Salad ingredients

I have some stuff going on right now and need to get my behind moving and lose some of this behind.

Naturally, salads are a 'diet food" but they can get boring.  If you have a good list of ingredients you can add, you can mix things up a bit.

I actually like to mix fruit into my salads.  I have a sweet tooth, so this a way to get some of that sweet, without adding a bunch of calories.

Here's a list of ingredients you can add.  Mix and match to fit your tastes.

Protein
Chicken
Beef
Ham
Turkey
Tuna
Salmon
Shrimp
Egg
Chickpeas
Bacon - sparingly - unfortunately
Cheese - Try feta or sharp cheddar or other strong cheeses so you get flavor and don't use as much
Tofu - I don't like it, but other people do
Beans
Nuts


Vegetables
For the "base" I like to mix spinach with spring greens.  Spinach has so many more vitamins in it.  YOu can do straight spinach if you want.  I just like the mix of textures and tastes.
Cucumber
Carrot
Peppers
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Tomatoes
Avocado
Asparagus
Corn
Onion
Celery
Radishes
Mushrooms
Okra
Zucchini

Fruit
Berries - blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry
Apples
Dried cranberries
Grapes
Mango
Citruses - Orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime
Pomegranate
Pineapple

You can add some grains if you like.  A nice couscous or a whole wheat pasta.  Quinoa if you're gluten free.  Add some crunch with baked tortilla chips.

If you're still not inspired, check out Pinterest.  There are great recipes for making a week's worth of salad in a mason jar.

If your kids are picky eaters, set up a salad bar and allow them to pick toppings for a salad.  You might be surprised by what they choose and what they'll try.  My daughter actually likes asparagus!!  We love a salmon, asparagus and feta salad with a hot bacon dressing.  I had this in a restaurant and loved it, so we make it at home now.

What's your favorite salad topping?

Meals on a budget

I went grocery shopping today for the next 2 weeks. I spent $106.  Here are my purchases.

As you can see, there is produce, meats and pasta.  Being frugal does not mean you have to eat junk.  In fact, I am renewing my commitment to get healthy, so health was a large decision in my shopping.

If you know me, or follow this blog, you know I despise grocery shopping and cooking.  The nearest grocery store is 15 miles away, so I must plan meals.  There is no quick running for a missing ingredient.  I have ingredients for breakfast, lunch and dinner here.

This is our menu for the next couple of weeks.  Maybe a little bit longer because there will be leftovers.

One of my keys, which I have blogged about before, is my slow cooker.  Several of my meals will be bagged up to go in the slow cooker.  But I do all the prep in one day, so my cooking time is minimal each night.  In fact, I set up that my husband can actually have dinner on the table when I get home.

Right now my slow cooker is working with a whole chicken.  Part of it will be used in salads for me for lunch.  The rest will go in

Moroccan Couscous Salad - I am not a fan of chick peas, so I take them out and put in chicken instead to keep my protein.  I also change out the raisins for dried cranberries.  I like the tart taste with the chicken.

Chili - Fall is approaching and that means chili around here.  The recipe is not hard.  1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, 1 6 oz can tomato paste a can of kidney beans and some ground meat.  I use ground turkey for the health benefits, but you can use whatever you want.  In our area, we are known for putting pasta in our chili.  Try it some time.  It's quite good.  This is all bagged up and will go in the slow cooker.  A nice slow cooker all day brings the flavors together.

Spaghetti-  Since I made the ground turkey for the chili, I made all of my ground meat at one time.  I bagged the cooked meat with the spaghetti sauce.  It just needs to be thawed and combined with the hot cooked pasta.  Add a salad and we're ready to go.

Pork chop, veggie and rice bowls- This recipe is just for a veggie and rice bowl, but my husband doesn't do vegetarian, and I struggle with keeping my protein up, so I'm adding pork chops to this.  The boneless chops were the cheapest this week, so that's what we got. They will go in the slow cooker with a little bit of apple cider vinegar and some soy sauce.  This will tenderize them enough to be stirred into the rice and veggies and just break apart. The soy sauce will work well with the rice.  I use a quick cooking brown rice, again for the health aspect.

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak - My husband is a beef man.  This recipe works for him.  I bought a bag of mini peppers.  They were around $3.  If you have ever tried to buy colored peppers, you know they are expensive.  This bag of peppers is affordable and has enough for this dish and the couscous salad above, plus a few left over to top a salad.  Served over rice, this is a meal in itself.

Chicken Alfredo - This is often requested at home and it's a quick dish.  I know jarred Alfredo sauce is loaded with fat, but I don't have time to make it from scratch.  What I do is buy a small jar, and add one half to a full jar of skim milk to it.  It stretches the sauce, and reduces the calories because you're not getting as much sauce.  I cooked a 3 pound bag of chicken breast.  Some of it is diced for this dish, and the rest will be used in another dish to come.  Cook the pasta of your choice, and steam some broccoli.  Mix together and you're good to go.

Chubby Chicken and Cream Cheese Taquitos - My husband loves "messy food" so this one is for him.  This is where the rest of the chicken breast will go.  It has spinach in it, so it helps with the veggies, and it will use low fat cream cheese.  Again, add a salad and we're good to go.

Fish tacos - I eat these when I go out to lunch with my friends from work. I love them and our daughter loves fish, but hubby, not so much.  I have tilapia in the freezer so we're using that and we have fresh veggies from my trip to the farmer's market.  Tortillas will be used for this and the taquitos.  I bought an extra package, which I'll explain in the breakfasts.  Corn tortillas make this a great gluten free meal.

Grilled Kielbasa and Pesto Penne - I cooked this tonight and put it in a bag.  It will just need to be reheated.  We're going to have Roasted Okra along with this.

There's one recipe that's going to be an experiment to see if it goes over.  Hopefully my husband has quit reading by now and doesn't see this.  It's Pasta with Eggplant Sauce.  I bought an eggplant at the farmer's market, so I'm trying this.  I like eggplant, the child has never eaten it and hubby says he hates it.  I'm wondering if he'll notice it in this sauce.  It's loaded with veggies and when I add a salad, even more veggies.

OK, that's the dinners. Yes, this is from the $106 that I spent, and I still have more to go.

For lunches I can eat things that I know my husband won't eat.

A great fall lunch is a Stuffed Acorn Squash, which also happens to be gluten free.  I made the ground turkey for this when I made the rest for my dinner dishes.  

I found this Tuna and Asparagus Salad.  It calls for being made in a bread bowl, but I'm just doing it as a salad.  Who needs the extra carbs?

We have a toaster oven at work so this Baked Avocado Dish is a quick lunch.  I also got some artichokes to add to this.

And my dinner tonight after a couple of hours in the kitchen is a grown up version of grilled cheese.  It's a Tomato, Avocado and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese.  Here I'm using up the leftover avocado from the recipe above.

I'm still on the same $106.  And remember, I have leftover chicken to make salads or sandwiches.  And I can have leftovers from other meals for lunches.  I did buy 2 frozen dinners in case I run out of stuff, but that's still in my $106.

Now for breakfast.  You may have noticed that I bought fresh berries.  I also have a couple of bags of pears from a friend that had an abundance.

I have the extra tortillas and some English Muffins.  I'll put peanut butter and fresh berries on the English Muffins, or rolled up in the tortillas.

I can also roll up the tortillas with peanut butter and some of the pears, thinly sliced and some granola.

I also have a quick breakfast from my childhood.  My grandparents had a farm so we grew up with fresh dairy products.  One of my grandfather's things was to put sliced cheese on buttered toast.  Very simple, but very good. You don't melt the cheese.  Try it sometime.  I'll eat it on the English Muffins.

And all this on $106.  

Whole chicken in a slow cooker

One of the easiest, and most economical, things is to cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker.  There really isn't a fancy recipe.  Buy a whole chicken, add the seasoning of your choice, about half a cup of stock/broth, plop the top on and away you go.  8 hours on low will produce a juicy chicken that falls apart.

My favorite seasoning is from Costco.  It's an organic no-salt seasoning.  It has a bunch of different spices in it and works in everything.  I just sprinkle some of that on top.  If you don't have a Costco nearby or don't want to get a membership, you can order it on Amazon as well.

You can serve the chicken for dinner, or I use it for various meals.  It works perfect on salads, mixed with rice and vegetables, or one of my favorites, a Moroccan Couscous Salad.  I've changed up the ingredients using whatever happens to be in the pantry.  I throw in chicken breasts and it makes a full meal.

You can use the chicken in soup, sandwiches, kids meals.  All kinds of things.

Experiment with different seasonings and see what you like.

Getting Healthy

Yes, I need to get healthy.  I've seen this simple "solution."

Really, how much simpler can it get?

A few days ago, we got an extended lunch hour (actually 2 hours) to go to the farmer's market.  I actually LOVE fruits and vegetables.  The farmer's market was a plethora of wonderful finds.

I got green beans, beautiful red tomatoes, assorted lettuce (which my husband actually liked), eggplant (which my husband does not like), okra and a bouquet of flowers for myself.  And I spent under $20.  I could have bought a lot more, but the 1 mile walk back to my office with arms laden with produce did not sound appealing.  Hitting the farmer's market tomorrow, does.

I'm also trying to set a good example for my daughter of making healthy choices and setting new habits for our family.

I'm making a commitment to get back in shape, so I'm looking for some good, healthy recipes.  What's your favorite?

Product Review - Immaculate Baking

I discovered this brand purely by accident.  My family loves carbs.

I needed a quick breakfast items.  While I was checking out the canned cinnamon rolls (yes, I know they're unhealthy) I found these.  The brand is Immaculate Baking.

I happily bought them when I saw the label.  No bleached flour, no high fructose corn syrup, organic and non GMO (genetically modified).  A convenience food that I could feel good about serving to my daughter.  Double bonus, she LOVED them.  We also blueberry and cinnamon rolls.

Triple bonus, I found out they have gluten free products as well.

I found this cookie dough when I was picking up some more breakfast food for the kiddo.  They had this Fudge Brownie and Chocolate chip.  The chocolate chip is OK, but these are just fantastic.  There is no way to tell they are gluten free.

It's so rare to find a brand that is healthy, convenient, and better yet, affordable.  Yes, they are pricier than other brands, but I'll pay the little bit extra to feed my family some healthy food.

Most of the time I do my own baking, but when I don't have time.  It's nice to know I have an alternative.

I found these in the refrigerator section at a Super Walmart.  I haven't really looked other places for them.  You can also like them on Facebook.

Dinner for the next 2 weeks

Whenever I post on Facebook that I'm doing my 2 week batch cooking, people ask what's for dinner.  Here's what we're having.  My total on checkout at Aldi was $120 and that included snacks and lunch items as well.  Some of the leftovers will be used for lunches as well.

So here's the menu

Mexican chicken - I traded kidney beans and used black beans instead

Cheesy Chicken & Rice - A family favorite.  However, if you're GF, you know that cream soup has gluten in it, and face it, it's really not all that good for you.

I found this homemade substitute online.  It has just a few simple ingredients.  I call it "Cream of No Crap Soup."  This is the first time I'm using it, so we'll see how it does.

Sausage and baked beans - Again, I made some substitutions.  I bought turkey polish sausage and used canned baked beans.  I don't really like beans, but I can suffer through baked beans.  The black beans in the Mexican Chicken is a stretch for me.  But you can use whatever beans you want.

Bacon Quiche - This is a versatile dish.  You can throw in any veggies you want.  Add ham or leave out the meat altogether if you want vegetarian.

Pork Chop Meal - A simple one dish meal.

Peach Pork Chops - Pork Chops, a bag of frozen peaches, some seasoning and a little bit of chicken broth to keep the moisture content correct.

I even got the 11 year old involved this time.  She enjoyed bagging up our meals and she did some chopping.

Our last slow cooker dish is Beef Stew.

I used a pound of stew meat, but I checked prices on other cuts.  Since it cooks long and slow, you can use different cuts.  Round steak, top sirloin or cube steaks work well.  Stew meat was the cheapest per pound this time, so that's what we're using.  Since there are three of us, we cubed three potatoes and sliced a bunch of carrots.  Add some seasoning and  some beef broth or bouillon and water and you're good to go.  

I make my own gravy.  I'll use the juice from the stew after it's done cooking.  Bring it to a boil, and add a slurry of corn starch and water.  No, I don't have measurements. I have done it this way for so long I just know by looking.  This also keeps it gluten free and doesn't lump like using flour does.  

My "just in case" meals, (in case we forget to put something in the slow cooker) are Ravioli and Poor Man's Stroganoff.  That's one pound ground turkey, the Cream of No Crap Soup mix and some rice. I also have a pizza for the hubby and kiddo when I'm not home.  

I have several containers of already cooked rice in the freezer.  I can thaw them as needed.  I'll mix them into the Mexican Chicken and the Chicken & Rice as well.  

We will also have leftovers, and some of the leftovers become lunch as well.  I use them for my lunches quite often.  

I love Pinterest for my recipes. I find things that are good and healthy and I can "keep" them all in one place and not have to dig for recipes.  

Happy Eating!!

Product review - Enjoy Life not nuts!

I found this product at a local Festival Foods in the gluten free and health food section.

I don't like nuts, except peanut butter.  I don't like the taste or the texture.  So many trail mix blends contain nuts.  I don't want to pay for trail mix when I'm not going to eat half of it, and I don't want anything with carbs.

I was delighted when I found this, even more delighted when it tasted good!

For any of you out there with allergens, this product is free of wheat, tree nuts, fish, dairy, egg, shellfish, peanuts, soy, casein, potato, sesame and sulfites!  Even better it is made in a gluten free and nut free facility, so there is no cross contamination.

Here is the nutrition information.  6 oz bag contains 6 servings.  8 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat.  13 grams of carbs with 2 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein.  Not too bad.

There are two varieties of the seed and fruit mix.  You can view them here.

I don't remember the exact price, but I want to say it was around $3.  I used this as a snack on my way home from work.  I eat lunch at noon and don't get home until almost 6 PM.  This allows me a healthy snack that won't fill me up before dinner.

I think I'll be stocking up on these.

Gluten Free Lunches

I brown bag it, because I'm frugal.  My office is just a few blocks from a wonderful public market with gluten free and organic food, but I can't afford to eat there every day.  I wish I could.

Here are some things I pack for lunch.  If you are trying to cut carbs, these will help you since they are all gluten free.  I avoid using gluten free replacements.  They are expensive and quite frankly, most of them don't taste very good.  There are some good ones, but it takes a lot of trial and error, or the recommendation of friends, to find them.  So most of my lunches are naturally gluten free.

I found these great lunch containers at Wal-Mart. They were $4 each for a set of two and come with the  fork, and knife in the rectangular containers.  The salad containers have a separate cup for the dressing, so you can make salads up ahead of time.  These containers allow me to make lunch at one time instead of every day.

Salads - I buy the bagged lettuce and spinach and mix them together.  You can add whatever vegetables you want.  For protein I use chicken breast, tuna, salmon, whatever I happen to have on hand.

Quesadillas - Corn tortillas, cheese and your choice of other ingredients.  Chicken, beef, spinach, beans, whatever you want.

Portabella mushrooms - Flip a mushroom cap upside down.  Top with spinach, marinara sauce, sliced tomato and mozzarella or provolone cheese.  Bake at 350 until the cheese is lightly brown.

Veggie lasagna - I made this veggie lasagna last week.  It makes a 9x13 pan and I'm the only one who will eat it, so I cut it into single serving pieces and froze it.  I can just take out a single serving and put it in my lunch container.

Breakfast - Eggs are good protein.  Scrambled with some veggies and you're good to go.

Egg salad is a good option.  Mix in a half of an avocado for extra protein.  Spread it on sandwich bread, put it in a lettuce wrap, or eat it plain.  Here I added some cottage cheese and I'll grab a pear for my fiber filled fruit.

Last week I experimented with a recipe.  I made a spaghetti squash. (If you want to save time, pierce the squash a bunch of times, then microwave it for about 15 minutes. )  I mixed the squash with some parmesan cheese, a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese and some canned salmon.

Wraps - Just because you're gluten free doesn't mean you can't do wraps.  Use corn tortillas or lettuce instead of bread.

Get creative with your meals.

Frugal Living - Gluten free batch cooking

I've been absent for several months.  Life has been just plain crazy.  I think things are getting back to normal, so I have several blogs planned.

In the last few weeks I have gone gluten free.  No, I have not been diagnosed with Celiac, but I am doing it because of arthritis in my knees.  When I talked to my wonderful friend, Ruth, she explained to me how going gluten free had helped her Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I suffer from arthritis in both knees, no cartilage in either knee, and my knee caps slide, bone on bone.  I am in pain on a regular basis.  So, I decided to give it a shot.  Within about a week, a lump on my left knee disappeared!

If you are gluten free, you know how expensive some of the products can be. I cook so that we are naturally gluten free, not adding expensive items to our budget.

Today I did my grocery shopping for the next two weeks.  I still use my slow cooker, especially since from the time I get up in the morning, until I get home, it's 12 hours.  I'm too tired to cook.

Here is what I bagged and froze for the next two weeks.  Just click on the title of the recipe to be directed to the recipe website.  These are not my creations, so I want to give credit where credit is due.  All of my meals come straight from the freezer and get dumped into the slow cooker.  They usually cook for about 8 hours on low.

BBQ Pork Chops - This one doesn't need a recipe.  Take some pork chops, put them in a plastic bag and pour on your favorite BBQ sauce.  Our family favorite is Sweet Baby Rays.

Pork Chops Cacciatore

Peach Chicken - I ditched the fresh peaches and used a bag of frozen peaches.  I'm all about saving time.

Cube Steak with Gravy - I ditched the packaged gravy mix and just added beef broth.  I'll add a little slurry of water and cornstarch to thicken it up.

Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps - This is not a slow cooker recipe, so I don't know how it will turn out.  However, my husband is thrilled with recipe.  It has bacon, brown sugar and chili powder.  It is a bit messy to put together, but it sounds good.

Beef and Broccoli- This is a family favorite. I alternate between stew meat, sirloin, or top round steak.  Depending on what is on sale. They all work out fine.  Go with the cheapest.

Applesauce BBQ Chicken - I used chicken leg quarters because they were cheaper.

Crockpot Mexican Lasagna - I put this together in a dish lined with foil.  When it's frozen, I'll put in a bag, still in the foil.  Then it can be easily transferred to the crock pot.  My husband will put it in when he comes for lunch, since this one doesn't need to cook as long.

Edit:  I discovered if you are cooking this from frozen, it does need to cook for 8 hours.  If you're not freezing it, 4 hours is fine.  

I have some meetings this week and won't be home for dinner, so I have ingredients for spaghetti and pizza since the rest of the family doesn't have to be gluten free.

There are some things that I do to save time.  It doesn't affect my budget very much and the time savings is SO worth it to me.

1) I use slow cooker liners.  They are from Reynolds and they can be found in the aisle where you'd find bags and foil.  They are awesome.

2) I don't measure seasoning.  I have a blend from Costco that I love.  It's an organic no salt seasoning and I use it on everything.  The link is to Amazon if you don't have a Costco near you.  It's a little pricer than Costco, but it is so worth it.

3) I buy pre-sliced when I can, if it's not that much more.  At my favorite Aldi store, the pre-sliced mushrooms are reasonable and save me a bunch of time.  There is also a jar of chopped garlic.  It's only a couple of dollars and worth every bit of it.

The other thing that I love about Aldi is that they carry their own brand of food and most of it is naturally gluten free.  If you're gluten free, you know about hidden gluten.  Aldi's brands don't have it in the places you have been looking.  Not in the Teriyaki sauce, or the chicken broth, or the other hidden places.  It's such a treat to find a naturally gluten free item that you can afford!

4) I make a big batch of rice at one time.  I use long grain rice, so it has to cook for 45 minutes.  I make the entire package at one time, so I'm not spending 45 minutes each night making a small batch.  All I have to do is spice it up.  Some nights I add some diced garlic and a little bit of olive oil, other nights I add veggies, and some nights it goes into the dish I'm making.

I spent a good bit of time making breakfasts and lunches for the next week as well, and those will be coming in future posts.  Enjoy your meals.

If you're on Pinterest, follow me and you'll see some of the recipes I use.  Not all are gluten free.

Frugal Living - Slow Cooker & Batch Prep

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to bake, but I despise cooking.  The drudgery of deciding what to make every night is draining to me.  The nearest grocery store is 15 miles away so there isn't a "wing it" dinner.  Meals need to be planned to make sure we have all the ingredients.

Since I hate cooking, I love my slow cooker.  Throw some food in and let it go.  It's done when I get home.  How can it get any better?  Well, if I had a personal chef it would be better, but I don't, so I do this.

After work today, I did the drudgery of shopping.  I had my meals planned and my list in hand when I hit my Aldi store to get all my groceries.

When I got home, I prepped everything and put it in labeled bags with any additional instructions.  For my Tortellini Soup, I need to add the tortellini about an hour before serving, so that instruction is on the bag.

All my veggies were cut at one time and nothing needed to be cooked ahead, so there are no dishes.  Another benefit of slow cooker or crock pot cooking.  Usually the only thing you need to wash is your crock pot.  It took me an hour to get everything together and I have 12 meals prepped.  All I have to do is pop them in the crock pot before I leave in the morning.

I do have ingredients for spaghetti as a back up in case I forget to dump something in the slow cooker before I leave in the morning.

On our menu for the next couple of weeks.....

Swiss Steak
Tortellini soup
Chicken & Dumplings
Cheesy chicken & rice
Soup pork chops  (pork chops with a can of chicken & rice soup)
Beef stew
Chicken leg quarters (add a packet of onion soup mix and some water) and I am making extra so I have leftover chicken to make a stir fry.
Balsamic vinegar chicken (this is a regular oven recipe that I'm making in the slow cooker instead)
BBQ Pork Chops
BBQ Chicken breast

If you're on Pinterest, you can find most the recipes on there.  I make life as easy as I can.

The great thing is that most of these recipes are naturally gluten free for those that need to follow a special diet, and they are pretty healthy so I can keep on track with my weight loss program.

Now I can settle in for the night and get my other chores done, knowing that cooking won't be on my agenda for the coming weeks.

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

Do you want a healthy version of an oatmeal cookie that you can serve your kids for breakfast?  Or need a breakfast that you can eat on the run?  This is what happens in my house.  I'm lucky if I roll out of bed and am awake, much less eating a healthy breakfast.  I developed this recipe.

These are a little bit denser than a regular muffin.  Kind of a cross between a muffin and oatmeal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1/3 C butter - melted
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C quick cooking oatmeal (not the instant packets)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon (or more if you like cinnamon)
1 C raisins (or other dried fruit)

Mix together the butter, sugar, and egg.  Slowly add in dry ingredients, adding milk to keep the mixture moist.  Still until just combined.  Stir in raisins.

Scoop into muffin liners with an ice cream scoop.  This should make 12 nice sized muffins. They're not going to rise a bunch, so you can fill them almost to the top.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

If you like, you can sprinkle the muffins with a cinnamon and sugar mix before baking.  The oatmeal adds bulk and fiber to help keep your child full longer.  They also make a great after school snack when they want something sweet.

Frugal Living - Batch Cooking

I have an 11 year old girl with a fabulous metabolism.  A bowl of cereal will not keep this kiddo full for any length of time.  She eats big breakfasts.  Once a month or so, I will spend a couple of hours making up breakfasts for her.  Good, healthy, filling breakfasts.

I'm also a mean mom.  I don't buy Pop Tarts or Toaster Strudel or any of the other things that kids WANT to eat.  It's just not healthy.  As a general rule, I use as little processed food as possible.  That's not to say it's 100% processed free, but I cook from scratch as much as possible.  I'm trying to teach her better eating habits that I have developed.

This is what I made today.  Starting in the center and going left... Stone Fruit Pancakes (peaches, nectarines, and plums), peanut butter and banana oatmeal squares, pumpkin scones, ham/egg/cheese biscuits, blueberry muffins and oatmeal raisin muffins.  This will last about six weeks.

Peanut butter oatmeal bars

My daughter has taken an interest in cooking, so she has started helping in the preparations.  The only processed food is the biscuits.

Press some canned biscuits into the bottom of a muffin tin, top with scrambled eggs, ham and cheese and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

All of  these things will be frozen and she will just microwave them in the coming weeks.  These are all things she likes, and they're easy to make.  They are certainly healthier than many other options, and gives her servings of fruit she might not eat otherwise.  They are much higher in protein than cold cereal and have nutrients that aren't high in other foods.

Pumpkin Scones

And because I cook with the seasonal ingredients, I can save money.  The cost per serving is significantly lower than pre-made things, especially when you have a child who eats larger quantities.

The best thing is, you cook once and clean up once.  I'm not the June Cleaver type who is going to get up every morning and cook a hot breakfast and I certainly don't run a short order kitchen!!  My daughter can choose what she wants, and she gets some input into what I make. She also takes great pride when she eats something she helped prepare.  If she wants to help cook, I'm not going to turn down help.  What do you think I am?  Crazy?

Book Review - Cooking with Spirit

Cooking with Spirit by Jasmine Rose is a cookbook that you need to have, even if you don't cook.

The author is fun and lively woman.  If you have ever met her in person you know this.  If you haven't, sit down and read the cookbook.  Yes, I said read the cookbook.

It is filled with tidbits and trivia about various ingredients.  Each recipe highlights an ingredient and gives you the history and health benefits.

Yes, the foods are healthy, but they are also full of flavor.  If you think these are recipes that you won't really want to eat, guess again.  Gooey Chocolate Dessert Scones will make you change your mind quickly.  Northern Lights Salad, Aye Karumba Pasta Salad, Sort of Corn Quiche, but Not Really and even Designer Oatmeal are all fabulous recipes.  This is just a sample of what you can find.

Even if you never cook a single recipe, you will find this cookbook good for the soul.  There are fun family photos, quotes to lift the spirit and what other cookbook will tell you to do a Rhumba all over the kitchen?  Really.  I'm not kidding.

The directions for the Sort of Corn Quiche include:

"I'm going to tell you a little trick.  Put about 1/2 C of the the egg mixture in a small jar.  Add the two kinds of flour and the mustard.  Put the lid on.  Make sure it's on tight and shake.  Do a rhumba all over the kitchen.  Move that body!  Work up an appetite."

So, get this cookbook and start whipping up some fabulous meals. And if you ever get the chance, meet the author.  She gives great hugs and makes your spirit sour when you meet her.  Talk about a person who exudes positive energy!

Frugal Living - Aldi Stores

Today I made the fruit salad pictured above for $6.85 for the entire bowl.

There is a grocery store chain that I tend to forget about because they are not in terribly convenient proximity to where I shop, but I hear people talk about the great prices, especially on produce.

I went to Michaels, and in the same shopping center is an Aldi store.  They are great grocery stores.  There are a few little "quirks," but they easily offset by the savings.

First let me start with the ingredients and the costs, so you can get a feel for the price savings.

1 pineapple. $.99
7 Kiwi  $.69 total (not each)
1 qt strawberries $.99
1 cantaloupe $2.29
6 oz blackberries $1.89

Grand total $6.85

So, what's different about Aldi, and how can they sell so inexpensively?

First, they don't sell name brands.  They have their own brands.

There is no fancy shelving.

You bring your own bags and bag your own groceries.

If you want a cart, you will need to put a quarter in to get your cart.  Your quarter is returned when you return your cart.

They don't take checks or credit cards.  Cash or debit card only.

They do not take coupons, but that doesn't matter because there isn't merchandise there that you could use coupons on since they don't stock name brands.  If you are a specific brand shopper, you will not be happy with Aldi.

The stores tend to be a little smaller, so if you are looking for "gourmet" ingredients, it's likely you won't find them.  You may not even find every item on your grocery list, but the cost savings will be worth it.

The quality of the food is just as good as any name brand, and my budget likes them much better.

You can eat healthy and eat on a budget.  Check out Aldi and find out.

Couscous Salad

My friend, Julie, made this for an ATN staff retreat a couple of years ago and I loved it right away.


It's healthy, covers all food groups, can be changed up depending on what you have in the pantry, and it comes together in a few minutes.  What else do you need?


Here's the "official" recipe:

1 cup couscous 12 cup cherries (dried) 1 cup boiling water 5 tbsps olive oil (divided) 1 bell pepper (orange bell pepper cut in bite sized sticks) 1 onion (cut around its equator and cut into thin slices) 112 tsps ground cumin 12 tsp ground ginger

14 tsp ground cinnamon salt black pepper (ground) 16 ozs chickpeas (drained) 14 cup fresh cilantro (chopped) 3 tbsps rice vinegar 3 tbsps orange juice concentrate (frozen orange juice concentrate thawed)

1	place couscous and dried cherries in a med. bowl. add boiling water; immediately cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit until water is completely absorbed, about 5 minutes.
2	meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. add peppers and onions, sauteing until tender, about 5 minutes, and seasoning with cumin, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper as they cook. add to couscous, along with chickpeas and cilantro.
3	whisk remaining 3 tablespoons of oil with vinegar and orange juice concentrate. pour over salad. toss to coat. cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. From Yummly. I'm not big on chickpeas, so I ditch those and add diced, cooked chicken breast.  If you have leftovers from dinner, this is a quick and easy way to use them up. Otherwise, I cook some in the slow cooker (bone in are juicier when cooked in the slow cooker).  When they are cooled, I chop them and throw them in the salad. I've switched up the dried cherries for cranberries or apricots, again, depending on what I have in the pantry.  To make prep even easier, if you buy a package of pepper stir-fry vegetables and heat them up, you can save the time on the chopping and cooking. It makes a nice size salad and is even better after a day or two of the juice soaking in. Make it at night and you have a couple of days of lunches.  It even makes a great side dish if you don't want to put the chicken into the salad.  Made as is, it's a great vegetarian meal. Enjoy.

Frugal Living - Weight Loss

OK, my New Year, New Me hasn't exactly come to fruition.  I've been very sidelined by a sinus infection and double ear infection that just wiped me out.

Yes, I could do Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or Nutri System or something like that, but well, I'm too cheap.  They are a lot of money.

Four years ago I decided to get healthy as I approached my 40th birthday.  I lost about 85 pounds.  I've put a little bit of it back on, so my goal is to get the pounds back off, and get into my size 8 jeans again.

I know I need accountability.  I know what works for me, I just have to get back to it.  I use a fabulous FREE website.  It's called Spark People.  It's pretty much everything you need for weight loss in one easy and free website.

I use the food log to keep track of my calories throughout the day.  The part I like most about the food tracker is that it doesn't just record calories. It breaks it down into fat, protein, carbs, sodium, calcium and much more.  You can customize it to show many nutrients.  It helps you to see where your calories come from and where you are lacking nutritionwise.  I learned that I don't eat near enough protein during the day, so it's something I have to watch closely.

Additionally, you can input your exercise information and it will tell you how many calories you burned.  You can track how much water you have had each day.  There are support groups for every one.  You can join depending on where you live, your age, how much weight you want to lose, what exercise you like, dieting and health issues and much more.  They are called teams, and there are, literally, thousands of teams.  You can even start your own if you want to join with friends or a group from work.

You can also start your own page, sort of like Facebook, where you can post photos, blogs, share messages with friends, and earn points for "goodies" to send to people to motivate them or congratulate them on reaching or goal, or just be fun.  You earn points by logging in, logging food, water and exercise, writing blogs, posting in your teams and much more.  These points are what you use to send goodies to friends.

Your progress and blogs can be viewed by your friends on Spark, and you can choose to post them to Facebook if you like.  For me it's a great way to keep myself accountable.  I know my friends are viewing my progress and cheering for me.

If you decide to join Spark, come on over and find me.  I am Zebramom1.  We can cheer each other on.

And no, that's not my belly in the photo.  Trust me.... You don't want to see mine!!!

Edit:  I almost forgot... There's an app for that.  You don't need to be at your computer to use Spark.  You can download an app to your smart phone to let you record your food.  I haven't used the app yet, but I believe it will even allow you to scan the bar code of pre-packaged food (such as Weight Watchers or Lean Cuisine) and it will input the nutrition information for you.

Snacking

One of the hardest things for me with weight loss is not giving in to cravings.  I have a horrible sweet tooth, and it's so much easier to grab junk food when you are hungry.  Fortunately I love fruit and most vegetables.

However, I find it helpful to make up a list of snacks that are healthy, buy the groceries for those snacks, and keep the list where I can see it, like on the refrigerator! Here's a list I compiled.  Maybe it will help you too.  Feel free to suggest other ones!

Rice cake w/ PB (peanut butter), nutella, berries

Yogurt and fruit

Laughing cow cheese & crackers

Cottage cheese

Celery sticks or apple w/pb

Sugar free pudding or jello w/fruit

Fruit salad

Baked tortilla chips and salsa

Trifle made w/angel food cake, pudding, berries

Whole wheat hot dog bun spread w/pb, almond butter or nutella and topped with a banana

Trail mix – fiber cereal combined with nuts and raisins

Top a vanilla wafer with light cream cheese or readymade cheesecake filling and strawberry slices

Make mini cookies or ice cream sandwiches by putting cream cheese or ice cream between cookies from a 100 calorie snack pack

Hardboiled egg

Fruit & light cheese kabobs

Mini ice cream sandwich or skinny cow ice cream sandwich

Microwave popcorn

Cereal w/fruit

Protein bar

Cocoa Wheat cereal

New Year - New Me

The new year is a common time to make resolutions.  4 years ago I did just that and lost a bunch of weight, and I needed to.  2 years ago I was wearing size 8 jeans and was feeling pretty good about myself.  Then I had emergency gall bladder surgery and things went downhill.

Obviously, I couldn’t exercise post surgery and I got out of the habit.  It was easier to not exercise than to get back on the wagon.  I don’t like exercise at all, so it’s easy for me to make excuses not to do it.  Weight gain after surgery is not uncommon.  The weight came on, my motivation went down and now I’m back into the size 14 jeans.  Still down from where I started, but not where I want to be.

So, it’s time for a massive lifestyle change again.  No, it’s not a diet, it’s a whole change.  Many things need to change and for anyone who battles with their weight it is overwhelming.  So, I start with one change at a time, or try to.  I’m kind of an “all or nothing” person, so it’s hard not to jump in full force, but I find it easier to make small changes and develop good habits.  Making a change a week seems to work best.

So, what are the major changes I need to make?  Well, they’re pretty simple, but hard at the same time.

-       Drink more water.  I drink too much Diet Coke and not enough water.  In the past I have started my morning with my soda (I don’t drink coffee) and then don’t allow myself another one until I have consumed my 8 glasses.

-       

    Exercise.  I hate exercise, so I have to force myself to do it.  Starting with a goal of exercising every day is too overwhelming, especially when starting from nothing.  Week 1 goal is exercise 1 day a week, week 2 – 2 days a week and so on. 

-       

    Healthier eating.  The last few months have been busy so it’s easier to eat take out or drive through.  These foods are not friendly on the waist line.  Now is a good time to stock up on healthy good.  Grocery stores aren’t stupid.  They know that people make resolutions to lose weight, so they put healthy food on sale at the new year.  Stock up on what you can now!

-       

    Portion control.  Most of us do not know what a portion really is.  A serving of pasta is about the size of a tennis ball.  A serving of cereal is about the size of a tea cup – yes.  Really! Read packages and find out exactly what a portion size is.  A pint of ice cream is NOT a single serving.

-       

     Keep a food journal.  Most of us don’t realize how many calories a day we consume.  There is a website that I love that is free (remember, I’m frugal) that allows you to input what you eat and calculates your calories for you and keeps track of them through the day.  It also calculates fat, protein, carbs, sodium, etc.  Check out Sparkpeople.com.  You can also join support groups online.  It’s a fantastic website.

“They” (I’ve read this in several places, but can’t give the sources off the top of my head) say it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. 

Another thing I’ve done is to set goals and rewards.  It keeps me motivated when I want to grab a soda or skip exercise.  I start with small goals like drinking the 8 glasses of water, or 7 days of exercise, but I don’t make them consistent days.  It would become discouraging having to start over again each time I “fell” so I just make it 7 days or 30 days or whatever.  I make short term and long term goals for each habit I need to change.

The rewards start small and get larger.  A new nail polish, a new water bottle, building up to things like a massage, a new pair of shoes.  Do what motivates YOU.  The more days I miss my marks, the longer it takes me to get to my rewards. 

In a few months there will be a new me.  A healthier and happier me, and a thinner me.  If you need support to reach your goals, post or message me.  Knowing that you have support or an accountability person can make a huge difference in achieving your goal.