mom
Life as a mom of 4
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Investing in experiences
While buying a new gaming system might sound like fun to your children, treating them to experiencing different things as a family will help build relationships and lasting memories. And it will probably be easier on your wallet too! We do have an old wii sytem that was given to us and the children do get limited time playing on it (we try to limit screen time to 45 min or so a day not including tv time which depends on the day). During weekends and school breaks we like to have some family fun. There might be an initial money investment but in the long run, it is money…
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Why I changed the way I grocery shop
About a year or so ago, I changed the way I go about making a grocery list. While sticking to a monthly grocery budget (I strive for about $520 a month including our toiletries and paper items), I changed the way I planned my menu and wrote my grocery list. I used to just write my menu then list the ingredients I needed for these meals on my list and then shop typically at Walmart and Aldi. When we moved to a new town, I finally discovered why so many people enjoy shopping at Kroger. While I still do the majority of my shopping at Aldi, these are the steps…
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Dining on steak on a budget
My husband and I love our ribeye steaks. When asked to choose a steak, we will ideally choose a ribeye every time, medium rare. But ribeye steaks are definitely not something too friendly on our budget. A few years ago, the hubby came home with some chuck eye steaks and I was sold! Chuck eye steaks have a very similar taste to ribeyes but the cost per pound is a lot less. We usually can find them for around $6-7/lb versus $13-14/lb for ribeye steaks. Since they can usually only cut two chuck eye steaks from a cow, you may not find many on the beef shelf at the grocery…
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A few of my favorite things : Monday Linkups with the Blended Blog
Must have booties for fall/winter A year and a half ago as part of her recommendations for the Nordstrom Yearly Sale, Audrey from Putting me Together recommended these Franco Sarto granite booties. They are now sold out but if you wear a size 11 you are in luck, Walmart (of all places) has them in that size for $29.99.I had never shopped the sale before so I added them to my cart as well as a sweater. Best decision ever! I wear them with skirts, dresses and my skinnies jeans. They were comfortable from the get go and are holding up well. Favorite new purse My sister in law has…
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Garage makeover
We moved into our new house about a year ago. With 4 boys, my husband’s tools and my old teaching stuff, our garage has had periods of relative organization but without shelving this is what it eventually looks like: Without shelves there is really no way to keep things organized. I enrolled the help of my husband to make some shelves for all of our junk! I needed shelves for the kids’ craft supplies, their outside toys, my tubs of school supplies and husband’s miscellaneous items and space to park riding toys and bikes and toys such as soccer balls and nerf guns. With the help of a you tube…
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Brownie and fruit triffle
Oh Yum! A few years ago, my friend Matushka Joana made a dessert for a special occasion. And it was delicious! It involved cream, chocolate and fruit which is a recipe for success! Now with 4 boys running around in my house, for me to like a recipe, it has to be easy. It is very distracting to try to cook or bake while you have an 18 month old try to be held, boys wrestling or quesioning you in the background. Thankfully this dessert is oh so simple ! Of course, I had to ask her for the recipe. And now I am sharing it with you: Brownie fruit…
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All about me
Chez Mireille I have been playing around with the notion of starting a blog for a couple of years now but have been wondering about my niche. A few weeks ago, I started thinking about who I am and that is how Chez Mireille: fashion, travel, mom started. I am happily married to my husband of 16 years and we have four boys ages 12, 8, 5 and 18 months. Having spent my childhood in the south of France and my last 2 years of high school in Mexico City, I have developed a love of traveling. Since our wedding, my husband and I have traveled to Mexico (honeymoon),…