I committed the cardinal sin of budget grocery shopping last week. I went to the store without a meal plan or a list (smacking myself on the head!). I spent $150 and several times last week realized that I didn't have a key ingredient for whatever I was trying to make and went out and spent more money.
Of course, this past weekend was the official I'm out of everything Sam's run and we spent $158 there, plus another $100 at the store, because I didn't spend money last week on things we needed either. That brings me to today (August 10th) where of my $500 budget, I now have $92 for the rest of the month. Hmmm! It is very unlikely that I'll be able to pull that off, especially with no chicken and I'm spending around $150 on Sunday to pick up another 50 pounds of beef. Oh, and I've been having 14 kids at my house everyday drinking a gallon and a half of milk, so I need to buy more of that too. Yeah, I fell off the wagon and it doesn't look like I'm going to be getting up.
I did at least do a menu plan for this week, so here it is.
Breakfasts
Waffles, Oranges
Banana Muffins, Banana
Granola & Yogurt
Chocolate Chip Muffins, Apple Slices
Sausage Breakfast Pizza
Lunches
Mac 'n Cheese, Salad, Plums, Deviled Eggs
Scrambled Eggs w/ Sausage, Hash Browns, Toast, Mango
Chicken w/ Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Roll, Pineapple
Fettucine Alfredo w/ Peas, Corn, Grapes, Peanut Butter and Carrots
Egg Salad or PB&J in a Pita Pocket, Oranges, Fruit Leather, Granola Bar (picnic lunch)
Snacks
Cookie Sticks (will post recipe soon)
Apple Slices
Nuts & Raisins
Cantaloupe
Dinners
Meatball Subs, Pasta Salad, Blueberries
Ham Casserole, Broccoli, Salad
Thanksgiving Casserole, Green Beans
Chef Salad, Leftover Fruit
Pork Sirloin, Baked Potato, Corn
The daycare is closed on Friday and we are taking a picnic lunch on the road with us as we head to Grandma's. The pork dinner is for Sunday evening when we get home.
Showing posts with label reflection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reflection. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Week 25: No more store-bought bread
Wow! I've been gearing up for this for weeks. Not that we buy much bread, but I count on it as a fall-back plan. The problem with that is I can't find a single loaf of bread that meets my criteria. None of our stores sell an organic bread and even if I can find a loaf that has no HFCS and is 100% whole wheat, you can bet that it has corn or soybean something in it. Quite honestly I'm more afraid of GMO's than anything else, so there's really no acceptable option. I face this every time I run to the store "just to pick up a loaf of bread." I stand there in the bread aisle and read the label on every load and get more more and more frustrated. Why do I do this?
After a lot of soul-searching (that started on vacation and has been continuing), I'm really disgusted with myself. I have been putting my food/health journey ahead of most of the other things in my life. I spend most of my free time (if moms actually have that) reading articles online, looking for new recipes or browsing websites for the cheapest prices for sea salt or raw honey. Things like daycare business and accounting tasks, house cleaning, organizing and purging junk we don't need have all taken a back seat in my life. It's to the point that I've been feeling out of control in many areas. One of the manifestations is that I don't plan ahead enough to know that I need bread-hence, running to the store. Then I feel bad about it. Then I pout and put off doing what needs to be done. You see the cycle forming here, right? Yeah, me too.
So, this past week my computer wasn't working (still isn't and won't be ever again!) I spent some time making myself a home management binder-or at least the plans for one. I still need to get the computer forms made. But, I decided there was no reason to wait on cutesy forms, I would get started using my pen and paper lists I had made. So far, it's made a big difference. My living room is spotless (and I'm not even having company!). My laundry is done-hung on my chain-link fence since I still don't have that clothesline. Bread (loaves of whole wheat and French) are cooling on the kitchen bar and I'm getting ready in a few minutes to go wash the cabinets down and mop the floor.
I realize that most of this is something that most people attain in their day-to-day lives. However since I'm rather unorganized, this is a huge victory. Add to this that my dishwasher quit (I'm handwashing 4 loads worth of dishes each day), the dryer is acting up (great reason to line dry), and the whole need to buy a new computer thing. Oh, and I broke the handle on my crockpot. Under normal circumstances, I would be flipping out, but I'm more organized that ever. Right now, I only have a cleaning schedule and menu plan for the binder, but I'm hoping to add a baking schedule to it as well as our weekly planner and budget/bills stuff so that everything is in one place. With this kind of organization, I'll never buy store-bought bread again. :)
After a lot of soul-searching (that started on vacation and has been continuing), I'm really disgusted with myself. I have been putting my food/health journey ahead of most of the other things in my life. I spend most of my free time (if moms actually have that) reading articles online, looking for new recipes or browsing websites for the cheapest prices for sea salt or raw honey. Things like daycare business and accounting tasks, house cleaning, organizing and purging junk we don't need have all taken a back seat in my life. It's to the point that I've been feeling out of control in many areas. One of the manifestations is that I don't plan ahead enough to know that I need bread-hence, running to the store. Then I feel bad about it. Then I pout and put off doing what needs to be done. You see the cycle forming here, right? Yeah, me too.
So, this past week my computer wasn't working (still isn't and won't be ever again!) I spent some time making myself a home management binder-or at least the plans for one. I still need to get the computer forms made. But, I decided there was no reason to wait on cutesy forms, I would get started using my pen and paper lists I had made. So far, it's made a big difference. My living room is spotless (and I'm not even having company!). My laundry is done-hung on my chain-link fence since I still don't have that clothesline. Bread (loaves of whole wheat and French) are cooling on the kitchen bar and I'm getting ready in a few minutes to go wash the cabinets down and mop the floor.
I realize that most of this is something that most people attain in their day-to-day lives. However since I'm rather unorganized, this is a huge victory. Add to this that my dishwasher quit (I'm handwashing 4 loads worth of dishes each day), the dryer is acting up (great reason to line dry), and the whole need to buy a new computer thing. Oh, and I broke the handle on my crockpot. Under normal circumstances, I would be flipping out, but I'm more organized that ever. Right now, I only have a cleaning schedule and menu plan for the binder, but I'm hoping to add a baking schedule to it as well as our weekly planner and budget/bills stuff so that everything is in one place. With this kind of organization, I'll never buy store-bought bread again. :)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Midweek Blahs
Do you ever suffer from these? I really am not sure why I'm feeling blah. Everything is going reasonably well. Finances are decent (not super, but we're paying all of our bills and I'm not super stressed over it). Hubby's second job is finished, so that's extra money we won't have, but he'll be around more which is more important. I'm almost over the disappointment of screwing up the All You grocery contest. The girls aren't trying to kill each other-right now at least, but I'm feeling like I need to be doing more. I have 5 loads of laundry that need to be folded. All of my floors either need to be mopped or vacuumed and I'm generally disorganized.
I could get off my rear end and do some of it right now, but I'm more inclined to sit here and mope about it! LOL
Tonight is the first night this week that the girls don't have either practice or a game, so maybe if I get the laundry folded, then I'll enlist them in cleaning up the other parts of the house!
I could get off my rear end and do some of it right now, but I'm more inclined to sit here and mope about it! LOL
Tonight is the first night this week that the girls don't have either practice or a game, so maybe if I get the laundry folded, then I'll enlist them in cleaning up the other parts of the house!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Information and Links
I just read a very interesting blog post on Whole New Mom. It has several links that are very informative in regards to government action in the past few weeks. Give it a look. It makes me more determined that ever to eat local foods whenever I possibly can.
Friday, May 27, 2011
One more step away from real food
I think it was last year when I watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and was amazed at the kids who seemed to have no idea that a french fry started out as a potato. I decided that these children were products of big cities where they had never seen cows in a pasture or vegetable gardens growing in neighbor's backyards. Children where I live have much more exposure to "agriculture," or so I told myself.
I live in a town that is approximately 41,000, but drive 10 minutes in any given direction and you will end up sitting in the middle of a pasture. There is considerably more livestock in this area than crops, but with the University of Missouri farms and Lincoln University farm, I figured that every local school child had been to a farm, at least as part of a school field trip.
I first began to doubt that this was enough when my friend told me a story about serving chicken in the school cafeteria. She has worked in the cafeteria at my children's school for a year and the school staff, working with the county health department and parents are instituting changes for healthier school lunches and a more physically well-rounded curriculum (like implementing a walking program for students who get to school early). One of the changes was to begin serving bone-in chicken instead of processed chicken patties or nuggets-awesome change! My friend told me that they threw much of it away because the kids wouldn't eat it. They served it several times over the course of 2-3 months and each time the kids threw it away. It turns out that the kids didn't know what it was. They were told that it was chicken, but it wasn't like any chicken they had ever eaten. It had bones in it-that was gross. It seems that in the wake of the boneless, skinless chicken breast and Chicken McNugget, children don't know what real chicken looks like.
To solve this problem, people (don't know if they were the lunch monitors, or who) taught the kids how to eat the chicken, by showing them how to use their fork to pull the meat off. Or, using fewer manners, to pick it up and gnaw on it. Although, it wasn't the most popular meal, eventually the kids were eating the chicken instead of throwing it away.
Now, I think I do a pretty good job in this area, but was stunned to find out that my daycare kids also did not know how to eat a chicken leg. I served glazed chicken legs a couple days ago and the kids didn't start off eating them. Of course I was puzzled and started asking them questions about it. They told me that they didn't know how to eat the meat. And then the light bulb went off! How many times do I pull the meat off the leg so it cools faster? Duh, all the time. Even though I had served them chicken legs once a month for as long as I can remember, I almost always pulled the meat off for them. Well no more!
We had a lovely training session in which we all picked up our chicken legs and gnawed on them. We talked about how it was a leg from a chicken and how it had bones, just like our legs have bones. After nap that day, we went to the computer and looked at pictures of chickens and pointed out how the leg was fatter at the top and skinnier at the bottom (and how we were glad that they cut off the foot, LOL).
In our world of convenience and grocery store shopping, it is so easy to overlook that connection our kids need to make between the food they eat and where it comes from. I pride myself on doing a good job in that area by gardening and composting and dragging my kids off to the farm to pick up eggs, but obviously I missed the mark in the meat department. You can bet that the next time we're at Grandpa's farm, we'll be checking out the cattle and talking about hamburger!
I live in a town that is approximately 41,000, but drive 10 minutes in any given direction and you will end up sitting in the middle of a pasture. There is considerably more livestock in this area than crops, but with the University of Missouri farms and Lincoln University farm, I figured that every local school child had been to a farm, at least as part of a school field trip.
I first began to doubt that this was enough when my friend told me a story about serving chicken in the school cafeteria. She has worked in the cafeteria at my children's school for a year and the school staff, working with the county health department and parents are instituting changes for healthier school lunches and a more physically well-rounded curriculum (like implementing a walking program for students who get to school early). One of the changes was to begin serving bone-in chicken instead of processed chicken patties or nuggets-awesome change! My friend told me that they threw much of it away because the kids wouldn't eat it. They served it several times over the course of 2-3 months and each time the kids threw it away. It turns out that the kids didn't know what it was. They were told that it was chicken, but it wasn't like any chicken they had ever eaten. It had bones in it-that was gross. It seems that in the wake of the boneless, skinless chicken breast and Chicken McNugget, children don't know what real chicken looks like.
To solve this problem, people (don't know if they were the lunch monitors, or who) taught the kids how to eat the chicken, by showing them how to use their fork to pull the meat off. Or, using fewer manners, to pick it up and gnaw on it. Although, it wasn't the most popular meal, eventually the kids were eating the chicken instead of throwing it away.
Now, I think I do a pretty good job in this area, but was stunned to find out that my daycare kids also did not know how to eat a chicken leg. I served glazed chicken legs a couple days ago and the kids didn't start off eating them. Of course I was puzzled and started asking them questions about it. They told me that they didn't know how to eat the meat. And then the light bulb went off! How many times do I pull the meat off the leg so it cools faster? Duh, all the time. Even though I had served them chicken legs once a month for as long as I can remember, I almost always pulled the meat off for them. Well no more!
We had a lovely training session in which we all picked up our chicken legs and gnawed on them. We talked about how it was a leg from a chicken and how it had bones, just like our legs have bones. After nap that day, we went to the computer and looked at pictures of chickens and pointed out how the leg was fatter at the top and skinnier at the bottom (and how we were glad that they cut off the foot, LOL).
In our world of convenience and grocery store shopping, it is so easy to overlook that connection our kids need to make between the food they eat and where it comes from. I pride myself on doing a good job in that area by gardening and composting and dragging my kids off to the farm to pick up eggs, but obviously I missed the mark in the meat department. You can bet that the next time we're at Grandpa's farm, we'll be checking out the cattle and talking about hamburger!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins and life
I made chocolate chip mini muffins for the kids this morning. It has cooled off to the point that I can once again use the oven. Using the roaster oven is probably cheaper, but it's a hassle to run up and down the stairs between mixing and baking and I'm being generally lazy at the moment! LOL
2 cups whole white wheat flour
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup milk
1 egg
Topping:
2ish Tbsp. Demerara sugar (or brown sugar)
You know the drill. Mix the dry. Add the wet. Stir until combined. Spray your muffin pan and fill accordingly. Then I take a small pinch of the sugar and sprinkle the tops. For 52 mini muffins, I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. It just depends how big or small your pinch is! Bake in a 400 degree oven for 9-11 minutes. Try to wait until they cool to eat. The chocolate WILL burn your mouth if you eat them directly from the oven.
Now for the life part. Hubby is having sinus surgery tomorrow. I'm hoping and praying that it goes without any complications. Then on Friday, I am seeing a retinal specialist. It seems that the retina in my right eye is thinning and when you are as nearsighted (read-blind as a bat) as I am, you are at a dramatically increased risk of detached retina. On Friday, the specialist will determine if it is something that just needs to be closely monitored or if it will need surgery. Let's all pray for the monitoring, because I don't get sick days in my line of work.
I may not post much over the next couple of days, but I hoping to stick to the menu and not eat out, other than maybe taking the kids to get some breakfast before school tomorrow. We will be dropping Hubby off at 6:45, then dropping the girls off at school at 7:00, and I'll keep little man with me at the hospital. I think I will need a little extra sanity tomorrow as I try to keep a 3 year old happy during a 4-6 hour stay in a waiting room and a grumpy Hubby who I think is seriously underestimating what recovery from this surgery will be like.
Someday I'll look back on this week and laugh. Really. If I keep telling myself this, that makes it true, right!
 |
| Muffins bagged and ready to go into the freezer. |
This recipe originally came from one of those teaser mailings for recipe cards. I got 10 cards in the mail and if I agreed to send them $9.95 plus shipping and handling for the rest of my life they would send me a bunch more every month. Well I flipped through the cards and 9 of them went in the trash, but it's that 10th one that's been around for a while. I've changed it a bit over the years to make it healthier, but really, it's a chocolate chip muffin. It's never going to be the epitome of health, so here it is.
2 cups whole white wheat flour
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup milk
1 egg
Topping:
2ish Tbsp. Demerara sugar (or brown sugar)
You know the drill. Mix the dry. Add the wet. Stir until combined. Spray your muffin pan and fill accordingly. Then I take a small pinch of the sugar and sprinkle the tops. For 52 mini muffins, I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. It just depends how big or small your pinch is! Bake in a 400 degree oven for 9-11 minutes. Try to wait until they cool to eat. The chocolate WILL burn your mouth if you eat them directly from the oven.
Now for the life part. Hubby is having sinus surgery tomorrow. I'm hoping and praying that it goes without any complications. Then on Friday, I am seeing a retinal specialist. It seems that the retina in my right eye is thinning and when you are as nearsighted (read-blind as a bat) as I am, you are at a dramatically increased risk of detached retina. On Friday, the specialist will determine if it is something that just needs to be closely monitored or if it will need surgery. Let's all pray for the monitoring, because I don't get sick days in my line of work.
I may not post much over the next couple of days, but I hoping to stick to the menu and not eat out, other than maybe taking the kids to get some breakfast before school tomorrow. We will be dropping Hubby off at 6:45, then dropping the girls off at school at 7:00, and I'll keep little man with me at the hospital. I think I will need a little extra sanity tomorrow as I try to keep a 3 year old happy during a 4-6 hour stay in a waiting room and a grumpy Hubby who I think is seriously underestimating what recovery from this surgery will be like.
Someday I'll look back on this week and laugh. Really. If I keep telling myself this, that makes it true, right!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Falling off the wagon
Please tell me that other people fall off the wagon. It would make me feel a little better. As I type this, I have grand plans of climbing back up, but I must tell my tale of woe.
There have been several things going against me this week. First, I am miserably tired this week. I'm not really sure why. I think it could be the heat. Which brings me to the second issue-heat-ugh! It was been in the upper 80's and today it was 92 degrees... in Missouri,,, in April. What the heck is that all about? I've only had my heat off for a week or so and I'm determined not to go straight from the heat to AC. I refuse. This decision makes my house very warm in the afternoon. So, do I want to bake bread or muffins or how about roasting a chicken? I think not. I don't have the time anyway. Reason number 3. Hubby started a part-time job last week working Thursday through Sunday (evenings on Thursday and Friday and all day over the weekend). Of course, both girls are in volleyball and wouldn't ya know it, both girls' practices and games fall on nights Hubby's working (a couple of times on the same night). I have been meeting myself coming and going, leaving the house at 5:30 when the daycare kids leave and not getting back home until 8:00, which is just in time to get the kids in bed and get supper for Hubby who gets home about 9:30. Oh, and don't forget my house that is still about 87 degrees.
OK, pity party over. I'm putting my big girl britches on now and I'll stop whining. ;)
On Thursday, I stopped by Arby's and picked up dinner because I didn't get dinner cooked before it was time to leave for volleyball (both practice and a game). Then on Friday, Hubby gave the girls powdered donuts (gasp!) as a treat because they were having a hard time finding anything for breakfast all week. Please note that oatmeal, cereal, eggs, nuts, toast, muffins and bagels were available-they just didn't want them. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he purchased complete junk for our kids, so I let them eat 3 each and go to school (although I did make them eat half an egg sandwich before the donuts). By that night, I was exhausted and only fed the kids cheese and crackers and whatever else they could scrounge up. Yeah, I know-good Mom. This morning they had the rest of the donuts before we left to go hit some garage sales and we ate Sonic before coming home. I took a nap with little man and while I was sleeping, the girls ate half a bag of Doritos that Hubby had brought home from work. They all had a big glass of knock-off Kool-Aid at Hubby's aunt's house while she trying to convince me of the nutritional value of said drink! On the way home we decided to grill and I ended up spending $62 at the grocery store stocking up on sale cuts of meat, thereby blowing the food budget.
Now, it's Sunday (fell asleep before finishing this post) and here are my plans to hop back on the wagon. After church this morning, I will be making that mayonaise that I set out to do. Then we'll head out to do the actual grocery shopping. I have $50 in gift cards that I purchased before "the fall." When I get home, I'm cranking out a loaf of wheat bread and one of cinnamon raisin bread for this next week. Then we'll be heading back to church to watch the oldest's performance of Godspell Jr. When we get home, I'll get the kiddos in bed and hopefully make some applesauce muffins and maybe a batch of pancakes. If it gets too hot, I'm giving up and turning on the AC-we can't live without good food. It's costing me waaaayyyy too much! :)
There have been several things going against me this week. First, I am miserably tired this week. I'm not really sure why. I think it could be the heat. Which brings me to the second issue-heat-ugh! It was been in the upper 80's and today it was 92 degrees... in Missouri,,, in April. What the heck is that all about? I've only had my heat off for a week or so and I'm determined not to go straight from the heat to AC. I refuse. This decision makes my house very warm in the afternoon. So, do I want to bake bread or muffins or how about roasting a chicken? I think not. I don't have the time anyway. Reason number 3. Hubby started a part-time job last week working Thursday through Sunday (evenings on Thursday and Friday and all day over the weekend). Of course, both girls are in volleyball and wouldn't ya know it, both girls' practices and games fall on nights Hubby's working (a couple of times on the same night). I have been meeting myself coming and going, leaving the house at 5:30 when the daycare kids leave and not getting back home until 8:00, which is just in time to get the kids in bed and get supper for Hubby who gets home about 9:30. Oh, and don't forget my house that is still about 87 degrees.
OK, pity party over. I'm putting my big girl britches on now and I'll stop whining. ;)
On Thursday, I stopped by Arby's and picked up dinner because I didn't get dinner cooked before it was time to leave for volleyball (both practice and a game). Then on Friday, Hubby gave the girls powdered donuts (gasp!) as a treat because they were having a hard time finding anything for breakfast all week. Please note that oatmeal, cereal, eggs, nuts, toast, muffins and bagels were available-they just didn't want them. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he purchased complete junk for our kids, so I let them eat 3 each and go to school (although I did make them eat half an egg sandwich before the donuts). By that night, I was exhausted and only fed the kids cheese and crackers and whatever else they could scrounge up. Yeah, I know-good Mom. This morning they had the rest of the donuts before we left to go hit some garage sales and we ate Sonic before coming home. I took a nap with little man and while I was sleeping, the girls ate half a bag of Doritos that Hubby had brought home from work. They all had a big glass of knock-off Kool-Aid at Hubby's aunt's house while she trying to convince me of the nutritional value of said drink! On the way home we decided to grill and I ended up spending $62 at the grocery store stocking up on sale cuts of meat, thereby blowing the food budget.
Now, it's Sunday (fell asleep before finishing this post) and here are my plans to hop back on the wagon. After church this morning, I will be making that mayonaise that I set out to do. Then we'll head out to do the actual grocery shopping. I have $50 in gift cards that I purchased before "the fall." When I get home, I'm cranking out a loaf of wheat bread and one of cinnamon raisin bread for this next week. Then we'll be heading back to church to watch the oldest's performance of Godspell Jr. When we get home, I'll get the kiddos in bed and hopefully make some applesauce muffins and maybe a batch of pancakes. If it gets too hot, I'm giving up and turning on the AC-we can't live without good food. It's costing me waaaayyyy too much! :)
Sunday, March 27, 2011
I'm ruined!
Hello all! We just got back into town from a weekend trip to Kansas City. My side of the family (my sis, bro and their families) decided that instead of spending a lot of money on Christmas gifts that the kids really didn't need, we would get them an experience. We chose to take all 6 of them (ages, 10, 8, 5, 3, 2 and 2) to see Toy Story 3 on Ice. We also checked out Hallmark's Kaleidoscopes, T-Rex Cafe and of course the motel swimming pool (deemed the favorite activity by the kids-isn't that annoying?).
My family ate out 6 times in the past two days and I can't say that I enjoyed it at all. First, the cost of feeding 5 people 6 meals was astronomical, budgeted for, but astronomical the same. We spent more in 2 days on food that we do in 2 weeks normally. Second, I kept analyzing the nutrition (or lack thereof) in our meals. Before leaving Saturday morning, I fixed egg and cheese omelets and whole wheat cinnamon toast with butter. I packed almonds and raisins for snacks on the road. Doing well so far, right? Then it was a downhill spiral with with Kraft mac 'n cheese kids meals, soda, french fries, hot dogs, fruit loops, Taco Bell and frozen custard with candy bar add-ins.
Everything I put in my mouth I was thinking about HFCS, GMOs, vegetable oil with an imbalance of Omega-6 fats, bleached flour tortillas filled with parabens... You get the idea. Ask me how I feel? Horrible. I'm bloated, nauseated and have a horrible headache. My little man has horrible diarrhea. The older daughter is complaining of not feeling well. The other two are fine, but they probably eat more junk food than the rest of us combined. They must be used to it.
I firmly believe "everything in moderation." Obviously, there was no moderation this weekend, but there wasn't much opportunity to eat well. Even the salad options that I had offered little in the way of health-covered in fried chicken strips or pre-coated in Caesar dressing. Plus, I have trouble paying $15 for a salad. It's a salad for goodness sakes.
We are taking our big family vacation in June. We will be driving from Missouri to Maryland and taking about 9 days (2 driving out, 5 there and 2 driving back). Between now and then, I need to come up with some strategies to balance our eating. It will be easier as we'll be staying with my sister-in-law and I can cook at her home, but there will still be lots of "on the road" time and eating out. I will be scouring various menus of the most convenient fast food places to come up with some acceptable options for me and the kids (I wouldn't think of telling Hubby what he can and can't eat-that would go over like a lead balloon). I'll also come up with some simple meals that we can pack before we start our daytrips so that we eat at least one meal "picnic style" and then eat out the other one.
This weekend was certainly an eye opener about what I can and cannot eat and what I need to do to prepare us for the big trip.
Other than the food (and no one had any problems with it but me, I'm sure), a good time was had by all and we're already brainstorming ideas for the Christmas trip of 2012!
Now, I need to go grocery shopping and pick up the produce for this week's menu.
My family ate out 6 times in the past two days and I can't say that I enjoyed it at all. First, the cost of feeding 5 people 6 meals was astronomical, budgeted for, but astronomical the same. We spent more in 2 days on food that we do in 2 weeks normally. Second, I kept analyzing the nutrition (or lack thereof) in our meals. Before leaving Saturday morning, I fixed egg and cheese omelets and whole wheat cinnamon toast with butter. I packed almonds and raisins for snacks on the road. Doing well so far, right? Then it was a downhill spiral with with Kraft mac 'n cheese kids meals, soda, french fries, hot dogs, fruit loops, Taco Bell and frozen custard with candy bar add-ins.
Everything I put in my mouth I was thinking about HFCS, GMOs, vegetable oil with an imbalance of Omega-6 fats, bleached flour tortillas filled with parabens... You get the idea. Ask me how I feel? Horrible. I'm bloated, nauseated and have a horrible headache. My little man has horrible diarrhea. The older daughter is complaining of not feeling well. The other two are fine, but they probably eat more junk food than the rest of us combined. They must be used to it.
I firmly believe "everything in moderation." Obviously, there was no moderation this weekend, but there wasn't much opportunity to eat well. Even the salad options that I had offered little in the way of health-covered in fried chicken strips or pre-coated in Caesar dressing. Plus, I have trouble paying $15 for a salad. It's a salad for goodness sakes.
We are taking our big family vacation in June. We will be driving from Missouri to Maryland and taking about 9 days (2 driving out, 5 there and 2 driving back). Between now and then, I need to come up with some strategies to balance our eating. It will be easier as we'll be staying with my sister-in-law and I can cook at her home, but there will still be lots of "on the road" time and eating out. I will be scouring various menus of the most convenient fast food places to come up with some acceptable options for me and the kids (I wouldn't think of telling Hubby what he can and can't eat-that would go over like a lead balloon). I'll also come up with some simple meals that we can pack before we start our daytrips so that we eat at least one meal "picnic style" and then eat out the other one.
This weekend was certainly an eye opener about what I can and cannot eat and what I need to do to prepare us for the big trip.
Other than the food (and no one had any problems with it but me, I'm sure), a good time was had by all and we're already brainstorming ideas for the Christmas trip of 2012!
Now, I need to go grocery shopping and pick up the produce for this week's menu.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
I've figured out the art of baking with whole wheat, for the most part...
... and it only took 50 pounds of flour! LOL! Just kidding, sort of! For a while now, I've been baking with whole white wheat in muffins and cookies with great success, but until last week I had little to no success making whole wheat yeast breads. After learning about the "sticky dough" concept while baking the 100% whole grain wheat bread last week, I decided to apply it to the other yeast breads I had been trying to bake.
Monday I used the garlic twist recipe to make breadsticks. Instead of using 2 1/4 cups of flour and extra for flouring the counter while kneading, I used 2 cups and kneaded the dough mostly in my stand mixer. I added just enough flour to keep it from sticking while I rolled out the breadsticks. They came out light and fluffly. I buttered them right when they came out of the oven and sprinkled them with garlic powder. Now that I know these are really good, I'll mix garlic powder, chives, parsely and dill into the dough for a more flavorful breadstick. Keep your eyes out for that recipe. We're having spaghetti next week and these breadsticks would be a perfect accompaniment.
Of course, I still have my moments. I made chocolate chip mini muffins this morning and I put both mini muffin pans in the oven side by side to bake. 10 mintues later the burning smell emerges from the kitchen. Yep-burned all 6 muffins on each edge. They were supposed to bake 9-11 minutes-10 was obviously too much and the reason that I don't put both muffin pans in at once is because it blocks the air flow-burning the edges. Yeah. It was painful to dig out the six on each side and run them down the garbage disposal. Fortunately the 36 muffins in the middle came out unscathed and were promptly devoured before pictures could be taken. I'll have to get pics of those. They are yummy!
My last hurdle is French Bread. I made it a while back and wasn't super crazy about the end result. It made good French Toast, but occasionally I want to do something different with my French Bread-like eat it as bread! LOL! My goal is to get a loaf of this made by the weekend!
So there are my bread escapades for this week! I hope to make a hamburger cabbage casserole to share. I've got half a head of cabbage that needs to be eaten, soon! And, I can work on using the last of those canned tomato sauces I have in my basement. As my 3 year old would say, "Yep! That's a plan!"
Friday, February 25, 2011
Menu Planning: Part 1
I started working on March's menu plan this morning. I printed my list of superfoods from last week in an attempt to try and incorporate them more fully this coming month. I'm a little overwhelmed. It is easy to get several of the foods in one or two meals, but to try and get the daily/weeky requirements in over the course of every week has proven a bit more challenging than I though it would be. I've decided that even though we probably won't meet the goal every week, a good attempt is better than no attempt at all.
This month I'm also changing a few things in regard to how I do my menu. First, I'm writing all of our known obligations on the menu (under the date), so I don't forget that I need an easy meal on "x" day because I have a meeting at 6 pm and hubby has to get dinner for the kids. Ya know, that kind of thing happened a lot last month. It almost always resulted in picking up something processed from the store or hitting a drive-thru.
Second, I am planning full meals, both entrees and at least 2 sides for every meal. Last month I just did the entree and figured I could come up with the rest as I needed it. What happened was me standing in the kitchen with a ready to serve entree and I didn't have a clue what veggie or fruit was going with it. I have four bags of veggies (5 pounds each) that haven't been opened becuase I forgot about using them. Good news, this month, I won't be buying many frozen veggies!
Third, I am adding a morning snack to my menu. I typically give the daycare kids something to munch on as I'm getting ready to prepare lunch (or tide them over if a little one decides he/she needs to eat NOW!). I have been just grabbing whatever out of the cabinet and I've found that when I go to make a dish later in the month, I don't have enough of some ingredient, almonds in this case, because I've been using them for morning snack. Same with boxed cereal. I had used it a few times for morning snack for the kids and then my girls didn't have any cereal for breakfast this week because I had used it all. Oops, sorry girls!
So far, I have the first two weeks done and I'm planning on putting them up on the menu plan page. I'm hopeful that I can get the plan done tonight and then make my list in the morning. I won't get to do my bulk grains shopping for a couple weeks, so that is throwing things off a bit too. I think I'll just go ahead and buy another 5 pound bag of flour and be done with it.
This month I'm also changing a few things in regard to how I do my menu. First, I'm writing all of our known obligations on the menu (under the date), so I don't forget that I need an easy meal on "x" day because I have a meeting at 6 pm and hubby has to get dinner for the kids. Ya know, that kind of thing happened a lot last month. It almost always resulted in picking up something processed from the store or hitting a drive-thru.
Second, I am planning full meals, both entrees and at least 2 sides for every meal. Last month I just did the entree and figured I could come up with the rest as I needed it. What happened was me standing in the kitchen with a ready to serve entree and I didn't have a clue what veggie or fruit was going with it. I have four bags of veggies (5 pounds each) that haven't been opened becuase I forgot about using them. Good news, this month, I won't be buying many frozen veggies!
Third, I am adding a morning snack to my menu. I typically give the daycare kids something to munch on as I'm getting ready to prepare lunch (or tide them over if a little one decides he/she needs to eat NOW!). I have been just grabbing whatever out of the cabinet and I've found that when I go to make a dish later in the month, I don't have enough of some ingredient, almonds in this case, because I've been using them for morning snack. Same with boxed cereal. I had used it a few times for morning snack for the kids and then my girls didn't have any cereal for breakfast this week because I had used it all. Oops, sorry girls!
So far, I have the first two weeks done and I'm planning on putting them up on the menu plan page. I'm hopeful that I can get the plan done tonight and then make my list in the morning. I won't get to do my bulk grains shopping for a couple weeks, so that is throwing things off a bit too. I think I'll just go ahead and buy another 5 pound bag of flour and be done with it.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Genetically engineered foods-an agricultral armageddon?
I've just spent the last hour or so reading article after article about the genetic modification and subsequent realase of alfalfa into the commercial market. I am overwhelmed, depressed and generally angry at both our government for putting money over the health of its citizens and for the American people who don't get involved or are generally oblivious to what is happening to our food supply. Granted, I don't have a thriving social life, but those who do choose (or are forced) to associate with me will learn about the dangers of genetically modified food. They just don't care or, even worse, look at me like I'm a raving Glenn Beck with all my conspiracy theories.
I feel like I'm in the movie Independence Day where the alien invader ships are hovering over the cities and the citizens are all standing on the rooftops cheering and then the giant laser beam comes shooting out of the bottom of the ship and annihilates them all. Our alien ships, piloted by Monsanto and the United States government are shooting genetically modified foods at apathetic, clueless American citizens who will be destroyed in the end.
Maybe I'm a little over the top. Maybe not. Only time will tell.
WANTED: decent sized parcel of land with access to water, in the middle of no-where so I can raise my family's food in a manner that is consistent with my values. Electricity and running water nice, but no longer essential. I'm thinking along the lines of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Articles on the issue:
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-07-four-things-you-can-do-to-defend-organic-against-the-gmo-alfalfa
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f54/organic-elite-whole-foods-surrenders-monsanto-what-now-1524775/
http://awaytogarden.com/why-i-called-the-white-house-the-alfalfa-crisis
I feel like I'm in the movie Independence Day where the alien invader ships are hovering over the cities and the citizens are all standing on the rooftops cheering and then the giant laser beam comes shooting out of the bottom of the ship and annihilates them all. Our alien ships, piloted by Monsanto and the United States government are shooting genetically modified foods at apathetic, clueless American citizens who will be destroyed in the end.
Maybe I'm a little over the top. Maybe not. Only time will tell.
WANTED: decent sized parcel of land with access to water, in the middle of no-where so I can raise my family's food in a manner that is consistent with my values. Electricity and running water nice, but no longer essential. I'm thinking along the lines of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Articles on the issue:
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-07-four-things-you-can-do-to-defend-organic-against-the-gmo-alfalfa
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f54/organic-elite-whole-foods-surrenders-monsanto-what-now-1524775/
http://awaytogarden.com/why-i-called-the-white-house-the-alfalfa-crisis
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Trying out organic produce
Last night I headed to the store for apples. I really dislike the unplanned trips to the store. It always seems like money spent and not much gained. Of course I bought things that we didn't really need, but the purchases will make my trip this weekend much shorter. My big find was organic apples for $.77/pound. That's awesome as most on the non-organics are around $1/pound. Add to that, we've been eating apples like crazy, so I picked up 6 pounds of those. Then I also got a few other organic items that were within a few cents of their non-organic counterpart. I picked up romaine hearts, baby carrots, celery, grape tomatoes and tortilla chips. Then I also got some broccoli, cauliflower, and a couple peaches (all non-organic). I've spent another $30+ that isn't in the budget and I will still need bananas and milk for next week. At this point, I'm just trying to minimize the damage. :)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The big grocery trip
I've been to three stores today completing the big monthly shopping trip. It was big, expensive and depressing. Usually grocery shopping is my thing. I often get to go by myself and it's my "me" time, so even though it is grocery shopping, I enjoy it. Today was not one of those days though. We spent all weekend at my parents' and while I had a great time with the family, I spent a lot of time thinking about the amount of junk I was consuming. The ice had a funny taste which made the water gross, so I drank milk instead. Well, let's just say consuming large quantities of milk is not good for me.
On the way home, we stopped at Sam's Club and I was armed with a list and $175 in gift cards (bought ahead of time through my church). I spent $169.41 which was within my bugdet, but there were several key items they didn't have or didn't carry an organic alternative. I'm coming to the conclusion that Sam's organic offerings are really lacking.
We made it home one hour before Aldi's closed, so I hopped out of one vehicle into another (and let hubby and the kids unload the van) and headed there for the second part of the list. Again, several items that they usually carry (whole grain pasta for one) were out of stock and the produce selection wasn't that great. I still managed to spend $61.59 there though.
Last stop was Hy-Vee. It is a regional chain store and has a great natural foods section. I hit the bulk bins and picked up more natural sugar (organic was $1.49/pound which I thought was a good price). I also got unsweeted coconut and flax seed for homemade granola. I made it about half-way through the store when my husband called and requested lunchmeat and bread for a quick supper (by this time is was 7:30 and the girls head to bed at 8:00). Could a find a reasonably price nitrite free lunch meat or bread without tons of gunk. Of course not and I couldn't bring myself to buy the cheap stuff, so I spent $6 on lunchmeat and $2 on bread (picked the best of the worst there). Organic produce, ugh. High side was organic romaine hearts were 2/$5 instead of the usual 2/$6, but everything else was really expensive. And then there was the maple syrup. Since I learned that most commercial syrup has fermaldahyde in it, I had a hard time bringing myself to buy it and the store didn't carry organic. I went ahead and bought it vowing to not buy it again. But, I've looked online and I cannot find an affordable organic at this point.
Anyway, I'm a bit let down because I spent a lot of money, but I still need to get on Amazon and see if I can find decent alternatives for the items I need. Thanks for letting me vent. Hubby thanks you to, because I doubt that he wanted to listen to me rant about it! :)
An itemized list can be found in the grocery list tab.
On the way home, we stopped at Sam's Club and I was armed with a list and $175 in gift cards (bought ahead of time through my church). I spent $169.41 which was within my bugdet, but there were several key items they didn't have or didn't carry an organic alternative. I'm coming to the conclusion that Sam's organic offerings are really lacking.
We made it home one hour before Aldi's closed, so I hopped out of one vehicle into another (and let hubby and the kids unload the van) and headed there for the second part of the list. Again, several items that they usually carry (whole grain pasta for one) were out of stock and the produce selection wasn't that great. I still managed to spend $61.59 there though.
Last stop was Hy-Vee. It is a regional chain store and has a great natural foods section. I hit the bulk bins and picked up more natural sugar (organic was $1.49/pound which I thought was a good price). I also got unsweeted coconut and flax seed for homemade granola. I made it about half-way through the store when my husband called and requested lunchmeat and bread for a quick supper (by this time is was 7:30 and the girls head to bed at 8:00). Could a find a reasonably price nitrite free lunch meat or bread without tons of gunk. Of course not and I couldn't bring myself to buy the cheap stuff, so I spent $6 on lunchmeat and $2 on bread (picked the best of the worst there). Organic produce, ugh. High side was organic romaine hearts were 2/$5 instead of the usual 2/$6, but everything else was really expensive. And then there was the maple syrup. Since I learned that most commercial syrup has fermaldahyde in it, I had a hard time bringing myself to buy it and the store didn't carry organic. I went ahead and bought it vowing to not buy it again. But, I've looked online and I cannot find an affordable organic at this point.
Anyway, I'm a bit let down because I spent a lot of money, but I still need to get on Amazon and see if I can find decent alternatives for the items I need. Thanks for letting me vent. Hubby thanks you to, because I doubt that he wanted to listen to me rant about it! :)
An itemized list can be found in the grocery list tab.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Weekend at Grandma's
We are spending the weekend at my Mom and Dad's. My sister's family comes home and my brother and his family come over as well, so it's a big family reunion once a month. We have a great time, the cousins love the opportunity to play together, and there's food. A lot of food-most of it unhealthy, processed food. This presents a challenge for the person attempting to eat better. Our actual meals are fine, but the in-between stuff is the problem. Hostess cupcakes, anyone? Fruit snacks? Cheetos? Mountain Dew?
I've done really well eliminating soda. We drove through Arby's on the way up last night and I didn't think twice before ordering water. And, the girls ordered tea with no prompting from me. Of course, the boys got soda, but it's a once in a while thing. No big deal.
The problem I'm having right now is the lack of decent beverages. There's soda (uh... no!), Sunny D (even before trying to eat healthier, I avoided drinks containing partially hydrogenated oil), and water. Water is the obvious choice here, but I have found that the water doesn't taste very good. Well, not the water, but the ice. I always have ice in my water, so drinking tap water hasn't been so fun. I've decided that this is the reason that I always drink a ton more soda when I'm at my parents' house. Oh, well, I guess if this is my biggest challenge on my journey, I'll be ok.
I've done really well eliminating soda. We drove through Arby's on the way up last night and I didn't think twice before ordering water. And, the girls ordered tea with no prompting from me. Of course, the boys got soda, but it's a once in a while thing. No big deal.
The problem I'm having right now is the lack of decent beverages. There's soda (uh... no!), Sunny D (even before trying to eat healthier, I avoided drinks containing partially hydrogenated oil), and water. Water is the obvious choice here, but I have found that the water doesn't taste very good. Well, not the water, but the ice. I always have ice in my water, so drinking tap water hasn't been so fun. I've decided that this is the reason that I always drink a ton more soda when I'm at my parents' house. Oh, well, I guess if this is my biggest challenge on my journey, I'll be ok.
Monday, December 27, 2010
The beginning
I look at my life today and know that I have changed from the person I was 3 or 4 years ago (for the better I hope!). While I've always considered myself someone who knows good food and likes to cook it, I am coming to the realization that I'm nowhere near where I want to be. That goes for the life we live as well as the food we eat. I think I already do several things that are "green," but I am learning that I can always do more. This year, I would like to simplify my life by ridding ourselves of clutter, changing to environmentally friendly products where I can and further modify my family's diet to whole foods.
This seems like an overwhelming task, but I look at the person I was those 3 years ago and I have come a long way. The goal is to continue to change/try one new thing each week and make permanent lifestyle changes for the benefit of my family, 52 weeks = 52 life improving changes.
Oh, and I neglected to mention this whole process has to be budget conscious. In the past, my grocery (read "everything") budget has been $500/month. In 2011, I want to lower that amount to $400/month. Our family income significantly decreased in 2010 and, while we had some tough times, we made it through. I think that if I continue to make wise choice regarding our food money, we can eat a high quality diet and be "green" at the same time. I invite you to embark on this journey with me-all 52 baby steps.
This seems like an overwhelming task, but I look at the person I was those 3 years ago and I have come a long way. The goal is to continue to change/try one new thing each week and make permanent lifestyle changes for the benefit of my family, 52 weeks = 52 life improving changes.
Oh, and I neglected to mention this whole process has to be budget conscious. In the past, my grocery (read "everything") budget has been $500/month. In 2011, I want to lower that amount to $400/month. Our family income significantly decreased in 2010 and, while we had some tough times, we made it through. I think that if I continue to make wise choice regarding our food money, we can eat a high quality diet and be "green" at the same time. I invite you to embark on this journey with me-all 52 baby steps.
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