This morning, I felt like I was walking to my sentencing.

Part 1
Part 2
The first 30 days doing the "Shake it Off Challenge" with Kelsie were easy.  I lost 13.4 lbs. taking the Orchard and Garden Blend capsules and drinking 2 shakes a day.

I had a veggie filled lunch everyday as well as healthy snacks in-between meals.  I was averaging 10-13 fruits and vegetables a day not counting the Juice Plus capsules.  I was CRAVING fruits and veggies and drinking things like KALE in GREEN SMOOTHIES!  I'd go to the Farmers' Market and be assaulted by all the amazing smells of all the produce.  It was like my palate had been cleansed of all the refined and processed foods and I could appreciate God's bounty more fully.

I avoided gluten and dairy.  I also avoided any processed foods and salt and sugar.

I drank half my weight in ounces of water a day.  I was flushing out all the toxins.

I slept 7-8 hours every night.  I felt so rested and amazing.

2 1/2 weeks into the challenge I started going to the gym.  It gave me MORE energy.  I had always told myself I didn't have time to workout.  I have 8 kids who I homeschool.  Where would I possibly find the time?  I found the time early in the morning before they wake up.  I was wide awake.  Getting enough fruits and veggies and enough sleep switched me over to being a morning person.

My body wakes up every morning at 5:15 unless I set the alarm for 5 am.

The "Shake it Off Challenge" was a good thing for me.  I didn't have to commit to it for 3 or 4 months.
Just one month.
That was bite-size enough for me to handle.
I didn't have any illusions of dropping an absurd amount of weight in that time.
I hoped it would help me set some good healthy habits.  It definitely did that.

I jumped straight into another month of the same healthy habits.  About a week into it, I started to get discouraged when the scale wasn't budging.

I second guessed my ability to turn my fat-storing diabetes-bound body into a healthy fat-burning body.

I let these doubts poison my thinking.

I felt like failure was creeping up on me because the scale wasn't going down.

I was desperate.

And then one morning, my skirt fell off.  I was losing inches.  I WAS MAJORLY LOSING INCHES!  Of course!  I wasn't losing weight because I was building muscle.  And muscle is heavy.  And I WANT that muscle to help me burn more fat.  Yes, yes, YES!

I was doing everything right.  What could I possibly do more?  I was making reasonable and healthy choices for my health.

Positive affirmations.  Positive self-talk.  That's what I could do.  So I started to journal my feelings on my progress.

The scale wasn't the only thing to show progress.  I was a size 22 skirt in November.  My size 20 jeans were too tight to button.  I could only button them if I laid down on my bed and held my breath.  Now I am a size 16.  I have a whole bunch of clothing that fit me that had been banished to the shelf in the closet for many moons.

I can ride a bike.
I can swim.
I can take my kids on a hike and not gasp for air.
I'm not using any allergy medication anymore.
The only time I used my inhaler in over two months was Sunday, and that was because there were lilies in the primary room.  And I have a life-threatening allergy to lilies.
I had one migraine since mid-January.  This is unheard of for me.
I'm not drained and exhausted every afternoon.

Yesterday I went to the doctor and she discussed with me my test results from mid-November.  She was ecstatic that I took her advice to exercise and eat right and had lost over 30 lbs.

My test results from November showed I was a little low in Vitamin D.  Another test, that checked my A1C, was high indicating an increased risk of becoming diabetic.  It should've been followed up with another test.  But it wasn't because somehow the note to follow up wasn't there.

Now, 4 months after that November testing, and 33 1/2 pounds lighter, she's retesting again.  I fasted after dinner last night until my labs this morning.

This morning, I felt like I was walking to my sentencing.  Would it come back elevated?  Would my birthday present be a verdict of prediabetic?

Would it make a difference?  Would I still continue my path to health?  What would change?

to be continued...

"There's no magic pill." part 2: Praying for inspiration and taking that leap of faith

I wanted there to be a magic pill.  How could I POSSIBLY lose 110 lbs?  Wasn't there some kind of surgery that was approved for people 100 lbs. overweight or more?  Didn't I qualify for that?

But thinking back on my recovery from my hysterectomy 4 months earlier, a surgery was the last thing I wanted to go through.  As far as I understood, that surgery made your stomach smaller so you couldn't overeat.  There was no guarantee I would get all the nutrients I needed with my limited stomach capacity.  I didn't want to be that woman with the hanging skin because I had surgery to ensure rapid weight-loss.  But I also didn't want to be 110 lbs. overweight anymore.  I wasn't just overweight.  I was obese.

"You know how to do this," her words echoed in my mind.  Did I?

If I knew how to do this, why couldn't I just do it?  A close friend encouraged me to try the Atkins Diet.  I wasn't going to pay to join something, not even sure you have to for that, so I looked up what I could online.  Sure, I lost some weight following it.  But I was always constipated.  There were so many fruits and veggies on the list of things I should hardly ever eat, that my system was just not happy.

I fasted and prayed about how to get healthier.  I felt like if it was up to self-control, it wasn't going to happen.  But perhaps if my Heavenly Father wanted me to lose the weight, I could.  But I needed some divine intervention.  Or a nudge.  I'd take a nudge in the right direction.  Anything would be better than eating too much cheese and very little fruit.

Mid-December, a little over a week after fasting and praying about help to get healthier and lose weight and a month after my doctor's appointment, I got a Facebook message from Kelsie, an old friend from the Frozen North who's totally fit and a personal trainer and has more energy than my 5 year old twin boys.  Plus she was Pookie's primary teacher when he was 4.  He used to stroke her skirt because he loved the way the fabric felt.  Hey, it kept him quiet.  But I digress...

Kelsie was inviting me to join a "Shake it Off" Challenge.  It was a biggest loser type game with motivation, cash prizes, recipe ideas and workout tips.  

I could use healthy recipe ideas and workout tips.  The very idea of working out scared the daylights out of me-- I could injure myself!  But who could give me better tips than a personal trainer, right??

But this was just before Christmas.  And well, you know me, I'm a baker.  I was busy making cheeseballs for youth parties, and cheesecake with my number 1 girl, and cookies for the neighbors, and rolls for the ward Christmas dinner, and on and on and on.

Maybe I'll look at that invite again after Christmas.  I would make sure I had some goals for the New Year.

But the new year came.  All I knew was I wanted to lose weight and develop some healthier habits.

I was pretty depressed about my state of health.  I was snoring like a beast.  According to Danny, it would shake the bed.  Even when he rolled me onto my side, I still snored-- though not bed-shaking snoring.

January 5th, I took the kids for a walk.  It was the first Monday of the new year and I was going to start my new healthy habit.  I decided I would walk 3 days a week for at least 15 minutes.  We walked for 25 minutes.  It felt REALLY good to be doing what the doctor said to do.

I did it again on Wednesday, January 7th.  25 minutes was really good for me.  Go me!  The kids were loving the outdoors time.

I decided not to let the week get away from me and did it Thursday instead of waiting for the weekend to make me lose momentum.  But it was 20 minutes.  Not bad.  I was a day ahead of my goal and 5 minutes longer anyway.

For whatever reason, that evening I remembered that message from Kelsie from 3 weeks earlier.  So I contacted her about "my friend" to ask some questions.  I was excited about everything she was saying:

Whole foods
Non-GMO
organic
phytonutrients
vegan shakes

I thought Danny would never go for it.  It was going to be about $5 a day for the program she was telling me about.  I was thinking I'd need it for like 3 or 4 months to get a good jump-start on my weight-loss and solidify some healthy new habits.  That was going to add up to like $600 if I did 4 months straight.  Maybe I could just get the capsules and the occasional shake.

But Danny said, "Yes."  We were very worried about my health.  I didn't want to die before I was 40.  What did I have to lose?  They had a 30-day money back guarantee.  And after that, I could always send back what was unopened for a refund.  I figured I would know for sure by the 30 day mark if it was going to be worth doing 3 or 4 months.

So I signed up with Kelsie and joined her "Shake it Off" challenge too.  I was going to utilize this opportunity to learn everything I could about bettering my health and get recipes and workout tips.

To be continued...  

"There's no magic pill."

Since my doctor's appointment mid-November, I have been on a path to lose weight and get healthier.

This path started with me tracking everything I ate in My Fitness Pal app.  (I'm "Nikkiairforcewife" if you want to add me.)  I needed to know first of all my starting place.  Then I could improve.

Everyday that I didn't walk, I could hear my doctor's words in my head.

"You need to walk 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes.  You could walk out to a park 15 minutes away with your kids, let them play, and then walk back 15 minutes.  It doesn't have to be all at once.  You just need to get moving."

"There's no magic pill.  You know how to do this.  You need to eat less and exercise more."

"You're going to have diabetes and heart disease in no time if you don't work hard to get this weight off."

"It will be harder since your hysterectomy.  Those changes in hormones makes it more difficult to lose the weight.  But you can do this."

But still I couldn't find time in my week to walk more than one day.  In the first month I walked twice.  I was too busy homeschooling 8 kids, buying food for and feeding my family of 10, and sometimes keeping up with the laundry.

In the afternoons, when I wasn't as busy, I didn't have the energy.  I wanted a nap, not a walk.

I did drop a little weight just from keeping track and trying to avoid obvious bad choices like chips and ice cream.

May 4, 2014 I had to cut off my ring because none of the tricks worked to remove it and it was cutting off my circulation.  It was red and extra swollen here because of the techniques we were trying (like the dental floss trick).

To be continued...

Knock-knock Who's there? Banana. Banana who?

Bananas are a wonderful fruit filled with potassium.  The best way to absorb it is with a glass of milk. 

Milk and bananas are my 3 year old's favorite foods.  But if you have a banana addiction like my little Gremlin does, you may find it difficult to wait for the bananas to ripen. 

Putting your green bananas in a paper bag helps them ripen faster and hide them from the banana-addict in your home.  This works for me!

Did you also know that you can freeze bananas?  When the bananas go on sale for 25¢ a pound buy as many as your freezer will hold. 

They are great for milkshakes, banana bread, and banana muffins.

If you're using them in a recipe for bread or muffins, you can even freeze them in the peel.  The peel will turn black, but the banana inside will be fine.  Warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds and cut or open the end and squeeze it into a bowl like a tube of toothpaste.

If you're using frozen bananas for milkshakes, it's easiest if you break apart the bananas in small sections about 1 to 1 1/2 inches.  Freeze in a freezer container or ziploc bag.  Label, date, and freeze.  When it's milkshake time you can have a richer milkshake without adding ice by using your frozen bananas.

Also bananas fix your problem.  If you're um... stopped up, they unstop you.  And if you are a bit too um... free-flowin', they help reverse that too.  So, pick a bunch of bananas today to take home!

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If you have some advice on how to deal with a bully, please click on this post to leave your comment.

If you want an awesome whole wheat banana bread recipe, come back Friday. 






There are no affiliate links in this post. But if any banana companies would like me to sing their praises again in exchange for say a year supply of bananas, I'd be more than happy to do so.

Zapping Germs

When I was cleaning the kitchen after preparing the easiest lunch ever (thick slices of cucumber and veggie dip and yogurt) I rinsed out the washcloth and tossed it in the microwave for two minutes on high like I always do because it works for me!

After washing dishes, or counters, or table and chairs and high chairs, or messy kid faces, what-have-you,

rinse your washcloth well, 

wring it out,

and toss it in the microwave for 2 minutes on high.

That will kill 99.9999% of bacteria on it. 

Afterwards you can hang it to dry on a towel rack or the handle of your oven door and reuse it.

Or hang it on the side of the laundry hamper, bag, basket to dry and throw in with your load of towels.  If you used it to clean up raw meat juices, definitely do not reuse until you launder it.

Please don't throw your wet towels in with other laundry or towels waiting to be washed.  They will mildew.  You may not see it, but you can smell it.  And even after they're washed, the mildew is still there.  It's so gross to go to someone's house, dry your hands on a seemingly clean dry towel to discover then your hands smell like sour mildew.






This post is linked at Tuesday's Tips, Tuesday's Tip Jar, and http://www.wearethatfamily.com/.

Whole wheat bread with oat flour

Dear Laurie,

This post is just for you.  It's an old post I updated to answer your oat flour questions.  Enjoy!

To make bread kits, read this similar post.

My Mom created this whole wheat bread recipe from a couple of her favorite recipes.

1 1/3 C. very warm water

1-3 T. vegetable oil like safflower oil or canola

3 1/3 C. whole wheat flour or 2 1/3 C. whole wheat flour + 1 C. *oat flour
1-4 T. non-fat dry milk (more = finer texture)
1/3 C. granulated sugar or ¼ C. honey
2 tsp. dough enhancer
3 T. gluten
1-1 ½ tsp. salt
1 T. yeast (if baking in oven) or 1 ½ - 2 tsp. yeast for baking in bread machine

Add all ingredients to bread machine in the order given.  Set on whole wheat bread and press start if baking in bread machine.

If you're going to mix in bread machine and bake in oven (my preferred method):

1. Add all ingredients to bread machine in the order given.

2. When baking in oven but using bread machine for kneading, set bread machine on dough only.

3. Spray, grease, or butter with unsalted butter the bread pan.

4. When bread machine is done, take dough out, punch down and form loaf in bread pan.

5. Cover and let rise in bread pan about 30 minutes. I like to cover with plastic wrap that has been greased with unsalted butter so it doesn't stick.

6. Cook for about 30 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven.

*oat flour = To make oat flour, just scoop a cup or so of rolled oats into your blender and blend until flour consistency.  If using in place of a flour like whole wheat, only replace about 1/3 of the wheat flour for oat flour.  You may have to increase the gluten.

Oat flour makes the loaf softer and last longer before going stale.

Unless you plan to refrigerate or freeze the oat flour, I recommend only grinding as much as you're using at the time.  Ground flours go rancid much faster than in their whole form (or partially whole form).

You can also use a coffee grinder to grind up rolled oats real fast.  Seeing as I don't drink coffee, the only thing I'd use it for would be grinding oatmeal.  And seeing as how my kitchen is limited in space and therefore I must choose my kitchen appliances carefully.






P.S.  This would work great for cinnamon raisin bread.

Randomness. That's all.

In case you're wondering, I have been doing my month of service.  It's not nearly as glamorous as I had envisioned.  Perhaps it's my stage of life right now that's preventing me from doing bigger acts of service for others.  And I'm okay with that.  There were a few days that I felt really bad about it thinking my little service was lame.  But some service is better than no service, right? 

In the future, I've decided not to announce such things as this on my blog.  Then I don't have to follow through.  :P

One thing I have been thinking about doing and actually told Danny and my little sister about is giving up French fries.  I told them this about a week ago.  Then today, when I was out buying milk, I bought the two middle boys Happy Meals.  It was a big deal.  We don't buy Happy Meals.  It's a waste of money and the toys are crap that will just be donated in next month's 27 fling boogie (flylady-speak).  But today we were celebrating being out and not sick (mostly not anyway) and buying milk and being obedient and happy! 

So, my point, the French fries.  They spoke to me today.  They were persistent.  And I gave in.  I bought myself a little bag of fries with my sandwich for like $1.19 plus tax.  And you know what?  They were gross.  But the frugal-Nazi in me insisted I eat them since I bought them. 

Now as I sit here blogging about it, it makes me sick reliving it.  Good bye fries.  I don't need you anymore. 

Frugal Fridays: Prepared Beans

When I think of being "Frugal" beans come to mind. Legumes like pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, navy beans, white beans, etc, help cut our grocery costs tremendously. The trick to is preparing them ahead of time. And to save more time, prepare LOTS ahead of time. Bulk prepare your beans.

The cost of prepared beans in a can is still much cheaper than say chicken or beef to enhance your family's meals. The cost of dried beans compared to beans in a can is far FAR cheaper. Like I said though, the trick is to remember preparing them ahead of time.

If you have room in your freezer, I recommend preparing unflavored beans and freezing them.

How we do it using a crockpot:

1. Place a pound or two of dried beans in a crockpot (black beans are my favorite) and sort out the broken pieces and non-bean items. Because beans are an agricultural product, occasionally I have found a tiny little rock in them while sorting.

You can save these little half-beans and rocks to make toilet paper tube maracas for your preschoolers.

2. Rinse the beans and drain.

3. Add water to about twice the height of the beans.

4. Soak beans several hours or overnight. Eight hours is more than sufficient.

5. Drain the bean water in the morning. Add fresh, clear water to about two inches above the beans.

6. Turn the crockpot on low about 6-8 hours, or until tender. Do NOT add salt. It will prevent your beans from softening and cooking. Occasionally I will add a little bit of bacon grease for a less beany smell while it's cooking.

Now that you have cooked beans, turn off the crockpot and let cool. Sometimes I use some of the beans immediately, but this tutorial is about how to store them in bulk ahead of time.

Some recipes call for beans drained; some call for beans with their liquids. I save the liquid just in case.

Freezing your beans:

1. Using quart-size Ziploc freezer containers (4 cups), I spoon in beans up to the 3 cup line.

2. Spoon in some bean liquid up to 1/2-inch from the top of the container.

3. Put lid on top and place in freezer. Label it before you put in freezer so you know it's just beans and not soup.

Do NOT freeze in glass jars. They will break.

Using your beans:

1. Thaw in fridge overnight or on the counter in the afternoon. Or you can dump the beans in a glass dish and nuke them in the microwave.

2. Some food suggestions: use in chilis, soups, salads, tacos, taco salad, dips, burritos, or our family's laziest favorite dinner ever, Fast Beans.

Fast Beans How-to:

1. Mix precooked beans and their liquid, cooked brown rice, grated cheddar cheese.

2. Add these ratios to your taste preference.

3. Mix up and eat. My kids BEG for fast beans. They have no idea how cheap this dinner is or how nutritious. I see no need to discuss that with them.

Breakfast Recipes for your freezer and pantry

Breakfast Milkshakes

1 to 1 1/2 frozen bananas - preferably in two inch or smaller chunks
heaping soup spoonful of creamy peanut butter (I'm guessing 3 T.)
1/4 to 1/3 cup-ish of vanilla yogurt or same amount of plain yogurt and maybe 1/2 tsp. of vanilla 1 to 1 1/2 cups of milk

Blend until frothy and serve. Sometimes we serve in cups with straws.

It is really not a precise recipe. Danny uses more peanut butter. And we both like to add cinnamon and occasionally nutmeg as well. I've also added coconut oil. Hmm... I might put this post on hold while I make some.

Breakfast Burritos

one dozen eggs
1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage
1 cup mild to medium salsa (cuz I can't stand the hot salsa)
8 oz. Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese grated

In a large skillet cook up the sausage. Do not drain. The grease is used to keep the eggs from sticking to the pan.

Break one dozen eggs into the pan with the sausage. Cook thoroughly. Turn off the heat.

Grate 8 oz. of cheese over the pan of eggs and sausage.

Dump one cup of salsa in. Mix it all up.

Using flour tortillas, spoon about 1/4 cup mixture into middle of each. Roll up and try to tuck ends of tortilla in as well. Freeze on a jelly roll pan (the cookie sheet with the edges). Remove from pan and put in freezer bags. To reheat and serve. Wrap a breakfast burrito in a paper towel and put in microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Seriously, very hungry now. I'm back. You can also do the breakfast burritos with bacon. I think I used a full pound of bacon - minus what I nibbled on while the rest cooked up. With bacon I do remove some of the bacon grease. And I save it in a jar in the fridge. You can read about bacon grease in my Associated Content article.

French Toast

To freeze French toast, I let it cool on cooling racks (like you would put cookies on). When they are not hot anymore, I put a whole cooling rack in the freezer until the French toast freezes hard. When frozen, I remove the French toast and stack them back in their bread bag with a twist tie.

To serve: Put French toast in toaster oven or regular toaster. When warmed through serve with butter and syrup. Waffles and pancakes freeze and reheat well too this way. :)

Homemade Granola
4 cups rolled oats (I use 5 to stretch it a bit more)
3/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 cube) butter or margarine -- pick the butter!
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar (dissolved in melted butter)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (high-altitude 350 degrees)
2. Mix oats, wheat germ, almonds, coconut, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
3. In a small saucepan, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, melt butter with salt and brown sugar, until sugar dissolves. Add vanilla to dissolved sugar mixture; pour over oat mixture and stir until well coated.
4. Lightly grease 9-by-13-inch pan and spread mixture in pan.
5. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until mixture begins to turn golden.
6. Cool completely; store in an air-tight container.
7. Serve cold with milk.

VARIATIONS: (1) Substitute vegetable oil for butter; and honey for sugar. (2) Omit any ingredient you dislike (with the exception of the oats!).

TIP: If you like raisins, currants, or chopped dates, stir 1/2 to 1 cup of one or more after baking so they won't dry out.

We like to double this recipe. I don't omit any ingredients and I do add raisins. When doubling the recipe I use the big Tupperware bowl. When I bake I use stoneware jelly roll pan and 9x13 pan. They don't fit on the same rack since there's twice as much. So I stir and alternate racks every time. When cereal is done baking, I cool on wax paper or opened up cereal bags that are flattened out.

Less mopping, less laundry, less love handles.

I have the secret that I've been searching for. It was there all along and I have finally embraced it.

I am giving up chocolate. I know, I can hear it now. What?! Is she crazy? Good luck with that!
Well, it makes Ham spit up-- not just a little dribble, but copious amounts. It's on three to four receiving blankets a day, numerous burp cloths (which are actually DSQ [diaper service quality] prefolds), and three to four outfits as well. His outfits I mean. With me it's only two or three shirt changes and occasionally a pants or skirt change. Only. HA! That's about enough for a load. Count the washcloth to clean up the spit up on the floor, computer chair, and couch, and the washable mop head and you've got a whole load!

And I'm no slim chicken. I can pretend it's from having four kids in 5 1/2 years. But it's not. It's from Cadbury mini-eggs and mint Christmas M&M's and plain M&M's and peanut, almond, crispy, and Shrek M&M's. And then there's the brief two week time when I loved Kissables from Hershey's and then there's Nestle Treasures. And then of course there's the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe that makes 5 dozen cookies. So, no slim cluck-cluck here.

It's time to take back my body!

"Smile, it's the second best thing to do with your lips."

Apparently, someone thinks he's not getting enough "action." I just got this email from Danny a Pookieville blog reader.

Maybe you should rewrite your bloggity exercise goal to equal one bonus kiss for your hubby for every comment you receive…

------------------------

* The science of kissing is called
philematology.

* A one-minute kiss burns 26 calories (measuring
energy-producing potential of food).

* Kissing releases the same
neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) as intense exercise, like
parachuting or distance running. The heart beats faster and breathing becomes
deep and irregular.

* Saliva, the mucus-filled slime that wets the
mouth, crawls with microscopic bacteria (single-cell organisms) that enter from
air, food, and dirty hands. Between 10 million and 1 billion colonies (groups of
bacteria) are swapped with each smooch! But saliva also contains antibacterial
chemicals that kill most bacteria before the germs are exchanged in a kiss. (ick.)

* A simple pucker uses two
muscles, the upper and lower orbicularis otis surrounding the lips. A passionate
kiss uses all 34 facial muscles.

So, go ahead and amuse him. Since his birthday is this coming Thursday, I'll give him a kiss for all the comments up until and including that day. And then no more. He must be rationed. If he's lucky, I'll use all 34 facial muscles per kiss. And I'll still do my sit-ups, which are actually more like crunches than sit-ups.

OAMC thoughts

In response to the comment from Renee', yes, I still do Once A Month Cooking. There's quite a satisfaction in seeing my grocery bill cut in half by pre-planning my month's dinners, breakfasts and goodies. (I like to tell Danny, "Do you realize we are feeding our family for the same price a family half the size does?" Isn't that SO AWESOME?!) The task in itself becomes easier after you have a good list of what your family eats. It is even easier if you have the recipes entered into a program so you can print out the ingredients and compare them to your pantry before shopping day. When it comes time to make my list of meals, I pull out a spiral notebook and create a few sections: chicken meals, beef meals, soups, breakfasts, desserts. Or I pull out an old list and decide if I'm going to repeat it or think of different choices. Then the family chimes in on their preferred meals and I fill in the sections.

It is very rewarding. If I'm too tired to cook, I already have ready meals. If I have unexpected company, I have plenty to provide. If a neighbor has a new baby, I can bring over dinner and dessert and have time to make a card. It saves me time. It saves me money. It saves my sanity.

An even easier method I like to use is buying large amounts of meat and precook it. If boneless-skinless chicken breasts were on sale, I'd buy 30. Then I could cook them in the oven, chop them, and bag them in two cup increments. Or ground beef goes on sale, I'd buy 10+ pounds and cook it up with chopped onions and bag them in 1 lb. increments. Then when OAMC-day comes, it is waaaaaaaaay easier. I would just be assembling meals and hardly heating my kitchen at all.

I like to cook. I like to bake. But I don't like to feel like a slave to the kitchen. I don't like to hear "What's for dinner?" and not have a response. Recently we had an Enrichment group from church do a cooking class on 30-minute meals. That's exciting and an improvement for many families, but if all your dinners were 30-minute meals, you'd still be spending 30 minutes EACH DAY on cooking them. That's 15 hours a month just cooking dinner. And that doesn't count clean-up time for each day. Pre-planning your menus cuts down on waste. Every onion, every piece of chicken has been counted and planned for. And doing OAMC provides you the opportunity to buy bulk packages (generally cheaper per ounce).

I highly recommend the book "Dinner is Ready" by Deanna Buxton. And I just found out she's created more books. So I'm headed over to her site right now to learn more.

What do you want from me?

Connie tagged me to list 5 things you don't know about me. And I'm experiencing mush-brain today. So, what do you want to know about me? And I'll post it tomorrow. And I'll do the 5 sit-ups for every comment. Which by the way, I thought I'd save them up until the end of the day and do them all at once so I could reap maximum exercise advantage, and it just about killed me. All 35 of them. Boy am I out of shape. But do not let that sway you away from commenting. BRING IT ON!

I will exercise for comments.

Did you see my sidebar today? I am so desperate for motivation to exercise that I added a feature. Every comment I get I will do 5 sit-ups 6 stomach crunches 5 lunges. When my stomach is flat again (HAHAHA!!) I may switch to push-ups. I can't do a single push-up by the way. Not a one. Will you help me?

Rise and shine!

It was so hard to get up this morning. I set my alarm for 5:40 a.m. so that I could be dressed and on the treadmill by 5:45 a.m. At 5:40 a.m. the alarm sounded and Danny shut it off and told me. Then I stayed in bed for five minutes thinking about how I could just sleep and then exercise during naptime. But then I told myself, "If I don't get up and exercise I'll lay here for an hour thinking 'I'm not exercising'. So get up! Tomorrow will have to be day 1 again if I don't get up right now." So I did. And I walked on the treadmill for one whole hour. Now I have a headache and it's only 9 a.m. That just reminds me to go to bed early tonight so tomorrow will be easier.

Why am I blogging this? So everyone can read it and remind me of my new committment to exercising first thing every morning.