My 3 year old made his first purchase today. I am so proud of him but at the same time so upset with myself!
Coming home from school yesterday he kept saying "noodles." I told him we didn't have any and continued home and offered him lunch, which he ate. Today again when I picked him up from school he said "noodles," so I asked if he wanted to go buy some. He proudly exclaimed "yes!" So we went to the Piggly Wiggly, I got him and his sister out of the car and let him walk into the store. We found the soup/pasta aisle and I asked what he wanted. He went right for the Dora the Explorer Spaghetti O's! Well, this was his trip so I wasn't going to tell him no, but I asked him if he was sure that's what he wanted. Again, "YES!" So we walked to the counter and he put the can (ahh...a can!) on the belt then gave the cashier the 3 quarters I gave him to buy it. He took the bag and we walked out of the store.
We came home and he ate those Spaghetti O's like it was something amazing. (His sister kinda liked them too!) After they finished the can they both asked for more. Thankfully they were happy with some grapes and water to go with it. Oh my, such a proud day that my little boy bought something yet I guess we need to practice grocery shopping more often so that he knows that we in fact do not walk down the aisles!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
My 99 cents
So this is the ad I keep seeing. My 99 cents at Wendy's. It just drives me crazy!
I know so many people that go to pick up a "cheap" meal at drive through. "But I order from the dollar menu rather than the value meal menu so it must be better." Really? Really?!!!! Let's think about this for a minute. If I talk about two people, myself and my husband. Say we go through and get 2 things of fries, 2 sandwiches, and 2 drinks...at the very least we are spending $6. Let me tell you from experience...that will NOT fill up my husband. In fact, he could eat all 6 of those items and still want something else. Not only would he not be full but he would have taken in tons of toxic food that would drain his energy, add lbs to his body, and make his next workout that much harder.
Let me offer you an alternative. Go buy $3 worth of ground beef and $3 worth of veggies. Seriously, do you know how much food that is? Add some spices to the ground beef and brown it. Throw in the $3 worth of frozen or fresh veggies...doesn't matter what they are...just throw them in. Cook it all together, maybe add a little oil. Now split that in half between two people. Talk about a filling meal! Oh yeah, and because you need something to wash it down go grab a glass of water. Can't stand the water? Fine...buy $2 worth of veggies and $1 worth of water flavoring (i.e. crystal light or better yet green tea bags.) Either way, its a much more filling meal, no guilt, and most likely you'll have seconds for the next night.
So next time you are thinking..."I'll just go cheap tonight"...go home and open your fridge!
I know so many people that go to pick up a "cheap" meal at drive through. "But I order from the dollar menu rather than the value meal menu so it must be better." Really? Really?!!!! Let's think about this for a minute. If I talk about two people, myself and my husband. Say we go through and get 2 things of fries, 2 sandwiches, and 2 drinks...at the very least we are spending $6. Let me tell you from experience...that will NOT fill up my husband. In fact, he could eat all 6 of those items and still want something else. Not only would he not be full but he would have taken in tons of toxic food that would drain his energy, add lbs to his body, and make his next workout that much harder.
Let me offer you an alternative. Go buy $3 worth of ground beef and $3 worth of veggies. Seriously, do you know how much food that is? Add some spices to the ground beef and brown it. Throw in the $3 worth of frozen or fresh veggies...doesn't matter what they are...just throw them in. Cook it all together, maybe add a little oil. Now split that in half between two people. Talk about a filling meal! Oh yeah, and because you need something to wash it down go grab a glass of water. Can't stand the water? Fine...buy $2 worth of veggies and $1 worth of water flavoring (i.e. crystal light or better yet green tea bags.) Either way, its a much more filling meal, no guilt, and most likely you'll have seconds for the next night.
So next time you are thinking..."I'll just go cheap tonight"...go home and open your fridge!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
$10 Challenge Fail
I had a friend challenge me to clear out my cupboards and only spend $10 a week on the stuff that doesn't store well like milk, fruit, and veggies. Now, I knew from the start that this would be impossible, but I was amazed at how right I was. Just think...many families do this a couple of times a year. They stock up on all sorts of pantry items, things in boxes, pastas, frozen dinners. Then they are able to go an entire month and only go out once a week for some milk and fruit while they empty their pantries. Does that seem odd to you?
I HOPE SO!!!!
I was given this challenge and immediately made a list of what was in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. The sad part is that I made this list right after our holiday company left. So I actually had things in my pantry that I NEVER would, like pancake mix and things to make holiday cookies. But even with those few items, I could barely go one week. Why???
Because my kitchen is always filled with fresh food. I NEVER have anything other than a little cereal for the kids (rice cereal that is), beans, rice, and almond flour in my pantry. Everything else I buy has to be refrigerated or frozen. I buy meat from a local butcher that comes frozen so I throw it in the freezer. I buy frozen berries and veggies. I buy some natural peanut butter, apples, oranges, and a little bit of heavy creme that go in the fridge. Other than that, I got nothin! This is how we eat. And because we eat like this, I can't "stock pile" food. It would go bad...even in the fridge. So I buy week to week on a regular basis. And when I took pictures people were amazed that I had so little.
So how badly did I fail? Well we had a guest the first week so I spend $15 on chili ingredients, snacks, and drinks. Week two I spent $20 on fruit, eggs, and veggies. Week 3...well I'll be out of meat, veggies, and fruit so unless we're going to fill our tummies with nothing but water...which would probably be ok for a week to be honest but not very pleasant...I have to do my usual weekly run. A box of meat that will last us a couple weeks, some veggies, eggs, cheese, and fruit. That will be my regular trip. But it will cost way more than $10.
Sorry friend, I have failed the challenge...but I've never been more happy about failing a challenge!
I HOPE SO!!!!
I was given this challenge and immediately made a list of what was in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. The sad part is that I made this list right after our holiday company left. So I actually had things in my pantry that I NEVER would, like pancake mix and things to make holiday cookies. But even with those few items, I could barely go one week. Why???
Because my kitchen is always filled with fresh food. I NEVER have anything other than a little cereal for the kids (rice cereal that is), beans, rice, and almond flour in my pantry. Everything else I buy has to be refrigerated or frozen. I buy meat from a local butcher that comes frozen so I throw it in the freezer. I buy frozen berries and veggies. I buy some natural peanut butter, apples, oranges, and a little bit of heavy creme that go in the fridge. Other than that, I got nothin! This is how we eat. And because we eat like this, I can't "stock pile" food. It would go bad...even in the fridge. So I buy week to week on a regular basis. And when I took pictures people were amazed that I had so little.
So how badly did I fail? Well we had a guest the first week so I spend $15 on chili ingredients, snacks, and drinks. Week two I spent $20 on fruit, eggs, and veggies. Week 3...well I'll be out of meat, veggies, and fruit so unless we're going to fill our tummies with nothing but water...which would probably be ok for a week to be honest but not very pleasant...I have to do my usual weekly run. A box of meat that will last us a couple weeks, some veggies, eggs, cheese, and fruit. That will be my regular trip. But it will cost way more than $10.
Sorry friend, I have failed the challenge...but I've never been more happy about failing a challenge!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
A New Move
So we have bought our second house...well almost. We close on Friday and are trying to literally eat our selves out of house and home. We just bought some wonderful grass fed steaks and are going through those. Chris has made a few "comfort food" types of things. He made a dish with lots of extra juice and since I just happened to be trying my hand at gluten free bread, we sopped up the juice with the bread. Super comfort food and something I haven't had for a VERY long time. Now, I am not big on substitutions. I made the bread only because we got some dipping oil that we wanted to try and didn't have much to try it with. But the gluten free bread (although good) had sugar and corn and all sorts of things that I try not to have in the house. It was nice to have such a treat. I urge you to think when you "cheat." Go for the wheat and sugar free. Don't make "cheating" a habit either. Do as I say...not as I do! :)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Our Party Anniversary
Today Chris and I will celebrate 4 years from our wedding date. Not quite the day we got married, but the day that we celebrated with our family and friends our marriage. To celebrate we are grilling to T-bone steaks with some simple salt and pepper. Chris learned a salt technique where we completely coat the steaks with salt and allow them to marinate for about an hour. Then you wash the salt off and grill. It makes them very tender and perfectly salty. A little pepper for spice an yum! On the side we will have some fresh string beans with olive oil, salt and pepper. Not much to this, but with good olive oil the taste the amazing.
We are spoiled. We buy just what we need for meals. We don't tend to keep "snack" food around. This allows us to splurge on things like really good olive oil. Have you ever been to an olive oil tasting? One where they give you a small "cup" of olive oil for you to sip? If you haven't, try it! Don't think about calories, just think about all the good fat you're taking in. No bread for dipping, just sipping. Chris found Temecula Olive Oil company and did just this. He now has it shipped to us and let me tell you...it makes a HUGE difference! The smallest drop of this on a dish just makes it amazing! I can't describe the flavor. You have to try it for yourself. Splurge on a bottle of olive oil that costs as much as a bottle of wine and you'll see! I promise the bottle will last you longer than the wine will. It is so worth it!
As we celebrate tonight, we raise a glass to all of you who are eating and living healthier!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Getting Started...Again
For lunch today I had full fat cottage cheese, some frozen blueberries, and a handful of almonds. I woke up early to go watch the sunrise over Lake Michigan, so by lunch time I was very tired. I though the almonds would help boost my energy.
For dinner we are having an altered recipe I found in a magazine. It is macaroni and cheese with brocoli. Now, I am using gluten free pasta shells, made with brown rice. The brown rice has a lower gi. I forgot to take a picture of mine before I scarfed it down, but here is a pic of Wyatt's. The kids liked it, but then again Lorelai will eat any and everything.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Fresh Start
Hello Friends,
It may have been too ambitious with two young children to think that I could write something new and exciting everyday. Plus, I just can't imagine that any of you think what I have to say is that important. But I am going to try to post once a week with anything new and interesting tha tI have tried. We still live by the 3QD code. We are a gluten free home. Our GI threshold has gone up a bit because none of us are trying to lose weight, but some days it's higher than others. We binged this weekend and clensed on Sunday. We are now trying to clense our bodies completely. Yesterday and Today we are drinking berry shakes that consist of blueberry, raspberry, and marion berry (costco frozen fruit blend) along with a scoop of vanilla protein powder (gnc brand), and water for me, whole milk for chris. I simply put about a cup of berries, a scoop of protein, and a cup of water and blend in my Vitamix. You'd be surprised how it can fill you up. After a few hours when I was hungry again I just blended myself another. I don't really recommend this on the diet as the idea is to eat what you want, but for us, we wanted to empty ourselves. I haven't gone "hungry" for a while because I'm nursing and I am always hungry. But my stomach has felt very heavy, so I needed to lighten it. I tried greek yogurt last week and I got to say I wasn't as much of a fan as I was hoping. I ate it with the berries for lunch, but really, it just was a weird texture. I have been eating some cottage cheese though. It's hard to find the 4% in the big containers though and I don't want the 2% since they add sugar for taste. Today is the last day of my fruit/protein shakes. Two full days should be enough to reset my stomach. Tomorrow (wed) I plan to adapt a recipe I got from Tracie Moss from Living Well Ministry for a Spagetti Casserolle. Here is my adaptation for 3QD (keep in mind that we have a high GI threshold right now).
ground chicken
salt/pepper
1 tomato
2 cloves garlic
sour cream
onion
cream cheese
rice noodles
mozarella cheese
start by cooking all ingredients that need it (brown the ground chicken, boil the noodles). Layer ingredients starting with noodles and ending with cheese and bake until melty. It sounds yummy.
A second new recipe I am going to try is pizza burgers. I'm sure that this is nothing actually new, but I found some mini pepperoni (actual little round ones) at costco and though I would try something new.
ground beef
sausage
mini pepperoni
marinara sauce
mozzarella cheese
egg
I am going to cook the sausage first as I don't want to risk it being undercooked, and then mix the ground beef, sausage, mini pepperoni, a tiny bit of cheese and egg together and form burgers. Then broil them (or grill, but our broiler is in the house and easy), top with marinara then cheese and let melt. Should be super simple and hopefully yummy. I might mix in a little parm and/or red pepper since my husband tends to put these on top of his pizza anyway.
I have some ribs that I plan to make probably Friday or Saturday night. Other than that, I don't plan on doing anything super special. We are still our normal easy going selves. Wyatt eats what we eat and Lorelai is starting to. She eats our veggie cut up and I have pre-cooked ground chicken, turkey, pork, and beef in the freezer that I heat up for her at each meal. Her food is all unseasoned and simple...meat and veggies. She eats some dried and mashed fruit, but she doesn't like it as much. Since I was gone this weekend I was going to buy some baby food for her dad to feed her so that it would be easy, but looking at all the labels, baby food is so sugar filled that I just couldn't bring myself to give it to her. However, her dad was happy to feed her the homemade baby food even though it takes a few seconds more to prepare.
So this is my post for the week. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and stays well!
It may have been too ambitious with two young children to think that I could write something new and exciting everyday. Plus, I just can't imagine that any of you think what I have to say is that important. But I am going to try to post once a week with anything new and interesting tha tI have tried. We still live by the 3QD code. We are a gluten free home. Our GI threshold has gone up a bit because none of us are trying to lose weight, but some days it's higher than others. We binged this weekend and clensed on Sunday. We are now trying to clense our bodies completely. Yesterday and Today we are drinking berry shakes that consist of blueberry, raspberry, and marion berry (costco frozen fruit blend) along with a scoop of vanilla protein powder (gnc brand), and water for me, whole milk for chris. I simply put about a cup of berries, a scoop of protein, and a cup of water and blend in my Vitamix. You'd be surprised how it can fill you up. After a few hours when I was hungry again I just blended myself another. I don't really recommend this on the diet as the idea is to eat what you want, but for us, we wanted to empty ourselves. I haven't gone "hungry" for a while because I'm nursing and I am always hungry. But my stomach has felt very heavy, so I needed to lighten it. I tried greek yogurt last week and I got to say I wasn't as much of a fan as I was hoping. I ate it with the berries for lunch, but really, it just was a weird texture. I have been eating some cottage cheese though. It's hard to find the 4% in the big containers though and I don't want the 2% since they add sugar for taste. Today is the last day of my fruit/protein shakes. Two full days should be enough to reset my stomach. Tomorrow (wed) I plan to adapt a recipe I got from Tracie Moss from Living Well Ministry for a Spagetti Casserolle. Here is my adaptation for 3QD (keep in mind that we have a high GI threshold right now).
ground chicken
salt/pepper
1 tomato
2 cloves garlic
sour cream
onion
cream cheese
rice noodles
mozarella cheese
start by cooking all ingredients that need it (brown the ground chicken, boil the noodles). Layer ingredients starting with noodles and ending with cheese and bake until melty. It sounds yummy.
A second new recipe I am going to try is pizza burgers. I'm sure that this is nothing actually new, but I found some mini pepperoni (actual little round ones) at costco and though I would try something new.
ground beef
sausage
mini pepperoni
marinara sauce
mozzarella cheese
egg
I am going to cook the sausage first as I don't want to risk it being undercooked, and then mix the ground beef, sausage, mini pepperoni, a tiny bit of cheese and egg together and form burgers. Then broil them (or grill, but our broiler is in the house and easy), top with marinara then cheese and let melt. Should be super simple and hopefully yummy. I might mix in a little parm and/or red pepper since my husband tends to put these on top of his pizza anyway.
I have some ribs that I plan to make probably Friday or Saturday night. Other than that, I don't plan on doing anything super special. We are still our normal easy going selves. Wyatt eats what we eat and Lorelai is starting to. She eats our veggie cut up and I have pre-cooked ground chicken, turkey, pork, and beef in the freezer that I heat up for her at each meal. Her food is all unseasoned and simple...meat and veggies. She eats some dried and mashed fruit, but she doesn't like it as much. Since I was gone this weekend I was going to buy some baby food for her dad to feed her so that it would be easy, but looking at all the labels, baby food is so sugar filled that I just couldn't bring myself to give it to her. However, her dad was happy to feed her the homemade baby food even though it takes a few seconds more to prepare.
So this is my post for the week. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and stays well!
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