A BIG move here!

We did it.  We moved.

There are really no words for how much we LOVE our new place.

So I’ll just give you some pictures!

Kitchen & eat in nook

POOL!

Garden bounty!  I’ve canned 7 gallons of tomatoes & there is much more to come!

More POOL time!

Kids bath!

Back of the house in the pasture with the dogs

This was the beginning of filling this room with boxes.  Its full & well I’m working my way through unpacking

Movie night on Labor Day in the new place!

I will share more as we unpack & do some of the fun things we have planned for the new place.  In the mean time PRAY that our previous home is LOVED by a new family soon!

Working Smarter Not Hotter!

We are in house clean up mode around here as we have high hopes to sell our home this summer!  It has warmed up to summer temperatures so that means getting outside early to work in the garden & yard!

The last thing I want to do when I come in is COOK!  So I have been stockpiling meals and the basics of meals.  As one of the things on our list is go get new counter tops & do some kitchen updating that means the meals will be ummm interesting for a week or so. 

I’ve been following a new eating plan(notice it is not a DIEt) and it has been AMAZING for my energy levels.  AND for the first time in forever I am off soda(and all sugar for that matter).  I don’t crave it at all.  If you want to check it out, then head over to the  Trim Healthy Mama website.

So to make life easier I have done 3 things this week.

1.  Bought strawberries while they are in season.  We go through a lot of berries & it is WAY cheaper to buy them fresh & freeze them.  I stalk the produce aisle at Aldi’s for those $1 boxes.

2. Bought chicken.  I know everyone buys chicken but I never even put it in the frig.  I cooked it up, diced it, shredded it & basically made some meals ahead of time.  My favorite one is at the bottom of this post.  I also caught precooked chicken(grilled) on sale last week at Kroger so I can head that REALLY quick in the microwave(cooler!) for grilled chicken salad.  I also put the broth in quart jars so I have that to make up some easy soups pretty cheaply. I will freeze that soon but ran out of time!

3. Bought ground turkey.  This is for breakfast mostly.  We love sausage but I hate the high price!  I caught ground turkey on sale this week so I used Heavenly Homemaker’s recipe for homemade turkey sausage.  Quick easy breakfasts are a must!

Then I made my kids Chocolate Pudding Pops with no sugar!  Thank you THM for such great recipes that are healthy!

Chicken Bacon Salad—S meal (no picture because we ate it too fast)

4 cups cooked diced chicken

1/2 c cooked crumbled bacon

1/4 c slivered almonds

1/2 c sliced celery

1 can water chestnuts

2 tsp dry minced onion or 1 T chopped red onion

1 cup miracle whip

1/4 tsp ginger

Mix it all together & serve on a bed of greens!  Cool and healthy meal!

Serves 5  Calories per serving 276  Carbs 8 Fat 14 Protein 27  Tallied up from myfitnesspal.com

Diet Changes AND Challenges

I like to think our family eats fairly healthy.  Most nights we have chicken, pork, fish, or beef and then healthy sides like salad & veggies with an occasional bowl of ice cream to finish things up.  But on the other hand its not uncommon to have a pizza from Hy-vee because momma is just too tired to be creative. 

Links in this post may be affiliate links--just in case you wanted to know.

Diet CHALLENGE #1 Gluten Intolerance & Celiac Disease

One challenge we often encounter is that my daughter seems to have some wheat or gluten intolerance. 

We haven’t had her officially tested but when she eats wheat she has headaches & feels “sick.” 

So she avoids it when possible.  I am avoiding wheat as well but mainly because I’ve noticed a gain of 2-3 lbs each time I eat it. 

**Update:  Elizabeth was diagnosed with Celiac disease in Dec '14 and now eats gluten free.

Diet Challenge #2

I really think that this has been preparing me for the BIG change that we’ve had the past month.  My mom has moved in with us and she is a diabetic. 

Ironically I changed my eating even more about 7 weeks ago to the Thin Healthy Mamma(THM) plan after reading the book. 

I still eat carbs but they are low glycemic & that works SO well in coordination with Mom’s diabetes.  Not to mention that I’ve lost 5 pounds while eating desserts, healthy fats, good carbs & yummy snacks. 

With this plan I’ve kicked the soda habit & the cravings are gone!!  I cannot believe it!!

One of my BIGGEST challenges is Tuesdays.  It is our errand day and I have to pack food for Mom and I for lunch & snacks.  It feels like a lot to pack.

How to help eat healthy on Errand Day

Lunch—these little ice cream containers were bought by my hubby when our freezer was FULL of meat and we had no room for big containers of ice cream.  A fun treat for the kids but VERY handy for packing small portions.

Cottage cheese, cucumbers, Joseph’s pita, peanut butter & sliced strawberries, dessert is usually a homemade peanut butter cup!

Snack—Kroger Greek yogurt.  Love this yogurt as it seems to have the lowest carbs of the flavored Greek brands.  Gentle on the blood sugar levels for mom.

You should also know I have a THM drinking problem--the good kind.  I must have a drink around all the time!  So of course I put all this food in my little cooler w/ a jug of Good Girl Moonshine for me & sweet tea made with stevia for mom & we are good to go!

Related Posts

Starting again

Its been almost a year since I posted.  No excuses just reasons.

No time as I’ve managed to accomplish a REAL school year for 2012-13.  We are close to finishing it all up and having a few weeks off for the summer.(PRAISE GOD!)

My mom has pancreatic cancer, lives with us & I am often away at doctor appointments.

My dad has a delusions and that has been taking up bits of time.

Blogging can take over my life and it is better to just live it some times.  But that said I know that I want to post more here.  Enjoy these random pictures from the past year.

You never are too old to play dress up

New puppy in the house—meet Bear

A new boy scout!

Still a kid—looking for Easter eggs!

Having fun coaching again

Michael & Rebekah announcing . . .

Something exciting in their future!

Summer’s End

I hate to see it coming.  But I know it is inevitable.

The days are shortening, the university students are back in town.(and my student is -packing up his junk to move back on campus)  I’ve gotten a bunch of projects accomplished around here in the last 2 months and we went on vacation for 10 days. 

I haven’t been blogging because I’ve just been to busy finding my life again.  The past 9 months have been really rough for our family.  It probably isn’t permanent but we’ve had almost a 2 month lull in the craziness.  I can’t tell you how thankful I am.

At the beginning of the summer I had the kids make sand bucket lists(not life lists just summer lists).  We needed some focus on what we were going to do with our time. It’s been good for all.  Here are the lists and what we’ve marked off.

Joshua

1.  Swim a lot with whole family

2.  Have a picnic(a real one instead of in front of a movie)

3. Have a sports afternoon

4. Have a lemonade stand at the garage sale

5. Game nights

6. Star Wars Quizzing

7. Catapulting Contest

8. Hide and Go seek in the dark night

Megan

1.  Go to the pool lots

2. Have play dates with friends

3.  Get things in their places in my room(recently moved around)

    

4. Watch Return of the King

5. Have lots of game nights and movie nights

6. Camping

7. Go to Silver Dollar City

Elizabeth

1. Go to Colorado Springs on vacation

2. Go to Silver Dollar City

3. Start a blog

4. Spend time with friends

5. Finish my skirt

6. Have a Lord of the Rings Marathon with Kendra

7. Begin driving

8. Go to the pool some

Michael

1. Swim a lot

2. Listen to thunderstorms—umm this may be the cause of the drought in the mid-west I guess

3. Play games with family

4. Go to Silver Dollar City

5. Have R family over for dinner or dessert

6. Go on a vacation

7. Random things with bro & sisters

I think I am ready for a list for the fall.  I am feeling super overwhelmed about getting back in to school and all our regular activities. It will be fine but I am needing that focus again.  And I want to try to knock off a couple more of theses things on the kids list.  It will be fun trying anyway!