Ben

I've never been much of a whiner. It's just not in my DNA honestly. I'm so much like my grandmother Puddie. When things get brutal I just put my head down and keep on going. Today Chris kept asking "Are you okay?" And to be honest I didn't know if I would get out of bed this morning. But I did. And for a brief moment as I poured freshly ground coffee into my percolator I forgot what today was. I forgot that this day MADE me the person standing in her kitchen, with a pixie cut, a t shirt with a political candidate's name plastered across my chest that was stained with spit up from the 4am feeding, with three little boys under my feet. As Chris walked out the door for a unexpected work shift his words stayed behind. Was I okay? When our baby sitter got here and I told him about today, he asked me again "Are you okay?" images littered my mind as I stood in my living room swaying back and forth soothing Ollie's upset tummy. A broken phone. A trash can pulled out from under a desk. the words "It's okay because..It's okay because.." repeated themselves over and over again in my head "No?" I said. Because the truth is this day isn't okay. It slays me. Every. Single. Year. So I decided it's time for me to really tell the story of the day my brother Ben died. This story is just really messy. People are messy. My life is messy. But this is it:

In 2005 I was 17, and one of 30 kids picked to represent my county and state as a United States Senate Page. It was a HUGE deal. It meant I would spend 5ish months living in a dorm in DC, going to a prep school from 6-9am every morning and then working a 14 hour day on the United States Senate floor. You could actually see me and the other pages on CSPAN, walking around, sitting on the steps of the rostrum. If we weren't running errands or on the Senate Floor, we were in the back hallway of the floor doing our homework (which was about 6 hours a day of homework, for me at least. I am NOT brilliant and school has always been hard for me. And if our grade point average dropped bellow a C we would be sent home, humiliated. No biggie...) I would sit with my nose in my history book next to Hillary Clinton. or Barrack Obama. It was his freshmen year as a Senator. I knew these people you see on Fox News. Not well, but I knew what they smelled like, I knew how they treated their staff, and I knew how they liked their ice water when they were speaking on the floor.

A DAY into the page program I found myself sobbing hysterically, locked in the girls bathroom of my school. The principle had just given this super inspiring speech about how we would come home super stars basically. They would turn us into Ivy League potential. We would be incredibly successful as adults. WE would come home a sliver of the person that had left our home. And this slayed me. I LIKED myself. I was truly happy, just being me. My little brother was at home dying of a heart condition most people had never heard of. I didn't want to come home a different person. I wanted to just be me. Looking back I really think I started grieving that day, and that deep in my heart I knew Ben would die while I was in DC.
The last time I saw Ben was the morning my parents and I flew to DC. It was very early in the morning and Ben was a night owl, so he was still asleep when I came into his room. I climbed into his bed and hugged him close. He woke up and said "Oh Mary Kate, I love you do much" and then we both cried. I think we knew this was the end for our earthly journey. We were 17 months apart. It felt like we were twins much of the time. From the time I could climb I was in his crib. In most of our family pictures I'm right next to him. My favorite place in the world. That place seems so far away now. Ben had been given a few more years to live at the point I left for DC, so it seems so odd I would be so gripped with fear that he would die before I could get home. But now I know my soul knew something my head couldn't.

I struggled for weeks with homesickness. I was gripped with it and couldn't shake it. Which is bizarre because I'm the last person you would think wouldn't be able to just get it together.. I would call home every night, weeping. It didn't help that being a homeschooler I was a little bit of an outcast. Kids can be mean. And 17 year olds are no exception. Looking back I don't blame them for thinking I was a little bit of an odd ball, with my sheltered background (I didn't get my first kiss until I was 18 folks!) my weird hair, and my just slightly out of style clothes, I was probably a little hard to love. Plus, what high school junior really wants to befriend the girl calling home every night in tears?

By the time March 17th rolled around I could see the sunshine starting to peak through my extreme home sickness and fear. The Republican cloak would (which was kind of like page headquarters) allowed me to call home before lunch every single day, to talk to Ben. It made a big difference. And even tho I was still heading to the library to eat my lunch alone, the ice was starting to thaw and I was slowly getting to know my fellow pages a little more.
I usually called Ben before lunch, but for the first time ever I considered calling him after I came back. I decided against it and called him at 930ish his time. He sounded just terrible. He was mad my mama wouldn't let him take a shower until he and our little brother Robin had a devotional with her. (Had Ben taken a shower that day he would have died, alone. Which was one of my sweet mama's biggest fears)
as we talked his tone softened and the edge left his voice. At the end of our conversation we talked about how I would be flying home in exactly one week for my spring break. I said "Just hold on buddy. Hold on. One more week" "I love you Mary Kate" he whispered. "I love you too buddy" and we hung up the phone. I went off to the library for lunch.
30 minutes later Ben, Robin (then 11) were on the couch in our living room in my childhood room. At this time my mama was suffering from horrible back pain that would leave her on the couch, often almost unable to move the pain was so unbearable. My mama started to the read the Bible, and in the middle of it Ben turned to her and said "Mama, I can't feel my heart anymore" and within seconds he passed away in front of her and Robin. I'm weeping as I type this, because everything happened too quickly. One minute Ben was here, and the next he was in glory. My mama told me she just kept saying "No, not yet. Please, please not yet" For Ben to die this way was almost unbearable. No warning. No time to gather his close knit family around him. My daddy was at his office. My older sister in college 3 hours away, and I was a thousand miles away. The timeline of events is still so fuzzy for me, but I know that Robin called my Daddy. I picture my Dad now, racing down the stairs of his office. The ambulance was rounding the town square heading to our house as he raced to his own vehicle. He followed the ambulance the whole drive to our home, to find my sweet mama on the floor with Ben. She had tried to do CPR but the pain from her back had left her almost unable to move him to a hard surface to perform CPR. One of the paramedics snapped at my mama and said "You tried CPR on the couch?! Don't you know you have to perform it on a hard surface!" But Ben was gone, and no amount of CPR would have ever brought him back. Ben was gone. and I was still at lunch, oblivious to the horror my brother and parents were going through.
Let me add in Chris's story here now- Yes the man I'm married to.
Chris was an Iraqi war combat veteran who had moved to my home town to marry a family friend. Chris had taken my little brothers under his wing in the two years we had known him. He Loved my brothers, spent time with them, and enjoyed being a big brother to them. Two days before Ben's death, on Ben's birthday Chris and his best friend Will had actually spent the day with Ben and Robin watching the Incredibles and just having a blast. At this time Chris was in college finishing up his degree, and worked part time at Will's new sandwich and coffee shop, across the side street from my Dad's office.
I have a feeling that one of the first phone calls made after Ben died was to Chris's Father in law, who was a good family friend. Chris's wife at that point was racing to get to Chris to break the news to him that Ben had passed away, but someone else coming from my Dad's office got to him first. Chris was devastated to be told the news, and as soon as he could he headed to my house and was met by my own dad and his father in law. He walked into my parents bedroom to find my mama, who directed him towards her one of her biggest concerns at the moment- Robin. Chris took Robin outside away from all the prying eyes and walked with him all afternoon, without saying much.
My sister had been told the news and was being driven home, with our childhood friend following in Ana Eason's car.
But there was still me. A thousand miles away. I got back from lunch and started in on my homework. After a good hour of homework our supervisor walked through the hall doors. He nonchalantly looked around the hall at all the pages, I assumed looking for a volunteer to run an errand. I instantly perked up, hoping he would pick me. He picked one of my room mates and then said "Uh, Mary Kathryn you can go too I guess. I need you two to head to the dorm and pick up a package for me" An errand, OUTSIDE?! We were thrilled. On the 15 minute walk we talked about our excitement over Spring Break and how I was buying an ipod from another page for Ben's birthday. I didn't even notice when we walked into our dorm that the school secretary whisked my room mate away. I walked into the school office, and was told I had a phone call. I instantly grew concerned that I was being sent home due to a low GPA. They handed me the phone and told me to call my Dad. The phone rang and rang. I sat quietly waiting, assuming that the phone had rung so many times I would get his voicemail. But then he answered. And at the same time I heard his voice I happened to glance up. The office was totally empty, the door closed. And through the glass window I could see all the employees watching me. I felt nausea claw at my throat. "Mary Kate. Mary Kate" I heard. "Noooo" I moaned. Daddy kept saying "It's okay because he didn't suffer Mary kate. It's okay because he didn't suffer Mary Kate" At this point I heard screaming. Blood curdling screams. I glanced around looking for someone else in the office. I realized it was me. He hadn't told me that Ben was actually gone, so I started to slam the phone into the wooden desk, because if the phone was broken, Ben wasn't really gone. The phone shattered into pieces of plastic, and finally the school employees ran in to take the phone from me. "I'm going to throw up. I'm going to throw up!" I kept shouting. Someone pulled out the trash can from under the desk and I lost my lunch. My lunch I'd eaten alone, hiding in the Senate library, reading Jonathan Edward's sermons.
Someone, I can't remember who, told me I had to call my Dad back. And within seconds of someone handing me a new phone, I felt a surreal strength flow into every bone of my broken little body. I got it together. After reassuring my Dad I was okay, I turned to the school secretary and told her I had to go down to the school computers and change my flight. To this day I have NO idea how I changed that flight, or packed my bags to head home. I then headed back up to the capitol to tell my fellow pages goodbye. I shared with them that Ben was gone, shared that my heart was aching inside, but somehow I was able to point the entire situation back to a providential God. Even if my heart was dying inside of me, I still knew one thing. God had not left his throne. When I got back to the dorm, I was greeted by some truly precious people who had befriended me along the way of my journey of being a page. A young married couple who worked for the MS Senator I was sponsored by, and a chief of staff to a MS congressmen. All three had seen my pain, had witnessed my homesickness, and loved me well through it all. To this day those three people are so precious to me. After telling them goodbye I was taken to the airport and boarded my flight alone. I sat next to two burly, middle aged men who both looked like they weren't up for any type of conversation, which was ideal for me. I sat down, numb and broken inside and stared straight ahead. Five minutes into the flight the younger of the two men turned to me and said "You heading home young lady?" "Yes" I whispered. "Home" "Were you on vacation??" He sure was chatty. "I was a page. My little brother passed away this morning. I need to get home" the younger man nodded his head knowingly, and then his friend next to him began to quietly weep. I stared wide eyed, unable to process why this grown man was weeping over this news from a complete stranger. He stopped crying and turned to me "I lost my younger brother in a car accident two years ago today. I know your pain, and I'm crying over the changes you will experience the moment you get off this plane". I didn't understand this kind strangers news then, but ten years later I certainly do.

Grocery budgets and life lately

Well y'all.
I feel so awkward writing a post after MONTHS of silence! But life has been insanely busy. From mid-July until THIS Sunday almost non stop at least one member of our family or all of us have been out of town. It's been nuts. A good kind of nuts.
Late Summer also brought with is some defining moments for me as a mama. All Spring and Summer I'd been writing prayer cards with questions. Questions I was asking about my life of the Lord. Questions I prayed over. Every. Single. Morning. And one by one. In tiny little ways the Lord began to answer each and every one. Sometimes the answers weren't want I wanted. Sometimes they were glorious. Many of the big answers to my prayers came at the end of Summer. They slammed into me. One by one. Wave upon wave of emotions overwhelmed as the Lord opened me eyes. Allowed me courage. Allowed me to say in some situations "No. You may come here but no further. THIS. This stops today" Things that had been allowed to go on in my life for years and years were finally brought to a head. It was scary. It was beautiful.
Some answers were truly sweet. A positive pregnancy test Easter morning. Little boys growing from babies to little men before my eyes. Growth in my marriage. Growth in my heart.
Something else that happened over the past few months is Chris and I started to really simplify our life. With Oliver coming in December, it was time to truly decide what was important to us as a family. A few things surfaced for us: Home schooling the boys. Living a slow, and simple life with our children. Growing Merri Babies and hopefully taking it to the next level-We would love for it to become a family business one day and not just my business where I work from home part time. Continuing to build a community of precious friends around us as our family grows.
We also wanted to pay off a little debt before Oliver came, and part of paying off that debt began by simplifying and cutting our budgets down. WAY down. Especially the grocery budget. We realized that we were wasting SO much food. And that needed to stop. Chris put me in charge of the grocery issue and I got right to work. With a lot of research, prayer, and pinteresting I've been able to keep our budget at around $50 a week. It has not been easy but I feel really good about where we are right now. I've been adhering to this budget for a few months now so I feel pretty comfortable sharing more about it with you on here.

To keep to the budget I shop at a few places: Aldi mostly. Costco, the local farmers market, and Trader Joe's. This week I only went to the Farmer's market and Aldi. I also made another big change to our shopping budget by finding another farm source for our raw milk. I'm able to pay only $6 a gallon with a .50 delivery fee per gallon instead of $11 a gallon. Whew! That was killing me.
I was a little nervous about this shopping trip because we had been out of town on and off for weeks-so we were out of A LOT of the basics. We eat very simply anyway so this isn't usually a problem BUT we were totally out of meat. I don't get my 40lbs of Zaycon Foods all natural chicken until Oct and we had eaten the last of a bulk purchase of grassfed beef before we left for North Carolina the week before. So things were a bit dicey.
I try and NOT buy any beef or chicken unless it's in bulk and up to our high quality standards. So every now and then we have a few weeks where we eat vegetarian while I finish saving for a new shipment of beef, or until a chicken sale happens at Zaycon.

Anyway- here is the breakdown money/food wise for us for the next two weeks (started on Saturday)

I was able to buy 2 gallons of raw milk on Friday for $13. This SHOULD last us two weeks if I'm careful.

Ben and I went to the Winter Park Farmer's market on Saturday morning and bought three $1 grab bags filled with cucumbers, red peppers and onions. We bought $4 worth of tomatoes and a basket of peaches for $5. That's $12 total for that trip. The cucumbers are for snacks and the onions, tomatoes and peppers I'll use for crockpot marinara with my basil from the back yard and probably chop up for fried rice one night. (Side note- It was SUPPOSED to be marinara. I used half the veggies we bought but I added too much water and it ended up being really, really good tomato soup!)

Aldi:
2 bags of gmo free corn chips
2 bags of pepperoni
4 packages of bacon (two a week for breakfast. It becomes our family meal four days out of the week since Chris isnt home for dinner on nights when he works)
1 large package of dried black beans (I NEVER buy cans anymore. So much cheaper to soak and cook myself)
4 lbs of butter (We only cook with butter, bacon grease (yummmm!) or coconut oil)
2 containers sour cream
1 jar natural peanut butter (this is Christopher Robin's favorite thing in the whole world. Give him the jar and a spoon and he is in hog heaven)
2 packages cream cheese (Melt half a package with black beans and 2 tablespoons home made taco seasoning. Add to rolled up tortillias and bake for some aaamazing black bean burritos)
2 packages tortillas
6 pack of raisins
1 package blueberries-These are from a Florida farm so I was okay with buying them. They're for pancakes :)
4 dozen eggs-We eat A LOT of eggs. And usually I go and get the two dozen organic free range eggs from Costco but at $8 a pack I went the $1.49 route this time.
Total: 62.03

Grand total for the two week ($50 a week or $100 total) grocery budget: 87.03. I will need to buy coffee soon so that will come out of this budget as well. But so far so good :) I'll also buy fresh fruit with whatever money is left over at the local farmers market next weekend.
Also- I planned my meals on a monthly timeline and make an entire pinterest board of all the recipes to keep myself more organized. Here is the link to my September board http://www.pinterest.com/marymerri/sept-50-a-week/

Enjoy friends!! I hope this inspires you :)

Merri Babies giveaway!

I usually TRY and keep this personal blog about all things Merri men related seperate from my business Merri Babies, BUT I can't let my faithful readers miss out on a super cute giveaway going on over at www.urbansqueaks.com

In your vast amount of space time today, head on here to the giveaway http://www.urbansqueaks.com/merri-babies/
and enter to win the cutest gift set ever! I'm obsessed with the elephants!
That's all I got for today :)

Healing my soul, one loaf of bread at a time.

Lots of things going on in my mind and heart this month. It's a mixed bag of emotions for me, this crazy month of March. My first born Ben, was born this month. His sweet little existence rocked my world in such a beautiful way. But it's also the month (It's all the same week actually) I lost my precious brother, two days before we also celebrated my brother's birthday. Such joy. Such aching grief. All there. All so very real, and all very worthy of a place in my heart.
As I sort through these emotions, I've taken to creating. I've been doing a lot of new stuff with my business, but I'm also baking a lot as well. (If you're wondering, the state of my laundry is INSANE!)
Baking is hard for me because it is so precise. But at times, I need that kind on consistency in my day to day routine. I usually bake many different breads, change it up for our family every now and then, since we don't buy bread at the store.
But, THIS recipe I'm about to share with you today, HEALS MY SOUL. I'm not being dramatic. At all.
Every time I make it, I know that flour+salt+yeast+water+time= a culinary masterpiece. If you want to get real crazy, you could say this bread recipe is a lot like me. Very simple life+lots of time+days spent in the fire (ha!)= a joyful existence.

Maybe that's reaching a bit far ;)

Ben says: shut ya mouth already lady, and gimme the bread recipe!

So without further ado, here is the most simple, easy, soul healing bread you're ever going to make. EVER.

6 cups Organic, unbleached all purpose flour (Do not skimp on this! Use the organic unbleached, you won't be sorry! Do not use whole wheat, do not, do not, do not!)
3 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
3 cups water

That's it! Oh yeah, and you need a dutch oven, or some oven safe pot that has a lid.

Mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a big bowl. Add the water and mix with a wooden spoon. It's not going to look pretty. Once it's combined, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it hang out on the counter for 12-18 hours, or over night. I always make mine right before bed, then bake in the morning.

after it's risen for 12-18 hours- put your dutch oven IN the oven, empty, with the top on, and turn on the oven to 450.

While the oven is pre-heating divide the dough into two round pieces. You'll need lots of flour for this. Leave the two pieces of dough to rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove the dutch open (carefully!) and gently drop one round piece into the pot. Put the top on and place it back into the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes with the top on, then remove the top and bake for an additional 15 minutes (My oven is super hot and took about 10 mins)
Remove the bread from the dutch oven, let it cool on a cooling rack and repeat with the other loaf.

Ain't it pretty?!

Sadness and yogurt

The boys are playing relatively quietly in Ben's room with legos and the sound machine. So I thought I'd take a hot minute and write a post about the most amazing thing to come out of my crockpot since cinnamin rolls..

home made yogurt!!

I actually have been making home made yogurt in my crockpot for years, but I stopped making a lot of things from scratch after we lost the baby back in October. I lack creativity in some areas of life when I'm sad. Which is totally okay. It's a GOOD thing to rest and be kind to yourself when you're grieiving! It's also a good thing to allow yourself the freedom to be sad. Surprised I'm still talking about the miscarriage? I think it's on my mind more and more as my due date in April approaches. But that's another blog post in itself.
This one is about yogurt :)

For crockcpot yogurt you need three things: A crockpot. 1/2 gallon organic or raw whole milk. 1/2 cup organic yogurt. And a lot of time at home. We are home all day every day so this isn't a big deal for us, but do this over a weekend if you work out of the home.

As usual, I want to give credit to the origignal recipe, and here is the link: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html


Here is my version:

1/2 gallon raw or organic milk. I used the Publix Greenwise brand for this.

1/2 cup organic yogurt. I used Stonyfield organic whole milk, french vanilla yogurt. I also used a little more than half a cup.

--thick bath towel


The Directions.


Turn your crockpot to low and add half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.


Turn off crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours. I'm really bad about remembering crockpot cooking times so I stuck a sticky note on the crockpot with a "I'm done at 4pm" kinda note, because I'm a space cadet like that.

When 3 hours, scoop out 2 cups of the milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup yogurt. Then pour the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.



Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.


I went to bed, but you could always just time it for 8 hours. Again, sticky notes help a lot if you're a nut like this girl.

In the morning when you wake up, prepare to have you mind blown. I'm not even kidding. Stick a long spoon in that wonderful-ness and it will be thick!!!!!!! I died a little the first time I did this.
Pour your yogurt into a half gallon mason jar if ya wanna get fancy, and allow it to chill all the way through. Then add some honey to sweeten, toss some granola on top..and yum!!
Should stay fresh in your fridge for about 10 days.

Whole Foods and Chicken Curry

I am madly in love with Whole Foods. I'm not kidding. Chris and I go there on dates. It's my happy happy happy place.
But what I don't love about whole foods is I can blow my entire monthly budget there, and come home with exactly one sack of groceries. But one thing I can't resist at Whole Foods is their curry chicken salad . I'm not proud of it, but there have been times I've sat in the van with the kids watching a DVD in the backseat and I've eaten that yumminess straight out of the container..without a fork. Yup. I'm a nut. But y'all..After chasing to boys around all day, Mama gets hungry!
But good news!!! I found a recipe that is surprisingly easy and just as yummy as the stuff at WF.

As usual, here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20609982,00.html

And here is my tweaked version:

• 2 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp. curry powder
• ¼ cup real fruit jam-I used home made orange marmalade
• ¼ cup organic sour cream
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup finely chopped organic celery
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (I ended up having to boil the chicken instead of bake, but I prefer baking)

2. Rub the chicken breasts with 1 tbsp. curry powder, sea salt and pepper, place them on a lightly greased baking sheet and roast until a meat thermometer registers 125 to 160 degrees in the thickest part, or until the juices run clear. This is usually about 35 minutes. Once the chicken is baked, throw it in your kitchen aid mixer. Yup! Your mixer. Turn the mixer on low speed and lock it. Let the mixer shred the chicken to the desired size you want.

3. After the chicken is shredded, throw in 1 Tablespoon curry powder with jam, sour cream and mayonnaise. Mix. Then add in the celery and salt and pepper and mix. And you're done!
This should keep in the fridge for about 5 days. Enjoy!!

Costco, Farmers market, and my idols.

Okay y'all. I'm coming down from the mountain of fun we had at Target (insert sarcasm here) and a oven repair man who wanted to know why my THREE year old was not in school, and then proceeded to make some pretty "judgey" comments about home schooling. Blah....

I've got lavender oil in the diffuser right now, hoping it will chill out this major attitude I have.
As I mentioned in the precious grocery budget post, I've spent a total of $107 on groceries so far.
I have two more trips to add to this budget now.

First- Costco. Costco was about stocking up on basics that didn't need to be baked and items that could be kept in the freezer.
I bought:
2 flats of Sweet Hawaiian Rolls 3.69 each (These rolls are obviously not as healthy as the home made bread and whole wheat hamburger buns I make, but they are a nice option to keep in the freezer for left over BBQ chicken, chicken salads, etc for lunches. Plus they are the perfect size for sliders)
2 sacks of hot dog buns 4.69 each (I made a mistake and bought the large buns. Oops! again, not super healthy but we are always having company over and hot dogs are a fantastic option for little guys)
2 packages Hebrew national hot dogs. 10.39 each (I'd obviously prefer the Coleman brand hot dogs, but those are only a seasonal item)
2 packages Kerrygold Grass fed butter 6.99 each (I cannot say enough about how amazing this butter taste and how great is it for you! We bake with it, cook eggs and veggies in it, and I make butter candy with it for the little dudes)
Total: 62.21

Every Monday night I try and make my way up to the Audubon Park Farmers Market. This is where I get my raw milk, farm fresh eggs, and try out fun cuisine for dinner. My little brother Robin baby-sat the little men so Chris and I actually went together and made it a date. Nothing like sipping a beer, and holding hands with your hubby while buying raw milk. those three things MAY or may not be my idols. Ha!
I bought 3 gallons of raw milk (We go through three gallons a week) at $11 a gallon- $33
and 2 dozen free range, farm fresh eggs at $4 a dozen. Which made my total $44

Alrighty. Let me break down the budget numbers for you so far:
I have $320 every month for groceries, toiletries, etc.
Aldi-$107
Costco- 62.21
Farmers Market $41
Total for Feb-$210.21 Yikes!! Only 89.79 left for the entire month. Let's see how it goes for the rest of the month!

again- Here is my menu for February:
Meals for February:
Breakfast:

Smoothies
Bacon and eggs and granola
Granola and scrambled eggs
Organic animal crackers with apples dipped in peanut butter and honey
Eggs over spinach with hollandaise sauce
Organic cheerios with dried fruit
Cinnamon Rolls
Potato and cheese skillet with eggs
Florentine hash skillet
Whole wheat chocolate chip muffins
Oatmeal with dried fruit and maple syrup

Lunches:

Hot dogs and chips and dried fruit
Granola and bacon
Annie's Bunnies and cheese
Left overs
Bean and cheese burritos
Smoothies
Grilled chicken in rice with green veggies
BBQ chicken and guacamole quesadillas
Tacos or nachos
Curry chicken salad over Hawaiian rolls
BBQ chicken over baked potatoes with broccoli

Dinners:

Loaded twice baked potatoes
Veggie fried rice
Meatballs and potatoes
Korean Beef over rice
Burrito rice bowls
Broccoli and cheese soup
Crockpot pineapple chicken
Chicken and asparagus penne pasta
Roasted red paper Alfredo
Chicken avocado soup, or some kind of tortilla soup
Egg-drop soup and garlic chicken over fried rice

And for recipes here is my pinterest board for February: http://www.pinterest.com/marymerri/february-meals/