Reflections, Revelations, and Refried Beans

Soooooo...How long until you are out for the Winter Break?

Me?
Hmmm...
I'm not sure...
I have to think about this, I mean really, I hadn't even thought of it...

Yeah, right!
Whoohoo!

I just can't wait!
We will be running around here like Betty's with our heads cut off!
Christmas Eve is at our house (again).
Then Christmas Day is actually pretty uneventful.
And the day after that, The Mr's parents are going to be in town.

So in addition to working for the next 7 school days, I have to do all the regular
pull-your-hair-out Christmas things.
Last minute shopping.
Present snooping.
Baking.
Present snooping.
Cleaning.
Present snooping.

(if you are ever inclined to give me a gift, which  I am about the most grateful person you will ever know BTW, be sure that you do not have to hide it -
or heck, for that matter, even have to leave it unattended for any length of time.

I'm a snooper.

I can't help it!
I have to look.
I literally cannot help myself.

I have even had conversations with myself.
Like "Self, you know how disappointed you would be with the Littles if they were snooping and ruined a big surprise."
(I pretended that I listened to myself, I didn't)
I waited until I wasn't looking and then I peeked anyway!!!

With all of the crazy holiday stuff going on in the Squirrel household, we have developed some terrible
and I mean TERRIBLE eating habits lately.
I have come home sooooo wiped out!
I have meals planned(sometimes), but we have to pass three or four places to get to the house and it is so much easier to stop and throw away all the dinner trash then it is to go home, cook, listen to the Littles and the Mr complain, and then have to clean it all up!!

But I walked past a full length mirror (those should be outlawed in EVERY STATE) when I took
the oldest male Little to the Dr the other day- and wow.
Whoa.
Gee- Willikers, Beav.
I was shocked and amazed!

That was not the same person that was in there a few months ago-
Nope.
I don't know where she went, but she was not present in my reflection.
Maybe she left for Winter Break early?

So the Mr and I talked.
And he is a VERY intelligent man, so he disagreed with every flaw that I saw in that EVIL full length mirror.
He swore I must have been seeing things.

Technically, I was.
I was seeing LOTS of things,
Lots of round things.
There were round cheeks (top and bottom)
some roundish hips
and when I stood sideways, there was a little bit of "round-i-ness" there too.
At first I was perplexed because I distinctly remember having the last Little almost 9 years ago-
so I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.

And then it hit me.
I saw a hint of a #3 with no onions from Mickey Ds. I saw a little of a #4 with no tomatoes from Wendy's- with the $.99 Frosty
(can't argue with the price)
There was also A LOT of Dr Pepper and a ton of other yucky meals and food choices rearing their ugly heads!

So it was decided that we (I) would get back on track.
Making that menu every week.
Shopping responsibily.
Cutting out the empty calories.
Having more fruit on hand.
and
Portion size.
Portion size.
Portion size.

So we spent a little more than usual (kind of ironic- spending more to eat less)
 and we bought a few things that were already portion. And lots of ziplocs to pre-portion- that way a box of something doesn't disappear in the blink of an eye.
We reinstated the Fruit is the only snack after 7 rule.
I like that rule- I love some sliced fruit.....

We are brave little squirrels, knowing that candies and cookies are going to find their way to our door step over the next month or so. And it is going to be rough getting back into my kitchen fulltime
(I really don't enjoy it that much)
As in I LOATHE it.
Like if I were a housewife in the 50's , they would have burned my apron, taken away my batter bowl and mixing spoon, and blacklisted me from any potluck socials-
I'm not a "bad" cook- I just don't do it with a smile:)

I did make a yummy EASY dinner this evening-
I credit it to the 5 Ingredients or Less Cookbook that the Mr bought me a few years ago- I was a little insulted.
(Not as insulted as the year he gave me Trivia for Dummies for Christmas, but perturbed nonetheless.)

It was super easy.
Ready?
You only need
1 bag of tortilla chips
1.5 lbs of ground beef
1 can cream of chic
1 16 oz jar of salsa
shredded cheese

Spread some cooking oil on the bottom of the pan. Put 3/4 of the bag of chips in. Pour the cooked ground beef mixed with cream of chic soup on top.

 Add the jar of salsa, then cheese. bake for 25 mins add the rest of chips, bake for 5 more or til chips are golden.

 I also made these easy peasy burritos

1lb ground beef
1 can refried beans
shredded cheese.
I think the pics explain....

 (There are only 5 of us, but the Mr always makes the next day's lunch from the leftovers)

 A box of spanish rice.
And Voila!
It's a meal that even Truman would beg for:)

 So let's recap.
I had a revelation about our horrible eating habits and I cooked one meal!
Yippee for me!

(Really, it's the little things that make me happy)

I have two more Easy Peasy meals on my menu this week- if things don't get too crazy, I'll tell ya about those too!

In the mean time,
stay away from any Full Length Mirrors-

New Look! New Button! Same ole Chatter!

Hello my stuffed bloggy friends!
I ate entirely too much....and it took w-a-y too long! I could only chew on the left side of my mouth! But I suffered through the pain and made sure that I was able to eat as much as I could!(This is me after I finished eating) har har!

I did get out of the kitchen though....because of the "throbbing".....it really did hurt kind of REALLY BAD! (I'm such a stinker!)

We went around the table and my beautiful children made me cry! We do the "what are you thankful for" around the table before anyone can eat. Each of them was very serious and sweet and everyone was thankful for family.

Now I don't want to assume anything, but after dinner, we all go through the Black Friday ads and the children let the rest of the family know what is on their list....I am wondering if they have made the connection from "I'm so thankful for YOU" to "BUY ME THIS!!!" (They are definitely my children!)

You may have noticed the new look! I was surfing last night and found this wonderful blog!

I REALLY liked the red,black, and white that I had before, but it was a scrapkit and I had to change the html and css codes all the time....and I started confusing myself! This template was free and I purchased the embellishment kit for the low, low price of $.75! I think the main seller for me was this:

ADORABLE! This is my absolute favorite dessert for lunch! I joked just the other day that if all this pressure we are under doesn't change, I want to get a job at the hostess factory and I want to be in charge of putting the little swirlies on top of the cupcakes!!!! I bet that is a stress free job!

Anyway...the MR has a big football game to watch today and then he has to get all the Christmas stuff down from the attic. During the holidays, I change the ringtone for him to "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch".....He takes the boxes out of the attic and he puts them back, but he does not participate at all in the decorating!

He says it is because I am too picky about where the ornaments go on the tree....I know you will side with me on this, you cannot have two of the same ornament right next to each other!!! And you have to spread stuff out! Last year I compromised and waited until they went to bed to move them around.

One thing I am dreading though is the Elf on the Shelf!

A relative bought him for a us a few years ago...and the elf (who they named Gary) has to be in a different spot each morning, so you know that he left, reported to Santa, and came back.....The story and the elf are cute! But I can't remember to move that $^#*% thing every night! (One time my oldest son asked if the Tooth Fairy had an email address because it had been two weeks and his tooth was still on his headboard!!!).....

I am seriously considering hiding Gary and then have him write the family a friendly letter telling them that he was homesick and decided to stay in the North Pole, but not to worry, he'll still put in a good word for them!

Do you have any "traditions" that you secretly wish you could get out of?....Come on, we promise not to tell anyone!!!!

Enjoy your next two days off!