The Quest for a Cheap, Easy, and Sugary Halloween Snack

I love Charlie's preschool for so many reasons, but one is that when they have parties, they have parents sign up to bring healthy treats or unhealthy treats.

Since I am such a fun, super hip mom, I go with the unhealthy every time.

Twice a year (for their birthdays), I hire a girl from church to make cupcakes however the kids want. (Side note: holler if you want her contact info - she is super talented and affordable!) Last year Charlie wanted pirates:

 And this year we did ladybugs for Miss Lucy:

And as much as I wanted to call and order custom cupcakes again, I really felt like I should be able to do this on my own. So I scoured Pinterest and found this. It looked easy enough. All I needed to do was get donuts, vampire teeth and chocolate chips. How hard could it be? Well, it turns out that two days before Halloween, Michaels, Party America, Walgreens, and Target had NO vampire teeth. I finally found some at Dillon's (I was giving up after Dillon's, btw), so tonight after Lucy went to bed, Charlie and I got to work:

 I bought the day-old donuts and saved $5!

I love the way they turned out, but more importantly, so did Charlie!

Skinny Rules Debrief

So...the Skinny Rules experiment was a fail COLOSSAL fail. I started by choosing a week where I had already spent my grocery budget (and not on the right foods), so I postponed it a week which was the week of parent/teacher conferences.

As I said, COLOSSAL fail. I gave it all up on day 6 or something. It just didn't work for me. There were somethings I really really liked, like eating apples every day. I seriously started doing that. Apples and homemade nut butters are now one of my favorite snacks!

I also discovered topping eggs with tomatoes instead of ketchup:

But truly, it just didn't work for me. Now, if a student told me something didn't work for him or her, I would immediately say, "Did you give it your best effort?" If the kid said no, I would reply, "Then how do you know it didn't work for you?" I kind of feel like the kid about the Skinny Rules. Me and them just didn't click. Did I give it my best effort. Um...no. But, for the time being, I am going to let them rest.

In related news, I'm going to give the old Eat to Live diet a resurrection. I know it works. I know I can do it. Might as well give it a shot!

Skinny Rules...3 Days In

So...I effectively chose the WORST week ever to start this. This week is parent/teacher conferences, and if you aren't a teacher, the week is very much like this:

I am going to do my best to abide by the rules as best I can in the next two days, but I'm also going to be realistic. I will be breaking the carb rule for dinner tonight and tomorrow. They feed us (the ONE awesome thing about conferences!) and I will definitely be taking advantage of a free meal. I will just try to be smart about it.

I have had some successes, the most notable of which is that I am down a pound! Yay! Another has been breakfast EVERY morning (though every morning it has been the same and looked like this):

Homemade peanut butter and apple slices

It appeases the "apple a day" rule AND the "protein with every meal" rule. Another success has been not drinking my calories. I had fallen into a bad habit of drinking pop whenever I got a headache, which was about every other day, but I haven't had a pop in several days now. I've still had headaches, but I'm managing.

Hands down, the hardest rule is the "no carbs after lunch" rule. EVERYTHING, it seems, is a carb. That means dinner should be protein and a veggie and that's it. The second hardest rule has been "no white flour," which means the black bean and butternut squash enchiladas I made Sunday were technically against the rule, because while it was a great dish for "make one day meatless," "eat protein with every meal," and "eat your veggies," I used the white tortillas I had on hand, which would be a violation of the rules. I should have eaten just the insides. But I definitely didn't.

This has been my favorite rule-abiding dinner so far:

Lemon pepper talapia + roasted green beans and garlic. YUMMY!

And yesterday, I made sweet potato, chicken, and quinoa soup. I forgot to take a picture, and truth be told, it wasn't that pretty, but it was DELICIOUS. This was again, technically, a violation, because both quinoa and sweet potatoes contain carbs. Now obviously, the carbs in those are better than, say, the carbs in white pasta, but they are carbs nonetheless. I said when I started this business that the carb rule was going to be the hardest one by which to abide.

10 Days of Skinny Rules...Updated

So...I made this resolve AFTER I had already grocery shopped for the week. I did the math and realized I really didn't have the money to reshop for groceries, so I pushed it back a week. I've been meaning to update before now and, well, I just haven't gotten to it. Today is day 1, and I'm reposting!

I've been breaking rules left, right, and center. I've been drinking pop. I've been eating ice cream and cake. I've been eating FRIED foods. And candy. (I have a love-hate-but-mostly-love relationship with peanut M&Ms. It's getting kind of ridiculous.) And all sorts of terrible things.  There is less and less room in my jeans and more and more flab in my gut. Something has to change.

So, instead of doing my radical plant-based diet, I am going to try something new. About a month ago I read The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper. I'm going to try 10 days of adhering to these rules, which means that from October 12th to October 22nd October 19th to October 29th, I will be following every skinny rule. Most of them are easy - "No fast food," for example, or "Don't drink your calories." Some of them are harder..."Drink a full glass of water before every meal" is one that isn't hard exactly, it's just one that I know I will forget. Hands down, the two most difficult will be:

1. Get rid of those white potatoes :(
2. No carbs after lunch (which means dinner is basically a protein and a veggie)

This afternoon, I'm going to sit down and plan my meals for the next few days. Taking suggestions.

Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchiladas

Butternut squash is my new favorite food. I LOVE it. So when my friend Mandi, who is very health-conscious, suggested we make this recipe together, I was all for it. The original recipe can be found here, but I tweaked a few things to make it work better for my family. I also doubled the recipe, but what is included below is for a single batch.

STEP 1: Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 2 1/2 butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch squares
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 1/2 c black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 t cumin
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 1/4 c water
• 1 c enchilada sauce
• tortillas
• shredded cheese

(from the original recipe, I omitted cilantro only because I didn't have it on hand and didn't want to make a trip to the store just for that, but it would make this even more savory!)

STEP 2: Stovetop
Saute onions, garlic, and jalapeno in a small amount of olive oil until the onions begin to become translucent. Add squash, Rotel, beans, spices, and water. Cook over medium low heat or until squash is tender - 20-25 minutes.

STEP 3: Stuffing 
Place just enough enchilada sauce in the pan to cover the bottom. I was making these up to freeze, so I used a disposable pan (which, PS, I will buy from the Dollar Store from now on! They have 2 packs and I think I paid almost $4 for a 4 pack at Dillon's!).

 

The recipe says to add 1/3 c to the tortilla, but I always use a spoon until the amount looks right. I also started folding my enchiladas like enchiladas instead of like burritos, which makes for an easier fit in the pan AND less mess. Win win.

STEP 4: Oven
Place stuffed enchiladas in the pan and drizzle with enchilada sauce. Top with cheese (I skipped this step since they were going straight to the freezer, but I will add it before I bake) and bake at 400 until cheese is melted.

Book: Those Who Save Us

Those Who Save Us

by Jenna Blum

Length: 496 pages

Format: Hardback
Price: Free - checked out from library

How I heard about it: Lindsey

Basic Premise: Dr. Trudy Swenson is a professor of German studies at the university. Her German mother, who lived near a concentration camp during the war, has remained remarkably tight-lipped about her experiences, despite Trudy's many efforts to unlock her torturous memories.

My Take: 6 out of 10 (scale here)

I loved the style of this book. A dual narrative, the novel moves from Trudy's point of view in 1997 and Anna's in the 1940s and the alternating perspectives worked well. The author was artistic and poignant, and I very much liked her fresh approach to historical storytelling. That part would get a 9. I just didn't like the story. I almost feel like I can hardly hold that against the book itself - what novel - or at least, what honest novel - set in this time period is really going to tell a truly LIKEABLE story? But I really hated what happened. It is definitely an adult novel, but even that didn't bother me much. I wanted more information from the author, particularly about Anna's participation in resistance efforts, and I did not like what I felt was the lack of resolution at the end. And even though my mind can understand it, my heart aches for the decisions that were made and the hurts and confusions that could have been healed but weren't. Um...also, THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE QUOTATION MARK IN THAT BOOK. I'm not sure how the author got away with this, but it drove me mad. MAD. It was hard to tell who was speaking, or whether the speaker was thinking or speaking the words out loud. I can't imagine why a publisher would allow such a thing!

List progress:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Parenting with Love & Logic by Jim Fey
Silver Star Jeannette Walls
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins

10 Days of Skinny Rules

I've been breaking rules left, right, and center. I've been drinking pop. I've been eating ice cream and cake. I've been eating FRIED foods. And candy. (I have a love-hate-but-mostly-love relationship with peanut M&Ms. It's getting kind of ridiculous.) And all sorts of terrible things.  There is less and less room in my jeans and more and more flab in my gut. Something has to change.

So, instead of doing my radical plant-based diet, I am going to try something new. About a month ago I read The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper. I'm going to try 10 days of adhering to these rules, which means that from October 12th to October 22nd, I will be following every skinny rule. Most of them are easy - "No fast food," for example, or "Don't drink your calories." Some of them are harder..."Drink a full glass of water before every meal" is one that isn't hard exactly, it's just one that I know I will forget. Hands down, the two most difficult will be:

1. Get rid of those white potatoes :(
2. No carbs after lunch (which means dinner is basically a protein and a veggie)

Tomorrow, I'm going to sit down and plan my meals for the next few days. Taking suggestions.

Happy Birthday, Lucy

Dear Lucy,

You are two years old, my girl! TWO! It's hard to believe that two years have passed since you and I first met. It's also hard to believe there was ever a time when you weren't here and you didn't yet have my heart in your grip.

I could go on and on about the adorable little habits you have - how you shout "Ayyyy-men!" after we pray, or how you pop your thumb in your mouth the second your head hits the pillow, or how you randomly burst into song (I'm not sure where you get that particular trait), or that fact that you are a true momma's girl. If I'm in the room, you aren't happy unless you are with me. That can get wearing, especially for your Daddy, who really wishes you would climb up in his lap and snuggle. (But there is a small part of me that really does love this). You are an absolute joy to your Daddy and me.

But you and I, Lucy, we have something special. We have moments. We have them when you get out of the bath. Before I can even get you wrapped up in the towel, you say "Hug? Hug?" and as soon as I do get you wrapped up, I hold you close and rock you and sing to you, and you are still and quiet. We have moments when I wake you up in the morning - you rub your eyes and tuck your face into my neck. We have moments when you bring me a book and say "Bowk pees Mommy" and I read it to you, and then you go get another book and say "Bowk pees Mommy" again. We have moments when you want to watch "Nemo" or "Let It Go" and you snuggle next to me without taking your eyes off the TV and jabber on and on about the movie. And we have moments like the one this morning where Mommy and Daddy were on stage and you came up to me and said "Up pees?" so I picked you up and we sang together.

(I can't wait until you are old enough to really sing with, girl. We are going to MELT FACES.)

I am so proud of you, Lucy. You have added a layer to my life - a depth that has made me a better wife, a better mom, a better teacher, a better follower of Jesus. You have brought alive the definition of joy. And I look forward to new moments with you in year three, my sweet daughter.

Love,
Mommy