Saving Money

These days have taxes on everyone's mind and that got me thinking about the ways that I save my family money all throughout the year! I am going to share that with you so hopefully I can inspire someone else out there. We can all learn from each other! Most of my totals are estimates--on the low side--for an example of what the average household pays.

No cable TV=$50/month ($600+/yr)
No cell phones=$75/month ($900/yr)
No car payments=$200/month ($2400/yr)
Couponing for groceries/toiletries=$200-400/month ($2400-4800/yr)
Cut my husbands hair=$20 every 2 months ($120/yr)
Color my own hair=$50 every 2 months ($300/yr)
Workout at home=$25/month ($300/yr)
File my own taxes=$100/yr
Do our own yardwork=$50/month ($600/yr)

These are just the regular things that came to mind first. Other ways to save money include:

Only eating out once a week
Keeping thermostat higher in the summer and lower in the winter
Opening windows when warm outside
Only shop for clothes during seasonal sales
Shop for birthday/Christmas presents throughout the year during sales

Some people look at me like I'm crazy when they hear that I don't have a smartphone, or that I don't have cable. So how do I get thru life?? Let me tell you!

I have a prepaid Tracfone that I pay $20 to load 120 minutes on every 3 months, and I use this for when I am on-call at work, and for emergencies. We ditched cable several months back and don't miss it at all! We got a cheap antenna for local channels (in HD!) and a Roku box for streaming shows/movies. We have a Netflix and Hulu account which total $16/month. I started couponing almost one year ago and have learned to find the best deals for things matching coupons and sales. We went from spending about $400/month on generic food/toiletries to maybe $75/month on NAME BRAND food/toiletries!

My journey to frugalness started when I was 16. I got married, moved out, and had no money. Nick and I both worked crappy jobs while I finished high school and went to college. We started out with nothing so anything more than that is like a luxury to us! We both agree that a simple life is the best life and choosing not to "need" all of the latest and greatest has enabled us to do so many other wonderful things!

I hope this inspires someone out there to take control of their life and start working towards where they want to be, instead of where they have to be due to debt! You can do it!

Easy Peasy Chicken Parm!

Let me start by apologizing that there is no picture! I baked this last night and had family over for dinner so I was too distracted to have my camera available.

I found this recipe on my new Roku channel AllRecipes.com and knew instantly I had to try it. It is one of those quick and easy recipes you can throw together with just a few ingredients and no measuring! My fave. So here you go:

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
approx. 1c spaghetti sauce (your choice)
approx. 1c shredded mozzarella and parmesan
1/2 bag seasoned croutons
olive oil
minced garlic

Preheat to 350. Take a casserole dish that is just big enough for your chicken to cover the bottom and be snug without a lot of room. First drizzle some olive oil on the bottom then sprinkle garlic. Lay chicken on the oil then pour enough sauce over to cover. Sprinkle HALF of both cheeses on sauce, then cover with a layer of croutons. Cover with remaining cheeses and bake for 35-40 minutes!

So very delicious. I made 3 breasts for dinner. Baking them in the sauce makes them oh-so tender! The top layer of cheese and croutons bakes up golden brown and crunchy. You can of course add more/less of any ingredient to suit your taste! Hopefully next time I make it I can take a picture before we eat it ;)

Healthy Living Update

It has been two weeks since I last posted so I thought I would let you all know how my lifestyle improvements have been going!

When I did the 5 day juice fast last month I lost 7lbs. As of right now I have kept 4 of those off! That may not seem like a big deal but my weight has been at a plateau for many years and I really struggle with myself to get those last 10lbs off. I can proudly say that none of it is baby weight though! I lost all of that within a couple of months.

Mainly what I've been doing different is eating more vegetables, salads, fruit, whole grains, and less meat. As for exercise, I found a workout on Pinterest that I have been doing on my days off:

It takes about 30 minutes and gets my heart rate going! The first time I did it left me sore in places I didn't even think I had worked! I like the variety and how it works all major areas of my body with some cardio thrown in. I don't do the head tilt b/c I don't know what that is, and instead of the two sets of 10 crunches I do two sets of 20.

It may not sound like much but a long journey starts with small steps! Being unhealthy doesn't hurt anyone but yourself, and why would you want to hurt yourself? Being a nurse for almost 6 years now has shown me so many people who are literally dying from being simply unhealthy and making bad lifestyle choices. I don't want to be one of them in 20 years!

While we are on the subject of being unhealthy...here are some cuppies I made for Valentine's day!

They have brownie on the bottom and strawberry cake on the top with cream cheese frosting. YUM. Don't worry--I only kept a few for my little fam then took the rest to work!

For Valentine's Day we usually don't do much--I am one of those who feel it is a mostly commercial-centered holiday with no real purpose. We don't go out to eat b/c everyone else is out doing the exact same thing. For the last couple of years we grab a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and enjoy a nice quiet evening at home! I got him some chocolates and he got me a gift certificate for a pedicure :)

Here is a small fleece baby blanket that I embroidered for an out-of-state friend:

I don't know if I mentioned before but I bought our tickets to Seattle! We leave in two weeks and I still haven't booked the hotel or rental car yet...yikes! I am definitely doing that this weekend. We are really looking forward to seeing the Pacific NW for the first time and seeing the mountains again. If you have any suggestions for what to see/do in the Seattle/Mt. St. Helens area please let me know!

Experiments in Healthy Eating

Yesterday I tried a couple of new recipes that I have been seeing on Pinterest. I am always up for a new yummy way to cook and enjoy vegetables! I made homemade guacamole (not a new recipe for me, but took a pic anyway)

First new thing was....kale chips!

Rinsed/dried the kale, cute into bite size pieces, sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, then baked at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

They were very crunchy, and just about melted in your mouth. But that is where the positivity ends!! I really did not like the taste--it was like a combination of grass and spinach. My son did like them and ate several.

Next up....sweet potato chips!

I thinly sliced 3 small sweet potatoes, sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled salt, baked at 375 degrees for 10 min then turned the pan around and baked for 10 more minutes.

I really liked these! They tasted great and were mostly crunchy. My silly oven cooks unevenly so some were burned, some were just right. The 3 potatoes didn't make very many chips, but the few that were left did not taste nearly as good today. Definitely need to eat these fresh!

I am glad I finally tried this techniques and was able to share my experiences. I will most likely stick with making baked sweet potato fries instead of chips though! I found a recipe that uses cornmeal to make the fries crunchy, so that will be my next adventure...

It is still in the 50s-70s outside here these days, so yesterday we broke out the charcoal grill and cooked up a bunch of meat to eat on this weekend! I grilled steaks, hotdogs, turkey burgers, and chicken breast. After we ate dinner we roasted some marshmallows too! Yum. Today it rained off and on all day so that was a nice change. One more month until we go to Seattle!

Bradley and a Fancy Cake

Just an update on what we've been doing this week...but first, here is a picture of my boys snuggling!

Last Sunday we went to our niece's 3rd birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese in the city. Brad had a great time playing with all of the rides and of course stuffing himself with pizza!

I have been seeing this zebra cake on Pinterest so I finally looked up how to do it! The instructions didn't seem too complicated so I decided to try it out tonight. Basically you take a plain white cake mix, prepare it, then divide it into two bowls. You use food coloring to make one of them dark (mine ended up being kinda dark grey). The darker the better so that you can see the color definition after it bakes!

Then in a round (greased) cake pan you drop a big spoonful into the middle of the pan. You do it again but with the other color right on top of the first dollop in the middle. You just keep doing this and it will spread out and reach the edge of the pan. You do this with 2 round pans and use up all the batter:Then you bake according to the box and remove from pans to cool....

....then frost and stack like a basic two-layer cake...

...but when you cut into it it looks amazing!!!!

Mucho impressive. If you could get the colors dark enough, it would look great with green stripes, or red stripes...or any color really! Or if you wanted to make more than one cake at a time you could prepare 2 different flavor cakes mixes and alternate them for more flavor. I put cream cheese icing on mine. It was a big hit! I will definitely be making more in the future.

Party Planner

My little guy turns 3 in June, but his cousin Zoe turned 3 today! That really got me thinking about his birthday party. He hasn't had a favorite before so his previous birthdays were just cute but generic with no specific theme.

Well he has a favorite now! He just loves the cartoon "Cat in the Hat". It is on Netflix so he can watch any episode at any time. I ask him in the morning what he wants to watch and he says "Cat!". He would also watch WordWorld, Sid the Science Kid, Curious George, and Sesame Street but Cat in the Hat has become his favorite.

Naturally I decided to plan a Cat in the Hat themed party for his next birthday! I bought him the book....

...then found a party website where I ordered plates, stickers, favor boxes, and a tablecloth!

I have been pinning a lot of ideas for this theme on Pinterest also, so I will be looking through those links in the next few months to add several handmade touches to the party. I haven't decided if I'm going to do a cake, or cupcakes again. I really like the idea of cupcakes for a child's birthday because they can eat it with their hands, and you don't have to cut slices for everyone.

Sunday is our niece Zoe's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese in OKC, so that means tomorrow I will be wrapping all of her presents! Have a great weekend.

Latest Projects

Here is something I know I will cherish for a long time! You have heard of people "bronzing" their baby's first shoe? Well this is a take on that I had seen on the internet awhile back. It is a shadow box with different sizes of shoes that Brad has worn:

All of the regular shadow boxes with glass were not deep enough to accommodate the shoes so I had to get creative! I got an unfinished wood frame and painted it. Then I cut out a piece of stiff cardboard for the backing. I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit the inside then glued it to the cardboard. Then I glued the whole back piece to the frame and used stickers for his name. I stuff the shoes with some paper for shape, then glued them to the backing and wrote his ages with marker!

Here are the embroidered bibs I have been working on for a coworker! They will be added to my craft website for examples:

That's about it for now! My brother's birthday is Monday, and our anniversary is Tuesday so we will be busy the next few days!

Catching Up

Not much has been happening the last few days, just life. I have been eating healthy however! I got some rice cakes and apples for work snacks, and have been eating a lot of salads. I'm going to the market tomorrow to pick up some sweet potatoes so that I can roast a bunch of veggies to eat on.

I have also been exercising and taking walks almost every day. Brad loves to get out of the house so I take him on walks with me. The exercises are ones that I pinned on Pinterest--mostly just a variety of jumping jacks, squats, crunches, pushups, etc. I could really feel it today! I am surprised by how many different muscles groups I worked without realizing it. Hopefully over the next few months I can tone up as well as lose a few more pounds!

Nick is still working away on the Mustang trying to get the kit parts to line up. He is making progress though! We are aiming to have enough body work done by Spring so that we can get it painted.

Our anniversary is next week! It will be our 9th wedding anniversary, and I am already in full swing of planning the big 10 for next year! It is going to be fun. Man how time flies!

We are planning to fly to Washington in a couple of months to see some family and check out the NW coast. No dates are for sure, maybe in early March. We have been itching to go on another trip though! It seems like about every 6 months we get the urge to make a break for it and go see somewhere new. It is too bad that we have already seen all of the good stuff within driving distance.

I have been working on some custom embroidered bibs for a coworker, so after I get those done I will take pictures. Otherwise, check back later on!

Juice Fast Day 5--Last Day

Yes, you read it right. I ended the fast tonight with a spinach salad. Why? Well partly because I am weak and love food. But mostly because I have been feeling pretty sluggish these last couple of days with sore muscles. Not the best when I have a busy 2yr old and a very active job. I always do better at things when I have a partner so when Nick had to quit that made it harder on me to go it alone.

We both weighed in the morning and neither of us had lost anymore. I am very happy with the 7lbs I lost and will try my hardest to keep it off by eating better and incorporating more veggies into our meals. I kind of feel like a failure for not sticking out the whole 10 days, but then again my body was telling me that it needed something else. It's not like I got weak and hit up Burger King!!

I actually have a pot of split pea soup cooking right now, and this weekend I have a bunch of veggies I'm going to roast in the oven.

Juice Fast Day 4

Remember how I said yesterday my muscles were sore? Yeah, last night was hard. I rubbed Icy Hot on my calves and basically writhed in pain until it started helping. They are still sore today but much better.

Brunch juice:
2 pears
4 apples
1/2 cucumber

This made about 20oz with a lot of foam on top. This was my first time juicing pear and it was a nice subtle flavor. The cucumber is pretty strong though so you could still taste it over the fruits.

Dinner Juice:
2 apples
6 carrots
1/4 beet
4 celery stalks
thumb size ginger

This made about 24oz and tasted ok. Nick of course did not like it, and actually ended up vomiting later in the evening. He had some soup and crackers after so he is no longer fasting...but he said he will juice in the morning with me. And then there was one! Now for weigh-ins!

Me--7lbs
Nick--5lbs

I am still shocked by how quickly mine is coming off! Keep in mind that we weigh in the morning, but I don't post until evening. Nick will probably weigh in one more time tomorrow morning then quit after that since he is off the fast. I am doing surprisingly well and have developed amazing will power being around other people eating delicious looking food.

I did some grocery shopping tonight to get some more fruits/veggies and to start restocking my fridge for when the fast is over. We had eaten all of our meat and perishables to prepare for it so now I need to replenish the supply! I am definitely going to make an effort to cook healthier meals and use more veggies. I cooked pretty good before--using ground turkey instead of beef, cooking from scratch instead of box dinners--but we really do need to work on more veggies and whole grains. I heart pasta and I'm not giving it up so it will be whole wheat pasta now!

Tomorrow is my halfway point and I will be counting the minutes!! I really hope that when I break my fast I won't regain a bunch of weight all of a sudden. My major goal with this fast was to quickly get rid of those last few stubborn pounds that I have trouble losing, then modifying my lifestyle to maintain the loss.

Tune in tomorrow!

Juice Fast Day 3

Today was a little rougher for multiple reasons. I went back to work so I was on my feet all day. We drank a breakfast juice around 11am but I only drank water until I got home from work around 9:30pm when I could have another juice. My muscles were pretty sore and I was pretty sluggish.

Our brunch juice:
5 oranges
2 carrots
2 slices of pineapple

This made 24oz and we both loved it! My son even took a few sips.

Nick had an upset tummy after this drink and for most of the day so he declined a dinner drink. I however needed something in my belly so I made one more suited to my tastes:

1 carrot
1/4 beet
2 slice pineapple
2 stalk celery
handful spinach

This was just right at 12oz and tasted pretty decent. I had been wondering how the pineapple and beet would be together and I was pleased with the outcome. The sweetness of the pineapple helped to drown out most of the strong earthy beet taste. Nick sipped it but said he didn't like it.

Now for the {cumulative} weigh-in!

Me--5lbs!!!
Nick--1lb

I couldn't believe my eyes this morning when I weighed and had lost 3lbs in one day! It kind of makes me wonder if it will really slow down now. Nick is still staying strong after a pep talk from me earlier today about how we are doing this together and his body really needs the healthy break. I am off the next 2 days so hopefully it goes easier without being on my feet all day. Wish us luck and check in tomorrow!!

Juice Fast Day 2

Two days down, eight to go! I don't FEEL hungry but I still WANT food. It's tough, but it just shows how dependent our culture is on food. We use it for everything--reward, boredom, birthday, anniversary....but I'm staying strong and heading for my goal of 10 days. Nick is still hanging in there too I am happy to say!

Since we never really eat breakfast, we decided to just do two juices a day. I guess you could call this our "brunch" juice:

1/2 cucumber
4 apples
1/2 pineapple

It made about 24oz and I thought it tasted pretty good. Nick did not like it. Even with just half a cucumber in there I could still pinpoint the flavor. The pineapple was nice! I still have half of it plus another whole one to use.

Our dinner was:

5 carrots
2 apples
2 stalks celery
1/2 beet
thumb size ginger root

That beet is some potent (and staining) root! I never bought fresh beets before this, and I'm glad I only used half of one. This combination made 24oz and smelled like dirt. It tasted alright to me, Nick said it was the worst so far. HA!

As you may see, I am trying to do fruity stuff in the morning and more vegetably stuff in the evening. I sip mine slowly but Nick chugs his and is done. I drank about another 3 glasses of lemon water today. I haven't noticed any unusual symptoms, but Nick says his tummy has been rumbling...as for weight loss:

Me--2lbs!
Nick--0

If that keeps up it will be worth it (to me)! We will see in the morning.

Here is a taggie blanket I finished tonight for a friend at work. I am also working on a 1st birthday bib for her.

Juice Fast Day 1

One day down! So far so good. I have been pleasantly surprised at the ease and taste of juicing. However I have been thinking about food (mainly pasta) way too much!

Our "breakfast" consisted of:
5 apples
5 carrots
1 cucumber

This made 32oz of juice which was a bit too much for our glasses. They were filled to the brim!

It was a nice smooth drink with a hint of cucumber taste. Nick didn't like it but I did. I am not drinking coffee on the fast, but I am drinking hot green tea.

Our "lunch" was:
1 kale bunch
5 carrots
2 apples
2 handfuls spinach
thumbsize ginger root

This made about 24oz which was just right. I was surprised how strong the kale taste was. Nick said he liked this one better, but appeared to have more trouble drinking it. I thought it tasted like apply grass. The ginger was a nice addition.

So far our Waring juicer has been amazing. Easy to use and easy to clean. I just can't get over how it turns everything into sawdust almost! I clean it right after juicing so that the food doesn't get a chance to dry and cake on.

We didn't do a dinner juice--Nick went to a friend's house and I didn't want to get everything dirty just for me. I'm not feeling that hungry right now so I will save it for the morning. I have had two glasses of my lemon water today but I'm sure I should drink more. Nick hasn't had hardly any. I don't think he is handling the lack of food very well...

Don't worry, I am still feeding Brad normal food! I'm not making him juice with us. I did make him a big batch of split pea soup to eat on but he has liked that since he was a baby. If Nick does fall off the bandwagon I hope he doesn't expect me to cook for him!

In other news I got my Christmas decorations down today and the house is almost back to normal! I don't decorate for any other holiday until the fall so all of the totes are going into the attic.

Tune in tomorrow for the results of day 2!

Juice Fast 2012

I'm ready!

I have all of the initial fruits/veggies purchased and ready to go. And don't worry--the leftovers in the fridge will be gone by Sunday! Nick and I are pretty excited to see how this goes, and to see how we feel after detoxing and fasting for almost 2 weeks.

The book you see in the second pic above is one I purchased from Amazon along with my juicer. I have already scanned thru most of it and there is some pretty interesting information in it. There is info about how the body detoxes, which plants help which organs, good combinations of fruits/veggies to use, etc. Very informative!

Here is the plan:

• We are going to juice our "meal" 3x a day with lots of water in between. I am going to keep a pitcher of filtered water with fresh sliced lemons in the fridge at all times.
• I am going to blog daily about which juice recipes we used and how we liked them
• I will also weigh daily and post how much weight I have lost (but not what I weigh!)
• I will post daily about how I feel, and any other symptoms/side effects

I am pretty competitive (and stubborn) so I am confident that I will complete a 10 day fast. I may even extend it if all goes well! Nick is aiming for 10 days also, and I will give him my full encouragement. I think he has a slightly more emotional attachment to food so it may be harder for him to fast.

In other news, here is a baby blanket I finished for a friend at work:

I used a special pattern from a book for the middle, then just continued the rounds outward until it was the desired width.

And here is a onesie I embroidered for friend's baby due in April:

I am very much looking forward to this weekend and my goal is to get all of my Christmas decorations taken down and the house put back into order. Don't forget about the juice fast--it starts Sunday and I will blog daily about!