Grocery Shopping I'll Actually Do

I absolutely hate grocery shopping. I think I lack “grocery intuition” – I am never able to find the exact product I need and I usually spend countless minutes roaming up and down the rows looking for what I need (or tracking down employees to point me in the right direction). I also have to call my mother at least two times every time I go grocery shopping to ask her exactly where I might find something, never mind the fact she lives five hours away and has never set foot into the store where I am standing.

My deficiency in grocery skills does nothing but encourage my poor eating habits. For instance, when I bought my house, my mom and aunt stocked my cupboards with some staples…..and I proceeded to not set foot in a grocery store for the next four months (my poor eating habits have been well documented on this blog….). I end up eating way too many overly-processed or frozen foods.

This summer I started a new grocery shopping habit. It almost happened by accident: I had an especially busy week and I needed to get food for a weekend at the cabin with friends. My only chance to get to the store was also the night my roommate called to see if I wanted to enjoy the beautiful night and play tennis. Of course, I chose tennis. Later that night, I went online and signed up for Coborn’s Delivers. In a matter of 20 minutes (about the amount of time it takes me to drive to the store and back) I had bought all of my groceries for the weekend! I knew I was onto something….something I would just love! I’ve been using Coborn’s Delivers ever since. Here is what I love:

• There is NO charge for pick up, and the charge for delivery is only $5.00. At the pick up, you drive over a sensor to alert them you are there, and all of your groceries are loaded into your car for you - never having to leave your car.
• You can save your shopping lists, so if there are items you get frequently, they will be ready for you to click and buy.
• One page has a list of all of the special sale items (for example: I would normally have gotten Diet Coke, but I saw that Pepsi products had a great sale, so I got those instead).
• You can type in any coupons at the checkout screen, so you still are saving if you are a coupon clipper.
• Many nights after work I am just too tired to make myself walk around the grocery store and stand in line at the checkout. I can go online and shop while I'm in my pajamas watching TV - in about the same amount of time it takes me to drive to the store anyway.
• You can find specific items SO much faster - just type them into the search box. I wasted at least ten minutes walking around the grocery store last week looking for Rotella (for a delicious dip recipe my sister gave me) and the whole time I was thinking "if I was shopping online I would already be done with this!!"...but I hadn't planned ahead enough to do that.
• Also, when you search an item (like "pickles"), you get an entire page of results with all of the prices and specials listed as well. More than a few times I've gone with a different brand because of specials that I wouldn't have noticed in the grocery store (though more seasoned grocery shoppers may have noticed them).

All that to say....Coborn's Delivers is my new best friend!

Even More Suggestions

In response to my last post, my sister sent me a link to an awesome source for even more fun suggestions of things to do in the cities. Enjoy!

Sew Fun

I mentioned a little while back that I have many babies entering my life. As of about a month ago, I had 12 pregnant friends - six of them are girls who had me in their weddings (HW, MS, AD, AH, LM, JW)! Now two of those girls have their babies in their arms already (one baby all the way from Africa!!) and I am getting behind on baby gifts already! After spending $70 at Babies-R-Us last week, I decided some of these kiddos are going to be getting some handmade gifts (of the inexpensive variety). My sister also asked me how to make some burp cloths, which are a little tough to explain without demonstrating (or having pictures), so I just thought I would document it here for her!

Here are the instructions for flannel burp rags:

1. Choose four flannel fabrics and cut them into 12"x12" blocks

2. Stack the blocks in the order you want the fabrics (this will make sense after you see the final product, but I usually have a print on the back and three coordinating plain flannels on top). Place the first fabric right side DOWN, and the other three fabrics on top of it, right side UP.
3. Using 3/4" masking tape, place tape diagonally across the fabric stack, evenly spaced at 3/4" apart.4. Pin the four fabrics together.5. Using a coordinating color of thread, sew alongside the masking tape. Try to avoid sewing on the masking tape since that makes it harder to pull off cleanly. I flipped this over in the picture so that you can see how it looks along the back (you might have to look pretty close here...sorry...).5. Remove the tape and cut through the top TWO fabrics between every area that you sewed. (Try to keep your cutting as much in the center of each section as possible)6. This is what the burp rag will look like after you complete your cutting. Trim the threads from the edges. Wash and dry.7. Done! (Trim the edges again after washing and drying).So, that's what I've done in the past for burp rags. It's pretty fast and kinda cute, BUT I think I discovered an even better burp rag idea! Here it is:

1. Wash, dry, and iron a cloth diaper. Cut out a piece of flannel to the same size as the diaper. Pin the two together.
2. Sew along the outer edge of the diaper with a coordinating color thread. I also sewed along the edges of the middle section of the diaper to add just a little something visually (you can barely see that in this photo).
3. Sew on a binding of a coordinating color. If you don't know how to do binding, follow the instructions found on this page. (Side note: I started with a 2.5" piece of fabric for the binding, but if I did it again, I would use 3" due to the thickness of the diaper and the flannel. When trying to complete the binding by hand, I was wishing there was more fabric to fold over the edge.) (Another side note: I think completing the continuous binding is the absolute most confusing thing there is about sewing/quilting. So just take a deep breath, go slowly, and try to just do it right the first time. Ugh.)4. Hand sew the binding on to complete your project. SO easy, SO cute, and SO inexpensive. The greatest thing about this project is that you barely need any fabric, so you can search the the remnants at your favorite fabric outlet and get a steal! I'll be able to make about four burp rags out of the fabric I bought out of the remnants for $2.99! And, even though I've never been a mom, the mom I am hanging out with this weekend while I finished this sewing said that this type of burp rag will probably be very useful and practical, too. Score!
(Final side note: I got this idea when I saw a burp rag given to a friend that had a cute fabric sewn down the middle part of the diaper. That would also be an awesome project/gift, but I don't have a machine that does the cute stitches, so I wanted to do something where I could finish off the edges. But if you have a machine like that, that's another idea! Wouldn't it be cute if you used the same fabric and did one burp rag each way as a gift?? Sew fun!)

Did You Know....

Warning: this post has the potential to be EXTREMELY random. So, you can just pretend we were chatting in person, since chatting with me is about as random as it gets.

Sometimes I think, "They (whoever 'they' is) should create [fill in the blank]. Then life would be more convenient". Well, I have discovered that a few of these convenient "things" have indeed already been created. Maybe you've already been aware of them, but if not, here is some info.

• Have you ever been driving a car you aren't familiar with and you need to fill it with gas? You start craning your neck to see which side the gas tank is on, correct? Worst case scenario, you pull up to the pump, get out, and realize the tank is on the other side of the car. WELL, did you know that there is an arrow on the gas gauge in the car to indicate which side the tank is on?! All you have to do is look at the gauge and see which way the arrow is pointing! GENIUS! I had never noticed that before.
• Did you know that tin foil dispensers (and plastic wrap, et al.) have tabs on the end of the boxes that will keep the roll in the box as you pull out and tear off what you need? I have always thought that pulling out tin foil is so CLUMSY and then someone pointed out that little ingenious invention to me. Sweet.
• A friend of mine has a new favorite drink at Starbucks and I had a sip of it the last time we were together. I can't remember the exact name of it, but it was an apple-chai-tea-hot-drink-thing. It is delicious. I went ahead and figured out how to make it at home: heat up apple juice in a mug and then steep a packet of chai tea in the apple juice (I bought decaffeinated tea so I can have a glass at night). I think the Starbucks version might have something creamy in it, which you could easily add, but I have really enjoyed this yummy drink every night for the last week or so!
• And while we're on the topic of figuring out restaurant versions of stuff, I will tell you about my favorite cornbread muffins (from a great fast food place). All you do is get the Jiffy brand Cornbread Mix and the Jiffy brand Yellow Cake Mix. Combine both mixes and all their ingredients in a bowl, pour the batter into a 8X8 pan, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. YUM! Tastes just like the restaurant.
• Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? My sister has been posting a poem each day. We had a College Prep teacher in high school who was a writer and had a great love of poetry. We started each class with a poem of the day and I'm thankful that he made me slow down enough to appreciate and start to love poetry. You should check out her blog for some great poems.
• Also, that same sister has A BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday, Eva Joy. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Now you know something new, I hope. You're welcome. If you already knew all of these things, then you should post a comment of some other helpful little inventions, or something else that you know about. I like to learn about these kinds of things.

Hallelujah!!

My favorite chore around the home is laundry (by the by, my least favorite chore is doing dishes...) BUT I HATE FOLDING FITTED SHEETS! What a mess they become. In fact, I don't even fold them, I just ball them up.

I saw this tutorial on a blog today and it MADE MY WEEK!! Check it out. Maybe you all are geniuses who have already figured this out, but I am not, so this will seriously help so much!