101 in 1001 Days - Feb. 2012 Progress

Here is the progress on my 101 things list for Feb.
#25 Added 3 more entries to my personal journal - new total 5/143.
# 26 Added 2 entries to my Bookworm blog - new total 2/70.
# 27 Added 4 entries to my Homekeeping blog - new total 11/286.
# 53 We got our new kitty fixed.
# 78 Read 1 more juvenile fiction book - new total 2/25.
# 89 Read 1 more nonfiction book - new total 2/50.
#82 Tried12 new recipes - new total 17/143.
#83 Made 2 more meal plans - new total 4/72.
#65 Finish the RTI class I was taking to renew my teaching license.
#1 Read through the Bible in The Message version - Nehemiah done.
#66 Finish the diverse learners class I was taking.

It is a huge relief to have numbers 65 & 66 done!

two Week Menu Plan #4

Here's the menu plan for 2/20-3/3/12.
Breakfasts: cereal, oatmeal, banana bread, donut muffins, french toast bake, peanut butter granola, toast

Lunches: a few school lunches, supper leftovers, sandwiches, baked potatoes, pretzela, apples

Suppers:
Farmers' Dinner (a Gooseberry Patch recipe)
Leftovers
Pasta with homemeade sauce, garlic toast
Baked spaghetti, carrots
Beans & rice, pineapple
Leftovers
Italian chicken, pasta, green beans
Chinese turkey & noodles
Leftovers
Corny bacon chowder
Macaroni & cheese, applesauce, broccoli
Nacho chicken & rice, peas
Leftovers or out to eat

Real Food for the Working Mom

This week I have been making some major changes to the way I eat. The ibs that I've battled for several years has gotten much worse, at times triggerg fibromyalgia type pain. I am tired of being sick all the time, so I began researching on the internet and quickly found the website www.helpforibs.com which contains the ibs diet. This involves eliminating fried foods, high fat foods, red meat, dairy, egg yolk, artificial sweeteners, and caffeine. Soon after beginning this diet I started reading The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn. In this book the author teaches cooking classes for a group of women showing them how easy it is to cook real food as opposed to artificial processed foods or take out. The stories of the ladies in the book paired with the author's enthusiasm and easy recipes have inspired me to try to shift our entire family towards more real food. I have been concerned about the fact that my sons seem to get sick a lot lately and my husband is battling a high stress job with long irregular hours that lead to poor eating habits. Maybe a shift to real food wouldause all of us to be more healthy. A comment by a co-worker that for a family to eat real food most of the time the mom would have to be at home full time is just the challenge I need. Although my co-worker's friend who fixes real food is a stay-at-home mom who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, and I realize from experience that it is easier to cook from home when I'm at home more, I still think it's possible to provide good food cooked at home while also working full-time. So, for my challenge, I am going to begin cooking at home without the use of boxed or frozen dinners. I have already replaced some convience items without thinking about it. For example, I can't remember the last box or bag of frozen chicken nuggets I bought. It is so easy to make my own, and they taste better. For the next few months as we run out of convience foods I already have on hand, I will look for homemade alternatives and see just how close to living on mostly real food we can get while I continue to work full time. Watch for more Real Food For Working Moms posts soon.

52 Week Savings Challenge - Week 6

I received pay for judging at a solo and ensemble contest for the Indiana State School Music Association this week. Since that was extra income I decided to deposit extra for this week's challenge. Instead of depositing $6 for week 6 I pot $35 in our savings account. It feels good to make a little extra headway.

Two Week Menu Plan #3

Meal plan for 2/5-2/18. I am starting the ibs diet (found on helpforibs.com) to try to finally get myy irritable bowel syndrome under control. So, for the first week of this plan I'll be eating plain white bread, pasta, noodles, rice, oatmeal, and plain corn or rice cereal. On week 2 I'll begin adding back cooked fruits & vegetables and small amounts of boneless skinless chicken. However, I am not subjecting my family to the same restrictive diet, so here's what the rest of the family will eat:
Breakfasts- cereal, toast with peanut butter or Nutella, oatmeal, yogurt, bananas
Lunches- supper leftovers, sandwiches (ham, turkey,balogna, or peanut butter), chips, paenut butter crackers, sugar cookie bars, string cheese, yogurt, school lunches
Suppers:
Baked potatoes with vegetable soup
Pineapple chicken with rice
Stir fry chicken and vegetables with Ramen
Leftovers
Chicken Italiano with rice (from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook)
Black beans and rice
Bbq pork with potatoes
Leftovers
Fish sticks, fruit, corn
Baked macaroni and cheese, applesauce, green beans
Hamburger Helper, green beans, fruit
Potato Corn Chowder
A supper at church
Chinese Beef and Noodles (from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook)

Some of these are repeats from menu plan #2 because I didn't stick to that one as well. I went for convenience food a few time instead of what was planned. Hopefully this plan will be easier to stick to since the next two weeks aren't supposed to be quite as busy.

52 Week Savings Challenge - Week 5

For week 5 I once again saved an amount equal to the week we're on and put $5 in the trip jar. Funds are a little tighter this week and I wasn't sure at first if I could spare the $5 but then I dumped the change from my other change jar in and added $1 from a survey that came in the mail plus two more dollar bills from my purse and realized =sd probably added more than $5 to our total.

101 Things in 1001 Days January 2012 Progress

One month in to round two of 101 things in 1001 days; here is the progress Isve made so far.
#1 Finish reading through the Bible in The Message - Ezra finished.
#25 Personal journal entries 2 of 143 complete
#27 Homekeeping blog updates - 7 of 286 complete
#29 Handwritten cards & letters - 9 of 35 sent
#80 Read 50 fiction books - 2 read
#81 Read 50 nonfiction books - 1 read
#82 New recipes tried - 5 of 143 tried
#83 Meal plans made - 2 of 72 done
#85 Look into adding to my teaching license - test study books checked out of the library