Salad-In-A-Jar...

I recently attended  a Salad-In-A-Jar Party. Did you know that was a thing? It's like a 31 Party or a Norwex Party or a LuLaRoe Party. Except it's way faster, way less expensive, and what you get is actually very practical, as you are going to eat it that week. Here's how it works:

• Every person commits to bringing 5 empty mason jars and 3 toppings. I brought cucs (seeded and sliced), cherry tomatoes, and chicken. (The host provides greens.)
• Set up your table so your hearty veggies are at one end and your leaves are at the other, with the "wetter" veggies in the middle. Here's a great graphic for how to design your table.

• Begin at the end with the hearty veggies and fill until your jar is about half full. Then stuff with greens.
• You are done and so is lunch for the next five days!

A few observations:

• This was fun and super fast. I told Husband I'd be about two hours (because that's how long 31/Norwex/LuLaRoe last) and I was done in 45. I would have been done sooner if I hadn't stayed around to chat.
• I really loved that the host picked DARK GREEN GREENS. I really hate Iceberg, and though I can tolerate Romaine, Spinach is my go-to. So I was happy.
• SOME people put dressing in their jars first. I chose not to for a number of reasons:
1. I was afraid it would make my salad soggy.
2. It meant I had to commit right then to the type of dressing I wanted, which I was not prepared to do.
3. I don't use much dressing and I'm not sure I could get the dressing to come out with the salad very well without a spatula, which I don't keep at school.

• Next time, I will not fill the toppings up to the halfway mark as I did in the first two in the picture above. The second salad from the right looked like this when I dumped it:

It looked like this when I was done and I should have stopped several bites beforehand...because it was too big for one meal.

I've had three so far and my favorite has been what I'm calling an Asian chicken salad. It's the one in the middle of my picture up top and it contained:

• broccoli
• celery
• chicken
• oranges
• grapes
• golden raisins
• sunflower seeds
• slivered almonds

I paired with Annie's Shiitake Dressing (to which I added some honey because it was too salty for me) and it was AMAZING! I mean it. I'm totally making this one again!

And maybe the best part was getting to spend time with new friends. The four women on the left (including me) all met last year when our kids were in the girl in the plaid's kindergarten class together. It was super fun getting build salads together :)

New Thing: Walmart Grocery Pickup

As a working mom, one of my most difficult tasks is feeding my family. There is so much to think about - WHEN we are going to eat with our busy schedules and when am I going to prepare it, WHAT we are going to eat, HOW is it going to get thawed/chopped/marinated/pre-cooked/whatever, WHO is going to prepare it (me 9 times of ten because I'm off work sooner), etc, etc. And throw in trying to eat healthy? HA!

Years ago Jo Marie introduced me to Aldi. And it was like the clouds parted and God said, "You can afford to feed your family on your meager monthly budget if you shop smart and here." And it was wonderful. And I love Aldi, truly. But this week, the clouds parted again, this time, with Walmart Grocery Pickup.

I am not a fan of Walmart because I hate going there. I love their prices, but I just hate going there, parking, walking all over the huge store to find anything, and the fact that it's always so busy. This solved that problem because I sat at my computer, took my grocery list, and searched and clicked. It took me 7 minutes. SEVEN MINUTES TO GET EVERYTHING IN MY CART. Then I entered my credit card info and selected a pickup time.

It was that simple. Truly.

My pickup time was 9-10 AM and at 8:50 I received a call that my groceries were ready for pickup any time in the next hour. I left the house, pulled up at 9:02, called the number, and two minutes later:

The lady was super nice and cheerful and had me sign on a little iPhone looking device and then helped me load the groceries in the car. It was AMAZING. AND, they gave me a gift bag for being a first-time customer:

How nice!

One of the things I'm trying to do this summer is come up with ways to make my working life at home smoother and more efficient without sacrificing time with my family. This is one of the things I'm most excited about, because now, I can meal plan and grocery shop in one step! It's more expensive than Aldi - probably $10 or so on this grocery trip - but I saved so much time and energy, which matters so much during the school year!

A few notes if you are looking to try this out (which I HIGHLY recommend!):

• Use this link or the app "Walmart Grocery Pickup" (different from the regular Walmart app)
• Not all Walmarts do this, be sure to check ahead of time at the link above
• You must have a $30 minimum
• Read carefully - I accidentally bought two 18 ct eggs instead of two 12 ct eggs. Good thing we like eggs.
• Buying produce without looking at it can be a little questionable, but all my produce (which was probably 50% of what I bought) looked great - especially the avocados, which I never know how to pick anyway.
• If you decide to try this out, let me know and I can send you a coupon code for $10 your first order! :)

If you have a HyVee in your area, you may check it out, too. I've been told they do the same thing, but that their interface is more difficult to navigate and their minimum purchase is higher. I never shop at HyVee because it's so much more expensive, but if you are a HyVee fan, it may be worth some checking.

Happy shopping :)

{Cheater's} Homemade Donuts

I saw a friend posting on Facebook that she made homemade donuts with her kids. I remember doing this once when I was a kid and it was a lot of work, so much so that I never asked again. But I did love eating them, so I hopped on Pinterest and looked at some recipes. Turns out...there is a CHEATER'S WAY. And I already had it in my fridge. Sign me up.

Step 1: Open refrigerated dough and poke a hole in the center.

The hardest part here was finding something small enough to use as a center cutter. I ended up going with the top of some hand sanitizer. (I washed it with dish soap, of course.)

Huh. Sister's shoes are on the wrong feet.

Step 2: Heat the oil and add the donuts

I hate this part. It makes my house smell like oil. Ugh.

Step 3: Dip in butter and roll in cinnamon sugar

Obviously I didn't take this picture until we were halfway done.

Step 5: ENJOY!

Oh, these were so yummy!

Sister is my sweet tooth. Brother ate half of one and said he was done. This girl ate up two. Never mind how many Mommy ate.

Pinterest Projects

I have never been a huge fan of Pinterest, but lately I've found it very inspiring! The following are a few Pinterest Projects.

Project #1: Grilled Cheese Rolls

Basically, these are grilled cheese sandwiches rolled up.

Flatten the bread with the rolling pin.

Add the cheese.

Roll up.

Melt butter and use a brush to coat all sides.

Place on hot skillet and cook.

Enjoy! My son liked this dipped in Ranch.

Project #2: Hot Dog Spaghetti
This one was a hit in particular because it was so easy for my son to help!

Chop the hotdog into small pieces.

Thread 4-5 dry spaghetti noodles through each hotdog piece.

Boil until the spaghetti is done.

Enjoy!

Project #3: Greek Yogurt Pizza Crust 
I was slightly less eager to try this recipe only because I thought there was no way this could be as good as the blog post I found about it. Nevertheless, I tried it out with stromboli. I didn't take pictures, but I think this picture speaks for itself:

Truly, it was so so good! I repeated it last week with actual pizza and it was just as yummy!

Project #4: Kindergarten Countdown
I saw this on Pinterest and decided it was the perfect thing for my uber-excited pre-kindergartner!

 

I started by drawing a school bus. (That's right, people. I drew that bus.) We then created the links using card stock and a stapler.

He refused to color the school bus in the traditional yellow and instead, went with a multi-color look. I gave him a picture of himself to put in the window of the bus. (If I had prepared a little better and wasn't lazy, I would have gotten pictures of his friends to put in the other windows.) He insisted on being the driver.

We have had so much fun counting down. Though I will say that every time we count down, I am reminded of how little summer we have left! :(

Bulk Chicken

I tried a new thing this summer - bulk chicken!

I hate to buy meat at the grocery store. It's full of dilemmas. I know the organic, range-fed is best, but do I want to sacrifice that much of my grocery budget on meat that will only feed us for one meal? Or should I settle for the cheaper meat that I know isn't as good for us? How fresh is this? How were the animals who provided it fed? How fresh is this meat? Etc, etc. Frankly, it's exhausting.

We have now twice bought a quarter of a cow. It was a lot of money up front, but we had roasts, steaks, and ground beef in the freezer. It was nice. However, what we found was that we don't eat much ground beef. Tacos is really the only thing we eat on a semi-regular basis that requires ground beef. What we REALLY needed was a freezer full of chicken. I use whole chickens for almost everything, but sometimes I do have to buy chicken breasts at the store. It would be really nice to have lots of those on hand.

So when a friend posted about Zaycon on Facebook, I was interested. I read that I could get 40 lbs of hormone-free, range fed minimally processed chicken breasts for $60. That sounded like a pretty good deal. So I ordered.

"Pick up" was Thursday, June 4th. I received an email reminder the week before and a text message the morning of, reminding me that my pickup time was scheduled for 12:30-1 PM. I also got a text at about 12:15 saying the driver was early. So I headed over to the pickup location...a bowling alley near my house. Strange, but, okay.

Zaycon IMMEDIATELY scored points because I DID NOT HAVE TO GET OUT OF MY CAR. You can see the truck and the line of cars in the picture above. I waited in line, the guy checked my name on a clipboard, and I got my chicken!

I got home, put the kids down for naps, and immediately got ready to start trimming. I lysoled every surface, washed my hands really well, and set to work. There were 16 of these "butterflies" as they are called. I don't know if you can appreciate the size from this picture, but they were SO BIG!

I had watched several Youtube videos on the best ways to trim and divide chicken, so I decided to divide the breasts into cutlets, tenderloins, and breasts. Most of the time, after I had the cutlet and tenderloin separated, I had to cut the breast in half because they were so big! It took me an hour and a half, but by the time I was done, I had 56 breasts, a gallon bag of tenderloins, 2 gallon bags of cutlets, and a quart bag of cuts perfect for chicken fried chicken (which is one of Rick's favorite meals). Throughout the next few days I made up several freezer meals for friends having babies and some for us to just have in the freezer.

We have grilled several times and really enjoyed this delicious chicken. I think this is something I'll definitely be doing again! If you are interested, click here. If you order, I get $5 off my next order! :)

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Potato soup might be my all-time favorite kind of soup. Over the years, I've tried many different versions, and while most have been very successful, this one takes the cake, if for no other reason, because it can be made in the crockpot. And you know how I feel about crockpots.

I've tweaked the original recipe a bit, but these are the basic ingredients. The only two not pictured are green onions and dry Ranch.

-1 carton chicken broth

-1 can cream of chicken

-1 pkg frozen hash browns

-1 pkg cream cheese

- 3 celery stalks, chopped

- 4-5 green onion stalks, chopped

- bacon, cooked and chopped

- 1 t dry Ranch

Step 1: Layer in Crock Pot

Wisk together Cream of Chicken soup and a small amount of broth until smooth. Place hash browns in the crock pot and pour mixture from above over the top. 

Add celery, half the green onion, and a handful of bacon. (Reserve the rest of the onions and bacon for garnish.) Pour remaining broth over the top.

Step 2: Cook

Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Step 3: Add the cream cheese

Thirty minutes to an hour before serving, place the package of cream cheese in a cup of hot water. When softened, mix into soup and add dry Ranch.

Step 4: Add toppings

Top with green onion, bacon, and cheese. Enjoy!

ETL: Results

Final results:

Pounds lost: 6

Verdict: I can't really LIVE like this. It is not practical to keep all meat, grains, and dairy out of my diet (although, of the three, meat would definitely be the easiest to surrender). I know there are people who do, and more power to 'em, but it's not me. Doing ten days of ETL was effective, but I really need something more sustainable. Whoever said maintenance was harder than weight loss was SO RIGHT. I've heard people say they fast one day a week, I've heard people say they follow all the rules during the week and on the weekends they allow things like bread and dessert. I've heard people say they just permanently cut out pizza and french fries. I've heard people say they eat a pea-sized-portion of pizza and french fries (which to me is worse than not eating it). I've always said that anything will work if you stick to it, and while I believe that is true, sticking to it is, well, hard.

And...we are heading into the holiday season. Mashed potatoes. Stuffing. ROLLS.

Ugh. Taking suggestions.

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.

New Recipes...

It's starting to become fall. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE soups in the fall. I would eat them year-round if it weren't for my husband, who believes (as most people do, I think) that soup should only be consumed in cold weather.

Whatever.

First New Recipe: Egg Drop Soup
I love me a good bowl of egg drop soup and my favorite Chinese restaurant in town (which sadly closed its doors about a decade ago) had the most DELICIOUS soup. So one day I was messing around on Pinterest and thought I'd see what was out there in the way of EDS. I found this. I'm not going to do my usual step-by-step with pictures 1) because I didn't like this recipe that much and 2) because I kept forgetting to take pics.

I had all the ingredients except ginger root, which I had to ask Lindsey where to find and how to use. The soup was souper-easy (see what I did there? ha!) to make, but when it came to eating it, I was a little let down. There was WAY too much soy sauce taste for me, but Rick loved it. Next time I will tone that down a bit.

Sorry for the bad pic...the lighting in our kitchen is terrible.

I paired this with our favorite everyday home cook crab rangoon recipe, and my son was happy.

Second New Recipe: Homemade Beef Broth
We bought another quarter of a cow, and this time we split with my parents. They didn't want the beef soup bones, but since I make my own chicken broth, I thought I'd try my hand at beef broth.

I looked at recipes for a long time because, to be frank, I wanted the easiest one I could find. Apparently beef broth is a little more complicated than chicken broth. I finally settled on this recipe. I liked it because the lady said specifically in the post "You can save even more money by using the equivalent in vegetable scraps instead. Save the celery tops and carrot peelings to use in broth rather than a stalk of celery or a whole carrot. The broth will taste the same!" I am down with stuff like that. So this is what my crockpot looked like pre-bones:

The end of the celery stalk, the split top celerys, carrot tops and peelings, and the ends of my green onions. I did use an actual whole onion, but I really felt pretty good about the rest! I roasted the beef soup bones (which looked like this after they were done):

I filled the crockpot with water, turned it on, and walked away. When I came back, I discarded the vegetables, peeled the meat off the beef bones (which I wasn't expecting much of, but it was enough to make quesadillas for the whole family!), and divided the broth into containers for the fridge. I came back 48 hours later, scraped the fat off the top, and voila! Ready for the freezer and then my delicious fall soups!

It made way more than this...this is just what I'm taking to my parents.

Third New Recipe: Black Bean & Butternut Squash Enchiladas
OHMYGOODNESS! These were AMAZING.

I so wish I had taken pictures. But no matter - there will be a next time THIS WEEK, and I will be taking pictures and devoting an entire post to these. They were that good. But if you can't wait for the post, here is the recipe in the meantime. I deseeded and didn't use the entire jalapeno and omitted the cilantro, but otherwise this was how I did it. Post coming soon.

But...can we have a moment for butternut squash? I'm not sure where it's been all my life, but I am so glad to have discovered it. See this? This is steak Rick grilled from the cow (which was actually very good, despite my aversion to steak), half a baked potato (that, as you can see, is drizzled with butter and cheese), and roasted onion, zucchini, and butternut squash, seasoned with rosemary and some other spice I grabbed from the pantry that looked good. The whole meal was delish, but I ate everyone's share of the veggies.

MMMM MMMM GOOD!