Read. Repeat.

I read a book last year that affected the way I think about my life as I age. I don’t dwell on my age. Actually, I delight in every age that I’ve been. Being 37 is great! I don’t “feel” my age. Well, most days I don’t.

The book is called Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge M.D. This book was recommended to me by an older, mature and wealthy individual. He clearly appears to have taken these “Rules” to heart. Although this book is aimed at 50+ the rules, especially when applied early, are beneficial for all ages.

These are the rules:

Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.
Do serious aerobic exercise four days a week for the rest of your life.
Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.
Spend less than you make.
Quit eating crap!
Care.
Connect and commit.

Good rules huh?

This book is so much more than just these seven rules. It is filled with humor and personal stories of the rules in action. I read the women’s version but am sure that either one would be pertinent and enjoyable.

I’m also reading a book entitled Hands Free Life: 9 Habits to Overcoming Distraction, Living Better & Loving More by Rachel Macy Stafford. This is one of those books that hits you right between the eyes, cuts you to the quick, causes you to stop, pause and reflect on an interaction that may have occurred that very day and you think the author must’ve seen and written about you. It has really caused me to step back and consider how I can implement the habits in my own life for the good of my family. My summary, although I’ve not finished, is that by being intentional daily and in all the precious moments God has given us we can truly invest ourselves in the lives of those that are nearest and dearest to us.

What are you reading? What is impacting you lately? Please share with me as I build my reading list.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

I am so excited about my meal prep achievement this week that I couldn’t wait until next week to post! I have been cruising Pinterest and adding ideas to my “Meal Prep” board for a few weeks now. I wanted to share what I was able to make and how it’s been working for my family.

My goal by adding this to my schedule was for ease of dinner preparation as well as lunches. AJ has been trying to lose weight and by focusing on healthier options that are portion controlled I know he can reach his goal. Also, having these precooked foods in the house will make lunch choices at home easy as well.

My purchases included:

Chicken thighs and tenders-4 packages, approximately 2.25 pounds each. I love Lucky’s and they had both of these on special for $1.88 a pound.
Ground beef 85/15 – 3 packages, approximately 2.25 pounds each. Also purchased at Lucky’s on sale for $1.88 a pound. Also, Fresh Market has ground beef for $2.99 a pound every Tuesday.
Zucchini-6 small/medium.
Pineapple-2, on sale at Kroger for $1.88.
Strawberries-2 pounds, Sam’s Club $3.98.
Grape tomatoes – 2 pints, on sale at Lucky’s for $1 each.
Bertolli pasta sauce – BOGO at Publix.
Chobani plain Greek yogurt – BOGO at Publix.
Shrimp (frozen, raw, sustainably harvested) – 2 pounds, Sam’s Club.
Broccoli florets – 2 pounds, Sam’s Club.
BBQ sauce – Kroger brand.
Ginger Stir-in paste – Kroger.
Feta Mediterranean Herb crumbles.
Hand Spiralizer – for making zucchini noodles. This tool came with 3 sizes; noodle, thick spiral and ribbon. It is goodcook brand and works very well!
Flour tortillas – frozen for taco night.
Green onions.
Green leaf lettuce – Lucky’s.
Honeycrisp apples (organic) – on sale at Lucky’s for $1.77 a pound.
Pears – on sale at Lucky’s for $.98 a pound.

I prepped the following:

2 pounds of taco meat – nachos on Tuesday and the other pound in the freezer for next weeks taco night.
Spicy chicken and sweet potato bowls – AJ didn’t care for the sweet potato with this meal. I used Cajun seasoning for the “spice.” The bowl included steamed broccoli although the recipe called for asparagus.
Hawaiian chicken bowls – AJ said he really liked this meal! I enjoyed it too. I warmed all ingredients together and in hindsight would have preferred the pineapple as a topping, cold.
Honey Sriracha Glazed Meatballs – I personally, LOVE this one! My kids were not thrilled with the smell of the sauce or the finished product. More for me!
Marinated chicken thighs – I will chop this on salads or shred to use in other recipes. My friend shared this recipe with me and the marinade is the bomb! It could also be combined with some roasted zucchini, grape tomatoes, and the feta cheese and herb quinoa I made for a Greek inspired lunch or dinner.
Strawberries and pineapple were washed, sliced and stored in the fridge for additions to salads, breakfasts, or topping yogurt.
Hard boiled eggs – After discussion with friends about our dissatisfaction with how our eggs were cooked as well as peeling this is the method I’ve been using and it works great! Water should cover the eggs by at least 2 inches. Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and salt to the water. Once boiled add eggs. Boil for 8 minutes. Immediately remove, drain and ice. Happy peeling!

We had a lot going on over the weekend and I wasn’t able to get all my grocery shopping done on Friday or Saturday. I had to finish on Sunday afternoon and didn’t get home until around 5 PM.

WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED ON SUNDAY (2 1/2 HOURS):

Marinated 1 package chicken thighs. Grilled both packages of thighs. One plain for use in other recipes.
Cut, seasoned and baked chicken (used tenders) for Spicy chicken bowls.
Cut, cooked and added BBQ sauce for Hawaiian chicken bowls.
Washed 3 apples and 2 pears. Peeled 1 1/2 apples and sliced all storing in baggies for quick grab lunches and snacks.
Soaked green leaf lettuce, drained and stored in a gallon Ziploc for salads, tacos, etc.
Washed strawberries, sliced and stored in gallon Ziploc for salads, snacks and breakfast additions.
Cooked 2 pounds ground beef and added taco season. Separated into 2 gallon Ziploc.
Washed 1 zucchini and used spiralizer to test noodles that will accompany Hawaiian chicken bowl.

WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED ON MONDAY (1 1/2 HOURS):

Prepared meatballs for Sriracha recipe.
Prepared 1 pound beef into breakfast sausage patties.

WHAT I LEARNED:

The time I allocated to this was appropriate.
I would like to include my family in planning and prepping in the future.
I need to plan better dinners. The meals I chose were designed for lunches, but can easily convert to a dinner item. AJ wouldn’t want to have the same thing for lunch and dinner.
I will be adding a few “dump” recipes (designed for a crock pot) to my Meal Prep board so that I can include these on my planning. These are designed to be put together in a bag or container and dumped in the crock pot on the day you decide. Easy peasy!
I purchased a pack of 5 of these Meal Prep containers at WalMart. True to form the 2 times I’ve been back to purchase more of these they don’t have any. I might order them online or just use Prime. If I was working outside of the home I would want enough for AJ and I to pack our lunches for all 5 days; 10 total. However, since I’m not and can conveniently make my food at home or prep in another Tupperware to carry out the 5 we have are sufficient for now.

Please share your meal planning/prepping ideas! I’d love to add some new recipes.

Bonbons and Budgets

I know that bonbons have never been part of my life let alone my grocery list! It does make this subject much more appealing though wouldn’t you agree?

I asked my Facebook friends to weigh in on grocery budgets and received some great feedback! The family sizes ranged from 4 to 6 (parents and children) and commented regarding both budget dollars and whether they purchase organic items. The age ranges within these families is important as well because it seems very true that when we have children in the teenage years we are being, “eaten out of house and home!” The children were at or below 12 years old; including several with infants. Budgets range from $125 to $150 per week. Our budget had been at $500 a month for a LONG time and approximately 2 years ago (when the kids were 9 and 5) we began to overspend. I analyzed the spending about 9 months ago and found that our average for the prior 6 months had been closer to $700. That became our new budget amount.

I realized from reading the comments on my Facebook inquiry that I’ve included items such as paper goods (toilet paper, paper towel, and cleaning products) in my grocery budget and if I’m going to get micro on our spending I’ll need to break these out. I also have a multivitamin and protein that I use and these are lumped in the grocery budget as well.

WHAT DID I LEARN?

First, our family is well within the range of “normal” for our family size (4). I would also categorize our eating as, “healthy convenience,” (as one friend dubbed it). Healthy convenience to me means that we eat a lot of the “perimeter” items; fruits, veggies, meat, dairy, eggs, and much less middle aisle items where the processed foods live. When I am making a mid-week grocery run it usually involves a vegetable that was either forgotten or was eaten earlier than expected or another staple item like milk or eggs.

Second, I plan our meals weekly (7 to 10 days) and base these on what we like as well as what is on sale. The freezer we used to stock up on items like meat and frozen vegetables died a while ago. I miss it! This has caused me to have to plan much more carefully since I have less freezer space. It also keeps me accountable for what I’m buying so that I don’t end up with a bunch of junk that we don’t need. Junk items such as frozen pizza, toaster strudel, Eggo’s, etc.

Third, I’m trying some new things like “Meatless Monday.” I’m not vegetarian or vegan but recognize that our bodies need more plant based food and less meat. We will have a large salad full of many different grilled or steamed vegetables, beans and hard-boiled eggs for dinner. Although we will add grilled chicken this is an easy change for “Meatless Monday” by simply adding only the eggs.

Fourth, we went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University many years ago. Staying within the budget could easily be achieved by using the envelope system instead of my debit card. What works well for you?

DID ORGANIC MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

The feedback I received on the organic front was generally that those families didn’t buy much organic unless it was on sale. My stance is that there are items that are better bought organic because of the exposure they may have to pesticides; such as apples, potatoes, or other fruits and vegetables that you eat the skin of. If it has a thick skin or is something you peel, bananas and avocados come to mind, I don’t buy organic.

I’m interested to hear from my readers on whether they buy organic, why and how they make allowance for that.

I plan to go into more detail on protein powder in the future as well as vitamins.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A Blog is Born!

Hurrah! After only 2+ years of wanting to start a blog; here it is!

I live in Georgia, am married and have 2 children. I homeschool my children; grades 5 and 2. Staying at home and homeschooling is new to our family since May 2018. I hope to share more about this in my blog. I enjoy fitness and use many of the Beachbody programs along with running and other outdoor activities. I used to work as a bookkeeper at a local accounting firm and plan to be back in that field in the future.

My goal with this weekly blog as a place for inspiration and encouragement. At WW Consulting there are four main goals; faith, family, fitness and finances. I have LOTS of ideas for this blog but I’d also like to hear from you, my readers, on what you’re interested in. I won’t even begin to pretend that I’m a professional, or even proficient, in most of these areas. I have done a lot of research for various things in my life and hope to share as well as learn.

I look forward to hearing from you all and am already thankful for your readership!

I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:13