Grocery Savings and Accountability

This year (2009), I'm challenging myself to try even harder to be a better steward with my finances. I just returned from a trip to Publix where I managed to save $44.03. The total price for feeding my family of 5 (okay, we are only 4 this week) is $83.62.

Some of my best buys were:
* Fiber One cereal B1G1 and a coupon for $1 off 2 = 2 boxes at $1.65 each
* Special K cereal (a favorite among my kids) B1G1 and a coupon for $1 off 2 = 2 boxes for $1.50 each
* 10 Dannon Light and Fit yogurts sale 10/$4 with a coupon for $1 off 10 = $.30 each

I also scored on blueberries, organic salad greens and ground turkey. The key is to follow the sales ad and make my weekly menu from there. Also, by purchasing things that I know we'll eat when they are on-sale, I'm never in a crunch for something. I've never paid full price for toilet paper, tampons, diapers (when we used them) or most toiletry items (except the kids' California Baby - I can't ever find coupons for it!)

I even splurged this week purchasing some Aquafina wild berry flavored water. Kicking the soda habit has been hard, but I'm finding that a fizzy water helps when I am ready to crack. I also had the deli make me a nice sub for lunch, seeing how I got busy and forgot to eat breakfast. And I rewarded the fantastic behavior my kids displayed at the store with a yummy 4-pack of Yo Baby Yogurt drink. I always allow them to pick a healthy treat when we are all done shopping IF I haven't had to get to 3 with them. I've been rather successful with 1-2-3 Magic, but I've put my own positive spin on it. This week was yogurt smoothies, 2 weeks ago was mangoes.

Incidentally, this is my first grocery shopping in the new year. I plan to put a widget on the bottom of the screen that keeps a running tracker of how much I spend on groceries, save on groceries and spend eating out. Eating out is a huge problem for me. Not so much eating meals, but being out and grabbing an iced coffee or a bottle of water from the check-out.

Amazing how now that I eat healthier, I'm actually spending less money? Am I the only one seeing a decrease in my grocery bill since cutting out junk?

A Change in Weigh-in Day - Fat Burning Friday

I've changed my weigh-in day to Friday because I find it's easier points-wise for me to get a whole new set of Flex points for the weekend. You see, I don't really get to choose what I want to eat on Saturdays. Saturdays is our Sabbath Day, as we are practicing Seventh-Day Adventists. So basically, on Saturday, we take a chill day. Heck, if God worked all week and took a rest on day 7, why not us, right? And I'm sure the Lord knows I could use a rest. Anyway, back to my not choosing what I eat on Saturday...

On Saturdays, we got to church at 8:30am, and then I help out in the Children's section while my kids are in class until 11am. By the time we socialize in the foyer (many of our friends are late sleepers and come to the later services, so we are leaving as they are walking in), we don't get home until nearly 11:30am. My mother-in-law has really pushed for us to have Sabbath lunch at her house after church. She used to be a fantastically healthy cooker...until she got cable and became obsessed with the food network. Now my MIL does all sorts of things that are killing my point values. An example would be that if she is boiling corn on the cob, she drops a handful of salt (not a big issue for me, but I don't really like salty foods) and an entire stick of butter in the boiling water. And her new obsession with making salad dressing out of full fat mayonnaise (when I read mayonnaise, it always sounds like the drill sargent in An Officer and a Gentleman) and smearing it on the top of the salad to create an overnight seal. So I find that I try to be nice, but I can't really eat at her house and claim my correct WW points. Nothing is ever unadulterated at her table, she has to spruce everything up. I want to say something to her, but she's about 75 pounds heavier than me and really self-conscious about her own weight, but not really interested in working to change it, so I don't want to ruffle any more feathers. We have started to have that typical struggling MIL/DIL relationship, and it stinks.

So, on Fridays, I get a whole new set of points and I try to estimate what I eat at Sabbath lunch but lately it's been looking like a 16-18 point meal. Yikes. Thank goodness for Flex Points.

Anyway, now that Friday is my weigh-in day, I came across Mommy Snacks and knew I absolutely had to share! I love that she mentions adding fiber to some of her foods like spaghetti sauce. With hubby's colon surgery just a few months ago, we are finding that we need to add more fiber to his diet to keep him comfortable.

And now what every one's been waiting for....can I get a drum roll please....DOWN 2 POUNDS! And that's since Monday.

Book Review - The Omnivore's Dilemma

During our road trip to Atlanta, I read The Ominvore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

I found this book to be really interesting. I like that it answers the question of "where does my food come from?". This is a good book to read if you are ready to start questioning the food you are eating, not as an alarmist, but as an informed consumer.

Surviving a hotel stay with kids under 6

My very first Works for Me Wednesday!! Be sure to look for more! After our recent family reunion in Atlanta, I needed to share a few things that made our life much easier. Keep in mind that hubby was only able to fly in for 1 1/2 days of this 6 day trip, so it was me and the little ones trying to survive in a new environment.

1. Hotel bathrooms are pretty, but not practical. Be sure to pack a small bathroom stool (we have a tiny grey Rubbermaid stool that we bought for under $5 years ago. The little guy needs the stool to get up on the potty. The bigger kids need it to stand at the sink to wash their hands.

2. Speaking of washing hands....bars of soap gross me out. There, I said it, I have issues. A fresh container of pump soap means everyone is actually washing their hands with real soap and water.

3. And since I'm confessing of our bathroom issues...my youngest two are petrified of self-flushing toilets. And since our trip involved visiting a few fun places, I was sure to pack my "magic stars". Magic stars are star-shaped sticky notes that I stick on the wall over the auto-flush sensor, so that it won't flush when my kids shift their barely non-existent weight on the toilet. My poor daughter, whenever she reaches forward for some toilet tissue, the toilet flushes so she leaps off. Life is so much easier now that we have the magic stars.

4. Hotel rooms are dark. We were sure to pack two night lights - one for the room and one for the bathroom. Everyone was happy. If only I can do something about all the door slamming that happens in the middle of the night in the hallway.

5. Finally, no trip is complete without the mini pizza cutter. We didn't actually eat any pizza on our trip. But with 3 kids ages 6 and under - I spend half of my meal cutting food. A pizza cutter can rip through some pancakes like nobody's business. Not to mention chicken breasts, baked potatoes, steamed veggies - it only takes a few minutes to make things more bite sized for my smaller ones with my handy dandy pizza cutter.

Spinach Tomato Quiche

Before we left for vacation, we had some friends over for a delicious brunch. Here is the recipe for the quiche I made. I cut the slices small - 12 servings, making each slice worth 3 WW points. 4 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup half and half (fat free)
Salt and pepper
1 block of frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained
2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Line pie plate with crust.

3. Mix eggs, half/half, salt and pepper (I just blended it all in the blender to make it light and fluffy).

4. Line bottom of pie with tomato slices, sprinkle with spinach, pour in egg mixture, cover with cheese and add more tomato slices on top.

5. Bake 45-50 minutes.

Cut into 12 slices.

* Don't forget to cover the edges of the crust so they don't get too brown.
* I used a cheap no-name prepared pie crust from ALDI, it was very bland. I'll go with a Pillsbury next time, or I'll just have to start learning how to make my own!

*sigh* New Beginnings

Well, I said I wasn't going to jump on the scale, but I did anyway. :)

I felt sorry for myself for about 3 minutes and then brushed myself off.

I'm 150 pounds. I was 155 pounds 2 weeks after my youngest was born.

But I'm not going to dwell over that anymore.

It's a new beginning today.

Now that I have friends that read this blog, I almost feel embarassed to admit that I've gained 20 pounds since arriving in Florida 7 months ago.

I took before pictures today, knowing that there will be after pictures.

I took measurements today, knowing that they will improve in two weeks.

I'm also part of the 30-day Shred challenge between Coast Guard wives. The person that loses the most inches wins a prize. As does the person that is faithful in exercising for each of the 30 days. I actually can't Shred two days in a row because it hurts my knees, so I'll Shred every other day and Pilates on my off-Shred days.

I'm slightly bummed that the holidays threw such a monkey-wrench in my great work-out routine. But I'm back now, and ready to make some changes.

Who's with me? :)

We're back!!

I'm back from our gigantic family reunion up in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was fun to see everyone. I didn't get nearly enough sleep or exercise on the trip. I ate way too much and drank way too much (soda and juice = empty calories). I'm afraid to step on the scale, so I'm avoiding it until Thursday morning.

I have some new thoughts and ideas for the new year - once I catch up on unpacking our stuff and organize my thoughts, I'll share!

Wishing you God's greatest blessings for 2009!