Menu and Meal Planning

 CHALLENGE - ENSURING THE FAMILY EATS A HEALTHY MEAL

Our evenings are busy almost every night of the week.  If we are not running Daniel to football/wrestling practice, we are running Savannah to gymnastics/soccer practice...all depending on the season.  In the midst of all this, Mike and I have to fit in our gym time, we have to make sure all homework is completed, and we have to feed everyone.

This makes meal planning essential!!   The crock pot needs to become your BEST FRIEND!!   

Every Sunday morning, we sit down and make a menu for the week, we will sometimes include a Chipotle night .  Rarely do we deviate from this menu. The written menu is only for supper, but we also plan breakfast and our lunches.  I use this plan to make my grocery list.  This also helps control the costs.  The kids buy their lunches, and that is a huge time saver in the mornings.  I found it to be a money saver as well...for $2.50 a school lunch, it is pretty balanced and it is hot (I was spending much more than that on lunches and they were cold).  Our school district has done a really good job ensuring the lunches are healthy. 

This week I tried something a little different.  Usually I do some meal prep on Sunday (lunch stuff and breakfast), but today I meal prepped almost our entire menu and put it in the freezer.  This will make my mornings go so much smoother.

I pulled three of my menu items from the following blog as well as the idea for freezer bags : http://www.graciouslysaved.com/2013/08/12-easy-paleo-ish-crock-pot-meals.html

Here is our week's menu:

 

And here are the prepped meals for five nights of supper:

 

Let me lead in to this with - I am not a coupon clipper and I often don't buy generic.  

I ran the numbers, only counting the ingredients I had to purchase today and prorating the cost of those ingredients that I will be able to use more than once, suppers for this week only cost a total of $50.75.  For a family of four, that comes to about $2.54 per person per meal.  These menu items are gluten free, so that adds a little bit of cost to some things like the soy sauce for Tuesday's meal and sausage for Wednesday's.  The most expensive menu item was the salmon and the most inexpensive was the chili.  But, it is a good well rounded menu that will not get too many groans from the kids and will provide leftovers for Sunday's supper.  

It took me just over an hour and a half to prep these five meals as well as cook some chicken for my lunch salads and make a breakfast casserole (eggs and gluten free sausage) for the week. 

Very often people tend to stop at fast food restaurants or lean on prepackaged meals for their convenience and ease.  But with a little time and planning, it is easy to make meals that are healthy and not overly time consuming.  

 

Continuous Improvement

It is the beginning of a new year. 

Every year brings a slew of new years resolutions....the same ones set from year to year....lose weight, get healthy, save money, and so on....

But what is a resolution - from dictionary.search.yahoo.com - A course of action determined or decided on.

So we resolve to lose weight...get healthy...those are such broad statements...how about breaking those down into manageable goals.  We live in a world of instant gratification...we resolve to lose weight....we workout for a week...see no results...then quit....If that resolution was broken into a serious of manageable goals...at years end you could be one of the rare ones who actually achieved their New Year's Resolution. 

This year, I've decided not to set any resolutions...for two main reasons. 
One, I am absent minded and have terrible follow through.  I'll forget in a month that I set a resolution, I'll lose the paper or file I created with that resolution, I'll never look at it again. 
Two, I am happy with me.  What more can I say about that.  Of course there are always areas for improvement, but overall, I have to say that I like me.  I am a good mom & wife (I think), am a good employee, workout 6 days a week, eat pretty healthy a good portion of the time, have good friends, and am financially stable. 

I find that I succeed if things become routine....I know that sounds boring...but it is true.  I do the same thing day after day, eat the same breakfast/lunch day after day, make a menu for suppers but we tend to repeat a lot of the same meals week after week...routine...

Resolutions (or lack thereof) and routine were really not the reason for me writing today....but I got sidetracked. 

What I really wanted to write about is the physical improvement that I have seen since beginning CrossFit in December 2011. 

Let me give you my January 2012 physical self - 
Back Squat max was 135
Dead Lift max was 175
I could not do a strict pull up
I could not do a double under

My December 2013 self 
Back Squat - I have not completed a 1 Rep Max (RM) in a while, but in August my 5RM was 183
Dead Lift - again I have not tested this since July but then it was 255
Strict Pull ups - I can do a 35# 1RM weighted pull up
Double Unders - I can do 75 unbroken, that is my personal record.

It amazes me everyday the improvements I have made, not only in my lifts, as a result of CrossFit and the community that I am a part of...

• My confidence has improved, not that has ever been lacking, but I am more confident in the decisions I make and rarely second guess myself.  I believe that my increased confidence has helped me move forward in my career.  
• I do not care as much about the number on the scale.  This just isn't important to me anymore.  I weigh as much now, if not a little more, as I did two years ago.  I exercise every day, I eat right....I do what I can.  The thing that has changed is my muscle mass.  Two years ago, I ran, A LOT....half marathons, one marathon, 10Ks, obstacle course races....but I was not strong.  Today...I don't run near as much...but I am strong and have awesome muscles!! 
• I am setting a great example for my children.  I am showing them that it is okay to be active, be strong, take time for yourself, and how to work towards a goal. 
• My marriage is even stronger.  We workout together, compete together (or against one another), celebrate each others PRs, and encourage when we are just having an off moment.  We are on this journey together which makes it even better!

Tri-State Throwdown, Centerville CrossFit August 2013

Continuous improvement, you can always get better! 

21 Day Sugar Detox Complete

So yesterday was my last day of the Sugar Detox.  Day 21. So how did it go....

Over the past 21 Days this is what I can report:  5 lbs weight loss, better looking skin, I feel better, and  according to my husband "I'm looking jacked" (this is good...)

Let me talk about each of these

1.  Weight Loss - I did not go into this challenge thinking I would lose weight.  I have completed the Whole 30 and other nutritional challenges and have never lost more than a pound, so my hopes of losing anything were dim. Yesterday, Day 21, when I got on the scale and saw the 5-pound loss, I did a little happy dance in my head.

2.  Oh your skin....it is the first thing everyone sees.  When I first switched to a more Plaeo/Clean type eating regime last year, I noticed immediately that I stopped breaking out as often.  So I knew that there was definitely something in that processed food I had been eating causing me to have teenage breakout problems.  After 21 days of basically no dairy, grains (except rice), and anything that had more than like 3 ingredients, my skin looks good.  Smoother, less breakouts, brighter....I can go without my trusty Bare Minerals and be totally okay with it

3.  I feel better - What more can I say there...I don't feel bloated, constantly hungry, unsatisfied....I am not having energy fluxes that were very common before - Overall, I feel fantastic!!

4.  Looking jacked - My workouts never suffered during this detox.  If anything, I think they got better.  My muscles are more defined.  My shoulder, traps, and quads have just a little more definition than they did before.  Which this is probably attributed to number 1.

I don't think I am going to go back to my old way of eating.  I feel too good!  My kids have started to make healthier food choices (most of the time, they are still kids) because of my example.  We try to emphasize health and the benefits of good food.

Here is a picture recap - It was a very busy three weeks.

Hannigan's 5K race with my 11 year old, March 23, 2013.

Finishing Time: 27:19

Freak Snow Day on March 25, 2013

Crossfit Open Workout 13.4

Easter

 Crossfit Open workout 13.5

 Olympic Lifting Clinic with Holley Mangold

21 Day Sugar Detox - Day 1 recap

Yesterday, March 24 was Day 1 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox that I have undertaken with a couple of friends.  It didn't go too bad.   

I have a bad habit of not eating on the weekends.  I always ensure the kids eat, but it seems as though they are bottomless pits, but myself...I rarely eat more than two meals on the weekend.  So you can imagine how yesterday went.  

Breakfast consisted of avocado and scrambled eggs for me...everyone else got bacon with their eggs, it is almost impossible to find bacon that doesn't have sugar added that is also reasonable cost.

After breakfast/brunch we went to Centerville Crossfit (CCF).  Really this is our home away from home.  We were just going to support our friends who were redoing 13.3.  I wanted to redo it, but my legs were so sore from Friday's attempt as well as the 5K I ran on Saturday with my 11-year old son, that I was willing to accept my score of 161 (better than last year) and look on to 13.4.  Well as fate would have it, that was not how it ended up.  Our friend was moved to a heat by himself, and so he didn't have to do the workout by himself, I decided to redo 13.3 too.....and I am happy I did.  Sets of 10 to 130 then sets of 5....I came of the wallballs a full minute faster than Friday.  The entire time, my thighs were screaming, protesting the repetitive squat action...All I could focus on was my pants...and knee socks. I was not dressed to workout....I was in workout clothes, but not the proper attire for this workout. I was hot!!  

Finished the wallballs and went to the double unders.  Double unders are NOT my friend.  It doesn't seem to matter how much I practice, this is just a skill I can't seem to master.  JELLO legs and double unders are NOT fun!!  One...two...three....mess up...I was able to string together 10 at some point, I am not sure how that happened.  By the time "TIME" was yelled, I had jumped my way to 45 DUs.  WAY BETTER THAN FRIDAY!  195 reps, not an awesome score...but I was very happy with it, considering one year ago, after only doing crossfit for three months, my score was 155 reps.  That is improvement! 

This is a picture from Friday's 13.3

After our CCF fun, it was grocery store time.  I am so happy that I remembered to bring my list, else I would have failed the 21 DSD before I really even started.  My brain was mush!  I was so hungry!! Went home and started meal prep....we made lunches and parts of supper for the entire week, this will save A TON of time.  I finally sat down to eat my second meal at 7:30.  There was a lot of grumpiness in here...probably not because of the sugar detox, more because I was hungry and tired and trying to prepare food while simultaneously helping my son with a school project. 

Lesson learned here - EAT MORE FOOD!!!! 

Sorry for the lengthly post.  Yesterday was quite an eventful day! 

Challenge....Tangled American Girl Doll Hair

I have been seriously lacking in my blogging.  I apologize. Inspiration struck this evening as I was combing Savannah's American Girl (AG) doll's hair.  

Yes, you read that correctly...I was combing the doll's hair.  Probably better described as attempting to tame the rat's next.    

Most little girls play with dolls, pretend to be mommies, feed them, change their clothes....and drag them around by the hair.  Such dragging and rough handling results in ridiculous tangles that even the "Fittest Man on Earth" would have a hard time combing out.  

There is the problem...how do you get rid of the tangles in the doll's hair without balding her or if she is an AG doll, sending her off to Chicago to the doll hospital for a hair fix (You would be amazed at what they do). 

I turned to trusty Pinterest.  It rarely fails me when I need a DIY fix. I remember seeing a couple of weeks ago a doll hair detangler recipe.  What harm could it do?  I had some free time tonight after the kids went to bed...and Savannah received an AG catalog in the mail today and insisted that she needs a new doll because her current doll's hair wasn't straight.  Now, I love her and would love to giver her anything she asks for...but I got her current doll from a friend...I didn't pay full price...and I hesitate on spending that much on a doll.  

So, I retrieved the recipe for doll hair detangler.  All you need is fabric softener, water, a spray bottle, wide tooth comb and brush.  I used 3 tablespoons of fabric softener, then filled the rest of the spray bottle with water.  I sprayed the hair liberally and started the task.  It seemed hopeless at first, but it just took a minute for the concoction to begin relaxing the hair. Brush...yank...spray...brush...and 20 minutes later the AG doll (Josephina) was tangle free. 

Below is the before, tools, after, and pile of hair that came from her head, which I think is testament to the quality of an AG doll.  I think any other doll would have bald spots if that much hair was pulled out of her head.  

So hopefully, the now straight-haired Josephina will quell Savannah's want of a new AG doll....one can hope...

Who Stole My Soup?

The soup in question is Trader Joe's Organic Butternut Squash Soup.  This soup tastes like fall!  Full of spice (not in the burn your mouth sort of way), rich, and just absolutely perfect!  As you can probably figure out, fall is my favorite season, but more about that another time.  Right now I feel the need to discuss this soup theft! 

Since I have discovered Trader Joe's Coconut Oil perfection I have been going about every other month to get some.  It is a little out of the way from where I live (5 miles in the wrong direction from my normal grocery store) so it is a special trip as I only get specific items. On our most recent adventure to TJ's (because every trip is), my 5-year asked me to get the Butternut Squash Soup.  She is convinced she loves it, although I find that highly suspect since the only vegetable I can get her to eat is cauliflower, and she doesn't like soup.  In any case, I humored her because I love Butternut Squash soup.

Well, said soup had been sitting in my cupboard since, just waiting the right opportunity to eat it.  Well this week, that opportunity arose.  I am coming down with a cold.  When this happens, I crave comfort foods, typically carbs, and since my diet hasn't been quite up to par since the Whole 30 - total CRASH - I am pretty sure that is the big contributor to the cold. Monday my comfort food was the soup.  I brought it to work with me, made my soup for lunch, and put it in the office fridge. Well when I left on Monday, I forgot to grab the soup, figured I would eat it again later in the week.  Boy was I wrong. 

Yesterday, I brought a salad to work for lunch.  My salad making skills are lazy.  Spring Mix with some almonds and cranberries tossed in because at 5:30 am that is about all I have the energy for especially when I am making three other lunches, supper, and breakfast at the same time.   Well, the idea of a salad was not exciting in the least, and I remembered I had my soup at work.  I sat at my desk, watching the clock, waiting till 11:30, all I could think about what eating my yummy soup.

11:30 arrives - I stroll to the kitchen to make my soup...open the fridge...and it ISN'T there!!  How could this be? I shuffled things around, checked the drawers, checked the freezer (who knows), nope definitely not there! Granted, I didn't put my name on it...but really!!  Who steals someone else’s lunch?  My name isn't on my lunch bag and no one steals that!!

So I ate my non-exciting salad, no dressing just salt & pepper, and finished my workday totally flabbergasted that someone would steal my soup.  It is not like I work in a big office, maybe 25 people actually here in this office. How old are we? 

Today, I am still absolutely amazed that my soup was taken.  I checked my fridge at home just in case I had a forgetful moment and I actually took it there...but no.

So until my next trip to TJ's, in October, all I can do is be thankful that I got to have one bowl of the yummy soup and hope my 5-year old doesn't ask for any.

Amazing Journey

Every year as my birthday approaches, I like to look at back at my life to this point. What an amazing journey!!  What has driven me, my thoughts, decisions....would I change anything? I am sure everyone has these moments.

Well...at almost 33 years young ;) I can say that my life, although not what I imagined it to be at 17 years old when I was filling out my Senior Book, is exactly what I want it and need it to be.  Happy...fulfilled...successful....never boring.  I don't live a life full of regrets, every mistake is a learning experience, a chance to be better, learn something new.

I discovered this poem 15 years ago, a poem by Robert Frost, and it spoke to me.  I had graduated high school in 1997 and although I was always a great student there, was not finding the same success in college.  I was not happy (and that is what matters).  I was plagued by depression and panic attacks, but could never figure out why.

The poem is "The Road Not Taken"

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 -- Robert Frost

The start of my road less travelled 

In April of 1998, I joined the United States Air Force, delayed my enlistment to June in order to finish the spring quarter at Wright State.  I would like to tell you that a lot of thought went into this decision, but I can't, it was an impetuous decision made in the heat of the moment.  A series of events drove the decision, I needed change.  I realized that I was not meant to walk the safe road, do what was expected, and be bored.  Don't misunderstand; joining the military was a CRAZY thing to do.  I had never been away from home, I cried ALOT. 

Then I chose a career not made by many women....I became a crew chief (aircraft mechanic) on the B-52.  That was a great job!  I enjoyed having my name on a plane, 60-0023 squadron airplane, (even if it was the third one), took pride in launching each aircraft for their training flights and then catching them when they landed, just doing the job that many thought I couldn't do.  Injury took me from the flight line and I became a Maintenance Coordinator and that injury eventually led to a medical separation in 2003. I won't bore you with the details of my time in the military, as it wasn't overly exciting, but I have to say as it turns out, it was the best decision I could have made. 

Through time, I have continued to follow that road less travelled; maybe one day, I will share it with you.  Sometimes my life does fork to the path that everyone else is taking, but I don't stay on that path for very long.  I have to change it up, be unique, and challenge myself daily.  I am not out to inspire anyone save for my kids, but if I do, I think that is awesome.  I aspire to be the best me I can be and I hope you aspire to the same.