Planning for Summer Success

It's been so so long since I blogged much of anything. Suffice it to say that this past year has been one wild and crazy ride! I'm so glad that summer is finally here, we've made it through my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, and I can actually breathe again! I've spent a lot of time thinking about food and recipes and what to eat and what NOT to eat, and what I realize is that if I want myself and my family to eat healthy, I simply have to plan more.

Now, I'm not a big fan of daily menus; P-Daddy won't follow them, and I'm not much good at being consistent with following them either. That doesn't mean I can't plan, it just means I need to do things a little differently. What works for me is to simply know what I have on hand for different meals, so that I'm not left thinking there's nothing to eat in my totally stuffed pantry and freezer! Since I love freezer cooking, I have lots of stuff in there that I've frozen at various points in this past semester. Right now, I'm challenging myself to eat from my pantry and clean out some of the stock that I have. This is just a SMALL sampling of what's in there. Many of them are labeled. Some are surprises :-)



Here's what I am thinking for this week:

Breakfasts:
oatmeal (X3)
eggs, bacon or ham, flatbread (X2)
THM pancakes
Whole wheat sourdough bread with SF jelly

Lunches:
Lean turkey, lettuce, and tomato on a flatbread (X2)
Cheeseburger pie and green beans
Tilapia tacos, carrots
Frittata (X2)
Bean burritos w/ peppers and onions,

Dinners:
Sauteed salmon, broccoli, carrots
Tilapia fillets, spinach, focaccia
Cheeseburger pie, green beans
Taco salad w/ cheese, sour cream, and a few refried beans
Turkey hot dogs, carrots, popcorn (movie and popcorn night with Pooh)
Fooled Ya Pizza with cauliflower crust

Snacks:
Skinny chocolate
Greek yogurt with berries
Carrots
Cottage Berry Whip
Ricotta Creme
Almonds
Strawberries with whipped cream


I'm checking out all the other great menu plans this week at orgjunkie.com and linking up over there. Come on over and take a look with me!

Life is Sweet!

As I mentioned on Monday, I'm really trying to focus more this year on my health, and I'm making several changes as a result. One of these is related to my use of artificial sweeteners. I've been a fan of Splenda for years, and it's still my favorite sweetener when I'm out and about. I generally always have a few of those little yellow packets on my counter and in my bag, and when I travel internationally, it's a must-have in my suitcase.

So you see, I love Splenda, but P-Daddy is not as thrilled with it. He prefers that I not use it for sweet desserts or other items that we'll both eat. And even though I love it for myself, neither of us are convinced that we should be giving it to Pooh regularly. He's a growing boy, and he loves desserts, and we don't want to always have a separate dessert for me and the boys.

Over the years, I've tried Stevia a number of times. I like that it's a plant extract and not a chemical concoction, but it has a bit of an aftertaste. I actually really liked the bit of licorice aftertaste for my coffee, but I wasn't as thrilled with it in herbal teas and other desserts. But recently, I was told about this NuNaturals NuStevia extract, and I'm loving it! It's super concentrated, so a little difficult to figure out amounts in single servings, but working great for cooking larger batches of all kinds of desserts (with just a tiny bit of stevia). I don't find the aftertaste to be as strong as other types of stevia, and overall, this one is totally working for me.

I'll note that this Stevia doesn't come too cheaply - that 1 pound jar is listed at $60. However, it's also way more Stevia than I think I could possibly use in a year! I am splitting the jar with my sisters and niece, transferring smaller portions into much smaller spice jars for daily use. Plus, I got a really great deal on that jar!

As I stated, that jar is listed at $60 on iherb. Plus, iherb offers 5% off for orders $60 and over, and I had a discount code that gave me free shipping plus $10 off of any order $50 or over. So I got that $60 jar delivered to my doorstep for only $47 total. Woot! And now, having told you about that great deal, I'm gonna let you get as close to it as you can, by giving you a similar discount code! Here it is: QMN811.

Note that I cannot guarantee that all of the pieces of that discount will still be in place at the time of your order, but this code will definitely give first-time customers $5 or $10 off their order (any order from iherb, not just the stevia!). Also note that this is a referral code, which means that I get a kickback too - so we both get a great deal if you use it :-)

Focusing for Health and Fitness

It's been a hectic month. Okay, a hectic past year. A hectic past couple of years, actually:-( In many areas, things are great, but one thing that I've done is really let my health and fitness slide more than I want to. This year, I really want that to change. In order to aid that, there are several things that I'm doing:

1) Making small steps toward better exercise habits
2) Revamping my eating to match the life I live now
3) Finding ways to save money on better products for my health

In terms of exercise, I know that I can't create a huge massive plan that sets me up for failure. So I'm working on a day-to-day basis, doing what I can, and keeping my mind on the bigger picture of keeping moving.

In terms of eating, I've long followed a low-fat diet, with an emphasis on healthy carbs and natural foods. I like this practice a lot, but I've noticed that (a) my husband just doesn't eat this way. He's not a big carb fan, so there has been a major part of the food that I fixed that he has largely ignored. I'd like us to find ways to eat that work well together, so we've been exploring different options with fewer carbs and higher fat. NOT, mind you, trying Atkins or other typical low-carb approaches, but instead focusing more on the Glycemic Index and how different foods are affecting our bodies.

Finally, as always, I'm looking for ways to save money, but specifically trying to find reasonable ways to save money on products that improve our overall health.

I'll be exploring these themes more intensely and in different ways as we head into 2013. Feel free to join me for the journey!

Happy New Year!

It's the first day of a new year, with lots of new possibilities and plenty of time to make decisions about what we'll be working on this year. As I look toward a new year, my goal is to post more, and more regularly. Let's see how it goes...

Meanwhile, I hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year!

© Photographer Ximagination | Agency: Dreamstime.com

A must-read

Not too long ago, I posted about making the most of my mornings by joining a challenge over at Money Saving Mom. And now, she's about to release a new ebook, entitled 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life.

I'll note that I've been a follower of Money Saving Mom for a long time. And one thing that is for sure, this is a woman who knows about discipline! This book is sure to be a winner! I haven't even read it yet and I am already recommending it - I'm that sure that it's going to be great! I just bought it, and my 21 days will start this week - look for an update on how it's going in about 3 weeks!

Calgon, take me away!

After a really tough week, it was nice this morning to get an email from the current renter in the Treehouse asking about the possibility of staying longer. It provided me with a needed reminder that this life as we know it will not always be our life. And after this week, boy did I need that reminder!

A friend of mine recently posted on an online forum:

Much as the ethic of more, bigger, faster dominates the workplace, so it has come to define the way we eat – with similar costs to our productivity and sustainability

This really made me stop and realize that this is so much a part of why I love living internationally. The excess here in the US in almost all things, when so many people can barely feed themselves and their family. The never-ending selection of useless items in the stores. The need to not just keep up with the Jones, but to be more successful than they are. It's just not who I want to be, and more importantly, it's not who I want Pooh to be either.

We have so many details to work out regarding moving, and I know it's not an immediate plan (well, unless we suddenly got handed the perfect opportunity), but such a large part of me knows that this is going to be a great move for us, even if we only go for short stints at a time. And, I have to be honest, I'm so looking forward to ordering meals with reasonable portion sizes and shopping from locals in places like this: