Life SKilLs: Emily G. - Eating

Today we have my great friend, Emily who blogs at The Geyers in Chattanooga. She is a stay at home mama to 2 sweet boys: Crawford (19 mo) and Lawson (1 mo). Life is a bit crazy right now with a newborn, but she took the time to answer my questions!

Emily asked me to use this photo - this is REAL LIFE, people! :)

Check out her answers below:

Eating

What is your “food philosophy”? As in, do you cook just because people need to be fed, or do you enjoy/love to cook?

I definitely only cook because people need to be fed. I'm pretty much the opposite of a "foodie", in that I eat very plain, simple things, and really only to satisfy my hunger (which is currently an impossible task 3 weeks after having a baby, nursing that baby and chasing my 19mo old).

What do you typically have for breakfast? What about your kids?

Crawford is on a waffle kick. Sometimes we make them (then freeze a large batch), other times its an eggo. Or three. Lets be real. Other breakfast items include: yogurt, granola, bananas, biscuits, muffins (I make some combo of banana/blueberry/zucchini in large batches and freeze them) or smoothies.

I almost always have cereal. Except this morning I had Julie Darling donuts because my darling husband brought them home for me last night. I should say I almost always have cereal, unless I can have donuts.

What do you typically have for lunch? Kids?

Crawford usually has a grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly or leftovers and fruit. I usually have a grilled turkey sandwich or peanut butter and jelly or honey or leftovers (but I usually don't like leftovers, so it would have had to be a pretty special dinner).

How often do you make/cook/fix dinner each week?

Now is kind of a hard time to answer that... Lawson is 3 weeks old and people have brought us almost every dinner we've eaten since being home from the hospital (thank you, friends!!). Pre-Lawson lately we've really buckled down to eating at home (no take out) every week night and only allowing eating out on weekends or special occasions. So that usually means four nights of "cooking" (sometimes it is simple like a meal I made in advance and froze or David grilling) and one of leftovers.

Do you meal plan?

Yes! A couple months ago we made a list of 20 meals we all like and that are easy enough to actually get made. I had been in a "what do we have for dinner tonight?!" rut, and I found myself going to Pinterest and being overwhelmed by a million new meals that I COULD make. Then, I would make something new and it would be gross. Anyway, we worked our way through that list in about 5 weeks, and now we are starting over. We stared by going to the grocery and stocking up on all the non perishables to make all 20 meals, which cut down on our need for regular, large grocery runs. We usually plan that week's meals on Sunday, and David and I always do it together. I could eat a pb&h sandwich or a bowl of cereal for dinner and be fine with it (so could David sometimes), so it is helpful to me if we can meal plan together. We usually do it in the car on the way to church :).

How often do you eat out each week?

See above. Usually two times. We often get $1 tacos from Mojo on Saturdays before or after church, and usually one other time on the weekend. I almost never eat lunch out. Crawford is so not fun at a restaurant so that helps deter me from wanting to go out and spend money when I could easily eat at home.

Find things about you that are similar to Em? Let us know in the comments!