2+2=??

I'm beginning to seriously question whether or not many adults would be able to solve that little math problem. I know not everyone is good at math, but everyone should be able to handle simple addition and subtraction and I don't think asking that someone be able to multiply or divide simple equations is too out of line. Here are two examples from my last week where simple math was just too much for some cashiers I had to deal with (really?!? These are the people you trust with your money...)

• We were buying seeds, plants and bulbs for our garden over the weekend. They were selling bulk onion bulbs for $2.99/qt. We purchased a half quart and the cashier had to get out a calculator to figure out that she should charge us $1.50. The really sad part, is that she had to try 3 or 4 times before she came up with an answer - so she's apparently not good at math or using a calculator.
• We were at Target last night so I could pick up a maternity tank top and get Chloe a going home outfit (it's adorable, FYI.) I was paying cash with money from our envelopes - yes, Chloe has her own clothing envelope. The total w as $21.14 and I gave the cashier $21.25. I originally gave her $21 and was rooting around, looking for change. The cashier must have entered "21" while I was searching and then "21.25" when I gave her a quarter, so the register saidthat she owed me $2100.11 in change. She knew this wasn't right, asked if the total had been $21.14, which I confirmed, and then gave me $0.09 in change. It was close to dinnertime, and I wasn't feeling super polite, so I didn't say anything and just left two cents short.

Maybe we'll encourage our kids to learn simple math by banning calculators in our house until they start in on calculus.

Menu Plan Monday

I haven't posted our meal plan in a while, but with the impending arrival of BabyMort, I want to make sure we're still sticking to this as much as possible. My temp job ends this week, so I'll have a lot more free time to try out some new recipes and stock up our freezer meals as well. Plus, I think we have a pretty good menu this week, so I wanted to share :-)

Sunday - NY Strip Steak w/ grilled stir-fry veggies and mashed potatoes (the leftover steak will be used for quesadillas for lunches and the leftover potatoes will be used in another recipe later this week)
Monday - Tacos
Tuesday - Pasta w/ marinara sauce with pureed squash and italian sausage (This was a great idea for getting veggies in, posted over on Lovely Ladies Dish on the Dish)
Wednesday - Grilled Burgers w/ grilled asparagus
Thursday - Mexican Pizzas (We're using the leftovers from tacos, but getting a whole different meal out of it. This is something we want to try to do more, so we don't get tired of eating leftovers.)
Friday - Perogy Lasagna (This is my first day of unemployment again, so I thought I'd try out a new recipe. I'm going to make two 8x8's instead of a 9x13 and freeze one.)
Saturday - Frozen Pizza (My baby shower is on Saturday - hooray for great family and friends!! - so we're not really sure how our day will end up and wanted to stick with something easy.)

For more ideas, head over to The Organizing Junkie.

Three Dogs and A Softie (or 2)

Someone made a comment a few months ago about Nick the dog looking a little chubby. Aaron and I hadn't really noticed it, but then again, we see him every day. Steve the dog still looked fine and Max the dog didn't look any different to us either, so we figured they were doing fine. They all got the same opportunities to eat and exercise, so if the other 2 were fine, then how could Nick be gaining weight??

Fast forward a couple months...Max's owners are in town and stop by the house - immediately commenting on how Max has put on some weight. Really?? We hadn't noticed it... Then we start thinking about how even if Steve had put on weight, we wouldn't be able to tell, because he's so darn furry. And then we discovered that a 55 pound bag of dog food was lasting only 2 weeks. That seemed a little ridiculous. We decided the boys needed to go on a diet.

In comes the softies. Ever since Nick joined the family almost 4 years ago, the dogs have been fed pretty much whenever their bowls were empty, because we never knew which dog(s) had eaten and which hadn't. I didn't want my boys to go hungry and I just kept thinking, how do you limit the amount of food you're giving 3 dogs when you're never sure if they've all eaten??

Then we figured it out. You train them using rewards, just like anything else with a dog. The plan: We'd been given a case of wet dog food by my parents, because Pluto's stomach has gotten sensitive in her old age and it made her sick (which then discovered after buying a whole case of this particular brand.) So, every night when we got home, we'd give each dog 1/3 can of wet food with their dry food so they'd gobble it up. In addition, we'd give them each a cup of food in the morning so they weren't going 24 hours without eating - or at least without the opportunity to eat. Over time, we'd decrease the amount of wet food they were getting until they were just getting dry food, assuming they'd be conditioned to eating at the same time by that point.

We're down to just a few cans of wet food, so we're trying to wean them off. We thought we'd see what they did if we gave them only dry food the other night. And boy did we get our answer - they totally snubbed it!! All 3 looked at us like we were crazy when they realized there was no wet food in their dishes. Then they ate like half their food and walked away.

I haven't decided yet if this means our plan was a failure, they didn't learn anything, or if it means we're still giving them more food than they really need. I can tell you one thing though - Aaron and I will no longer feel guilty, wondering if they've all gotten enough food. They get their chance and it's not our problem if they choose not to eat!!

Stay skinny to go green...??

I saw this article and thought it was interesting. I guess it makes sense since some of the biggest contributing factors to obesity are eating more and exercising less. This means more food production and transportation costs, as well as more transportation costs associated with transporting people more often and heavier people.

I'm always looking for new ways to go green, so I thought I'd share!!