I can’t even describe to you how crazy behind I am with all matters domestic and blog-related right now. Apologies!

What we’re eating:

Sunday — We went out! With friends! And no children! We even stopped at a second location for dessert!

Monday — Chicken Chili (not traditional, I know, but we needed something quick)

Tuesday — Rosh Hashanah dinner with friends at our house. Honey chicken, apple slaw, mashed potatoes, and whatever they bring to pass

Wednesday — White cheddar corn chowder

Thursday — Quick Enchiladas (recipe below)

Friday — Pizza night!

Saturday — Stir fry veggies and frozen sesame chicken from Trader Joe’s

* * *

Quick Enchiladas — my very own recipe

• 1 8-10 ounce container of fresh or jarred salsa
• 1 6-ounce container of plain yogurt (can substitute cream cheese or sour cream)
• 1 tablespoon low sodium taco seasoning
• 1-2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded or in cubes, or one can of pinto or black beans
• 1 package shredded cheese (cheddar, taco mix, jack, whatever you prefer)
• 6 fresh tortillas

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients except for 1/2 of the cheese and the tortillas in a large bowl. Spray a pyrex baking dish with oil spray. Fill each tortilla with the filling mixture and place in the dish rolled up and with the ends folded over.
2. When the dish is full, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake with foil on top for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese it melted and tortillas have gotten crisp.

I was starting posts on the upcoming holidays (Jewish High Holy Days and some Green Halloween stuff) when I read Living Cheap and Green’s post on staying green in this economy. A lot of very good points, and it got me to thinking…

I started sage because I am an incurable bargain hunter (my husband claims I will buy something we don’t need when it is on sale before something we desperately need at full price, and he’s totally right) but I couldn’t find a consistent source of deals, coupons, and specials that catered to my green leanings. But in addition to the bargain hunt, we’d been living on one income since I went on bedrest last year, and I’m always going to do everything I can to keep organic and natural products in our household. I guess what I’m saying is that I started out here because I wanted to stay green in our household’s new economy, so hopefully what sage has to offer will be even more useful now nearly everyone finds themselves reevaluating their personal finances in one way or another.

With that in mind, I’m going to focus even more on green frugal how-to (like re-nest’s 7 simple tips for a greener kitchen) over green items that lean on semi-conspicuous consumption (also from re-nest, a $26 eco-friendly cleaning kit you could put together yourself for a lot less money). You definitely do not have to spend more to live within your values!

There is much to love about rikrak. I can speak from personal experience that the customer service is great (I ordered letters in vintage fabric in each of my son’s initials to iron on to their winter coats). Now I have my eye on two cute gifts for special occasions: the new job and the new home.

For the former, I know I would love an upcycled business card holder like those offered by rikrak for $12. Maybe a cute gift for a new mom, too, with some playdate calling cards!

And for the latter, the similarly fabulous vintage fabric coasters ($14 for 4).

Even as a Jewish family, there are still aspects of the dominant December holiday that pull at me. The song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” always, as well as the in-the-round, “Christmas is Coming.” I think we all can agree, especially when it comes to our green and frugal wishes, that indeed the goose has gotten a little fat. We spend, eat, and worry more than we ought to, even if we just celebrate Hanukkah! Let’s see what we can do together to get prepared, have more authentic times together with our children, be kind to the environment, and make and give gifts that last and matter.

Michelle at Leaving Excess has an amazing series up, “How to Save on Anything.” Really good advice, nicely presented, and timely, with the holiday run-up upon us. I love Kelly’s post at Almost Frugal about gift giving ideas, too. Skip to My Lou has some pretty and easy homemade gifts for adults and also for children.

It’s a good time, as I’ve mentioned before, to address holiday cards and book a family photo session (with a pro or a friend). If you’re going to be making gifts, it’s definitely time to start. If you’re like me an aspire to gift making but might fall short in the execution this year, it’s a fine time to explore local shops for fun gift ideas. If nothing else, make a list of everyone you’ll need to buy for (including, as applies to you, daycare helpers, piano teachers, the poor letter carrier who schleps millions of eBay and Etsy purchases to your door, and then some).

I promise not to post again about Christmas until we’ve at least talked a little bit about Halloween!

We’re looking at another crazy week, and there is something about writing my menus out that makes me stick to it and makes dinnertime easier, so here we go:

Sunday — Birthday (take-out, we’ll go out for a nice dinner some night we can get a sitter or two)

Monday — Baked potato bar: We have potatoes from the farmers market, so I will bake them, make some turkey bacon, some sauteed mushrooms, and a slew of other toppings and we can all pile on what we like.

Tuesday — Crockpot Chicken Tetrazinni, subbing rotisserie chicken for the turkey

Wednesday — Tacos (tomatoes from our garden, some lettuce, ground turkey, blue corn taco shells, and cheese)

Thursday –The salmon & roasted corn chowder that I’ve been meaning to make for weeks

Friday — Pizza night! We have a ton of basil in the yard so still at least 1 fresh pesto pizza. Yum!

Saturday — Big school picnic runs until 2pm, so I’m guessing that we’ll cobble together some leftovers for a light dinner

Here it is, the first of the steals on Etsy that meet sage criteria: clothing or items specifically for children, or household items that would be useful for parenting, with a careful eye to both materials (as green as possible, please), and price (I see it as inexpensive for what it is — something individually made by a craftsperson). Generally, if I’m loath to share it because I love it and want it for myself, and it’s so affordable I’m actually thinking about buying it, that’s what I’m going to post!

Today: TheCrayonBin’s fabulous travel crayons, a steal at $9!

I’m not sure what I like best… the crayons are recycled and in the shape of trains that are just adorable. They’re stored in a crocheted pouch with recycled variegated yarn that doubles as an eraser when you use the crayons on the wipe-clean, upcycled VHS case that holds the pictures (and additional pictures can be downloaded for free at their website).

A self-contained, no mess, creative, expandable, recycled, and upcycled toy for $9. What an awesome gift, and the store will customize one for your budding artist. Which they’ll have to do, because I’m buying this one!

I was so excited to discover today that Works for Me Wednesday is backwards edition, where readers can ask for help instead of submitting tips. My three year old has just started preschool and we need some recipes for healthy lunch main dishes for when the option at his program is something we don’t eat in our household (namely, beef or pork). Fortunately, they do provide fresh fruit or veggie sides. To complicate things, I need ideas that can be stable at room temperature from 7:45am to 11:45am because with 6 month old triplets in the house, there won’t be a lot of manuvers with icepacks and thermoses going on each morning!

In short, sandwiches, finger foods, appetizers, anything that will keep in an insulated lunch bag. Thanks for any input!

At our old daycare, P got two organic, vegetarian snacks and a huge, delicious lunch every day. The Waldorf-inspired program is very green, with the kids using cloth napkins and helping to bake and mend and all that good stuff. Tomorrow, we begin public Montessori school (no AM snack) and an afterschool program that (we called ahead) is serving bologna sandwiches for lunch. We’ll be packing lunches a lot of days, but I’m also assuming that I’m going to have a kid that is much hungrier at dinnertime than he has been in the past!

I’m going to sick to preschooler-pleasing meals for this week:

Monday: Grilling with friends (and nine kids age ten and under!), so lots and lots of chicken dogs and corn for the kids and broccoli, basil, and shrimp kabobs for the parents with grilled potatoes. Yum!

Tuesday: Pasta and turkey meatballs. We love the Trader Joe’s meatballs that you just dump into a pan with some sauce.

Wednesday: Cabinet clean out stir fry — I have udon noodes and a can of baby corn that P loves but I’d like to be done with. I’ll do a saute with some farmers market veggies (carrots, onion, garlic), frozen edamame, and some shrimp. A little ginger, a little soy sauce, and dinner is ready in 5 minutes!

Thursday: I had to skip the Quinoa and Black Beans from last week because I thought we didn’t have frozen corn. Goes to show you my freezer really is as out of control as I make it out to be, because the corn was there all along!

Friday: Pizza night, our weekly tradition

Saturday: Slow cooker teryaki chicken wings and rice

Sunday: Big box of Annie’s Mac and Cheese filled out with ground chicken and frozen peas

We’re lucky to have a three year old with a broad palate (his favorite food is Indian), but I don’t mind keeping it in the comfort food realm for a transition-filled week.

The combination of continued food storage bankruptcy and my imminent return to the (part time) workplace makes it a good time to start meal planning again.

Monday: Masala simmer in the slow cooker — Trader Joe’s simmer sauce, farmers market cauliflower and potatoes (diced), a can of garbanzos (rinsed), and a handful each of frozen peas and unsalted cashews, served with Trader Joe’s naan and samosas, all available in the freezer section and taking up lots of room in ours!

Tuesday: Not your momma’s tuna casserole and string beans (from our garden) — It involves eggs noodles and boursin cheese and no canned soups with crazy ingredients. And it tastes awesome. I’ll post the recipe if there is interest.

Wednesday: Quinoa and Black Beans — A favorite in our house, and I have about 6 cans of black beans to show for it. Time to pare them down a bit.

Thursday: Cheese and crackers chicken, glazed farmers market carrots, and Whole Foods tater tots — Combine 1/2 cup cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup cheese in a small bowl and toss. Dip chicken in melted 1/3 cup butter and place in a lightly greased baking dish. Sprinkle cracker crumb mixture and salt and pepper over chicken. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Every 3 year old’s favorite!

Friday: Pizza night — Friday was always pizza night in the co-op dining halls we ate at in college. Keeping the tradition alive makes for a really simply and fun dinner to end of a hectic week and invariably keeps us for reaching for the take-out menus. This time of the year, we make at least one pesto pie with basil picked right outside our side door.

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Dinner at the in-laws

Not only will this use up all of the fresh produce we currently have but it makes a nice dent in the pantry cabinet/freezer as well.

From BeCentsable…

Family Tip Friday: How Do You… manage through a day with TWO toddlers when all you want to do is crawl into bed and sleep?

Assuming that 1 preschooler + 3 infant triplets is >/= 2 toddlers, I thought I would share a story about this morning. Sometimes P, our older son, decides that pre-dawn is the perfect time to wake up, as do his little brothers. I learned a long time ago that one of the Starbucks near our house opens at 5:30am. Just today, we loaded up all of the kids in the car and headed over there. I know it’s not true of every ‘bucks, but this one has a comfortable seating area with enough room for all 3 infant seats and for us to sit down. There are board games and toys (including Chutes and Ladders and an Etch-a-Sketch), magazines, and most importantly, caffeine!

There is nothing especially frugal or green about this venture. The best I can offer is (1) Use all of your collected loose change to Coinstar yourself a fee-free Starbucks gift card, and (2) Buy your kids the organic milk boxes.

A venti coffee and a half an hour of amused kids out of the house, even at dawn, takes the edge off of the day for sure.