Elimination Diet Introduction

I always said I wouldn’t do one. I was not going to do an elimination diet because they seemed like another big fad. And it sort of seems like they are! If you Google “Elimination Diet,” you will find a million different websites. You can find meal plans, recipes, and everything you need to leave you thoroughly confused!

You see, each website tells you to eliminate slightly different things. There are a few items that seem to be eliminated from nearly every elimination diet out there. Dairy, processed meats, and wheat are usually the first things to go. Many websites suggest avoiding soy, eggs, legumes, and nuts. Others also include restrictions on certain vegetables and fruits. It can be a lot to take in as you sit and wonder what exactly you can eat.

Which is why I always said no, until I was forced to say yes. Starting in high school, I developed migraines. They lasted throughout college and into my mid-twenties. Then, I got pregnant with a certain cutie pie and they virtually disappeared! I still got normal people headaches, but no real migraines! Then, the real magic came after she was born. For over a year, I did not have any headaches. No migraines to speak of. It was awesome. I thought I was cured. Then, this summer they returned with a vengeance. I once drove two hours to visit my sisters and nephews to only be able to stay 15 minutes due to a terrible migraine. I barely remember anything from the day, other than pulling over on the side of the road crying because the street lights were too bright for me. It was a difficult day.

Since then, the migraines have continued. I also have been having other odd symptoms. I’ve developed acne that I never experienced before. I have frequent heartburn and digestive issues. I have no energy at all. I am bloated and my stomach frequently bothers me. So, I started to wonder what was wrong with me. Is it hormones? Is it something I am eating? Is it environmental? Am I sick? Is it my thyroid? Anemia? What was going on with me?!

It was then suggested that I undergo an Elimination Diet. I had to get rid of all dairy from my diet for a few months last year for Cupcake. It was hard- really hard. When I added dairy back in to my diet, I looked for any unusual symptoms or reactions. However, my body seemed to be handling it just fine. I was then informed that I had introduced it all wrong. I introduced dairy as a whole category. Welcome back cheese and yogurt and sour cream and milk! Instead of taking time to introduce just one new dairy product at a time, I just reopened that category and never looked back. It is likely that one of the aforementioned food items is a problem for me, but I am not even sure which!

Finally I realized that enough was enough. Life is way too short to be feeling this terrible. I had been told to try an elimination diet in the past to deal with my migraines, so I revisited that idea. With medical guidance, I am going to embark on this journey on October 1st. I will be coming here to share how I feel throughout the process and what I learn along the way. I will be posting recipes in case anyone else ever finds themselves in the same position. This is NOT a tool for weight loss.

If you want to go on an elimination diet as a way to drop some pounds before a big event, go elsewhere. If you want to try it because some celebrity went on one, go check out his or her webpage. Instead, I will be posting because I do not have the time to be making three different meals for my family. My husband and Cupcake will be eating along with me. For those of you worried that they might not get enough of what they need, think again. This is exactly why I am blogging about it. I wanted an Elimination Diet that would work for real people with real families and I had a hard time finding one.

I am not about to go out and buy a bunch of crazy ingredients that we’ve never tried before! My meals will not always be the most exciting. They will pretty much always follow a similar pattern of protein, gluten-free grain and vegetables. Rice, quinoa and sweet potatoes will probably be my BFFs as I love my carbohydrates! This is not, I repeat, a weight loss plan. This is a chance to heal my body and figure out what is going on.

Please join me on my next big adventure!

Stretching the Budget

I have always been someone who thinks frugally. I started keeping a budget at 15! I have no idea what prompted me to do so, but I thought it’d be smart saving for the future. It is times like now that I am so appreciative of this.

If you’re a frequent reader, you know that I am a SAHM to my favorite little girl, Cupcake. My husband just started his medical residency. A common misconception is that because my husband is a doctor, we are rolling in the money. This could not be further from the truth! To put it in comparison, I made more as an elementary school teacher.

So our family has had to look at things from all angles. I grew up with a working mom and always saw her as strong and motivated. I was proud of her for working. However, this did not seem like the right fit for me. Prior to having Cupcake, my students were my “babies.” I stayed late at work and arrived early. One of my favorite custodians used to always tease me that I was “still here.” He had to walk me out to my car on numerous occasions.

I am positive that there is a teacher out there who has a spouse completing residency, all the while raising a family. If you are that person, I bow down to you. I literally could not figure out how to make it work. The cost of childcare alone would eat into essentially my whole paycheck. When we factored in all the variables, we decided that the best fit for our family was for me to stay home with Cupcake.

Although I am not earning a paycheck, I am greatly helping our family by finding ways to save us money. I have the time to research coupons and plan my shopping trips better. I can cook from scratch, saving us the expense of having to pick up prepared meals. And all of this is still pushing it.

So, part of my “job” is looking for ways to reduce our grocery bill. I almost wish I didn’t care about preparing healthy meals so much. One of our biggest expenses is our food budget. Recently, I have been looking for more ways to cut down. I update our budget weekly, and with the numbers staring me in the face, I knew I had to find more ways to cut back. Thank goodness we live in the modern day, where finding more budget-conscious recipes are just a Google search away!

I have several websites that I use, but you all know my love for Ms. Andrea at Pennies and Pancakes. If you haven’t checked her out, please do! She has amazing recipes that not only taste great, they are very affordable. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on bread? Yea. Look for upcoming posts with some of my favorites from her website!

How about you? What are some of your favorite money-saving ideas? Please pass them along in the comments section below!

How to Eat Healthy 100% of the Time

Growing up, my dad always would say the quote, “Everything in moderation.” As a child, I pretty much surmised that this loosely translated to, “I don’t know what else to say, so I am going to say this quote.”

It wasn’t until I was much older that this quote started to really make an impression. During college, I was pretty active. I tracked all of my calories and serving sizes. I monitored each calorie in and out as much as possible. It was in the summer of 2007 that I started to realize I might have a problem. I was working as a summer camp counselor teaching sports to young children. Each week I was assigned a different camp in a different area of the state.

During one particular week, I was assigned to teach a soccer camp to four-year-olds in the morning and a tennis camp to third, fourth and fifth graders in the afternoon. I had exactly 30 minutes to make a 30 minute commute during my “lunch break.” I planned my meals carefully, so after I got home and took a shower, I logged in my calories burned during work and my calories consumed during the day. I figured this would help me plan what my dinner should be. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that according to the online software I was using, I still needed to consume 1500 calories.

1500.

I usually only allowed myself 1200 for the whole day.

I had no idea what to do. How would I even consume enough healthy foods to make 1500 calories. How much salad is that?!?

I quickly realized that I was not living in a healthy way. Food had become an enemy and that was not okay. I promptly announced to my family that it was taco night (my favorite food) and that I was baking them all a cake to eat with me. I’m sure you can only imagine my dad’s remark! Thankfully, I have come a long way since that time.

I still live by the idea that I need to eat healthy 100% of the time. Just now I realize that healthy can take many forms. And yes, that includes a sweet treat or high calorie meal now and then. Sometimes I just want some General Tsao’s Chicken and an orange soda! And brownies!

Which leads me to today…

I ate so healthy all day long! (Healthy by the standard definition of all of my fruits and veggies and proper amounts of protein and carbs). Even though the temperatures were over 100 today and very humid, I still put Cupcake in the jogging stroller and completed my 1.5 mile route.  But then, a strong chocolate craving hit. This was coupled with a discovery of an unopened box of hot cocoa that was set to expire in just a few days. So, my momming brain went to work and I created a recipe for a brownie in a mug that helped me to use up some of the mix. (I will post the recipe tomorrow! I loved it so much I ate the whole thing without thinking once about snagging a picture for you all! Sorry. I’m not sorry).

That brownie filled me with so much joy. It tasted amazing; it was warm and gooey and magical. Seriously. And I do not feel one ounce of regret because it was healthy for me! It was good for my mental health.

Now, I’m not going to start eating a brownie a day just for my mental health. That wouldn’t even be good. It would take away the allure. The brownie would just be regular. Not special. But, sometimes people get so caught up with eating “healthy” that they lose the fun in food. There is a time and a place for brownies made from beans and a time and a place for the real thing. I’ve heard people suggest eating healthy 80% of the time and not worrying about the rest. I prefer to think of it as focusing on different aspects of my health, but to each their own.

I guess my dad had it right. Everything in moderation…

What are your favorite comfort foods to feed your mental and emotional well-being? Share them in the comments below!

Homemade French Bread

Let them eat bread! (or, something like that.)

Lately I’ve been trying to find new ways for my family to cut back on our spending. Since I love to cook, that seemed like a good area to start. If I was being really honest, I would admit that I have not been quite so responsible lately.

We moved a few states away two months ago. I did a pretty decent job cleaning out my pantry, which was awesome. Rebuilding my pantry? Less awesome. I had lost most of my coupons, did not have a working printer, and wasn’t really too sure about any of the local grocery stores. I made a lot of mistakes and spent more money than I should have.

However, I am now two months in and feeling much more settled. I know which grocery stores around here fit my needs. (Side note: isn’t it interesting how different stores within the same chain can be? We have most of the same stores available to us, but now shop at completely different options!)

I started researching different recipes to save money and came across Pennies and Pancakes. Among the many delicious things that she makes is bread! She has quite a few recipes for homemade bread on her website. I did what I usually do, and completely skimmed past that section until I read one little note. She had a recipe to make a loaf of French Bread. The approximate cost to prepare? 31 CENTS.

I adore a good loaf of french bread! In the past, I have bought the prepared ones to accompany pasta and soups and all sorts of great meals. Never have I ever been able to score one for anywhere near $0.31. So, I decided I would try.

I started copying down the recipe and immediately got cold feet. There were a lot of steps. And it would take quite some time to prepare! Long involved recipes with an active 15 month old don’t really work. As I read further, I realized that a lot of the time spent in this recipe is waiting time. Time for the bread to rise. Time that I could play with Cupcake and not have to say, “Oh give Mommy just 30 more minutes!”

I did not take many pictures of this adventure for several reasons.

1. Pictures on the original blog are pretty. My iphone cannot compete with that

2. Often my hands were covered in dough or flour or both

3. I also decided to make the most delicious Split Pea and Black Bean Soup 

4. I also decided to try to make a recipe for homemade granola bars (recipe to come soon!) that I found on the website

5. Any other time I was playing with my sweet Cupcake

My final result was not as perfectly beautiful as a loaf of French Bread should be. It was too wide, but it was SO GOOD. Seriously. My family ate half the loaf in about 5 minutes. I will be making this again. Tomorrow. And maybe eventually taking some pictures along the way!

If you do not feel like heading over to the original website, I will post the recipe and directions here. Although usually I modify every recipe, this one is 100% not mine. It is perfect as is!

Ingredients
1 cup luke-warm water
2 tsp. dry active yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. oil
3/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 – 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. oil (for coating dough)
1 well-beaten egg + 1 Tbsp. water (brush on loaf before baking for a shiny exterior)

Directions
1. In a large bowl combine warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Add salt and 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix ingredients to form a very slightly sticky ball of dough. Add more flour, one tablespoon at a time, if needed to reach right consistency. Mix for eight minutes.

3. Using your hands, lightly coat the ball of dough with 1 tsp oil. Cover and let rise till doubled in size (1- 1/2 hours).

4. Punch down the dough, and knead it for 5 minutes.

5. Rub a baking sheet with olive oil. Using your hands, flatten the dough into approximately a 12×6-inch rectangle. Starting with a long side of the rectangle, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the seams and ends together.

6. Cover and let rise 30 minutes on the baking sheet.

7. Uncover and lightly coat in an egg wash made from one well-beaten egg and 1 Tbsp water.  Using a very sharp knife gently make 1/4-inch deep slices on top of the loaf.

8. Place a pan of water in a cold oven. Move a rack to the top level. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

9. While the oven pre-heats, allow the dough to rise, uncovered, an additional 10 – 15 minutes.

10. Once the oven has reached 450 degrees, place the loaf on the top rack, quickly throw two ice cubes on the bottom of the oven, and shut the door. (The steam from the water in the pan, and the water on the bottom of the oven creates a crispy/chewy crust.)

11. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Lower the heat to 375 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes. Crust will be golden brown, and hard to the touch.

12. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think! This bread makes me REALLY excited for the autumn and lots of awesome soup recipes. Do you have a favorite recipe for soup? Leave a comment below!

June Reflections

As part of my 2015 resolutions, I post my status each month to keep myself accountable for the goals I set for myself!
1. Design 2015 budget goals with husband to reflect past spending and current saving goals.

My goal for June was to get to know my new town and figure out the grocery stores. I really prefer being able to feed our family organic foods whenever possible, but that ain’t always easy on a budget. Thankfully, I’ve tried all of the local places and have a pretty good handle on how to handle our shopping. 

My goal for July is to reset our budget given the fact that my sweet hubby is now officially a resident! There is something to be said for earning a paycheck ;). I want to change our budget limitations and figures to reflect this change! 
2. Go to the gym (or workout at home) a minimum of four days a week.

I am finding this a big challenge. I chase after Cupcake all day and find it hard to find time to workout. In July, I am going to take a step back and make it a goal to workout at least two days a week. Hopefully from there I can build back up. 

3. Reduce my PR of a 9 min mile pace to an 8 minute mile.

I completed a 7:57 mile in April. This goal is complete!
4. Try one new recipe a week and blog about it.

Well, I did a ton of cooking this month and also launched a new blog aimed at children’s activities in the area. This ate (pun intended) into my time. I just need to find the time to post all the things I’ve been cooking up! 

5. I want to continue nursing Cupcake through 2015, unless she chooses to wean earlier.

Check! 

6. Visit my grandma every week before our move. Call her every week after we move.

Our phone calls haven’t been the same as seeing her in person, but they will do! I am excited to go home in a few weeks so I can see her! 

7. Text/call/email a different friend every day to keep communication open.

I have put a lot of time into making new connections in our new home. I will need to find a better way to balance out building new friendships with maintaining those from home. 

8. I will cut my monthly consumption of soda.

My goal for June was to have no more than ten 8-ounce servings of soda in June. I had exactly ten. 

My goal for July will be to have no more than nine 8-ounce servings. 

9. Subscribe to FlyLady Emails. Complete tasks to maintain clean and decluttered home.

My June goal was to resubscribe and start tackling tasks in this new home. I am loving the layout of our new place. I find it much easier to maintain! 

My goal for July is to reorganize our storage in the basement. When we moved we put all of Cupcake’s old clothes in bins. I also received a ton of hand me downs from my niece. When we moved, it got all out in a closet. My goal is to reorganize the whole storage  system we have. 

10. Reduce time spent watching TV

My goal for June was to limit my TV to the following items:

• News (no more than 30 minutes a day)
• Game of Thrones
• The Wire
• Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (an episode if its a rainy day for Cupcake)

I was able to do this. My goal for July is to limit TV to news, an episode of a show for Cupcake of it’s raining or she’s sick, an no more than 2 movies. 

11. Post progress each month on the above goals. 

Check! 
Right about now I am wishing that I had not made it a goal to post my status, because May was terrible. April was bad enough, but May just was terrible. Now that we are FINALLY moved into our new home several states away, I feel like I can get back to blogging and the goals I set out for myself. I cannot change the past; I can only change the future. Here is recommitting myself to these goals for the remainder of the year!

May Reflections

As part of my 2015 resolutions, I post my status each month to keep myself accountable for the goals I set for myself!

1. Design 2015 budget goals with husband to reflect past spending and current saving goals.

My goal for May was to make our move as cost-effective as possible. We set a budget and ended up being UNDER by a good amount. Yahoo!

June is really all about getting settled into our new town. I will be looking into different grocery stores in the area to try and determine how I can feed my family healthy foods that are affordable.

2. Go to the gym (or workout at home) a minimum of four days a week.

Big no, unless you count packing as a workout, and then it is a big yes haha.

3. Reduce my PR of a 9 min mile pace to an 8 minute mile.

I completed a 7:57 mile in April. This goal is complete!

4. Try one new recipe a week and blog about it.

Big no. Now that we have moved, we have a BEAUTIFUL gas stove. I am SO excited for all the new recipes I will get to try in the upcoming weeks!

5. I want to continue nursing Cupcake through 2015, unless she chooses to wean earlier.

Check! Still going very strong. This girl shows no sign of being ready to wean anytime soon. She still nurses at least once a night (often 2x) and so many times throughout the day I can’t keep count! I still nurse pretty much on demand, so I am pretty confident that we have awhile left! 🙂

6. Visit my grandma every week before our move. Call her every week after we move.

Break my heart into a million pieces. This was a check, but oh so very hard saying goodbye to her when we left. I think I saw her three times in a four day period. She was so sad. I was so sad.

7. Text/call/email a different friend every day to keep communication open.

Check!

8. I will cut my monthly consumption of soda.

My goal for May was no more than three 8-ounce servings a week. One week I was unsuccessful, but the others I was way below.

For June, my goal will be about a monthly total. I will have no more than 10 8-ounce servings of soda in June.

9. Subscribe to FlyLady Emails. Complete tasks to maintain clean and decluttered home.

Did not complete emails in May due to moving. My goal for May was to declutter through the moving process and did we EVER.

Our moving company gave us an estimate of how many pounds of stuff they thought we had. We had three quotes from moving companies that all put us within a small range (impressive how similar they all were actually). We then set out to have multiple tag sales, donated dozens of boxes of household items and clothes and threw out a ton we no longer could use. We managed to come in at 3000 lbs LESS than anyone estimated! Wahoo!!!!!!!!! I consider this a check just for that!

My June goal is to resubscribe and start tackling tasks in this new home!

10. Reduce time spent watching TV

My May goal was to only watch something I have on the DVR (unless another major news situation pops up). This will reduce TV time by eliminating the time I spend watching commercials. This was a check!

As a family effort to reduce TV, we significantly cut back on our cable subscription. We now only get a handle of channels (mostly news stations and PBS). The one problem—somehow our company decided to gift us with FREE HBO! What a temptation. Admittedly, my husband and I quickly got all caught up on Game of Thrones (my favorite!) and started to watch The Wire (how could we not, now that we live in the Baltimore area?!).

My goal for June will be to limit my TV to the following items:

• News (no more than 30 minutes a day)
• Game of Thrones
• The Wire
• Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (an episode if its a rainy day for Cupcake)

11. Post progress each month on the above goals. 
Check! 

Right about now I am wishing that I had not made it a goal to post my status, because May was terrible. April was bad enough, but May just was terrible. Now that we are FINALLY moved into our new home several states away, I feel like I can get back to blogging and the goals I set out for myself. I cannot change the past; I can only change the future. Here is recommitting myself to these goals for the remainder of the year!

April Reflections

Ugh. People. It’s been bad. Real bad. With all that we have to do to prep for our move, I’ve barely had time to think. Much less focus on blogging or these resolutions. This wil be brutal, but here it goes…

As part of my 2015 resolutions, I post my status each month to keep myself accountable for the goals I set for myself!

1. Design 2015 budget goals with husband to reflect past spending and current saving goals.

We found our dream place! It is in our budget, although near the top. We will definitely have some new budget changes  as we start to figure out what our new life will cost! 

Our May goal is to try and make our move as cost effective as possible! 

2. Go to the gym (or workout at home) a minimum of four days a week.

Check! 

3. Reduce my PR of a 9 min mile pace to an 8 minute mile.

My April goal was to get an 8:05 minute mile.

I ran a 7:57 mid-month! This goal is done!!!!!! In high school I could barely run a 10 minute mile so this is  huge for me! 

4. Try one new recipe a week and blog about it.

With our oven broken still, this goal is not shaping up how I want. Until we move, this resolution is effectively on hold. 

5. I want to continue nursing Cupcake through 2015, unless she chooses to wean earlier.

Check! 

6. Visit my grandma every week before our move. Call her every week after we move.

Complete failure. So disappointed in myself. 

7. Text/call/email a different friend every day to keep communication open.

Check!

8. I will cut my monthly consumption of soda.

In April, my goal was to drink no more than 3 servings of soda a week.

One week I went over, but it’s still an overall better scenario than it was before! I notice that when I’m stressed I turn to soda the way some turn to wine. 

My goal for May is no more than 3 soda servings a week again. Hopefully I can achieve this goal despite the stress of moving! 

9. Subscribe to FlyLady Emails. Complete tasks to maintain clean and decluttered home.

With packing being a primary goal, FlyLady will need to wait until we are officially settled. 

10. Reduce time spent watching TV

My goal for April was focused on reducing my overall TV watching a day. It was a really odd month because we were frequently traveling to find a. Ew place and attended a few weddings. This naturally gave me significantly less time to watch tv. Most weeks I only watched whatever I had on the DVR. 

The only exception to this was we watched quite a bit of TV relate to the riots in Baltimore. As this was a major news story in our soon to be new home- I feel like it was acceptable! 

My May goal will be to only watch something I have on the DVR (unless another major news situation pops up). This will reduce TV time by eliminating the time I spend watching commercials. 

11. Post progress each month on the above goals. 
Check! 

March Resolution Update

As part of my 2015 resolutions, I post my status each month to keep myself accountable for the goals I set for myself!

1. Design 2015 budget goals with husband to reflect past spending and current saving goals.

Cupcake’s first birthday was this month. Our goal was to set a budget and stick to it. 

In order to make the party more cost-effective, we limited the guest list to grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Having our friends there to celebrate would have been awesome, but also a bigger expense. 

We managed to spend almost exactly the budget we set and that includes all the food, decorations, gifts and everything else we did. I was so excited! 

Our April goal is to determine exactly what we want to spend for a new apartment when we move and to find our dream place! We debated buying, but residency only lasts three years. Although there’s a good chance we could stay in the area, with no guarantee it didn’t seem worth it. 

2. Go to the gym (or workout at home) a minimum of four days a week.

Having the warmer weather back made such a huge difference. Counting long walks of 3+ miles, I worked out 4-5 times a week without fail! Yay! 

3. Reduce my PR of a 9 min mile pace to an 8 minute mile.

My March goal was to get below an 8:25. I am absolutely astounded at my progress in this area! I added in quite a bit of interval runs and that has made a huge difference! My fastest mile time this month was an 8:07! I also had many runs under 8:25 so this is a definite success. 

My April goal is to get an 8:05 minute mile. 

4. Try one new recipe a week and blog about it.

This goal I did much less awesome on. I only blogged about one recipe the whole month! Will definitely need to start researching some new ones for April! 

5. I want to continue nursing Cupcake through 2015, unless she chooses to wean earlier.

Check! 

I officially made it to one year of nursing and am so excited that our nursing relationship is still going strong. 

I did have some strong second thoughts when Cupcake was having nursing sessions for over an hour at a time several times a day and night. However, she seems to have just been going through a huge developmental leap. She now walks almost exclusively and her language skills are huge. She’s even used two-word phrases (“all done” and “no touch”) a few times recently! 

Cupcake still loves her night nursing sessions, but they have gone down from 3 to 2 on most nights, so it’s getting better! Here’s to nursing through April! 

6. Visit my grandma every week before our move. Call her every week after we move.

This one makes me sad because I failed miserably. We only have two months living in the same state so it is vital that I make this happen for April and May! 

7. Text/call/email a different friend every day to keep communication open.

Check!

8. I will cut my monthly consumption of soda.

In March, my goal was to drink no more than 3.5 servings of soda a week.

I only had one can of root beer (my fav!) at Cupcake’s birthday party and no other soda for the rest of the month! The cravings are still there, but they’re getting lesser by the day! Yay! 

My goal for April is only 3 servings a week. One of my best friends is getting married and this girl wants to have the option to enjoy a rum and coke (or two). 

9. Subscribe to FlyLady Emails. Complete tasks to maintain clean and decluttered home.

I didn’t follow the tasks outlined because we started prepping for our move. While not officially making my goal, I’m amazed at the progress we made of totally cleaning out and packing up the basement! 

10. Reduce time spent watching TV

My goal for March was focused on my afternoon television. I love watching Ellen, but now that the weather is nicer, we are outside during this time. This is definitely a check as I only watched a few episodes the whole month! 

My goal for April will be focused on reducing my overall TV watching a day. To accomplish this goal, I will spend the first two weeks tracking exactly how many hours I watch. I will spend the second half of the month working to eliminate a few hours a week (exact number to be determined by results of data collection!). 

11. Post progress each month on the above goals. 
Check! 

Clean Your Pantry- Chili Pasta

March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb. Unless you live in New England, like me. Then, you’re just stuck with that lion. 

This is today’s sky:



Yucky days like this always make me crave something yummy and warm. When trying to figure out what to make, we had 1 lb of ground beef, which usually would be plenty for our small family. However, we were having guests tonight and 1 lb wasn’t quite enough. 

I went down to the pantry to try and see what I could start clearing out. We have a TON of canned beans (thank you ShopRite can-can sale) and a TON of pasta. Immediately my brain went to work. Chili is one of my favorite “go-to’s” when needing to stretch meat further since the additional beans make the meal last longer. I decided I’d attempt to create a hybrid meal and it was gooooood! All of us had multiple servings and we will probably be making this again within just a few days. It was that good. 

Ingredients 

1 lb ground beef (or turkey) 

1 small onion, diced

1/2 c chopped celery 

28 oz canned diced tomatoes, undrained

2 15 oz cans beans (kidney or black beans work great!), drained and rinsed well 

1 c uncooked macaroni (elbows, ziti, whatever you have in your pantry!) 

1/2 t garlic powder

Chili powder to taste (I used 2 t, but we like a bit of spice) 

Sour cream or shredded cheese for garnish 

Directions 

1. Add meat, onion and celery to a medium pot. Cook until meat is browned and veggies are tender. Drain fat. 

2. Add canned diced tomatoes with liquid, beans, uncooked macaroni and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover.

3. Cook for 20 minutes, or until macaroni is tender, stirring often. 

4. Serve in bowls topped with sour cream or cheese! Or, if you’re dairy-free like me, as is! 



Try this recipe and let me know what you think! 

February Resolution Update

As part of my 2015 resolutions, I post my status each month to keep myself accountable for the goals I set for myself!

1. Design 2015 budget goals with husband to reflect past spending and current saving goals.

This month we did pretty well! We were each given a weekly allowance that we could spend freely. This money was used for eating out, grabbing a treat or other incidentals. We were able to stick within our limits and we both found it easy to stick to.

One unexpected bonus was that it brought a certain sweetness to our dates now. Instead of it just being “our” money, we were able to treat one another. It felt more like we were dating, and I loved that. When my husband surprised me with a treat, I knew that he was using his own money for that and it somehow made it better. We will definitely continue to do this the rest of the year.

In March, we will be celebrating Cupcake’s first birthday! We will be sitting down and setting a budget to stick to. In the past, we’ve always used birthdays as an almost free-for-all. We celebrated without thinking about the budget or our constraints. It was never really much of a problem since it was usually just a nice dinner out. Now that we have a little one, we need to plan birthday parties, and that can get a little expensive.

For March, we will create a budget-friendly party for Cupcake’s first birthday!

2. Go to the gym (or workout at home) a minimum of four days a week.

I was doing SO well, until I wasn’t. This month was horrible for me health-wise. I started the month with a concussion. I then developed a horrible cold at the same time as Cupcake. We both recovered for approximately A DAY before I came down with a horrible stomach bug, which Cupcake subsequently got. This month was rough.

The weather also did not help because on days where we weren’t all sick, it seemed to always be snowing or be sub-zero temperatures. I am very optimistic that once the more spring-like weather comes, this will be an achievable goal.

3. Reduce my PR of a 9 min mile pace to an 8 minute mile.

My February goal is to get below an 8:25. I was only able to “test” myself on this twice, due to all the reasons listed above. My fastest time mid-month was exactly an 8:25. Therefore, my goal is to again get below an 8:25.

4. Try one new recipe a week and blog about it.

Mexican Meatloaf
Baby Cookies
Easy and Clean Peanut Butter Chocolate

Cashew Curry 

5. I want to continue nursing Cupcake through 2015, unless she chooses to wean earlier.

Check! It was definitely a struggle through the stomach bug, but we did it!

6. Visit my grandma every week before our move. Call her every week after we move.

We did very well in the beginning of the month, but then we had to stay away due to illnesses. I hope we recover soon so that we can get back to our visits!

7. Text/call/email a different friend every day to keep communication open.

Check!

8. I will cut my monthly consumption of soda.

My February SMART goal will be to maintain my current goal of no more than four servings a week. My second goal will be that if I find myself wanting a soda, I will first make sure I drink 2 cups of water to ensure that I am not just thirsty.

For the whole month, I had a total of five servings of soda. I typically was good at remembering that I needed to drink my water first, but not always. As per the rules I set for myself, I am not counting the ginger ale I drank while I had the stomach bug. I was happy, however, to see that I drank much less of it than I typically would, and found myself preferring diluted fruit juices instead.

In March, my goal will be to drink no more than 3.5 servings of soda a week.

9. Subscribe to FlyLady Emails. Complete tasks to maintain clean and decluttered home.

Every week, except last. The stomach bug was the end of me!

10. Reduce time spent watching TV

My SMART goal for February was to go through all the shows I had set for the DVR and delete the ones that weren’t truly favorites. I reduced the total shows we program from 14 to 4.

My goal for March will be focused on my afternoon television. I love watching Ellen! I often see that 4 o’clock hour as my reward for the day. I put it on, I make dinner, and all is right. I would like to reduce the number of days I watch TV in the afternoon from five to three.

11. Post progress each month on the above goals.
A few days late, but check!