Preparing for Snowpocalypse – Activities, Snacks / Lunches, and Lessons from Children's Books

After our first winter ever with below zero temperatures and snow, and being cooped up for months in the house with no where to go and nothing to do, I deiced things are going to change this year! I am going to prepare for snowpocalypse, or as most people call it "winter," by creating fun full days based on children's books. I haven't quite completed the thought yet, but I've been pinning and googling ideas for what to do.

The plan is to start buy going to the library, checking out a bunch of books for a couple weeks, and gathering materials to make the day a blast!

I got the idea from an activity that was held at the nature center near our apartment. They had a group of 10-12 toddlers, 3-4 years old, and we learned all about worms. They started off by telling them a little bit about worms, then pulled out actual live worms and let the kids touch them and look through a magnifying glass at them. Then they read a book about worms to the kids. After that, the parents helped the kids paint a paper with rubber worms by dipping the worms in paint, placing the rolled piece of paper in a canister, and shaking it, making worm tracks all over the paper. The kids then enjoyed a treat of gummy worms in pudding and oreo crumbs. It was a lot of fun, and got my mind going of how to continue something like that into our daily lives.

So, my plan is to read a book, talk about the book, create a snack based on the book, and do an activity based on the book. I guess have a 'theme day' based on whatever book we'll read that day.

Here's an example with 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle

We would read the book:

We would then talk about different foods and how they make us feel. And as I'm brainstorming as I type, maybe do some flash cards and play a game – flash a card with a good or bad food on it and ask what they think it is. Maybe do a food pyramid, or plate, or whatever the FDA is doing now to represent healthy eating. If you have ideas, please share them with me / us!

Then, do an activity. Something I found on Pinterest was painting with different fruits and vegetables:

... maybe glue some green pom poms with a red one to look like the caterpillar. Again, if you have ideas, please share them!

And for a snack and/or lunch, make a healthy plate – maybe a sandwich with fruits and veggies, a glass of milk, cheese slices, etc. And because Addi loves grapes, she would love this treat for dessert:

Like I said, I was brainstorming as I was typing, so it'll be way fun to come up with more activities like this! I'm really looking forward to coming up with more!

If you want to follow our ventures through "snowpocalypse," I'll try to be better about posting on the blog. Also, follow my Pinterest board, Snow Day Fun / Lessons From Books, for ideas I've found and plan on trying.

Enjoy!

Flexetarian and Added Sugar Free Month – Overview

So, we did it! We made it through Flexetarian month. It was a lot easier than we thought!
Some notes though for those looking into doing it too –
• It cost about the same, probably more, to go flexetarian. Surprised? I kind of was. The most expensive parts were the Quinoa ($5.50/lb) and bella and baby bella mushrooms ($3/lb). Since I buy my protein regularly for $2-$3/lb, it didn't balance out for us.
• You don't need to get super creative. We tried a bunch of new stuff, and some of the recipes didn't work out... Note to self: If a recipe for 4 people calls for 3 packages of frozen spinach, it probably only needs 1/2 a package of frozen spinach... I made a spinach and cheese tortellini, but there was SO much more tortellini than anything else, it was just disgusting... We love fresh spinach, but eating a spoonful of frozen cooked spinach with a little cheese sauce is a completely different story! So gross!
Another recipe we weren't crazy about was a quinoa and black bean chili. There was way too much quinoa, so it ended up being a flavored quinoa with some chili stuff, and the recipe called for no where near enough spices.

We did enjoy the few recipes we came out with (find them on my Pinterest board "Pinned it. Tried it. Loved it!"), and are using them in our regular menu.
http://www.pinterest.com/amberstocksdale/pinned-it-tried-it-loved-it/

We're now cutting out about half the meat in our diet, so we'll be eating meat 3-4 times a week, rather than just about every meal of the day, 7 days a week. I've slept much better, had more energy, and we've overall felt healthier.

The no added sugar thing... Let me tell you – sugar is definitely an addictive substance!! I crashed 2 weeks in and stopped. I couldn't bare it anymore. BUT, I have noticed a change – my body can tolerate a huge amount of sugar at one time anymore! I think that's a huge change. I had Adam bring me a cake square home from the bakery section of the grocery store, and I couldn't eat even half of it in one sitting, where I used to be able to pound one with no problem. I also couldn't drink an entire can of cranberry Sierra Mist anymore! A couple sips was plenty. I'm good with that little change! I'll work toward more, but for now, that's great.
The sugar free bread was an absolute fail. I wasn't sure if it would work, but the British lady on the blog says that it totally works. Well, let's be real – it doesn't. My bread rose some, but never doubled and was always extremely dense.
For the two weeks I made it without sugar, other than feeling as if I NEEDED sugar constantly, I slept much better, I was able to concentrate easier, and had more energy.
I think I'll try it again, and make an easier goal to attain next time. I have made some changes with the food we eat though: If sugar doesn't belong in it, we're finding a sugar free option – yogurt, pasta sauce, peanut butter, granola, chicken broth/stock, vegetable broth/stock... We've gotten rid of it. I made my own chicken broth this month and it was way more delicious than the canned stuff with sugar! And be sure to check the labels on EVERYTHING!! You'd be surprised how many of these natural peanut butters have sugar in it still! Smucker's Natural peanut butter doesn't though! Peanuts and Salt. Done. And I'm loving it. I wish I could run over to Winco, like in CA, where I could grind my own fresh peanut butter and almond butter, but this will work for now.

If you have any questions about our journey, please feel free to comment/email/personal message me on Facebook, etc. I'd be happy to help you start your journey!!

Flexetarian Month – Day 1

Woohoo!! We made it through day 1! I almost caved and got an A&W float on my way home from grocery shopping, but I didn't; go sugar free Amber!

Anyways, flexetarian day one went great!

Breakfast:
Adam – Mushroom, bell pepper, egg and cheese breakfast burrito with salsa
Addi – Cinnamon and unsweetened apple sauce oatmeal
Amber – mashed banana yogurt with homemade artificial sweetener granola (recipe from yesterday)

Lunch:
Amber – Leftover Mexican Quinoa and Black Beans (recipe to come in a few days)
Addi – Tortilla, cubed cheese, fresh broccoli and carrot sticks, unsweetened applesauce

Dinner:
All – Pasta Primavera with Creamy Cauliflower Sauce. Not gonna lie, I was scared of the cauliflower sauce. I've always chosen to stay away from cauliflower. No particiular reason as to why I have, I just haven't felt the need to eat it. But, surprisingly, it was SO good!! Adam even thought it was alright and agreed to have it again. Addi loves veggies, so I wasn't surprised that she enjoyed it too.
I used fresh carrots, broccoli, green beans, and frozen corn for my veggies. And I made half the sauce recipe, and used the whole amount I cooked. The only thing I'd change is adding maybe 1/4-1/3 Cup parmesan cheese to the sauce. Other than that, LOVED it!

Here's the recipe for the Pasta Primavera, and then I used a sauce from a different blog:

Pasta Primavera:
http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2014/01/recipe-pasta-primavera-creamy-cauliflower-sauce/

Creamy Cauliflower Sauce:
http://pinchofyum.com/creamy-cauliflower-sauce

Enjoy!

Flexetarian Month and No Added Sugar Challange

As some of you may know, Adam and I decided on trying to be flexetarians, meaning we'll go with little to no meat, for the month of September. I have chosen to also eliminate all added sugars from my diet, and only intaking fruit-based sugar. Sugars eliminated include any sugar additives that rhyme with 'gross' (fructose, dextrose, etc.), stevia, sugar itself, honey, agave... Nothing, except for fruit as a sweetener. I was kind of scared, seeing as just about everything has sugar in it. So guess what I'll be doing with my spare time? Cooking and baking. Bread, tortillas, pasta sauce, granola, tortilla chips... just to name a few. BUT, the point is, it's possible.We'll be starting tomorrow, August 28th, and going through the next 4 weeks. This random picking of dates is only because these are the weeks within my monthly menu for September.

To kick off the month, Addi and I went shopping yesterday and came home with tons of vegetables and beans. Today we tried making a parfait with the homemade granola and original plain yogurt WITHOUT sugar! That made me nervous. I've eaten plain yogurt before and thought it was like eating sour cream by the half cup – NOT good. We tried it, and we loved it! Here's how we prepared it:

No Added Sugar Yogurt
– 1 ripe Banana
– 3/4 cup -or- 6oz container of Original Plain Yogurt -or- Plain Greek Yogurt
– A splash of 100% Apple Juice
– 3/4 cup No Added Sugar Granola

1. Mash the banana with a fork in the bowl you'll be putting your yogurt in until the banana forms a paste.
2. Scoop yogurt in the bowl with the mashed banana.
3. Pour a splash of apple juice in the yogurt mixture.
4. Stir until well mixed. Taste, and add more apple juice as needed.

It tasted like banana flavored yogurt, but actually good because it was made with real and fresh bananas, and not the artificial flavoring.


Because I didn't come up with the granola recipe, I'll share that in the link below. I found it on eHow.com. It's not sweet, but it cooked well. I didn't use any dried fruit because I don't like fruit in my granola, and I think I'd add additional nuts, like maybe some pistachios. It turned out great though! Perfect for parfaits.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5401872_make-sugarfree-granola-artificial-sweeteners.html

All in all, if it's this easy to stay away from sugar, and tastes this good, I'm going to continue doing this for sure. Keep following every day for all the recipes I try, and to see how our flexetarian and no added sugar diet is going! We're looking forward to a happier and healthier life style.
Cheers!

Project: Best Bum Ever – 5 Minute Bom-Bom Workout Combo

So, it all started with this Nike ad I found in SELF Magazine a couple years back. I pulled it out from the magazine and had it taped various places around my apartment – the fridge, my bedroom wall, the bathroom... FINALLY, after two years and a move across the country, I'm going to get my best bum ever!!

I'm on Day 7 of project: Best Bum Ever, and I'm already feeling the transformation! It's fantastic. Here's the combo:

In the morning, I do the following two combos I found on Pinterest. Be ready for your biscuits to burn!

Do this one first! It will make the next combo work even better!

Check out www.30dayfitnesschallenges.com for more great fitness challenges!
 I'm going to try the plank one next! 

 My legs were burning constantly from Day 2 - Day 5. They were burning a little on Day 6, and Day 7 (today) it's not hurting anymore!

Because all these exercises are pulsing, staccato-like exercises, a good stretch after will help relieve some of the burn.

As a dancer, with a focus on ballet, I like my legs muscular, but lean; the buff and bulky look is not for me. To combat these pulsing stretches, I do a plié combination in the evening. This keeps up my twice-a-day exercise routine, but stretches out those tight muscles to get my beautiful, lean, pre-baby ballerina legs back!

NOTE: If the below is too confusing and too much work, just do the morning exercise again in the evening!

The plié combo consists of:

2 demi-pliés – 1 count of 8, 1 grande plié – 1 count of 8, and 1 élevé – 6 counts, 2 counts to prep for the next set – as one set.
Do each set twice for each position – 1st, 2nd, 4th (once right, once left), 5th (once right, once left).

Hold a passé élevé for two counts of 8 on each side after finishing the 5th position plié combo.

I hope you can feel the burn with me and get your best bum ever!!

Amber


For instructional videos on how to do these ballet stretches, see below.

The 5 Ballet Positions

Demi-plié

Grande plié

Rélevé

Passé

Blending Flavors

During my monthly shopping trip to Woodman's, slightly comparable to Winco, free samples were being offered. In Wisconsin, free samples are always fantastic. I'm not the biggest fan of Wisconsin, but I am a fan of all the delicious food: fresh cheese, a variety of mom and pop shop specialty meats, etc. The free samples that were offered this week included pizza, bratwurst burgers, BBQ sauce, and my favorite of the day, this Italian sausage with a recipe handed down for a few generations.

This Italian sausage was served in a store bought Alfredo sauce, and happens to be my favorite, and just paired with it perfectly! When I tasted this sausage, as the lady was telling me all about it, I felt like Remmy in Ratatouille, when he's explaining the feeling of blending flavors... Just mmmm!! It was fantastic. I wouldn't normally spend $4 on one pound of meat, but this splurge was worth it to me that day.

I've been dying to make this sausage Alfredo since I tried it. I held off for a few days, but finally caved and made it tonight! I stood in front of the Fettuccini the entire time it cooked to ensure it was perfectly Al dente, and poured a little milk in with the sauce as it simmered with the sausage for perfect flavor blending. I then chopped a fresh spinach and romaine salad with fresh vegetables, feta and Italian dressing, and voilà! Perfect weeknight dinner. I savored every bite, and am looking forward to the leftovers.

Call me crazy all you want, for loving food as much as I do, but when one of your passions is delicious flavor, it happens. Ratatouille explains it perfectly. :)

http://youtu.be/Yyah49_Oz78

Milwaukee

I had thought I posted this when we announced we were moving, but just saw that it was a draft still!! When I was researching Milwaukee, this was the stuff I found. I love weird laws.

Some brief facts about Wisconsin . . .
1. Average temp in the Summer: 64-80°F
2. Average temp in the Winter: 16-29°F
3. Population (Wisconsin): 5,711,767 (source: U.S. Census, July 2011)
4. Population (Milwaukee): 597,867 (source: U.S. Census, July 2011)
4. State Capitol: Madison
5. Basketball team: Milwaukee Bucks
6. Baseball team: Milwaukee Brewers
7. Football team: Greenbay Packers (it's really the Milwaukee Badgers, but we all know it's really the Packers!)
8. Closest temple: Chicago, Illinois (about 2 hours)
9. Church members in Wisconsin: 25, 686
10. Dunkin Donuts? YES! Right down from the station!

After reading some of these weird laws, all I wanted to know is what does Wisconsin have against margarine??

Weird laws in Wisconsin:
- While all cheese making requires a license, Limburger cheese making requires a master cheese maker’s license.
- It is illegal to kiss on a train.
- Margarine may not be substituted for butter in restaurants unless it is requested by the customer.
- As people used to smuggle it in from Illinois, all yellow butter substitute is banned.
- At one time, margarine was illegal.
- State Law made it illegal to serve apple pie in public restaurants without cheese.
- You are not allowed to put litter into someone else’s trash receptacle without express permission.
- Tattooing is illegal unless it is done for medical purposes.
- Condoms were considered an obsene article and had to hidden behind the pharmacist’s counter.
http://www.dumblaws.com/laws/united-states/wisconsin

Once-A-Month Menu Planning and Grocery Shopping List

I've had a lot of people ask me what my tricks are, and how I plan all my menus for a month in one sitting. "It seems too difficult." That's what I hear the most. But, what if it really isn't? Personally, I think trying to come up with something an hour before dinner should be served is harder. I'm going to share my full process with you today. Trust me, it's really not hard at all!

SIDE NOTE: If you want the abbreviated method, look for the bold text throughout the post and see the examples.

First, write a list of family favorite meals. What are your family's favorite meals? I'm sure you can come up with at least 5 favorite meals on the spot. Write all these down. Keep thinking and writing, then keep this list nearby your monthly menu so you have it for next time. For example, here is my list of family favorite meals:

Don't be intimidated! I started this list nearly 3 YEARS ago. I've also added, removed and refined this list almost on a monthly basis. Just start with what you can think of, and go from there. Trust me, it'll grow fast, especially if you keep trying new things.

Second, plot out a monthly menu. A month sounds pretty intense. Really, it's not. Especially if you formulate it. Looking at the blank menu for the month is scary, but if you break your month down into "theme nights", then you don't have 28-35 meals to plan, you have 7 "themes" of 5 meals. Doesn't sound anywhere near as bad, does it? Below is an example of how I plan my monthly menu:

I start my menu on Thursday because I do my grocery shopping on Wednesday.

See? Breaking it down makes it seem much less tedious and scary. Anyone can do this with a little spare time. It took me about 10-20 minutes to get this menu together. In this menu example, I've moved some things around a bit. I don't make nachos or philly cheesesteaks in the Crock Pot. But, the idea of theme night gives you an easier idea as to what to cook and breaks it down some.

Confession: I don't always stick to the specific days. I don't religiously have left overs on Tuesday and pizza on Wednesday. This is mainly just to get my plan going. Once I have all the meals planned for the month, I'll mix the meals up on a weekly basis. Example: the 5th row. I'll stick with those meals for week 5 of this month, but I'll probably have pulled pork sandwiches on Sunday and the rice bowls on Saturday.


GROCERY SHOPPING

I do about 75% of my grocery shopping at the beginning of the month. I have a warehouse, employee-owned store about 12 miles away. They have the best prices around on most of the stuff I buy on a regular basis, so I'll go there only once a month to save on gas. I'll buy just about all my non-perishables this day. That way, if the perishables for a meal on the third week go on sale on the second week, I have everything I need to make that meal on the second week already, so we can swap meals week to week as needed.

Because grocery prices are so much more expensive in WI than they were in CA, I've started couponing and price checking prior to purchasing anything. It takes a lot of time, but I've been able to stay in my CA food budget, which, when we first moved here, we thought was going to be impossible. I'd say the prices of everything are between 25%-50% more in WI than in CA. This made me crazy! In CA, I could get everything for the month I need, and had plenty of money left over for snacks and treats. When we moved to WI, our snacks and treats immediately went away (bye-bye ice cream!), and we were eating spaghetti just about every other night! It was pretty awful. Once I started to get to know all the stores in the area, what the standard prices were at each store, when things went on sale, and I noticed we got coupons sent to us on a weekly basis, my grocery life got a little bit easier. Still, I spend about an hour once a week marking up the circulars to ensure I get the best prices, and clipping coupons, but for me, saving the money is worth my time. It's not for everyone, but if you have the time, you can save a lot of money if you do it right.

So, how do I do it? Here we go.

First, write out your shopping list for the entire month. Below is a template I use for my shopping list.

With this, I start by writing everything I need for the meals on my menu, whether I'll be getting them on this initial shopping trip or not. EVERYTHING. Then I'll add staples not needed for my dinners, like breakfast and lunch items, fruits and veggies for snacks, other snacks and treats, random condiments, etc. So far, for April, my list is 3 pages long, and will probably be at least another page by the time I'm completely finished.

Next, write in the prices for comparison, or mark which store you plan on getting each item at. I'll use receipts from the month before for the price comparison, or just bring my list with me, to the stores I visit weekly, the week before I do my initial trip and gather the prices there. I also use the circulars and write in the sale prices too. I'll mark on my list if I have a coupon for that item as well, either manufacture or store coupon.

While I'm getting my grocery list started, and using it throughout the month, I'll mark my circulars with big hi-lighted boxes around what I'll get at the store. 

This week, I don't have any coupons for anything I'm going to get, but if I did, I'd write 'Coup' across the box with a hi-lighter for the items I have coupons for. I'll take my marked circulars with me to the stores, along with my grocery shopping list.

The day I do my initial shopping trip, I make sure my kitchen is spotless and mess free. That way, it's not so overwhelming when I bring home a million bags of groceries.

After the initial trip is done, I'll put everything away and prep everything as needed. More on that in a later post. I'll take pictures, add my tips and post that in a couple weeks when I go!

Hope this can help you save time and feel better about planning your menus!

If you would like a copy of my Excel spreadsheets for my monthly menu and shopping lists, please email me at amberstocksdale@gmail.com. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.