Left- 4-5T

Simple enough, right? I started 'stockpiling' when I found t-shirts at target for $1.00. I mean, who can resist $1.00? Even though a 3T shirt seemed like light years away for my baby who was still in 3-6 month clothes at the time. But I bought them. A lot of them. And that's where it began.

It's actually pretty simple when you know where to look, and what to look for. My favorite places are Walmart and Target. Walmart doesn't always have the cutest clothes... but sometimes you'll find some great stuff, or even just some play clothes. Target has a lot of cute stuff, but it goes fast (at least at mine) so I have to be patient and quick!

  Here's a few more tips....

1. Look for the signs. No, not 'signs from above'. Clearance signs. Those Big yellow clearance signs at target are my best friend. Stickers are another buddy of mine. Most are red, so watch for them!

2. But don't be tricked. Always make sure it's really a good deal. There may be a sign, but if it's only like 10% off, it's usually not worth stocking up on. I usually watch for 50-75% off to stock up. Now I'm not saying don't buy things that are 10% off, but thats just not a great stock up sale. Most likely you will be able to find a better deal later on.

3. Track the sales. This one takes time, but it's usually worth it. When you find an AMAZING sale, write it down somewhere you wont lose it, that way next year you will know when to start watching. Stores usually Clearance their items towards the end of the season, like right now most places have winter clothes on clearance because it's going to start warming up soon!! (well at least here in Southern Utah it is! ;))

4. When in doubt... buy it. If it's a super super SUPER great deal, I say get it. The other day I was randomly at Kmart (not my usual stop, but we had time to kill) and I found 4T long sleeved shirts for an awesome price! The only thing was, I had no idea if my little one would be wearing 4T when it was cold out. But, I figured I could always hem up the sleeves if he needed that size in summer. So I got them! Short sleeves are always a safe bet because you can always throw a long sleeved shirt underneath. Usually, even if you end up giving it away, or donating it, you wont be out much $$.

5. Make sure you have room. I am lucky enough to have a spare room and an extra dresser for just such things, but really, if you don't have room for 50 extra items of clothing... don't buy it. This is how I store mine...

 

Hope this helps you start your stockpile for little ones! And believe me, it's SO much fun to pull out a huge pile of clothes that you paid hardly anything for!

Menu Monday

Monday: Veggie Pizza

Tuesday: Loaded Alfredo

Wednesday: Sloppy Joes

Thursday: Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Friday: Date Night

Saturday: BBQ Teriyaki Chicken

Sunday: Manicotti and green salad

Grilled Salmon Salad

Sorry it's been so long! Guess who got the flu.... again. I swear you'd think I was wearing a sign around my neck that says "please pass on your miserable sickness to me"

Yuck.

But I am feeling much better now! after spending the weekend here...

 With my wonderful husband for his birthday. We ate at the most amazing steakhouse and had pork chops with blue cheese gravy that I am still drooling over. Gotta learn to make it.

Anyways... sorry about the tangent. Onto the Salmon salad!

If you cant tell, we love salmon at our house. And this was just another way for me to enjoy it!

Seriously, it's SO good!

Makes 2 salads

2 4 oz salmon fillets

2 TBS lemon juice

1/2 tsp garlic seasoning

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp lemon pepper

Greens (I used red leaf lettuce)

sliced carrot

shredded red cabbage

diced cucumber

1/4 cup italian dressing

On a preheated BBQ (or a skillet) place your salmon down and season the first side with 1/4 of each of the seasonings (make sure you have enough to use for both sides of each peice)

Once the salmon lifts away easily about 10 min depending on the heat of your grill, flip over, and season the other side. Cook for abother 7-8 min (or until its done to your liking) right before it's done, pour the lemon juice over the salmon fillets and cook for another minute.

Make your salad and dress with italian dressing and place the salmon on top.

Versitile Blogger Award

Thanks to Jill Made It for another Versitile Blogger Award!

Menu Monday

Monday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Tuesday: Shepherds Baked Potatoes

Wednesday: My Hubby's B-day dinner... going out

Thursday: Bacon and Artichoke Chicken

Friday: Date Night

Saturday: Stacked Tostadas

Sunday: Stuffed Shells

Winners of the Picket Fence Planners!

We have the winners of the planners from Picket Fence Publications!!! The lucky 5 are...

#45 Julie A. Scott Laws

#14 Jamie Corbin

#9 Karly Leavitt

#36 newbiemama

#22 Rachel

PLEASE email Julie at jen.picketfence@gmail.com and give her your address so she can send you your 2 planners! Congrats!!

Healthy Afternoon Snacks {Free Printable}

Again, I apologize for being MIA lately... this flu is kicking my butt!

So last week I mentioned that I have jumped on the healthy wagon and am trying to lose a few pounds before the next little one decides to come along (which will not be soon, if everything goes as panned)

However, I am no good with diets. No good at all! I HATE sugar free food, I dont do pre-packaged meals, and I need my snacks. 3pm is my downfall. It doesn't matter if I've had a great lunch or I know we are having an early dinner... I need my 3 pm snack.

And that right there, my friends, is where I tend to get myself into trouble... with the vanilla wafers.... and the PB&J... and the doritos... OH the doritos.

So after a few days of calorie counting, I decided to make a list, savory and sweet, of snack options that I enjoy, and their calorie counts.

Now, I have to tell you first, these are the calorie counts on the products I buy, they may not be the exact same as yours, so if you are calorie counting, I suggest double checking. But for the most part, these are all regular (not non-fat or diet) products, unless it says so.

I just printed this list on regular cardstock, cut it out and taped it up in my pantry so I have lots of ideas when the snack attacks show up!

Hope it helps you too!

Download

Skinny Buffalo Tacos

Sorry I've fallen off the blog wagon! The flu hit our house... and it hit HARD. So I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things!

Makes 6 tacos

2 chicken breasts cut into cubes

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 c. Franks Red Hot sauce

2T margarine

6 corn tortillas

1 cup shredded cabbage

1/2 cup shredded cheese

light ranch dressing

In a large skillet, cook your chicken cubes until no longer pink. In a separate small sauce pan, melt margarine into hot sauce and pour over chicken. Steam tortillas in a damp paper towel for 3 seconds in the microwave. Top tortillas with chicken, cheese, cabbage, and ranch.

Chicken & Apple Wrap

Ok, so in the next few weeks, you may notice a pattern in my recipes!... we are tying to eat healthier at our house! I decided to get us on the right track, and help us learn portion control (okay and to kick off my weight loss) We have started counting calories! It actually hasn't been as hard as I had expected! I just keep a notebook on my counter and when I eat something I jot it down! It has helped us cut down a ton on snacking and kept our portion sizes under control! And bonus... I've lost 3 lbs! :) Now I know that we wont be able to count calories forever, but I just wanted to use this as a way to sort of 'train' our bodies to eat healthier, and less! Anyways... I may do a post on more about that later! Now onto lunch the other day!

Chicken & Apple Wrap

makes 2 wraps

2 low calorie whole wheat wraps

10 thin slices chicken breast deli meat

8 thin slices granny smith apple

1 low fat string cheese

red leaf lettuce

mustard

4 Sandwich style pickle slices

ground black pepper

Lay out your tortilla, layer the chicken and apples. Take 1/2 of the string cheese, shred it into pieces and add it to the wrap. Sprinkle with black pepper...

it should look somewhat like this...

Add lettuce pickle and mustard. Roll tightly, cut in 1/2 and serve.

Picket Fence Publications GIVEAWAY!

It’s time for a giveaway for my wonderful readers! I don’t know if you have heard of this awesome little planner for moms from Picket Fence Publications, but this has everything you would ever need to get your life organized!! Not to mention, it's SUPER cute!! They also have the planner discounted at HALF OFF for the remainder of the August 2011-August 2012 calendar. So you can still enjoy 8 more months of this planner for just $6.00!

Next year’s planner is in the works and should be available before Mother’s Day. I am so excited because Jen, the designer, is including a page called the “Emergency Plan” and is including my Emergency Kit Checklist!!

If you are looking for a way to get your family organized this year, this is it! Here are some of the best features of this awesome planner . . .

Recipes every month

Divides up everyone’s “To-do’s”

Organizes my shopping trip

I can jot down the little things that happen each week!

Over 500 cute stickers!

And the best part....

Picket Fence Publications is offering five of my readers two planners!!

One for you and a friend {$25 value}!

How to enter

{make sure you leave a comment for each entry}

• Comment on this post
• like cutting edge stencils on facebook
• visit Picket Fence Publications and say what you love about this planner 
• talk about this on your facebook page

{giveaway is open until Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 6 PST}

Toddler Smoothies

My poor little buster has been trying to get these darn molars for a few months now :( Some days are worse than others, especially for eating! Some days I'm lucky if I can get him to eat a handful of blueberries (his FAVORITE food!) So on those days, in order to get nutrition in him, I make him a smoothie! They are really basic and SUPER cheap to make!

I start with a base...

1 cup vitamin d milk

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

a handful of spinach leaves

then I add a grain...

either 1/4 cup wheat germ, or 1/4 cup of oatmeal/rice/multigrain baby cereal

then a fruit... or 2... or 3.

hand full of strawberries/blueberries/banana/peaches/whatever

then I will usually add a baby food to it. I keep these on hand just for this reason.

these are some of my favorites to use...

and if it's hot out, add a few use cubes to make it a true smoothie!

then all you do it toss it all in a blender and whir it up until it will easily pass through a sippy cup! If it's too thick, add more milk.

It's a great way for me to get nutrients into my little one when he wont eat anything!

Oh, and I don't in anyways claim to be a professional, nutritionist, or a doctor. This is just something I use in my family!

Valentines Printable

Okay, okay... I know that we've only had our Christmas decor down for like 2 weeks... but I am really excited to start thinking about Valentines day!

I have a soft spot for Vday! Always have!

So in hopes of getting all of you as excited as I am, here's a printable!!

8x10 Download

Menu Monday

Monday: Hubby has the flu, so we'll see if anything sounds good to him!

Tuesday: Lettuce wraps

Wednesday: Fried Rice

Thursday: Loaded Enchilada bowls

Friday: Date Night

Saturday: Grilled Tilapia

Sunday: Stuffed Shells

Grilled Fish Sandwiches

 2 large whole wheat rolls

2 tilapia fillets (about the same size as your rolls)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

lemon pepper seasoning

3/4 cup shredded cabbage

2 Tbs tartar sauce*

Sprinkle your fish with a little lemon pepper on each side, and place on a hot grill. Cook just a few minutes per side, just until fish turns flaky. squeeze lemon over the fish evenly on both sides of each fillet during the last few minutes of cooking. Split rolls and spread 1 Tbs of tartar sauce on each roll. Place fish in the sandwich and add cabbage.

*I never buy tartar sauce, since it's SO easy to make! Just take about 1/3 cup light miracle whip, 2 TBS relish a sprinkle of garlic powder and s&p. Mix well. 

Easy Peasy Meatballs

These are the easiest yummiest meatballs you'll ever make! They are great on spaghetti, subs, or even as appetizers!

Easy Peasy Meatballs

2 lbs ground beef

2 eggs

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 Tbs milk

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup ketchup

In a large bowl, add all ingredients and mix well. I used my kitchen aid and it mixed it all really well, and quickly! roll into ping pong sized balls and bake at 400 for 30 minutes!