Saturday, January 30, 2010

Snow Day!

We don’t get many snow days in Charlotte, so when we do, we make sure to do it right. I’m grateful it happened on a Saturday so my husband could be home, otherwise it would have been just me and my dogs.

Here are some of my snow day musts:

A hot bowl of oatmeal for breakfast

Appreciating the spring flowers inside to keep me happy on these cold, winter days

A fire

A walk in the snow with the dogs

Homemade cookies

I wanted to try a somewhat healthier cookie recipe rather than a regular chocolate chip one. To my surprise, they turned out to be really good and definitely up my cookie alley. If you like dark chocolate and oats, you’ll like them. If you like semi-sweet chocolate, you probably won’t. I found the recipe here, but used 100% whole wheat flour, chopped up an 80% dark chocolate bar, and added chopped walnuts.


Homemade chicken noodle soup

Here is my simple, delicious, and healthy recipe for chicken noodle soup:

½ chopped onion

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

1 large chicken breast – cooked and shredded

1 quart low sodium chicken broth

1 cup whole wheat egg noodles

Red pepper flakes for heat

Fresh parsley, chopped

½ teaspoon dried thyme (or use fresh if you have it)

Salt and pepper for seasoning

First, sauté the onions, celery, and carrots in some EVOO. Second, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Boil noodles for 7-10 minutes. Add the chicken, parsley, and seasonings. I served today’s with ½ slice whole wheat sourdough bread and a Babybel Light cheese. YUM!


Quilting

Here is the beginning of what I think will be Emery's quilt:

Happy Snow Day!

(Don't you think Elton looks like Mario today? It makes me want to play Super Mario Cart.)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Food Staples Make Dinner Simple

Each week my grocery list pretty much looks the same because I know what foods I like, but I don’t like to plan all my meals for the week. I noticed when I planned meals ahead of time, I never wanted those meals for those nights. For example, tonight I was going to have MahiMahi with salad or roasted broccoli and brown rice, but all I wanted was a pasta dish. Since I had lots of my favorite foods, I was able to whip up a surprisingly delicious new pasta dish and nipped my pasta craving in the bud. To share, here are some of my favorite foods that I buy each week:

  • Broccoli
  • Baby spinach
  • Garlic
  • Lemon
  • Red Onion
  • Tomato
  • Avocado
  • Chicken
  • Red, yellow, and orange peppers
  • Eggs
  • Fruit

And here are my pantry staples:

  • Brown rice
  • Whole wheat pasta
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Goat cheese
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Sun-dried tomatoes
  • Kalamata olives
  • Chicken broth
  • Red and/or white wine
  • Nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, almonds – sliced and whole)
  • Dark chocolate

Seriously, that’s pretty much everything that lives in my kitchen each week and I pull from these ingredients to whip up my dinners, snacks, and dessert (dark chocolate square –so good!).


Tonight I made a yummy Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, and Sun-dried Tomato with Goat Cheese Pasta dish. If you want to try it, check out what I did:

Ingredients:

  • Whole wheat pasta
  • Chicken
  • Broccoli
  • Sun-dried Tomatoes
  • Lemon juice
  • Garlic
  • EVOO
  • Red onion

First, I heated the oven to 400 degrees and started my pasta water. Once boiling, I threw in the pasta. I also washed and cut up some broccoli and tossed it with garlic and a little oil, salt, and pepper to roast on a baking sheet in the oven while everything cooked (about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, I sautéed the chicken in a nonstick skillet and once it was cooked through, I added some sun-dried tomatoes, the juice of about ½ of a lemon, and a little chopped red onion. I tossed in the roasted broccoli and garlic, the pasta, and sprinkled on some goat cheese. Delicious and simple!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Hate to floss?

Last night as I was doing my nightly bedtime routine (floss, brush teeth, wash face, put on moisturizer) I was remembering how I used to NEVER floss and how much I hated it. I had dentist after dentist tell me, "you need to be flossing" and "you're going to get gingivitis if you don't floss." I just couldn't be bothered and didn't feel like it did much UNTIL I got a tip from a friend. She told me to floss before I brush b/c then you'll see all the gunk (I know, gross!) that comes out of your teeth before brushing and it will seem worthwhile. Well, I'll tell ya, it worked. I started flossing before I brushed and it's true - it's gross and does seem worth my time. Now I floss every single night and don't mind it a bit. Just thought I'd share this tip in case there are others out there who hate to floss. Hope it doesn't gross you out too early in the morning.
Happy Flossing!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Start Your Day Off Right

One thing I've been starting to do is stretch right when I get out of bed in the morning. I have been doing this for about a week now and love it. It wakes me up and gets me ready to start my day. It takes only as long as you want (even only two minutes is great). Now, don't get me wrong, if you're not used to this it does feels weird at first, but get over how dumb you feel and just try it. My husband things I'm a freak, but the way it makes me feel afterwards is worth looking like an idiot (especially when I'm losing my balance moving into Warrior with this pregnant belly!)

Here is a link I have found that can get you started. If you already take yoga, you know what do.

Happy Stretching!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Nursery on a Budget

I’m trying my best to do my nursery without spending a ton of money. Since I learned how to sew this year and have A LOT of time on my hands, there is no excuse for me not to do a lot of the work on my own. I’ll be posting updates these next 4 months about some of my ideas and the deals I find.

To give you a background, we have a 2-bedroom bungalow so the only room for the nursery is the office. See how messy it usually is – quite embarrassing!



We have an additional room upstairs to move the "office" to, which is fine by me since it really ends up being a place where we through our junk downstairs, and now we can just throw that kind of stuff upstairs with other junk we tend to store up there. (Maybe one day I'll get motivated and make the upstairs room organized and cute.)

I decided to keep two of the black bookshelves to save money and put them to use. This one I’m going to turn into a wardrobe.


My plan is to take the top shelf out, add a bar across the top, and hang some fabric in front to cover the hanging clothes. I am then going to find some baskets to store clothes in that I won’t be hanging on these next two shelves. The bottom shelf will probably be used to store all the books I’ve collected on pregnancy and how to take care of Miss Emery when she arrives.


On the small shelf my plan is to find two baskets to store items in and then use the bottle shelf to store books. (I saved lots of my picture books from teaching for when I had children and was delighted to see them again as I pulled them out of storage the other week. Of course it was the box in the back corner on the bottom, which my husband wasn’t happy about, but they were recovered!)

Task #1 – Find baskets!

Last week I went all around Charlotte looking for good deals on baskets. I went to one Michaels and saw that a lot of baskets were 50% off, but I didn’t see any I loved. I then went to World Market and Pier One. No luck. It was difficult to find baskets that would fit well, were inexpensive, and that didn’t look too cheap. On my way home the other day I decided to pop into a different Michael’s in Charlotte and when I went to the basket section I spotted these first and just KNEW they would work.


I measured them to make sure and then saw they were on sale for $10 (originally $20). I was excited because they already had a liner in them so I knew I could use those as patterns to make my own liners to match the bedding I’m planning to make. Then, to my amazement, I went to the register and they rung up at $3.99! I couldn’t believe my eyes -these are NICE baskets! I eagerly went home and they fit perfectly on my shelves.

I now just need to decide on the fabric I will use to make my own liners and I have one task down, several more to conquer.

Task #2: Find a rocker without spending a lot of money

Everyone has told me you need to spend the money and get a rocker, but I’m determined not to spend $700 on a chair! So…this past week I have been looking intently for a rocker chair. I know I want an upholstered one because I think they look less “nursery” and can be put in a playroom or guest room ten years down the road from now when I no longer need a nursery. My friend Cecelia, who is also pregnant and a great bargain finder, has been helping me call around and find a chair that’s not too expensive. We found one with an ottoman that was going to cost just under $500 with tax, but I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to go ahead and order it. I had to go to Home Depot and then spotted the Habitat for Humanity ReStore across the street and thought maybe I could find a pendant light I’m thinking about for a good price there. As I walked in I noticed a lot of furniture and thought, “hmmm, I wonder if they have rockers.” Well, they did! I found this one that comes with a rocking ottoman for only $45! I called my mom and sent her a picture to get her advice – would I be able to re-upholster this on my own? Should I buy it? She assured me it could be done so I bought it!


Yes, I know, it looks disgusting right now, but with a little (well, it might take a lot) of TLC, it’s going to turn into a fabulous and unique chair. My next goal is to research on the web how to upholster a chair and see if I can do this on my own. I really want a couple of different fabrics on the chair that will match my bedding and liners.

We’ll see….I’ll keep you posted.

Task #3: The bedding

This was a tough decision for me. If you've read some of my previous posts, you already know I love the Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner fabrics. I finally settled the other week on the Lotus fabrics by Amy Butler. I’ve been eyeing this quilt pattern for some time now and have decided to start with this and then see which 3-4 fabrics I fall in love with to do for my bed skirt, basket liners, perhaps a window valance, and maybe some other things.

See the quilt pattern by clicking here.

Task #4: The crib

I have been going back and forth on whether to get a crib that goes up against a wall, or a stationary one that can be angled and stick out or put in the middle of a room. Looking at the size of our office, I decided to go with a stationary crib. One challenge I've had is finding a black crib to match the bookshelves. There are a million cribs out there, but not so many that come in black. After lots of looking, calling around for pricing, etc. I settled on a Young America crib. Click here to see my crib. It should arrive in about 6 weeks!


Well, that's all I have planned so far. I'll keep you posted as I start to put things together these next few months. I think I'd better get on it sooner rather than later. I don't know how much I'm going to want to do when I'm 8-9 months pregnant!

Need a new healthy lunch idea?


This is a favorite recipe of mine inspired by a salad I get at Whole Foods. We don’t have a Whole Foods in Charlotte so I had to create this on my own. It’s full of protein, vitamins, and mono-saturated fats to keep you full through the afternoon. If I make chicken for dinner one night, I usually grill up an extra chicken breast to toss into this salad for lunch the next day.

Chicken Mediterranean Salad

Serves 1

1 4oz. chicken breast (use leftovers from dinner) – sliced

Sliced red, yellow, and orange peppers

Sliced red onion

5 Kalamata olives, halved

¼ cup chopped walnuts

1 to 2T fat free feta

For the dressing:

2T red wine vinegar

1T extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Toss all of the top ingredients together. To make the dressing, I put salt and pepper in a small bowl with the 2T of red wine vinegar. I then whisk in 1T of EVOO and pour over the salad. Toss all together and enjoy.


This dish is great warm, cold, or at room temperature. That’s what makes it such a great lunch item to take to work.

Happy Eating!

Monday, January 11, 2010

The Doctors - Tips to Weight Loss

I was watching The Doctors this afternoon and they gave a lot of great tips on ways to lose weight. A lot of these are really easy and great new habits to form.

Check out their list of 52 Ways to Lose Weight. Some of the tips they've listed that I've tried and think work are:
- Eat nuts for a snack
- Brush your teeth after you eat
- Using chopsticks to eat

One tip I'm going to try which I think will help me with my new year resolution of slowing down while is eat is to put my fork down after each bite.

Just wanted to share in case you missed the episode and want some good tips on losing weight this year. I know most people tend to put that as one of their new year's resolutions.

Happy Weight Loss!

My exciting new find!


Trader Joe's Avocado Halves!

They are in the frozen section and you can thaw them in the fridge overnight. They come individually wrapped in 4 halves so it's perfect if you want to add avocado to your sandwich or salad at lunch without it browning. I've gotten so many avocados that were ugly and brown when I opened them and now I'll no longer have this problem. They can remain the fridge for up to 7 days. Whoo hoo!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Snuggle Up - It's cold outside!


Brady and Mason snuggling this morning.

Looking at them reminds me how dirty they are and how I really need to bathe them. That might be a goal of mine today - after I clean the house, workout, and piece together my "soon to be born" nephew's quilt. Happy Friday everyone!

Happy Finds of 2009

The littlest things make me happy. This morning it was a bagel with veggie cream cheese and a mocha from Panera, which was my treat for dropping my husband off at the airport at 5am. I'm such a good wife! The other day I was reflecting upon my new favorite finds that I discovered in 2009, which are some other little things that have made me a happier person. Today I want to share these with you and maybe they’ll be some of your new favorite finds of 2010 and bring some more happiness to you!

(In no particular order of greatness)

Garafalo Whole Wheat Pasta

Comes in bowtie, fusilli, and spaghetti. Tastes really good for whole wheat!

Trader Joe’s Organic Dark Chocolate Square 73%

Eat one small square for dessert and it nips my sweet cravings in the bud!

Ultra Downy Pure Essentials Fabric Softener

I had stopped using fabric softener because I read it was bad for your clothes but then I smelled my friend’s towels when I was visiting her and asked what she washed them in, and it was this fabric softener. Now I LOVE doing laundry because I love the way it smells. And I don’t care if it’s bad for my clothes and towels – so worth it!

Nuts

I buy the bulk bags from Trader Joe’s and measure out ¼ of a cup – a great and healthy snack!

Smart Organic Chicken

I stopped eating chicken early in 2009 because it was grossing me out. I then started to get the organic Smart chicken brand from Harris Teeter and noticed SUCH A DIFFERENCE! I now only buy this type of chicken – it actually tastes the way chicken is supposed to taste.

Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner

I learned how to sew this year and I have become a fan of both of these ladies. Check out their websites and fabrics. I love them!

Anna Maria Horner Website

Anna Maria Horner Blog

Amy Butler Website

Villa Cerrina Montepulciana D’Abruzzo (from Trader Joe’s)

Great red wine and under $5 a bottle!

My New Waterbottle

Intak by Themos is the brand

I love the way it snaps closed and it has a marker on the side to track how many times you’ve filled it up.

Pillsbury Simply Chocolate Chip Cookies

Uses natural ingredients – unfortunately just as much fat and calories as the regular cookies, but REALLY good!

Baking Soda

This is great for cleaning my bathtub and it's natural. Try it the next time you clean – it works really well.

Smashbox Foundation

I had been using the same foundation for years and never loved it. I went to Sephora last fall and a lady recommended this brand. I was skeptical at first, but love it! I've gotten lots of comments on how clear my skin is and it's not! It also has a very natural look to it.

These are the highlights of my favorite finds of 2009. Check them out if you haven't discovered them yet. Also, please share some of your favorite finds of 2009. I need some new good ones for this year.

Happy discovering!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Italian Pasta Made Healthy


I love pasta. My sister-in-law is Italian and she makes the best pasta and risotto recipes (one day soon I’m going to post her red wine sausage risotto and you will LOVE it!)

Anyways, here is one of her pasta dishes that I love, but I swapped chicken sausage for pork sausage and whole wheat pasta for regular pasta to make it healthy.

(Again, I’m not going to put how much of each item because you can vary it for how many people will eat. Tonight I made it for one – I just looked at what one serving was for the pasta and measured it out using my scale (actually I 1 ½ it because I was starving and I’m pregnant – although I got really full and ate only half so 56 grams of dry pasta is plenty for one person. Then I add as much mushroom and spinach as I want because it’s healthy.)

  • Whole wheat pasta
  • Chopped onion (I usually use yellow or white, but tonight I used red because that’s all I had)
  • Chicken sausage -one link per person (I used the Trader Joe’s Sundried Tomato and Basil Chicken Sausage – so good!)
  • Mushrooms, sliced
  • Lots of fresh baby spinach
  • White wine
  • Red pepper flakes (optional)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese

Here’s how to make it:

  1. Boil your pasta water. Add salt and pasta and cook.
  2. Meanwhile, sauté your onion, mushrooms, and chicken sausage (take out of casing and break up) in a sauté pan.
  3. Add some wine to deglaze the pan and to form a little bit of liquid.
  4. Toss in some red pepper flakes and pepper for heat and spice.
  5. Once the pasta is almost done, toss in a BUNCH of fresh spinach and let it wilt down.
  6. Drain and add the pasta.
  7. Stir in some cheese and toss all together.
  8. Pour in a bowl and add more cheese.

See how easy – and healthy! Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Need a New Method to Stay Motivated?

A lot of my friends think it must be hard not to make a paycheck and depend solely on my husband.

“Does he let you shop? If I were a stay-at-home-wife I’d spend too much money!”

It’s true. It’s hard not to want to go shopping every day. You’d think you’d get bored and sick of cleaning, laundry, web surfing, organizing, etc. and turn the mall into your daily “hangout” spot. And it does at times. On days where I’m feeling bummed, I treat myself with a visit to the mall or to a bookstore and it’s really hard not to buy anything! I think the hardest part of being at home instead of working is not making any money. I feel guilty if I want to go and get a pedicure, or buy some clothes, or get a facial. Some days it’s hard to get motivated to do much and I definitely feel like a bum!

So… a few months ago I decided to come up with a system to feel like I’m getting paid for being a stay-at-home-wife. I know this job can’t come close to the amount of work it is to be a stay-at-home-Mom, but it IS work and I do feel like I should be paid or rewarded in some way and earn money to use on myself. For example, I despise cleaning! Of course, we had to cancel our cleaning service when I stopped working, so now it’s my job if I want to live in a sanitary environment – and I do. We were probably spending up to $120 a month, so why shouldn’t I earn a little bit of money for cleaning the house myself. We’ll still end up saving money because I’m not going to charge myself that much to clean this house! So now, to motivate me to clean each week, I’ve been rewarding myself points for cleaning and these points, of course, turn into real money for me to spend on myself. Cha-ching!

My husband says, “Where is this play money coming from?" when I told him about my new system, but I quickly informed him it wasn’t play money, it was real money, and it was coming from his pay check. But, I then quickly assured him I would be saving money in the long run because I would be less likely to shop unless I EARNED it. And I’m telling you – it really works!

Here are some examples on how I reward myself points:


Item

Points Awarded

Eating healthy

Up to 4 points based on how healthy I was that day

No mocha or latte

3 points (I’m addicted and I never get these points - it’s costs about $3 to get this drink every day which is why it’s a whopping 3 points)

Drink only water or green tea (no sodas, hot chocolate, reg. tea, wine, etc.)

1 point (I still get this point even if I have a mocha – but I can’t have any of those other drinks. Can you tell I’m addicted to my Starbucks each day?)

Walk dogs

2 points

Clean house

20-30 points (depends on how good of a job I do)

Brush dogs’ teeth

2 points

Groom dogs (wash and give Brady a haircut)

15 points for Brady (costs me $70 if I take him to a dog salon so I’m saving money here!) and 5 points for Mason

Wash dog bed

2 points

30 minutes cardio

3 points

Strength class

2 points

Yoga class

2 points

Volunteer

2 points per hour

Sub

20 points per day (get paid $60 so $40 goes towards stuff not directly for me)

These are just a few of the items. I’ll also give myself points for yard work, organizing, etc. as things come up. This may seem crazy, but it really works and you don’t have to be a stay-at-home-wife to use this. Think about it – you’re going to spend the money on yourself anyway. Don’t you think you’ll feel better about spending the money if you feel like you’ve earned it? Of course you will!

So, the next time you don’t feel like going to the gym or cleaning your bathroom, set up a self-spending account and reward yourself with points. Keep track and be honest! For example, I’m -116 points in my account right now because of the holidays, and I had to get my hair done the other week, and I really needed some maternity pants. Some friends say, "Don't use it on maternity clothes - you can't help that!" but if I'm not strict with myself, the system won't work. Even though it's frustrating to be in the hole, it does motivate me to keep up with my chores, to exercise, and to eat healthy so I can go back to positive side and reward myself with a pedicure or a facial or maybe some new clothes for the baby.

I hope this sounds like a fun thing for you to start and a great way to help you stay on track with your New Year’s resolutions. Reward yourself for whatever you’d like – Ex. If you’re trying to quit smoking – give yourself a point for every time you want a cigarette and don’t have one.

It definitely has been a lot of fun keeping track of my points each night and a great tool for me.

Happy Point Tracking!